Comparable replacement for the Lumia 810

[kiselblat]

Hello. I thought it might be a good idea to start a thread about possible replacements for the 810. I've owned mine for a little over a year (got it right after launch from the Microsoft store), and it's probably one of my favorite phones ever. I like it more than my 710, but a little less then the Dell Venue Pro I came on to Windows Phone with. So I'm curious, what is it you like about the 810, and is there an acceptable alternative available for the T-Mobile network (I'm not above using an unlocked phone), or is there some hot new phone I haven't heard of just around the corner I should stick it out for?

Thanks from a longtime lurker,

kiselblat

 

[xandros9]

Well, you can upgrade up to the Lumia 925, which is a bit larger, or the value-priced 521, which is smaller. (those are the models available directly carried by T-Mo)

If you really like the 820 series, you can spring for an unlocked 820 or other phone, as long as its unlocked. You may or may not get 3G, LTE, both although it depends where you are, what bands are supported by the phone you get.

Since T-Mo is GSM, any unlocked Lumia should work, the question is just to what extent.

 

[kiselblat]

Cool, thanks friend. I just thought I'd see if the 810 community here was eyeing something specifically. Figured we'd all have similar tastes since we went for the same phone. The 820 sure looks good to me, but I'll probably want to look in to how well supported it is. I didn't think that a full 18 months (from launch, no less) of support and updates was asking too much, but since T-Mobile seems to disagree maybe I need to rethink my definition of "reasonable".

 

[smurfercom]

Even though I switched over to the 925 I may return it. The 810 is just a better phone mainly due to the SD card storage. Not oly that the 925suffers from the dim screen syndrome. The 810 doesn't have this issue plus the rubberized shell. The925 feels like it wants to slip out of my hand it's to smooth and silky which makes it super slippery in the hand.

 

[metalchick719]

I think the 822 would be a great replacement for the 810. It's basically the same phone with a different form factor and 16GB of internal storage. I'd say that's a pretty fair trade-off. Of course, you could always go the route I did and get an unlocked Rogers 920.

 

[worldspy99]

Even though I switched over to the 925 I may return it. The 810 is just a better phone mainly due to the SD card storage. Not oly that the 925suffers from the dim screen syndrome. The 810 doesn't have this issue plus the rubberized shell. The925 feels like it wants to slip out of my hand it's to smooth and silky which makes it super slippery in the hand.

Agreed 100%, I sold my 925 after using it for a week and am quite happy with my 810.

 

[worldspy99]

I think the 822 would be a great replacement for the 810. It's basically the same phone with a different form factor and 16GB of internal storage. I'd say that's a pretty fair trade-off. Of course, you could always go the route I did and get an unlocked Rogers 920.

822 does not work well on T-Mo for SMS/MMS issues. I have listed those issues in the 822 forums. SMS can be made to work 100% of the time by setting the data speed to 2G and then toggle back to LTE for surfing. MMS is a known problem on T-MO. On AT&T both seem to work on the 822 without issues and there are multiple threads with the correct APN listings for AT&T or Straight Talk.

 

[worldspy99]

Hello. I thought it might be a good idea to start a thread about possible replacements for the 810. I've owned mine for a little over a year (got it right after launch from the Microsoft store), and it's probably one of my favorite phones ever. I like it more than my 710, but a little less then the Dell Venue Pro I came on to Windows Phone with. So I'm curious, what is it you like about the 810, and is there an acceptable alternative available for the T-Mobile network (I'm not above using an unlocked phone), or is there some hot new phone I haven't heard of just around the corner I should stick it out for?

Thanks from a longtime lurker,

kiselblat

My 2 cents is get an unlocked Lumia 920 from Rogers, you should get full 4G/LTE on that phone. Not to mention Lumia Black! I am running GDR3 on my 810 and absolutely loving it.

 

[unstoppablekem]

Well, you can upgrade up to the Lumia 925, which is a bit larger, or the value-priced 521, which is smaller. (those are the models available directly carried by T-Mo)

If you really like the 820 series, you can spring for an unlocked 820 or other phone, as long as its unlocked. You may or may not get 3G, LTE, both although it depends where you are, what bands are supported by the phone you get.

Since T-Mo is GSM, any unlocked Lumia should work, the question is just to what extent.

