Please talk me into a Lumia over Apple

[ChrisLynch]

It doesn't seem that anyone has replied to this. No, the MicroSD card is encrypted. Once it's put into the phone, it's locked to that device. There are low level tools to unlock SD cards, but that also wipes the disk. The two letters SD mean Secure Digital. It's just that almost any device manufacturer that supports SD cards does not in fact turn on encryption.

[EDIT]

Actually, let me correct myself. I was speaking of Windows Phone 7. Apparently this changed in WP8. If the device is managed from say Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft Intune then BitLocker can be enabled. There is currently no method to enable BitLocker locally, although it should TBH.

 

[GizmoEV]

• The Nokia Camera application saves images in both a scaled down version for sharing and a high res version. It also supports RAW imaging. I havent personally used a 1020, so i cant tell you the DPI of the high res file, but this is what Nokia's site says:

Depending on the selected aspect ratio, full-resolution photos are either 34MP or 38MP. The camera has a high-resolution 41MP sensor, where the active area is 7712 x 5360 pixels. Depending on the aspect ratio you choose, your camera uses 7712 x 4352 pixels for 16:9 photos and videos, or 7136 x 5360 pixels for 4:3 photos and videos. In order to see the full-resolution photo, you need to view the photo in the Nokia Pro Camera. To open the photo in Nokia Pro Camera full-resolution view, tap the captured by Nokia Pro Cam link below the photo in the Photos hub.

A note about DPI (dots per inch): Notice that the quote above from Nokia doesn't even mention DPI? That is because it DOES NOT MATTER what the extended attribute in a photo says about DPI. It is only the recommended scale factor to tell applications how to treat the file the application automatically scales the photo. Typical computer monitors of the CRT era were all around 72dpi. Interesting huh? Displays like the one on this Lumina 2520 tablet that I'm using is around 192dpi, the Surface 2 slightly less because it has the same number of pixels but slightly larger display.

Don't worry about the DPI that the pictures come out at. It is a changeable parameter. For example, take the 7712 x 4352 pixel picture mentioned in the quote above. At 72dpi that picture would be 107.1 inches by 60.4 inches. For standard photographic printing 300dpi is common which would put that same picture at 25.7 inches by 14.5 inches.

I switched from an iPhone 4 to a Lumina 920. One reason I was willing to try it was that the iPhone 4 and 920 both take the same SIM. I knew that my iPhone 4 would still last a couple more years if I ended up not liking my 920 and I wanted to switch back. I could do so at any time and not involve my carrier. It turns out that I have only tested that the SIM card from my 920 would work in the iPhone 4. I have never switched back to an iOS device. If you are unsure, pick a device like the 1020 which uses the same microSIM that your iPhone does.

As for showing your pictures to clients, consider getting something like the Lumina 2520 or Surface 2. The 2520 will give your pictures a truer color balance than the Surface 2 but both will do an incredible job of displaying your work. You can even transfer with NFC between a 1020 and a 2520. Furthermore, if you want your pictures on an SD card in the tablet you can format it with NTFS on a desktop computer then turn on BitLocker on the SD card and install it in the tablet. I don't know if the phone can use NTFS and/or BitLocker, however.

 

[StefEBear]

I've been using Windows phones now for over 3 years and I very much like the way the Operating System works and has some good integrations.
Security on the Windows Phones is very good. the internal storage is fully encrypted (the SD cards aren't I don't think, I can't tell as I have a 920 without expansion) The phone can of course be remotely locked, called, wiped (Windows phone had this inbuilt before iOS and Android even). Windows phone's have not yet been jailbroken and as everything is sandboxed there is no chance of Virus attacks. Like iOS, Windows phone apps are vetted (unlike Android) for malware code.
Apps and Games are getting better all the time, some of the good ones are on, or getting ported to the Lumia devices. The App/Game market is less than the others but seems to be growing quite well. There are quite a few alternatives available as well.
Skydrive Backup is a GREAT feature as well. you can set your phone to automaticallly upload a reduced quality picture over Mobile data, or set it to upload full images over WiFi. so even if lost, you'll have a copy of them at least.
As for support Microsoft as you know has bought "Lumia" from Nokia and the development team to go along with it. They all come with 2 year warranties (not like iPhone's 1 year in US) Updates do come to the systems but just not quite as fast as iOS.

 

[Nabkawe5]

This is my argument for the Lumia 1520

 

[TonyDedrick]

If you're on Windows, one positive thing about the move from iPhone to Windows Phone is getting rid of iTunes. I despise iTunes on Windows and being forced to use it. On Windows Phone you just drag and drop files on the phone. But you can also use the Windows Phone application if you still prefer synching.

To buy music, the XBox Music Store is very well. I don't really have mainstream tastes and yet I always found what I wanted on it (and they come in MP3 format directly).

The possibility of using an SD card on some Lumia models is also a plus. Arguably, it's also a downside considering the space isn't used for apps like on iPhones.

But the most important thing is the overall experience. I've used iOS, Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone 8 and WP8 is the best I've used: Live Tiles, general design, social integration, more and more apps, more and more webapps (like wpcentral.com is compatible with mobiles phones so you can use apps like Webapps that allows you to have live tiles coming from websites).

There are more positives and negatives IMO.

Can I just point out I use drag and drop on iTunes all the time. Actually, its the only method I've ever used using iTunes and Apple products.

To the OP regarding the app situation, everyone's pretty much laid it out for you. One thing to keep in mind is that many WP apps (official ones mostly) tend to lack features their iOS and Android counterparts have. If you don't use these features, then its not a big deal. On the flip side of this, there are many 3rd party alternatives that may have these features (as someone pointed out with the Instagram/6tag example). The fear with 3rd party apps is that you never know when the rug will be pulled and these companies will request they be removed or access to API's cutoff

 

[indieimprint]

interesting video that compares the browsing experience on iphone 5s to lumia 1520:

http://youtu.be/YP0N4wNAr8s

I have both 1020 and 1520. I use the 1520 most of the time due to awesome battery life, screen size. Both have great cameras, but I find the 1020 far better

 

[Notorious MIKE]

The biggest question you need to ask is what apps do you 'need'? You need to think of the ones you couldn't do without or those that you use everyday.

Being a WP used you have to get used to the fact that new apps and games may not arrive for a while after they do on iOS and Android.

Gaming wise, are you an Xbox user? WP Central has covered the lack of games recently a few times. It can be annoying. In my eyes Xbox Live is one of both the best and worst things about WP. Its great that it exists, getting achievements on your phone is great. But there's a sense great frustration too. It could be so much more than it is. MS could do a lot more to improve gaming on WP.

 

[GPendolino]

Well if nothing else I have to at least say the W8 community is the most generous and helpful when it comes to sharing information and encouraging people to become a part of it.

I've gotten some incredibly valuable feedback and will be making a decision soon.

Still unclear on what format the MicroSD card is as that's where all my non-watermarked high-rez (300dpi) photos will be stored. (The ones I take with my Nikon D800 and workup and transfer to he phone).

No getting around the apps issue but hey, I can't even enjoy Dead Trigger 2 as is because I crash frequently. I'm not going to give Apple $400 and get into another two year contract for a 64gb iPhone 5S with essentially a guarantee that Apple's own updates will render it useless in another 18-24 months.

I highly appreciate all the feedback so far and will be checking tomorrow to see if there's any more info shared.

Thanks again!

 

[Jordan Laureano1]

Gpendolino. I'm Jordan from the Philippines. Go for the switch. Windows photo editing apps are more modern like picsart, phototastic, photografitti, momento, mylife, weatherpro, so much colorful and more pleasingly attractive than ios apps... Especially when capturing pictures and sharing them to our social networks .its damn to fast .its fully integrated. Easily share them to fb, twitter in three touches . Sent instantly. In gaming, words with friends and other word gaming are very much available. FPS lots of them. For security, ios fingerprint scanning is easily hacked by a simple glue and gummy bear in second an average Joe can open ios secured system easily... And jail breaking any ios in less than 20minutes can be done easily by an average technician just pay them 10dollars... Picture quality is at its best comparing my Lumia to my friend 5s...they are grainy and somewhat blurry when zooming pictures taken from iPhones 5s... Lumia phones are at it's best in imaging technology . Speed a Lumia 1520 is 2.2ghz quad core snapdragon 800. That's several steps or way way ahead when comparing to iphone 4s 1ghz dual core.

 

[azcruz]

@GPendolino, you didn't mention this, but is LTE important to you? How about 3.5G?

Here's why I brought it up, my iPhone 5S seems to have ****ty network data sensitivity indoors. Side by side with my Xperia V, and in varying locations, the 5S will get EDGE (que horror) or GPRS at best 3G when the Xperia can get LTE. My non-LTE Windows Phone can get H+ and the iPhone 5S again varying from EDGE, GPRS or 3G. It makes it somewhate inutile in many cases. I have worked with my network operator about the issue, and have tried an iPhone 5 but with the same ****ty results.

Outdoors it works sometimes as good as my Xperia phone.

I have owned other Lumia phones, but not the high end ones, so I can't compare Lumia's LTE performance.

I'm a Nikon shooter too, so what Nikon model do you use?

