Hands On & Reviews

[mac james]

I also agree reviewers seem bias. If WP was the number one OS than they would be praising this phone. They are all sheep. You hear 40 million Samsung S4 sold I guarantee 39million were because the other million said they have to have it, or heard it was what they need. I for one will never give my money to the Koreans, im American period! I respect apple, I work for them haha. But won't buy their products for my personal use, personal preference. I have had WP since the beginning. Both titans 920, 928, icon.

My review? The screen is fantastic. Arguably the best I've ever seen. Touch is perfect. Angles are far better than I would ever need them to be. Physical buttons are the best I've seen on a Nokia device, quality perfectly set and great feeling and looking. Rear speaker is a let down. But isn't the worst. Above average, sound recording is as good as advertised and can't be matched. Call quality in the 50 plus calls has been fantastic, I've owned so many phones and this one really did a great job. Apps, games, net all work insanely smooth. Camera is great. Though a bit grainy in low light. Still don't get why they call it a 20mp camera, and restrict sharing pics to 5mp. Let me send a 19 if I want.

Design.... This is the part that really is starting to **** me off. You have two sides, the android/iphone look, that honestly don't look too different , then the Nokia look. Most Nokia phones look very similar that's fine. I've never been a huge fan of the way the 920 was heavy and curved in a way that it could fall out of your hand. I'm 6'2" so I don't have small hands but pulling the phone out in a hurry its gone flying a few times. But not my icon. I love the build of the icon. Sophisticated, direct. Its the panzer of phones. Go ahead enjoy your skinny jeans, long hair and rounded phones. I'm no sheep so please nokia/verizon don't listen to the cry babies about this design don't follow the trends. This is perfect. But for someone to say this is horrible, in comparison to the toy like 1520 well that is hilarious. To each their own, but I want my phone to look nice for the price, not fall apart like a Samsung, not look like a women's phone like a iPhone, and not look like a toy like 1520. And the icon has racing stripes, hmm is that a first for a smartphone? Could be. In the end, you can do much worse buying another phone, but hard pressed to find much better, its time to stop having exclusives this is getting old.

 

[anon(7901790)]

Totally bias. They drink the iPhone's apple juice. They said that since the Icon's design is "uninspiring" that is a drawback. The iPhone looks the same every year and it's a perfect 10/10, revolutionary design. No competition. Best phone out on the market. With its patented round corners it is truly innovating. Everything else in the videos gives off the vibe of "This is the phone I need." The Icon is the Icon, but if it wasn't a Verizon exclusive it would be a competitor for the iPhone or GS4/5. The reviewers treat it like a baby. "oh, you're a cute one are you. Look how the jock iPhone and your Kevlar wearing friends are being treated." "How to make a phone better today, put a bigger screen on it". And then WP UI is up to the user if he/she likes it. True. Since this is the first Nokia Windows Phone to ditch the numbering system, it's a leader in Nokia's new marketing. The Icon for the future of Nokia Phones... Cannot wait for this phone. Goodbye Lagdroid.

View attachment 56952

It's "apple kool-aid", otherwise you're right on point. I've had my Icon for just over a week and it's not average in anyway. I've gotten several appreciative looks with it. A friend of mine is hoping they would release a version for T-Mobile. He would dump his iPhone if T-Mobile had a flagship Windows Phone. Right now, only AT&T and Verizon have the top Windows Phones;.

The Icon is THE best smartphone I've ever owned. Since 2006, I've owned Palm Treo (Sprint), BB Curve, BB Storm 2, Samsung Fascinate, Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy Note II, and a Lumina 928 (the last 6 all VZW). The Samsung phones are nice, but they all seem slap dash and felt cheap. My 928 and my Icon felt well built. There was no sluggishness and the apps were all very well integrated. The worst was the BB Storm 2...

The Icon has a nice feel to it. The screen is just right. I hardly notice it in my pocket. It has a nice polished look. The white with the brushed silver trim is nice. The black is kinda boring to look at. I think Nokia should have trimmed the black one with a brushed gold or bronze trim. It's missing Glance, but that is NOT a show stopper... or at least it shouldn't be.

All-in-all, it's a superb phone.

My two cents.

 

[Chrono803]

The Icon has a nice feel to it. The screen is just right. I hardly notice it in my pocket. It has a nice polished look. The white with the brushed silver trim is nice. The black is kinda boring to look at. I think Nokia should have trimmed the black one with a brushed gold or bronze trim. It's missing Glance, but that is NOT a show stopper... or at least it shouldn't be.

