I just bought a 2 year old phone and couldn't be happier!

[richard_rsp]

Just a quick Lumia 822 'love story' -

Backstory: I had a Lumia 925 on ATT that was fantastic. Well, I loved the phone, but not the service. So when we switched to Verizon this past May, I decided to 'upgrade' to the Lumia Icon on the Verizon Edge plan.

Well, to make a long story short, I didn't have as great of experience with the Icon as I did with the Lumia 925. As I dabble in development of work apps, I had upgraded the Icon (like I did the 925) to Developer's preview. Unfortunately, the Icon didn't seem to like DP, as I had numerous issues with overheating, rebooting, and overall, it just didn't seem like it was worth the $25 a month I was paying through Edge. This actually led me to get so frustrated that I left the WP platform altogether and ended up 'edging up' to an Android HTC One M8. Well, that was a mistake. Before the 14 day return policy was up - I realized that the HTC wasn't worth the money either. Since I no longer had my Icon, I decided to look at what I could get for cheap to hold me over until I decided which phone to get . This led to picking up a Lumia 822 on Amazon for ~$100.

16GB of storage with SD? Check.
Wireless charging? Check.
8MP Camera? Check.
No contract or monthly phone payments (Edge)?? check!
Smooth running OS???? CHECK!

Wait. What?

It was how smooth the 822 runs 8.1DP that really surprised me. Everything flows pretty much just as easy as the Icon did. All my apps, no problems. While I don't play many games, the 822 has been able to run everything I have tried so far. Now, the screen has been a bit of a downgrade, but everything on the 822 is 100% worth the money that I paid. Overall, I am much happier with the value of the 822 versus the Icon.

So, I just wanted to make my opinion known: The Lumia 822 is one of the best values for phones that you can buy. So, if you are looking on this forum and trying to decide if you should buy one - do!

 

[dby2011]

Totally agree, my 822 is running fantastic with the latest 8.1.1 dev preview. Just put in a 128gb sdcard and everything is running great. My only complaint is the camera-it's slow and I get frustrated missing good shots because it takes too long. I am looking forward to seeing what the 830 is like but I am not sure that will even be an option on Verizon. However, I have been more frustrated lately with missing some apps and am questioning if I will even stay with Windows Phone. The 822 is probably the best overall Windows Phone that has ever been out in my opinion.

 

[Cryio]

The 822 is better in specs than the international 820. Too bad of its design

 

[SpaceyO]

Love my 822...been running the DP of 8.1 since Day 1, it's smooth as butter.

Only complaint is the camera...I could use a few more megapixels and/or Pureview...I have fairly shaky hands and low light pics are next to impossible for me.

I'm planning on jumping to the Icon as soon as upgrade time arrives in January. Hoping Denim will be out by then so I can make use of the 4K and the Rich Capture stuff...

 

[richard_rsp]

My only complaint is the camera-it's slow and I get frustrated missing good shots because it takes too long. I am looking forward to seeing what the 830 is like but I am not sure that will even be an option on Verizon.

I think this is the case for almost all Windows Phones. My Icon had quite a bit of delay between pressing the button and it taking the picture. I am sure it is probably a bit slower on the 822 though.

As far as the 830 goes, I think it could be a great phone as long as a) its not very expensive; and b) it actually comes to Verizon. Interested in seeing the 735 too, but Im not sure about the camera.

 

[SpaceyO]

Denim is supposed to take care of slow cameras on all Lumias, I believe...

 

[Bodeanicus]

Best bang for the buck in Windows Phone, in my opinion. You can find them all day long on eBay for $100, or less.

 

[jschmons]

Hi. I also ran across the 822 with 8.1 update scenario recently and am just about to pull the trigger. The one thing that I need to nail down is that I want to use the phone on a Verizon MNVO like PagePlus or the new RedPocket CDMA-v plans. My question is this... If I am willing to live with just CDMA and no 4GLTE do I still need to purchase a sim card? Your advice is appreciated.

 

[richard_rsp]

Hmmm. I'm not real sure jschmons. When they set mine up, they did so with the SIM card. I don't see anyway to change it to 'just CDMA' in the settings, but maybe someone else will chime in who knows more about it.

