Planning to upgrade from Lumia 920. Get 1520 or 930?

[H3llzV3n0m]

My phone is an L920 since July 2013. Currently Lumia Cyan. Planning to hand over the 920 to mom and get a new one. Right now, confused about getting the 930 or the 1520. Never was a fan of the 6" screen (never tried using one though) and so the 930 was my first choice. But hearing the poor battery performance, I'm having second thoughts. Just not sure if the year-old 1520 or the months-old 930 is the right choice. Been surfing these forums for a while. But haven't seen any confirmed answers. Even the million reviews online are getting me confused. Hope I can find some answers here.

Edit:
Thanks for the responses. But, knowing there is no glance feature seems like a small deal breaker for me. But, I am just worried if getting the year old device now is a foolish move instead of the 930. Are the cameras and functions all identical or does the 930 have an edge being the newer device? This is really a tough choice..:straight:

 

[xandros9]

The 930 is worth a try I would think. There's always horror stories or issues, sometimes common ones, with any phone. but most work fine.

Battery life certainly won't hold up to the impressive longevity of the 1520, but I'd get a 930 out of the two just because of size. I presume you're aware of the differences between the two, so I won't say anything on that front.

If you can excuse the raw size of the 1520 though, it's quite the phone.

 

[naeem151287]

I upgraded from a 920 to a 1520 when it launched last year. The size is indeed massive but I got used to it quickly and in most circumstances I don't even realize how big the phone is. Now going back to a smaller phone has become impossible. The 1520 has Glance and SD support which was important for me - if you can live without those then 930 is the way to go.

 

[H3llzV3n0m]

How bad is the 930's battery life? My 920 lasts over a day with my use which is mostly just browsing, auto mail updates, some camera and instagram stuff and mostly whatsapp and phone calls. And the grip? Any idea?

 

[H3llzV3n0m]

Any chance that you checked out the 930? Is the functioning similar for both? Also, will getting the 1520 now be a foolish move since it is over a year old?

 

[jonathanrn]

Are you doing a subsidized upgrade or buying the phone outright? I just picked up a 1520 used on eBay for $220 (included a leather folio case) as an upgrade from my 920. I just installed another 32gb on it (something I've been unable to do with the 920). I am used to the size now after a week with the phone. It fits in both my front and back pocket (it does stick out of the top of my back pocket, but it makes it easier to grab . I didn't choose the 930 partly because the unlocked version doesn't have AT&T LTE. I am totally happy with the 1520. I love glance!

 

[naeem151287]

Any chance that you checked out the 930? Is the functioning similar for both? Also, will getting the 1520 now be a foolish move since it is over a year old?

I haven't tried the 930, but I doubt there will be any difference in performance between the 930 and 1520. The 1520 is still top-of-the-line for Windows Phone hardware despite it being over a year old. So, I don't think getting it now will be a foolish move. In fact, with the price of a 1520 right now and with the upcoming Windows 10 preview and update later, it could be the best buy right now.

 

[RumoredNow]

Thanks for the responses. But, knowing there is no glance feature seems like a small deal breaker for me. But, I am just worried if getting the year old device now is a foolish move instead of the 930. Are the cameras and functions all identical or does the 930 have an edge being the newer device? This is really a tough choice..:straight:

I see you are on AT&T... The International 930 will not get the best data speeds for you; the LTE radio is all wrong for North America. 930 has no Glance, has no SD slot and has the poor battery life you mentioned as well. I would blame that super dense AMOLED screen for sucking up a lot of juice. (I know that black = pixel off in AMOLED, there are just so many pixels that in normal use the screen has to be power hungry. Especially watching video and playing games.)

1520 has the same CPU/GPU, RAM, data speeds and camera as 930. The is no edge in my opinion to the 930. 1520 has all the advantages.

