Is it still OK to buy a 920 this day?

[jontyrees]

Why did they send you a 1520 rather than a 930? Or the 830?

That's an excellent question! ATT doesn't offer those models, and I had no choice - it's a online process with Asurion, which takes you through some security questions, asks you what happened to your phone, then on the next screen announces "we will be sending you a Nokia Lumia 1520 as a replacement for your Nokia Lumia 920". No option to decline that I recall. I probably wouldn't have declined anyway, as all the reviews on the 1520 are glowing. It is certainly a very impressive device - fast, smooth, sleek, fantastic screen, fantastic camera, easily 2 day battery life. Unfortunately, it was the wrong size for my usage, and it proved to be unbelievably fragile. Now I'm stuck with the choice of paying a $199 insurance deductible and probably getting another 1520, a two yr upgrade on ATT which will lose me my $25/mth discount, going with ATT Next and paying full price for a new phone spread over 20mths, living with a completely erratic 1520, or picking up something used on ebay. I suppose I could get another 1520 on insurance, immediately sell it on ebay or Craigslist, and buy something else. That just doesn't feel right to me though.

Question: if I do get a used 920 on ebay, and it has not been upgraded to 8.1, can I decline that upgrade? Or will ATT/MSFT continually badger me into installing it, until I slip up and let it in? 8.1 killed my last 920, and it offers me literally nothing I want over 8. Cortana? Party trick. Greater cloud integration? No thanks, I like local, not cloud.

 

[plot_almighty]

That's an excellent question! ATT doesn't offer those models, and I had no choice - it's a online process with Asurion, which takes you through some security questions, asks you what happened to your phone, then on the next screen announces "we will be sending you a Nokia Lumia 1520 as a replacement for your Nokia Lumia 920". No option to decline that I recall. I probably wouldn't have declined anyway, as all the reviews on the 1520 are glowing. It is certainly a very impressive device - fast, smooth, sleek, fantastic screen, fantastic camera, easily 2 day battery life. Unfortunately, it was the wrong size for my usage, and it proved to be unbelievably fragile. Now I'm stuck with the choice of paying a $199 insurance deductible and probably getting another 1520, a two yr upgrade on ATT which will lose me my $25/mth discount, going with ATT Next and paying full price for a new phone spread over 20mths, living with a completely erratic 1520, or picking up something used on ebay. I suppose I could get another 1520 on insurance, immediately sell it on ebay or Craigslist, and buy something else. That just doesn't feel right to me though.

Question: if I do get a used 920 on ebay, and it has not been upgraded to 8.1, can I decline that upgrade? Or will ATT/MSFT continually badger me into installing it, until I slip up and let it in? 8.1 killed my last 920, and it offers me literally nothing I want over 8. Cortana? Party trick. Greater cloud integration? No thanks, I like local, not cloud.

Most people scoff at personal assistants. However the 8.1 update is more than Cortana. The biggest useful feature outside Cortana is the Action Center. Spend enough time on WP8 and you'll come to find that Toast notifications (Badge notifications on iPhone) just don't cut it unless you can pull your phone out then and there to see what it is. I'd also like to point out the Sense apps are wonderful. Data Sense in particular. Set your limit in it and when the data period ends and the app is smart enough to track how much is left.

The 8.1 update is worth it alone for those two things. Not to mention the increased customization. Background image, Live Folders, Live lock screen.

To answer your question WP won't badger you about the update. It WILL however silently install it if you have it set to update automatically, which it does by default if you're hooked to Wi-Fi.

Edit: You have the option to switch off Cortana so when you press the search key you bring up WP8's Bing search instead.

 

[Albatross2]

I just replaced my 920 with a 635 ($80 from Walmart). I'm on AT&T US. This is a stopgap move to wait until the 830 gets cheaper, the 735 becomes available, or a new flagship is launched.

I have to say I do like the small form factor and reduced weight of the 635. Compared to my old 920 I'm really only giving up the front camera (rarely used), glance, auto-brightness, and the wonderful rear camera (a luxury I hope to recapture with my next phone). I have also gained the sensorcore functionality with the new 635, and this is a big plus.

 

[carlson03]

I just replaced my 920 with a 635 ($80 from Walmart). I'm on AT&T US. This is a stopgap move to wait until the 830 gets cheaper, the 735 becomes available, or a new flagship is launched.

I have to say I do like the small form factor and reduced weight of the 635. Compared to my old 920 I'm really only giving up the front camera (rarely used), glance, auto-brightness, and the wonderful rear camera (a luxury I hope to recapture with my next phone). I have also gained the sensorcore functionality with the new 635, and this is a big plus.

For temp, thats not too bad, but those are major features I would have a hard time giving up...did your 920 die on you?

 

[rockstarzzz]

The 920 has built in QI and 32gb storage, didn't they strip that from the 925?

They did but its lighter, better camera, better battery performance.

 

[jontyrees]

Most people scoff at personal assistants. However the 8.1 update is more than Cortana. The biggest useful feature outside Cortana is the Action Center. Spend enough time on WP8 and you'll come to find that Toast notifications (Badge notifications on iPhone) just don't cut it unless you can pull your phone out then and there to see what it is. I'd also like to point out the Sense apps are wonderful. Data Sense in particular. Set your limit in it and when the data period ends and the app is smart enough to track how much is left.

The 8.1 update is worth it alone for those two things. Not to mention the increased customization. Background image, Live Folders, Live lock screen.

To answer your question WP won't badger you about the update. It WILL however silently install it if you have it set to update automatically, which it does by default if you're hooked to Wi-Fi.

