Nokia Lumia 1020: User Reviews
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annellis35
New member
I was trying to connect to 2 Gmail accounts. One never did connect... Spent a week just grinding away trying to connect. The second one connected but continually is asking if the login is a hacker.
Hey guys!
At first I want to write something in general about WP8.
Just looking on these points is just sad but something Microsoft has to improve/fix (yes, Facebook app too since it comes from Microsoft).
Now to the Lumia 1020.
I don't want to write too much about the Lumia itself so just a few points.
Pros:
- Good camera (even in low light)
- Good recording and call quality
- Perfect display (sunlight and gloves are no more negatives)
- Well constructed
- Xenon flash
Cons:
- Bad battery life
- Yellow tint on images (will be fixed with black, I know)
- see my WP8 list above
- too much different camera apps
- bad music quality (I wish there was a function for more and better bass - the EQ is bad)
At first I want to write something in general about WP8.
- Sandboxed file system: You can't send videos with WhatsApp. Other programs should have access to you video, audio and picture libraries.
- Quality limitation: Sending high quality videos or photos is not possible. They will be compromised even if you try to send it with email or upload it to skydrive.
Especially on Lumia 1020 it is very senseless because you have to connect to a computer before you can send your high quality and good looking pictures and videos. Why that bad limitations? - Battery drain: On too much WP devices are drains known and nothing is done to prevent/fix them. On my Lumia 1020 I lost 15-25% over night and I tested out various settings but it didn't help. Too sad, other devices like iPhone or HTC One had a maximal drain of 3% a night.
- Toasts: Its really suspicious that so many toasts won't reach the phone. WP8 issue or nearly all servers of apps are working bad?
- Facebook App: Nearly the worst app I know. Chat is really buggy, dont Update on itself. Extremly laggy, toasts don't reach the phone, tile notification don't work.
- Volume Control: You don't have seperate controls for media, phone and alarm. Very sad.
- Not really important but I really don't like the emoticons. They should change them to original or good ones like HTC did.
Just looking on these points is just sad but something Microsoft has to improve/fix (yes, Facebook app too since it comes from Microsoft).
Now to the Lumia 1020.
I don't want to write too much about the Lumia itself so just a few points.
Pros:
- Good camera (even in low light)
- Good recording and call quality
- Perfect display (sunlight and gloves are no more negatives)
- Well constructed
- Xenon flash
Cons:
- Bad battery life
- Yellow tint on images (will be fixed with black, I know)
- see my WP8 list above
- too much different camera apps
- bad music quality (I wish there was a function for more and better bass - the EQ is bad)
TruPlaya187
New member
I don't know if you've install Facebook BETA, but with the update that came out yesterday it changed a lot!!! The notifications works perfect now, the live tile has changed and is working also!!!
Well I have spent a week with my new Nokia Lumia 1020. Coming from my Motorola Razr HD running Android 4.1.2 I must say I am now a Windows Phone convert!
This Nokia is fantastic. Everything just works and it works well. Android was buggy and laggy and seemed to become less stable as time went on. So far this phone is super fast and doesn't show any signs of slowing down.
From a hardware standpoint, the Nokia is superior with an added 1GB of ram. I do miss the removable storage that my Motorola had which was great for loading up with music and photos. I have made the transition to using SkyDrive for my photos and it is a seamless integration with Windows Phone (unlike Android which was practically unusable).
The camera is freeking amazing on this Nokia and that alone is one of the greatest functions for me using this phone. Wireless charging is also awesome and I just got my Nokia wireless charging pad in the mail the other day.
In regards to apps, I honestly have not experienced any instances where I have not been able to find the apps I need.
All in all, I am extremely satisfied with my Windows Phone experience and am a Windows Phone convert for life.
Sent from my Nokia Lumia 1020 via Tapatalk
This Nokia is fantastic. Everything just works and it works well. Android was buggy and laggy and seemed to become less stable as time went on. So far this phone is super fast and doesn't show any signs of slowing down.
From a hardware standpoint, the Nokia is superior with an added 1GB of ram. I do miss the removable storage that my Motorola had which was great for loading up with music and photos. I have made the transition to using SkyDrive for my photos and it is a seamless integration with Windows Phone (unlike Android which was practically unusable).
The camera is freeking amazing on this Nokia and that alone is one of the greatest functions for me using this phone. Wireless charging is also awesome and I just got my Nokia wireless charging pad in the mail the other day.
In regards to apps, I honestly have not experienced any instances where I have not been able to find the apps I need.
All in all, I am extremely satisfied with my Windows Phone experience and am a Windows Phone convert for life.
Sent from my Nokia Lumia 1020 via Tapatalk
I've never heard of the perfect phone and the 1020 isn't either. It is a great phone and I love using it and learning new things with it every day. The drawback is battery life.
iliramove
New member
I love my Lumia 1020. My first experience with WP8 was the Lumia 925 as my work phone and I find the OS totally amazing and it really works well for me and my usage. I switched to the Lumia 1020 a few months ago, from my HTC One as my personal phone and I've never looked back. No more flashing ROMs or tweaking the phone anymore. I've also traded in the Lumia 925 for the Lumia 1520 when it launched.
