Lumia 830 and Windows 10

[slivy58]

Since putting my WPs on the chopping block at fire sale prices then seeing little interest, I decided to pull out my 830 and see if my carrier had gotten around to offering the W10M upgrade (10.0.10586.318), lo and behold Telus had. Preformed the upgrade over a freshly installed W8.1 (factory reset w/o backup), after the install had finished I did another factory reset of W10M forgoing again any backups.

So, since I hadn’t used W10M for quite some time we were excited to see what’s new, how much did it improve, customization, store etc. To say we were underwhelmed would be an understatement, besides being much more stable (so far) I’m hard pressed to see the advancements since my last experience several month ago w/stability notwithstanding, was disappointing to say the least.

Pros:
* Much improved stability
* Smoother operation/experience to a degree and probably what one would expect on the 830
* After several days I can probably assert battery drain is similar to W8.1
* 830s camera is still decent and performs satisfactory

Cons:
* First off, a very lengthy upgrade process
* Occasional app crashes or they hang for a period of time, varies.
* Slow WiFi connectivity upon initial start-up, a definite change from W8.1
* Screen flicker under certain conditions, more of a rarity but none the less, still there.
* Lackluster camera app that still requires lenses (separate entity), other than a weak HDR mode little has change.
* Photos Blaaah! Crashes when selecting “Choose the best lighting”.
* Overall limited OS customization that has improved little from months back
* Interface starting to feel clunky, maybe Android has me spoiled
* Transparent tile option/availability seems similar to when I left, would have thought at least the "all" default apps would have gotten that option.
* Store, yes a tad better but still slow, disorganised, clunky and not user friendly, IMO still garbage.
* Cortana, same old, pretty much useless here in Canada which isn’t too unexpected.

Update May 14th:

* Just today while trying to exit an app and return to the home screen my phone froze for about 15 sec, after it came alive sort of, kept showing the elusive "resuming" and appeared not wanting to recover, ended up powering down then restarting... So all I can say to this is "crap, here we go again!", did it once so I can pretty much rest assured it'll do it again at some point.

Yes the 830 is no powerhouse but considering the apps and options pale in comparison to my Androids (IMO) I’d have expected better, W8.1 was smoother and overall a superior experience yet left me yearning for more, don’t feel W10M has delivered in any way, shape or form.

Update May21st

Pros:
- After a few weeks of use on and off there has been no noticeable degradation over a period of time/use, was really predominant w/previous W10M builds
- Battery still appears to be decent and on par with W8.1

Cons:
- Overall performance is definitely more sluggish than on W8.1
- Camera somewhat slower, not overly terrible but it is noticable
- Several apps no longer function properly or crash, an uninstall/reinstall did nothing to rectify
- Slight instability after opening some apps, takes a few seconds for things to level out
- Loading and resuming much more prevalent
- Still limited/quality apps which seems more widespread now w/W10M
- Store is just plain pathetic, ludicrous it is still in such a state… The list is too lengthy for me bothering to list

The bottom line… My phone w/W10M no longer entices me to even think of using it as a daily driver because I know we’d be frustrated in a hurry, if it were back on W8.1 I’m confident that sediment would be opposite yet apps keeping pace on an older OS would be a problem, lose lose situation the way I see it.

 

[todd miles]

I am an 830 user as well. My experience as a fast insider was OK initially but the issues kept mounting up. Resuming notice on most apps, never could get bluetooth and car system to connect with a quality connection, reboots, etc. Finally went back to 8.1 and probably where the phone will stay til it dies or I move to another OS/phone. 8.1 has no future but at least it works reliably.

 

[slivy58]

I am an 830 user as well. My experience as a fast insider was OK initially but the issues kept mounting up. Resuming notice on most apps, never could get bluetooth and car system to connect with a quality connection, reboots, etc. Finally went back to 8.1 and probably where the phone will stay til it dies or I move to another OS/phone. 8.1 has no future but at least it works reliably.

Contemplating moving back to 8.1 myself, we?ve moved on in reality so no longer depend on my WPs but did enjoy some of what the OS, W8.1 in particular, had to offer, the only caveat of late though was the fact app updates became slim to none and there was/is a good chance we?d be left hangin in the not too distant future, one of the reasons I chose to upgraded via carrier, that and the fact months had gone by since my last endeavour w/10 so things must have change immensely.

So now that we have the latest and greatest running W10M, or so some say, it?s becoming more and more annoying each and every day, although it doesn?t seem as bad (yet) compared to the IP builds I?ve tried in the past I swear the OS still begins to degrade slowly but surely upon every use, the ?Ugh!? factor is starting to be the norm and is becoming much more frequent as time passes.

