[Real Users] My Lumia 830 Review

niutu

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1,5 weeks with the Lumia 830. Previously I've used 720/820/920/925/1020. Here's what I think about it:
+Amazing build quality, aluminium is just unbeatable and weight is optimal
+Doesn't heat up vs. 920/925
+Kick ringtone - a classic ringtone from Nokia 3210/3310 era; nice nostalgia
+Speed, I was a bit skeptical because S400 - I guess the the "arms race" from the Android world got to me - but 830's speed is on par/even better than with previous high end Lumias. For instance MixRadio opens quicker and has shorter "resuming" messages
+Camera app opens quickly and takes pics in two secs and although there's only in LED it's really luminous
+Reception bars are constantly full, seems better the 925
+Battery life, usually lasts 2-3 days but I suspect when it reaches its full potential I'll get an average of 3 days (a half dozen calls a day, internet browsing 1 hour, music via bluetooth 1 half an hour and some random messaging)

-Screen is okay, nothing to write home about and after AMOLED screens in 925/1020 it's definitely worse with blacks and viewing angles
-Glance isn't as useful as with 925/1020 not only due to the aforementioned reason but also because 830's sensor picks up movement quite slowly (peek feature)

A few test pics ->
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JimiDiGriz

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Nice summary. Is the speed difference noticeable? I would be coming from an 820 and I have to say, the last few updates seem to have increased the 'resuming' instances across many apps. 830 ticks a lot of boxes for me but the 820 is still fairly solid aside from a wee bit of slow down in terms of booting and switching apps so if the speed up is marked then I'd be sorely tempted to upgrade.
 

niutu

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The OS is as fluid as ever, but third party apps seem faster (maybe it's the quad-core or software optimization). It's especially noticeable with MixRadio. As a previous 820 user, I'd say the camera, battery life and the overall look and feel are substantially better with the 830.
 

qbrick

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Concerning battery life: I got five days with my first full load (1 hr phone calls, 2 hrs web surfing, 10 text messages and a few emails and quite an amount of synching and tweaking) - so nothing to complain about.
Wireless loading to full takes 3 1/2 hours, maybe a bit more than via cable, but how convenient it is! :)

Edit: Forgot to mention , this is on Edge. Although living in an urban area, 3G+ is pretty weak.
 
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William Mjema

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Lumia 625 was my first experimental phone for me after immigrating from android. The experience was awesome, far from expected. Lumia 830 will definitely be my next Windows phone.
 

yaron zeevik

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So can someone explain the bog difference consider the battery life...u guys said u get between 2-5 days but in trusted reviews article they only got between 12-14hrs...i have Lumia 920 and my battery life sucks so of I'll get the 830..its only because the battery life
 

hasasimo

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So can someone explain the bog difference consider the battery life...u guys said u get between 2-5 days but in trusted reviews article they only got between 12-14hrs...i have Lumia 920 and my battery life sucks so of I'll get the 830..its only because the battery life

I can only speak for my own 830, and it's twice as good as my 920 ever was in terms of battery life.
 

Ostbiten

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I have written this in my first language, so this is google translated and slightly edited by me - so english can be bad in this one...

Let?s start my review of this phone by mentioning that this is my first Windows Phone for me, and that I have only been using Android phones. Went from the Nexus 4 to this phone mainly because I wanted to test Windows Phone and get more memory-space and better camera. I will now go into a little of how it was to switch from Android to Windows Phone, it can feel like a long review, as I also reviewing the OS a bit.

I have now had this phone for a week and I'm really happy with the phone. It was very surprising to me how 'smooth' windows are, no stuttering at all - this actually happening in Android, although I used a Nexus device with the latest Vanilla Android, which should be fast. Just such a thing as the Facebook 'stutter? while scrolling was giving me cancer. The animations and transitions from the applications to the home screen are fantastic. Live tiles are really gorgeous, and you get information without having to go into the apps. That Windows Phone would have a shortage of apps is something I do not give a damn about, since I didn?t become afflicted. So for me it makes absolutely nothing that there are 100 different apps for the flashlight on Android. What surprises me is how Google's own Youtube app on Android is a long way worse than the third-party applications available on Windows, I'm right now using Toib for Youtube on my 830, and have to say it is much better than Androids own. Something else I discovered quickly was the app for contacts called 'people' in Windows, which gather my contacts, phone numbers, emails, Facebook photos and more - all in a single application.
Now to the negative aspect of Windows Phone, and this is multitasking, which I think is a little suffering. To suppose an example: I have started an application, and will then from the home screen start the same app again, then it reloads like it does from the first time you open the app. This does not happen if you hold the back button and go into the multitasking menu. I like Android more just by this part: if you open an application again, even from the home screen / startscreen - you should end up where you actually were previously, you can always go back from there if you want to go back to the start of the application.

