ICON VS HTC ONE M8 and LG G3, ICON MORE THAN HOLDS ITS OWN

[thecaringkind]

REALLY surprising discovery today when I decided to stop by a local Verizon store to take a first hand look at the HTC One M8 and the LG G3. I have been known to go back and forth between platforms, WP to Android and back to WP again. I appreciate many positive aspects of both platforms but I always come back to WP eventually. I was seriously considering going with either one of the latest Android flagships much in part due to the fact that despite how much I enjoy my Lumia ICON, there probably won't be another WP flagship coming down the pike anytime soon, (thanks for buying Nokia and totally making a bit of a mess Microsoft)!

SO....I compared the physical feel and design of both Android super phones to my ICON and guess what?

The ICON screen is brighter and more vivid BY LEAPS AND BOUNDS over the QHD screen on the LG G3. AND its screen is actually on par if not BETTER than the Super LCD on the HTC One M8 too! The photo as seen on the ICON had much better shadow detail and shading the HTC One M8. REALLY! Again, I was flabbergasted. Deeper blacks, whiter whites all in crisp vivid detail. Unbelievable.

I went to 500pix and pulled up the same photo on all three devices and set them all to maximum brightness and the results were stunning.

The LG G3 screen was DIM and colors were washed out. PERIOD. For all the vaunted pixels the device packs those pixels are being moved on a sub par screen! Viewing angles were fine but the screen lacks 'punch' and 'pop' with very poor contrast compared directly with the ICON and HTC One M8. I was astonished.

Now the feel in hand of the Android phones were both much better than the angular ICON HOWEVER, the HTC One is one LONG and NARROW phone! It just felt uncomfortable to hold over an extended period due to its super tall design. The G3 felt better due to its 5.5 screen layout which was a little wider and with its super thin bezels. Despite the better in hand feel however, the ICON's design is STURDY as I have used my phone without a case from day one and must have dropped the think like 10 times onto all kinds of hard surfaces with NARY a crack or even scratch on the front or back of the phone. Say what you want about thin, curved and sexy Android hardware, NOKIA builds TANKS in comparison and that's a GOOD thing.

Camera comparison? NOT EVEN CLOSE, the ICON hands down has the better camera than both the Android offerings.

Microsoft has the makings for some GREAT phones they just need to GET ON IT MAN!!!

The next WP flagship needs to have an SD card slot, maybe a little bigger screen and battery but overall, 'last years tech' seemed to hold up surprisingly well VS the latest Android flagship phones available now.

I actually left the store feeling better about my trusty ICON. Long live WP!:smile:

 

[emperor_skull]

Good, my love for my 925 still grows every day

 

[godse573]

'last years tech' seemed to hold up surprisingly well VS the latest Android flagship phones available now.

I love how people knock the Icon for having an "old" processor. It runs very fast, WHO CARES?

 

[jpal12]

LG made so many compromises to put a QHD in the G3. The display is very dim, colors are washed, and scrolling is slow. And there is no visible difference.

 

[thecaringkind]

Not knocking it I AGREE with you. The Icon is fast and fluid even with it having a Snapdragon 800 and not the 801 used in the newer Android flagships.

 

[jpal12]

The "new" snapdragon 801 in android flagships is basically an overclocked version of the "old" snapdragon 800. It is basically to stop people from being bored until the 805 came out, which was originally intended to serve the same purpose relative to the snapdragon 810.

 

[godse573]

People need to stop comparing it to androids too. I mean they are memory HOGS. They need all four cores and 8 trillion gigs of ram available to keep it going. My 1g ram 2 core lumia 822 ran totally fine, cant honestly tell any difference with my icon...

 

[thecaringkind]

Guys. there is nothing wrong with comparing phones across all platforms. Its what makes us EDUCATED consumers. Is there a perfect superphone out there? No. However I like to see what the major players out there have to offer because our tastes, desires and need change. Its part of being human. I'm perfectly happy with my ICON now, but I always have an eye out and a finger on the pulse of the smartphone sector. Its part of loving tech fellas!

