Nokia Lumia 930: User Reviews

[Fred Wilson2]

I returned mine after about 2 weeks. I have an 830 now and like it much better.
The 930 was:
- Too heavy
- Too thick
- Got hot with moderate app use, chat apps and the such
- Battery life awful
- Purple bleeding on the screen

It worked fine on AT&T though, just no LTE, which I knew before hand and was/is no problem for me. MMS and Internet sharing worked fine.

The 830 is great for me.

Fred

 

[Elitewolverine]

Have the 930 loving it.

Weight: no problem, seriously its not some old fart brick it weighs .36lbs, even my scronny nerdy self can lift that. the 830 is .33lbs
Thick: again no big the 1020 was thicker or sat funnier
Heat: no problem even in games, at least no hotter than my 925, 8x, s4, z3 and others got
Battery life for me is awesome. Regularly get 12-18hrs of my normal usage before i have to charge it. Plus i am never without some sort of charger. Just last week, i was 40minutes from home, had 4% when i got home, i still had 4%.

Purple, not on the screen but during camera use it does seem to 'flicker', but only in low light.

All in all, going from a 925 to the 930 has been perfect. And the recording is awesome too, pictures just as good as my Z3 as well.

 

[Nokia930usr]

I never owned a smart phone before i bought the 930 so i cannot compare it to anything else .
Love Here maps , i can download the maps and navigate offline . I dont need a dedicated gps device .
The phone looks and feels solid .
I love the tiles on the home screen .
I guess i will love the camera if i ever get denim .
I love the screen clarity .
Only 32 gb storage . Why? Ok i have one drive where i can store 15gb on the cloud sort of doesnt make up for it .
The battery could have been bigger , bigger battery makes the phone larger and heavier , so what .
I dont have any issues with the build quality though like some people .

 

[Gilad Meiri]

My review, after 2 plus months of constant usage and, lately, Denim update:

I'll mention the negatives:

- Battery life is the biggest problem. While Denim might have improved it a little bit, it's still far behind endurance champs like the iPhone 6 plus, Z3 compact, Note 4, Lumia 1520...

- The screen does not know how to ignore unintended touches. Typing on one hand means I graze the screen with the "heel" of my hand, making it change icons and ruining what I was about to type.

- If mediocre battery life isn't bad enough, charging the phone is also very slow. Painfully so. In about 2 plus hours, it charged just over 37% of the battery. (Yes, many settings were "off" and the phone was on standby) That's not just slow, it's anemic.

- The phone itself is heavy and chunky. After I played with the iPhone 6 a little, I felt bad that I had to go back to the Lumia. It just does not feel nearly as comfortable to hold.

- The regional settings you have to adjust to get Cortana are bothersome and frankly unnecessary. They already knew people were simply gonna change the region on their phone to get Cortana, so why be an azzhole about it?

- The settings menu is horribly arranged and make absolutely no sense. It takes a while to get used to where your favorite settings are and how far you have to scroll to access them.

- Brightness adjustment must be in action center. I don't know how they missed that.

- Not certified for water or dust immersion. They should really make sure subsequent Lumias have that.

- Front facing camera is really sub par.

-------------------------------

After a list like that, one might think I don't approve of the 930, but in short: It's one of the 5 best smartphones of 2014. Hands down. User experience is magnificent. The screen is vibrant and has excellent contrast. The Denim camera has made substantial improvements and, while it's not as fun to shoot with as the iPhone, it's more capable. For anything short of professional shoots, I would recommend it. It's great.

Games run smoothly, apps load and close quickly and browsing using explorer is actually fine on my end. I felt no need to download a 3rd party browser. While Cortana has her hits and misses, it's very good for a Beta and probably still better than Google now and Siri as a personal assistant.

Out of a 100, the Lumia 930 gets somewhere around 85-88.

 

[Richard Culverhouse]

@Gilad Meiri
My 930 charges from 10% to 100% in about an hour. Are you using the charger that came with it?

 

[Gilad Meiri]

Yeah, but the charger is British and my country's outlet requires a modifier. An hour? That makes no sense. Do you have quick charge 2.0?

 

[Richard Culverhouse]

Not sure. It is the charger that came with the phone, and it is a hell of alot quicker than the older ones. And perhaps I should have said ' an hour or so'... Never really timed it but is is bloody quick! Also, if I use an older (slower) charger, I get a pop-up on the phone warning me.

 

[Istvan Szitas]

Lumia 930 camera problem

Hi!

I'm a wp user for 3 years from now. I previously had a L920 and I bought a L930 partly because I wanted a good cameraphone. I read great reviews about it and I bought it straightaway. I wasn't impressed. The photos were washed out, lacks contrast and were so soft like i am having a dim lens in front of the sensor.
My brother in law in the meantime bought an iphone 6 and I was devastated watching the differencies between the two. The iphone was way better.
I knew something is not right but I was bow to it up until today when i was walking in an electronic shop. I checked out the lumias and I found out that even the L735 take better photos than my L930 not to mention the L830 and the L930. Same software, same settings and the the differencies were massive. In the shop those lumias had better color, saturation, contrast, detail, everything.

What can be the problem? I bought it in the UK from Phones4u. So it hasn't been used or refurbished.
If anyone had the same, please reply!

 

[Suedezu]

Re: Lumia 930 camera problem

Hi!

I'm a wp user for 3 years from now. I previously had a L920 and I bought a L930 partly because I wanted a good cameraphone. I read great reviews about it and I bought it straightaway. I wasn't impressed. The photos were washed out, lacks contrast and were so soft like i am having a dim lens in front of the sensor.
My brother in law in the meantime bought an iphone 6 and I was devastated watching the differencies between the two. The iphone was way better.
I knew something is not right but I was bow to it up until today when i was walking in an electronic shop. I checked out the lumias and I found out that even the L735 take better photos than my L930 not to mention the L830 and the L930. Same software, same settings and the the differencies were massive. In the shop those lumias had better color, saturation, contrast, detail, everything.

What can be the problem? I bought it in the UK from Phones4u. So it hasn't been used or refurbished.
If anyone had the same, please reply!

Isztvan, I am a photographer, I have been using the 930 for a couple of months and I can honestly say it has the best camera on any phone with the exception of the mighty king of photography, the Lumia 1020.

Check this thread and see for yourself.

 

[Van Damme]

This probably isn't the right topic for this but do you think that in the future Mcrosoft could sell the flagship phones like the 930,1020 and 1520 in a more premium package with more design emphasis and better materials instead of the same box delivered with all the other phones (mid-rangers and low-end)? The surface box design i saw in some reviews looks retty sleek and worthy of a premium product. Apple does a good job too with it's packaging for the iphone, and i saw reviewers praise a lot the packaging for some Oppo phone recently

 

[Vlada Nehez]

This probably isn't the right topic for this but do you think that in the future Mcrosoft could sell the flagship phones like the 930,1020 and 1520 in a more premium package with more design emphasis and better materials instead of the same box delivered with all the other phones (mid-rangers and low-end)? The surface box design i saw in some reviews looks retty sleek and worthy of a premium product. Apple does a good job too with it's packaging for the iphone, and i saw reviewers praise a lot the packaging for some Oppo phone recently

Well to be honest man, I don't really care about the box my phone comes from. Ask I care is about what's in it. I don't really look at the box after the first 30 mins or so.

 

[AndyCalling]

The box has to 1) keep the product safe during transit 2) be easy to open 3) tell me what is inside it effectively. Anything more is a waste to me, I certainly don't want to have to pay for a swankier cardboard box, thanks.

 

[Paul1266]

I couldn't care less about the box although I always store mine safely for when I want to move the phone on. I did prefer the old style boxes but hey ho, its not a deal breaker for me. Had my L930 for a couple of weeks now and love it. Camera is awesome fast since Denim and I could be wrong but the battery seems better too.

 

[Mafiatounes]

I just bought a new 930 a couple of days ago, i had a 930 before but it heated too much and the camera was not that good on initial firmware. So i cheated and bought an iPhone 6 but i kept missing my precious Windows Phone... Now with Denim the camera is actually really good better than i6! Also many apps i like came onboard (Dropbox etc.) now i hope that MS will have a good Windows 10 update soon for my 930 and i will be happy.

 

[captaincalamity]

Having owned practically every Android phone made and all the Iphones, I now own a Nexus 5 android phone, but soon will be returning to my favourite phone of all the Nokia 930.

OK its not perfect, its not the lightest, its not the fastest and definitely not the most popular device out there.

With Windows phone I miss some of the top trending games, google apps and maps, I miss the Appstore and Playstore from Android and iOS, I constantly feel that Microsoft will announce at any moment they are dropping phone support (paranoid nonsense I know).

I miss the tinkering, customisation and ROM flashing of the Android world...

BUT the Windows Phone UI, is just perfect for how I use a phone, having once been a fanatical "Post it" note person, the Pin to start for practically everything is amazing and something that is completely unique, OK with Android you get widgets, which are basically just extensions of the app and Iphone you get the completely useless notification pull down. Also the speed getting from home screen to app on the WP is far nicer and beyond fluid in its integration, finding apps is so simple, swipe, select a letter, find the app, not swipe, swipe swipe back again, where did i put that app. Multi Tasking especially with the 930 works in a similar way to Iphone, yet with the a slight hint towards the usability of the Android system, which is very fast and efficient.

The People Hub on WP, far better than Blink feed on Androids HTC or any app created to bring together Twitter and FB, Ok its not as usable as it was when you could interact with FB posts, but its still so much better and incredibly fluid to use.

