International 1520 vs AT&T 1520 - Your Pick

[kbilly70]

I thought I saw a post in another thread that stated the 32GB version of the 1520 would not have an SD slot. Does anyone have any info on that?

 

[kbilly70]

I had to register to reply to this thread. I can't believe some of the complaints I'm hearing regarding 16gb instead of 32 or the removal of Qi charging. This phone is $99 on contract from AT&T....compared to the note 3, it's nearly 1/3rd to 50% lower (depending on US provider)...Yes the note 3 comes with 32gb but still has no standard wireless charging.

Guys, this thing has a micro sd card...for $99, I think the 16gb difference is minimal. Just buy a card with the amount you saved. As for Qi charging, I still think that's a matter of taste. Personally, it's a neat little feature (for me), but I'd have little use for it unless I bought multiple charging docks. I have my phone plugged into my car's usb, my bedroom's usb, my computer's usb...it's never in one place...in addition there is a fix for that as well - buy the cover.

Fact is, if a 16gb option was available, as well as a 32 gb option, I'd go w/ the 16. With a Micro SD card, 7gb of skydrive storage, and 50mb of Mega online storage, I'm sure you won't run out of space. One thing that may've been a game breaker for me was changing the screen from IPS to AMOLED, but thankfully the international variant's screen was kept.

AT&T was never going to sell this unit at $250+, which is what it may've ended up costing if internal storage and Qi was added. WP8 is still very niche right now and Nokia/AT&T/Microsoft want to sell as many as possible. I bought this phone on Saturday for $99, the MS store threw in the $40 Nokia case, $70 in apps and Halo Spartan Assault for free. Not to mention AT&T's retention unit has a back to contract promotion of a $100 on the line being upgraded. They also waived my activation fee. I almost got paid to take the 1520 and I'm growing to enjoy it very much. Let's not pick on small variances - fact is as WP users, we appear to get incredible bangs for our buck.

The $99 price is a web only promotion. The phone is normally $199.

Wireless charging might not be a big deal to some but for someone like me who has invested in multiple charging plates for my 920 it is.

Its been discussed in other threads but 16GB can be an issue if you are app heavy or install a lot of games since you can't install to the SD.

 

[5150 Joker]

I thought I saw a post in another thread that stated the 32GB version of the 1520 would not have an SD slot. Does anyone have any info on that?

Both versions have it.

 

[kbilly70]

Both versions have it.

Sorry I meant the At&t 32GB version. I swear I saw someone post in a another thread that it won't come with the SD slot but can't find the thread.

It might have been on the At&t forum but thought it was here.

 

[Idzaudin Idz]

Att version destroy Lumia 1520.. Get global version

 

[5150 Joker]

Sorry I meant the At&t 32GB version. I swear I saw someone post in a another thread that it won't come with the SD slot but can't find the thread.

It might have been on the At&t forum but thought it was here.

If you visit Nokia's website and find the 1520, it has the exact features for both 16 GB and 32 GB of the AT&T version so whoever said that was wrong.

http://www.nokia.com/us-en/phones/phone/lumia1520/specifications/

 

[kbilly70]

If you visit Nokia's website and find the 1520, it has the exact features for both 16 GB and 32 GB of the AT&T version so whoever said that was wrong.

http://www.nokia.com/us-en/phones/phone/lumia1520/specifications/

Thanks for the link. I was worried after seeing that post that At&t might change the 32GB version too.

 

[alllies]

It's the 929 that will not feature the mSDCard support/slot..?

Thanks for the link. I was worried after seeing that post that At&t might change the 32GB version too.

 

[5150 Joker]

So I tested my gf's iphone 5 on straight talk (AT&T) and this is what she gets on HSPA+: Speedtest.net by Ookla - My Results You guys think that's fast enough or is LTE really that much better? I mean I can stream movies/music OTA just fine with HSPA+ so I'm not sure what LTE will really add? It's still a phone after all and not a full on computer where I need to download files that are gigabytes in size. The only benefit I can think of for LTE would be for video chat (e.g. skype) but the person on the other end also needs a fast LTE device.

Unless someone can sell me on the idea of LTE, I'm heavily leaning in favor of grabbing an international yellow 1520 that isn't neutered.

 

[kbilly70]

It's the 929 that will not feature the mSDCard support/slot..?

That's true. I had been reading some thread somewhere where a poster stated their At&t business rep told them that the 32GB version on At&t wouldn't have the SD card. I can't remember where the thread was now but the link seems to disprove it.

 

[Phrozty]

Let's see. I use LTE every day and it's a huge improvement over 4g. I also have a 64gb SD card which isn't even close to full.

I'm going to use wireless charging on a phone that already takes forever to charge on a charger with an adapter .... never.

And I didn't mind buying my phone at $7 ($100 web price - $100 trade in credit + $7 tax) as opposed to a huge, off contract cost. Pretty clear decision for me.

