First Month with "Gigantor"

[Wilguens Joachin]

It's been one month since the Nokia Lumia 1520 has been has been out and for those of you that bought at launch day, What's your one month experience has been so far with this gigantic phone? What are some things you love and hate about it? Do you think you made the right choice getting it?

The L1520 is my first windows phone, and my first month with it has been an awesome experience. I actually really like wp8, it's very unique and different. I love big phones, so i definitely enjoy the 6' screen, i honestly can't see myself going back to any smeller size phone. I love the built quality and it feels really nice in the hand. i am also a beginner in photography so having that 20MP camera is a huge plus. Overall, i don't have much complaints about the phone besides some of the software issues that we all are aware of.

So, What's your story? Get it, Nokia commercial..."What's your story?"... Nvm.

 

[Laura Knotek]

I'm glad you like your 1520. What colour device did you get?

 

[Wilguens Joachin]

I'm glad you like your 1520. What colour device did you get?

I got the white one

 

[brettcspencer]

Welcome aboard. This is my fourth Windows Phone. Its come such a long way. Really loving the 1520 too. The camera is amazing. Apparently its better than the 1020. The phone is definitely an attention getter.

 

[tissotti]

I feel like the hardware and software with Lumia 1520 is finally starting to get there. Lumia 1520 has up to date specs and that screen is one of the, if not the most beautiful screen I have seen on any device.
WP is by no means perfect and there's some way to go till iOS and Android, but WP can stand it on its own as its own thing.

 

[zipro]

I've had mine for about 2 weeks (well, it's my third one, so it's a bit shorter than that because of the exchanges).

I can honestly say that I absolutely love that phone. You really get used to the size. The screen is absolutely wonderful, typing on it is awesome, the camera is really good and the OS looks extremely snazzy on the big, beautiful display. The only thing I'm missing is Flipboard, which was promised to ship with it if I recall correctly, but which hasn't made an appearance yet.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[Brian Richman]

I got mine three days after release day. Have a black AT&T one on an unlimited "all you can eat" bandwidth account on a not too expensive amount as my wife's employer has a "deal" with AT&T for that!!!

Also got a few other items (cases etc) from eBay vendors, who as expected always have trouble with anything non-iPhone for the first few weeks of a device's life. That said, supply is better now and they don't want to send me a Galaxy item instead of a 1520 item as they all did in the first week!

I like the relatively high mega-pixel camera. Have taken some really good pics with it that come darn close to my (five year old entry-level) digital SLR in quality. The RAW files import into my Adobe Photoshop set up perfectly and are pretty good... They not as good in low light or anything where any camera would be stressed, but for a camera built into a phone (for gods sake, some perspective here), it's delivers some pretty darn good nearly 16MP images - and the 5MP JPG files are more than enough for sharing on for example, Facebook.

I like the screen on my 1520. It is so easy to read compared to any other on the phone market right now. The large size makes it easy to actually type on, two handed (two thumbed) and I might actually change my email signature line to stop apologizing for the typos on a mobile device as I don't seem to be making any now... :evil:

I'm going to get a 64Gb SD card for it to put my music and picture files onto, NOT from AT&T or any big box stores but perhaps online once the post-Christmas sales are under way?

The latest firmware update seems to have fixed a bunch of issues that people have reported too. All good.

Gripes? Oh yes...

1. Lack of apps in the store. It's getting better and it really does remind me of the situation with Android in it's first year. It'll improve with time.

2. Volume controls... Need a more "fine-grain" control for audio volumes. Call, ring, alerts, media all separately controllable from one 'app' screen would be nice, rather than how it is now.

3. It's a shame you still have to do firmware updates over WiFi as LTE is way quicker than any WiFi available... Is LTE/OTA all THAT unreliable? I am getting north of 15MB/sec OTA but of course, no matter what your Broadband speed is, it's only ever going to be south of a TENTH (or is that a twentieth?) of that with an "n" standard WiFi router.

4. Wireless Charging. What brain dead nut case at AT&T decided to do what they did? Whoever it is needs to be fired. That decision will cost users more in the long run as the charging cases we will now have to buy are more expensive than and as a result are an extra expense that the regular Nokia method would have avoided. Oh sorry - not brain dead, but "More profit for AT&T through extra accessory sales" .... dumb-*** sales, as anyone with more than three brain cells will buy from eBay vendors for this in a month or three when these become more available once the next few container ships arrive from China in San Francisco. Sorry - if you don't like this view Mister AT&T, but that's how it looks to me!