The Lumia 1020 is really a piece of great engineering. The build is solid. Display is gorgeous, even under sunlight. The processing speed is something to lust for more, but overall speed of the OS is smooth. Standby battery life is great, with the exception of web browsing. But this is the same experience on the Lumia 925 and Lumia 1520 that I've used.
Many people condemns the Store lacking of apps. I believe this issue has been narrowed down to only a few niche group now. Most of the major apps are here on WP8 now. Personally, I only find that a few of my favorites are not in the Store (Dropbox, Flipboard, some games and banking apps). But its all remedied by using the web browser to access them.
The photos taken on this phone is really awesome. I don't do much editing but the high resolution photos are really great once you've transferred and view them on a computer. I've learned to have more shot discipline while taking photos on it and will invest in a Gorillapod in the near future. It can go really far if you push it. I can happily travel just with it and leave my D7000 at home when I'm on a short or casual trip, with the confident of knowing that I won't miss much from my gear. Colors are natural after the Black update and I have no issues with the Xenon flash firing up during night shots. Basically, the auto settings pretty much nails the shots that I took 90% of the time. When I'm doing some critical shot, the manual exposure control is really god send. I have no complaints whatsoever on the camera.
Productivity is great on the phone as the default calendar and OneNote app pretty much allows you to do simple tasking or reminder stuff. There are better apps in the Store however, but its good enough for me. The Live Tiles are gorgeous and undisruptive. I basically don't feel the need of a notification center similar to Android or iOS. I like it just the way it is on the WP8.
Overall, it suits me well.
Sent from my RM-875_apac_sea_220 using Tapatalk
The Lumia 1020 is really a piece of great engineering. The build is solid. Display is gorgeous, even under sunlight. The processing speed is something to lust for more, but overall speed of the OS is smooth. Standby battery life is great, with the exception of web browsing. But this is the same experience on the Lumia 925 and Lumia 1520 that I've used.
Many people condemns the Store lacking of apps. I believe this issue has been narrowed down to only a few niche group now. Most of the major apps are here on WP8 now. Personally, I only find that a few of my favorites are not in the Store (Dropbox, Flipboard, some games and banking apps). But its all remedied by using the web browser to access them.
The photos taken on this phone is really awesome. I don't do much editing but the high resolution photos are really great once you've transferred and view them on a computer. I've learned to have more shot discipline while taking photos on it and will invest in a Gorillapod in the near future. It can go really far if you push it. I can happily travel just with it and leave my D7000 at home when I'm on a short or casual trip, with the confident of knowing that I won't miss much from my gear. Colors are natural after the Black update and I have no issues with the Xenon flash firing up during night shots. Basically, the auto settings pretty much nails the shots that I took 90% of the time. When I'm doing some critical shot, the manual exposure control is really god send. I have no complaints whatsoever on the camera.
Productivity is great on the phone as the default calendar and OneNote app pretty much allows you to do simple tasking or reminder stuff. There are better apps in the Store however, but its good enough for me. The Live Tiles are gorgeous and undisruptive. I basically don't feel the need of a notification center similar to Android or iOS. I like it just the way it is on the WP8.
Overall, it suits me well.
Sent from my RM-875_apac_sea_220 using Tapatalk
cckgz4
New member
I'm considering buying this off eBay in the coming months. I cannot take another day of this 520 so hopefully I can make it without smashing the phone lol. Reason being, I love taking photos (not expertly but just with friends, family, and at random moments), and that has slightly dimmed since this phone. And the lag inbetween app switching has grown considerably, and I'm running out of space. My upgrade for my line isn't until October but I believe this will hold me over even past then.
Quinn FitzGerald
New member
I'm stealing someone else's (mpp1020) "style" for this, they did it well...
NOTE: I have had my 1020 for 5 months or so.
Design and Build:
The build is quite solid, it also can survive being (accidentally) dunked into water and everything worked a few days after that event (and I was using it the whole time(!)). The only complain I think I have is that the camera-module-hump-thingy seems to lose its blackness in a few parts.
Screen
I don't mind AMOLED, but I do mind pentile. The screen is easily the part of the phone I would change given a choice. I was even going to take my 920 apart and move the screen over, except they use different connectors.
It works, but pentile is incredibly annoying to deal with. It is annoying enough for me that I would probably buy another 1020 (and sell my current one) if Nokia made a version without a Pentile screen.
Camera
The camera works great, the only issues is time to shot/time between shots. I have never been really into photography, to be honest, I got this phone because I was getting interested into the subject. The 1020's camera and the simple (and powerful) camera controls in the Nokia Camera made it really, REALLY fun and enjoyable to take photos.
The video quality doesn't seem to be as good as I would expect it, although I think that is partially due to the SoC of choice.
Keyboard:
Same as the 920, I like it more than my experience with iOS (iPhone 4) and various Android devices that passed through my hands (friends which I borrowed for a few weeks at a time, various devices).
The landscape keyboard is annoying weird, it just seems off. However, it still does work.
Browser:
I cannot stand Internet Explorer for most of my needs. Of course, I also read a lot. If internet explorer had "night mode" perhaps I would use it now that they have rotation lock. However, I find rotation lock to be finicky (I cannot lock it to be "landscape" letting me flip it over) and difficult to access. The fact it needs to always reload pages, even when I KNOW there should be space in memory to hold them is bad. I use UCBrowser for my "serious" browsing and only use IE for following links and such.
App Market:
I come from iOS, and own an Android (connected to google services) tablet. I find the App Store having enough things for me, although I would like to see the rest of the Chaos Rings games.
Battery:
It has been great, except glance consumes more power than on my 920, which is confusing. Also double-tap-to-wake uses drastically more power than my 920. However, those are not an issue most of the time.
Personally I usually have battery saver on as I don't see a need for back-rounding tasks, and don't like really bright screens.
-Q
NOTE: I have had my 1020 for 5 months or so.
Design and Build:
The build is quite solid, it also can survive being (accidentally) dunked into water and everything worked a few days after that event (and I was using it the whole time(!)). The only complain I think I have is that the camera-module-hump-thingy seems to lose its blackness in a few parts.
Screen
I don't mind AMOLED, but I do mind pentile. The screen is easily the part of the phone I would change given a choice. I was even going to take my 920 apart and move the screen over, except they use different connectors.
It works, but pentile is incredibly annoying to deal with. It is annoying enough for me that I would probably buy another 1020 (and sell my current one) if Nokia made a version without a Pentile screen.
Camera
The camera works great, the only issues is time to shot/time between shots. I have never been really into photography, to be honest, I got this phone because I was getting interested into the subject. The 1020's camera and the simple (and powerful) camera controls in the Nokia Camera made it really, REALLY fun and enjoyable to take photos.
The video quality doesn't seem to be as good as I would expect it, although I think that is partially due to the SoC of choice.
Keyboard:
Same as the 920, I like it more than my experience with iOS (iPhone 4) and various Android devices that passed through my hands (friends which I borrowed for a few weeks at a time, various devices).
The landscape keyboard is annoying weird, it just seems off. However, it still does work.
Browser:
I cannot stand Internet Explorer for most of my needs. Of course, I also read a lot. If internet explorer had "night mode" perhaps I would use it now that they have rotation lock. However, I find rotation lock to be finicky (I cannot lock it to be "landscape" letting me flip it over) and difficult to access. The fact it needs to always reload pages, even when I KNOW there should be space in memory to hold them is bad. I use UCBrowser for my "serious" browsing and only use IE for following links and such.
App Market:
I come from iOS, and own an Android (connected to google services) tablet. I find the App Store having enough things for me, although I would like to see the rest of the Chaos Rings games.
Battery:
It has been great, except glance consumes more power than on my 920, which is confusing. Also double-tap-to-wake uses drastically more power than my 920. However, those are not an issue most of the time.
Personally I usually have battery saver on as I don't see a need for back-rounding tasks, and don't like really bright screens.
-Q
Truman82
New member
Would be nice to see comparisons between 1020 pics and 1520,925
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk
switch phones every 6 months. Past couple phones have been iPhone 5, HTC One, Galaxy S4, and Galaxy Note 3. Wanted to change it up and went with the 1020
So I am not going to go into how great the camera is, because I think most people can agree the 1020's camera is still the best camera phone you can buy, but I feel the 1020 is more than just its 41 MP camera and as a smartphone alone it is better than I expected.
Coming from iOS and Android I was apprehensive about the lack of apps so I didn't buy the 1020 when it was originally released rather I got a Note 3. It wasn't until Instagram and Vine came out for Windows did I feel the 1020 or any Windows Phone period was worthwhile. Needless to say Vine and Instagram aren't essential apps, but they are two of my most used apps and they really supplement the killer camera. Still, there are a lot of apps Windows doesn't have and the ones they share with iOS and Android are usually pay for apps, no I don't want to pay a $1 for Angry Birds. So how does Windows over come that app barrier? For one Nokia includes some really great software in HERE and their Nokia Procam apps. Unlike Google Maps Here is four separate apps: Drive, Explore, Maps, and transit. I wish all four of these apps were integrated together like Google's but other than that HERE rivals Google Maps or even in some cases exceeds it. Nokia Procam is a beast and gives the huge 41 MP sensor DSL camera like software. The only thing missing is an HDR mode. The only major downside to the camera app is the photo save time of 2-3 seconds, this could be part hardware and part software to blame. Furthermore, with Windows Phone you get their proprietary Music, Video, Radio, and Xbox store which for all purposes produce really great audio especially with Dolby turned on and are better than most standard Android music players. However I don't think feature wise or content wise does the Windows music app beat Apple's. Since Windows lacks apps like Amazon MP3, downloading music besides through XBOX is much harder to do. A course XBOX service provides a pretty good deal of $10 a month unlimited streaming. I think the weakest point of Windows are its game selection. There aren't many high end games nor are there many of the simple addicting iOS Android games like Candy Crush on Windows either. Probably the best game is Halo Spartan Assault, which arguably should come free already loaded.
