Lumia 830 (RM985) Prototype

[afcor]

That's pretty similar to the speeds I've been getting using my RM-985 on T-Mobile with full LTE...

 

[hasasimo]

That's pretty similar to the speeds I've been getting using my RM-985 on T-Mobile with full LTE...

Yeah, I was using a Lumia 1520.3 on T-Mobile LTE Before switching to this Lumia 830. Was not going to pull the trigger before knowing exactly what data speeds and ping times were everywhere I go... turned out I got slightly faster HSDPA speeds when testing, so I went for it.

With the RM-985 production models being released now, I could always just buy one and sell the RM-984. Just don't see the need to do so. Hope you're enjoying your RM-985 and were able to successfully flash to one of the production ROMs with Denim.

 

[sahib lopez]

Yeah, I was using a Lumia 1520.3 on T-Mobile LTE Before switching to this Lumia 830. Was not going to pull the trigger before knowing exactly what data speeds and ping times were everywhere I go... turned out I got slightly faster HSDPA speeds when testing, so I went for it.

With the RM-985 production models being released now, I could always just buy one and sell the RM-984. Just don't see the need to do so. Hope you're enjoying your RM-985 and were able to successfully flash to one of the production ROMs with Denim.

heheh if you check out the I have the 830 thread you will get your answer if users we able to flash denim on the 830 ....
also I reached 40 up and 10 down on my 830 but the results were erased because I flashed my phone ._.

 

[Bleser]

Yeah, I was using a Lumia 1520.3 on T-Mobile LTE Before switching to this Lumia 830. Was not going to pull the trigger before knowing exactly what data speeds and ping times were everywhere I go... turned out I got slightly faster HSDPA speeds when testing, so I went for it.

With the RM-985 production models being released now, I could always just buy one and sell the RM-984. Just don't see the need to do so. Hope you're enjoying your RM-985 and were able to successfully flash to one of the production ROMs with Denim.

Curious - if you were running the 1520.3, why the switch to the 830? I'm about to buy two phones (dropping Sprint, switching to T-Mobile), and was going to get the 1520.3 for me and the 830 for my wife. But the more I read the more I think I should be buying two 830s.

 

[sahib lopez]

keep in mind that the 1520 is more feature packed and will get more features along the way

 

[hasasimo]

heheh if you check out the I have the 830 thread you will get your answer if users we able to flash denim on the 830 ....
also I reached 40 up and 10 down on my 830 but the results were erased because I flashed my phone ._.

Not sure which users were successful and which weren't as I saw there were some issues, skimming through that thread, so I was just wishing him well

Never got remotely close to 40 down on LTE here personally... wonder if the network is just too congested around here but the best I got was half that speed.

 

[hasasimo]

Curious - if you were running the 1520.3, why the switch to the 830? I'm about to buy two phones (dropping Sprint, switching to T-Mobile), and was going to get the 1520.3 for me and the 830 for my wife. But the more I read the more I think I should be buying two 830s.

It's a good question. The biggest reasons were that A) I fell in love with the 830's design (including the idea of exchangeable back covers), and B) the 1520 was just too big. I think 5.2"-5.3" is ideal for a display size but one-handability and sometimes pocketability were just too difficult with the 1520. To a smaller degree, the swipe/tap/scroll but that exists on seemingly every 1520 was also a reason, though you get used to that somewhat.

When my 830 arrived and I ran side by side tests, I noticed virtually no difference in performance despite the 1520 obviously being the more powerful device (on the spec sheet). Maybe I would have if I played games, but I do just about everything else with the phone and performance was on par for the most part, and when it wasn't, differences were slight at best. In the end it felt like the only thing I'd end up missing is Hey Cortana, which I really don't care about. I can still use Cortana on the 830 and would rather people not be able to activate Cortana on my phone by yelling the phrase anyway.

What I feared I'd be missing most is the 1520's stellar battery life. But low-and-behold, the 830 ended up having the second-best battery life I've ever seen on a smart phone, with only the 1520 being better (and not much better at that). I think it has to do with the less power-hungry SD 400 processor, but I'm sure not using LTE helps as well.

