Canadian review / user experience with the 1520.3 (RM-938 variant)

[bh626]

But currently the 938 is locked only not factory unlocked

The guy from Expansys may not know the details since they don't sell the 938. I agree on the ability to switch, Bell is not getting any cheaper :-(
Does 1520.3 mean the hardware is the latest? Have you seen the so called touch sensitivity issue? If so, how is it in real life? ie; are there lots of false taps, is it bothersome? You know how things can get exaggerated on the net ;-)

 

[bh626]

Bh, I just ordered the 937 from expanses this past saturday, once I have a sim installed I'll let you know how its working.

Thanks, BTW what carrier are you with?

 

[Korlon]

None at the moment, waiting for my phone to arrive but I plan to join Fido unless I can find a more affordable plan elsewhere.

Just as an update, I talked to expansys today, the phone is en route from Hong Kong. They said I should have it by Tuesday next week. Unfortunate delay.

 

[MrGoodSmith]

Does 1520.3 mean the hardware is the latest? Have you seen the so called touch sensitivity issue? If so, how is it in real life? ie; are there lots of false taps, is it bothersome? You know how things can get exaggerated on the net ;-)

I don't think the hardware in 1520 and 1520.3 is different. They have exactly the same specs and capabilities, except for the additional 3G and LTE bands.

Touch sensitivity problem: Yes I noticed that on the 1520.3 as well, but Nokia released a firmware update for the "touch" setting which resolved the problem to a great extent. Before the update I would say the problem would occur at 5% of the swipes at most, and I used to think it's me who is lazy and doesn't know how to swipe correctly so I wasn't bothered that much by the problem. Now the problem still occurs but way much less than before, and I still think I am not swiping correctly

 

[bh626]

Thanks for the info. If you were to swipe up and down on the home screen many times without ever lifting your finger would a tap register? I wouldn't think it should.
I have seen a 'touch issue' on my wife's 520 when the screen was set to high sensitivity.

 

[MrGoodSmith]

If you were to swipe up and down on the home screen many times without ever lifting your finger would a tap register? I wouldn't think it should.

I've never seen that even before Nokia pushed the fix. As long as your finger already on the screen the tap never registers no matter how long you swipe. It only happens when you first touch the screen and just start to swipe. Decreasing the sensitivity under the touch setting does help.

 

[bh626]

Interesting. Playing around with my HTC I see that the tap seems to occur on the TouchUp event. If I tap an icon but don't lift my finger, no tap is registered - from there I can scroll etc. If I tap and hold, it goes into edit mode as expected. But the action of tapping and then moving seems to cancel out the TouchUp event which would normally be triggered when my finger is lifted.

Very much like clicking a link on this page. If I click on Reply, stayed clicked, and move my mouse, the MouseUp event is cancelled. Only when I release my mouse button without moving does the MouseUp event occur. You would think Nokia could provide a fix for this. However, I don't think it can be a software thing since many WinPhones do no have this issue.

This reminds me of the mouse sensitivity setting in TweakUI;

"The Drag setting controls how far you must actually drag something, such as an icon, before the system interprets your motion as a drag. This allows a user that cannot keep the mouse completely still while clicking or double-clicking on something to be able to actually perform the desired action. The drag sensitivity setting indicates the number of pixels you must move away from the click location before it is determined to be a drag."​

Xona Games - Tweak UI Bug

 

[Michael M Maslowski]

Thanks for the reply Michael. That brings up an interesting point. Do any of these 1520's have warranty support in Canada, LTE or not? Personally I would take a 937 with Nokia over a 938. If I can get 40 MB/s with a 937 then LTE just isn't that important - I mean how fast do you need?
If you get the add'l warranty with OmegaCell where do you send the phone if an issue arises?

Hi,

Officially, those devices are not supported in Canada, although I have heard, only informally, about Nokia honouring their warranty; that being said, I would not count on that.

If a device supplied by OmegaCell with additional warranty acquired upon the purchase fails, you send the device to OmegaCell and they will send you a new one, provided that damage was not incurred by water, or liquid irritants. It is described here on their site.

I hope this helps a bit.

 

[Michael M Maslowski]

I've never seen that even before Nokia pushed the fix. As long as your finger already on the screen the tap never registers no matter how long you swipe. It only happens when you first touch the screen and just start to swipe. Decreasing the sensitivity under the touch setting does help.

I confirm that this is exactly the case. I have noticed that on occasions only when I flimsily swipe down with my thumb with some hesitation. If I resume swiping the screen, then a tap sometimes registers. Honestly, a non-issue.

The fact I can read the screen in direct sunlight, that's the kicker.

