Nokia Lumia Icon as a work phone?

[Slayix312]

Hello everyone,

I was hoping to get some info from any knowledgeable users out there. I am a die-hard Android fan and my personal phone is the HTC One M8, which is working like a dream (rooted, rom'd, s-off), but my company decided to hook me up with a work phone as well. They let me pick any phone from Verizon and I decided on the Nokia Icon since I liked what I saw and don't really like BB and I really hate Apple's ecosystem. This is my first foray into WP OS btw.

Anyway the questions are:

1. Is the e-mail functionality on WPs pretty good? I am sure I will be needing to use it heavily. Does it play well with exchange? Obviously you would expect it to.

2. How is the battery life specifically on the Nokia Icon in real-world usage? I have seen reviews state it was pretty good, but would like to hear some first-hand accounts from long-term users.

3. Any recommendations on apps or other things I should know about?

Thanks in advance guys!

 

[xandros9]

1. Personally, the email works fine for me. Under 8.1 you have a variety of options but I'm not a corporate user, mainly using IMAP email.
I have no problems with it. It's speedy, does my Outlook, etc.

2. Don't own an Icon, can't comment.

3. Google has done little to support their services on Windows Phone. There are 3rd-party solutions that range from meh to could-be-official.

Using the "Developer Preview" (more of a *nudge nudge* *wink wink* early access program) gains you Windows Phone 8.1 with all its glory. If that's your thing.

I think there's a sort of welcome thread for those coming from Android, though Im not sure.

Welcome aboard, we hope to see you around in the future, thanks for considering WP.

 

[Jazmac]

You'll like the Icon. It handles everything well and fits nice in the hand. I only wished it was on AT&T. I used my Lumia 920 for work email (Exchange) and Live mail. Works pretty good. I don't miss email, its timely and replying to email delivers. I don't think you'll have a problem with WP in general and email in particular. Question for you, you said you rooted the M8. Why did you decide this was a good move for that phone?

 

[Slayix312]

Thanks for the useful replies; appreciate it!

Question for you, you said you rooted the M8. Why did you decide this was a good move for that phone?

- To use root only apps like Titanium backup which is wonderful.
- Xposed with xprivacy, app settings is damn near essential for me now that I have tried them.
- Being able to flash any rom I want and get any new update
- Hotspot

1,000 more reasons which all tie into being more customize-able really.

I heard WP isn't really capable of this due to it being more locked down, but not really a problem because I get my customization fix with my M8 anyway. Plus I highly doubt my company would look favorably on me if I messed with their shiny new phone they bought me. haha

 

[Jazmac]

Thanks for the useful replies; appreciate it!



- To use root only apps like Titanium backup which is wonderful.
- Xposed with xprivacy, app settings is damn near essential for me now that I have tried them.
- Being able to flash any rom I want and get any new update
- Hotspot

1,000 more reasons which all tie into being more customize-able really.

I heard WP isn't really capable of this due to it being more locked down, but not really a problem because I get my customization fix with my M8 anyway. Plus I highly doubt my company would look favorably on me if I messed with their shiny new phone they bought me. haha

Haha. Not to mention that one on one you'll need to do with management. Just curious about why you rooted. Thanks for the response.

 

[admorris#AC]

My experience with battery life from using previous windows phones is that they are good in standby and below avg to well below average when actually using the phone.

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

 

[techgeek32#WN]

Great for Exchange email. Battery life is about the same as the M8 or maybe slightly better. The only email downside is that you can't respond to an email with an office dock that needs changes. You have to re-email from the Office app and very difficult if the original email was from a large group. If you wont be making changes to Office apps then you will be very happy with the email app.

 

[onlysublime]

A couple of the big reasons why Windows Phone is great is it comes with Office and the OneDrive functionality is great. My co-workers and I work on the same documents. And I can access and edit the documents on the road. Word is beyond great. Much better than those lame note apps. The only thing I don't like is there's no Undo (as far as I know). That would complete Office. So I have to save constantly in case I accidentally delete something and can't undo.

 

[dkediger]

To maximize battery, take advantage of that wireless charging! Get a charging plate/stand. Without wireless charging, my Icon makes it through a workday easily (50% or so) with moderate/heavy email/messaging and light web use being my normal usage pattern.
With wireless charging, I usually have a nearly full charge leaving work.

 

[onlysublime]

The biggest draw from the battery is the screen.so if you turn down the brightness, that helps a lot.
After that, it's the radios so if you can turn off wifi, Bluetooth, etc., that'll help.
You can also turn on battery saver and disable some apps from running in the background. Battery saver will also autodim your display so it's a combination of settings in one. For when I know I will be unable to charge during the day, I enable battery saver. It still lets me call, use internet, Bluetooth, etc.
You can also turn on airplane mode and then just turn on cellular or do a small combination of settings. They let you micromanage the settings of airplane mode so it doesn't automatically turn off everything.