Windows itself unlike bloated Android is very quick and efficient and it doesn't need a four core processor or 3 gigs of ram to be fast. A course Windows is now embracing the idea of Windows Phones with cutting edge features in order to attract buyers but Windows itself flies on the 1020 on its aging S4 dual core processor and 2 GB of ram. However loading some apps takes a little longer to load than appreciated but once up the app runs with little to no hiccups. Live tiles is a cool in theory but if you have a lot of apps on your front screen finding or seeing certain updates is harder than it should be, this is where a more central notification system would be a huge plus. Additionally the lack of folders in crazy. Yes you can download a folders app, but this should be standard and common Windows what is up with not putting a battery percentage indicator in Windows phone? A lot of this will probably be fixed in 10.1 but its kind of crazy to see these glaring holes in Windows especially since Windows has been out for multiple years already. However Glance is really cool and useful.
The screen being 1280 x 768 on paper seems disappointing considering the amount of 1080P phones on the market but remember Windows only supported dual core processor and 720P screens at the time and the 1020 runs on a AMOLED 4.5" screen with an impressive 334 PPI. In contrast the iPhone 5s also doesn't have a full HD screen and has a PPI of 326. Also the AMOLED screen produces some vivid colors that borderline being a tad bit oversaturated. My complaint with the screen is the AMOLED screen that commonly suffers from black artifacts seen on dark backgrounds in low light conditions.
Battery life has been mixed. With 4G on, BT & NFC off, backgrounds apps disabled, power saver on when the battery hits 20%, WIFI on when possible I was getting 12-14 hours battery so 7:00 am to 7:00 pm. Looking through reviews never did I see such a mix bag of battery life expediencies. Some said it was great and even gt multiple days worth of battery while some said it lasted 6 hours at most. Obviously originally getting 12 hours isn't horrible but it was nothing to brag about it was a fare departure from my Note which got high teens to multiple days worth of battery. Recently I realized a few of my apps weren't fully disabled. Today I took off my phone from the charger at 7:00 am and now it is 4:50 and with moderate use I have 66% battery. This type of battery is what I got from the iPhone 5 or HTC One. Most people know this already, but playing games, surfing with 4G, or taking photos drains your battery fast.
The build quality is top notch and is one of the few plastic phones that has a premium look and feel to it. The phone itself if a tad bulky and heavy due to the huge camera sensor on the back, but even without the hump the 1020 isn't the thinnest or lightest phone. With this said, the extra thickness and weight does give the 1020 substance and it doesn't feel fragile or creaky like Samsung Galxy lineup. Hate it or love the cyan yellow is different and gives the phones a great personality. The Polycarbonate is durable and tends to garner sheen after prolonged use. Even though the plastic is matte the phone is a tad bit too slippery.
So out of all the phones I have ever had I still think the iPhone 4 was the greatest with its marriage between design function, and software, but the Lumia 1020 comes close to that Holy Grail. The biggest thing holding it back is Windows. It is a third place operating system, but IMO it has a ton of potential. Talks of Android apps could really push Windows Phone to the next level and 10.1 coudl really help refine Windows. Overall a worthy phone even without the camera.
So I am not going to go into how great the camera is, because I think most people can agree the 1020's camera is still the best camera phone you can buy, but I feel the 1020 is more than just its 41 MP camera and as a smartphone alone it is better than I expected.
Coming from iOS and Android I was apprehensive about the lack of apps so I didn't buy the 1020 when it was originally released rather I got a Note 3. It wasn't until Instagram and Vine came out for Windows did I feel the 1020 or any Windows Phone period was worthwhile. Needless to say Vine and Instagram aren't essential apps, but they are two of my most used apps and they really supplement the killer camera. Still, there are a lot of apps Windows doesn't have and the ones they share with iOS and Android are usually pay for apps, no I don't want to pay a $1 for Angry Birds. So how does Windows over come that app barrier? For one Nokia includes some really great software in HERE and their Nokia Procam apps. Unlike Google Maps Here is four separate apps: Drive, Explore, Maps, and transit. I wish all four of these apps were integrated together like Google's but other than that HERE rivals Google Maps or even in some cases exceeds it. Nokia Procam is a beast and gives the huge 41 MP sensor DSL camera like software. The only thing missing is an HDR mode. The only major downside to the camera app is the photo save time of 2-3 seconds, this could be part hardware and part software to blame. Furthermore, with Windows Phone you get their proprietary Music, Video, Radio, and Xbox store which for all purposes produce really great audio especially with Dolby turned on and are better than most standard Android music players. However I don't think feature wise or content wise does the Windows music app beat Apple's. Since Windows lacks apps like Amazon MP3, downloading music besides through XBOX is much harder to do. A course XBOX service provides a pretty good deal of $10 a month unlimited streaming. I think the weakest point of Windows are its game selection. There aren't many high end games nor are there many of the simple addicting iOS Android games like Candy Crush on Windows either. Probably the best game is Halo Spartan Assault, which arguably should come free already loaded.
