Upgrade from HTC Arrive to Nokia Lumia 920 or 1020, need help deciding which

[Hellhog]

I need some help on deciding on a phone.

I've been on my parents family plan for a long time now using an HTC Arrive on Sprint that I "hacked" WP 7.8 onto. I'm feeling the old in the OS when I constantly see apps I've been wanting only available on WP8 or the fact that Sprint's coverage sucks. I want to get my own plan and a new phone.

I've been interested in getting either the Samsung Galaxy S4 or Nokia Lumia 920 through AT&T (since their coverage map seems to look best). My only interest in the S4 was because of the thermometer, hygrometer, and barometer that are integrated in it (I'm an atmospheric scientist so I nerd out over this), but was nervous of the syncing of my email, contacts, and calendar on android from outlook.com. I just found out while watching youtube vids of the 920 and 1020 that the 1020 has a barometer but I can't find any apps on the marketplace that make use of it which is disappointing. I'm contemplating learning how to develop for WP if I get a 1020 and try my hand at it myself.

I'm torn on whether to get a 1020 or 920. After watching videos and looking at specs, other than the higher MP camera and barometer, I don't know of many other differences that would help me decide. I use a Canon PowerShot ELPH 110 HS as my main camera (16.1MP and 5x zoom). If the 1020 is more than capable of replacing it for stills and 1080p video, then I'd be more than happy to ditch the point and shoot. Albeit, I may buy a DSLR soon for storm chasing this spring but in the mean time I wouldn't mind a phone that can also be my point and shoot. The exclusive Nokia apps matter to me but from what I understand, they all became available to the 920 as well through the Amber Update. Battery life is highly important to me and it looks like both phones blow away the Arrive. I do like that the 920 has built in wireless charging, and I may take advantage of it, but it isn't a big deal as I won't buy a cover for the 1020 to do wireless charging. Weight doesn't matter as the Arrive is a pretty heavy phone and I think the 920 is the same weight approximately so it won't be anything I'm not used to. One big holdup though is the price difference on contract. Amazon lists only a $50 difference while AT&T's site shows a $200 difference between the two.

Sorry for the long post, just trying to paint a picture. What do you guys recommend? Any differences that I don't seem to know that stand out? Thanks guys!

 

[raccoon210]

I would suggest the 1020. The camera when used effectively could rival that of your p&s. And for battery life if the battery isn't good enough for you, you could get a camera grip which has 1020? Mah I think.

 

[niel27]

Firstly, being an AT&T user, you are lucky to get 1020 and that too at a cheap contract price.
Secondly, 2gb ram will be future proof for WP 8.1.
Thirdly, the camera with Black update is phenomenal. No comparisons. 6x zoom in 720p video is jaw dropping awesome.

Lastly, the weight is quite important if you use your phone on bed at night and AMOLEDs are great for Glance screen

 

[downhillrider]

another 1020 vote. Im waiting for ups to deliver mine, im on ATT as well and a former 920 owner. When I decided to get back to WP I went for the 1020. It will get and handle future updates. My situation is a little different tho because personally I wouldnt go under contract for a 1020. If I'm gonna extend 2 more years I was gonna wait until next year to see what new devices come out. 5 inch iphone/new nokia/surface phone? etc. so I decided to buy one and then wait for these phones to be announced before I extend my att contract.

 

[Flagz]

The Lumia 1020 hands down, really there's no reason NOT to get it. If I had the choice of 920 or 1020 lets just say it wouldn't take long to choose.

 

[Hellhog]

So it seems the 1020 is the hands down vote, but is there anything else it has other than the superior camera, barometer, and extra gig of ram over the 920?

 

[nishant786]

So it seems the 1020 is the hands down vote, but is there anything else it has other than the superior camera, barometer, and extra gig of ram over the 920?

Anything else needed?!

 

[spaulagain]

So it seems the 1020 is the hands down vote, but is there anything else it has other than the superior camera, barometer, and extra gig of ram over the 920?

1. Better screen IMO. One of the things I hated most about my 920 was the LCD screen. The true black with AMOLED screens (like the 1020 has) really compliments the design of Windows Phone.

2. 1020 seems a lot lighter. I've heard LCD screens are heavier, and that may be the bulk of the 920s weight. Whatever it is, my 1020 feels much lighter than my 920.

3. Cleaner hardware design. The 920 has that ugly extra bezel between the screen and the body. I hate that. The 1020 goes back to the slick screen to body line of the Lumia 800. Also, the 1020 has the Nokia logo centered on the phone. With the front facing camera vertically centered to the logo. And the top speaker is along the top edge of the screen vs the middle of the top.