• IPS LCD has great daylight visibility and the 1520 screen is 1080p
• 1520 has a microSD card slot (ignore the paper spec, it will do 128GB cards - proven)
• That whopping 3400 mAh battery just keeps pulling

If you get the 1520.3 (RM-938) it will be Factory Unlocked, will work on all AT&T + all T-Mo Towers 100% compatible. You get 32GB internal storage automatically and Qi charging. You would give up any AT&T proprietary Apps like ATT branded SoftCard.

If you get the AT&T 1520 you get the proprietary Apps, but give up Qi charging for PowerMat w/ a charging case. You also will drop down to 16GB internal storage (1/2 of 930's capacity), but the card slot more than compensates...

Nokia Lumia 930 vs. Nokia Lumia 1520 - GSMArena.com

​1520 is becoming hard to get. If you want a Beast phone... Don't wait too long. If you want a stop gap until Windows 10 hits, I think the 830 looks like a good all-around and might be worth taking a chance on and you get the free FitBit Flex.

 

[H3llzV3n0m]

I see you are on AT&T... The International 930 will not get the best data speeds for you; the LTE radio is all wrong for North America.
If you get the 1520.3 (RM-938) it will be Factory Unlocked, will work on all AT&T + all T-Mo Towers 100% compatible. You get 32GB internal storage automatically and Qi charging. You would give up any AT&T proprietary Apps like ATT branded SoftCard.

If you get the AT&T 1520 you get the proprietary Apps, but give up Qi charging for PowerMat w/ a charging case. You also will drop down to 16GB internal storage (1/2 of 930's capacity), but the card slot more than compensates...
​1520 is becoming hard to get. If you want a Beast phone... Don't wait too long. If you want a stop gap until Windows 10 hits, I think the 830 looks like a good all-around and might be worth taking a chance on and you get the free FitBit Flex.

Thanks for that boost. I think I might go for the 1520 after all. And I'm planning to buy the device from outside the US (Kingdom Of Bahrain). Even the 920 I had gotten from here. It worked fine. I might get this here too.

 

[H3llzV3n0m]

I haven't tried the 930, but I doubt there will be any difference in performance between the 930 and 1520. The 1520 is still top-of-the-line for Windows Phone hardware despite it being over a year old. So, I don't think getting it now will be a foolish move. In fact, with the price of a 1520 right now and with the upcoming Windows 10 preview and update later, it could be the best buy right now.

Thanks. I guess it will be the 1520 for me after all. Hope the 6" works out for me.

 

[H3llzV3n0m]

Are you doing a subsidized upgrade or buying the phone outright? I just picked up a 1520 used on eBay for $220 (included a leather folio case) as an upgrade from my 920. I just installed another 32gb on it (something I've been unable to do with the 920). I am used to the size now after a week with the phone. It fits in both my front and back pocket (it does stick out of the top of my back pocket, but it makes it easier to grab . I didn't choose the 930 partly because the unlocked version doesn't have AT&T LTE. I am totally happy with the 1520. I love glance!

Nah. I plan to get the device fresh. Never been a fan of used electronics. Even if certified refurbished. The deal here is pretty awesome. Just a few BHD more and I get the 1520 along with a free Fatboy charger and a gift card which I could use for a cover.

 

[RumoredNow]

If you are getting an RM-937 it won't get LTE state-side... Wrong radio. It will still go H+ on AT&T towers.

 

[H3llzV3n0m]

If you are getting an RM-937 it won't get LTE state-side... Wrong radio. It will still go H+ on AT&T towers.

Well, that explains a lot on my Lumia 920..:/ Thanks..

 

[stokes1510]

Just made the upgrade myself and tbh the only thing I miss is glance other than that I would highly recommended a 930 IMO its the best phone out there

 

[AndyCalling]

Be warned, the 1520 has a design flaw which means the touch mechanism starts to register taps when you try to swipe. This cannot be fixed permanently, it can be resolved by Nokia Care but can happen again just as easily. Also, the screen is big but nowhere near as gorgeous as the 930s display. The 930s battery is fine by the way. The lack of glance is no big thing, so only if you need >32gig do you need to risk the 1520's dodgy touch screen.