I think that my gripes #1 and #2 are going to be addresses over time. Don't know about why #3 is as it is (I am sure someone will enlighten me as I just don't know), but as for #4? I may be too cynical, but I suspect not. Shame on AT&T?

So. After a month with Gigantor, how do I feel?

Pretty good.

I used WP5 or so for a couple of years, and WP8 is way better. I think the issues with the phone itself are getting resolved thanks to new firmware and app updates and the hardware itself feels solid enough to last the 2 year contract. If the other issues get resolved, I'll be happy to pick up another WP and Nokia device when the time comes.

:wink:

 

[Wilguens Joachin]

I got mine three days after release day. Have a black AT&T one on an unlimited "all you can eat" bandwidth account on a not too expensive amount as my wife's employer has a "deal" with AT&T for that!!!

Also got a few other items (cases etc) from eBay vendors, who as expected always have trouble with anything non-iPhone for the first few weeks of a device's life. That said, supply is better now and they don't want to send me a Galaxy item instead of a 1520 item as they all did in the first week!

I like the relatively high mega-pixel camera. Have taken some really good pics with it that come darn close to my (five year old entry-level) digital SLR in quality. The RAW files import into my Adobe Photoshop set up perfectly and are pretty good... They not as good in low light or anything where any camera would be stressed, but for a camera built into a phone (for gods sake, some perspective here), it's delivers some pretty darn good nearly 16MP images - and the 5MP JPG files are more than enough for sharing on for example, Facebook.

I like the screen on my 1520. It is so easy to read compared to any other on the phone market right now. The large size makes it easy to actually type on, two handed (two thumbed) and I might actually change my email signature line to stop apologizing for the typos on a mobile device as I don't seem to be making any now... :evil:

I'm going to get a 64Gb SD card for it to put my music and picture files onto, NOT from AT&T or any big box stores but perhaps online once the post-Christmas sales are under way?

The latest firmware update seems to have fixed a bunch of issues that people have reported too. All good.

Gripes? Oh yes...

1. Lack of apps in the store. It's getting better and it really does remind me of the situation with Android in it's first year. It'll improve with time.

2. Volume controls... Need a more "fine-grain" control for audio volumes. Call, ring, alerts, media all separately controllable from one 'app' screen would be nice, rather than how it is now.

3. It's a shame you still have to do firmware updates over WiFi as LTE is way quicker than any WiFi available... Is LTE/OTA all THAT unreliable? I am getting north of 15MB/sec OTA but of course, no matter what your Broadband speed is, it's only ever going to be south of a TENTH (or is that a twentieth?) of that with an "n" standard WiFi router.

4. Wireless Charging. What brain dead nut case at AT&T decided to do what they did? Whoever it is needs to be fired. That decision will cost users more in the long run as the charging cases we will now have to buy are more expensive than and as a result are an extra expense that the regular Nokia method would have avoided. Oh sorry - not brain dead, but "More profit for AT&T through extra accessory sales" .... dumb-*** sales, as anyone with more than three brain cells will buy from eBay vendors for this in a month or three when these become more available once the next few container ships arrive from China in San Francisco. Sorry - if you don't like this view Mister AT&T, but that's how it looks to me!

I think that my gripes #1 and #2 are going to be addresses over time. Don't know about why #3 is as it is (I am sure someone will enlighten me as I just don't know), but as for #4? I may be too cynical, but I suspect not. Shame on AT&T?

So. After a month with Gigantor, how do I feel?

Pretty good.

I used WP5 or so for a couple of years, and WP8 is way better. I think the issues with the phone itself are getting resolved thanks to new firmware and app updates and the hardware itself feels solid enough to last the 2 year contract. If the other issues get resolved, I'll be happy to pick up another WP and Nokia device when the time comes.

:wink:

Glad you're enjoying it man. And i was upset about it not having wireless charging too but i hear you can get a back case for it on ebay or something. We should see some of the features you mentioned in the next update, hopefully.