You won't necessarily go wrong either way... parting with my 1520 isn't exactly an easy decision, but all things considered, I didn't feel like there was much of a drop in performane and thought the 830 was a more practical size with a gorgeous design (though the 1520 is very sleek with classic Lumia aesthetics as well).

Of course, it would be nice if Microsoft/Nokia made it easy on us by offering a 5.2"/5.3" flagship with the 830's exact design and some of the 1520's specs. The 930 was out of the question for me... crappy battery life and no glance.

 

[afcor]

I am enjoying my RM-985! I have no issues with not having Glance enabled in this prototype firmware; that just isn't something I have any real interest in using anyway. Where do people talk about having flashed a production ROM with Denim? I've been trying to keep my eyes open for any mention, but haven't noticed it yet. I've also been checking on the Nokia Software Recovery Tool pretty much every day, to no avail.... Thanks for pointing me in the right direction!

 

[sahib lopez]

I am enjoying my RM-985! I have no issues with not having Glance enabled in this prototype firmware; that just isn't something I have any real interest in using anyway. Where do people talk about having flashed a production ROM with Denim? I've been trying to keep my eyes open for any mention, but haven't noticed it yet. I've also been checking on the Nokia Software Recovery Tool pretty much every day, to no avail.... Thanks for pointing me in the right direction!

here you go .... check page 7 http://forums.windowscentral.com/nokia-lumia-830/313760-7.htm but you will find most of the info in pages 8 and 9

 

[Bleser]

It's a good question. The biggest reasons were that A) I fell in love with the 830's design (including the idea of exchangeable back covers), and B) the 1520 was just too big. I think 5.2"-5.3" is ideal for a display size but one-handability and sometimes pocketability were just too difficult with the 1520. To a smaller degree, the swipe/tap/scroll but that exists on seemingly every 1520 was also a reason, though you get used to that somewhat.

When my 830 arrived and I ran side by side tests, I noticed virtually no difference in performance despite the 1520 obviously being the more powerful device (on the spec sheet). Maybe I would have if I played games, but I do just about everything else with the phone and performance was on par for the most part, and when it wasn't, differences were slight at best. In the end it felt like the only thing I'd end up missing is Hey Cortana, which I really don't care about. I can still use Cortana on the 830 and would rather people not be able to activate Cortana on my phone by yelling the phrase anyway.

What I feared I'd be missing most is the 1520's stellar battery life. But low-and-behold, the 830 ended up having the second-best battery life I've ever seen on a smart phone, with only the 1520 being better (and not much better at that). I think it has to do with the less power-hungry SD 400 processor, but I'm sure not using LTE helps as well.

You won't necessarily go wrong either way... parting with my 1520 isn't exactly an easy decision, but all things considered, I didn't feel like there was much of a drop in performane and thought the 830 was a more practical size with a gorgeous design (though the 1520 is very sleek with classic Lumia aesthetics as well).

Of course, it would be nice if Microsoft/Nokia made it easy on us by offering a 5.2"/5.3" flagship with the 830's exact design and some of the 1520's specs. The 930 was out of the question for me... crappy battery life and no glance.

Thanks! Very helpful post. My #1 fear of the 1520 is it being too big. I already know it won't fit in my car's cup-holder and I think that would be annoying over time. Getting it out of my pocket in a rush would probably also get frustrating. The ability to change the 830's back plate cover, although some might find silly, is also enticing.

You're on T-Mobile - in what area of the country? The final concern I have about the 830 is the RM-984 not being full LTE. I'm in the Saint Louis area and don't want to be let down by coverage or performance for audio streaming and the like. You seem to be getting great performance with the RM-984. Is there a way I can tell ahead of time that this won't be a concern for me and my wife? I'm on Sprint now so I am unsure how good T-Mobile is around here. Their maps claim to be 'excellent' but who knows.

Thanks again.