All-in-all, it's a superb phone.

I totally concur! I upgraded from the Lumia 900 so I never got to use Glance. Though, I do hope Nokia will be able to give it to us via an update.

I just got this phone the other day and I'm really enjoying it. Still getting a bit used to the new stuff in WP8 since I'm so used to WP7.8, but it's been a nice journey.

 

[Truman82]

Can safely assume that the 930 will be with same like specs than icon does. If so, I'm torn between 1020 and 930 (icon-like) as I really appreciate camera in phone (especially low light). Yes the new model will have bigger screen and new looks, but how will it manage low lights? If icon low-light performance is called "average"?

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

 

[w4rmk]

On the flip side of the "sheep" argument, many WP users here on the forums are way to quick to defend WP phones. Let's be realistic, the WP8 operating system is still a generation behind iOS and Android. Don't try to fool yourself into thinking it is on-par. Yes WP8 has many great qualities but Microsoft hasn't put the work or attention that is required quickly enough. Nokia has tried to fill in some of the gaps and differentiate their WP phones with some great add-ons. In fact they have put more work in the WP o/s in the past year than Microsoft has. It's too bad MS still doesn't get the mobile space. They are flopping around with a broken approach. Apps for their Pro tablets don't run on RT, apps for RT don't run on WP8. The whole eco-system is a mess. Hopefully Nadella will roll some heads and get the mess sorted out. We need one O/S, okay maybe keep the tablet and phone O/S separate from desktop Windows. But MS needs to devote significant development resources to a world class mobile O/S and they better do it quickly otherwise they will become a forgotten also-ran.

P.S. -- I love my Icon and can't wait for WP8.1, so I am not a sheep, just trying to interject some sanity to the conversation.

 

[anon(7901790)]

On the flip side of the "sheep" argument, many WP users here on the forums are way to quick to defend WP phones. Let's be realistic, the WP8 operating system is still a generation behind iOS and Android. Don't try to fool yourself into thinking it is on-par. Yes WP8 has many great qualities but Microsoft hasn't put the work or attention that is required quickly enough. Nokia has tried to fill in some of the gaps and differentiate their WP phones with some great add-ons. In fact they have put more work in the WP o/s in the past year than Microsoft has. It's too bad MS still doesn't get the mobile space. They are flopping around with a broken approach. Apps for their Pro tablets don't run on RT, apps for RT don't run on WP8. The whole eco-system is a mess. Hopefully Nadella will roll some heads and get the mess sorted out. We need one O/S, okay maybe keep the tablet and phone O/S separate from desktop Windows. But MS needs to devote significant development resources to a world class mobile O/S and they better do it quickly otherwise they will become a forgotten also-ran.

P.S. -- I love my Icon and can't wait for WP8.1, so I am not a sheep, just trying to interject some sanity to the conversation.

First off. Thinking WP8 is a generation behind iOS and Android is not a true statement. It IS on par, and in many ways, a generation ahead. I agree Microsoft IS a "jonnie come lately"... sort of, to the smart phone market. There were smart phones running Windows CE 10 years ago. The problem, was nobody at the time really cared about smart phones back then. Mainly because the wireless infrastructure was still young and slow. MSFT does get the mobile space, the problem is one of inertia rather than not understanding. Large ships don't turn on a dime. Keep in mind, the iPhone had been a R&D project for a number of years before Steve Jobs thought it was ready for primetime.

And to say Android is a "mature" OS and stands on it's own is na?ve. What makes a Samsung Galaxy S4 so "cool"? It's NOT Android... it is what Samsung did with it. The same with the HTC One. LG took Android and added features to it. Apples iOS is mature and stagnant. What "new" things can you do with an iPhone or iPad. Now bring in MSFT and Nokia; WP8 phones can do EVERYTHING an iPhone or Android can do... and then some. The OS is mature and like its competitors will continue to evolve (unless it's iOS).

Microsoft IS working on going down to two OS's. One for tablets and phones and one for desktops and laptops. They can then go down to one app store like Apple. But, like I said previously, turning a ship the size of MFST doesn't happen overnight. It will take a few days.

And to put this into perspective. I was an Android user for much longer than I've been a WP user... I can honestly say, that WP is more mature than Android. Android is fractured and always seems to be "just thrown together". That is the one advantage both iOS, WP, and even Black Berry have over Android. Google relies much more on handset manufacturers than MSFT does.

 

[w4rmk]

WP8 phones can do EVERYTHING an iPhone or Android can do... and then some.

1. Any semblance of a notification center?
2. How about letting us have our phone ringer be a different volume than our notification sounds?
3. Automatically silence the volume at night unless I get an emergency call from a family member. Try sleeping in a hotel room with notification sounds going off every time an email is received. If you turn off the volume how does an emergency call come through? With iOS their implementation of "do not disturb" where you can allow incoming calls from favorites is brilliant!
4. No software volume controls in any apps, you can only use the physical volume buttons.
5. Cannot have different notification sounds for different email accounts.
6. Live tiles can only be updated every 30min, therefore they aren't really "live", they should be called "delayed tiles".
7. No app folders (Nokia came to the rescue here with a work-around)
8. Nothing compares with Apple's facetime because it just "works". Skype requires sign-up, install, yuck. With Facetime if your family or friend has an iOS device your in business. Try convincing your 60 year old parents they need to install and sign up for Skype on their iPhones so you can have a video chat.

Of course the biggest gripe with WP is the lack of apps and this is a valid criticism that will only be fixed by greater WP sales, thereby getting attention from developers. WP defenders try to counter this fault with "we have the major apps", b.s. - what you really mean is "we have the basic apps". Microsoft is letting their mobile O/S plod along with slow evolution thereby dragging out our pain. WP8.1 should bring WP much closer to the competition. I am not trying to sound all negative, I did buy the Icon already knowing all of these limitations. Where Windows Phone does stand above the competition is a beautifully designed O/S that mixes ease of use, speed, and elegance with intuitive functionality. The whole point of my previous post was that Windows Phone has such great potential if only Microsoft would move faster to make it better.

I still take my iPad with me on every business trip and use it to Facetime with my wife and kids, check my email, and use it for those apps that aren't yet available for WP8 (like apps for all the major airlines, rental car companies, hotel chains, restaurants, etc). But my Icon is in my pocket waiting patiently for it to catch up...

 

[Indistinguishable]

Have I mentioned how much I love this phone? This operating system? This ecosystem?

I think I'll write a full review later. Too much pessimism and Negative Nancy's here. This phone is fantastic.

 

[falconrap]

I think the problem with your (w4rmk) first post is that you made the assumption MS was going slow. Judging by the amount of change in WP 8.1 that we have seen from leaks so far, I would say MS is moving FAR faster than anyone, they are just wrapping it all into one single massive update. Once 8.1 is released, I really don't think anyone will be able to make the comment that WP is behind the other OS in anything but Apps, and that gap is shrinking pretty quick.

 

[anon(7901790)]

Not true, it looks like a bunched up jumbled mess. So much so that after 4 hours of tinkering with the phone last night I sent it back this morning. It just lacks what I expected and truthfully the keyboard input was a deal killer.

 

[Weavers]

Have I mentioned how much I love this phone? This operating system? This ecosystem?

I think I'll write a full review later. Too much pessimism and Negative Nancy's here. This phone is fantastic.

An apologist's mentality.

 

[Garrymp]

On the flip side of the "sheep" argument, many WP users here on the forums are way to quick to defend WP phones. Let's be realistic, the WP8 operating system is still a generation behind iOS and Android. Don't try to fool yourself into thinking it is on-par. Yes WP8 has many great qualities but Microsoft hasn't put the work or attention that is required quickly enough. Nokia has tried to fill in some of the gaps and differentiate their WP phones with some great add-ons. In fact they have put more work in the WP o/s in the past year than Microsoft has. It's too bad MS still doesn't get the mobile space. They are flopping around with a broken approach. Apps for their Pro tablets don't run on RT, apps for RT don't run on WP8. The whole eco-system is a mess. Hopefully Nadella will roll some heads and get the mess sorted out. We need one O/S, okay maybe keep the tablet and phone O/S separate from desktop Windows. But MS needs to devote significant development resources to a world class mobile O/S and they better do it quickly otherwise they will become a forgotten also-ran.

P.S. -- I love my Icon and can't wait for WP8.1, so I am not a sheep, just trying to interject some sanity to the conversation.

I agree with you and it is the performance of the phone that is most important to me. The OS is still lacking in some areas but I don't find anything missing worth complaining about unless you are looking for something to complain about. However, it also does some things better. My hope is that Nokia and MS continue to refine and improve the OS without overreaching or lunging forward in any way that is a detriment to the outstanding performance of the Icon and future hardware. Every OS has it's limitations. With Android, the things that made it popular are the same things that make it a resource and performance pig. I'll take excellent performance every day over apps, tweaking, customization, and pop culture.

 

[anon(7901790)]

Ok. It's been three weeks since I got my Icon. So far battery life is pretty good, call quality is really good, sound quality using headphones excellent, sound quality using speakerphone pretty good, video quality excellent, and picture quality excellent for well lit scenes (ok for darker scenes).

There are some, "could be betters." No Glance...WP8.1? Could have a little better integration with other Windows devices. Especially using Bluetooth. Needs better integration with car infotainment systems (though I believe the issues are more with the car and less with the phone).

Button placement is not an issue for me because I upgraded from a 928. Many of the complaints I've seen in other threads, as well as this one, I haven't personally experienced.

Lack of apps hasn't been a problem for me. There is only one thing I can't do, and that is upload photos to my phone using Eye-Fi.

All-in-all, I'm impressed and happy with my Icon.

 

[jplemt]

I love mine. Has anyone disassembled one yet? I know you're out there.

 

[Vistary]

So far so good, it meets my expectation. My previous phone was Dell Venue Pro, one of the first WPs several years ago. Love both of them.

 

[rdubmu]

I thought this was a fantastic review

Nokia Lumia Icon Review - Phone Reviews by MobileTechReview

 

[Dreamspell]

I just bought an Icon and I love it, except for 3 things. In comparison to my Lumia 720, the vibration is much weaker and the speaker volume is lower. What I am really disappointed with is the WiFi range. It's probably not even half of the range of my 720.

 

[anon6002755]

just saw this. not much of a review but its something CLICK ME I'M A LINK i'm guessing there will be a part 2 of this. but overall he seems very enthusiastic about the phone. I know i love mine.

 

[NicciOTW]

I just purchased my Icon. I had heard great things. Few things I've noticed that I was surprised about was the camera zoom is minimal. Considering that is one of the biggest points to the Icon I found it strange. Secondly, adobe flash is not available on this device, nor does it offer the option to voice reply to text messages while on Bluetooth. It will read your message and allow you to call back but not reply. For me that is a big draw back. On of the main reasons for switching back to a WP is that Android phones do not have the feature of reading the text to you while in Bluetooth mode. Ahh, while trying to type this post I find that the words are seriously lagging and I have to stop typing and wait for it to catch up. Another app issue is no WiFi analyzer app to test signal strengths of networks.Facebook seems to have a few posting and liking glitches also. I've noticed you you cannot like a comment someone made on a post, sharing a post can only be to your own page, and a few other functions are not available. I really prefer WP, but I think maybe I selected the wrong one. Any help in fixing these issues or know of any work around would be great.

 

[Indistinguishable]

I just purchased my Icon. I had heard great things. Few things I've noticed that I was surprised about was the camera zoom is minimal. Considering that is one of the biggest points to the Icon I found it strange. Secondly, adobe flash is not available on this device, nor does it offer the option to voice reply to text messages while on Bluetooth. It will read your message and allow you to call back but not reply. For me that is a big draw back. On of the main reasons for switching back to a WP is that Android phones do not have the feature of reading the text to you while in Bluetooth mode. Ahh, while trying to type this post I find that the words are seriously lagging and I have to stop typing and wait for it to catch up. Another app issue is no WiFi analyzer app to test signal strengths of networks.Facebook seems to have a few posting and liking glitches also. I've noticed you you cannot like a comment someone made on a post, sharing a post can only be to your own page, and a few other functions are not available. I really prefer WP, but I think maybe I selected the wrong one. Any help in fixing these issues or know of any work around would be great.

Camera Zoom - With the photo editing that is around, zoom is really just a benefit for taking pictures, not viewing said pictures. I take pictures at whatever level and then zoom and crop them after the fact if I want a closer view. If you really want to zoom while taking pictures, download ProShot Camera ProShot | Windows Phone Apps+Games Store (United States)

Adobe Flash - What on earth do you need Adobe flash for?

Voice reply on text messages - Are you sure? Mine does voice -> text for text messaging through Bluetooth really easily.

Typing - What app/browser are you typing on? I never have keyboard lag.

WiFi Analyzer - I think you're right about this one. I've never seen a WiFi analyzer app on WP8. But you could test using the SpeedTest app?

Facebook - It's improving. I'd encourage you to check out Facebook Beta. I've found that it works better than the current Facebook.