What a fantastic phone!

[drbanks]

I've been using an HTC 8X since November, and while I am generally happy with it, its crippling lack of storage makes it almost useless as a media player.

So, I picked up a Lumia 521 just because I could, and put a 64GB micro SD in it.

While I still have some issues with using WP8 as a media player (mainly that the Audible app sucks and is broken in almost every way), I have unexpectedly come to like the 521 better than the 8X.

What a brilliant little phone this is!

Thinking of swapping SIMs and making it my daily driver

 

[mase123987]

It truly is the ultimate entry level smartphone! I have already gotten two people to buy them.

 

[anon(6038817)]

I agree, I didn't expect it to be as good as it is for the price. You can't find a better smartphone under $150.

 

[wp_fan_central]

What do you like about it better than the 8X? I had the 8X for about a week but returned it - I just didn't like the design - the edges dug in when typing, uncomfortable to hold for a long period of time.

 

[Musicman247]

Ordered one for my wife and have been using it myself for half a day. This is my first experience with WP8 (have had 7.8 devices up until now) and have got to say I'm impressed. This little phone is great! I'll be using it as my daily driver until I can buy the 925, then my wife can have it.

 

[drbanks]

What do I like about it better than the 8X?

1) I can put a Micro SD in it, and can therefore fit my regular restricted music playlist on it. Can't do that in the 8X's 16GB, and there's no way to upgrade
2) The wake/sleep button on the 8X is impossible to feel, and feels as if I'm pressing on an undifferentiated part of the case. Very clumsy and unsatisfying. The 521, on the other hand, has a nice clear to find button on the side
3) Being a Nokia device, comes with a full suite of Nokia apps, many of which aren't available on the HTC
4) Removable/replaceable battery
5) The 8X is a jewel/comfortable to hold, but the 521 just being smaller and lighter is even nicer (for me)
6) The fancy ultra-touch Nokia "you can use it with your gloves on" screen
7) WIth the raised buttons, I just don't find myself accidentally hitting the search/Bing or camera buttons by mistake nearly as often
8) Better standby battery life.

Things that I don't like compared to the 8X:

1) Lower res screen, but to be honest, I don't much notice the difference
2) The screen seems to collect more oil/crud
3) It doesn't have the green LED to tell me when it's fully charged

These are the differences that really matter to me. There are obvious other differences, like no NFC, no compass, no flash, no front facing camera, but the cameras on the 8X suck so bad it really isn't a step down, and I just don't use NFC anyway.