The main issue with Nokia having Windows Phones: Their fanboys are more annoying than iFans and Fandroids.
My review of the ATIV S after using it for 2 weeks:
They go to comparison videos (e.g Lumia 920 vs ATIV S) and when people say "Personally, I prefer the ATIV S because of removable battery, micro SD, etc" then they will reply "ATIV S doesn't have pureview, IPS LCD screen, super sensitive screen, wireless charging, Nokia Drive. ATIV S is made of cheap plastic. L920 is polycarbonate, more durable. Don't get the ATIV S!!"
Um, hello? Have you ever held an ATIV S in hand? I mean, sure the 920 is sturdy, but I always get that "I-need-to-put-this-phone-down-and-shake-off-my-hand-because-it-is-going-numb". ATIV S was made for your hand. The power button is high, yes but it is placed at a position where you would naturally hold the phone and your thumb will be at the power button. For a Samsung phone, it actually feels good in your hand. Heck, I prefer holding my ATIV to my 920 (8X is VERY slippery if you do not have a case). When you first hold your ATIV S, especially if you have owned a Lumia 920 previously, you would wonder what the heck Nokia put in the 920 which made it so heavy? The ATIV S is lighter and slimmer, and yet it outperforms the 920 in many aspects.
ATIV S users don't need Pureview cameras. That one surprising thing about the ATIV S? The camera is surprisingly, good. In fact, its great. It's camera performance stunned me for a Samsung phone. It performed better than the 8X in close-up shots (My 8X refused to focus. Not sure why) Although, yes the 920's close-up range is shorter, but the ATIV S is not far off. Its range differs from the 920 by a 1-2 centimetres. The front camera is great. Better than the Lumia 920 which would fail really badly at this. The 920's front camera produced blurry shots, especially with the top and botton of the picture being blurry. In front cameras, the HTC 8X triumphs, but its frame rate when using the front camera is annoyingly low. Result? Delayed shots and laggy reactions. The ATIV S, however, had much higher frame rates on both its front camera and its rear camera. Its rear camera was much smoother than the Lumia 920, which took me by surprise.
IPS LCD? What for? Samsung's Super AMOLED panel on the ATIV S manages to cut a few millimetres off the ATIV S. Its slick, and its deeper blacks out-perform the 920 under sunlight, which f**ks up the colors when brightness is set to automatic. Sure the ppi isn't that high but do we really need that much pixels per inch? When I had my Lumia 800 with 252ppi, I was fine, and in fact, looked clear to me. This kind of work on increasing ppi on screens should go to laptops and PCs, which really need 300+ ppi.
Wireless charging? So I buy a phone, then spend over $100 just so I can charge it without a cable? Unless you have a phobia of wires, this is unnecessary. Its just a luxury, not a necessity.
Nokia Drive? So you have a GPS, big deal. Work over at XDA has managed to allow us to download apps from other OEMs. So I'd rather get the ATIV S and download Nokia Apps than to buy a phone that I don't want, just for apps.
In conclusion, of my personal preference, I'd pick the ATIV S in a heartbeat. Its replaceable battery (I'd rather have this than wireless charging), microSD expansion and a removable battery door which previously, you had to go into the mid-range for, makes the ATIV S stand out in its own way. The fact that Samsung expanded the battery capacity and actually made plastic that REALLY looked like brushed aluminium makes this device, one of a kind. Sure, Samsung could have literally re-used the Galaxy S3's design, but they tried. They tried and they did it. They made a Windows Phone that is high-end and has a great look. If it weren't for Samsung, I wouldn't dare walk into an international board meeting with a yellow Lumia 920 which is just tacky for a business user. Samsung's increased support over Windows Phone in the past few weeks gives this device a chance. One good thing that is also a bad thing is that the device is underrated, which means that you can get the best Windows Phone 8 device currently in the market, for the price of a Lumia 620. Why good? This would boost sales. A very cheap high-end Windows Phone is something Nokia has not been able to pull off.
The ATIV S has room for improvement. Namely, more variety and Samsung's commitment and support for Windows Phone. A 32GB version was announced but never produced. LTE was announced but possibly? disabled. One thing I would've loved was maybe actual Aluminium on the battery door, and maybe a white version too.
The Samsung ATIV S scores a 9.4/10.