Weeks after: are you still happy?

[iamtim]

I am curious to know why your chose the 820 over the 920 and HTC 8X?

The 920 was great. The screen was awesome, the performance was top-notch, but my 920 had a couple of issues (it overheated crazy bad even after shutting off everything, and it would just drop connectivity - even showing 4 bars of service - until I restarted the phone) and in reading all the threads about 920 problems here and elsewhere, I decided to try a different WP8 device. When I initially looked at the 8X I was blown away; it's sleekness and lightweightness and grippyness - compared to the 920 I was returning - really appealed to me. Unfortunately, I jumped too soon and it turned out that the 8X was TOO sleek and lightweight for my preferences. I felt like I was going to break the phone because it was so thin (especially around the edges) and I had a hard time getting to the buttons one-handed - I thought they'd be easy because they were in the same places as they are on the iPhone, which is what I had before the 920 - but I often wound up missing them or hitting them too much to the side and they wouldn't actually press.

So then I went back and by now my store had gotten in the 820s. I'd been reading on the forums here (and elsewhere) and it seemed that the 820 wasn't having the problems that the 920s and 8Xs were having (which could be just because not as many people had 820s as 920s and 8Xs). I was concerned about the lower screen resolution, but I really liked the option for microSD card storage. When I picked it up it fit in my hand PERFECTLY (unlike the bigger 920). It's a solid device and my hand hits all the buttons one-handed with ease, plus the buttons are easy to press (unlike the 8X). It has the same internals (excepting, of course, camera and internal storage) as the 920, and has all the Nokia apps. Personally, aside of the size (the 820 has a slightly smaller display than the 920) I couldn't tell much of a difference (if any) between the 820 and 920 displays.

So, for the TL;DR version, the 820 fits better, feels better, has the same performance, and the few shortcomings it has are not shortcomings to me.

 

[bpd_ma]

I'm pretty torn. The camera on the 920 is amazing. I love the live tiles. I love the start screen. I love the screen. I love basically love the WP8 operating system. OTOH, the Xbox Music, podcast limitations, the sync problems with Windows 8, the all-around bugginess, and the atrocious battery life are really 'harshing my buzz'. My phone is my music and podcast device and I use it for that constantly. My phone is for music, email, and then the occasional phone call. The fact that I have to use iTunes in order to get even somewhat plausible support for playlists and podcasts makes me want to scream. The bugs in the on-device podcast subscribe & download features have completely blocked me. Combine that with the bugs in the beta version of the desktop software and I haven't been able to download or sync any new podcast episodes for a week.

My battery life is all over the map -- it's either about 36 to 48 hours or it's (literally) 60 minutes. (Yes, I've uninstalled Skype, Facebook, disabled adaptive brightness, disabled NFC, disabled Bluetooth, and disabled wifi.) The fact that I have to disable 70% of the features on the phone in order to get my battery to last through the day is crazy. The fact that I can't necessarily count on my phone's battery lasting through a morning is also crazy.

I want to love this phone and this operating system but it's such a huge step back from my Lumia 900. I've gotta say that I'd be a lot less grumpy if MSFT 1) provided a way to submit bugs, 2) gave us some kind of feel that they're listening, 3) gave the community some sense of when they might ship patches and 4) let us know if they even *intend* to fix the sync/music/podcast situation.

I really worry that they've profiled who their "sweet spot" user is and that that person doesn't listen to music, podcasts, or care about syncing. If that's true then it explains their choices around not shipping those features and basically removing them from the product. If that's true, it also means that they aren't prioritizing me as their customer. I get how software is built -- you only have so many hours in the day and only so many features you can deliver. You decide which features provide the biggest chunk of customer value and build those features. Features for customers who are not in that "sweet spot" tend to fall down the priority list and they don't get built and they don't get adequate QA testing time.

Bottom line: not happy.

 

[chris41336]

I have been an Android guy since it came around; even owned a G1 back in the day. I'm an android "legacy" guy lol.

My Nokia Lumia 810 has, however, completely converted me. It didn't need a "project butter" to run smoothly. So many things integrated into the OS that the need for apps isn't as intensive. Battery life is great. Phone works well. GPS blows android out of the water. Navigation is (IMO) better.