Over to the phone now, writing this in point-form to get a little better view:

+ Design, really nice metal frame with a nice backside (I have the orange model) The buttons are really slim along the edge and does not feel like they're in my way, even very nice feedback when you press them and doesn?t feel cheap at all.
+ Comfortable and good grip when holding the phone.
+ The display looks good even though it?s 'only' 720p on a 5-inch display.
+ Good output by 3.5 by comparison with my Nexus 4 which was weak.
+ Wireless Charging
+ Really good camera! Not only hardware that does this, but the software is wonderful!
+ SD-Slot
+ Good battery life
+ No overheating problems, always cool ? and the metalframe is nice when you pick it up and you get that ?cold? feel.
+ Glance-screen is wonderful feature! I can see time, date, calendar-events and even the weather!
+ Replaceable battery
+ Exchangeable covers on the back (you can buy all the colors, and change when you want)
+ Dedicated camera button! Gets you directly to the camera from when the phone is locked. It also has two 'modes', press it down a bit and the camera focuses, press all the way down ? and you take a photo.
- The back / shell can feel a bit plastic and be a bit complicated to get on, but once it sits there - it stays good, and it is not noticeable that there is a loose skin, but it becomes more of a 'unit' with the phone.

Cannot find any direct negative with this phone so far, has never been this happy with a phone. It has everything I need and I can only love the design! This particular orange 'stand out' from the crowd of all the other phones on the market, so you feel a bit special after all, and many people ask what kind of phone I got.
Then there is always improvement points for it to be a 'perfect' phone, hence, I give this phone nine stars out of ten as a final grade. This phone lacks only a little better screen and stronger processor according to me, to make it a little more 'future proof'. Just have to add that anyone thinking of this phones processor does not have to worry about it since Windows Phone seems to be better optimized than Android, and it has worked really well for me at any time with this.
 

Joe Dubya

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Funny, had mine for three days, keep getting questions about it (more than I did for my 920) , black or neon green- I may pick up an orange just to complete the wardrobe
 

Joe Dubya

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Funny, had mine for three days, keep getting questions about it (more than I did for my 920) , black or neon green- I may pick up an orange just to complete the wardrobe
only negative observation is the screen is not as beautiful as my 920 (viewing angle) - worth keeping in mind if that is key for you
 

neville1355

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Just some initial impressions as I've only had it for a few days.

First some background, I owned a Lumia 800 (wp7) before it was EOL'd and then moved to android (Nexus 4) for two year before switching back to WP. My reasons for coming back to WP after using android for 2 years:

1) I was never able to get a very integrated experience in android. Although the dev support is there, the apps I did use didn't really have any common design or theme. As someone who uses apps sparingly, I preferred a smaller set of apps that felt like part of the OS

2) The camera on the nexus 4 was abysmal.

3) After 2 years, I was having a hard time getting more than 10 hours of battery life on my device.

4) I don't buy into the device spec arms race like most people. I value the overall experience and build of the hardware/software over useless minutia like processor speed. Sure it's a problem if the device lags but I've never experience a single iota of lag with the 830 so far.

------------
For the 830 directly:

  • The device feels incredible. Build quality is the best I've ever felt of any device I've used or owned. Perfect balance of size, thickness and weight.
  • Camera is good, but not great. I feel like the OIS could definitely do a better job (a lot of blur especially in low light). This is kind of disappointing since it was a driving factor for me picking up this phone.
  • Overall WP software experience is phenomenal. Unlike android which feels incredibly soviet, the OS is fun to use. It reminds me of my webOS days.
  • Battery life is great as well
  • Screen is great - maybe my eyes are bad but I don't see any difference between this screen and a higher resolution one. Maybe WP just masks it well by using a tile interface instead of something more circular (which would be more prone to showing jaggies).
  • Cortana is good as well. Unlike my nexus, when I receive a text notification Cortana steps in to read it and asks me to reply (when in bluetooth mode in my car) which is a very welcome addition.

I still don't understand why WP, with a superior experience, doesn't gain more traction. I feel part of the blame is the hardware arms race that android introduced that the iphone is somehow immune from (iphone 6 still uses a dual core!). In reviews I've seen, reviewers often (unfairly) compare the specs to android devices and then make grandiose claims like the performance must be worse since it uses a slower processor.
 

-Dice-

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I also switched form the Nexus 4 to the L830 and so far I'm really pleased with this device. Build quality is great and some Apps open faster than on my GFs new LG G2.However I'm still waiting for my Nano Sim to arrive...
Things which could be better with my Device are:
- Camera Button could be stiffer
- I also have the "Problem" with light being seen under the Soft Keys (I Don't mind)
- Backcover doesn't Close perfectly at the Button. One of the Pins doesn't want to Clip in all the way(0.5mm or less).