 

[hasasimo]

Thanks! Very helpful post. My #1 fear of the 1520 is it being too big. I already know it won't fit in my car's cup-holder and I think that would be annoying over time. Getting it out of my pocket in a rush would probably also get frustrating. The ability to change the 830's back plate cover, although some might find silly, is also enticing.

You're on T-Mobile - in what area of the country? The final concern I have about the 830 is the RM-984 not being full LTE. I'm in the Saint Louis area and don't want to be let down by coverage or performance for audio streaming and the like. You seem to be getting great performance with the RM-984. Is there a way I can tell ahead of time that this won't be a concern for me and my wife? I'm on Sprint now so I am unsure how good T-Mobile is around here. Their maps claim to be 'excellent' but who knows.

Thanks again.

Yeah, you get used to handling it, but that doesn't mean it gets any smaller, if that makes sense. You adjust to it, but it's a bit of an inconvenience depending on how big your hands are, the clothes you wear, etc. I'm 6'1" with proportionate hands (not huge, not small), and though I could scroll and swipe through things with the phone resting in my palm and my pinky underneath for support, it was annoying having to strain my thumb to reach all the way over to tap something on the opposite side with just one hand.

I'm in the Washington DC suburbs (northern Virginia), but was actually in St. Louis over the summer for a friend's wedding. I was using my 1520.3 with LTE at the time though. Coverage was good overall, but spottier in the western and northern suburbs. Coverage is actually about the same here as it was in St. Louis... maybe slightly more uniform. What I've found is that signal strength/download speeds will never be as great as advertised on TV... you'd have to be right next to a tower with very few people using the network at the time to reach those speeds. Real world testing has shown 0 difference between HSDPA and LTE speeds for me, as mentioned. I know that's a little surprising, and I'm not sure what the reason is... I mean, HSDPA is fast to begin with, but I'm thinking the fact that LTE networks are a bit more congested these days might be part of the reason.

T-Mobile's LTE network is catching up fast, but their HSDPA network is already well-established. I can't imagine you not getting good H and H+ speeds anywhere that you already get LTE on T-Mobile (including St. Louis).

I really don't think you'll notice any difference at all between the RM-984 and RM-985 as far as data speeds, but if you're not quite ready to order immediately, maybe you can wait a few weeks to see if some unlocked RM-985s (non-prototypes) show up online. It seems they've already been shipped to Canada (locked to Rogers though). T-Mobile's network as a whole though is spotty. Not as bad as Sprint's, from my experiences, but definitely not as good as AT&T or Verizon. So, streaming music might not always go well depending on how far away from the city you stray, but that won't be a function at all of LTE vs HSDPA. I stream video flawlessly on HSDPA, as perfectly as I did with my 1520.3 on LTE. It's just a matter of where you get service and T-Mobile's HSDPA network is at least as vast as its LTE network currently.

Your other option, if you want LTE on T-Mobile, is to wait for the AT&T version to come out November 7. It should run on T-Mobile's LTE network as well. Two points of caution though: 1) Unlocking a device through AT&T has become almost impossibly difficult if you're not a customer. 2) It seems AT&T will only carry the darker variant, which means you won't have that beautiful silver-colored metal band to go with those different back covers. It'll have the dark grey/black metal band that (in my opinion) really only looks best with the black back cover (which is probably why Nokia/Microsoft only include it with black Lumia 830s).

 

[Bleser]

T-Mobile's contract pricing (and the fact they'll buy out my ETF fees from Sprint) are super-enticing, but it does sound like the best network to be on for Windows Phone is AT&T. The good thing is if I buy unlocked phones and then hate T-Mobile, I can switch to AT&T later and bring my phone to them. Although I'm sure they have time restrictions on switching if they pay your ETF fees. I'll have to read the fine print.

Bottom line, a Nokia Lumia 830 on T-Mobile has to be better than my current Samsung ATIV S Neo on Sprint from a Windows Phone perspective. And the plan pricing is hugely cheaper.

 

[afcor]

here you go .... check page 7 http://forums.windowscentral.com/nokia-lumia-830/313760-7.htm but you will find most of the info in pages 8 and 9

Well, I finally went ahead and did it. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction!