Alright so let me start by saying this is the reason why I love Microsoft so much. 8.1 on my Lumia 822 is FANTASTIC. I was really, and I mean really skeptical about updating, as this is my daily phone. And lemme tell you, this was by far the best decision I've made in my entire life. 8.1 added literally everything I was waiting for and or wanted on my device. Alright enough of the jibber jabber, lets talk a little about the update.
-it took a little under an hour to update, as it had to do some preupdate updates, and then the actual update itself. All in all it went really smooth.
-battery life has actually improved, it isn't that noticeable, but about 30-45 minutes more than before. And never had heat issues either.
-overall smoothness is actually better as well. Game playing, to just the transitions are great. And I have to say, I liked them before, but the transitions now are really really nice.
-Volume controls and action center are phenomenal. Seriously. I know its "long overdue" blah blah blah but I don't care. Its a different os, why compare? This is so usable as well.
-transparent tiles was ingenious, it works way too well if you'd ask me. It is simply beautiful.
-this update has finally given me hope that this os can legitimately compete with ios and android. It can and it will. Thanks to 8.1, people have good reason to buy a windows phone and not get harassed for it