New to Nokia 928 and Windows 8.

[Niall928]

I just recently bought a Nokia 928; it's my first Windows 8 Phone. I previously used an Apple iPhone 4 for about two years. Before that an HTC HD2 (POS) for a few months. Then early on, spent a few years with various Blackberries. I tried the HTC Thunderbolt and returned it for the iPhone. I am looking to get two or more years out of the Nokia 928. My complaints may not be valid at the moment, as I am use to iOS after 2+ years. I will start with positive and then list a few of my immediate complaints. With hopes someone with more experience will chime in.

Positive

1. Live Tiles are nice, they show a LOT more information compared to iOS icons.
2. I like how I can arrange them and customize the size to my preference of importance.
3. The lock screen is a lot more useful, with way more info.
4. Wireless charge is a neat concept, have yet to use it.
5. LTE is fantastic, as this is one reason why I purchased a new phone.
6. Camera is nothing short of amazing for a phone (Another reason why I purchased).

Complaints

1. Live Tiles, it's mostly one colour (of your choice). It gives it a bit of a dull feeling and it carries into most of the UI throughout the OS.
2. The OLED screen produces perfect blacks, but bright colours can be over saturated and hurt my eyes.
3. The screen has really good viewing angles, but with a light green tent brought on with a slight angle.
4. I have not used many apps yet, but the YouTube app is rubbish. MetroTube is nice, but I have to pay for $0.99 for it.
5. Signal seems to be lower then my iPhone 4. I yet to determine if its an actual fault or just how the phones read. The Nokia is always getting a 4G signal and seems to be working flawlessly.
6. Microsoft Logo/Home button; seems like the logo is not adhering properly to the underside of the glass. Minor bumbles.
7. Visual Voice Mail, was free on the iPhone 4. Now I have to pay monthly for it?
8. Tethering, this was very easy to do with iOS. It seems to be absent in WP8, it has disappeared in my My Verizon app. I pay for unlimited data and 2 GB of Tethering.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Niall

 

[MobileVortex]

The internet sharing is under the settings. Just turn it on and it creates a wifi hot spot.

 

[RapidTurtle]

Get a few apps like Weave, USA today, CNN, and such. Pin your photo's to home screen and make the tile big. This breaks up the one color problem that you don't like, and makes the screen look great.
MS and Google are supposed to be working together on an app for YouTube.

 

[sinime]

Welcome to WPCentral!

Like said above, there are a couple of apps that show pictures and/or allow you to pick a different color for its tile. Also, you can pin individual contacts to your start screen and it will show their pictures.

 

[MobileVortex]

IMO metrotube is very worth it..

You should have got a free $25 in app credit too =D

 

[crash1989]

Welcome to the world of Windows Phone.

I have solutions to a few of your complaints

You can change the saturation level of the screen to your satisfaction. It should be in the Display + touch in Settings.(I think an update is on the way)
You cannot tether via USB in WP, rather there is an option via Internet sharing as pointed out above. (Wi-FI Hotspot)
MetroTube is a donate based app, you can download the trial and it would be fully functional. If you like the app you can support the dev by purchasing the app.
You have other options like MyTube, PrimeTube etc .. take your pick

Cheers.

 

[hopmedic]

Complaints

1. Live Tiles, it's mostly one colour (of your choice). It gives it a bit of a dull feeling and it carries into most of the UI throughout the OS.
2. The OLED screen produces perfect blacks, but bright colours can be over saturated and hurt my eyes.
3. The screen has really good viewing angles, but with a light green tent brought on with a slight angle.
4. I have not used many apps yet, but the YouTube app is rubbish. MetroTube is nice, but I have to pay for $0.99 for it.
5. Signal seems to be lower then my iPhone 4. I yet to determine if its an actual fault or just how the phones read. The Nokia is always getting a 4G signal and seems to be working flawlessly.
6. Microsoft Logo/Home button; seems like the logo is not adhering properly to the underside of the glass. Minor bumbles.
7. Visual Voice Mail, was free on the iPhone 4. Now I have to pay monthly for it?
8. Tethering, this was very easy to do with iOS. It seems to be absent in WP8, it has disappeared in my My Verizon app. I pay for unlimited data and 2 GB of Tethering.

Glad you like the positives. Here are a few thoughts for you.
2. Supposedly with the Amber update (next month, perhaps?) there will be the ability to adjust the display properties - this should help, if true.
4. Use the $25 app credit and buy MetroTube, or get SuperTube (don't remember if that is free or not). Both are good, I prefer MetroTube. You only have until 6/30 to register for it if you haven't yet. Window Phone App Redemption
5. Different phones use different methods of showing bars, if that's what you're talking about. Remember the antennagate with iPhone (don't remember which model)? One of the fixes was to change the system to show more bars. Unless you're dropping calls or experiencing differences in call quality, you can't really go by how many bars each phone shows. I don't know if that's how you're judging this or not, since you didn't say, but it's a thought.
6. Common problem that lots of us have, and are disappointed with, as well as disappointed with Nokia's response to it. There are threads dedicated to this. Here's one example:
http://forums.windowscentral.com/no...tml?highlight=my+home+soft+key+looks+terrible
7. I've never used it before, but yes, Verizon charges for it so I don't use it. Were you on Verizon with your iPhone using it, or another carrier?
8. If I read you right, you pay extra for tethering on top of the unlimited, so yes, it's in Settings | Internet Sharing, and works very well. Of course speed depends on your location and signal, but I've seen around 30 Mbps on my laptop while tethering. NICE.

