Nokia Lumia 920/925 vs Nokia Lumia 830

[npoe]

I have both. 920 is way better for very low light photography and has super solid body. For some apps it can run slightly faster. But overall, the 830 wins, especially battery endurance, which for me, was the biggest weakness of the 920. Otherwise, I wouldn't have sidegraded

My brother as an 830 and I have a 920. I'm under the impression that his camera is better in low light and daylight photographs. I also feel like his phone is faster too.

 

[uselessrobot]

I've had the 920 for two and a half years and the battery is starting to show its age. Otherwise I've been happy with the phone and it still offers good performance. Nevertheless the situation got me considering an 830. I'd have gotten the 930 long ago, but I'm not willing to sacrifice the loss of LTE.

The 830 seems to be a good phone, but as a replacement to the 920 it feels like a step back. Sure, the camera is better, but the display has somewhat lower pixel density and, more importantly, both CPU and GPU performance are slightly inferior.

In the end I decided to wait until a proper flagship is announced later this year. I might order a replacement battery to hold me over until then.

 

[anon(50597)]

I've had the 920 for two and a half years and the battery is starting to show its age. Otherwise I've been happy with the phone and it still offers good performance. Nevertheless the situation got me considering an 830. I'd have gotten the 930 long ago, but I'm not willing to sacrifice the loss of LTE.

The 830 seems to be a good phone, but as a replacement to the 920 it feels like a step back. Sure, the camera is better, but the display has somewhat lower pixel density and, more importantly, both CPU and GPU performance are slightly inferior.

In the end I decided to wait until a proper flagship is announced later this year. I might order a replacement battery to hold me over until then.

That's one advantage of replaceable batteries.

 

[Motor_Mouth]

920 any day. The lens is not as sharp as the 830, however the sensor is larger, and the OIS is superior. Besides imaging, the 920 has a faster CPU/GPU and is LEGENDARY!!
Additionally, has the same top notch speaker module seen in the Nokia N95/808, excellent display, better build quality, wireless charging, among others!

Well, as someone who went from a 925 to an 830, I cannot agree with most of the points in your comment. The two cameras are close enough to each other that I cannot look at any image, taken in any conditions, and know which of the two it was taken with. If there are differences, they don't matter in the slightest. The 830 feels much faster. After all, it's a quad-core versus the 925's dual-core. There is no difference whatsoever in build quality, both are stellar. I thought the 830's removable back cover might make it feel a bit more flimsy but it doesn't at all. As for speakers, the 830 has the 925 well and truly beaten. It is easily the loudest phone I have ever owned. I can hear it ring over the loudest music.

There is one point where you are just plain wrong - the 830 is the one with wireless charging, you have to buy a $40 charging shell if you want it on your 925.

The one point you made that I actually agree with is that the 925 has a superior screen, although I suspect that is simply because I prefer AMOLED screens.

 

[bo_woods]

Well, as someone who went from a 925 to an 830, I cannot agree with most of the points in your comment. The two cameras are close enough to each other that I cannot look at any image, taken in any conditions, and know which of the two it was taken with. If there are differences, they don't matter in the slightest. The 830 feels much faster. After all, it's a quad-core versus the 925's dual-core. There is no difference whatsoever in build quality, both are stellar. I thought the 830's removable back cover might make it feel a bit more flimsy but it doesn't at all. As for speakers, the 830 has the 925 well and truly beaten. It is easily the loudest phone I have ever owned. I can hear it ring over the loudest music.

There is one point where you are just plain wrong - the 830 is the one with wireless charging, you have to buy a $40 charging shell if you want it on your 925.

The one point you made that I actually agree with is that the 925 has a superior screen, although I suspect that is simply because I prefer AMOLED screens.

His comment says the 920 not 925

 

[Motor_Mouth]

I replaced my 925 with an 830 so I think I have a pretty good idea of the strengths and weaknesses of each. Which you prefer will very likely come down to what your needs are. Here is a quick summary of which does specific things better. Most of it is objective, some of it just my personal preference.

Form Factor: I prefer the 925's smaller size. They are the same width but the 830 is noticeably longer and slightly thicker.
Display: 925's AMOLED is richer and works much better in daylight. Glance is almost unreadable on the 830 sometimes.
CPU: 830 feels slightly slicker/faster but there is not much in it.
Camera: Both take brilliant photos, I couldn't pick which was better.
Speaker: 830 is the loudest phone I've ever owned, probably the loudest I've ever heard. You'll never miss a call.
Vibration: 925 is much better, it almost seems broken in the 830.
Storage: 830 wins, hands down.
Battery Life: Hard to tell (I'll explain below).
Build Quality: Both excellent.

The reason it's hard for me to say much about battery life is that I never had Quiet Hours on the 925, so I used to switch it to flight mode for 8-10 hours a night. But the 830 does have it so the radio remains on 24 hours a day. So for me, it felt like the 925 lasted longer but I suspect if I had been using Quiet Hours on it, it wouldn't have lasted as well as the 830. I suppose the take away from that is that they are both in the same ball park.

Here is the most telling, and by far the least objective thing - last month I dragged my 925 out of the cupboard to try out Windows 10 Mobile and I very quickly realised how much more I like it. With the Charging Shell on it, it looks fantastic. The screen is beautiful and works amazingly well in daylight (I'm an outdoorsy person). After deciding that I could live with all the issues with W10 Mobile, I have gone back to using the 925 as my daily driver. It's completely irrational but I love that phone and I don't miss the 830 at all.

I bought the 830 because of the microSD support - my music collection has outgrown my ZuneHD so I wanted to put a 128Gb card in the 830 and use it as my music player. I discovered that was a bad idea - the music stops whenever you get a call and I listen to enough music during the day that battery life became an issue. I ended up buying a new Walkman so the main thing I bought the 830 for became irrelevant. It is still a great phone and, ultimately, I really don't think you can go wrong with either so just buy the one you like the most. Don't worry about comparing specs or any of that other stuff because either will do everything you want/need to a similar standard, just get the one that you think will make you happier.

 

[ThaKrazyOne]

The 830 supports wireless charging

I know it supports wireless charging like the 920, but I'm not sure if it warrants a new 830 purchase just yet as opposed to getting a used in good condition 920

 

[Yazen]

Well, as someone who went from a 925 to an 830, I cannot agree with most of the points in your comment. The two cameras are close enough to each other that I cannot look at any image, taken in any conditions, and know which of the two it was taken with. If there are differences, they don't matter in the slightest. The 830 feels much faster. After all, it's a quad-core versus the 925's dual-core. There is no difference whatsoever in build quality, both are stellar. I thought the 830's removable back cover might make it feel a bit more flimsy but it doesn't at all. As for speakers, the 830 has the 925 well and truly beaten. It is easily the loudest phone I have ever owned. I can hear it ring over the loudest music.

There is one point where you are just plain wrong - the 830 is the one with wireless charging, you have to buy a $40 charging shell if you want it on your 925.

The one point you made that I actually agree with is that the 925 has a superior screen, although I suspect that is simply because I prefer AMOLED screens.

*920*, 925 is still a great phone but there were compromises.

WP8.1/10 takes advantage of the new Qualcomm UI compositing features that the 920/925 does not support. *seems faster*
When hardware performance matters the 920 will be faster. Regardless of cores, the actual S4 Plus system is faster than the S400.

P.S - I popped open my 830 and saw charging coils... My mistake :X
Either my cover is powermat or it is defective...

 

[Desynthesis]

Went from a Lumia 925 to a Lumia 830. I miss the 925's slightly sharper, more vivid screen, but the 830's ergonomics are, in my mind, superior (as is its wireless charging built-in and MicroSD slot).

Putting those aside, there's a crucial difference: if you own a 920 or a 925, and update it to WP 8.1, you will have the "Cracking" sound during music playback from the headphone jack (doesn't happen on BT). All 8.0 phones when updated have this, and it hasn't been fixed (from what I've heard, WP10 on WP8.0 phones doesn't fix this either). The 830, as an inherently 8.1 phone, doesn't have this issue.

Of course, you can avoid this by using BT headphones or other similar solutions, but it might be worth considering.

 

[perbear]

A friend of mine has the 920, bought 2 years and some months ago on contract. He is very satisfied with the phone. I have both an 820 and an 830 which I bought last November (November 2014) and I love the 830. The upside for 920 is lots of RAM (32GB) and more pixels on the front camera. Downside for 920 - no exchangeable battery or back (920 has a unibody), no support for memorycards. Upside for 830, more pixels on the back camera, support for memory cards up to 128 GB, exchangeable battery, exchangeable back, overall newer technology. Downside for 830, while more pixels on the front camera than for the 820 it still falls short of the pixels for the front camera on 920. Lens system is different between 920 and 830. 830 is expensive in Sweden roughly 3800 Swedish kronor (about US dollars 460) 920 no longer available. I don't about availability in your region, but I would go for the 830 because it is newer. If you want something similar to 920 you should look at 930 (which might be your 925).

 

[Keith Wallace]

I see no reason to get either. We're so close to W10 that my friend needs a tide-me-over device (his HTC 8X isn't fully functional), and I told him that he might as well go with a 640. I mean, I think the 830 is the obvious winner here, just because it's a bit newer device (if you buy used, the 830 will have less wear and tear, and the SD 400 probably has better thermals and battery consumption than the S4). The camera's a little better on the 830, the display's a little better on the 920/925. To me, the real winner is that the 830 has microSD support. I kind of bump up against the 29 GB my 920 gives me from time to time (then have to delete some photos/videos that are already backed up on my PC and OneDrive).

So, 830 over 920 if you're replacing something and can't wait or get a budget device TO wait. The 830 is absolutely NOT worth replacing a 920/925 with though, it's just too similar.

 

[scd147]

Yeah, I only grabbed the Lumia 635 because this site showed that I could get it for $50 on Amazon back when the first Win10 build came out. Honestly, I tried rolling the thing back shortly after and using it instead of my 920 and I've been more or less satisfied, especially considering everything I paid for it. The SensorCore might be the best thing about it. My wife asked for a fitbit for her 1020 because she was impressed at how I was tracking my steps. For all the praise for the value that they stuffed into the 635, straight up against the 920 it wins really in two ways: battery life and sensor core. However, I gotta say, I'm using the thing as my daily driver because my old powerhouse 920 can't make it through the day anymore.

 

[scd147]

Good to know! I'm wondering if all that is happening is a sidegrade anyway, if the Lumia 640 is a better option than the 830? I have the 920 myself, and while I love the phone, I'm using the Lumia 635 as my daily driver because A) it was cheap, B) after rolling it back after trying the first Win10 build, its quite usable, C) battery life. Oh and D) SensorCore.

 

[bo_woods]

Good to know! I'm wondering if all that is happening is a sidegrade anyway, if the Lumia 640 is a better option than the 830? I have the 920 myself, and while I love the phone, I'm using the Lumia 635 as my daily driver because A) it was cheap, B) after rolling it back after trying the first Win10 build, its quite usable, C) battery life. Oh and D) SensorCore.

I don't see even one way the 640 could be better than the 830, unless of course price is your priority or you like the design of the 640 better

 

[scd147]

So here is a question I've been considering of late... Is it worth it to try and replace the battery in the Lumia 920? That's really the main problem. The battery drains too quickly. However, perhaps the drain is just a symptom. I do suspect that the device may have some sort of defect because I've felt it be very warm even though I've killed every open application, turned power save on, turned off wifi and bluetooth. In fact, it only cools off if I turn the phone off or turn on airplane mode. Perhaps its not the battery at all, but something like the antenna, and can't be fixed?

 

[Cornelius Hardy]

I haven't tried the other two but I've had t 25 since it came out on T-Mobile. There really isn't anything I don't like about it. It looks and acts like a premium phone. Pictures are great I have every app I need despite what people say about the app store, call quality is good, wifi calling comes in handy, I use here drive every day for work related traveling. Music and Cortana sets up nicely with my Civic. Oh there is one thing I don't like, and that's not being able to connect it to my tv like my surface. It would be great for the movie apps that we have, but being able to transfer them to my computer which is connected to my tv has worked for the time being. Out of all the phones that have come out since this one, the only ones I want to upgrade to is a 1520, 640xl, or something near 6 inches.

Windows10 preview does not work on this phone. I've tried it twice, and different issues each time. It's a bummer since I like to try windows phone stuff early but I'll live. I'm happy that it's so easy to revert and get all of your stuff and settings back though.:smile:

 

[scd147]

Eh, I still love the design, if not the weight, of the 920 myself. The thing that confuses me about the 640 vs the 830 is as follows: Isn't it the same processor, same 5" screen, same processor, same RAM, same graphics? The better camera, dedicated camera button, and bigger, yet still kinda small, storage don't seem to be enough to warrant the price hike. Unless there is something else about the 830 that I'm missing. Just curious, because I honestly don't see what differentiates the 830. Thanks!

 

[bo_woods]

The 830 has the same resolution as the 640, but I think the 830 has clearblack, and I'm sure there'll be quality differences between the displays that may or may not be associated with their screen tech labels

The 830 also has I think 3 HAAC mic's like the 920,925,and 928...not sure if the 640 has those

Also the 830's superior build would contribute to it's price

 

[Yazen]

Went from a Lumia 925 to a Lumia 830. I miss the 925's slightly sharper, more vivid screen, but the 830's ergonomics are, in my mind, superior (as is its wireless charging built-in and MicroSD slot).

Putting those aside, there's a crucial difference: if you own a 920 or a 925, and update it to WP 8.1, you will have the "Cracking" sound during music playback from the headphone jack (doesn't happen on BT). All 8.0 phones when updated have this, and it hasn't been fixed (from what I've heard, WP10 on WP8.0 phones doesn't fix this either). The 830, as an inherently 8.1 phone, doesn't have this issue.

Of course, you can avoid this by using BT headphones or other similar solutions, but it might be worth considering.

Nice catch

Microsoft could spend the time to fix the affected devices. Oh well.

 

[Yazen]

Good to know! I'm wondering if all that is happening is a sidegrade anyway, if the Lumia 640 is a better option than the 830? I have the 920 myself, and while I love the phone, I'm using the Lumia 635 as my daily driver because A) it was cheap, B) after rolling it back after trying the first Win10 build, its quite usable, C) battery life. Oh and D) SensorCore.

On paper it is a comparable phone, but the "ClearBlack" display is trash compared to the 830/920/etc. You have the 635 so I am sure you understand xD

Lumia 640 is hard sell for me personally. Especially when 920/925/928 are floating around $85 for a like new/refurb.

Lumia 830s were being dumped on eBay for $112 open box, maybe you'll get lucky . If not, price will surely drop once markets are saturated.

I'm sure you're aware of the pros/cons of a "budget" phone. Regardless, the Lumia 640 is a pretty solid phone.

I have only seen glossy blue/orange, are there any matte covers out?