Some questions about Nokia Lumia 920 before buying

[LumiaDream]

Hello, I've been waiting for months for this phone to be released in Israel, and as its release gets closer and closer I need to be sure about a couple of things before I spend half a month's work on this phone (costs $1074 unlocked here, which is REALLY expensive) .

1- What is the deal with the Gmail / Microsoft thing? how does that affect me? I know the tech part but on day-to-day use, am I able to get notifications when an email arrives on my Gmail? I currently forward all my gmails to Outlook and will be using outlook on the phone so obviously I have no problem, but a friend of mine who is in above his head in Google's ecosystem will be switching to Windows phone, I think I will have a lot of explaining to do if he doesn't get real-time notifications for incoming mail.

2- The camera. I know it's absolutely insane in low-light, and let's be honest, the iPhone 5/4s camera's ARE the ones to beat. How does the Lumia 920 's (post-patch) camera stack up against the iPhone 5's camera in normal conditions? I've seen a lot of pics but I'd like to hear from you. I'm not a knowledgeable person in taking photos, the best I know how to do is make the camera focus on my object of choice.

3- I've read here on the forums that quite a bit of people have issues with their phones, be it freezes / restarts / battery issues. I know that usually people who have issues are much, much more vocal but I'd like to hear from people who have no issues, just to sleep better at night

This is indeed my first post, but I have followed this website since its inception, and I've watched it grow better and become a real powerhouse in the mobile world, so congratz on that and salutes to this lovely community

 

[Dzyen]

1 - Google doesn't want to give Microsoft apps or rights to create apps which use Google's services (the ongoing feud which is getting ridiculous). So far, integrated Gmail works quite well with push notifications and whatnot. However, Google just recently announced it's disabling Gmail via ActiveSync post Jan. 30'th, which REALLY sucks. Microsoft says IMAP gmail will still work, though.

2- The camera destroys the iPhone 5's camera, ESPECIALLY in low light, and will only continue to do so as the software for it is updated.That's what held it back on initial release, but the most recent update has already addressed a few of the issues users had, so they are paying attention! Just don't expect it to perform better than a DSLR or something; a lot of people seem to be getting the wrong idea due to all the hype and advertising revolved around the camera.

3- Battery issues *generally* go away after some use of the phone / calibration of the battery through charging and whatnot. Some don't even have any issues. The oddball phone can always be returned/exchanged for a working one. That's just common sense I hope !

This phone is pretty amazing. Being a regular user of both the iOS platform and the Blackberry platform, I have to say I have the most enriched experience using my Lumia. That's obviously personal preference, and you'll only get a good feel of that after using it for a few days or even testing it out in stores! :amaze:

 

[SergeMcG]

1. I use IMAP and it works so well I'm not feeling let down. Youtube, working well thanks to how WP is made. Anyways, Google made a very bad move and will move away form his apps and services at my first chance. This one! Bought my personal custom URL and from now on I don't want to depend on any providers @gmail @outlook @anyone..
Now even maps are not accessible. It really sucks but it proves Nokia has much much better maps!

2. The camera is very good and technically superior to iPhone and Androids. Even with mechanical stabilisation + very good in low light! White balance is very often spot-on even with challenging light conditions. I'm so used to professional cameras that even with the best camera phone (Lumia 920 and N8) I feel it is not good enough.. ;-) I have to say, it is a phone and it has a small sensor and a small lens but again, it is a phone, and with that in mind it is incredible what they have achieved with Lumia 920.

3. Mine doesn't freeze, is smooth. Works like a charm. Love it! Complains about iPhone and Androids are many as well. I just read about a guy who has problems with his iPhone freezing, rebooting, etc. I have 3 friends all moving from Apple to Nokia Lumia 920. They had enough of the luck of innovation and don't bother about less apps, as they found out that those available are often even better than they are used to.

Today I showed an Android owner what I can do with my Nokia 920 and they were impressed to the point of thinking they should shift to Nokia. Most of iPhone and Android owners don't know what the Lumia 920 can do yet so they still think they have the best phones. Market share is not an index of quality and capabilities, and MSFT/Nokia one (IMO) can only increase.

 

[karmamule]

1. The live tile works well for knowing if you have mail waiting for you, and you can set to sync "as items arrive" so the notifications come very quickly. (And I do NOT have battery issues when I use this setting!) I also love that the mail app lets me seamlessly merge mail accounts, and the "Unread" column is so VERY handy, you can really speed through all the previously unviewed e-mails very quickly which is essential given the mass of e-mails I get every day.

2. I think the camera is pretty unequivocally tops in the cell phone arena for low-light photos. It is a touch soft in daylight photos, but I still think it takes gorgeous pictures for the most part, and am very happy with it overall. Cinemagraphs are fun, I really like how the "lenses" tie in, Nokia Creative Studio is very nice for quick "instagram-like" effects as well as more detailed editing. Video quality is also excellent because of the optical stabilization.