 

[kevm14]

3. It's a shame you still have to do firmware updates over WiFi as LTE is way quicker than any WiFi available... Is LTE/OTA all THAT unreliable? I am getting north of 15MB/sec OTA but of course, no matter what your Broadband speed is, it's only ever going to be south of a TENTH (or is that a twentieth?) of that with an "n" standard WiFi router.

Updates and big app downloads over WiFi only was a choice they made due to data caps, I assume.

Also, you're not getting 15MB/sec over LTE. You're probably getting 15Mbit. Wireless N can do like 300Mbit (your ISP probably can't, of course).

 

[LMZR]

I'm about to get a 1520 in Black in two days.

I'll post first impressions within the next few days.

 

[hipporama]

It's been about a week since I got my Lumia 1520 (White) and am absolutely loving it. My previous phone was the Lumia 920 so the size was a pretty big jump. And although I initially thought the phone looked ridiculous in my hand, after using it for a week I can safely say that I am never going back to a smaller sized phone. All phones now look tiny in comparison and the iPhone especially looks like a toy!

The screen is breathtaking. I can read pretty much EVERYTHING without having to zoom in much (if at all). My typing speed has improved drastically cause I make far fewer mistakes with the big keyboard. The camera is absolutely awesome although low light images seem a little dull compared to the 920. And the rear speaker is freakin loud!

And of course, the magnificent build quality. The Note 3 which is priced the same as the 1520 in India, looks and feels downright cheap. I think Nokia really hit the nail on the head as far as build quality goes.

My only gripe would be with that of some older apps such as iMDB. They show the black bar at the top and I hope they update these apps to support 1080p. Also it would be really great to see apps which can be updated to make use of the extra real estate on the screen.

Overall, I think this is the best phone I have ever bought and don't regret it one bit.

 

[John Fungo]

I bought my glossy red Lumia 1520 last Monday and it really impressed me in terms of camera, performance and battery life. The language support in our native language (Filipino) is also very adequate, to the point that my friends are surprised at the level that my phone is displaying terms and system texts in Tagalog.

I didn't have any problem with its size, and ironically, I found a phone with this size very comfortable to use. I even get to type messages in one hand sometimes, but maybe that's due to my fingers being used to reaching far places when I play the guitar. My phone last month is the Lumia 625 but I intended to sell that when I can finally buy this one as my birthday present.

The camera captures scenes and objects with a lot of detail. One time, I took a picture of my dry bag and when I zoomed in, I saw the crisscrossing threads that I don't usually see when I carry it! It also captures photos nicely in low light setting.

The screen is very gorgeous to look at but I don't seem to see a very major difference with the Lumia 625's screen, although Live Tiles and other items are less pixelated on the 1520. The battery life is very long and I have to charge it for only at least two days. I didn't thought Microsoft would have done an excellent job in maintaining a great battery life with its 6-in. 1080p screen and quad-core processors. Its battery life even surpassed that of the lower-resolution Lumia 625. With the 1520 being the smartphone with the highest endurance rating in GSMArena, I wonder how the 1320 would fare?

But this phone is not without issues, though. One thing I noticed is that Facebook photos cannot be seen as a whole in browsers like IE and UC Browser, although there's no problem viewing them on Me and People hub. I don't want to install the FB and Twitter app so I can optimize the usage of the hubs and to maximize storage.

Two other problems that I experience are the intermittent reboots and difficulty in using the Internet even though there's mobile data signal.

But I can still live with those problems for two years and hope that Microsoft and/or Nokia can manage to fix them. I'm loving this phone!

 

[Tichshew]

Well it hasn't been quite a month yet for me (one week actually) but I am in love with the 1520. I have the gloss red model and it's stunning. I've said in other threads that the phone gets attention, and I'm not sure about anyone else, but I do get asked quite frequently out of the blue what phone I'm using when I'm out and about. Which can only be good for WP with the amount of attention this phone is getting. The thing feels so incredibly sturdy, I owned a Lumia 900 and then a 920, and this thing feels so well built, even compared to those. Screen of course is fantastic, and although I don't really notice a difference between dual-core and the quad-core processor on the 1520 compared to precious Lumias, it is nice to sort of have "future proof" specs for once. You do get used to the size on how to manage it in your hands, and as others here have said, once you use a phone this size everything else just feels too damn small. Don't hesitate and just get it already!