 

[admorris#AC]

The biggest draw from the battery is the screen.so if you turn down the brightness, that helps a lot.
After that, it's the radios so if you can turn off wifi, Bluetooth, etc., that'll help.
You can also turn on battery saver and disable some apps from running in the background. Battery saver will also autodim your display so it's a combination of settings in one. For when I know I will be unable to charge during the day, I enable battery saver. It still lets me call, use internet, Bluetooth, etc.
You can also turn on airplane mode and then just turn on cellular or do a small combination of settings. They let you micromanage the settings of airplane mode so it doesn't automatically turn off everything.

Wow... That's a lot of work you do to get better battery life

The biggest draw from the battery is the screen.so if you turn down the brightness, that helps a lot.
After that, it's the radios so if you can turn off wifi, Bluetooth, etc., that'll help.
You can also turn on battery saver and disable some apps from running in the background. Battery saver will also autodim your display so it's a combination of settings in one. For when I know I will be unable to charge during the day, I enable battery saver. It still lets me call, use internet, Bluetooth, etc.
You can also turn on airplane mode and then just turn on cellular or do a small combination of settings. They let you micromanage the settings of airplane mode so it doesn't automatically turn off everything.

Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk

 

[onlysublime]

you don't have to do that. but everyone seems so fixated on maximizing battery life so if you want to do that, you can...

 

[Jazmac]

Great for Exchange email. Battery life is about the same as the M8 or maybe slightly better. The only email downside is that you can't respond to an email with an office dock that needs changes. You have to re-email from the Office app and very difficult if the original email was from a large group. If you wont be making changes to Office apps then you will be very happy with the email app.

Not sure which Windows phone you mean has battery life that of the M8, but if I compare my Lumia 920 to this M8, my Lumia 920 not even in the same arena as the battery in the M8. Its like comparing a Duracell to an EverReady. The M8 sips juice from the battery and I do mean sips. Ask Slayix312 what I'm talking about.

 

[anon(7901790)]

There is one small issue with email on WP8.x. The only attachments you can add while in Outlook are photos and videos. To add an Office document, you must go into Office find the file, tap and hold, and then click, "Share." If you need to reply to an email with an attachment other than a photo or video, you are out of luck. It's a quirk of WP8.x and (hopefully), Microsoft is working to resolve the issue.

Otherwise, the Icon is an excellent phone for both work and play.

 

[iamtim]

1. Is the e-mail functionality on WPs pretty good? Does it play well with exchange?

Yes, and yes.

2. How is the battery life specifically on the Nokia Icon in real-world usage?

I don't have an Icon, but I have had two Lumia 920s and I currently have a Lumia 820. If you follow the same battery saving guidelines as you do on other phones (shut off Bluetooth, NFC, and location services except when needed, shut down unnecessary background tasks, etc.) you'll make it through a full work day with ease.

3. Any recommendations on apps or other things I should know about?

OneDrive and OneNote are awesome. Office is OK, it'll get the job done. Sadly the iOS versions of OneNote and Office are way better, but hopefully Microsoft will soon update the Windows Phone versions accordingly.

 

[Slayix312]

Not sure which Windows phone you mean has battery life that of the M8, but if I compare my Lumia 920 to this M8, my Lumia 920 not even in the same arena as the battery in the M8. Its like comparing a Duracell to an EverReady. The M8 sips juice from the battery and I do mean sips. Ask Slayix312 what I'm talking about.

Can confirm. I have actually actively tried to kill my M8 during a work-day just to see if I could. I turned bluetooth on, wifi, and increased screen brightness to max, and could only manage to get it down to 20-25% with very heavy usage over a 9-10 hour time-frame. If I put it on extreme battery saver mode when I get to work; I can leave work with 93-94% battery left.

If the Icon turns out to have even half the battery life I will be happy.

 

[Jazmac]

Can confirm. I have actually actively tried to kill my M8 during a work-day just to see if I could. I turned bluetooth on, wifi, and increased screen brightness to max, and could only manage to get it down to 20-25% with very heavy usage over a 9-10 hour time-frame. If I put it on extreme battery saver mode when I get to work; I can leave work with 93-94% battery left.

If the Icon turns out to have even half the battery life I will be happy.

This is one of the reasons why I want HTC to build my next AT&T flagship for WP. They know something about power management Nokia has yet to discover.

 

[WanderingTraveler]

This is one of the reasons why I want HTC to build my next AT&T flagship for WP. They know something about power management Nokia has yet to discover.

That's because HTC had to work with power-hungry OSes from the start.

Nokia had Symbian, which still sips power in comparison to what we have today.

 

[WanderingTraveler]

By the way, could you try telling your employer to allow you to install Windows Phone 8.1 on your Icon?

It's more friendly to the enterprise.

 

[Jazmac]

That's because HTC had to work with power-hungry OSes from the start.

Nokia had Symbian, which still sips power in comparison to what we have today.

And HTC seems to have learned a lot from that and implemented what they have learned with the M8. Good on them.