Why I'm leaving my bulky camera at home, thanks to the Nokia Lumia Icon from Verizon Wireless! #sponsored #VZWlife

Disclosure: As a member of the #VZWlife team, I received this device at no cost to facilitate this review. I am a long time Verizon Wireless customer. All opinions are my own.

About six months ago, I got a new iPhone 5s, and it was quite an upgrade from my iPhone 4s. I was really impressed by the design of the phone, the bigger screen, and the improved photo quality. I've been an Apple user for the past 5 years or so and was accustomed to the seamless integration of their products with my lifestyle and one another. However, as a mom (and a blogger) there are certain times when only my DSLR camera would do. That is until I was offered the chance to review the Nokia Lumia Icon 929 smartphone from Verizon Wireless (at no cost to facilitate this review). Now, I'm able to leave my bulky DSLR at home most of the time!

The tagline for the Nokia Lumia Icon is "See and hear what you've been missing," and after just simply removing the Icon from its box and turning it on, I could already see what I'd been missing. The display screen is BIG, bright, and the color are so vivid. The Icon also has the coolest home screen EVER. It's made up of customizable "Live Tiles" that are always changing and up to date. You can choose whatever is most important to you and "pin" it to your home screen. You'll never confuse your phone with someone else's because it's 100% reflective of you. I love having my social media sites readily accessible, along with my Kindle App.

Here's my home screen:

You'll get a live, updated feed of what's happening inside your apps without ever having to enter them! The Live Tiles are pretty much awesome and one of my favorite features of this smartphone, but the real thing that won me over and has made me question my entire Apple-loving existence is the AMAZING camera and video capabilities on the Nokia Lumia Icon.

The Nokia Lumia Icon features Zeiss optics (think of the same fantastic technology used in the Hubble telescope and in research microscopes throughout the world) and a powerful 20-megapixel camera (yes, I said TWENTY megapixels) to deliver sharp images in both light and dark settings. You can even {easily} modify your settings and shoot in MANUAL mode. When I saw this, I was blown away. Seriously. You have the option to control the flash, white balance, focus, ISO, shutter speed, and exposure/compensation before you take a photo.

Most photographers will tell you that megapixels don't really matter that much though, and it's all about the other specs of your camera (or smartphone in this case) and how well you're able to operate them.  Well, this is true, BUT the Lumia Icon has the most awesome "Reframe" feature and those twenty megapixels are going to come in very handy! Just to show you an example, below is a photo I took on my recent trip to Sevierville, Tennessee. I was visiting an apple farm and snapped a photo of a beautiful apple blossom with my Icon. Although I focused on the blossom, there was a fly on a leaf off-center and with the reframe option I was able to zoom in and reframe the shot. Can you believe how much detail you can see on that tiny fly from a smartphone camera?!

With the Nokia Lumia Icon, I'm able to capture sweeping landscapes and even just afternoons at the park with clarity and detail. These are truly print-quality photos I'm taking, and that's why I'm opting to leave my bulky DSLR camera at home most days. This smartphone is truly simplifying my life from that standpoint.

Now, there are a few kinks I still need to work out in terms of using my Nokia Lumia Icon with my Macbook, but I think I just have to do a software upgrade or two in order for them to sync and be able to "talk to each other". Right now I'm having to email my photos to myself to upload them. I'm also missing a few of my apps that aren't available yet in the Windows store, but I'm sure I'll be able to find similar apps once I start looking around. Regardless of these little hiccups, I'm loving this phone and all of the amazing features, especially the camera. I can't wait to start making videos and recording in full HD!

What are your favorite features when shopping for a smartphone? 
Is camera quality important to you? 

Disclosure: I received this device at no cost as part of the #VZWLife blogging program. All opinions are my own.