4. Matte white/yellow colors. I'm not a fan of the glossy look on some of the colored 920s. Plus it makes the phone more slippery.

5. Fewer hardware issues, at least that's what it seems like. I went through 5 920s because they were so prone to defects.

6. So far, the updates seem to come to the 1020 a little faster. May just be because its newer model.

7. Thinner. The 920 is big, period. I was fine with it, but now that I have the 1020, I'm glad its thinner. I do miss the wireless charging though.

 

[Hellhog]

Wow, that was helpful. Hopefully the local AT&T has both so I can get a try. I guess the two biggest things worrying me with the 1020 is the protruding camera (so it doesn't lay perfectly flat on a table but that is me being nitpicky) and price. I have enough to buy either, but I don't want to spend more money if I don't have to. I plan to go into a Sprint store this afternoon to find out what is involved with me getting off my family's plan (plus I need to fix some issue, for some reason they changed me to the primary account holder) and then hit AT&T to get a feel.

 

[Hellhog]

I was just thinking, if I don't see any need for the 41MP camera and some of its other features, am I better off at getting the 920 instead to save money at signing?

 

[manicottiK]

One advantage that the 920 has is wireless charging. Of course, you'd need to buy a plate to charge from, but the Qi receiving coil is already inside the 920. You can get a wireless charging case for the 1020, but it adds thickness and weight to the device, making it bigger and heavier than the 920.

I believe that the barometer in the 1020 is used only to do faster GPS location fixes. It is not a regular app-accessible sensor. However, I only had my 1020 for a week, so I didn't do any deep research into if/how that feature could be used. (Note: I returned the 1020 because I was hooked on wireless charging. It's tough to let go of that once you get used to it. I now have the international 1520, which means that I gave up LTE to get wireless charging -- that's how compelling Qi is to me.)

On the camera front, don't think about "I don't need 41 MP for this picture" -- in fact, stop thinking about MP altogether. The 1020's camera sensor takes in a huge amount of light and then uses it to create stunning photos sized just like the 5 MP pictures of other cameras, but with vastly better quality. It's the world's best 5 MP camera phone, with a trick up its sleeve! If you want, you can choose to have the camera ALSO store a 41 MP rendition of the photo. (This is where the trick comes in.) When you do that, you can "unzoom" pictures after the fact then re-zoom them into the same or a different part of the picture. The 1020 is even better than the 1520 in this unzoom/reframe/rezoom capability.

About the bump vs laying flat, both of these phones have issues. The tilt caused by the 1020's bump is somewhat useful, as I found it to reduce reflection from overhead lights in restaurants or other indoor commercial/institutional spaces. However, both the rounded edge of the bump and the curved back of the 920 mean that neither stays completely still as you tap on the screen, particularly at the far left or right sides. Despite the camera bump, I think that I recall the 1020 being slightly better/more stable than the 920 in this regard.

 

[Kellzea]

The 1020 is the better phone, no question. Its faster, has a better camera, more ram and a better screen.

It is however an odd shape and larger than the 920.

So the question isn't which should you get, its "will the 1020 fit in my pocket"

 

[greedypnguin]

If you have the money get the 1020, Unless you don't want an ugly bulge on the back of your phone, in that case get the 925

 

[niel27]

The odd shape of 1020 is negligible. I have never felt any difference b/w 920 and 1020 in pocket.

Now about the cost of the phone, aren't you paying a contract worth 1000s of dollars for 2 years? Does 50-100$ make any difference?

Also, the resale value 1020 will always be higher than 920. Not just 100$ but 200-250$. Its a rare and exclusive phone. Pureview 808 is still selling at higher price after more than a year

 

[DCProjMgr]

For me, the only situation where the 920 is the best choice is if you are buying the phone outright to use off contract. The price of the 920 has fallen so far that it is a deal for what you get.

But if you are going to sign a contract, then I'll echo greedypnguin, and say the choice is between the 1020 and the 925 (if you want something smaller, but still a very good camera). Basically the 925 is the 920, but much less bulky and with some slight hardware updates.

 

[Hellhog]

I bought the 1020, I love it so far and have really been loving the changes of WP8 over WP7. Also having 4G LTE over 3G is so nice.

 

[TheRewardisCheese]

Congrats on the new 1020 If it doesn't have it already, it should prompt you to update to Lumia Black / GDR3, which will also give you RAW support for photos.