After 24 hours: Review and Thoughts on Icon

[cbreze]

Speaker is small and isn't loud - While I'm not a big fan of speakers on the back of a phone, my 8X and Icon shared this design. But the 8X had a wide speaker that was wonderfully loud with little distortion. Nokia's grain-of-rice sized speaker just doesn't pump out much (or great) sound. And for headphones, even though Nokia has their standard sound improvements, I have to say the Beats Audio in the 8X was noticeably better.

This will be my biggest hurdle and I seriously don't know if can get past it. Coming from the ONE with the fabulous sounding dual speakers it sounds like a major downgrade in speaker volume and quality. I know I can try it out for a couple of weeks and take the restock fee hit if I need to. I just don't see why phone makers can't make better speaker sound quality. Why not two speakers? My Nokia E90 from many years ago had awesome sound quality from dual speakers. No clue why Nokia(and others) has not kept up that pace.
This said, my local store has finally gotten some stock according to the website. I'll stop by and be prepared to be overwhelmed by everything but the speaker. Maybe if I go in with low expectations ill come out with an icon. :wink:

 

[LumiaIcon]

This will be my biggest hurdle and I seriously don't know if can get past it. Coming from the ONE with the fabulous sounding dual speakers it sounds like a major downgrade in speaker volume and quality. I know I can try it out for a couple of weeks and take the restock fee hit if I need to. I just don't see why phone makers can't make better speaker sound quality. Why not two speakers? My Nokia E90 from many years ago had awesome sound quality from dual speakers. No clue why Nokia(and others) has not kept up that pace.
This said, my local store has finally gotten some stock according to the website. I'll stop by and be prepared to be overwhelmed by everything but the speaker. Maybe if I go in with low expectations ill come out with an icon. :wink:

It is pointless to worry about sound vs. the HTC One. Nothing compares. If sound is a major concern it is the only option.

 

[cbreze]

It is pointless to worry about sound vs. the HTC One. Nothing compares. If sound is a major concern it is the only option.

Your right of course and I believe all devices come with trade offs when compared to the previous device. And while it is not a "major" concern it is something I would miss, but there could be other sweet spots that would offset the loss. Camera, screen, battery life to name a few. Gonna head out and see it for myself. Thanks for your input.

 

[srmccoy]

[*]Ghosting while scrolling - With all the talk about the great screen, I was surprised to see slight ghosting when scrolling. Whether it's web pages, Weave or just the built-in email, I notice a slight loss of fidelity on the letters as they scroll. The moment scrolling stops, all is well. Maybe it's a function of the OLED display or maybe something else. Although it's slight, I notice it.

This was the biggest thing that caught my eye coming from the 8X and it's LCD panel. I've never had an AMOLED panel before, coming from an iPhone 4 and an 8x prior to this. Minor issue compared that I can learn to live with. Everything else about the display is almost too beautiful.

 

[anon(4054009)]

This will be my biggest hurdle and I seriously don't know if can get past it. Coming from the ONE with the fabulous sounding dual speakers it sounds like a major downgrade in speaker volume and quality. I know I can try it out for a couple of weeks and take the restock fee hit if I need to. I just don't see why phone makers can't make better speaker sound quality. Why not two speakers? My Nokia E90 from many years ago had awesome sound quality from dual speakers. No clue why Nokia(and others) has not kept up that pace.
This said, my local store has finally gotten some stock according to the website. I'll stop by and be prepared to be overwhelmed by everything but the speaker. Maybe if I go in with low expectations ill come out with an icon. :wink:

When I got the 928 and charging dock I was very impressed with the speaker sound and volume on the dock. The centered speaker worked very well with the sound funnel on the dock. Same with the Lumia 925 I have, but the funnel on the charging plate didn't allow full volume. The icon speaker being to the side can't use the that lens very well.
My other complaint is the podcast app, very clunky to use. Wish Stitcher was on WP.

 

[savagelizards]

After two days with the Icon (coming from a Razr Maxx):

Good:
Screen is great, very readable.
Screen and quad-core Snapdragon processor make this a great phone for games. Asphalt 8 looks and performs just as it does on my Surface Pro (although that oncoming traffic is tiny until it hits you). Frame rates are no issue.
Really love typing compared to my old Razr Maxx. The phones are actually quite similar in exterior size, but the WP keyboard is about 40% larger. I am learning to really fly with few mistakes. Autocorrect seems quite good.
Drive mode (which is activated whenever the phone finds my car's Bluetooth) is interesting. I like the idea that it will read and respond to texts by voice, through the car's Bluetooth connection.
The camera is as good as everyone says it is. I need to spend more time to learn about it, but it's not even worth making a comparison - its that much better.
I can uninstall Verizon bloatware. Better if it wasn't on the phone at all, but I love that I can remove it - some apps on android cannot be deleted, only hidden.
As others have mentioned, I can finally unwind my relationship with Google!

The bad:
Screen is not very responsive to touch on the edges. For the most part the screen is excellent, but there is a slight bevel to the edges of the glass, and touch response is poor along this bevel. It's not a huge deal, but I have a row of the smallest size tiles at the top of my start screen and sometimes they don't respond to my taps unless I am forceful. They are small targets, so unless I get used to it, I may have to abandon this layout.
Battery life is poor at best. I knew that this would be an issue, since the battery is only about 2/3rds the size of the Razr Maxx and the Icon is tricked out with that pixel-rich display and quad-core processor, but both yesterday and today I found myself under 25% battery life by early afternoon. I stocked up on an eternal battery because I saw this coming, but I would have liked to have been wrong. My slick new device is hobbled when it's tethered by a short cord to a big yellow cylinder. It's like putting a five gallon tank in a Dodge Viper - It's super fast, but it has to stop and fill up ALL THE TIME.
Old/deficient apps. Can't replace everything, and I didn't think I would have that hard of a time. I am not talking about banking apps either, since most all of that can be done with a browser. But even a standard app like Words of Friends, which I had to pay for, is about 2 years behind its free android counterpart. There's no leaderboard or predictive scoring. I know some folks will say its just a game, but it is something I like to do for 15-20 minutes a day. And I use it by way of example - some official apps just don't do the same thing as their android alter-egos.
Contacts are sometimes jumbled. Suddenly folks with the same first name are rolled up into one giant linked contact. I had one issue where seven contact entries got linked together.
I haven't figured out how to display satellite photos as an overlay on maps. Can this even be done? I use this quite a bit in my job, to look at parcels of land and get a feel for what is around them.
I may be rid of google, but some apps still unreasonably require me to accept sharing my location for them to work. I understand a mapping application needing that, but why does Calculator^2 or Battery need to know where I am? And why should I need a battery app? Why isn't one a part of the OS?
Why isn't there a forward button/icon/menu item on the web browser?
Since my phone uses my Microsoft account, why must I continue to log into all things Microsoft so often? And why isn't my phone auto-populated with my Windows 8 favorites and browsing history?

Well, that's most things off the top of my head after two days with the Icon. I know it will take me some time to adjust to how WP does things, and I know I will have to wait for 8.1 to get some of the OS issues straightened out, so hopefully in a few months I won't miss my old phone anymore.

 

[falconrap]

Assuming you are using Nokia Here maps, just above the elipse (...) there is a layer icon. Tap that to get access to satellite and LiveSight views. You can also get traffic here.

As to the contacts, not sure what is happening there. If you have contacts with the same names, then they will be linked and rolled into one, I believe. If these are different named contacts getting linked together, then something has gone amiss.

As far as your battery is concerned, you need to condition it then see how it goes. You can also go into Settings, swipe from right to left to go to Applications, and select background tasks under that. There you can see what apps are allowed to run in the background. Deny apps that you don't want to run in the background, as well as ones that you suspect are using a lot of cycles and using more battery power. Sometimes there's one app that can be constantly doing something in the background, especially with data, causing a high discharge rate. On WP, you should under light use, be at or well under 4% per hour discharge for most WP phones.

 

[Workbook89]

I took advantage of the Edge Plan open enrollment, and traded in my HTC 8X for the Icon. Your review is spot on with my experience as well. The smallest tile does take some getting used to, especially for those items with counters (battery, email, voicemail, etc.). if the number/count has 2 digits, it gets cut off...