There is literally nothing that I am not happy with concerning this phone, coming from the buggy mess that was historical android. Granted, I have never tried Android 4.2 Jelly Bean with the "project butter" improvements, but my mouth was so soured by years and years of crappy phones and crappy OS that I just can't see myself ever going back there.

I defended android for YEARS against Apple, mainly because I loathe Apple, and I still would do the same. But I have faced the music, and Android is essentially "bizzaro world iOS" to quote my friend.

The only problem is now I have to defend Windows Phone against two operating systems instead of one.

 

[TaliZorah]

Love my 822! I like it more and more every day. I will probably hold on to it until the next generation of WP8's if there is really something that "WOWs" me. Otherwise I am very happy with it!

 

[koldmiser]

920 for a couple of weeks now. Love the change from iOS. At first I thought it might be a bit too big, but now when I pick up my old iphone I don't know how I put up with the small size of the iphone for so long.

 

[chrimble]

I'm still loving my 920, even after two weeks.

I still have my old Android (updated to ICS from GB a while back) and a work 4S (on iOS 6), and whilst I miss the depth of the app stores it's not as bad as I was expecting either.

Battery life (for me) is about the same as the 4S (although I tend to use my 920 more which leads it to run out of power first). Light usage gets a minimum of 36 hours with "everything" switched on, same as the iPhone.

There are still some rough edges (particularly around apps not playing nicely with WP8) but overall, it's the best bit of technology I've owned since the original iPhone.

And the HTC 8X is stunning too -- swapped with a friend briefly and we both agreed that we'd be delighted with either...

 

[gbbg]

I got my 920 almost a week back. Haven't had much chance to tinker with it in the first 2 days because I was disappointed with the "neon yellow" color that I got.
I still don't use it as my daily driver because my iP4 knows too much about me and I can't train 920 with the lack of certain apps.

I managed to use most apps though. Nokia's Drive was pretty awesome for our trip to San Antonio from Austin. I had the entire texas map downloaded earlier so it was cool to have an "offline" navigation system on a phone. My friends were impressed there, and so was my wife. Nokia +1.
Of course, the app was incomplete as it did not give an option to review the route in text, or an option to zero back to my current position when exploring the route. Pretty basic things. I don't know if I missed them, but I definitely gave them an immediate feedback about it.

Transfer my Data did NOT work other than contacts, which, were already synced from FB and Outlook, DUH! It didn't work for recent (as described) nor did it transfer sms or pics.

Maps was ok, City Lens yet to be used in a real-life situation. Nokia music worked normally, and so did Transit.

Gripes:
- Having to pay again for my apps bought on AppStore (for MORE than what they were there). Thank God for the "try" feature.
- Live tiles for some of the apps is a hit and miss. ESPN's app doesn't update scores, Weather channel stopped working (even though allowed for background tasks). Had to download Accuweather instead and that's worked so far.
- Camera's been OK. My attempt in dark room (birthday cake cutting scene) failed miserably as the pics were either blurry or down-right "dark". Didn't fare any better with flash as red-eye (or more like white-eye) was prominent. On the flip side, indoor photography of well-lit scenes were pretty decent/good. Need to work on that.
- Battery's been super but it's been only on wi-fi so far (not cellular network) so have to test it out.
- Tap & Send (NFC) didn't exactly work with an Android (Nexus S). I am not sure if there was any problem with incompatibility (except that Nexus S kept saying the receiving phone was not equipped to receive large files in this mode or something - it was just a picture).
- The glossy slippery yellow: almost slipped out of my hand a couple of times. Waiting on the case to be delivered from China. Sometimes the phone seems too good to be put on the rough surfaces.

Overall, I am leaning a little more towards starting to use the Lumia as my daily-driver as I can get a better idea of how it does.

Functionality: 7/10
Look & feel: 5/10 (Slippery and color)

 

[SeanKyleBordner]

Got my 920 the morning it released in the US. Best smartphone ever. The more I use it, the more I like it. So impressed with both WP8 and Nokia.

 

[jsk0703]

Tomorrow will be 2 weeks for my wife and I. We love our 920s.

 

[zokstar]

yep loving it more and more each day!!