I would Love to write More, but the german Auto correct on my Surface is Killing me :)



Sent from my Surface 2 using Tapatalk
 

Tellus82

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First of all i hope you have a bit of patience with my English, it is not my native language.

I should start with saying that i have owned alot of different Android devicves and so far no WP device until the L830, the one thing that has bugged me about Android is the quality of apps and software that comes from other sources then google directly (and i don't mean from other then the playstore). Quantity is no issue on Android though... last i checked i think i found 57 different flashlight apps, all of them with just on/off feature...

But best i move on before i ramble to much about Android, i have had my new shiny Lumia 830 for 24 hours now. In that time it has impressed me greatly, during the initial setup i tasked the phone really very hard by doing all updates on apps & system while installing new ones and using pretty much all of them and setting up accounts and so on. Not once did the phone feel sluggish in any way while doing all this and not once did it "flake out" in any way.

The actual process of setting upp all accounts such as email and Facebook, Twitter, dropbox and so on and so forth is really very simple. Also getting contacts from all account sources happends smoothly, even from google. Even the calendar syncs perfectly from accounts that has a calendar. As a new WP user it takes about no time at all to feel at home with the UI and layout, there is however a few things that has been placed in somewhat weird places, like disabeling the SIM lock, this is found under the dialer/settings/sim protection. I'm not sure for whom this makes sence...

All in all i must admit that WP works really well and anyone claiming Android to be superior in any usage way is simply lying, both have their strong and weak points and if i'd have to choose i would most definetly choose WP over Android, which i also have :wink:

Moving on to the hardware, the look and the feel of the phone reflects a much higher price then the device has now and this will only get better when the price drops after the L830 has been on the market a while. On my 830 all buttons sit perfectly, there is no play in them and the travel is just right. When you see images of the 830 it might seem a little thick but whe you have it in your hand you will see that it is infact very slim, and while we are on the subject of the design i can say that i enjoy it alot. I chose the "silver" sides with orange backplate, and the orange is really orange, think "reflective vest" orange but matte.

The actual feel in the hand is well weighted and by that i mean the weight is evenly distributed across the device, you can with ease balance it on one finger on the back, another thing is the slight curvature of the backplate, it makes for a very comfortable grip. The weight itself feels just right, not to heavy and not to light, it feels "premium" and yet light. The size of the screen makes it almost to big to use with one hand and i don't have small hands, but I can still rest the phone on my little finger and reach the top with my thumb. The backplate takes a bit of fiddling about, it needs to be inserted at an angle in the top end first, then one peg at a time you work your way down to the bottom of the back, every peg needs to be fully inserted before doing the next one down. After doing this mine fits perfectly without any gap on any side, also it does not move or creak when pressure is applied.

The first time i booted up the phone i was a little apprehensive about the screen, it looked a bit bright in the blacks but that has a simple reason, the backlight is stuck on maximum during the first init. After that is done it will be set to automatic backlight and with that the bright blacks will almost dissapear all together. If you control the brightness/backlight manually you can however boost it so high that it will raise the blacklevel to much if it is dark around the device, in full sunlight it will be harder to see. And let's face it, the only time you would want full backlight is in direct sunlight. You can also change a few settings for the screen like; adjust the automatic backlight, set it manually, change colour profile, set a profile manually with temprature and hue and so on. The capacitive buttons under the display work well, the backlight for them follows the display illumination, so in darkness the buttons will not blind you and in sunlight they are still clearly illuminated (they can turn off in direct sunlight and return when needed). When pressing one of them the buzzer gives a gentle hum as tactile feedback, it is not a strong fedback but rather a more soft one.

This brings us to a feature i find very usefull and one that isn't very common on smartphones, the glance. Some say that it is hard to see on this device, to that i say bollocks. You can clearly see it, perhaps oled screens are more ideal to display glance but that dosen't change the fact that you can clearly see it on the IPS in L830. To get the "Jedi wave" to work you do need to get pretty close to the device but it does work. Other features such as doubletap to wake are also here and they can be toggled aswell and they also work fine. You also have an option to wake it using the camera button and that will take you into the selected camera app directly from sleep, this can also be toggled.

Another hardware component of this device is the speakers and microphones, the call quality is very good and if your carrier supports HD talk then the quality is close to perfection. The loudspeaker on the back also works well, not as well as some of the best on the market that have stereo front facing speakers but it makes a clear and undistorted sound, it is also fairly loud and does go fairly deep in frequency. Audio in video recordings done with the 830 is among the best you can find on a smartphone, by far.

