So I switched from a Galaxy S4 to the Icon and....

[mikeyyyownz]

I must say I'm LOVING IT!!!

A little background. My first smartphone was Windows 6.1 (I think?) on the Samsung Omnia, then Droid X, Droid RAZR, then the Galaxy S4.

The Icon is exactly what I wanted. I already have PCs with Win 8.1, and the Lumia 2520, so it was a natural progression. I live and die by Office/Outlook at my job, and have an Xbox One so I figured why not?

Obviously the phone is superfast and responsive. Especially compared to my previous Android phones that eventually got slower and slower and would crash. I know I've only had the Icon for 2 days, but still, it's nice to tap something and it do what it's supposed to with no issues. The feel of it is good. Very solid. Beautiful screen. I LOVE the wireless charging. Put a Inciphio DualPro case on it.

Bluetooth has contacted to my headphones, Laptop, Lumia 2520, and my car stereo, so no complaints whatsoever. Wifi works perfectly for me as well.

I love being able to post to Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIN all at once and have my favorites grouped together with Rooms and the such. Love being able to post to their walls without actually being in the app. I know Android technically has this capable, but it's not as simple as with this phone.

As for the App situation, I went one by one from my S4 and went to download the ones I used to my Lumia. I was surprised at how many apps I had on the S4 and I never even used. Needless to say, about 95% of the ones I used frequently are available in the store either original or viable 3rd party. I think the App argument is usually BS, because if you really looked at it, the apps you use a lot are there in some form. It may not have all the games or novelty apps that Android/iOS has, but I bet most of the users of those apps download them, use it for a week or so, and just have it sitting on their phones.

Not all of my credit cards have their apps on WP8, but I can use the browser for that if necessary. I don't normally pay bills on my phone, but it's always a good option to have. My bank has an app though, so I'm good.

So far, my ONLY to complaints are the lack of a good Google Music replacement. I ended up getting an Xbox Music Pass, but not all of my collection is available, but I can live with it. The Xbox Music app is great though, love the controls and look, something Google Music lacks. Other than that, it's still a learning curve to figure everything out, but I'm getting there.

I was a Dropbox power user, but still used Google Drive and SkyDrive (OneDrive), so I just switched everything to OneDrive and I'm in business.

The notification center (lack of), doesn't bother me too much, but I know 8.1 will fix some of that. I've never experienced Glance either, so I don't really know what I'm missing.

Battery life is good. I continuously stream music, user FB, Instagram, surf the net, etc. I would have to charge my S4 every couple of hours. So far the Icon has handled everything well. I charge it when I get a chance, but it doesn't seem like I have to live around charging it which is refreshing.

I just love the looks of the Start Screen and the live Lives. Love the color options. The OS just seems to be what I envisioned a phone to have. Android is great, but I guess I'm just bored and wished it would be more solid. Anyways, I'm loving the Icon and barring a huge issue, I'm a Windows Phone user to stay!

 

[ret18057]

Good insight, thanks. I don't think that the app argument is "BS", though...I too was an S4 user, and while I look this device, some of my common apps just aren't here. And it makes me wonder why, since they are not small indie apps, they are major ones like Dropbox, Amazon mp3, Xfinity Home, stuff like that. The lack of a notification LED/Glance/double tap is gnawing at me like a badger caught in a trap. May not be a big deal to all, but it is to me.

I am going to try and hang in...

 

[masterchief1984]

Its good to see that you are genuine happy with new Windows Phone 8 device. I switch over from Apple to WP8, to the 1520 and haven't look back.

 

[anon(7900571)]

Thrilled to hear that you are in love with your Icon. Though it does not have glance feature , it still have double tap to unlock and many other features from nokia black firmware update. With snapdragon 800 sOc and 2GB ram , it's a beast inside a mobile , windows phone runs fluidly on a dual core processor with memory as low as 512MB. , it does not have hiccups , thanks to Microsoft they optimized the OS so well , it will run even faster and better on latest hardware , be prepared to for new 8.1 update , it will be a ground breaking update for windows phone users.
Now I want icon to get out of verizon network , it should be avaliable globally (in Asia for instance ), it's a true successor to lumia 920 , but OK we might se a new lumia 930 after the launch of wp 8.1

 

[mikeyyyownz]

Good insight, thanks. I don't think that the app argument is "BS", though...I too was an S4 user, and while I look this device, some of my common apps just aren't here. And it makes me wonder why, since they are not small indie apps, they are major ones like Dropbox, Amazon mp3, Xfinity Home, stuff like that. The lack of a notification LED/Glance/double tap is gnawing at me like a badger caught in a trap. May not be a big deal to all, but it is to me.

I am going to try and hang in...

I guess the App thing really depends on the user.

As for the lack of LED notifications, I can feel you there. However, I'm ALWAYS on or by my phone. I only really put it down when I'm in a meeting or to shower or sleep, so it shouldn't bother me to much going forward. I would definitely prefer to have it compared to not, but it is what it is.

 

[untitled007]

You will love it more when 8.1 arrived

 

[g808]

Thrilled to hear that you are in love with your Icon. Though it does not have glance feature , it still have double tap to unlock and many other features from nokia black firmware update. With snapdragon 800 sOc and 2GB ram , it's a beast inside a mobile , windows phone runs fluidly on a dual core processor with memory as low as 512MB. , it does not have hiccups , thanks to Microsoft they optimized the OS so well , it will run even faster and better on latest hardware , be prepared to for new 8.1 update , it will be a ground breaking update for windows phone users.
Now I want icon to get out of verizon network , it should be avaliable globally (in Asia for instance ), it's a true successor to lumia 920 , but OK we might se a new lumia 930 after the launch of wp 8.1

Sadly I'm pretty sure the Icon also does not have double tap to wake either.