Windows itself unlike bloated Android is very quick and efficient and it doesn't need a four core processor or 3 gigs of ram to be fast. A course Windows is now embracing the idea of Windows Phones with cutting edge features in order to attract buyers but Windows itself flies on the 1020 on its aging S4 dual core processor and 2 GB of ram. However loading some apps takes a little longer to load than appreciated but once up the app runs with little to no hiccups. Live tiles is a cool in theory but if you have a lot of apps on your front screen finding or seeing certain updates is harder than it should be, this is where a more central notification system would be a huge plus. Additionally the lack of folders in crazy. Yes you can download a folders app, but this should be standard and common Windows what is up with not putting a battery percentage indicator in Windows phone? A lot of this will probably be fixed in 10.1 but its kind of crazy to see these glaring holes in Windows especially since Windows has been out for multiple years already. However Glance is really cool and useful.
The screen being 1280 x 768 on paper seems disappointing considering the amount of 1080P phones on the market but remember Windows only supported dual core processor and 720P screens at the time and the 1020 runs on a AMOLED 4.5" screen with an impressive 334 PPI. In contrast the iPhone 5s also doesn't have a full HD screen and has a PPI of 326. Also the AMOLED screen produces some vivid colors that borderline being a tad bit oversaturated. My complaint with the screen is the AMOLED screen that commonly suffers from black artifacts seen on dark backgrounds in low light conditions.
Battery life has been mixed. With 4G on, BT & NFC off, backgrounds apps disabled, power saver on when the battery hits 20%, WIFI on when possible I was getting 12-14 hours battery so 7:00 am to 7:00 pm. Looking through reviews never did I see such a mix bag of battery life expediencies. Some said it was great and even gt multiple days worth of battery while some said it lasted 6 hours at most. Obviously originally getting 12 hours isn't horrible but it was nothing to brag about it was a fare departure from my Note which got high teens to multiple days worth of battery. Recently I realized a few of my apps weren't fully disabled. Today I took off my phone from the charger at 7:00 am and now it is 4:50 and with moderate use I have 66% battery. This type of battery is what I got from the iPhone 5 or HTC One. Most people know this already, but playing games, surfing with 4G, or taking photos drains your battery fast.
The build quality is top notch and is one of the few plastic phones that has a premium look and feel to it. The phone itself if a tad bulky and heavy due to the huge camera sensor on the back, but even without the hump the 1020 isn't the thinnest or lightest phone. With this said, the extra thickness and weight does give the 1020 substance and it doesn't feel fragile or creaky like Samsung Galxy lineup. Hate it or love the cyan yellow is different and gives the phones a great personality. The Polycarbonate is durable and tends to garner sheen after prolonged use. Even though the plastic is matte the phone is a tad bit too slippery.
So out of all the phones I have ever had I still think the iPhone 4 was the greatest with its marriage between design function, and software, but the Lumia 1020 comes close to that Holy Grail. The biggest thing holding it back is Windows. It is a third place operating system, but IMO it has a ton of potential. Talks of Android apps could really push Windows Phone to the next level and 10.1 coudl really help refine Windows. Overall a worthy phone even without the camera.
cckgz4
New member
So my mom updated her line to the Next program, and did the same for mine secretly. She got me a black 1020. Haven't really played with it yet but I'm glad to have my volume back. My volume rocker broke on the 520
Sinless Temptations
New member
Luckily, I am no paid astroturfer but a noob to iPhone and I want out. Many Nokias in the past never failed me and now my almost brand new iPhone was replaced under warranty, only after a six week delay and some snarling. Software updates removed critical sync functionality, battery life went bust and its compass needs help from Star Trek to find out where north actually is. It could be a tad west, or even southwest, then again east-ish and my iPhone 5 never fails to have a new idea of where to find it. I guess the folks looking for that missing plane are using iPhone compasses??
The subsequent 5S and 5C apparently also suffer from this. Call quality is not too bad but also not tops for a phone costing around US$1,100 where I lived (for a 16GB model.)I am eyeing Nokia Lumia and even Asha just to get back to where I can trust my lapdog. How is call quality on Lumia 1020? I have some industrial deafness (can I sue Bon Jovi?) and need something that can bark loud and speak up.
iliramove
New member
This is my opinion about my Lumia 1020.
I've owned it since last year somewhere in September and this phone actually replaced my personal phone, the HTC One. My first WP8 experience was the Lumia 925, replacing my iPhone 5 for work. I've then replaced it too with Lumia 1520.
My Lumia 1020 came with the Amber preinstalled. Back then, the Nokia Camera was separated into two apps, the Nokia Pro Cam and Nokia Smart Cam. The Lumia 1020 has come a long way with lots of updates and enhancements software-wise. If you read reviews of the phone right now, you won't be able to find reviews of it running the Black firmware with all the new Nokia apps easily.
