Are the Lumia 930/ICON & 1520 still worth buying?

[badMojo69]

I just sold my 1520.3. I don't like the state of WP, so I figured I'd sit out W10 and see what shakes out.
And with a lot of the Microsoft services being ported out I don't see any real reason to be loyal to the phone.

 

[RumoredNow]

Here are plenty of Lumia 1520, quite a few of them unlocked for $200 or so. You should get one from deal.fisher if you see them selling one. Their excellent condition is very close to mint condition device.
Good luck.
lumia 1520 | eBay

If anyone can find you the best deal on a device it is worldspy99. I'm too embarrassed to post on the open forum just how low a price he found me on a seller refurbished Lumia 830 RM-983 that looks and works MINT. Other users might get upset that the deal is over and gone at the rdiculously low price I paid... FWIW I think $200 is cheap for a 1520.

 

[boltz82]

I have owned all three of the aforementioned phones at one point or another. I currently am using a 930 and like it very much. Are there some limitations? Of course. I think the same could be said for 99% of all phones out there. The reality to me though is that you need to determine if the limitations that any of these phones have is acceptable to you. To be completely honest, I feel as though the hardware has everything that I am wanting or needing in a phone. The things that it is missing for me is a few apps that I would like to have. The phone itself operates incredibly smooth and fast. It takes phenominal pictures. I love my phone.

Making a decision between the Icon, the 930, or the 1520 is again subjective to the individual. I enjoyed my 1520. The size, while very large for a phone, didn't always feel that way. What I found though was that I was always concerned about its care. There are no really durable cases for the phone in my opinion and the screen always seemed subject to damage. I never had a thing happen to that phone, but the worry was there for me.

The Icon and 930 have a screen size that was more in my "comfort zone". They both operate extremely well and I never expierenced any hiccups or such with them. I sold my Icon though as I am not on Verizon and despite my best efforts I couldn't get MMS to work for me. The 930 is great with the one notable exception being that it lacks the bands necessary for LTE here in the US. I find that H+ moves at a similiar speed though and do not miss LTE. One added feature on the 930 is the pedometer function too if that is of any use to you.

 

[sinime]

I am sick of dealing with a repair shop trying to fix my 1520 screen for the past 4 months and ordered a 930 (ATT) which should come in this Friday... So my opinion would be to go the route of the 930/icon and stay away from the 1520. It (1520) always felt too big (and I have big hands).

 

[bo_woods]

If anyone can find you the best deal on a device it is worldspy99. I'm too embarrassed to post on the open forum just how low a price he found me on a seller refurbished Lumia 830 RM-983 that looks and works MINT. Other users might get upset that the deal is over and gone at the rdiculously low price I paid... FWIW I think $200 is cheap for a 1520.

I was one of the people who missed out on this, if we are talking about the same deal that is.. The 830 was <$150 that I'm talking about. Wordspy99 shared it with me on one of my old threads...

 

[bo_woods]

I have owned all three of the aforementioned phones at one point or another. I currently am using a 930 and like it very much. Are there some limitations? Of course. I think the same could be said for 99% of all phones out there. The reality to me though is that you need to determine if the limitations that any of these phones have is acceptable to you. To be completely honest, I feel as though the hardware has everything that I am wanting or needing in a phone. The things that it is missing for me is a few apps that I would like to have. The phone itself operates incredibly smooth and fast. It takes phenominal pictures. I love my phone.

Making a decision between the Icon, the 930, or the 1520 is again subjective to the individual. I enjoyed my 1520. The size, while very large for a phone, didn't always feel that way. What I found though was that I was always concerned about its care. There are no really durable cases for the phone in my opinion and the screen always seemed subject to damage. I never had a thing happen to that phone, but the worry was there for me.

The Icon and 930 have a screen size that was more in my "comfort zone". They both operate extremely well and I never expierenced any hiccups or such with them. I sold my Icon though as I am not on Verizon and despite my best efforts I couldn't get MMS to work for me. The 930 is great with the one notable exception being that it lacks the bands necessary for LTE here in the US. I find that H+ moves at a similiar speed though and do not miss LTE. One added feature on the 930 is the pedometer function too if that is of any use to you.