The things is, W8.1 gave me a reasonable amount of enjoyment/usability whereas W10M totally annihilates it, have no problem with advancements but what I?m seeing with the latter is far from it, a huge caricature if you ask me that fails to deliver? Just have to open the store app to see the utter garbage MS has to offer, today?s fiasco blew me away.

 

[slivy58]

Well it was inevitable, although W10M had improved immensely in regards to stability its performance on my L830 was far from stellar, every action had a delayed reaction, to such a point that it became annoying and frustrating the longer we used it, so much so that I reverted back to W8.1.

My main gripes w/W10M starts with performance, turned a capable device into an intolerable paperweight, sure it was useable but for me it became wearing, the whole OS had a disjointed feel where in that the UI just did not feel married (nothing working together/in conjunction as it should), frustrating when I knew my 830 was more fluid running on 8.1. Sure it’s no powerhouse but guess those that reiterated that 10 didn’t need the oomph for it to run good were mistaken or, MS changed up their game once again unbenounced to us users, guess it all comes down to what one is willing to bear.

As for the apps, saw little change over what was available when running 8.1 and maybe even less, they still pale in comparison to the competition, if anything, I had more issues running apps on W10M and expecting a quick resolve would have been laughable.

Yep the good old store, what can I say other than it’s a joke, total child’s play here in my eyes and definitely doesn’t scream “designed by the software gurus” (nor does the OS for that matter), I’d be embarrassed to have something like this out there for others to see/use and even more so for the time it is taking to resolve.

The good news out of all this, since I like to switch handset from time to time maybe now we can get some use out of this baby, the big question will be “for how long?”.

 

[bridder]

I found out the hard way how to resolve problems with "black screen" when you try to input some data in text boxes in some apps.
My problems were linked to the size of fonts. Since I am visually impaired I always try to enlarge displayed text. There are 2 settings where you can enlarge fonts:

First in Ease of Access -> More options -> "Text scaling": default size is 130% and I can enlarge it to 140% without "Side" effects.
Second is in System -> Display -> "Size of text...": default is 200% and can be enlarged to 225%. If I enlarge it to 225% and reboot (as needed) after that some of my apps that need text input become useless; as soon as I try to input text the screen goes black.

Since moving to the release preview ring on the insiders preview and moving from 10586.494 to 14393.5 the last app that was causing me an issue with moving to 225% text size in the display settings was the ebay app, amazon had been removed as it was being retired and I've stopped using the older Windows Central app and started using the new one, anyway I've moved my font size back up to 225% and can report that I no longer get a black/blank screen when searching or signing into the ebay app, so on top of fixing my blinking and tearing this build has also seemingly fixed this issue for me, now i'm on 225% and my eyes are coping much better. I just can't believe how well it is running, I'm just waiting for everything to go pear shaped...

 

[slivy58]

Got the latest and greatest build (Anniversary Update) on my 830 but sadly can?t say we?ve gained anything towards the usability aspect of things compared to W8.1, in actuality it is far worse when it comes to my every day usage. Below is a few of my observations as to how it is playing out on my now aged Lumia.

Cons:
* Screen flash
* Occasional jitters while scrolling and general lagging
* Overall not near as fluid compared to W8.1, yep I?m sure device dependant here but still
* Loss of WiFi w/latest build, have to manually reinstate w/no rhyme or reason as to why
* Edge painfully slow at time or doesn?t render some sites very well at all as in, layout/font size, not very intuitive
* Outlook not rendering some content property upon first opening (display zoomed) nor after loading, bland looking
* Cameras lack of ?built-in? features such as panorama mode,
* Less apps available than before, what once used either isn?t available, glitchy or don?t function at all.
* FB Beta is like watching paint dry LOL

Pros:
* Addition of camera HDR mode, although it?s a stripped down version on my device
* Camera photo quality still on par w/W8.1 as is speed, relatively speaking
* Battery hasn?t suffered from ?my? norms
* Store finally seeing some headway, far from stellar but none the less much improved as of late

Overall finding that W10M is still disjointed compared to W8.1 and inconsistent, yes many added features but not all that well implemented from my standpoint. A newer more recent handset may change my opinion somewhat but see nothing that would entice me to upgrade, 950 series are already aging and anything else worthy is on the pricy side, availability is another issue, a big gamble the way I see it for a platform teetering on the edge.

 

[TKETZ196]

I was wondering, since i only had my Lumia 830 for a few weeks now: Is it worth upgrading the OS to WM10 overall? should i hold off upgrading until more bugs are ironed out? seen many people discussing issues w/ it and some have zero issues.

