Just played with the Icon, have some questions for you old WP users...

[ajscalingi]

If that is true, that is a GREAT (and very doable) idea!

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

Unfortunately I don't think that's the case; mine's not lighting up when I get a notification.

 

[muneshyne21]

The Icon is not this guys phone. Icon with WP8.1 and glance is his phone and that wont be here till June-ish. Actually it maybe a steal by then since it'll probably be either $50 or free on contract. As of right now though, the Icon is like the iPhone 4: Only WP user can deal with the flaws like the apple users learned to hold their phones differently...

 

[mtalinm]

Could you go into detail on what it does great and/or better than others? That was kind of my point of this post because I didn't find much of anything when I was using the Icon, and disappointed in other areas. I'm really not here to rain on WP fan parade, I wanted the phone, It just wasn't what I was hoping for. I'm hoping to be convinced.

I'll chime in as an Android user who switched and has been largely disappointed. Lack of swipe keyboard is probably the biggest loss, though 8.1 might fix that someday. Your point about not being able to pin all the single-function widgets you want to the start screen is the biggest letdown though. I can have my dad's "tile" on the home screen but then I have to click that to get to the list of all his contact info and then click again - no just clicking once to dial a phone # as with Android. Worst is that when you want to toggle WiFi or internet sharing... on Android you could just stick a widget on the home screen; with winphone you have to click on settings and then scroll down to the internet-sharing option and then click on that and then move the slider. #firstworldproblems I know but it's annoying. Maybe 8.1 will address?

The most annoying thing to me though is that Nokia can't get bigger batteries into such big phones. Maybe the camera takes up a lot of room, but a device the size & weight of the Droid Maxx ought to be able to get somewhere closer in terms of battery size/life. Sure the 1520 has juice but it is massive.

To be clear,I am not a troll. I dumped my Android phone because I have issues with Google's ethics. I deleted my Google+ account and use Bing services exclusively, even though Bing maps is horribly inferior to Google Maps. (HERE not quite as bad but still not up to Google Maps quality). Apple is worse IMHO. But I have to call it like I see it.

Wish I could say there is something that I really *prefer* about winphone but not really. I mean, it's pretty, but sometimes all the animations just seem like they are hiding lag. I kindas like the vertical scroll on the home screen, but the novelty has sort of worn off. The voice recognition capabilities are pretty bad, too. I guess the one thing I like is Driving Mode, where when I get a text it asks whether I want to hear it and respond. That is cool/useful and I don't recall it on Android.

Dropped by my locals VZW store to see the Icon. Nice to see it is so close to the 928 in terms of size and weight. Didn't think the screen was all that much bigger though. Question is whether to plunk down $550 for the better camera (need to keep unlimited data, hence full retail). Really annoys me that they didn't get Glance working - that was the best feature of wp8 imho, equaled only by the motox/droid phones.

 

[jpling]

Agree with lots and disagree with lots.
chronos calendar is great!! I think it will fill the gap. If you use swype you will MISS it. I can not wait for 8.1. noti light you will get over after a week. I've only had glance notifications for a week or so with black update so even as nice as it is we can still double tap to see lock screen with same info

 

[muneshyne21]

I'll chime in as an Android user who switched and has been largely disappointed. Lack of swipe keyboard is probably the biggest loss, though 8.1 might fix that someday. Your point about not being able to pin all the single-function widgets you want to the start screen is the biggest letdown though. I can have my dad's "tile" on the home screen but then I have to click that to get to the list of all his contact info and then click again - no just clicking once to dial a phone # as with Android. Worst is that when you want to toggle WiFi or internet sharing... on Android you could just stick a widget on the home screen; with winphone you have to click on settings and then scroll down to the internet-sharing option and then click on that and then move the slider. #firstworldproblems I know but it's annoying. Maybe 8.1 will address?

The most annoying thing to me though is that Nokia can't get bigger batteries into such big phones. Maybe the camera takes up a lot of room, but a device the size & weight of the Droid Maxx ought to be able to get somewhere closer in terms of battery size/life. Sure the 1520 has juice but it is massive.

To be clear,I am not a troll. I dumped my Android phone because I have issues with Google's ethics. I deleted my Google+ account and use Bing services exclusively, even though Bing maps is horribly inferior to Google Maps. (HERE not quite as bad but still not up to Google Maps quality). Apple is worse IMHO. But I have to call it like I see it.

Dropped by my locals VZW store to see the Icon. Nice to see it is so close to the 928 in terms of size and weight. Didn't think the screen was all that much bigger though. Question is whether to plunk down $550 for the better camera (need to keep unlimited data, hence full retail). Really annoys me that they didn't get Glance working - that was the best feature of wp8 imho, equaled only by the motox/droid phones.