You just greatly summarized my issue and reason for moving away from the 1520... There was simply too much worry, although in my case I suffered all three screen issues...ghost taps, LCD spots, cracks from short drops, and overall discomfort and worry

 

[worldspy99]

I am sick of dealing with a repair shop trying to fix my 1520 screen for the past 4 months and ordered a 930 (ATT) which should come in this Friday... So my opinion would be to go the route of the 930/icon and stay away from the 1520. It (1520) always felt too big (and I have big hands).

How did you get the 930 on ATT? Can you elaborate please?

 

[xandros9]

How did you get the 930 on ATT? Can you elaborate please?

Just the unlocked model I bet

 

[sinime]

Yeah, as Xandros9 mentioned, I ordered an unlocked international 930... From what I've read, everything should work fine on ATT except for the LTE... Although many have said you won't really see a difference in browsing the web on HSPA + vs LTE. Will let everyone know once I've had a chance to play with it.

 

[hasasimo]

I just sold my 1520.3. I don't like the state of WP, so I figured I'd sit out W10 and see what shakes out.
And with a lot of the Microsoft services being ported out I don't see any real reason to be loyal to the phone.

What are you buying instead?

 

[Yazen]

I have been debating whether or not I should go with a 930/ICON, or a 1520 to use until the flagship comes. I really have no interest in using a low end phone as a stop gap either. So if I decide these two are no longer worth the buy then I'll most likely just hold onto an 830.. This is a debate for me for the following reasons

What if I get a 930/1520 that has one of it's infamous issues? will MS still replace it for me? If not, then what the heck am I supposed to do?!?!?

Is there any reliable third party insurance that doesn't cost like $100? SquareTrade?

The reliability of these phones in 2015 is making me question whether I should return to the 1520 again/try out the 930, or play it safe and go for 830 which would definitely have MS's full support for replacements incase of defects


Although Such Visual perfection!

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When you can get a manufacturer refurbished for 1520 for $200, and AT&T unlocked is now $1.30 (remember ~$75 :O), there really is no reason to wait xD

1520 is pretty good, just don't stuff it in your pants pocket

 

[nasellok]

Ive been using the Icon since its launch, on my one and only original device - have had no issues with it. Its performance has been nothing short of amazing for the past 1+ years. People still ooh, and aah about the images and videos I take with it - "wait, you took that video with your phone", "is that picture really from your phone"............ the Denim upgrade has made the phone just as fast as the most current Android / IPhone competitors. I highly recommend the phone to anyone, except for the fact that Verizon doesn't even sell the damn thing anymore.

 

[RJ Priest]

I just bought a 1520 2 weeks ago as a successor to my ATIV S. We never received the 1520 or 930 in Canada, but I found a 1520 for sale an hour drive away. I didn't want to wait 7 months for the long overdue next flagship device, and miss yet another summer without a pureview camera. Although the 1520 was initially overwhelmingly huge to me, I've now grown accustomed to it, and anything smaller than a 1520 now feels too small.

No regrets with the 1520. I'll take a pass on "cityman" and "talkman", and look forward to picking up the 1020 successor in 2016 (hopefully it will get a Canadian release).

 

[Sunstorming]

I have had both. I wrecked the looks of my Icon by dropping it at work without a case... darn thing didn't look great but the screen was still excellent and it was dinged up on the corners but worked like a champ, ended up selling it.

Now I have the 1520 and after the screen problems were sorted (turn off glance, put on a very thin case and screen protector) the thing is a beast. I paid ~ $250 for it new and I have no regrets. The internals still stand up to the newest anyone has to offer and IMO kicks the *** of anything made by apple and most Droid stuff. And since the internals are identical to an Icon, plus it has an SD slot, its a no brainer.

Yeah, get one of them.

 

[Xented]

I just bought an ATIV SE for 150 bucks off ebay for a hold over device until the Lumia 940 and 940XL are released with Windows 10 mobile.

Switching from android the WP is an awesome feeling.

 

[mary beth hale]

I just bought an ATIV SE for 150 bucks off ebay for a hold over device until the Lumia 940 and 940XL are released with Windows 10 mobile.

Switching from android the WP is an awesome feeling.

Would have bought the Ativ SE in a heartbeat had it not been a Verizon exclusive. My Ativ S lasted almost 2 years and was a pleasure to use. Edit...to be clear, I do love my 930, though.

 

[badMojo69]

What are you buying instead?

I got the Sony Xperia Z Ultra. I put all the Microsoft available services on it. For $280 it was a good deal.
I never use the camera much on any phone, so not having flash was a non issue.