I'll try to close that gap here for those who are interested to find out. I was previously waiting for WP8.1 to be released before I chip in my thoughts here but I thought the Lumia 1020 might get a replacement model by then. So, here goes.
This is a beautiful phone. Externally and internally. Many of you may criticize that it lacks the latest hardware coupling with the very capable 41MP camera but hold on, let me explain. From my experience, a good phone is the combination of good hardware and software. You should know that Lumia 1020 team of engineers had went all out to customize and tweak this phone to its 100%. For starters, the processor in this phone can only technically support up to 20MP of photo capabilities. The team had worked very hard with Qualcomm to rewrite the whole imaging stack in the processor to support 41MP. That's beautiful tech. And with the OS and Black firmware, we've got a beautiful Glance capable AMOLED screen, very good sunlight readability, good response in the UI and good battery life. I say good because its good for my usage. Normally I get a working day out of it ending with ~20% juice left. I don't mind charging it every night and I don't expect it to last like my Motorola MicroTac 8700 series back in the 90s.
Another reason I think the hardware is just nice is because Nokia has a lot of experience with the Snapdragon S4 chip. I would say they have nailed most of the bugs and the firmware is stable compared with the previous models. In other words, its reliable. I believe it can only get better rather than worse. You can also see similar outstanding phones built on top of this platform such as the Motorola X, which is a great Android phone in my opinion.
Technology don't last a quarter nowadays and there's really no end to chasing the latest and greatest. You just need to find a phone that suits your needs. I mean there's no point to get either a super bike or a scooter if we just need to get from point A to point B. Both will bring you there. The problem is if the riders want to get there either faster or not, with a cost they are willing to compromise (costs of a faster bike, higher maintenance, insurance, etc) My point A to point B is fine with the Lumia 1020 and I made some compromises.
The WP8 experience is fluid, comparing to my Lumia 1520. We all know that WP8 is heavily optimized so, there's nothing new here. Third party apps launch a tad slower, you wouldn't miss it as its just a blink of an eye. All apps that I run on the Lumia 1520 runs smoothly on my Lumia 1020, including Asphalt 8. I've so far not run into app crashes except for some beta apps that I use. The official apps are just fine. I assume they are beta bugs.
The camera is great. Coming from other phones, this is THE camera phone and nothing else comes close. I've shot it handheld low light and the camera is really good at handling the situation. I would say 90% of the time I nailed the shots sharp. The 10% happens to be moving objects in the dark, and when I don't use flash. You really need to plan your shots with this phone in low light. I love to shoot landscapes and street photography. I have no problems in doing so. The ability to control the exposure is so convenient that I have to say I can leave my D7000 at home if I go for a short trip. The RAW capabilities is a large welcome in Black firmware update. They really help in photo editing but I'm not so much into PP so its a nice to have for me. The JPEGS are clean coming out straight from the phone. I am so happy with the results that I don't post process or add filters to them before I post to Instagram or Facebook nowadays. And I love the 4:3 format on this phone as they are not cropped from the 16:9 frame like other phones. Its a plus for me. The natural color of the photos also impresses. I am not a fan of vivid or saturated colors and I always shoot neutral or RAW on my DSLR and the JPEGS from the Lumia 1020 looks just as I want it on the monitor.
I'm not a video person so I can't comment on that but I'm sure its fine looking at the casual videos that I've taken.
The phone build is good. I love the touch of it and I am currently not using any cover or screen protectors. Occasionally I'll use it with the charging cover but that's just when I feel lazy or when I'm in the uncluttered desk mode. But most days, I use my Lumia 1020 "naked". The sides of the phone seems to show its age now as its due to the way I hold it. They are becoming "shinier" nowadays. But its fine. I'm looking forward to it getting "seasoned".
Black update also brings stability to the phone. Although I did encounter some issues after I upgraded to the WP8 developers preview. The phone would restart on and off without any reason. A hard reset seems to solve the issues. I am now on my first week trial without any reboots. The battery life was pretty much the same on both Amber/Black. I don't block any apps running in the background and I have 9 of them. However, browsing on IE seems to kill the phone's battery life and I've noticed that on both Lumias that I own. I will not fault my Lumia 1020 on this but it does die off sooner due to the AMOLED being brutalized by the white page background on IE. I've resorted to apps that has black backgrounds to get them on RSS feeds as I usually only do reading on the IE. This is easily remedied.
Calls are fine and I've yet to experience dropped calls. That being said, I do hope that the volume could be a tad louder. 3G/4G connections are accurate and corresponds to my carriers claimed speed. I get stable connections and have not experienced fake 3G/4G icon indications where there's no data connection. However, I did noticed that if I restrict data during roaming on data sense, it happens. But I tribute that to the data sense working as it should and would not fault it. WiFi has good and stable connectivity and range. It also switches from AP to APs fine in my office and it works well with most routers that I've came across. 5GHz band is in use and you really see the speed improvements.