 

[Mike-J-G]

I have had a yellow 1520 RM-938 for a week now. I ordered it from B&H Photo and it took two days to ship to Ontario. I'm using it on Wind and I'm really liking it. It's replacing a 925. There's been a few software quirks but nothing serious and I can blame that on using the 8.1 developer preview which is still beta. It has much better battery life than the 925. It seems to drop about half as quickly and I have more features turned on. It's also noticeably faster. Web browsing is as fast as with my i5 laptop. Wifi and cellular reception seem about the same as the 925. I got better cellular reception with my Galaxy Note 2. It is in perfect physical condition, no rattling buttons or port covers. If there is anything odd with the touch screen I haven't noticed. The display is excellent with high color gamut and contrast. It has nice even backlighting with no pattern/texture noticeable on solid colors. There are zero bad pixels and absolutely no backlight bleed unlike any other IPS LCD I've examined. My only complaint with the display is that the brightness level when set to auto is just too low in a dark room. I wish that were adjustable without disabling auto mode.

I highly recommend the 1520.3 if you're tired of the cramped little displays of most other Windows phones. This one is big enough to substitute for a 7" or 8" tablet and it's still a phone and still fits in your pocket.

 

[bh626]

Thanks for the update Mike. I was looking at B&H as well. I like everything about the device but have never held it. Can it be used one handed? Can you reach the back button? I am 6'3" with fairly large hands; just wondering it is to use on a daily basis.

Also, does 8.1 do anything to have the OS take better advantage of the screen resolution? Having a keyboard half the size of the display is overkill on a phone this big. Has any scaling been optimized?

Thanks

 

[Mike-J-G]

I can use it one handed and I'm shorter than you. My thumb can reach to the opposite side to type in portrait mode. It's not as comfortable as with a smaller phone but I don't text or email much at all so it doesn't bother me. The keyboard in landscape mode is less than half the height of the screen and I wouldn't want it to be any more cramped. A split keyboard wouldn't be an improvement for me, maybe if it were 7 inches with wide bezels like a Nexus 7. Are you in Canada? I would find a demo unit of a phablet sold in your area like the Galaxy Mega or Note and see if you like the size. The 1520 won't be much different in terms of using it one handed or typing in landscape mode.

I don't think WP 8.1 does much to fit more into each screen but I wouldn't want it to. The way it worked in WP 8 was fine for me. I don't think the point of having a bigger phone is just to be able to see more at once. I want bigger touch targets and easier viewing further from my face. I can read an email now without picking up my phone from my desk or having to leaning in. And I still see more lines of each message without scrolling. I think they struck a good balance.

 

[delroi]

How much did you pay in total cost including shipping, duties and taxes from b&h

 

[bh626]

Thanks Mike. Can you comment on this Ars article regarding scaling. Did things change from 8 to 8.1? Thanks a lot.
The Lumia 1520: enormous hardware, troublesome software | Ars Technica

 

[Mike-J-G]

Check the B&H website. It will show the exact price you pay including shipping and customs charges (mostly tax). You pay everything to B&H and owe nothing when it gets to. It took two days to get to Kitchener Ontario.

 

[Korlon]

Hi Goodsmith, I noticed in a previous post that you used Nokia care suite to flash your rom in the 1520. I downloaded the software but it tells me the 1520 is unsupported.

I also tried the Nokia suite but it tells me the USB connection is inappropriate or something along those lines.

I'm just trying to see if the rom is the latest version as I'm not able to download the Black update for some reason. I was hoping the Nokia care suite would help me there. Any suggestions you can offer, or anyone else for that matter would be helpful.

 

[MrGoodSmith]

Hi Korlon

You might want to check this link, it helped me a lot in acquiring all the software I need:

[How To] Unbrand/Flash all Nokia Windows Phone 8 [XDA News] - xda-developers

The main post is continuously updated to list and link to the latest Nokia Care Suite you need to use.

As for the rom files, you need to know your product code first (not the RM-937 or RM-938 thing, but a code like 059V6W7). Usually Nokia Care Suite can show you the product code and also download the appropriate files for your phone, although you should be able to flash another product code as long as the product type (RM-938) is the same.

Let us know if this helps.

 

[Korlon]

Thanks for the link, I've seen it already and I'm keen to try it out, however the links to the file downloads don't work. Sends me to a blank page. Trying to find an recent version of NCS is becoming frustrating.

 

[MrGoodSmith]

Yeah I know what you mean. It can get tricky trying to figure out how to download it with these ads and false download links. But I managed to download the latest version and install it and check for the latest rom to my device.

 

[Korlon]

OMG what an epic task it was to weave through all those adds... I may have picked up some malware along the way, but I'm checking that out. Anyways, I looked up the rom to my HK variant phone, and it's the same version available on the NOLS. I guess my question now is, how do I select which other ROM to flash? I see there are several unbranded Euro, Asia, south America etc roms unbranded and without simlock, but how do I know which would improve upon what I have with my HK rom? Is it a hit and miss thing or is there a catalogue online which can explain which rom is most advantageous? I've tried searching for some information but other than a few of our British cousins on this site whom flashed from the HK to Euro/GB roms I can't seem to find any info to help me choose.