Of all the phones I've used outside in direct sunlight the Nokia 930 has to be the easiest to view the screen on, it almost seems to glow in bright sunlight, even my old S5 Samsung which was meant to be the best, didn't come close to the clarity of the Nokias 930 outside.

Dedicated Camera button, OK some of the Xperias and Android phones have these now, but with WP its always been there, the camera is great, but what makes it so much more interesting is the ability to install lens add-ons, which makes so much more sense than having a separate camera app.

Comparing battery life on phones is tricky as many of the latest Android phones have huge 3000mAh Plus which can last easily into two days use, but comparing like with like size ie the Nexus 5, I would say they are comparable if not the Nokia 930 lasting an hour or so longer, charging is definitely faster on the Nokia.

In fact the Nexus 5 is pretty much an identical spec with the same processor, ram, memory, screen size and battery size and of all the Android phones ive owned id say its the best most fluid experience that Android can give, but for me the Pin to start, addictive UI, People Hub and overall experience of the WP Nokia 930 stands out beyond anything Android or iPhone can give me.

 

[Suedezu]

Having owned practically every Android phone made and all the Iphones, I now own a Nexus 5 android phone, but soon will be returning to my favourite phone of all the Nokia 930.

OK its not perfect, its not the lightest, its not the fastest and definitely not the most popular device out there.

With Windows phone I miss some of the top trending games, google apps and maps, I miss the Appstore and Playstore from Android and iOS, I constantly feel that Microsoft will announce at any moment they are dropping phone support (paranoid nonsense I know).

I miss the tinkering, customisation and ROM flashing of the Android world...

BUT the Windows Phone UI, is just perfect for how I use a phone, having once been a fanatical "Post it" note person, the Pin to start for practically everything is amazing and something that is completely unique, OK with Android you get widgets, which are basically just extensions of the app and Iphone you get the completely useless notification pull down. Also the speed getting from home screen to app on the WP is far nicer and beyond fluid in its integration, finding apps is so simple, swipe, select a letter, find the app, not swipe, swipe swipe back again, where did i put that app. Multi Tasking especially with the 930 works in a similar way to Iphone, yet with the a slight hint towards the usability of the Android system, which is very fast and efficient.

The People Hub on WP, far better than Blink feed on Androids HTC or any app created to bring together Twitter and FB, Ok its not as usable as it was when you could interact with FB posts, but its still so much better and incredibly fluid to use.

Of all the phones I've used outside in direct sunlight the Nokia 930 has to be the easiest to view the screen on, it almost seems to glow in bright sunlight, even my old S5 Samsung which was meant to be the best, didn't come close to the clarity of the Nokias 930 outside.

Dedicated Camera button, OK some of the Xperias and Android phones have these now, but with WP its always been there, the camera is great, but what makes it so much more interesting is the ability to install lens add-ons, which makes so much more sense than having a separate camera app.

Comparing battery life on phones is tricky as many of the latest Android phones have huge 3000mAh Plus which can last easily into two days use, but comparing like with like size ie the Nexus 5, I would say they are comparable if not the Nokia 930 lasting an hour or so longer, charging is definitely faster on the Nokia.

In fact the Nexus 5 is pretty much an identical spec with the same processor, ram, memory, screen size and battery size and of all the Android phones ive owned id say its the best most fluid experience that Android can give, but for me the Pin to start, addictive UI, People Hub and overall experience of the WP Nokia 930 stands out beyond anything Android or iPhone can give me.

Just wait until Windows 10 for phones launches as I have a feeling it will be amazing!

Rumour has it it could launch as soon as tomorrow for those that joined the preview program.

 

[dj9928]

Had my Lumia 930 a week now and I could sum up my review by saying excellent hardware and software only let down by the quality of the apps.

I've owned several Lumia phones in my time, 710,820,920 and now 930, for Windows phone it "used" to be a case of lack of apps letting the eco system down, this is no longer such an issue as most of the big players are there now, its now quality of apps that are the problem especially from big companies like BBC, there app is quite often just a link to a mobile website which offers reduced functionality compared to there iOS and Android counterparts.

Will I do like Windows Phone itself I can't help but think my Lumia 930 would be more complete running Android.

 

[plotsucker]

I come from a 925 and tried out the 830 yesterday, the only thing i disliked was the display. black is not black and the colours looked way powerless. because of the other display technology? my question is, is the display quality on the 930 compared to the 925 the same? (or better?)

 

[Fred Wilson2]

Simple contrast adjust on the 830 and the blacks will be inky black and the colors as bright as you want.
I have an 830, though it's been sitting in it's box on a shelf for about a month now.
Bought a new 920 and it simply eats the 830 for lunch, performance wise.


Fred

I come from a 925 and tried out the 830 yesterday, the only thing i disliked was the display. black is not black and the colours looked way powerless. because of the other display technology? my question is, is the display quality on the 930 compared to the 925 the same? (or better?)

 

[Brenda Schnee]

some videos of the lumia 930 camera review @denim update