 

[Jordan Laureano1]

Several browsers internet explorer, Bing, uc browser, google , surfy, wave browsers, maxthon apps..for surfing you tube maxthon, surfy and uc browser as well as wave is fast no lag, Facebook I'm using beta ...i don't have a problem with it .. Fhotoroom, 6tag, vine, instagram, but for me I use fhotoroom coz when u take pictures and share it . Its not going to be cropped into a square form like instagram does. UTILITIES so much in store like flashlight , translator , currency etc..here maps , city lens are great to use when ur out of town or country bec even if we are offline its free to use...Whats App, group me, four square ,viber Line, kakao talk ....a lot more are amazingly pleasing to our eyes to use because of its modern design....READER lots of choices FLipmag, RSS reader, weave etc, Wikipedia more modern design FOR music downloads , Nokia mix radio, Xbox video, music mix lyrics, music plus... Transfer my data app is all you need.. Do switch install the all the apps , arranged the live tiles in your taste. And set your lock screen using awesome lock.. And GLANCE always turn it on. Lumia smartphone is a beautiful masterpiece.

 

[TFontenette]

As a former iPhone 4 owner that switched to the Lumia 920 when it released, and a current owner of the Lumia 1520 I thought I'd finally make another post. I can say when I first switched to the 920 I was disappointed with the selection of apps on the market place. I used to own an iPad mini just to play games and use some apps that were essential to my my day to day work and entertainment. But this is with any new operating system. Now that the growing pains have started to disappear the market place seems to be gaining steam. Moli Player Pro lets me watch and listen to any video and audio file, wpTorrent Pro lets me torrent any file allows me to move it to my media library. As far as gaming I use my 1520 with a Moga controller to play Dungeon Hunter 4 and my classic library of PlayStation and Super Nintendo games. I use an ultra high speed 32 gig SD card and it does support it. I notice the speed while transferring video from my device to card to watch on Moli Player. My favorite part of the higher end Lumia phones are the cameras but there is too much for me to gush about so I'll stop on this point here. Windows Phone has grown into my favorite mobile platform. If your looking for a phone that lets you be productive and have some great entertainment on the go pick up the Lumia 1520.

 

[Jordan Laureano1]

For business use, windows powered smartphone are fully equipped. SKYPE and office apps ( excel, word, etc) are built in and ready to use...camscanner, Lync 2013, mail, one note, calculator apps, box, SharePoint, Nokia beamer for remote presentation...mint app, and their are banks app specially designed for windows. Just switch and experience the new modern UI.

 

[GizmoEV]

I've gotten some incredibly valuable feedback and will be making a decision soon.

If you haven't already, create a Microsoft account. You can go to SkyDrive.com and create one. I chose to create an outlook.com account rather than use one of my other email accounts. In any case, a MS account will give you a place to have your contacts backed up similar to what iCloud can do. When you get a Lumina phone set up the phone using the MS account you created then go to the WP store on the phone and then select the Nokia collection. Scroll down to and install the Transfer my Data app. You can use this app to transfer all your contacts from your iPhone to your Lumina. After a short while all the contacts will be uploaded to your MS account where you can go and make editing changes to them and such. I had better results going this route than letting the wireless carrier do it for me.

 

[sharathu7]

Hi, I am using my Windowsphone Lumia 520 for last 8 months... And the coolest thing I like in it is... Whenever I take my phone out of pocket all the galaxyiers and iphoners look into it... 70% start asking on it how is it... How it works and all... All are convinced with it and they too have a try on it and they love it inspite of file manager and video sharing blah blahs... Even they wonder such a basic windows phone works smoothly without any hiccups... And in this span of 8 months I made almost 8 to 9 people around me into windows phones... And obviously my next windows phone will be next flagship mobile of nokia... Just waiting for that gold fingers... And one more thing, I didnt find anyone going to anyother phone once they are used to windowsphone... Its cool yaa... Better try it and u will get to knw it... All the best for ur windowsphone...

 

[jkidd01]

About the SD cards and security:

SD Card's are formatted to be readable in a Windows computer (don't know the exact format because the 1020 I have doesn't have a SD Card slot). That means that anything on the SD Card is potentially readable by anyone that picks it up.

Now, if you lose your phone or it's stolen and you have the "Find my phone" option turned on, you can lock the phone or wipe the data. It's not specified whether or not it wipes the SD Card as well with that option, but I would assume so.

I'm thinking about picking up a 520 to have a low-end device for development, so I'll test the data wipe once I get it.

 

[StefEBear]

Still unclear on what format the MicroSD card is as that's where all my non-watermarked high-rez (300dpi) photos will be stored. (The ones I take with my Nikon D800 and workup and transfer to he phone).

Thanks again!

From the Microsoft support site "Windows Phone devices only support SD Cards Files on Fat32 format." Here's also a bit more information about using the Micro SD cards Using an SD card to add space | Windows Phone How-to (Australia)

The windowsphone.com website is a great place to check out a lot of information about the phones, with the Headings of "Phones Features Apps+Games News How-to" as well as some tools, like "Find My Phone", purchase history and resinsllation and even a "My Family" Xbox section.

 

[manicottiK]

[Note: I started typing this before power went out and am finishing it 4 hours later. I have not read to earlier posts to see if this is now redundant. Sorry.]

I've condensed your concerns and added one that you didn't ask:

1 - If I lose my phone with a MicroSD card in it.
2 ? Security. Apple has always been (or at least perceived to be) the more secure OS.
3 ? Apps. As I mentioned, I love my games.
4 ? Picture quality.
5 ? Continued support.
6 ? What's unique about Windows Phone

1 - If I lose my phone with a MicroSD card in it.
Fortunately, both Android and Windows Phone support the ability to encrypt the contents of the phone and the SD card. Encryption isn't on by default and you may need to connect to an Exchange account or other "mobile device management platform" to enable it, but it's absolutely possible for you to be safe. Microsoft has a "find my phone" and "erase my phone" feature that's just like Apple's service.

2 ? Security. Apple has always been (or at least perceived to be) the more secure OS.
One of the reasons that MacOS has historically been safer than Windows Phone is that it has consistently held a low market share. As such, hackers would naturally have less interest in it as there are fewer opportunities to get access to information. The opposite is true for iOS, although it's fairly well locked down and its share is shrinking relative to Android. Windows Phone has both obscurity and security going for it. The app security model for Windows Phone is secure that two apps from the same developer can't even share files. Essentially, every app thinks that it's alone on the phone and the files that it stores are visible to it alone.

3 ? Apps. As I mentioned, I love my games.
This is less of a problem now that it was six months ago and the rate at which the "important app" gap is shrinking is picking up speed. There's a good chance that you might not find the app that you want from the developer that you want, but a third-party alternative or a little bit of patience will likely satisfy you.

4 ? Picture quality.
The Lumia 1020 is nothing short of amazing. I have a 1520, but had a 1020 for a week. (I returned it because it lacked wireless charging, which I was used to from my previous phone.) If you care about photography, you owe it to yourself to spend some time with a 1020. The 1520 is nice, too, but the 1020 is unique.

5 ? Continued support.
Microsoft has pledged a fairly long support period for Windows Phone. Given the duration of consumer electronics, you should be fine.

6 ? What's unique about Windows Phone.
You didn't ask about this, but it's worth telling you some things.

You've likely read about "Live" tiles. These are effectively areas about 4x the size of an app icon on iOS and can be used to show information from the app even before you launch the app. Of course, how well this feature is exploited varies by the app and a lot of well-known cross-platform apps might not do much with it since the feature can't be replicated in an iOS environment.

Another unique feature that developers can exploit is creating "secondary tiles" that effectively serve as the app equivalent of browser bookmarks. For example, I use an app to routinely check the menu at the university's faculty club. In iOS or Android, I'd launch the app, tap the Guide tab, tap Merchants, scroll to the faculty club, tap it, then tap the menu tab. In Windows Phone, I can choose "Pin to Start" from the menu page and get another tile on my Start screen; that tile launches the app right at the place from which I pinned it.

 

[Kasni]

I owned Lumia 1520 & I can;
1. Add 64gb card and copy video files larger than 4GB. 32+64+7=100GB usable storage.
2. Less strain my eyes in pitch dark room coz it apply dark theme across apps.
3. Read text in bright sun light.
4. Subcribe to skydrive and auto sync everyting.
5. Take awesome image quality in small 5MP image for faster upload and raw fomat in .dng.
6. Worry free of scratch on the screen.
7. Trust the secure platform because it doesn't allowed rooting/install app beside official store.
8. Work with office document natively.
9. Windows is a big company and will survive longer, while wp8 will support until 2016, by that time, i already buy new phone. Its nature of technology, evolve or we will extinct like dinasour.
10. Sell my laptop as i do more with my windows phone. Trust me, its worthed!

 

[socalphil]

I have had all 3 platforms. I was one of the people waiting all night to get the latest iPhone or ipad. Then I tried a LG nitro that had a HD display before the others. I got used to android and eventually went with the S3 and S4. I looked back at the iPhone and couldn't believe how small the screen was. Now, the iPhone 6 is rumored to get a 5.5 inch screen, but you can be sure it will be a more expensive option.

Being an avid photographer the Lumia 1020 peaked my interest. But was it going to be the same experience as the old windows 6 phones I had. Kept having to reboot. Always crashing. I was pleasantly surprised the 1020 camera is amazing. I took a picture of an aircraft flying low and could zoom in clearly even though it appeared small in the picture. Pictures were crisp and I could print poster size with no pixellation.

The operating system is very stable and I could find most of the apps I needed. I never turned back. I now own a 1020, 1520 and 2520 tablet. You can try it out and return within the return period if you change your mind. Watch for restocking fee though.