2 years on Nokia Lumia 920 ? summary of experiences

[Alfred Yeap]

Got a 920 2 years back, I was missing some of the stuff switching from iPhone 4.

Among the apps that I still missed:
1. CIMB Bank App (local Malaysia bank) ? revert back to mobile bank site and it works great without any issue.
2. Citibank Bank App ? didn?t use much, but did most of the transactions over the year on iPad.
3. TD Ameritrade ? totally no replacement. Have to use iPad iOS app to do stocks transaction.
4. Olympus Photos App ? none on Windows Phone, I cannot transfer photos from my Olympus micro four third camera to the phone. I have to transfer them to my wife?s MI 4, then share out to my family/friends.
5. Google apps ? Photos is new app that I enjoy a lot on the iPad, I wish I can use it in WP. And I use Hangout a lot too. There are a couple of good Google Drive clients, but nothing beat the original Drive app. Gmail works fine in WP.

Some apps have make it to WP platform or has been improved:
1. I was missing Flipboard, but now it is here and works fine.
2. Whatsapp was a mess earlier but it is getting better and better now. Still missing some features but not critical.
3. WeChat and Line always have updates but I don?t use them that often, they were bad initially on WP.
4. Facebook app has been improved too.
5. Twitter app has been updated a few times, it is now superb now.

I never use Snapchat at all, so I don?t miss it or need it.
I don?t use Instagram too.

iPhone 6?
I have been tempted a few times, if not for the high phone price, I might already been switching back to iOS platform.
The camera in new 6 is getting better. The notion that 920 is a good camera helped me make my decision to switch to WP last time, but I think iPhone 6?s camera has now become even better.
Siri grows to be better now, although Cortana is great, I hope Microsoft continues to enhance it.

The camera features:
I was wanting the time-lapse feature in iphone a lot (I am about to pay for Timelapse Pro), last week Microsoft Hyperlapse app has been compiled to work on all Lumia! Well done Microsoft.
I am still waiting to see if the slow-mo feature will come to all Lumias. I hope they do.

What will I miss if I switch back to iOS?
- The customized live tiles! The way to be able to decide how the home screen looks is a big thing in WP. Nothing can beat that.
- The ever smooth OS. To me, this is by far the best OS on mobile (I know some of the fan boys will disagree). iOS is great, but WP mobile is very well written and it is optimized.
- The battery life is still awesome on my two year old 920! (I am on WP 8.1)
- The quality of the Nokia phone, it is well built, abeit a little heavy but I love it! The polycarbonate is awesome to touch.
- The offline Nokia Drive and Nokia Map. Okay, I can have those in iOS too.
- Microsoft Office apps, I can get those too on iOS but they are there pre-installed on all WP. Awesome apps.
- The swipe keyboard ? okay, I get this too in iOS. But this is default feature in WP. I can?t type without it now. Chinese writing inputs is easy to use too.

What is my next phone?
Let?s see how great the new flagship phones Microsoft will introduce, then I will make a call.
iOS/iPhone continue to be a temptation but if WP 10 mobile turns out to be great, then maybe I will just stay (been on build 10149 preview before but rolled back to 8.1)

 

[vsmh96]

Among the apps that I still missed:
1. CIMB Bank App (local Malaysia bank) ? revert back to mobile bank site and it works great without any issue.
2. Citibank Bank App ? didn?t use much, but did most of the transactions over the year on iPad.
3. TD Ameritrade ? totally no replacement. Have to use iPad iOS app to do stocks transaction.
4. Olympus Photos App ? none on Windows Phone, I cannot transfer photos from my Olympus micro four third camera to the phone. I have to transfer them to my wife?s MI 4, then share out to my family/friends.
5. Google apps ? Photos is new app that I enjoy a lot on the iPad, I wish I can use it in WP. And I use Hangout a lot too. There are a couple of good Google Drive clients, but nothing beat the original Drive app. Gmail works fine in WP.
Thank you for your review of the 920 after your usage.
For points 1-5, I do not use any of them. As a teen I don?t have any use of bank apps. Neither do I have a real camera camera and do not use Google except for searches. (Google doesn?t see eye to eye with us, look at YouTube and therefore I do not expect them to make changes anytime soon , unless Windows mobile becomes the next big thing.
Some apps have make it to WP platform or has been improved:
1. I was missing Flipboard, but now it is here and works fine.
2. Whatsapp was a mess earlier but it is getting better and better now. Still missing some features but not critical.
3. WeChat and Line always have updates but I don?t use them that often, they were bad initially on WP.
4. Facebook app has been improved too.
5. Twitter app has been updated a few times, it is now superb now.

I never use Snapchat at all, so I don?t miss it or need it.
I don?t use Instagram too.

Don?t use Flipboard. Whatsapp was indeed late (especially voice calls) but it always seemed stable to me. WeChat, hmm I started using it around August 2013 till now, seems stable, more stable than Android (never had that stupid situation where the app had to be reinstalled and seemed more responsive to me) in my opinion but my iOS friends say whatsapp works better. Facebook ? that app is one abomination, Id say its one of the worst if not the worst app in the store itself (so bad that even using the browser provides more advanced options). Twitter is still far behind, GIF support, quote retweet and to see instagram pictures inbuilt ( I assume that Android and iOS has it), periscope hmm missing but its interface is better than the modern updated versions on A and iOS. Snapchat ? signed up, used for few days then Snapchat sent email saying it will ban account if I use 3rd party apps, logged out, uninstalled and never really saw the whole point of it. I guess teens are there since its known to be a sexting app or the general crowd followers. Instagram ? I stayed with Instagram beta for a while before realizing that they didn?t care and left it in BETA for more than 1 year, *claps*. I now use 6Tag as a replacement and Fhotoroom (where I knew no one). Fhotoroom is better in terms of allowing full res pictures and no need to crop or square pictures.


iPhone 6?
I have been tempted a few times, if not for the high phone price, I might already been switching back to iOS platform.
The camera in new 6 is getting better. The notion that 920 is a good camera helped me make my decision to switch to WP last time, but I think iPhone 6?s camera has now become even better.
Siri grows to be better now, although Cortana is great, I hope Microsoft continues to enhance it.

The camera features:
I was wanting the time-lapse feature in iphone a lot (I am about to pay for Timelapse Pro), last week Microsoft Hyperlapse app has been compiled to work on all Lumia! Well done Microsoft.
I am still waiting to see if the slow-mo feature will come to all Lumias. I hope they do.

iPhone 6 doesn?t have OIS which the 920 has. The advantage is has is faster speeds in terms of snapping and launching. 6plus on the other hand has OIS but is bigger in size.
Siri and Cortana ? I personally don?t care, yes its all cool and Swag etc etc but meh, if its not practical then there is no point for me to use them. As a Malaysian myself I cant use Cortana but am perfectly fine with it. I don?t know how big a percentage of WP users Malaysia has but from what I see, MS makes it available for big markets, China (Xiao Na or something), India, US and France if im not mistaken.
I used the Lumia Camera and set focus to infinity to later use it with Hyperlapse, here is my first try :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIWODCXhmlU
Tips on using Hyperlapse : How to shoot great Hyperlapse videos on your Lumia - Conversations: The Microsoft Devices blog
Slow mo is coming soon but I think will work on newer devices only.


What will I miss if I switch back to iOS?
- The customized live tiles! The way to be able to decide how the home screen looks is a big thing in WP. Nothing can beat that.
- The ever smooth OS. To me, this is by far the best OS on mobile (I know some of the fan boys will disagree). iOS is great, but WP mobile is very well written and it is optimized.
- The battery life is still awesome on my two year old 920! (I am on WP 8.1)
- The quality of the Nokia phone, it is well built, abeit a little heavy but I love it! The polycarbonate is awesome to touch.
- The offline Nokia Drive and Nokia Map. Okay, I can have those in iOS too.
- Microsoft Office apps, I can get those too on iOS but they are there pre-installed on all WP. Awesome apps.
- The swipe keyboard ? okay, I get this too in iOS. But this is default feature in WP. I can?t type without it now. Chinese writing inputs is easy to use too.

What is my next phone?
Let?s see how great the new flagship phones Microsoft will introduce, then I will make a call.
iOS/iPhone continue to be a temptation but if WP 10 mobile turns out to be great, then maybe I will just stay (been on build 10149 preview before but rolled back to 8.1)
Understandable. Yes the OS is great IMO. The 920 was a well built phone. Samsung for eg is now only making use of wireless charging, we had curved glass back then too and OIS. The weight is actually beneficial for stabilizing the phone : read the review part of the Nokia Lumia 920 from Wikipedia. Swipe hmm , yes I get it, from what I gathered iOS?s 3rd party keyboards aren?t great, I personally wouldn?t use any 3rd party keyboards unless necessary.

Yes hoping that windows 10 will be greater and if it does become the next big thing, I hope MS doesn?t become a devil.