Edit: You have the option to switch off Cortana so when you press the search key you bring up WP8's Bing search instead.

That's what I figured on the 8.1 installation - it'll slide in somehow. I think MSFT is going to drive a lot, (were there even a lot to begin with?), of WP customers away with the whole switch from 8 to 8.1 They largely disabled people's phones, and didn't offer a viable new option. I was completely in the market for a new WP, since my trusty 920 was showing signs of age - dropped a million times, battery maybe declining a little, but I'm looking around and seeing a 1520 that is just too big for what I want, and an 830 that is at best a sideways move. I really don't want a personal assistant, I don't want my phone to know any more about me than is absolutely necessary, don't really need Sense either - if I approach the 30gb data package, I'll pay the overage. 8.1 is a nice upgrade I guess - Action Center sounds good, although I have the 1520, and I'm not aware of it doing anything different, or where Action Center is. I have turned Cortana off, btw. I like WP UI, it's coherent, smooth and easy to manage - I got a Focus the first week they came out, 920 the first week they came out - but I might end up going Android.

nm - just found action center! That is kinda useful.

 

[photographerdan]

First of all I'd also try getting the 1520 fixed if possible, cracked screens are common and youtube videos show that they aren't hard to fix. I've fixed them in the past and with some patience and the right tools they aren't anything to be scared about but being that it's a phablet then the screen cost might make it pretty close if not more than the deductible.

The lumia 920 is no slouch, it's performance is really only beat by the newer premium models that share the 930's guts(1520 etc. . ) It's gpu is more powerful than the 830's and in mobile environments gpu's are extensively used for leveraging overall performance so it actually keeps up pretty well with the 830 and outdoes it in some areas despite having fewer cores.

I've had the 920 since launch and it still runs smoothly with 8.1 and Cyan also the battery life is now excellent since the update.

This is also why 920 owners are in a bit of a conundrum in the u.s. as no carrier offers the 930 and well there are no other high-end Microsoft phones and an 830 really wouldn't be an upgrade.

Unfortunately a few months ago my phone developed a mysterious signal quality issue which makes it impossible to use the mobile network in some areas and it seems to hop around bands in certain areas when it does come across good signal strength and at work it's rock solid. . . i've dropped the phone many times though so it could have been due to that but i'm not exactly sure. It's very frustrating. Get a good condition model and look at sellers that offer a 30day warranty in case you come across one of these issues.

The best solution would be a factory unlocked model, that way you get access to all the updates Microsoft offers right away. It's something i'd look for especially since you're not buying from a carrier anyway if you're still going this route.

 

[jontyrees]

I pulled the trigger on a 920 on Ebay. After a few days of followong auctions, occasionally putting in a lowball bid and not winning, I got a feel for the selling prices. Some new auctions with buy-it-now prices popped up today for black 920s, one in "fair" condition at $82.50, one in "very good" condition at $89.95, and one "like new" for $99.95 - all had pictures and even the "fair" seemed to be in much better shape than many others on ebay. I picked up the "like new" one, figuring that it must have barely been used, therefore would have a relatively fresh battery, etc. Most of the live auction 920s in good or better condition are going for $105-$120, so $99.95 in great condition seemed like a good deal.

I hope this turns out to be a good decision. I'm not too excited about going back to a 2012 phone while android and iphone hardware leaps forward, but the 920 served me well in the past, and has some major advantages. Biggest being it is incredibly durable, and doesn't require a separate and ugly cover. It has the Qi wireless charging I like, and I like the WP OS. For me, it's the best alternative in a WP - 1520 too big, too fragile, no Q1; 830 no real step up in performance, construction doesn't look as solid, no Qi, $450 on ATT Next; 1020 out of stock at ATT, $340 on ATT Next if it was available, no Qi; HTC One M8 for Windows not originally designed for Windows, $670(!!!) on ATT Next. I don't really need anything beyond 32gb storage, and I can easily live with the CPU performance as-is (I don't game, mostly just use it for phone, text, internet, camera). I would like better, quicker camera performance, but it's plenty good enough. Where I'm leery is in not having any kind of warranty, and potential issues with people no hearing me on phone calls - the noise cancellation thing. The other big wild card is 8 vs 8.1 - I'd prefer not to have to install 8.1 at all, but I'm not optimistic it won't sneak in somehow. That's what killed my last 920, so I'll try to stave it off.

Overall, I'm pretty happy to stay with a tried and true phone, and a virtually new one at that. Not so happy I had to replace my old, perfectly functional one due to the 8.1 install, but $99.95 to get a refreshed phone might not be so bad. What would have been ideal is to have received a 920, 830 or 1020 as an insurance replacement in the first place, instead of the 1520. anyone want to buy a 1520 with a cracked screen? One month old, works perfectly aside from jumping into Voice Search at random moments - $99.95?

 

[nukesheart1520]

Case closed. I got mine an 830

(still grieving for my 1520 :'( )

 

[anthonyng]

920 feels great! I picked up my 920 after using my 930 for a few months now. I poked around to get cyan installed on it.

First thing I thought, this phone felt great in the hand! Touch feel was great too. I much prefer the rounded polycarbonate sides as opposed to the square corners of my 930

 

[nohra]

My 920 is just as good today through heavy daily use as it was when I got it a year an a half ago. The only phones currently on the market that I would seriously consider trading away my 920 for are the 1020, 930 (if it were available in US), or the 1520. If it were me, I'd probably try to fix the screen on my own first just because I wouldn't want to go down on MP, because for me camera is criteria #1. Good luck!