 

[willied]

I tried both the Icon's speaker and the One's speakers in the Verizon store with the same song, and I was actually pleasantly surprised by the Icon. Now it was a bit noisy in there, but the Icon sounded better than I expected. Granted, I have the 822 which has the worst speaker (quality-wise) I've ever heard on a phone, but I don't think I'd be disappointed with the Icon's.

 

[puttlikezach]

@puttlikezach
I'm currently enjoying my HTC ONE and am considering the icon. Loved your mini review and comparisons. You don't mention the speakers tho and as we both know they were a hugely nice feature of the ONE. Is that a let down on the icon? Ive never had a phone with such awesome speakers as the ONE and I hate to lose them. At home I like to use the speaker phone option particularly for some rather longwinded females I talk with. I know there are tradeoffs every time we upgrade. Perhaps the better battery would help offset this. Just wondering your thoughts on the difference in speaker, a downgrade?

The camera, the speakers, and the design are what drew me to the One. The camera was a big let down and while the speakers were certainly very good, I found that I really didn't use them that much. Are the speakers on the One better? Yes. Do the speakers on the Icon get the job done for me? Absolutely. I just tested it by watching a clip from Netflix. No problems. But again, my priorities for phone are: Camera, Battery, and Call Quality. Camera and Call Quality aren't even in the same ball park as the One and battery is performing very well.

 

[avooca]

I may be rid of google, but some apps still unreasonably require me to accept sharing my location for them to work. I understand a mapping application needing that, but why does Calculator^2 or Battery need to know where I am?

I'm guessing for ads...

 

[manicottiK]

The bad:
...there is a slight bevel to the edges of the glass, and touch response is poor along this bevel...
...some apps still unreasonably require me to accept sharing my location for them to work...
...why should I need a battery app? Why isn't one a part of the OS?

This is a total guess, particularly since I don't have an Icon. Are you touching the glass beyond the edge of the display under it? On Windows 8 touch devices, the touch sensitivity extends a few mm beyond the display; that's not the case for Windows Phone so there is some "non-touch" bezel space between the display and the edge of the phone.

A lot of "free" apps are ad supported and some of the ad networks sell ads based on location. As such, apps using such an ad network need to send the location to get the "correct" ad for you.

The Battery page in Settings shows the percentage remaining. (WP8.1 is supposed to add this to the notification screen.) Some people are used to having percentages and durations easily visible, so there are a ton of battery apps. I have a 1520 and I have yet been able to run out its battery so I ditched my battery app. (I fly from the east coast to the west coast last week, listening to music and playing games for most of the flight. I landed with 45% battery remaining. Of course, the 1520 has a bigger battery.)

About your poor battery life. Some of that might be because you're using the phone more than you usually do because of the novelty of it. See how things go after a week or two. Good luck.

 

[savagelizards]

Assuming you are using Nokia Here maps, just above the elipse (...) there is a layer icon. Tap that to get access to satellite and LiveSight views. You can also get traffic here.

Thanks for the tip! I found it just like you described.

As to the contacts, not sure what is happening there. If you have contacts with the same names, then they will be linked and rolled into one, I believe. If these are different named contacts getting linked together, then something has gone amiss.

The issue seems to be with contacts that share the same first name. I will have to find a way to clean that up - probably manually viewing each contact and unlinking as necessary.

As far as your battery is concerned, you need to condition it then see how it goes. You can also go into Settings, swipe from right to left to go to Applications, and select background tasks under that. There you can see what apps are allowed to run in the background. Deny apps that you don't want to run in the background, as well as ones that you suspect are using a lot of cycles and using more battery power. Sometimes there's one app that can be constantly doing something in the background, especially with data, causing a high discharge rate. On WP, you should under light use, be at or well under 4% per hour discharge for most WP phones.

Most everything syncing in the background seems like what I would expect. I did discover an advanced section that told me there were some apps that could not be controlled. One was called Verizon Tones. I checked it out and it was an app that let me download ringtones from Verizon. I uninstalled it (which you just can't do with android - thanks WP), and the advanced tab is no longer visible. I don't know why Verizon needs to monitor my phone through the ringtone app, but it's gone.