 

[Brian Richman]

Also, you're not getting 15MB/sec over LTE. You're probably getting 15Mbit. Wireless N can do like 300Mbit (your ISP probably can't, of course).

HAHAHA.... Yes indeed - BITS/sec, not Bytes. My typo. :amaze:

I think my ISP can push that amount of data as it's a university with direct hardwired links to the PoP. From my office (not WiFi), I often get figures that make your jaw drop.... using Speedtest.net in fact, and that IS reporting in BYTES per second. We are closed now until the new year, so am not able to dig up a screen shot, but there are are some paybacks for the crappy salary...

 

[Brian Richman]

the iPhone especially looks like a toy!

It certainly does.

My wife's iPhone is dwarfed by the 1520. When we are driving and she is at the wheel (taking my life in my hands, I know! :wink: ) I cannot use her phone to type texts accurately now. It's HORRIBLE.

And of course, the magnificent build quality. The Note 3 which is priced the same as the 1520 in India, looks and feels downright cheap. I think Nokia really hit the nail on the head as far as build quality goes.

I held the Galaxy S4 in the AT&T store side by side with the Nokia. Guess which one flexed and the screen was distorting and "whiting-out" under stress?

Wasn't the Nokia.

If the iPhone looks like a dinky little plastic toy, the Galaxy feels like one. :shocked:

 

[Brian Richman]

Glad you're enjoying it man. And i was upset about it not having wireless charging too but i hear you can get a back case for it on ebay or something. We should see some of the features you mentioned in the next update, hopefully.

One other thing I want for WP8 in my work, is the introduction of VPN capabilities. I know this is probable in Q1/14 and am happy to wait for it, but it would make WP8 really a useful tool for corporate people. RDP so you can log into Windows servers (or other regular Windows PC's) would also be great, but actually, is less important, as with VPN, I can use SSH clients to get online securely. An encrypted command line is much safer than a plain text GUI - even if harder to use. We also have a number of Linux computers at work, so would be good to be able to access those via our VPN then too.

 

[snowmutt]

Gigantor.... Love it!! :grin:

I will be getting it when the best deal rears it's head. I am sure it is worth every penny, I am just happy waiting on the right deal. Thanks for the thread. Every time I read one of these my misgivings about the size melt away a little more. Hard to argue with this many people loving this bad boy.

 

[Joex Lim]

Love it except the touch screen sensitivity issue, especially when playing game.

 

[QOAM]

I have only had my 1520 Black for 3 days. i love the size .. I mean the screen size. my hands really have to stretch to hold it and unless i put the Incepio charging shell on it, I push one of the buttons on the side when trying to hold it. My one and only gripe about the phone (so far) is the voice recognition. I don't know if it is a Nokia problem or a Windows problem, but it won't punctuate like it does on an iphone. On the iphone if i say ''comma'' it writes a comma. On the Nokia, if i say ''comma'' that is what it writes. On my iphone i used voice for texting all the time, not just once in a while. Also, the Nokia censors me. Can't even say ''pissed off'' when I am.

 

[manicottiK]

HAHAHA.... Yes indeed - BITS/sec, not Bytes. My typo. :amaze:

I think my ISP can push that amount of data as it's a university with direct hardwired links to the PoP. From my office (not WiFi), I often get figures that make your jaw drop.... using Speedtest.net in fact, and that IS reporting in BYTES per second.

SpeedTest.Net shows results in Mbps -- the lower case "b" is for bits.On my laptop with a USB-to-Gig-E link, I can get 600 Mbps up/down; my Lumia 1520 on Wi-Fi gets 70 Mbps down and 60 Mbps up from campus and about half of that from home. On a straight Gig-E link to my PC and when no one is around, I'd get much closer to the full gig.

(In truth, I'm not sure that I believe the SpeedTest.Net numbers as I didn't think that the USB-to-Gig-E link would be that fast. Also, I've seen screen caps (linked from this reddit discussion) from our students showing greater than 1 Gbps in their dorm rooms, which seems unlikely given that they only have 1 Gbps ports. Still, having your own 1 Gbps port with no throttling is pretty nice!)