BTW Do you really think all of the major players don't have rooms full of their competitor's phones? That's part of what makes new phones better, seeing what your competition has and making something new and BETTER in most respects. Its something MS needs to do alot more of if they hope to grow their WP brand and truly compete. Keep your core identity and blaze new paths but ALWAYS be aware of what's out there.

 

[salmanahmad]

People need to stop comparing it to androids too. I mean they are memory HOGS. They need all four cores and 8 trillion gigs of ram available to keep it going. My 1g ram 2 core lumia 822 ran totally fine, cant honestly tell any difference with my icon...

Despite some applications being processor and memory intensive over the past few years the UI of Android has become way more smoother.



Infact multitasking is often faster on Android compared to WP however the memory hog apps I am talking about would be Facebook and Twitter which lag like hell on Android while scrolling.



But any phone with a Snapdragon 800 or above on Android or WP does not lag in anything. Snapdragon 801 only has a few photography improvements.



As far as what the OP has said, a lot of it is genuine, I believe the only phone that has a camera equivalent to that of Lumia would be the Xperia Z2 but it is underrated.

 

[anon(4054009)]

I agree with you about Microsoft, If in fact they have cancelled the next flagship phone and concentrate on low/mid to build market share, that won't make me happy. However I do understand that decision.

 

[thecaringkind]

It's frustrating Sec. I'm still astonished by how much better the Icon's screen is to the 'bleeding edge' tech of the LG G3 screen. For all the hype, there was just no contest. It just goes to show the possibilities that are out there for a truly flagship WP but MS looks like they may be dropping the ball AGAIN.....ugh.

 

[prlundberg]

Android is way smoother than it used to be? That's relative, I guess. My Galaxy S5 lags all over the place. As mentioned, some apps like Facebook and Kindle are stuttering messes. All in all, it doesn't compare well to my wife's Icon in terms of smoothness and overall UI experience.

The S5 does have a slightly better screen IMO, although I wouldn't complain about the Icon's, and is also more comfortable to hold and easier to grip. The S5's camera is very comparable to the Icon. The Icon is somewhat better in low light but also tends to oversaturate. Pretty much a wash in terms of picture quality using auto settings from my real-world experience. In fact, more often than not, my S5 takes better-looking pictures than the Icon but that could be user-related. Once again though the S5 often suffers from major lag when opening and using the camera.

The Icon was very close to winning me over to WP and I do like it. But WP itself still falls short. It's just a lot easier to get the S5 to do what I want it to do, even though TouchWiz is still a convoluted and laggy mess. The little things frustrate my wife. No Swype, no profiles on Netflix, and just less developed apps in general. Some of this is not MS's fault but that doesn't change the problem. Maybe 8.1 will close the gap enough for me but who knows when that update will happen.

I'm not surprised about the G3's screen. I'd rather have a 1080 screen anyway because 1080 content looks best on a 1080 screen. And 1080 isn't going to stop being the de-facto HD standard for the vast majority of content for many years, maybe even not within a decade. It's pointless to go higher than that on anything under 6". But it's also pointless to have a 20MP camera using such a tiny lens, so it's not like Nokia is above senseless spec wars.

 

[Jeff Spradling]

It's all personal preference. Ya'll do know that the G3 screen is extremely adjustable right? Factory settings are indeed bland, but you don't have to leave it that way. I have the G2, M8, Moto X, and Icon. In the past I've had several Samsungs.

The M8 is weak on camera but strong on sound and has an SD slot. It uses the IPS LCD display and that has always been less saturated with color like the AMOLEDs of Samsung or the ICON. For people more focused on music, the front facing speakers and SD slot far outweigh the lack of bright colors.