As for everything else, though, it seems like the usual stuff - news, sports, weather, email, twitter, etc. I do see that Internet explorer is listed. What is it syncing? Certainly not my Windows 8 favorites, which is inexplicably not synced.

 

[savagelizards]

This is a total guess, particularly since I don't have an Icon. Are you touching the glass beyond the edge of the display under it? On Windows 8 touch devices, the touch sensitivity extends a few mm beyond the display; that's not the case for Windows Phone so there is some "non-touch" bezel space between the display and the edge of the phone.

You might be right. I was looking at this this morning in the daylight. The problem I am having is mostly trying to hit the settings icon, which is at the top right hand corner of the phone. So maybe it's not the top as much as the side, and maybe it's operator error, but I seem to have a hard time getting the icon to launch settings.

Here is my current home screen configuration:

About your poor battery life. Some of that might be because you're using the phone more than you usually do because of the novelty of it. See how things go after a week or two. Good luck.

This could be true, but it doesn't feel different than what I usually do. Especially surfing the web on a Sunday morning. I could also say it could be because I am paying more attention to the battery life (I knew before I bought it that the battery was only 2/3rds the size of my old Razor Maxx), but I am feeling that a couple of strategically placed QI charging stands will be the real solution.

I am sure I will have a better idea in a few weeks. Thanks for your help!

 

[LumiaIcon]

Your right of course and I believe all devices come with trade offs when compared to the previous device. And while it is not a "major" concern it is something I would miss, but there could be other sweet spots that would offset the loss. Camera, screen, battery life to name a few. Gonna head out and see it for myself. Thanks for your input.

A few positives vs. One:

- Screen size though minimal is substantial difference
- Doesn't get as hot under load or at least is more tolerable with polycarbonate back.
- (If you like it) Panel is much warmer and saturated being an Amoled. I prefer it, and you can adjust saturation and balance to your taste. Everything "pops" more.
- Assume you like your One for music and video... The equalizer in the Audio setting offers great tweaking. With headphones, Icon is better.
- Camera is not even a fair fight.

 

[cbreze]

A few positives vs. One:

- Screen size though minimal is substantial difference
- Doesn't get as hot under load or at least is more tolerable with polycarbonate back.
- (If you like it) Panel is much warmer and saturated being an Amoled. I prefer it, and you can adjust saturation and balance to your taste. Everything "pops" more.
- Assume you like your One for music and video... The equalizer in the Audio setting offers great tweaking. With headphones, Icon is better.
- Camera is not even a fair fight.

Well after 24 hours with the icon I know its a definite keeper. Ive already listed the ONE for sale. I haven't owned and used a windows phone since the windows "pro" and "standard" days. Now that takes me back. Constantly searching for and then loading custom ROMs all the time. Nice to have a windows phone that seems so refined and just works and does so quite smoothly. Android is in my rearview mirror. I'm looking ahead with my new icon. Awesome device.
EDIT: Forgot to mention the camera. Wow!, just Wow! The point and shoot pics I've taken so far are really sweet. Can't wait to get into the cam app more.

 

[SwimSwim]

Well after 24 hours with the icon I know its a definite keeper. Ive already listed the ONE for sale. I haven't owned and used a windows phone since the windows "pro" and "standard" days. Now that takes me back. Constantly searching for and then loading custom ROMs all the time. Nice to have a windows phone that seems so refined and just works and does so quite smoothly. Android is in my rearview mirror. I'm looking ahead with my new icon. Awesome device.
EDIT: Forgot to mention the camera. Wow!, just Wow! The point and shoot pics I've taken so far are really sweet. Can't wait to get into the cam app more.

Haha, glad to have a new convert. And yeah, Microsoft has really come a long way from the messy days of stuff like Vista. They still have a longs ways to go, and should probably pick up the pace, but overall: they're doing an fantastic job of reinventing themselves. It only gets better from here (ignoring that abomination: the Lumia X).

And yeah, I feel I'm stuck with Windows Phone for awhile, anyways. iOS is stale and boring, and Android is a mess. Metro is the only design philosophy for me, at least for now. But I wouldn't mind getting an HTC One running Windows Phone 8.1... Now that'd be a kick-*** phone!