Questions about the L925 - is it still worth?

[P1ng0fDeath]

Hi guys,

so, my current device is the L520, which I really like, but I'm really looking forward to get a better one and have a more complete experience with WP. The L520 is very nice, but is also a budget phone, so it lacks several features that are interesting to me, like Glance, front camera, led flash, more RAM and so on. Then there's the L925. I held one once and it looks great, feels good to hold, has a nice size and all the features I'm looking for. But I'm now down to some questions before I make the jump, so I was wondering if you people could help me:

First, is it still worth getting? After all it's a device that was released over an year ago (June 2013 I guess); not old but not new either
2- Does the AMOLED screen really leave burn marks over time? If so, does it take long? Is there ways to effectively fix it?
3- Battery life under average use, how good is it?

Please consider that where I live only phones like the L520 and L630 are cheap. The L925 is found here for at least R$ 1500,00 - that's over US$ 600,00, I belive. So I was thinking about getting one on the Black Friday (if it turns out to be advantageous) and keep it for some time. L930 is not a option at all, as its price is obscene here, and the L920 seems already out of production.

So, users of the L925 or not, please tell me what you think! Thanks in advance
obs: sry for my broken english, it's not my first language :grin:

 

[xandros9]

1. My 920 is still worth it IMO, same with the 925. I would not hesitate recommending it under two conditions: the price is right (big one), the user knows its not top-of-the-line anymore (and has looked at its sister devices, namely the 920)

2.the display is indeed able to suffer from screen burn in. Whether its a problem worth constantly thinking about, i don't know and cant really comment. I have a 920 which does not have an OLED.

3. Its going to be worse than your 520 I believe. My 920 is probably beaten by my sister's 521, but i don't know if its due to my heavier usage or the nature of the phones.

Also worth asking, have you looked at the 820?

 

[P1ng0fDeath]

1. My 920 is still worth it IMO, same with the 925. I would not hesitate recommending it under two conditions: the price is right (big one), the user knows its not top-of-the-line anymore (and has looked at its sister devices, namely the 920)

2.the display is indeed able to suffer from screen burn in. Whether its a problem worth constantly thinking about, i don't know and cant really comment. I have a 920 which does not have an OLED.

3. Its going to be worse than your 520 I believe. My 920 is probably beaten by my sister's 521, but i don't know if its due to my heavier usage or the nature of the phones.

Also worth asking, have you looked at the 820?

yes, I did looked at both the 820 and 920. Couldn't find them anymore here, it's a shame because both phones are great and I was really interested in them... I also have no interest in waiting for the 730 or 830, mainly because they will be ridiculously expensive, like every phone here lol
but thank you for your reply, it was helpful!

 

[KhawarNadeem]

First, is it still worth getting? After all it's a device that was released over an year ago (June 2013 I guess); not old but not new either
2- Does the AMOLED screen really leave burn marks over time? If so, does it take long? Is there ways to effectively fix it?
3- Battery life under average use, how good is it?

1. I agree with xandros9 most of the time, but as for the 925 being worth it at this point in time, I'm not so sure. If you don't care about having the latest and greatest (I am talking about software, not hardware), it's not a good buy anymore. Even the Cyan firmware update was nearly a pure 8.1 update for Lumia 925, with no benefits of Cyan that were available to the 930, 1520, 630, etc. I'm sure performance won't suffer for a long time, the hardware is 'good enough'. But the software will be outdated soon. Microsoft has an 18 month update policy, and the 925 will be out of it soon. I would much rather recommend the upcoming 730 or 830.

2. Burn-in is a problem with all AMOLED displays, yes. But these new screens are very resilient to it. I used to have some back in the day on my Galaxy S2. But on Windows Phone there are no static elements that would cause permanent damage to the display.

3. Battery life is 'good enough', nothing groundbreaking. The newer Snapdragon 400 processor phones would definitely have better battery life. My 925 has lower battery than my sister's 720, and she is a heavier user than I am. Gets me through one day though.

Good luck!

 

[Munter2]

The trouble with the 925 is the current cost. Back in May you could pick one up for 200 bucks from Home Shopping Network, but now the few remaining are priced near or above $300 which is not worth it for this phone. Add in the T-Mobile version still hasn't been updated to 8.1 and you have a phone to stay away from.

 

[Asskickulater]

Yea, when it comes to software updates, the 925 is pretty much out of the game, and while its hardware is also dated, it performs surprisingly well!

I've heard a lot about this screen burn in issue, it confuses me a bit, I've had a few OLED devices, my first being the Zune HD and man did I abuse that things screen, I set it to never turn off because I never ran out of battery and loved the fancy visualizer, and having it for a good couple years, and now a cousin has it, it still shows no signs of screen burn in, so.. in my experience, as long as you don't keep the keyboard open all the time, or let it sit on a picture for hours, I don't think burn in is really a huge issue.

The battery is fine, it really depends on how you use it though, if you don't use a lot of apps, it will last you a while, using apps or pictures/videos that are predominately brighter (ie don't use the color black a lot) will kill the battery faster since its an OLED screen.

I would like to note that the 925's screen is beautiful, I'm not sure if that's a big thing for you, but its definately worth noting, I've compared it to a lot of newer phones, and there screens just didn't compare, even though its only a 720p screen, its fluid motion, deep blacks, and popping colors really make it look phenominal!

and lets not forget its great camera!

sample
(taken on my own L925)

hope you find this helpful, and feel free to ask anything you want about it!