 

[jschmons]

Thanks for the reply but who is they? Are you on a verizon plan and did you go through a verizon store or prepaid MVNO? Thanks

 

[richard_rsp]

Whoops! Sorry, yes I am on a post-paid plan with Verizon. When I got my 822 from Amazon, I had to go get a SIM from the local Verizon store and they activated it for me (on my existing line) free of charge.

Posted via the Windows Phone Central App for Android

 

[jairo4]

Hi robert!

I bought a 822 too not very long ago from Amazon (great price) and I would like to try DP 8.1.1 but I don't know if there are weird bugs or something. Can you tell us what apps do you use? Is Here maps (and Here drive+) working for you?

 

[richard_rsp]

Hi robert!
...I don't know if there are weird bugs or something. Can you tell us what apps do you use? Is Here maps (and Here drive+) working for you?

I'm not sure if you are asking me (I'm Richard), but I haven't really ran into any issues (yet) with the 822. While my previous Lumia (Icon) did have some overheating issues, etc, I haven't experienced those on the 822.

Here maps and Here drive+ work fine. So does Facebook, Twitter, Glympse, ESPN Scorecenter, Nokia Camera, OneNote, Yelp, etc etc. Everything I have tried works so far.

Overall, Windows Phone DP 8.1 runs really smooth on the 822 and I don't think you would be disappointed - but if you do try, you can always go back to 8.0 if need-be using the Nokia recovery tool.

 

[jschmons]

Thanks for the clarification! and good luck with the phone

 

[Richard Culverhouse]

"I just bought a 2-year old phone.."... So did 10 million Apple users with the iToy 6 lol

 

[SpaceyO]

 

[jairo4]

I'm not sure if you are asking me (I'm Richard), but I haven't really ran into any issues (yet) with the 822. While my previous Lumia (Icon) did have some overheating issues, etc, I haven't experienced those on the 822.

Here maps and Here drive+ work fine. So does Facebook, Twitter, Glympse, ESPN Scorecenter, Nokia Camera, OneNote, Yelp, etc etc. Everything I have tried works so far.

Overall, Windows Phone DP 8.1 runs really smooth on the 822 and I don't think you would be disappointed - but if you do try, you can always go back to 8.0 if need-be using the Nokia recovery tool.

I misread badly Richard, please accept my sincere apologies. (I think I should stop posting late at night lol)

I registered just after reading your post because I'm new with WP and got a 822 too (a 820 is like 3x more in this country) but I haven't tried DP yet because I read somewhere that some apps didn't work ok (like Here Maps/Drive+ and FM radio) and even background apps didn't update (Twitter/Facebook/Instagram).

Please keep us updated about your DP/822 experience, thanks for your answer!

Greetings!

 

[DavidinCT]

My only complaint is the camera-it's slow and I get frustrated missing good shots because it takes too long.

Nothing new....it happened on my 822, 928 and even my ICON, the camera is slow as crap. It's a Nokia thing...Well, the Denim update is said to address that....one can hope..

I WOULD take any Nokia camera than any "i" camera...

 

[xFalk]

Got my 822 twenty-two months ago. While I'll be able to switch phones come December, I love my 822 and see no reason to switch given the current line up on Verizon. I do want a better and more responsive camera and a larger sized phone. But I'm probably going to stick it out until (hopefully no longer than) spring of 2015 when a flagship Windows 10 phone gets announced. But for a 2 year old phone the 822 still does a good job standing up to the current new ones.

 

[SpaceyO]

I misread badly Richard, please accept my sincere apologies. (I think I should stop posting late at night lol)

I registered just after reading your post because I'm new with WP and got a 822 too (a 820 is like 3x more in this country) but I haven't tried DP yet because I read somewhere that some apps didn't work ok (like Here Maps/Drive+ and FM radio) and even background apps didn't update (Twitter/Facebook/Instagram).

Please keep us updated about your DP/822 experience, thanks for your answer!

Greetings!

HERE Maps/Drive+ and FM radio work fine on my 822 with DP 8.1.1.

I use Tweetium and Facebook Beta for those networks, and those work just fine.