Did you guys do a hard reset on the device after upgrading to "refresh" the software? even after that, did any existing bugs still persist or get resolved?

I want to get a consensus on feelings/thoughts before i make the jump. I like it, as is, however i want the latest and greatest software but not at the sacrifice of the phone becoming unusable.

I have an AT&T Branded Lumia 830, and recently the carrier released the update. I have to assume they tested the device? also did the breaking of the camera module get resolved?

 

[jodeltje]

Als far as I know, the breaking of the camera is not update related, mine gave the error on 8.1 and warranty service got it fixed.

As for W10 on the 830, I like it.
It's not as quick as on 8.1 but barely noticeable, especially as (I feel like) Windows 10 (UWP?) apps load a lot quicker than the old 8.1 apps.
Here maps is gone, which is a shame, but MS Maps is getting better.
Camera is the same.
The screen flickers are NOT fixed, which is ridiculous, but it happens only on occasion (ymmv).
No more Metro/Zune interface, in return you get the hamburger menu

But overall it feels like a more modern OS, I like it.

 

[slivy58]

I was wondering, since i only had my Lumia 830 for a few weeks now: Is it worth upgrading the OS to WM10 overall? should i hold off upgrading until more bugs are ironed out? seen many people discussing issues w/ it and some have zero issues.

Did you guys do a hard reset on the device after upgrading to "refresh" the software? even after that, did any existing bugs still persist or get resolved?

I want to get a consensus on feelings/thoughts before i make the jump. I like it, as is, however i want the latest and greatest software but not at the sacrifice of the phone becoming unusable.

I have an AT&T Branded Lumia 830, and recently the carrier released the update. I have to assume they tested the device? also did the breaking of the camera module get resolved?

I?m hesitant to recommend W10M to anyone due to my 830s present state/low specs yet at the same time its ?well documented inconsistencies? do give some hope that you may end up with a decent running device, only once you?ve taken the plunge will one know. Threw in the low end hardware bit due to the fact that I think the initial impression that W10M didn?t need much to run well has turned out to be somewhat false? Can only go my ?seat of the pants? involvements even though many opinions differ, guess it comes down to what one is willing to tolerate I suppose.

My experience has been more sluggishness compared to 8.1, screen flashing, poor rendering of some emails and web pages, fewer apps available for 10 with them being pretty much same feature wise as what 8.1 offered, more app crashes, etc. Overall the uniformity/fluidity during daily use is gone, to such a point that frustration sets in quickly in my camp, the once loved platform has lost most of its luster for me.

Hard reset(s), although I find it ludicrous that we?re dealing with such in this day and age chances are it?ll do more good than harm and yes, I do them with reluctance and some bugs still persisted as well.

The latest yes, the greatest, weeeell that?s very subjective here, we?ll leave it at that.

Don?t assume especially the testing part, I?d be more inclined to say they?ve released the update to appease or keep a good rapport with their customers than anything else. Thought the same thing w/MS but after a while it became apparent that the insiders were doing most of the work that the decision making was based on, just have to look at the history and trends to see what I mean.

Whichever path you take good luck, can?t say you?ll need it but doesn?t hurt just the same.

 

[slivy58]

Just went “old school” on my 830, again, 10 back to 8.1, and what a friggin difference which always amaizes me no matter how many time we do it, we’re livin’ in the past now but at least the phone is usable and can easily be relied upon as a daily driver if so desire. Every aspect of the phone is much more responsive, apps launch faster, store is a thousand times better providing more info (IMO) although kind of useless now since updates will be negligible, lost a few apps that we had not that long ago as well. Those complaints I had with Edge and Outlook look not rendering webpages/emails properly, pretty much non-existent. Screen flash/flicker, what screen flash/flicker? Yes that is gone too.

We’ve already jumped ship but if we were to jump back in what is really available? The 950 series that’s almost a year old sporting an above average camera but then falls short with a lacklustre build, factor into that as well a poorly implemented OS. An HP Elite x3, isn’t quite out to the masses yet (delayed in the US), with a camera that doesn’t sound all that stellar (camera high priority on my list), and it too sports same crappy OS, for the $999 price tag here in Canada none have an enticing appeal. All these phones are Continuum capable but realistically who’s going to use it to any extent, I’d probably give it a go once and that would probably be it. Don’t see anything now nor come 2017 that is going to remove the cement blocks that has kept WP/WM from reaching the surface, not even the “Surface Phone” will achieve that feat if it comes to fruition and highly doubt there’ll ever be one.