 

[anon(7900571)]

Sadly I'm pretty sure the Icon also does not have double tap to wake either.

My bad , yes it does not support double tap to unlock. It's a shame that a simple , basic feature found on almost every lumia out there (double tap ) is not included in icon , but those coming from android might not bother. Nokia take a note , you disabled this feature on lumia 7X,6Xand 5X. But with black software to enabled them (the reason behind was lg called the same feature as knock on , and they said its for the first time in a smartphone and they implement the same on other android phones , including low end phones , nokia thought of enabling his feature on other handset via black firmware , I am pretty sure nokia could have enabled this , is this another market tactic ?

 

[savagelizards]

Thrilled to hear that you are in love with your Icon. Though it does not have glance feature , it still have double tap to unlock and many other features from nokia black firmware update. With snapdragon 800 sOc and 2GB ram , it's a beast inside a mobile , windows phone runs fluidly on a dual core processor with memory as low as 512MB. , it does not have hiccups , thanks to Microsoft they optimized the OS so well , it will run even faster and better on latest hardware , be prepared to for new 8.1 update , it will be a ground breaking update for windows phone users.
Now I want icon to get out of verizon network , it should be avaliable globally (in Asia for instance ), it's a true successor to lumia 920 , but OK we might se a new lumia 930 after the launch of wp 8.1

Icon does not have double tap to wake... "intertwined with glance"

 

[anon(7900571)]

Icon does not have double tap to wake... "intertwined with glance"

true , read post no 8 I stated that , my bad since icon isn't available in my country and will never be :\

 

[TheZuneLune]

Obviously the phone is superfast and responsive. Especially compared to my previous Android phones that eventually got slower and slower and would crash. I know I've only had the Icon for 2 days, but still, it's nice to tap something and it do what it's supposed to with no issues.

This is the point that rarely gets brought up regarding the Android ecosystem. Their devices become laggier an buggier the longer you own them. This has not been my experience with WP.

 

[Paul May]

Welcome to the WP club. I have been a user since 7.0 and what a ride it has been for use early adopters. There has been a lot of frustration over the past few years but I feel this is the perfect time for people to start looking in the direction of WP. With what the OS can do now and what 8.1 will bring I think more people like yourself will be taking a long hard look at WP's as an option. There are negatives to and trade offs but that is true of every phone and OS.

Keep us updated on how your liking it as time goes on.

 

[Whatsup67]

there is no perfect phone or os for anybody its just what works for you

 

[jomargon]

Your experience is somewhat the opposite of the Gizmodo Lumia Icon review, especially on the responsiveness part. Congrats on your new phone.

 

[TheArcaneFlame]

Your experience is somewhat the opposite of the Gizmodo Lumia Icon review, especially on the responsiveness part. Congrats on your new phone.

That's because Mikey's review is based on reality and he clearly went into this with an open mind and basic knowledge of how to use the device. (plus the ability to adapt and learn) That reviewer, assuming you are referring to Leslie Horn, either had a faulty device or was simply being disingenuous about the device. Some of the uninformed complaints she raised such as implying that the default apps cannot be uninstalled or even unpinned from the start screen should make it clear she has no idea how to use the phone and did no research into what it is capable of. (because you can VERY easily unpin tiles and also very easily uninstall nearly all of the default apps.)

Windows Phone has always been a responsive OS, regardless of which device you had, lower end, middle tier or high end. The Icon has some of the best specs (the best?) of any Windows Phone and it is very smooth and fluid in operation. Please don't place too much stock in Leslie's review.

BTW, Welcome to Windows Phone Mikey! ! Glad you are enjoying the Icon!

 

[jomargon]

That's because Mikey's review is based on reality and he clearly went into this with an open mind and basic knowledge of how to use the device. (plus the ability to adapt and learn) That reviewer, assuming you are referring to Leslie Horn, either had a faulty device or was simply being disingenuous about the device. Some of the uninformed complaints she raised such as implying that the default apps cannot be uninstalled or even unpinned from the start screen should make it clear she has no idea how to use the phone and did no research into what it is capable of. (because you can VERY easily unpin tiles and also very easily uninstall nearly all of the default apps.)

Windows Phone has always been a responsive OS, regardless of which device you had, lower end, middle tier or high end. The Icon has some of the best specs (the best?) of any Windows Phone and it is very smooth and fluid in operation. Please don't place too much stock in Leslie's review.

BTW, Welcome to Windows Phone Mikey! ! Glad you are enjoying the Icon!

I don't. She even mentioned that the 1520 (my current phone) screen uses AMOLED when in fact it's IPS-LCD. I hope people will look at owner reviews, but it's just not how things work nowadays. Too bad Mikey's review will be only read by us WPCentral members - mostly existing WP owners. It's kinda difficult to convince users of other mobile OS that a big part of her acticle is false and deceiving without sounding like a closed-minded and biased ******.

 

[jomarr]

Welcome to the Windows Phone community! Glad you liked the Icon!

 

[Andr3sfc]

It's really nice to read your review and see that you're truly satisfied with your WP.

And you came aboard at the best moment: WP 8.1 is getting near and it'll be a tremendous update, prone to let you -- and all of us -- even more ?amazed?.

 

[taymur]

..... The lack of a notification LED/Glance/double tap is gnawing at me like a badger caught in a trap. May not be a big deal to all, but it is to me.

I am going to try and hang in...

You know we have this feature, right?

go to settings > glance, and enjoy.

go to settings > touch, and enjoy

Update - sorry I was wrong.

 

[gamblers4]

You know we have this feature, right?

go to settings > glance, and enjoy.

Need a screen shot of your Icon with this. I don't have this feature.