Welcome to the WP community. I hope that once you really get used to the phone you love it like many of us do ours.

 

[Niall928]

I did find out how to enable tethering, but its says my current data package does not include internet sharing. When in reality it does, I pay extra for it at nearly $160 total a month. My previous iPhone 4 was also on VZW; I am grandfathered into a Unlimited Data with 2 Gigs of tethering. I will probably stop into a different Verizon store and ask what's going on with the tethering. Also to compare my phone with an display, to see if the light green tent is when viewed at an angle is present on the display model. It's present on mind and does bother me. But I have a feeling its to do with the OLED display technology and something I will have to get use to. I mostly look at the phone straight on anyways.

I am glad MetroTube is free and it is a wonderful app. I was also unaware of the $25 credit and will be sure to donate $0.99 to the developer. I really was not a big app user on the iPhone oddly. I travel a lot for a broke college students budget. Really long road trips camping in my car or outside. So I mostly used Pandora and Netflix; along with banking and news apps. But I am trying a lot more with WP8 then I did with iOS. I even want to try social media sites, something I have yet to try.

I have not looked into the signal issue(?) much. But I feel its how the phones display the signal, I don't think its a problem. Is there a way to display signal in dpm? On the iPhone you could "field test" this by calling *3001#12345#*. But like I said I had yet to really look into it as I feel it probably get just as good signal if not better then the iPhone.

The nasty Microsoft soft key, while annoying is a minor complaint. But $499+ I don't think this problem should exist. But its the "cheapest" of the high end smart phones.

Thanks,
Niall and I just typed this on my Nokia 928

 

[Zigmono]

If you are on unlimited data you probably now have unlimited hotspot with LTE. The 3g unlimited data only had a 2 gig add on feature and cost $20/mo. The unlimited is $30/mo in addition to your $30/mo data plan. Just a tip, since hotspot is a feature it can be turned on or off using the MyVerizon app or the VZW website. VZW will bill you only for the days it is on. Of course, if you're using hotspot all the time you may not want to do this. But, if you only use it on occasion it will save some bucks.

When the feature is activated on VZW, you switch it on or off in the "Internet sharing" setting.

 

[hopmedic]

Just a tip, since hotspot is a feature it can be turned on or off using the MyVerizon app or the VZW website. VZW will bill you only for the days it is on. Of course, if you're using hotspot all the time you may not want to do this. But, if you only use it on occasion it will save some bucks.

Thanks - I didn't know that. I'm on a shared plan, so it's free, but good to know for helping others.

I did find out how to enable tethering, but its says my current data package does not include internet sharing. When in reality it does, I pay extra for it at nearly $160 total a month.

If you pay for tethering and it isn't working, it's going to take a phone call (or a drop-in) to Verizon. I had a similar issue when they enabled it on Trophy, and I called, they made a change, but it didn't work right away. It was late at night so I went to bed, and when I got up in the am it worked.

 

[Niall928]

I went to the local Verizon store today to get a few issues resolved. The guy seemed more annoyed then anything, but he attempted to fix some issues. He was able to get tethering working; something about it getting removed and having to add it back on for an extra $10 a month for my LTE 2 Gigs. I asked about being Unlimited, he pushed it off and said no. He then reset the password to get my voicemail to work (I have yet to been able to use it with this phone), the "default" password does not work and I can no longer log into My Verizon.

I have a few more issues:

1. When opening the task menu, how do you close out an application?
2. When using internet explorer and exiting out to check another application, then going back into internet explorer. The back button no longer web page.
3. I am also starting to get disconnected from LTE down to 3G or even 1x. Only fix I can figure is to toggle Airplane mode to get LTE again.

Thanks,
Niall

 

[hopmedic]

I have a few more issues:

1. When opening the task menu, how do you close out an application?
2. When using internet explorer and exiting out to check another application, then going back into internet explorer. The back button no longer web page.
3. I am also starting to get disconnected from LTE down to 3G or even 1x. Only fix I can figure is to toggle Airplane mode to get LTE again.

1. Either use the back button or press Start. If you press start, the app will be suspended, and you can get to it from the back button. Read this: http://forums.windowscentral.com/wi...naging-background-apps-why-you-dont-need.html
2. This depends on how you leave IE, and how you go back into it. Off the top of my head, I can't recall the pattern.
3. Might be a good idea to talk to Verizon on this. I can't think of anything on it.