Yep strayed a little on this post but this whole WP abomination that MS has created in the past couple of years is pretty dang frustrating. Could have just chucked my 830 in the garbage and said we’re done with it but was truly hoping for some “real” changes but, as always, same old same old with one rung up and two down, at some point I’m sure we’ll come to the realization we’re beating a dead horse here .

 

[jmhaines]

Android has it own issues. Head over the Android Central and see what people are saying about the Nexus phones, camera quality, and gradually slowing performance. Also, how much do you like to share you personal data?

 

[slivy58]

Android has it own issues. Head over the Android Central and see what people are saying about the Nexus phones, camera quality, and gradually slowing performance. Also, how much do you like to share you personal data?

No device is immune from having issues of some sort or the other but WM leads the pack in that regards especially where W10M is concerned.

Nexus phones are only one entity of the Android ecosystem while many others do very well, not quite sure why you singled them out.

I own two Androids with one being almost a year old while the other is 6 months. How many hard resets or major issues since I initially set them up, absolutely none and no signs of degrading performance either. Own/owned many an Android (tablets/phones) and sure, early stages weren?t stellar but the last 2-3 years has been pretty decent from my point of view.

If one online shops, owns credit cards or gives out their personal data for ?anything? you are potentially at risk of having it compromised, so I highly doubt Android/Google is going to be your only enemy at the end of the day nor do I think it is as prevalent as many make it out to be, and as to my point...

Data Breaches (2016):

FACC
University of Central Florida
U.S. Department of Justice
Internal Revenue Service
UC Berkeley
Snapchat
21st Century Oncology
Premier Healthcare
Verizon Enterprise Solutions
Systema Software
Tidewater Community College
MedStar Health Inc.
Philippine Commission on Elections
Multiple Major E-mail Providers
Wendy?s
LinkedIn
Newkirk Products
Oracle
Dropbox
Yahoo!

 

[jmhaines]

No device is immune from having issues of some sort or the other but WM leads the pack in that regards especially where W10M is concerned.

Nexus phones are only one entity of the Android ecosystem while many others do very well, not quite sure why you singled them out.

I own two Androids with one being almost a year old while the other is 6 months. How many hard resets or major issues since I initially set them up, absolutely none and no signs of degrading performance either. Own/owned many an Android (tablets/phones) and sure, early stages weren’t stellar but the last 2-3 years has been pretty decent from my point of view.

If one online shops, owns credit cards or gives out their personal data for “anything” you are potentially at risk of having it compromised, so I highly doubt Android/Google is going to be your only enemy at the end of the day nor do I think it is as prevalent as many make it out to be, and as to my point...

Data Breaches (2016):

FACC
University of Central Florida
U.S. Department of Justice
Internal Revenue Service
UC Berkeley
Snapchat
21st Century Oncology
Premier Healthcare
Verizon Enterprise Solutions
Systema Software
Tidewater Community College
MedStar Health Inc.
Philippine Commission on Elections
Multiple Major E-mail Providers
Wendy’s
LinkedIn
Newkirk Products
Oracle
Dropbox
Yahoo!

I would hate for you the be the victim of one of those breaches, but it's not the breaches that should worry you. It's the breach that you don't see. The one happening to you right now. Phone apps (e.g. flashlight app -- https://www.wired.com/2014/10/iphone-apps/) built by 3rd party thugs, big software / tech companies, and even hardware manufacturers, that go totally unregulated by Google or it's App store, and have access to YOUR data on YOUR phone without you knowing.

You know that friendly Google car that maps the world, including your neighborhood? Well, it also sniffs network ID's--including yours--in it's jolly travels, stores that information with the address information, and then sells it to another party.

Tell me how much you trust big G with your photos, contacts, e-mail, web history, call log, SMS's, videos, music downloads, up-to-date location, IP address, etc. etc. Also, enjoy your Nexus.

 

[slivy58]

I would hate for you the be the victim of one of those breaches, but it's not the breaches that should worry you. It's the breach that you don't see. The one happening to you right now. Phone apps (e.g. flashlight app -- https://www.wired.com/2014/10/iphone-apps/) built by 3rd party thugs, big software / tech companies, and even hardware manufacturers, that go totally unregulated by Google or it's App store, and have access to YOUR data on YOUR phone without you knowing.

You know that friendly Google car that maps the world, including your neighborhood? Well, it also sniffs network ID's--including yours--in it's jolly travels, stores that information with the address information, and then sells it to another party.

Tell me how much you trust big G with your photos, contacts, e-mail, web history, call log, SMS's, videos, music downloads, up-to-date location, IP address, etc. etc. Also, enjoy your Nexus.