 

[Richard Feinburg]

No, its not worth it. The only thing good about the 925 is the screen and camera over the Lumia 635. Nokia will not out much work in the firmware like the 920 because it was never a hit. I got it when HSN was selling it for $200. If you can get it for the same as 635 then go for it but you will not get much with support.

 

[P1ng0fDeath]

1. I agree with xandros9 most of the time, but as for the 925 being worth it at this point in time, I'm not so sure. If you don't care about having the latest and greatest (I am talking about software, not hardware), it's not a good buy anymore. Even the Cyan firmware update was nearly a pure 8.1 update for Lumia 925, with no benefits of Cyan that were available to the 930, 1520, 630, etc. I'm sure performance won't suffer for a long time, the hardware is 'good enough'. But the software will be outdated soon. Microsoft has an 18 month update policy, and the 925 will be out of it soon. I would much rather recommend the upcoming 730 or 830.

well that's not great but still, by the time I'll be able to get a 830, it's probably going to be getting in the same place as the 925 today... these kind of sh*t is expensive in my country :straight: but thank you, I'll keep that in mind

 

[P1ng0fDeath]

@Asskickulater
wow that seems a capable camera... and apparently there's a consensus here about the software... thank you for your reply, it was enlightening

 

[Asskickulater]

You're Welcome, hope it helps you make a decision, and feel free to ask more questions, always good to ask before ya buy!

 

[P1ng0fDeath]

@Asskickulater
thank you
in the end, guess I'll just get the 925 anyway if I can find a decent price. As I said, 930's cost is obscene here (at least R$ 1600, what would be something like over US$ 640... yep), way above what I can afford. Both 820 and 920 can't be found anymore. The 830 will be expensive once it lands here too, and I have no interest on the 730. I don't see many options, so I decided to ask about it... I see software may be a concern in a near future, but still, you guys made this phone sound too good to ignore :amaze:

 

[Parazels]

Have the same problem. In my country Nokia 925 now costs ?150 vs coming soon ?220 Nokia 730. I prefer using two columns of tiles as soon as the Nokia 730 has three columns only, no way to change. It sounds ridiculous but it matters to me.

However in all the other features (except the price) Nokia 730 looks better. It seems I should spend more money...

Posted via the Windows Phone Central App for Android

 

[Parazels]

... I have no interest on the 730. I see software may be a concern in a near future

You are exactly right. In the near future all the guys will discuss the new software, new functions, performance and so on. All the guys except YOU. You will be regret your device is no longer supported.

And I don't understand why you have no interest on the 730.

Posted via the Windows Phone Central App for Android

 

[P1ng0fDeath]

well I think it looks gorgeous, really, one of the most beatiful Lumias so far. Better looking than the 830 actually, and it does have great features. But the lack of Glance (especially) and dedicated camera button are deal breakers for me. But it's indeed a good option for those who don't care about these. Me on the other hand, always wanted to have the chance to try Glance, I even regret not buying that 620 instead of this 520

Currently I'm just waiting the 830 arrival to check its price, and hopefully buy it in a few months once it gets cheaper. What about you?

 

[allhill]

hei, i'm new here... just get my lumia 925 a couple days ago, and i think is great, the screen, the camera is great compare with my HTC One M7. Before i buy 925, i already try 530 which i only use 7 days then sell it. The different screen resolution is matter for me.
The problem is limited storage and I just doubt that 925 with dual core processor will get OS update after Windows 8.1 Cyan.

 

[fdalbor]

My wife has a 925 (I have a 820). Her's is great, no problems at all. She gets about a day and 13 hours on a charge. Of course we upgraded it with cyan/8.1 OTA. I bought it to replace my 820 but the 820 has a SD card slot, removeable battery, wireless charging so I decided to keep the 820. If you can get it for a great price grab it. There is a very good chance it will be upgradeable to Win 10. All our Lumia's are running cyan/8.1and none have had any problems, even the 520.

 

[P1ng0fDeath]

I haven't discharged the 925 yet. Like you said, only if I it's for great price. I'll wait to see the 830 price first though

@allhill
thanks for sharing
well, about the updates I'm not so sure. No ones knows yet if the x20 series will be upgradeable to Win10; my guess is they will. But we'll have to just wait and see :smile:

 

[P1ng0fDeath]

soooo, just wanted to tell you guys that i decided to pick the 925. I looked for both 730 and 830 on the Black Friday, but just wasted my time. Almost no good prices at all, that's why we call it "Black Fraud" here in Brazil :unhappysweat: when i finally found a 925 for a nice price, surprise surprise... sold out when i added it to the cart. I understand that the 925 is getting kind of old and a newer Lumia would be better for several reasons, but i had no option :amaze:

so i found a second hand black 925 on a popular website. It was relatively cheap and looks very preserved, 7 months of use. The seller says he always kept it with a case and screen protector. Except for 3 very very small dots on the aluminium frame, it looks brand new.

and that's it guys, just wanted to share with you my decision. Thanks for anyone who helped, i'll post my impressions of this gorgeous phone as soon as i can.

 

[Rotary635]

I'm bidding on a new ATT L925 on eBay.

Currently I might win it for $80 USD

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

 

[Munter2]

I'm bidding on a new ATT L925 on eBay.

Currently I might win it for $80 USD

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

That's great as long as you can use AT&T or one of their MVNOs, but if the phone is locked and you don't have access to the AT&T network, you're buying a brick.