my thoughts about WP8 as an OS and the Lumia 520 as a phone

[faceless_el]

In terms of the OS here are what I liked and disliked:

Dislike:

1.Volume setting is unified. I would prefer that each have their own volume level settings. There are times that I want email and message tones to be at their loudest and the phone Ringer on mute. I hope that on future OS updates that MS would address this.

2.Data usage (which I knew before coming over to WP8) is more compared to when i was with BB. 250mb was enough for BB but I believe this won?t be for WP8.

3.Status bar on top (the one that shows battery level, signal status etc) to be shown or atleast to give us an option to have it shown permantly. Currently a tap is needed to have it show.


Like:

1.Live titles and the over-all look and layout of the OS. I find it better than iOS and as for Android, I know you can customize the look to be almost similar to the tile layout but when it comes to ?out of the box? set-up and looks I prefer WP8.

2. I don't need to worry about running apps on the background


As for the Lumia 520

Dislike:

1. I was looking for a Message/Activity indicator light. Coming from a Blackberry I greatly enjoyed that feature. I didn?t need to look at the screen to see if I have emails or messages waiting. As long as I see that I have the red light glowing I know I have something. With the 520 I had to press the power button to get the screen up and check for messages or missed calls.

2. Ringer speaker hole on the back can be muted when phone placed on your pocket or when place on a level surface like a table. I wished that they had either placed it on the side or both.

3. Cheap battery back cover, if not placed properly the buttons don't press well.

4. capacitive buttons do not light up (but hey this is an entry phone so not a big deal)


Likes:

1. Cheap in a good way. This even with my dislikes is still a phone that I would warmly recommend. For the price it is a very good entry phone to the world of WP8.
2. Different colours (cyan, white, black, yellow)


**i must be spoiled buy BB but in all seriousness this phone is a great stepping stone to WP)

 

[BIGPADDY]

Well balance view of the OS and the 520. :smile:

 

[clvrbas]

I came from BlackBerry to WP7.5, a few things took a little while to get use to, but now I prefer this to BBOS. I haven't had a Chance to really dive into BB10, or WP8, planning on getting a 520 to start my WP8 journey.

 

[gwinegarden]

I agree with what was said. But, for $150, no contract, it is, indeed, a wonderful entry into the WP world.

Right now, I would say that my next phone will also be WP, but that won't be for a while. This one does me just fine.

 

[Shawn Magm]

I've had a couple days to give the 520 a try.

Likes:
1. Bluetooth works well to send and receive files from a Windows computer (I have 2 computers with Windows Vista).
2. Easy to transfer files via USB cable. I have some .mp3's I use for custom ringtones, and all that was required was to drag and drop into the Lumia 520 ringtone file.
3. Generally, hardware is quite decent.
4. WP8 is smooth. I don't have any experience with low end Android. The Lumia 520 is comparable to my S3.
5. I'm looking forward to the next WP8 update when supposedly, I can get FM radio support.

Dislikes:
1. Minor issue with camera press button. To take pictures, the camera button requires a very firm press to capture pics, which sometimes creates some camera shake.
2. WP8 software. I don't get sound notification from when I receive a Google Voice text (using 3rd party Metro Talk). There is no option for it. I use 3 different email accounts, and it would be nice to be able to have different ringtones for each account as well as being able to disable any of the 3 account notifications. I could do that with Android.
3. This is relatively minor, but on the mapping software, Here Drive, specifically, when using Here Commute, the estimated time for the commute is inaccurate compared to Google Maps and Google Now. One feature I like about Google Now is that it gives me the estimated time from my morning commute to work based on traffic. I know exactly how long it takes to get there without traffic. When I tried out Here Commute last night when I knew there was no traffic, it overestimated the commute time by 15 minutes.
4. WP8 app selection is weak. I rely on a lot of Google apps, but not all of them are available (I love Google Keep and Google Task), and those from 3rd parties aren't as good as the Google ones. I like Google Play, but Gooroovster and Cloud Muzik crash a lot. Metro Talk is not as good as Google Voice. One slight workaround with Google Play is I can go to the website on Internet Explorer and play music from there, but it will shutoff when the phone goes to standby (I think).
5. I cannot get my Gmail/Google calendar to sync on the Windows Calendar app. It worked with Android obviously, and when I had an old iPhone 3G.

 

[faceless_el]

Dislikes:
1. Minor issue with camera press button. To take pictures, the camera button requires a very firm press to capture pics, which sometimes creates some camera shake.

I had that same issue with the camera button. I did try several times to remove and replace the battery cover back. It seems that when you place it on and the button is not aligned properly the "press" tends to be harder. After finding the right fit my "press" action is easy now. Half-press for auto-focus and full press to take a picture

 

[mase123987]

4. WP8 app selection is weak. I rely on a lot of Google apps, but not all of them are available (I love Google Keep and Google Task), and those from 3rd parties aren't as good as the Google ones. I like Google Play, but Gooroovster and Cloud Muzik crash a lot. Metro Talk is not as good as Google Voice. One slight workaround with Google Play is I can go to the website on Internet Explorer and play music from there, but it will shutoff when the phone goes to standby (I think).
5. I cannot get my Gmail/Google calendar to sync on the Windows Calendar app. It worked with Android obviously, and when I had an old iPhone 3G.

Google has made sure that their products don't work well on WP phones. I always tell people that if you are heavily invested in Google's services, don't get a WP phone. I will also tell then that many of Microsoft's equivalent services are just as good or better.

 

[faceless_el]

Google has made sure that their products don't work well on WP phones. I always tell people that if you are heavily invested in Google's services, don't get a WP phone. I will also tell then that many of Microsoft's equivalent services are just as good or better.

makes sense

 

[Shawn Magm]

Google has made sure that their products don't work well on WP phones. I always tell people that if you are heavily invested in Google's services, don't get a WP phone. I will also tell then that many of Microsoft's equivalent services are just as good or better.

You have a very good point. At least on iOS, those apps worked reasonably well. I'm hoping that I can deal with WP8 until October or so, and then relegate this to a backup phone. Overall, I think the Lumia is a nice phone, but it may not work well as a primary phone for me just because I rely on Google.

 

[inteller]

wp uses more data than a BB because the BB wasn't doing anything!

 

[faceless_el]

not sure if you're being sarcastic or "inteller-gent"
but i thought data with BB is compressed