950 v 950XL v 1520 v 830

Bobvfr

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After I got the 950 sorted out by using WDRT I managed to get it up to insiders release preview with ease.

Well impressed by this phone, would happily use one of I didn't have my 950XL.

So to some sort of comparison of our (Me and the wife) last four phones. Size wise it's a fairly based step up with each phone just a bit larger than the next with the 830 being the smallest, then the 950, 950 XL and the 1520 being the largest.

Spec wise, obviously the 830 is at the bottom, but this time the 1520 comes next followed by the 950 and the 950XL.

The next one is a bit more subjective, value for money, the 830 was a bit over priced when on sale, but I got it with a discount and the charging plate and MD12 speaker thrown in, but the 950 with the free dock is way out in front on this, selling at ?249 in the UK with the dock it is by far and away the best deal on the market in my opinion with 950XL coming a close second.

Future:

Don't get me wrong the 830 was a good little performer and the 1520 a bit of a powerhouse for it's time, but they miss the one thing that semi- future proofs the 950 and XL for the next couple of years and that is Continuum, this is a bit of a game changer for me. If my SP3 or the wife's Surface Pro died tomorrow I doubt I would replace them as the phones can effectively (For ME) take over a lot of the ground that the Surface devices are used for, I am considering buying a monitor with built in speakers for the bedroom and using it with the phones as an alternative desktop when needed (And to stop the wife plugging into mine).

So each phone has it's plus and minus points, the 830 was a nice little phone but the camera was blown out of the water by the other three. The 1520 was in all honesty BIG, had a non (Well not very easy) replaceable battery, the 950 and the 950XL have Continuum.

I prefer my 950XL, those few centimetres make it more practical than the 1520 in day to day usage and it you can see the performance difference, so the 950XL is the stand out performer for me.

However the 950 has a better power/volume button arrangement. If I couldn't have my XL I would happily have the 950 and at the prices Microsoft are currently charging it really is a solid phone with very good specs and I would happily recommend anyone to buy one before the stocks run out and although I can see why MS have dumped the low end Lumia's, I would have recommended they keep on making the 950 and 950XL as their business and enthusiasts phones for another year, on the evidence in front of my eyes, these are really good top end phones at prices that put them in the mid range price bracket, when you take into account I got the 950XL, 950 and two display docks for less than the price of an HP Elite 3 and they aren't really shown up by it.

PS We have two sets of the Nokia charging plates and MD12's and they actually work better with the 950/950XL than they did with the 830 and 1520 :smile:
 

gmfeld

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In August I went from the 830 to the 950 on ATT running the AU. Perfectly happy with the phone and the OS. Works great for me.
 

rollindice

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I've had 930,1020,830,950 & 950 XL,I chose the 950 over the XL because of pocket friendly,the 950/XL are awesome upgrades over the 1020 & 830 ,much faster camera experience over the 1020 ,better overall performance over the 830,one of my cousins have the 1520,it's quite nice indeed,still packs a punch,but x50 series are it for me,size wise 950 if you have bigger hands 950XL
 
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950 and 950 xl in my opinion got two big advantages over 830 and 1520: AMOLED screens (real black instead of dark grey) and dual sim (don't want a second phone at work). I'm very happy with my 950!
 

slyronit

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I had the 830, 1520 and now have a 950XL. I find the 950XL display to be dull/disappointing compared to the 830/1520 both of which are much more vibrant/glossy.

What do you think?
 

libra89

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I had the 830, 1520 and now have a 950XL. I find the 950XL display to be dull/disappointing compared to the 830/1520 both of which are much more vibrant/glossy.

What do you think?

I think this is down to personal preference. I personally like IPS tech over AMOLED. I didn't really love the screen of my 950 for my light themes.
 

slyronit

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Forget black/white. I use the bing image of the day on my 950XL (personal) and 920 (work) and it looks better on the 920 every single time. Even the 950's display looks better than the XL's, which just looks dull to me.
 

RJ Priest

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From a component standpoint, the 950 & 950XL hit all the check boxes, and I don't think we could have asked for anything more. The main problem was the physical appearance of the phones. I understand that appearance is subjective, but for me Lumia 920, 925, 1520, 830 all look fantastic, refreshing, true works of beauty. The 950 series is just way too generic, and dull.

From a performance standpoint, part of the beauty of Windows Phone 8 was how it worked so well. Despite the significant difference in processors, I do not notice a difference in performance between my Samsung ATIV S and Lumia 1520. The ATIV S actually boots up faster (maybe because it doesn't have a sim card?). I haven't used a 950 series device outside of trying it at the Microsoft store before launch, and performance probably isn't any different from a Lumia 1520.

And when it comes to AMOLED vs any form of LCD, I was a huge AMOLED fan, but the LCD display on the Lumia 1520 just looks amazing, even blacks (thank you Nokia ClearBlack). With the added bonus that I can actually see my display outdoors in the sun.
 

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