3. My battery life took a couple weeks to settle down, but once it did it is EXCELLENT overall. Every once in a while an app can run hot and make it drain fast (e.g. Photobeamer or Nokia Drive), but as long as I keep an eye after using one of them I could easy go 1 1/2 days on a single charge even with fairly steadying messaging, e-mail checking, light browsing and even a few pictures. Best cell phone I've had for battery life. The wireless charging is frosting on the cake because when I do have to charge it, just tossing it on the pad without futzing with a connector is a lazy person's delight.

Mine also has excellent build quality and none of the other gripes I've seen mentioned, so overall I'm extremely happy with mine!

 

[realwarder]

IMAP works fine with Google. Non-issue.

Camera is not as perfect as I expected, but then I have $1000+ DSLR. However it blows my iPhone 4 out of the water completely and the image stabilization is excellent.

Some annoyances with battery life. But battery life looks to be software issues so I'd expect they'll get sorted.

Overall I love it compared to my iPhone. Interface is quicker and feels more intuitive. Camera takes great videos. Recommend it.

 

[ynight]

Others pretty much answered your first two questions enough, but yea, imap works and the camera is there to be a bar. It wouldn't provide that a constant performance as a well tweaked DSLR, meaning you will get good pics and bad pics, but the goods are really great and bads are rare. Video and low light is unbeatable, no need to say.

I do have some comments about hardware issues or the like about the phone. My battery is as good as I expected, but after the portico update my phone starts to do auto shut down and restart every once a while ( one or two times a week). I haven't experienced that before the update, so hopefully they will sort this out later as I'm to lazy to do a hard reset( probably gonna solve the problem). The overall quality is awesome if you don't happen to get a defect unit. But still, you may need to stand issues here and there before a new update get them sorted. I'm hoping we will get another update when portico rolling out worldwide next month. I mean we get that update 2.5 months earlier than the rest of the world, it probably is like a test run on us and MS/NOK can take their time to tweak the software more..

 

[LumiaDream]

Thank you all for your replies, much appreciated. In these times it is pretty difficult to part with a large sum of money for a phone, and even harder to justify it to my wife but I think I will order us two Lumias, and hope for the best.

 

[ynight]

Thank you all for your replies, much appreciated. In these times it is pretty difficult to part with a large sum of money for a phone, and even harder to justify it to my wife but I think I will order us two Lumias, and hope for the best.

well if you take pictures a lot, that alone should make the investment worthwhile. The month with lumia 920 gives me more photos in my favorite folder than the whole year before with my ip4s

 

[david90531]

Thank you all for your replies, much appreciated. In these times it is pretty difficult to part with a large sum of money for a phone, and even harder to justify it to my wife but I think I will order us two Lumias, and hope for the best.

I think you'll love it. I'm glad I stayed with WP this time around. Nokia X Microsoft really did it for me this time. Loving my L920, every phone will have its short comings and "bugs", but all in all I have no complaints what so ever about my phone

 

[SergeMcG]

Adding to my previous post there are two things that I miss the most.

1) One is syncing SMSs with the laptop. That's not only for back up reason. I mean, with my "old" N8 I was able to send SMSs from my laptop via Nokia Suite. Now that's not possible (possibly thanks to Microsoft?). That's really missed when I need to write a long SMS or not to use my mobile phone when my manager is around.. :unhappysweat:

2) Nokia Walk. Yes, there is still the walk capability but in Lumia 920 the map doesn't rotate as a compass. It stays fixed and you can waste a lot of time finding what direction you should really take.. It was a plus with the N8, I was showing off to all iPhone and Android user. Why they missed it on Lumia 920, I don't know.

Anyone who has found any alternatives for point number one? (apologies if this question is off topic)

 

[ttsoldier]

Thank you all for your replies, much appreciated. In these times it is pretty difficult to part with a large sum of money for a phone, and even harder to justify it to my wife but I think I will order us two Lumias, and hope for the best.

Remember, a happy wife is a happy life

 

[ynight]

Adding to my previous post there are two things that I miss the most.

1) One is syncing SMSs with the laptop. That's not only for back up reason. I mean, with my "old" N8 I was able to send SMSs from my laptop via Nokia Suite. Now that's not possible (possibly thanks to Microsoft?). That's really missed when I need to write a long SMS or not to use my mobile phone when my manager is around.. :unhappysweat:

2) Nokia Walk. Yes, there is still the walk capability but in Lumia 920 the map doesn't rotate as a compass. It stays fixed and you can waste a lot of time finding what direction you should really take.. It was a plus with the N8, I was showing off to all iPhone and Android user. Why they missed it on Lumia 920, I don't know.

Anyone who has found any alternatives for point number one? (apologies if this question is off topic)

I have an answer for your first question. When you ar in situations calling sms on computer, just grab your pc and type in hotmail.com or outlook.com whichever you use as your microsoft account, and scroll down the left pane till you find lable Quick View. There's something called contacts under it and click that. Bang! all your sms are stored there nice and easy..