Am I the only one not impressed with the 900?

[gsquared]

Not only am I not impressed with the 900 I am becomming very disillusioned with Nokia period. The only phone I want is a white Lumia 800 RM-819. Can I actually buy one? No....

Though I've been hearing about it for almost a year now, I personally have not seen a single product from this company.

I have put 25% of my retirement into this company's stock and I'm beginning to wonder if that was not a huge mistake.

For the time being I've decided to keep using my 1st Gen Focus. I'm very tired of playing this anticipation game.

 

[ljkelley]

I'm going to throw a monkey in the wrench. I have a Lumia 800 and a Focus S if I was home I would take a video but I'm not so I can't. If I hold them side by side flick both screens the same the Lumia 800 goes all the way to the bottom of my tiles where as the Focus S only makes it about 3/4 of the way down. I propose that the difference you guys are seeing is because of the difference in screen size. The distance your finger travels on the screen on a larger screen device is less than on a smaller screen device. Get it?! On a smaller screen device you are going to move the screen a longer distance because you are accentually telling the screen to scroll further because of the number of pixels/screen rel estate you are dragging your thumb across. Thoughts?

I agree with this thought. I did the opposite going from an HD7 to a Lumia 710 and thought the 710 was faster but it could just be the smaller screen.

In addition people saying the 900 is just a 800 with a larger screen miss the point. Yes a lot of the internals are the same. But LTE is new and could have its issues if it uses more CPU or is buggy at first. But the bigger difference is the larger screen that will effect the feel of a touch device even if it is the same pixels and what Dave said is probably very true. A larger screen has less pixels that touch your hand on WP. Android doesn't have this problem as much since the resolutions varies.

What I would do is try to compare the Focus S and 900. I am probably going to an AT&T store tomorrow and will test things. But beyond testing scrolling, test app launch times etc... that will give you a more thorough test of responsiveness.

 

[J4rrod]

Check my thread "There is no lag" for an explanation of this "lag" ya'll are talking about. It isn't lag at all.

 

[PhilR8]

So, update.

I went to a different AT&T store and asked to see the Lumia 900. The girl who greeted me seemed a little surprised that I asked about the 900 and she didn't seem sure that she was allowed to show me one, but she found a coworker who let me look at his phone (she left hers at home or something). Her coworker gave me a black 900 that looked to be in very good shape, which was a relief compared to my experience in the mall store. The screen looked perfect and the device just looked great (although the silver camera band was still kind of scratched up).

So I went about putting it through its paces. The scrolling speed was the same - slower than I was used to and even a little jagged at times. However, I went through all of my normal everyday tasks and the 900 was very quick when browsing around the device. I pulled out my Arrive and did side-by-side tests of everything I normally do, and the 900 smoked my Arrive every time. It was much quicker opening just about everything. Sometimes the devices reacted at the same speed but most of the time the 900 was very very quick.

It was almost unreal to see how much better the screen of the 900 is compared to my Arrive. The devices I used last week were so covered in grime and oil and grossness that I wasn't really able to appreciate the screen properly - the devices I played with today were very clean and the screens looked awesome. The black 900 had the screen brightness set to automatic, so I went into the settings and turned the brightness to high - and wow. I put it next to my Arrive and was just amazed at how ****ty my Arrive looked next to it.

I tried the camera and took a few pics around the store and it still seemed really underwhelming to me. I guess that's just the way it is. Although I'm looking around the web at iPhone 4S sample shots and I guess they aren't that much better.

The scrolling issue still bugs me, though. My Arrive just KILLED the 900 when it came to scrolling through the start menu and the app list. I took Dave Blake's advice and tried to see if I could time my fingers to start at the bottom of each device's screen and scroll up so that my finger reached the top of each device's screen at the same time, but that didn't seem to make a difference. I usually just give the screen a really quick, violent flick with my thumb anyway so the travel shouldn't make a difference.

So: loved the screen, really warmed up to the build quality, was really impressed with the overall speed at which apps loaded, and was generally impressed with the Nokia apps. Camera still seems disappointing and the scrolling speed still bugs me.

And yet I plunked down $100 and pre-ordered a Cyan 900 after I was finished playing with it. Seeya, Sprint.

 

[blehblehbleh]

So, update.
...
The devices I used last week were so covered in grime and oil and grossness that I wasn't really able to appreciate the screen properly - the devices I played with today were very clean and the screens looked awesome.
...

This is what I'm going to suggest as well. There have been times where the dirtiness of my face or whatever else has affected the ability of the screen from sensing my finger taps. Just throwing that out there as something else to keep in mind.

Edit:
Okay so I looked up a YouTube vid from a PhoneDog review between the Focus S and the Lumia 710. The url I'm putting shows a moment where Sydney flicks the phone. On camera it does look like the Nokia acts a bit funky. Is that what everyone is talking about?

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=OldnjRCKhPU#t=304s

 

[PhilR8]

Okay so I looked up a YouTube vid from a PhoneDog review between the Focus S and the Lumia 710. The url I'm putting shows a moment where Sydney flicks the phone. On camera it does look like the Nokia acts a bit funky. Is that what everyone is talking about?

Link: Samsung Focus S vs. Nokia Lumia 710 Dogfight Part 2 - YouTube

I really don't think so, but I haven't actually played with a 710 to check. The scrolling looks fast on the 710 and any choppy-ness I just chalk up to the fact that it's on video. Once my pre-order arrives, I think I'm going to make a video with my Arrive and 900 side-by-side and we'll see if anything is noticeable.

 

[Dave Blake]

A quick tech note

[NOTE]Definition of Face Grease

The slime that builds up on your phone screen usually caused by holding your phone to your face. It can also be caused by dirty fingers. Pocket lint can greatly increase the affect.[/NOTE]

 

[erike3198]

2nd Gen devices scroll slower than first Gen. My focus was WAY snappier to scroll than my Focus S. You get used to it real fast and its no issue at all. I would not change my mind on the 900 because of this or i would have stayed with my Focus over my Focus S

 

[wheelerk]

I'm going to throw a monkey in the wrench. I have a Lumia 800 and a Focus S if I was home I would take a video but I'm not so I can't. If I hold them side by side flick both screens the same the Lumia 800 goes all the way to the bottom of my tiles where as the Focus S only makes it about 3/4 of the way down. I propose that the difference you guys are seeing is because of the difference in screen size. The distance your finger travels on the screen on a larger screen device is less than on a smaller screen device. Get it?! On a smaller screen device you are going to move the screen a longer distance because you are accentually telling the screen to scroll further because of the number of pixels/screen rel estate you are dragging your thumb across. Thoughts?

Great point Dave. Finally someone using their brain housing group. I saw the same thing when I went from using my Focus (4" display) to my Titan (4.7" display). The scrolling speed difference is Hugh. The Titan doesn't compare and it all has to do with the screen size. Yet theTitan is still very smooth.

So I wouldn't worry about the lumia's performance. It will be there.

 

[cp2_4eva]

So will the pre-orders ship to a store or to my home address? And if it is a store, will they call me?

Mine was order through my wife premier corporate account online. Not at the store.

 

[LaNiQuE]

i dont have any other windows phones to go by but when a rep let me play with his lumia last weekend i scrolled alot and it flet fine to me not slow or fast what i wish ive done was to click on a few things cause i hate to have to keep pressing on my screen tryin to load an app though none of these issues is going to change my mind about getting it not to many things could