Thisssssss

 

[smurfercom]

My 2 cents is get an unlocked Lumia 920 from Rogers, you should get full 4G/LTE on that phone. Not to mention Lumia Black! I am running GDR3 on my 810 and absolutely loving it.

Yea I agree even though I told myself I would never buy another locked phone, the 925 has everything I want in a phone as far as features. She worked flawless today in the field FM reception was pretty darn good and Nokia's player is just sooo much better than ms player. Feels like nothing in the pocket compared to the 810, now I don't have to deal with my Sansa clip zip anymore to listen to radio while I'm working. I usually kept the 810 in the truck while working so I always missed calls it was pretty clunky in the pocket and you can definitely feel it like a pendulum. The 925 feels like a feather and I don't even notice I'm carrying a phone.

I think I'll keep it for the time being, I'll pay it off in a few months and hope MSFT comes out with a phone with real storage batt pulls and Intel cpu's. 925 makes a good fill in for now.... I'll keep the 810 in the truck and just use it for entertainment/movie watching and the 925 will be strictly a business phone because LTE speeds benefits researching in the field when you need fast info, and WiFi calling is still important to me. And the Nokia cam app with this phone takes really good pics I was pretty amazed at default settings with no flash. This is important in my field when I need to take pics of different kinds of equipment and such.

Even if they killed support for this phone tomorrow I would still use it due to the built in features alone, and how well it works in the field. As far as performance and getting things done the 925 is a better phone for business purposes and light in the pocket. 810 is a better entertainment tool and can also be used as a blunt instrument if you ever get into trouble lol. Anyway that's my take on the 925 and yes tmob got me with their buy out contract and sleazy payment plan oh well....

 

[AUCLABruin]

You can also get a unlocked pentaband Samsung ATIV S, which has many features such as a large screen and SD card usage. There is less support by Samsung for WP than Nokia, but updates have come to their phones.

 

[Nogitsune Micah]

I remember my 810 lol. I've since moved on to the 1520 with ATT but if I was in your shoes, I would likely try to get an unlocked 920. The 925 is a great phone but it has less storage and I am not sure if it has the SD card support. I love the design though but it is essentially tmobiles version of the 920 and you can easily find a 920 unlocked cheaper than the 925, ironically since the 920 seems to be the better phone in most cases.

My little brother loves his Lumia 810 aka my old one.

 

[metalchick719]

My 2 cents is get an unlocked Lumia 920 from Rogers, you should get full 4G/LTE on that phone. Not to mention Lumia Black! I am running GDR3 on my 810 and absolutely loving it.

Black isn't available yet for the Rogers 920.

 

[ThaKrazyOne]

I plan on going the same route and getting an unlocked Pentaband 920 or 1020. The 925 looks like a capable device, but I need the space. 16GB is just not enough for apps, music and movies. Both the 920 and 1020 have 32GB onboard. That's the main reason I loved the 810 because of the microSD slot.

 

[worldspy99]

I got an HTC 8X 16GB a couple of days ago. I plan to start using that next week. I also got a 920 unlocked and let's see how that goes. My current daily driver is a GDR3 Lumia 810. Folks even if you do not get Lumia Black you can get GDR3 from MSFT. See my thread in the 810 Forums for installing GDR3. So we can use the exact same method to update the 810 to WP8.1, carrier be damned!

 

[ThaKrazyOne]

Is there any major advantage to updatind to dev gdr3 and black? I know that you can no longer go back to original settings once you go dev os

 

[worldspy99]

For me here are two reasons:
1. My phone was out of warranty so any changes were going to be my responsibility anyway
2. I really like the GDR3 features - auto mode, pressing X to close the apps.

 

[ThaKrazyOne]

I see that GDR3 also includes custom tones for notifications, e-mail, text messages etc... How is that working out. Aside from the app switcher, that's the option I want most

 

[worldspy99]

I see that GDR3 also includes custom tones for notifications, e-mail, text messages etc... How is that working out. Aside from the app switcher, that's the option I want most

I ccan't help you on the ringtone and notification tone issue because my phone is perpetually in silent or vibrate mode.

 

[Angry_Mushroom]

Considering we just got screwed out of any kind of further updates for the 810. Go for an unlocked phone. I'm done playing the carrier game. I'd say go for an international version of the 925. You might snag yourself a 32 gig model even.