Z1 Compact to L1020?

[WPCentral Question]

I currently own an Xperia Z1 Compact. It's a great phone, but I'll be giving it to my Dad and buying a 1020. There're a few things I wanted to know about the 1020, and how it compares to the Z1.
- Battery life. The Z1C has great battery life, around two days of moderate usage.
- Screen. The Z1C has a smaller, 4.3" IPS screen. Great viewing angles and super bright (overpowers reflections from direct sunlight).
- Ergonomics. Admittedly one of the Z1C's shortcomings. It's blocky form factor and sharp edges make it as easy to handle as an LG G3- which has a screen that's over an inch larger.

 

[gpobernardo]

Welcome to Windows Central.

Here's what I've got for the L1020:
Battery life - I couldn't get through a single day without charging. Bought a battery pack for this purpose.
Screen - excellent viewing angle and sunlight readability feature
Ergonomics - phone has nice curved sides for the finish, and the camera protrusion at the back serves as an additional slip guard; a bit heavy, but feels solid and well-built

The L1020 is relatively old, not sure if you can still find them brand new. Other users have been complaining about certain hardware limitations inherent to the L1020. Nonetheless, it still is a great device.

You may want to create a Windows Central account in order to respond to this thread.

 

[Nadav_Erez]

Welcome to Windows Central.

Here's what I've got for the L1020:
Battery life - I couldn't get through a single day without charging. Bought a battery pack for this purpose.
Screen - excellent viewing angle and sunlight readability feature
Ergonomics - phone has nice curved sides for the finish, and the camera protrusion at the back serves as an additional slip guard; a bit heavy, but feels solid and well-built

The L1020 is relatively old, not sure if you can still find them brand new. Other users have been complaining about certain hardware limitations inherent to the L1020. Nonetheless, it still is a great device.

You may want to create a Windows Central account in order to respond to this thread.

Created an account- thanks a lot for the quick reply! You've actually answered a previous question of mine (goo0gl/G1tX2X- replace 0 with .) , and highly recommended the 1020. However, if that's the case with battery life I may have to choose a different device. I don't live in the US, so a Lumia Icon, Ativ SE or M8 for Windows (<- if only I could buy that one...) aren't an option. However, second hand smartphones can be found around here for decent prices and in pretty good condition (relative to the prices for new phones where I live). Most newer devices aren't available second hand, the high-end ones that are available are most of the last-generation Lumias, the HTC 8X (which is too small), the Ativ S (great bang for the buck, priced about the same as a 620) and the Lumia 930 (which costs over 3 times the Ativ). Which should I choose? I could also stick with the Z1C, and have my Dad buy himself an LG G2 (which has gotten really cheap). In a few month's (year?) time I'll see what's on the market.

 

[gpobernardo]

Yeah, I remember that other post.:smile:

The L1020 lasted well with a small 6600mAh portable battery pack. But if you're not comfortable with carrying a battery pack around, I guess my only advice for you would be to "live within your means". List down all the features that you want in a phone then check which of the phones with all, if not most, of those features fit your budget. I haven't tried or used the Ativ S so I'm most likely biased towards the Lumias.:wink:

Personally, my features list included: accelerometer, GPS/GLONASS, gyroscope, ambient light sensor, magnetometer, barometer, good (very good) camera, screen quality, phone memory, RAM, processor specs... GSM (2G,3G,4G) connectivity, speakers, etc are already given since these make the phone a phone anyway. Back then, the L1020 met all of these feature requirements... though we had no way of getting data from the barometer.

 

[Nadav_Erez]

Yeah, I remember that other post.:smile:

The L1020 lasted well with a small 6600mAh portable battery pack. But if you're not comfortable with carrying a battery pack around, I guess my only advice for you would be to "live within your means". List down all the features that you want in a phone then check which of the phones with all, if not most, of those features fit your budget. I haven't tried or used the Ativ S so I'm most likely biased towards the Lumias.:wink:

Personally, my features list included: accelerometer, GPS/GLONASS, gyroscope, ambient light sensor, magnetometer, barometer, good (very good) camera, screen quality, phone memory, RAM, processor specs... GSM (2G,3G,4G) connectivity, speakers, etc are already given since these make the phone a phone anyway. Back then, the L1020 met all of these feature requirements... though we had no way of getting data from the barometer.

I actually have a great option. My grandmother will be visiting Spain soon, and I can order both the Lumia 830 and 735 for quite cheap there through Amazon. Now I just have to figure out if the 830 is worth the extra 50$ or not...

 

[Nadav_Erez]

Oh my.... I just can't choose :eck: If only the 830 had an OLED display, that would settle it. The thing is, there are downsides to each phone and upsides:
735:
+OLED
+-Smaller screen- easier to handle, better PPI.
+Cheaper. 50$ Cheaper.
-No glance ( I hope I can live with that)
-No shutter button. A real downside, though not a deal breaker.

830
+-Larger screen
+Better Camera
+Glance
+Shutter key
+OIS
?Better build quality. Not sure about this, as the two devices are very different.

At the end of the day, I just have to decide if the extra 50$ justify Glance, OIS, a shutter button and (maybe) better (different?) build quality.
What do you think? Sorry for being so long-winded and irritating.

 

[gpobernardo]

I'd go for more flexibility with the added cost: L830. OIS and camera button, + "better" camera may already be worth the extra $50.00.

 

[Nadav_Erez]

Thanks! As I've said, I've used an OLED device for a week and my daily driver is an IPS. I thought the IPS had pretty deep blacks and good contrast until I used the OLED. I thought that my next phone has to be an OLED, especially if it's a Windows Phone. If the device doesn't have an OLED, it's not a dealbreaker- it has to be quite a bit better than the other device. However, the better camera, shutter key and OIS are indeed, as you say, worth an extra.

 

[Nadav_Erez]

I was leaning very heavily indeed towards the 830 until I found a possible dealbreaker. Till now, I'd forgotten to check the cellular bands for both devices. The 735 supports all the bands I need (1800 2G, 850 and 2100 3G and 1800 LTE). The 830 ( buying from here goo0gl/VKlUsW - replace 0 with .) supports the 2G and 3G networks, but there's no mention of the LTE. The band used by all carriers in my country is Band 3. Does this 830 support it?

 

[gpobernardo]

Nice question, there! There was actually a thread around here where the user couldn't access LTE with his L920 while his, I think it was a, Sony Experia could access it. The trouble was the his L920 didn't access the LTE band in his area but his other phone could.

But for you, the good news is that the L830 can tune in to Band III. Check out the official specs straight from Microsoft.

However, you might want to check if your carrier uses more than just one band for LTE and check it with what the L830 can tune into... just to be sure.

 

[Nadav_Erez]

Awesome! I'm certain that my carrier only uses band 3 (1800mhz), so the 830 will support it just fine! That's probably my last question, I'll update the thread with first impressions of whichever device, and later on a long term review. Thanks again for the patience and help!!