There are several quicksetting apps that allow you to have wifi/bluetooth/airplane mode/etc. tiles. Its not a direct toggle but a shortcut that allows you to turn something off or on in 2 clicks. I found keeping wifi and bluetooth on doesnt really do much to my battery life so I dont even bother toggling them off.

In terms of phone numbers, even my favorite contacts in android required me to click on the person then the phone number but maybe the post-IceCream builds had one click call buttons. The biggest thing that I had trouble getting over was the two click call answering system on WP. I still find it annoying.

Nokia Maps is pretty good but I NEED Google Maps streetview. Gmaps is a pretty damn good unofficial Googlemaps app. It has everything including streetview. I actually really like the hybrid apps that use bing services/nokia drive 3d and google streetview. Its like all the best of everything but the streetview is a little sluggish so I stuck to Gmaps (its currently has a weird bug accessing businesses though so I use Nokiamaps for that currently). I think Nokia Maps is slowly starting to win me over though in terms of non-streetview related map tasks. I use it just as much as gmaps now.

As for the batteries I think they opted for wireless charging instead of more battery or thinner phone. I really didnt care about wireless until I started using it. Now I can't go back. Its like self dimming rear view mirrors in a car. Once you have a car with it, you can't imagine not having the option ever again. I had SWYPE withdrawals when I switched but Im totally psyched that we might be getting it next update. Yup... #firstworldproblems...

 

[Fade_z]

Unfortunately I don't think that's the case; mine's not lighting up when I get a notification.

because It's still to Be released, wp8.1

 

[justwar88]

. I want to like it, but it's pushing me away. It's like college all over again...

This is the most amazing quote i have ever heard in my life.

 

[Chris Sandiford]

If that is true, that is a GREAT (and very doable) idea!

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

The 925 has this ability to flash the central Windows key now but only when the phone is in a low power state - but it does prove that is do-able.

 

[reidbp]

I actually went and picked one up just due to some lag frustration with my GS3, and so far am really enjoying it. I haven't had time to sit down and get all of my functionality back (hopefully doing that tonight,) but so far it's bee great.

 

[savagelizards]

I'll chime in as an Android user who switched and has been largely disappointed. Lack of swipe keyboard is probably the biggest loss, though 8.1 might fix that someday. Your point about not being able to pin all the single-function widgets you want to the start screen is the biggest letdown though. I can have my dad's "tile" on the home screen but then I have to click that to get to the list of all his contact info and then click again - no just clicking once to dial a phone # as with Android. Worst is that when you want to toggle WiFi or internet sharing... on Android you could just stick a widget on the home screen; with winphone you have to click on settings and then scroll down to the internet-sharing option and then click on that and then move the slider. #firstworldproblems I know but it's annoying. Maybe 8.1 will address?

The most annoying thing to me though is that Nokia can't get bigger batteries into such big phones. Maybe the camera takes up a lot of room, but a device the size & weight of the Droid Maxx ought to be able to get somewhere closer in terms of battery size/life. Sure the 1520 has juice but it is massive.

To be clear,I am not a troll. I dumped my Android phone because I have issues with Google's ethics. I deleted my Google+ account and use Bing services exclusively, even though Bing maps is horribly inferior to Google Maps. (HERE not quite as bad but still not up to Google Maps quality). Apple is worse IMHO. But I have to call it like I see it.

Wish I could say there is something that I really *prefer* about winphone but not really. I mean, it's pretty, but sometimes all the animations just seem like they are hiding lag. I kindas like the vertical scroll on the home screen, but the novelty has sort of worn off. The voice recognition capabilities are pretty bad, too. I guess the one thing I like is Driving Mode, where when I get a text it asks whether I want to hear it and respond. That is cool/useful and I don't recall it on Android.

Dropped by my locals VZW store to see the Icon. Nice to see it is so close to the 928 in terms of size and weight. Didn't think the screen was all that much bigger though. Question is whether to plunk down $550 for the better camera (need to keep unlimited data, hence full retail). Really annoys me that they didn't get Glance working - that was the best feature of wp8 imho, equaled only by the motox/droid phones.

I have to say that your post hit the cover off the ball for me.

I came from android. This is my first WP, and I came as much to get away from Google as anything else.

It really is a good thing that I had leaving Google as my motivation too, because otherwise I may not have hung in there with this phone. Great build quality, beautiful screen, great camera and outstanding speakerphone are all plusses with this phone. Smallish battery, OS feature and app gaps are the main negatives.

Still, after the better part of two weeks, I am coming to terms with it. WP 8.1 will be available in a month, and is supposed to solve the lack of notifications that android users have enjoyed for years. The best solution for battery life is to keep it on a QI charger whenever you can. I really like wireless charging, but my current thought is that if they didn't build in the QI coils they would have had room for the 3300 mAh battery the phone should have come with.

Anyway, thank you for putting my thoughts into words. I hope you stuck with the Icon and you now like it. Like anything iconic, its not without its flaws but that's all the more why we like it.