 

[Blacklac]

Do you know the LTE speeds in your area? I live in a smaller town and we've had HSPA+ for a couple years. Just got LTE about a year ago. Honestly, unless you live in a major town, I bet your LTE isn't too impressive. I'm lucky to get above 8Mbps in my area. I see 5Mbps alot. Sure, thats faster than 2-3Mbps I saw on "HSPA+", but its not major. Honestly, I never felt held back by HSPA+. I rarely did major downloads and 2-3Mbps can stream HD videos pretty decent. I really feel like anything over 3Mbps is just fine for typical phone usage (browsing, lite streaming, App loading, etc...) without running into issues.

Just something to consider.

 

[Dalek Sec]

If you use at&t's network then the at&t version is the way to go. LTE speeds and the much cheaper price are worth it. With the lower price you can buy a few 64gb sd cards and a case with qi (whenever the heck one comes out)

 

[awesomeindeed]

No LTE on the international version is a dealbreaker.

 

[5150 Joker]

For those of you who are advocates of AT&Ts LTE, tell me how it is more useful vs 6 Mbps HSPA+ that I already get? For example, if I want to stream Netflix, it works great at high quality. Music from Spotify comes in very crisp and clear. If I need to download a huge game, I'll use my home's wireless connection for that, especially given AT&T and Straight Talk's lousy bandwidth caps. So with say a 5GB cap with LTE speed, what can you really download that would benefit from this extra speed? Like I said, the only thing I can think of is video conferencing via Skype or using Teamviewer but I rarely do either of those.

I think having superior hardware is more important, in this case qi wireless charging + 32 gb of fast internal storage. An sdcard, no matter how big, is a poor substitute since it cannot load games or apps and is slower. While price may be justified for those who can't buy one outright, in the long run you end up paying more. With a basic data + voice plan, it costs $100/month x 24 months = $2400. Now compared to Straight Talk where I pay $50/mo x 24 months = $1200. That's 50% cheaper for voice/data usage alone. Now to factor in hardware cost for the average person:

On contract: $2400 + $100 hardware cost = $2500 over 2 years
Off contract: $1200 + $715 hardware cost = $1915 over 2 years

That's still a saving of nearly $600. Hard to argue against those numbers.

 

[JPDVM2014]

I don't know about everyone else, but I notice the difference between LTE and HSPA+ when launching apps that require data to download before opening. Apps that may have taken a couple seconds to launch on HSPA+ are near instantaneous on LTE. (i.e. Weather Apps, Stock Apps, etc) It isn't a lot by any means, but it just makes it easier to get in and out of apps faster. If you have never tried LTE, maybe get the at&t 1520 to test and see if the LTE is worth it to you. If not, just return it within the 14 days.

 

[awesomeindeed]

AT&T HSPA+ is around 2-4mbps in my area. With LTE I get speeds of over 30mbps. Huge difference when downloading music or buffering large HQ videos. If a data cap is your limitation, then I guess you'll have to decide which one is worth it to you. For me it was a no-brainer. I'll pop in a microSD and enjoy my LTE.

 

[5150 Joker]

With AT&T a data cap is a problem for every subscriber, even grandfathered ones with supposed "unlimited" plans. Even they are throttled after a few GB so with LTE all you do is just reach your cap or throttle faster. With 5-6 mbps HSPA+ I'm able to stream 720p-1080p videos with very little buffering. During heavy congestion it may have a longer buffer where LTE would be superior I suppose. But strictly speaking for my case where HSPA+ speeds are pretty good, would it really be worth it?

The real wildcard is AT&T's 32GB of the 1520, if they gave us a concrete release date I'd patiently wait on that and give up qi wireless. But the fact that they just say, "near future" doesn't really mean much. That could be tomorrow or 6 months from now.

 

[PB_H]

Where does it state that their internal policy is 6 months? Their website clearly states what their requirements are and they are legally obligated to follow that.

By the time it ever gets to court ( if ever) if you try to sue them you'll have met the 6 month "requirement" :wink:
"legally" ? they probably have a disclaimer allowing changes without notice.
But please keep us up to date with your ordeal.

 

[kbilly70]

With AT&T a data cap is a problem for every subscriber, even grandfathered ones with supposed "unlimited" plans. Even they are throttled after a few GB so with LTE all you do is just reach your cap or throttle faster. With 5-6 mbps HSPA+ I'm able to stream 720p-1080p videos with very little buffering. During heavy congestion it may have a longer buffer where LTE would be superior I suppose. But strictly speaking for my case where HSPA+ speeds are pretty good, would it really be worth it?

The real wildcard is AT&T's 32GB of the 1520, if they gave us a concrete release date I'd patiently wait on that and give up qi wireless. But the fact that they just say, "near future" doesn't really mean much. That could be tomorrow or 6 months from now.

I get 3-6MB down on HSPA+. We have LTE in my area but the best speeds I've seen are 6-9MB down. I've used LTE in other cities and gotten 30-40MB down. I look at it like you do, LTE just eats through data usage faster. I have grandfathered unlimited and have been throttled twice after exceeding 2GB. HSPA+ speeds are fine for my usage so I would recommend going with the International version.

I bought the AT&T version to see if I could get by with the lesser storage and after four days with it I had used up the storage. So I returned it and will wait for the 32GB version or may break down and get the international version.