I have only had an Ativ S for about 7 hours, so this first post will only represent my initial impressions of the phone.
Background - in 2012 I have used three Windows Phones previously, the 710 for four months, the 900 for about seven, and the 920 for 15 days. I enjoy the Lumia experience on the whole, however my 900 did not get data for the first six days I owned it, and then an update to fix something else disabled by internet sharing which I frequently enjoy using - never worked again afterwards. So that was frustrating. And then my 920 had the overheating issue, making it unpleasant to hold surfing the web which is the primary activity of my phones; it was returned and I went back to the 900. So, I feel like I gave Nokia a good kick at the can but wanted to try something new.
My User Type - I am a fairly conventional in my use. Lots of texts, about 20-30 e mails a day, casual Facebook/Twitter and a lot of web use. I am not a huge app users as most seem useless to me since WP renders the web so well and quickly. I take pictures, but of stupid things, so the low light super camera of the 920 is not a huge deal for me.
Cost of the Phone - it is priced to high. There were a lot of financial incentives thrown in that made it more tolerable to buy. If you do not have incentives then I would personally suggest waiting. Best part is a great quality Roots sweater thrown in for my WHL team! Go Wheaties Go!
OS - I will not touch on the OS too much as I believe that WP is WP is WP. It is slick, fast, and everything you would expect. And Microsoft, fix X Box Music!
Only Beef So Far - To get metric on the Maps app the phone has to be set to any language except "United States (English)." However, to use Local Scout the phone language has to be on "United States (English)." I do not speak imperial, and I love Local Scout. Hoping to find a solution for this.
Screen - I prefer the apparently "inferior" AMOLED screen on this bad boy compared to the 920. But both are amazing so I find this to be an apples to apples comparison. It seems a lot brighter than the 920 was and is a joy to look at. The sensitivity allows the use of gloves; I am in Manitoba so have already tested this extensively.
Physical Buttons - I accidently hit the home captive button on my 900 a lot. While the larger lower bezel on the 920 made this error substantially less frequent it also, in my opinion, makes the phone looks really disproportionate. In fact I found the 920 ugly when I first saw it. So for me, the physical home button is a plus. The sound control and sleep button (or whatever it is called) are placed very high - too high - so are a bit of a pain to use. Certainly I will acclimatize to it reasonably quickly.
Camera - it works well enough. Not much of a camera person here.
Vibrate - nice that the phone does not sound like it is falling apart when it vibrates. Although I was used to that on Lumia's people at work made fun of me lol
Battery Life - it would be unfair to judge at this point but seems reasonable. What I have noticed, though, is that it takes forever to charge! I was away from home for almost two hours to go to the gym, it was at 33% when I left and 89% on return. However, like most normal people, it will recharge at night so it so irrelevant. More to follow on this, though. Caveat - I do not really understand how phones actually work - but it looks like the GS III wireless recharging add-on could be used on the Ativ S if it is resized. That is the main feature of the 920 that gets me excited.
Size - this phone is big. Maybe too big for me? Certainly have hit the upper ends of what I will use.
Internet Sharing / Bluetooth / NFC - all worked well.
Custom Apps - have not really tried this yet. There are six Samsung exclusives, only "Now" seems of interest to me at this time. Looks like a reliable and attractive way to check the weather real quick.
Overall - the lighter weight is nice. The 920 did not bother me, but it is nice to not have the left side pocket of my coat drooping down a bit - sort of amazing what the fifty gram difference makes. With a bold but conservative look the phone will also fit my lifestyle well.
So far, so good. More to follow as the thing actually is tested over the next week in a more realistic environment.
Background - in 2012 I have used three Windows Phones previously, the 710 for four months, the 900 for about seven, and the 920 for 15 days. I enjoy the Lumia experience on the whole, however my 900 did not get data for the first six days I owned it, and then an update to fix something else disabled by internet sharing which I frequently enjoy using - never worked again afterwards. So that was frustrating. And then my 920 had the overheating issue, making it unpleasant to hold surfing the web which is the primary activity of my phones; it was returned and I went back to the 900. So, I feel like I gave Nokia a good kick at the can but wanted to try something new.
My User Type - I am a fairly conventional in my use. Lots of texts, about 20-30 e mails a day, casual Facebook/Twitter and a lot of web use. I am not a huge app users as most seem useless to me since WP renders the web so well and quickly. I take pictures, but of stupid things, so the low light super camera of the 920 is not a huge deal for me.
Cost of the Phone - it is priced to high. There were a lot of financial incentives thrown in that made it more tolerable to buy. If you do not have incentives then I would personally suggest waiting. Best part is a great quality Roots sweater thrown in for my WHL team! Go Wheaties Go!
OS - I will not touch on the OS too much as I believe that WP is WP is WP. It is slick, fast, and everything you would expect. And Microsoft, fix X Box Music!
Only Beef So Far - To get metric on the Maps app the phone has to be set to any language except "United States (English)." However, to use Local Scout the phone language has to be on "United States (English)." I do not speak imperial, and I love Local Scout. Hoping to find a solution for this.
Screen - I prefer the apparently "inferior" AMOLED screen on this bad boy compared to the 920. But both are amazing so I find this to be an apples to apples comparison. It seems a lot brighter than the 920 was and is a joy to look at. The sensitivity allows the use of gloves; I am in Manitoba so have already tested this extensively.
Physical Buttons - I accidently hit the home captive button on my 900 a lot. While the larger lower bezel on the 920 made this error substantially less frequent it also, in my opinion, makes the phone looks really disproportionate. In fact I found the 920 ugly when I first saw it. So for me, the physical home button is a plus. The sound control and sleep button (or whatever it is called) are placed very high - too high - so are a bit of a pain to use. Certainly I will acclimatize to it reasonably quickly.
Camera - it works well enough. Not much of a camera person here.
Vibrate - nice that the phone does not sound like it is falling apart when it vibrates. Although I was used to that on Lumia's people at work made fun of me lol
Battery Life - it would be unfair to judge at this point but seems reasonable. What I have noticed, though, is that it takes forever to charge! I was away from home for almost two hours to go to the gym, it was at 33% when I left and 89% on return. However, like most normal people, it will recharge at night so it so irrelevant. More to follow on this, though. Caveat - I do not really understand how phones actually work - but it looks like the GS III wireless recharging add-on could be used on the Ativ S if it is resized. That is the main feature of the 920 that gets me excited.
Size - this phone is big. Maybe too big for me? Certainly have hit the upper ends of what I will use.
Internet Sharing / Bluetooth / NFC - all worked well.
Custom Apps - have not really tried this yet. There are six Samsung exclusives, only "Now" seems of interest to me at this time. Looks like a reliable and attractive way to check the weather real quick.
Overall - the lighter weight is nice. The 920 did not bother me, but it is nice to not have the left side pocket of my coat drooping down a bit - sort of amazing what the fifty gram difference makes. With a bold but conservative look the phone will also fit my lifestyle well.
So far, so good. More to follow as the thing actually is tested over the next week in a more realistic environment.