Um, all those breaches that I mentioned went "undected" or as you put it, unseen, data was already compromised by the time it was realized. In the end "I" know the risks and have chosen to accept that, if that's not for you then read below...

Think maybe you'd be wise to jump off the techno bandwagon if you are that paranoid cuz it ain't going to get any better, if you use it then the potential is there no matter what, thinking Google is your only enemy is just fooling yourself.

And by the way, don't own a Nexus, have an LG G4, Galaxy S7 and Lumia 830, with the latter being what this post is about.

 

[jmhaines]

Um, all those breaches that I mentioned went "undected" or as you put it, unseen, data was already compromised by the time it was realized. In the end "I" know the risks and have chosen to accept that, if that's not for you then read below...

Think maybe you'd be wise to jump off the techno bandwagon if you are that paranoid cuz it ain't going to get any better, if you use it then the potential is there no matter what, thinking Google is your only enemy is just fooling yourself.

And by the way, don't own a Nexus, have an LG G4, Galaxy S7 and Lumia 830, with the latter being what this post is about.

This post isn't about security, but the 830, so we'll just have to take this discussion up at another time. In the end I am recommending the 830 over other brands simply because Google is such a glutton for user information, personal data, and isn't using a damn bit of it to make my life better, but for their own purposes (e.g. Google Car selling NID's).

I know MSFT isn't perfect, but I'd like to believe they occupy a slightly higher moral platform than Big G.

 

[slivy58]

This post isn't about security, but the 830, so we'll just have to take this discussion up at another time. In the end I am recommending the 830 over other brands simply because Google is such a glutton for user information, personal data, and isn't using a damn bit of it to make my life better, but for their own purposes (e.g. Google Car selling NID's).

I know MSFT isn't perfect, but I'd like to believe they occupy a slightly higher moral platform than Big G.

Oh I'm not saying there isn't some truth what you are saying about Google but IMO if you what the dinner with all the condiments then MS along w/WP isn?t it right now, may suffice for some but lacking for many.

Loved my WPs initially but since the inception of W10M things have become stale, my 830 runs good on 8.1 but now feels deficient and behind the times not to mention short on apps we've come to depend on, it has too many quirky issues running on 10 that detract from its overall usability, maybe I got a lemon just don?t know.

As for your last statement? That?s all fine and dandy but if MS isn?t delivering as a whole in the WP arena then the puzzle isn?t complete, going by ?my? experiences w/W10M along with dismal device availability it is hard to invest into something that never seems to gain much ground.

 

[jmhaines]

As for your last statement… That’s all fine and dandy but if MS isn’t delivering as a whole in the WP arena then the puzzle isn’t complete, going by “my” experiences w/W10M along with dismal device availability it is hard to invest into something that never seems to gain much ground.

I'm hoping that the rumored Surface Phone will revive MSFT's mobile platform. I truly enjoy the WM concept, and how easy it is (or has been up to W10M) on older hardware. I think that MSFT gained some popularity with the Surface brand and it's being marketed to students and professionals a la Apple.

In the end, I agree with your stance. The WM platform is lacking in many ways compared to a basic 'Droid or iPhone (though we still have headphone jacks!). I'm optimistic they'll come out with a great new Surface phone that will gain app' support, and keep them relevant.

 

[slivy58]

I'm hoping that the rumored Surface Phone will revive MSFT's mobile platform. I truly enjoy the WM concept, and how easy it is (or has been up to W10M) on older hardware. I think that MSFT gained some popularity with the Surface brand and it's being marketed to students and professionals a la Apple.

In the end, I agree with your stance. The WM platform is lacking in many ways compared to a basic 'Droid or iPhone (though we still have headphone jacks!). I'm optimistic they'll come out with a great new Surface phone that will gain app' support, and keep them relevant.

Well I can honestly say I’d still be WM advocate if the past couple of years hadn’t played out as they did, shame because had high hopes for the platform and did enjoy it. Looking at the big picture though, device availability dwindled and resolves for issues w/W10M came at a snail’s pace and even then MS was consistent a breaking more than they fixed each and every go-around.

Hope your dreams for a Surface Phone fruitate but surely wouldn’t be holding my breath waiting. I liken Msft’s position in the mobile market today to BlackBerry’s as there has been some similarities (been there done it myself w/BB) how things have played out, just heard today BB has now decided to pull out of the mobile field and concentrate on its software. Can’t say the same will happen here anytime soon yet not very optimistic with the future of WM.

Seeing how poorly my 830 ran on W10M and now having issues with several PCs that I applied the anniversary update too last week, my confidence in MS has been severely compromised, my past experiences with Windows (3.0/1990 onward) has never been so trying as its been with ten.