The G2 isn't really great at anything but I carry it twice as much as I do the others. It has a decent camera, the same display as the M8, and no SD slot, and bottom facing speaker. But, it just runs smooth and I just feel more comfortable with it. Like I said, it's personal choice. The G3 isn't much different than the G2 and I would probably get one except I don't want a bigger device. I suggest going back and setting the G3 display to be more saturated like the AMOLED you're used to. LG knows about display tech.

The ICON is a cool phone. It's my first WP device and I really wanted to see how it compared to android. I just need a better app selection and then I would carry it more. I also like the AMOLED that the ICON and Samsung use. But I have lost interest in Samsung lately because of the laggyness of TouchWiz. I was hoping for more flagship Nokia's using WP but I'll be happy keeping the ICON around for temp duty as long as they keep updating it.

Just my 2 cents. : )

 

[Kasey Pierce]

It's all personal preference. Ya'll do know that the G3 screen is extremely adjustable right? Factory settings are indeed bland, but you don't have to leave it that way. I have the G2, M8, Moto X, and Icon. In the past I've had several Samsungs.

The M8 is weak on camera but strong on sound and has an SD slot. It uses the IPS LCD display and that has always been less saturated with color like the AMOLEDs of Samsung or the ICON. For people more focused on music, the front facing speakers and SD slot far outweigh the lack of bright colors.

The G2 isn't really great at anything but I carry it twice as much as I do the others. It has a decent camera, the same display as the M8, and no SD slot, and bottom facing speaker. But, it just runs smooth and I just feel more comfortable with it. Like I said, it's personal choice. The G3 isn't much different than the G2 and I would probably get one except I don't want a bigger device. I suggest going back and setting the G3 display to be more saturated like the AMOLED you're used to. LG knows about display tech.

The ICON is a cool phone. It's my first WP device and I really wanted to see how it compared to android. I just need a better app selection and then I would carry it more. I also like the AMOLED that the ICON and Samsung use. But I have lost interest in Samsung lately because of the laggyness of TouchWiz. I was hoping for more flagship Nokia's using WP but I'll be happy keeping the ICON around for temp duty as long as they keep updating it.

Just my 2 cents. : )

More like 1 million cents! how in the world do you afford all these phones?

 

[Jeff Spradling]

lol, I sell myself on street corners.
: )

Here's a link about adjusting the G3 display.
Tip: Manually Adjust the Display Color and Contrast on the LG G3 | Droid Life

 

[Jeff Spradling]

Guys. there is nothing wrong with comparing phones across all platforms. Its what makes us EDUCATED consumers. Is there a perfect superphone out there? No. However I like to see what the major players out there have to offer because our tastes, desires and need change. Its part of being human. I'm perfectly happy with my ICON now, but I always have an eye out and a finger on the pulse of the smartphone sector. Its part of loving tech fellas!

BTW Do you really think all of the major players don't have rooms full of their competitor's phones? That's part of what makes new phones better, seeing what your competition has and making something new and BETTER in most respects. Its something MS needs to do alot more of if they hope to grow their WP brand and truly compete. Keep your core identity and blaze new paths but ALWAYS be aware of what's out there.

Here is something you may be interested in. There is a HTC M8 coming out with WP on it.
HTC's next Windows Phone is coming to Verizon with an awkward name

 

[Ltauhmise]

It depends on what you do with your device. In my opinion, the Lumia brand is tailored towards business professionals and individuals that like seamless integration. The Lumia Icon is a mature phone. With a sharp-angled monolithic design that speaks of a contemporary sophistication. It lets its hardware, construction and fluid OS draw eyes-- not those stupid vibrant colors.

I use my Icon in conjunction with my surface pro and people are always coming up to me inquiring about the phone and tablet during conferences.

I strongly believe that Windows Phone, and namely the Lumia Icon, is a phone for adults. It has all the bells and whistles of many flagship phones without having to reset to plastic build quality, candy colors, and hipsters. /nod