New to Unlocked 1520

[kdk24z]

Hello everyone.

I am relatively new to smart phones and admit right away I don't know much at all about them or how they work, and I really only use my current phone (Lumia 925 on T-Mobile) as a telephone, a rare text message, checking the weather and reading blogs and news/tech sites. I mostly only use the built-in apps that come with the phone, so I'm definitely not a power user like most of you all.

I don't know why, but one day last week I was browsing Amazon and saw a Lumia 1520 RM-937 for sale used quite inexpensively, and I bought it. I haven't received it yet, but I'm looking forward to playing around with it a bit when it arrives. I've read most of the various forum postings regarding the RM-937 on T-Mobile and what works and doesn't work, and I'm okay with the limitations.

One of my questions is can I go to my local T-Mobile store and ask them for a SIM card to put in the 1520 and add the 1520 to my current account with my 925? Does it cost anything for the SIM card for the 1520? Will I get charged by T-Mobile to "activate" the phone? Can both phones have the same phone number? I'm asking you folks these questions because I'm so clueless I'm susceptible to being told B.S. by the salespeople at the T-Mobile store and believing them.

For those with a 1520, has anyone compared running it with both 8/8.1 and 10, and did you have a preference for one over the other, and if so why? On my 925 I was using the Insider Program to use 10, but it just was a bit slow and flaky no matter the re-setting/hard-resetting, etc. that I've read about from others on this site, so I went back to 8.1. My 925 just seems to be better with 8.1 and I'm happy using 8.1 on it, but I know the 1520 is a much more souped-up phone so would likely do better with 10, so I'm curious what other 1520 user's experiences and recommendations are.

Thank you in advance for your patience with me for asking such basic questions, and thank you also for your replies. :smile:

 

[libra89]

Hello everyone.

I am relatively new to smart phones and admit right away I don't know much at all about them or how they work, and I really only use my current phone (Lumia 925 on T-Mobile) as a telephone, a rare text message, checking the weather and reading blogs and news/tech sites. I mostly only use the built-in apps that come with the phone, so I'm definitely not a power user like most of you all.

I don't know why, but one day last week I was browsing Amazon and saw a Lumia 1520 RM-937 for sale used quite inexpensively, and I bought it. I haven't received it yet, but I'm looking forward to playing around with it a bit when it arrives. I've read most of the various forum postings regarding the RM-937 on T-Mobile and what works and doesn't work, and I'm okay with the limitations.

One of my questions is can I go to my local T-Mobile store and ask them for a SIM card to put in the 1520 and add the 1520 to my current account with my 925? Does it cost anything for the SIM card for the 1520? Will I get charged by T-Mobile to "activate" the phone? Can both phones have the same phone number? I'm asking you folks these questions because I'm so clueless I'm susceptible to being told B.S. by the salespeople at the T-Mobile store and believing them.

I can answer your T-Mobile questions, but hopefully there will be someone else who can help you with the rest.

Unless you'll like to have a separate line for the 1520 and the 925, you don't have to do that. However, if you want a separate line, you would be just paying for the first month of service and the sim card "kit" (which is a one time payment). If you plan to move from the 925 to the 1520, you can just go to T-Mobile and say that you have a new phone that you need a nano SIM for. If you don't want to say that exactly, just ask for a 3 in 1 sim because your new phone and your old phone require two different size SIMs.

T-Mobile does not charge activation fees for BYOD (Bring Your Own Device). If you plan to move the sim back and forth, they can have the same phone number.

 

[Dared]

You can't have 2 SIM cards with the same phone number. So if you would like to use both phones, you would need to swap the SIM card between them.

As the previous poster suggested, get a 3 in one SIM card. This allows you to adjust the size of the SIM so you can switch between the 2 phones (I think the 925 requires a larger sized sim to the 1520)

 

[pankaj981]

On the W10M v/s WP8.1.X comparison, from my experience...the Lumia 1520 feels like it was built to run W10M out of the box. It runs pretty darn fluid and feels like a completely new 2016 device (if you have used it since its 2013 launch which you haven't). Also the RM-937 has received W10M officially now (in most regions) so you should be good. Besides, the 1520 is also slated to receive the official Anniversary Update (Redstone 1) on Aug 2nd 2016.

 

[kdk24z]

Thank you, everyone, for your replies. I'm looking forward to receiving the 1520 so I can play around with it. :smile:

 

[kdk24z]

Hello everyone. Tonight I received my 1520 in the mail. As these online purchases often seem to go, I did NOT receive an RM-937 as advertised on Amazon. What I received was an AT&T RM-940 (1520.2). From what I've read, it sounds like the RM-940 will be able to access my T-Mobile 4G/LTE (I confess I don't really know what that means other than "faster than 3G"), but it does not have the wireless charging that I was wanting.

My Lumia 925 didn't have wireless charging, either, but I followed the instructions I found on this site and turned it into wireless charging by placing the wireless charging plate inside my phone. It worked great with no problems. Would I be able to do the same thing with this RM-940 model, or is it turned off on the motherboard? I notice the 1520 has the same three "dots" on the back that my 925 has, so that's why I'm wondering if it could be turned into a wireless chargeable device like I did with my 925.

Do you all think I'm better off just keeping this RM-940 and hacking it to become wireless and get the LTE speeds with my T-Mobile, or should I just return it to Amazon? Also, since it IS the AT&T RM-940 version, do I have to do anything special to have AT&T unlock it so I can use it on my T-Mobile account?

Like before, thank you in advance for your insights, experience and recommendations. :smile:

 

[RumoredNow]

Do you all think I'm better off just keeping this RM-940 and hacking it to become wireless and get the LTE speeds with my T-Mobile,
That T-Mo Band 4 AWS is pretty easy and painless. http://forums.windowscentral.com/no...wind-mobilicity-aws1700mhz-hspa-band-4-a.html

The actual conversion to Qi charging from PMA is a pain. http://www.windowscentral.com/how-get-qi-wireless-charging-back-your-nokia-lumia-1520-att

Also, since it IS the AT&T RM-940 version, do I have to do anything special to have AT&T unlock it so I can use it on my T-Mobile account?
If it is SIM locked it should unlock easily IF there is no hold on the device from AT&T for non-payment of the account. You won't know that until you ask for an unlock. https://forums.windowscentral.com/e...ps://www.att.com/deviceunlock/&token=go4nT3ui


or should I just return it to Amazon?
I'd return it... It isn't what you ordered. No Qi Charging and unless it is the rare​ AT&T version your internal storage is 1/2 of what it should be (16GB instead of 32GB).

 

[kdk24z]

Well, I've decided to give up and send it back. I thought I'd just let it get the official Win10M (.420) update and play around with it. However, now that it has it is completely unusable. I never bothered putting any personal stuff on it and just went right for the upgrade. I've done numerous hard-resets to no avail. I tap on the 'Settings' tile and it flashes and goes back to the start screen. I tap on the 'Store' tile and it flashes and goes back to the start screen. I tap on some other random tile and it tells me I need to update that app through the 'Store' - which I can't open.

The battery also drained from 100% down to 70% in less than 15 minutes. The power cord that was sent with the phone also doesn't work, but a spare that I had does work. All of these negatives are urging me to return the phone, so that's what I'm going to do. I'm not sure if I have to use the WRT to set it back to 8.1 before returning it, but I probably will just in case. :amaze:

 

[RumoredNow]

I'm not sure if I have to use the WRT to set it back to 8.1 before returning it, but I probably will just in case.

Yep, WDRT.

Sorry the seller is one of those idjits that have no clue about what they are selling. Probably just copied over from some other offering.

Best of Luck.

 

[kdk24z]

Well, the phone is on its way back. I mis-spoke (mis-typed) earlier. I had not done a hard-reset on the phone, only soft-resets. I did do a hard-reset eventually and was able to get the phone to be responsive and it also updated to whatever the most current release is available for the 1520. I played around with it a little bit but found that even with most background task turned off and running the bare minimum, the battery drained from 85% to 50% overnight, and with less than a half hour of web browsing it dropped to 30%. I'm thinking the battery was on its way out.

Another good reason to return it (other than it not being what I ordered) is that if you gently shook the phone you could hear something inside the phone rattling around. :shocked:

Now my problem is that even though the 1520 and I had a brief time together, I found myself falling in LOVE!

Hopefully I'll be able to find one to order that will be what I'm hoping for. This time around a RM-938! :smile: