Should I buy a 1520 now?

[dellgonzales]

I have the opportunity to buy a new in box 1520 for 300 dollars US. Want to know what you think, is it too late to buy this model, any thoughts on Windows Phone 10 use, waiting for the next large Windows phone, etc...
Happy to have your advice , thoughts , comments

 

[Shekhar Verma]

Lumia 1520 is the best windows phone, if you can handle the sheer size of it
And I think with SD800, 2GB RAM and the awesome display it have, this will be going long before getting outdated. I am using Lumia 1520 in India and really satisfied with its performance, build quality and overall look and feel, and easily rate this as the best phone I have used (Used Galaxx S3, Iphone 5 and couple of other Android and WP in the past.
also the price at which you are getting it is worth every penny.

 

[gpobernardo]

Hi, dellgonzales, welcome to Windows Central!

The L1520 is a flagship, one of the best-spec-ed (except for the camera, but the camera is still good) Windows Phone currently out there. That will make it future-proof slightly longer than its peers... but as with all devices it will soon be outdated.

At $300, I think it's a fair price, provided that it's brand new and has the usual 12-month warranty; that would be like having an extended warranty since the L1520 has been around for more than a year now.

If there's a phone that should be compatible with Windows 10, the L1520 should be the first one. Nonetheless, all Windows Phones should be compatible with Windows 10.

Then again, there's no real news about the releasing of a successor to the L1520 - the same size. My advice would be to try the phone out, if you could get your hands on a working demo unit. If you really like what you see, then get it. Chances of regretting should be minimal if that's a brand new flagship phone... just don't keep it in your jeans pocket since there are many reports of breaking screens from bending.

 

[ScrubbyXD]

$300 is mint/new condition
$250 for good
$200 for fair
Reasons to buy are well documented on these forums.

 

[aximtreo]

If you buy a used one, get the green color. According to posts I've seen here, it is the last one manufactured and will still have warranty until Nov, 2015.

The new one you mentioned should have warranty as well; assuming it is truly new and never been activated. If it has been activated, the warranty clock start at time of activation.

$300 is an OK price but I would try and squeeze a bit more out of them.

 

[seb_r]

gpobernarbo summarized it well - try it out. But also keep in mind: the device is pretty much outdated and past has shown that MS has no problem to drop "old" hardware (see WP 7) pr even newer (no upgrade to Win10 for Windows RT Devices). Just the fact that a device can run Win10 technically won't guarantee you to get it. MS might make up an excuse like that only with new hardware you can get the best user experience with Win10 blablabla. Not only "if" but also "when" is the question. See how painfully slow updates crawling out to phones (I guess not even all devices got Denim by now - don't always blame the carriers). And if you checked one of the recent builds for Win 10 on a phone I am pretty sure we won't see it on our devices in 2015. And until then no other flagship phone.
The 1520, which I own too, is also heavily plagued by touchscreen sensitivity issues. So decide if you wanna go with a device that has no warranty. I would not say it is more likely to break than other phones. Simply a larger phone with larger display area is more easy to shatter if it falls. And that can happen easily as the back cover is kinda slippery and tricky to use the phone with one hand.

 

[jsooney]

As a 1520 owner I would say definitely not. There are too many flaws, and it's borderline obsolete.

 

[Xboxer Eyts]

Go for it, no ifs & buts. It's the best windows phone out there.

 

[Jas Holden]

If you get it, be sure too get a 2 piece snap-on hard case. That is to prevent flexing which leads to "phantom touch" problems.

The ones without a soft rubber covering will work but won't give much protection from drops. The Otterbox Defender style cases give great protection but are more bulky. Either type can be gotten on Ebay in the $5-8 range.

 

[Nogitsune Micah]

I have the opportunity to buy a new in box 1520 for 300 dollars US. Want to know what you think, is it too late to buy this model, any thoughts on Windows Phone 10 use, waiting for the next large Windows phone, etc...
Happy to have your advice , thoughts , comments

As a Lumia 1520 ****** I strongly encourage you to get it. It is the BEST windows Phone aside from the Lumia 930/Icon that you can buy today. I strongly have been pushing people to get it,...if and when they have the chance to do so.

Also look at the lumia 640 XL....you can probably save about 50-70 bucks. If you don't need all the features of a 1520. I recently broke my 1520 and instead of buying another one, I decided to go in a different direction and go the 640 XL which i'd say is the 3rd best phone you can buy presently.

 

[Jas Holden]

How does the 720p look? I wear bifocals but my up close vision is excellent. I take off my glasses and hold the phone about 4 inches from my eyes. That is perfect for reading Kindle or watching movies. I do not want to see square pixels.

 

[TrueMetalGeek]

How does the 720p look? I wear bifocals but my up close vision is excellent. I take off my glasses and hold the phone about 4 inches from my eyes. That is perfect for reading Kindle or watching movies. I do not want to see square pixels.

720p? As in screen resolution?
It is a 1080p device like the Nokia Icon.
It looks great.

 

[Hakki Caliskan]

No, you shouldn't imo. I'm a huge Microsoft fan. Started with a HTC Mozart, had Lumia 920 and Lumia 1520. I sold my Lumia 1520 6 months ago and got a 64 GB Nexus 6. I traded my Lumia 920 previously for a Galaxy Note 3. No matter what I do, I experience so many flaws and hiccups on this OS and go back to Android until they release another flagship and OS. One day Windows Mobile will give the same or even better experience hopefully. But right now, If you have a 300 US Dollars budget, I think you should look into a cheaper Windows device like 640 or 640 XL instead of 1520 or if you want to have a high-end device, you should aim for an Android one (Nexus 6 does almost everything better compared to Lumia 1520). I also have Lumia 535's dual sim model as my secondary. I will keep developing and supporting Windows OS on mobile and desktop no matter what, but right now, there is no competition between high-end Android's and Windows mobile devices.

 

[Blenyc]

Go for it!!! Best choice i ever made.

 

[vivekgiri_7]

I have the opportunity to buy a new in box 1520 for 300 dollars US. Want to know what you think, is it too late to buy this model, any thoughts on Windows Phone 10 use, waiting for the next large Windows phone, etc...
Happy to have your advice , thoughts , comments

Its good to have a little wait till the official launch for Windows 10 Mobile......
Include new features in new Phones and
As the JOE BELFIORE (from Microsoft) said that "Continum For Phone, will only support in new hardware"
If "Continum" doesn't matter to you.....Then
Lumia 1520 (beast) is a lifetime investment!
Yes I repeat Lifetime Investment**
(with protective case **)

 

[BryanVilla]

There's some mint condition 1520s for less than 300 on Swappa and I just recently bought a mint red for 200 on eBay. I'd look for a better price but the phone is worth it!

 

[JennyTan]

I bought an almost new yellow for $240 on Swappa a month ago(never used, but open boxed, tested by seller), no touch issue at all. I have a 1520.3 bought last summer new from newegg, it has slightly touch issue. I compared them side by side, use both of them the same way, I did see 1520.3 sometimes the touch is too sensitive, but the $240 one (940 att version) no touch,tap issues at all. Maybe that $240 is in a new batch.

 

[Mmazeo]

Fantastic device. Really have no complaints hardware wise. If you're down with the OS and aware of what you're getting into with it, this is the top device for it. Not going to get a better experience with anything else. Maybe the HTC One M8.

 

[Jazmac]

I'd recommend the 1520 but not at 300 bucks.

 

[Nogitsune Micah]

I'd recommend the 1520 but not at 300 bucks.

I still do. Specs wise it is well worth it's price. The only main difference is its processor which is slower than the others but still for $300 it is a good buy.