The phone does get warm during prolonged camera usage. I use the camera grip and mounts it to a tripod or GorillaPod when I go serious photo shooting so that doesn't bother me. I wouldn't fault it. If you've used an iPhone 5 or HTC One for that purpose before, you'll appreciate the Lumia 1020, seriously. Casual shooting doesn't heat up the phone that much.
All in all, that's about it on my opinion about the Lumia 1020. I'm a happy owner and I can say that I love it more than the iPhone 5, HTC One, or the Lumia 1520 as my personal phone.
Compromises: Slow shot to shot time.
Solution: Plan ahead or use high shutter speed. There's even a preset to use in the event of shooting fast moving objects. It works and results are sharp.
Compromises: Short browsing battery life at coffee shops or when out and about.
Solution: Buy the DC-19 power bank. They are way better than the China brands and holds charges for weeks at times.
Compromise: Aged hardware specs, bad benchmark scores.
Solution: Wait for successor model, remind self that benchmarks does not translate to real world usage. (Just joking)
I've owned it since last year somewhere in September and this phone actually replaced my personal phone, the HTC One. My first WP8 experience was the Lumia 925, replacing my iPhone 5 for work. I've then replaced it too with Lumia 1520.
My Lumia 1020 came with the Amber preinstalled. Back then, the Nokia Camera was separated into two apps, the Nokia Pro Cam and Nokia Smart Cam. The Lumia 1020 has come a long way with lots of updates and enhancements software-wise. If you read reviews of the phone right now, you won't be able to find reviews of it running the Black firmware with all the new Nokia apps easily.
I'll try to close that gap here for those who are interested to find out. I was previously waiting for WP8.1 to be released before I chip in my thoughts here but I thought the Lumia 1020 might get a replacement model by then. So, here goes.
This is a beautiful phone. Externally and internally. Many of you may criticize that it lacks the latest hardware coupling with the very capable 41MP camera but hold on, let me explain. From my experience, a good phone is the combination of good hardware and software. You should know that Lumia 1020 team of engineers had went all out to customize and tweak this phone to its 100%. For starters, the processor in this phone can only technically support up to 20MP of photo capabilities. The team had worked very hard with Qualcomm to rewrite the whole imaging stack in the processor to support 41MP. That's beautiful tech. And with the OS and Black firmware, we've got a beautiful Glance capable AMOLED screen, very good sunlight readability, good response in the UI and good battery life. I say good because its good for my usage. Normally I get a working day out of it ending with ~20% juice left. I don't mind charging it every night and I don't expect it to last like my Motorola MicroTac 8700 series back in the 90s.
Another reason I think the hardware is just nice is because Nokia has a lot of experience with the Snapdragon S4 chip. I would say they have nailed most of the bugs and the firmware is stable compared with the previous models. In other words, its reliable. I believe it can only get better rather than worse. You can also see similar outstanding phones built on top of this platform such as the Motorola X, which is a great Android phone in my opinion.
Technology don't last a quarter nowadays and there's really no end to chasing the latest and greatest. You just need to find a phone that suits your needs. I mean there's no point to get either a super bike or a scooter if we just need to get from point A to point B. Both will bring you there. The problem is if the riders want to get there either faster or not, with a cost they are willing to compromise (costs of a faster bike, higher maintenance, insurance, etc) My point A to point B is fine with the Lumia 1020 and I made some compromises.
The WP8 experience is fluid, comparing to my Lumia 1520. We all know that WP8 is heavily optimized so, there's nothing new here. Third party apps launch a tad slower, you wouldn't miss it as its just a blink of an eye. All apps that I run on the Lumia 1520 runs smoothly on my Lumia 1020, including Asphalt 8. I've so far not run into app crashes except for some beta apps that I use. The official apps are just fine. I assume they are beta bugs.
The camera is great. Coming from other phones, this is THE camera phone and nothing else comes close. I've shot it handheld low light and the camera is really good at handling the situation. I would say 90% of the time I nailed the shots sharp. The 10% happens to be moving objects in the dark, and when I don't use flash. You really need to plan your shots with this phone in low light. I love to shoot landscapes and street photography. I have no problems in doing so. The ability to control the exposure is so convenient that I have to say I can leave my D7000 at home if I go for a short trip. The RAW capabilities is a large welcome in Black firmware update. They really help in photo editing but I'm not so much into PP so its a nice to have for me. The JPEGS are clean coming out straight from the phone. I am so happy with the results that I don't post process or add filters to them before I post to Instagram or Facebook nowadays. And I love the 4:3 format on this phone as they are not cropped from the 16:9 frame like other phones. Its a plus for me. The natural color of the photos also impresses. I am not a fan of vivid or saturated colors and I always shoot neutral or RAW on my DSLR and the JPEGS from the Lumia 1020 looks just as I want it on the monitor.
I'm not a video person so I can't comment on that but I'm sure its fine looking at the casual videos that I've taken.
The phone build is good. I love the touch of it and I am currently not using any cover or screen protectors. Occasionally I'll use it with the charging cover but that's just when I feel lazy or when I'm in the uncluttered desk mode. But most days, I use my Lumia 1020 "naked". The sides of the phone seems to show its age now as its due to the way I hold it. They are becoming "shinier" nowadays. But its fine. I'm looking forward to it getting "seasoned".
Black update also brings stability to the phone. Although I did encounter some issues after I upgraded to the WP8 developers preview. The phone would restart on and off without any reason. A hard reset seems to solve the issues. I am now on my first week trial without any reboots. The battery life was pretty much the same on both Amber/Black. I don't block any apps running in the background and I have 9 of them. However, browsing on IE seems to kill the phone's battery life and I've noticed that on both Lumias that I own. I will not fault my Lumia 1020 on this but it does die off sooner due to the AMOLED being brutalized by the white page background on IE. I've resorted to apps that has black backgrounds to get them on RSS feeds as I usually only do reading on the IE. This is easily remedied.
Calls are fine and I've yet to experience dropped calls. That being said, I do hope that the volume could be a tad louder. 3G/4G connections are accurate and corresponds to my carriers claimed speed. I get stable connections and have not experienced fake 3G/4G icon indications where there's no data connection. However, I did noticed that if I restrict data during roaming on data sense, it happens. But I tribute that to the data sense working as it should and would not fault it. WiFi has good and stable connectivity and range. It also switches from AP to APs fine in my office and it works well with most routers that I've came across. 5GHz band is in use and you really see the speed improvements.
The phone does get warm during prolonged camera usage. I use the camera grip and mounts it to a tripod or GorillaPod when I go serious photo shooting so that doesn't bother me. I wouldn't fault it. If you've used an iPhone 5 or HTC One for that purpose before, you'll appreciate the Lumia 1020, seriously. Casual shooting doesn't heat up the phone that much.
All in all, that's about it on my opinion about the Lumia 1020. I'm a happy owner and I can say that I love it more than the iPhone 5, HTC One, or the Lumia 1520 as my personal phone.
Compromises: Slow shot to shot time.
Solution: Plan ahead or use high shutter speed. There's even a preset to use in the event of shooting fast moving objects. It works and results are sharp.
Compromises: Short browsing battery life at coffee shops or when out and about.
Solution: Buy the DC-19 power bank. They are way better than the China brands and holds charges for weeks at times.
Compromise: Aged hardware specs, bad benchmark scores.
Solution: Wait for successor model, remind self that benchmarks does not translate to real world usage. (Just joking)
Truman82
New member
The browsing battery drain, can it be fixed via using a browser with night mode? aka all whites turns to black or gray..
L?hetetty minun GT-I9100 laitteesta Tapatalkilla
L?hetetty minun GT-I9100 laitteesta Tapatalkilla
psychotron
New member
Not really a review but I just gotta say that every time I look at my 1020 I find something else I like about it. Seriously, with very little exception, I love everything about this handset - color (yellow), design language, display, even the ringtones. Like the user a few posts above me, I even found that the notorious battery life turned out to be quite acceptable after running it down and recharging it the first day. It's almost embarrassing how smitten I am with this device. :excited:
Xertion3
New member
Had this phone for a month now.
-Horrible battery
-overheats
-freezes repeatedly
The bad unfortunately outweighs the good. No new Windows phone in que... Looks like I'm heading back to android. I wanted so much to love windows phone since my surface pro is my favorite device in a long time. Disappointed.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
-Horrible battery
-overheats
-freezes repeatedly
The bad unfortunately outweighs the good. No new Windows phone in que... Looks like I'm heading back to android. I wanted so much to love windows phone since my surface pro is my favorite device in a long time. Disappointed.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
Hello everybody. I've Nokia 1020 for 2 weeks and I can say that it's decent phone. It good but i have bigger expectations. Especially from the camera. Sometimes it makes not very good pictures. Compared to my old 8x... Sometimes the photos from the htc are better. The sound from headphones can't be compared to 8x's BoomSound. But despite all things the battery is really solid.
Calls - 7/10
Camera - 7/10
Battery - 10/10
Speed - 10/10
Design - 9/10
For hTC 8x I'll probably give these marks:
Calls - 10/10
Camera - 8/10
Battery - 5/10 after 8.1/ 7.5/10 before 8.1
Speed - 9/10
Design - 10/10
Calls - 7/10
Camera - 7/10
Battery - 10/10
Speed - 10/10
Design - 9/10
For hTC 8x I'll probably give these marks:
Calls - 10/10
Camera - 8/10
Battery - 5/10 after 8.1/ 7.5/10 before 8.1
Speed - 9/10
Design - 10/10
Miska Hietala
New member
After few months of use,I can recommend this phone as a camera phone. For multimedia purposes,I cannot recommend.. Tho it runs everything without problem, the phone heats like no tomorrow and battery doesn't last long. Otherwise excellent phone!
Sent from my NeverAndroidAgain**1020** via Tapatalk
Sent from my NeverAndroidAgain**1020** via Tapatalk
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