The camera can be summarized quite easy; Bloody great. It lack the megapixels of the 1020 but the quality of the 10 you have are very good, especially in low light, you can take pictures in almost complete darkness and still have them come out usable. This is about as far as i have come for now but i will add more later on the great Nokia Lumia 830.

Edit:
I have now spent a little more time with the device and I'm still very pleased with it. I have tested the 4G capabillitys today and even in these remote areas I am able to get reception where even the maps say i shouldn't and they tend to paint a prettier picture then what really is. The speeds i was able to get ranged between 10-20MBit down and 3-10MBit up which ain't bad cosidering that it is the lower spec 800MHz country side band here and my service provider promises 20/10 at most, in other words not the phone limiting here. And this was with poor to sh*t reception. Moving on to 2G it's the same, it picks up Edge and the only phone i have that give better GSM reception is an older Ericsson with external antenna. Will it loose connection at some point, yes but it will do so long after others have. It could be that this device has very good reception on 800 & 900MHz bands and crap on the rest, i don't know. But i am very pleased with since i live very remotely and cell towers are few an far between.

The GPS behaved equally well, it was able to pinpoint my location faster then any device has done that i have owned, even dedicated car gps's. The accuracy was impressive aswell, i did a short navigation while driving and it gave no issues, having the maps locally on the device is a very, very big plus. While driving i also decided to hookup the bluetooth to my car stereo, this did give some issues (as you can read in another thread) but after what transpired this is very unlikely the phones doing. Besides the minor hickup it did stream music quite well and the phone did sync up phonebook and cal logs smoothly, i will get back to this when i can test a bit more (after i get my headunit back from service...)

The WiFi portion of the 830 also does it's job admirably, i have tried connecting it to two different N devices, one ASUS router/modem and one ZyXEL AP. In both cases it was able to connect and maintain a stable connection, big file transfers went smoothly and ZyXEL it gave me around 40-50MBit of real transfer speed, on the ASUS it landed at very nearly 100, keep in mind neither of these are dual band but they do both use 2,4 and 5GHz. The poor performance on the ZyXEL isn't less nor more then i usually get from that one, on the ASUS it was a bit more then i usually get on wireless devices. If you have many devices attached to your net it will degrade the performance ofcourse. One minor thing is that when you turn on WiFi it doesn't always immideatly connect, this could be because of me though since the phone can pickup three different nets that are saved and that might give it pause while selecting which one to connect to.
 
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kevm14

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The first time i booted up the phone i was a little apprehensive about the screen, it looked a bit bright in the blacks but that has a simple reason, the backlight is stuck on maximum during the first init

Thank you for being the first to point this out. I had suspected this was the case with review units, now it is confirmed.
 

RestLessElement

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Seriously at the time of launch in many forums i have seriously criticised the Nokia lumia 830 being a underpower device with a snapdragon 400 or whether front camera or hd screen..But as i am indian and at this point of time there is very very limited availability of nokia lumia 930 here in New Delhi..
so after long waiting of Nokia Lumia 930 got fully tired and even after the launch unavailability or limited supply of Nokia Lumia 930 made me to purchase Nokia Lumia 830(orange) On this Diwali at 26500 inr on offline shops as on online i have to pay much more for nokia lumia 830( orange) compare to white and black variant.Comming to device..

Look

In looks it just beat competitor flagship devices..as i have invested my hard earned money more on looks and solid feel looks much premium.

Display

As i have never owned a full hd display device so Nokia Lumia 830 screen is much better for me but i feel and as seen in some videos Nokia lumia 930 screen looks better but only in video.

Processor + Ram

As during the launch my main focus to criticise the Nokia Lumia 830 was processor and ram but after owning i just feel opposite ..truly love the speed no lag as during asphalt 8 i have not seen any lag.But overall i feel that if this phone was having Snap 800 it would have seriously become a futuristic phone but with snap 400 i can't say.

Camera

front camera in Night is just like a cheap camera nothing good deserve a hate.. but in day light it is way way better than 2 or 3 mp camera ..one day i was sitting in the park and was checking rear camera and by mistake i clicked on front camera and it looks so sharp and clear that i was not beleiving that it is just 0.9 mp camera.comming to rear camera its a lumia camera and pureview fantastic camera nothing to say bad about..It is just awsome.

Apps

Yes you will find ample amount of apps of your needs but i am waiting for the day when windows phones will be getting exclusiveness release of biggest games and apps just like now Apple gets and then android.

Battery

Battery life is good..But seriously i have not fully tested the battery am not a heavy user..but average use can make up to 24hrs+ easily..

Conclusion

If you love Nokia buy it ..If you love Windows Phones buy it.. you can't find the overall better experience in any any Nokia or windows phones.I love Nokia thats why i bought this device as my last loyalty i am not a windows phones lover..My Last Nokia Phone and may be first and Last Windows phone.
 

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