 

[FinsUpDNC]

Really really happy with my 920. While I sometimes want an app I see on someone else's phone, in the end it does not matter to me. Most things I do with a phone are built into the OS. I run a business that needs me on e-mail etc all the time, and living in the exchange ecosystem this phone has done the best job of that. I have gone from a Treo running palm, to treo running win mobile, to blackberry curve, bberry bold, iphone 3g, nexus, iphone 4, lumia 900, and now to the 920. I still maintain to this day that the best phone for email/contacts/calendar was the blackberry. Windows phone 8 is coming closest to that. It took me some time, but the people hub, groups (by client) and one click to e-mail, text, call, etc is great . The best part might be something minor to some, the to-do list a quick swipe in the calendar app where it belongs. Finally I don't have to add tasks to my actual calendar for it to show up where I want it. I could go on.... )

 

[zigzagr63]

Absolutely loving my 920. Having fun experimenting with the camera.

 

[lordofthereef]

I like being able to see the screen in bright sunlight. I like being able to use the phone with gloves on. I like being able to charge by just setting the phone down on my table. Honestly, if I had those three things on any of my other devices, I probably wouldn't have kept the 920. WP8 does almost everything I want it to. But it really doesn't do anything a whole lot better (except maybe social networking, which I am not big on) to warrant me choosing it over iOS or Android.

 

[romeze]

I have to say after about 2 weeks with my 8x, I am happy. That being said, I still suffer from what will come out next syndrome. I find myself reading rumors and speculation forums, even though I am totally satisfied. Only problem I have is looking for problems on my 8x. What I really want seems to be coming soon in the zenith. Ideally I would like a 5 inch 1080p, quad core, beats audio, super sensitive touch screen with beats audio and expandable memory, with Nokia app support and 8x aesthetics.

 

[mtsmedly]

I've had my 8X for a little over 2 weeks now. I'm still enthralled with the hardware. It's wonderful. Love the feel of the phone in my hand, great camera, good battery life for me.

That being said, the app selection is what has me contemplating switching back to Android. The apps just aren't as good right now, even some of the basic apps, like Twitter and Facebook. Facebook still kicks me out to the web too often, I want to be able to accept invites to invitations within the app. Twitter doesn't remember where I was scrolling through tweets and anytime I load the app it goes back to the most recent tweets and doesn't stay where I was the last time the app was open.

Basic apps like RunKeeper (or a good replacement) aren't apparent to me. The Games selection is lacking right now (don't get me wrong, I love the Xbox Live integration) but I need a wider selection.

Overall, I feel very much like I did when I first bought into Android. The core OS is great, but there's a lot of room for improvement and a ton of potential. I just hope Microsoft can continue to push adoption of Windows Phones to woo developers into porting their apps to Windows Phone, so at the very least, the major apps from other platforms appear on Windows Phone. As a Windows 8 and Xbox 360 user, I want my phone to match the other platforms I use, I just hope that the gap between Windows Phones and other phones closes quickly.

 

[D_Ros]

I have had my lumia 920 for about 2 weeks now. When I took it out of the box for the first time, I thought it was the best thing I have ever seen. It still is a beautiful phone, there is no doubt about that.

Pros:
- I like that WP8 covers the whole screen with tiles, and makes use of all the real estate
- The speed and fluidity is great, but it also was on WP7
- Lock Screen customizations are a nice touch
- The Screen is amazing! Very bright, crisp and clear. And is easily viewable on Sunny days
- Optical Image Stabilization actually works!
- Low Light Photographs are stunning!

Cons:
- Power Button has gotten flimsy in only 3 weeks. Not solid (Not sure if anyone else has experienced this)
- If I press on the top of the phone, the polycarbonate bends and clicks sometimes (Not sure if anyone else has experienced this either)
- The phone has rebooted on it's own on a couple of occasions. It has been pretty good for the last week, but for the first week that I used it, it rebooted or froze about 6 or 7 times. This may be due to an app that is installed on the phone, but even with a flakey app, we shouldn't expect the phone to reboot
- The Live tiles don't always update. When they are updating, it is great (Not really a need for a notification center), but it's frustrating to see an app (Like GasBuddy) not updating the live tile for a week. This might be a poorly implemented app but it's annoying. The same would happen on Windows Phone 7

Nice to have
- Would be nice if there was a global search on the phone. Where it would find apps, text messages, emails, etc... rather than going into the specific application to look it up
- Have a landscape mode for Xbox Music, so when I have the phone mounted, it can still be usable


All in all I'm really liking the phone. As with any device, it's not perfect, and there is work to be done to add certain features and improve the OS. But there are many features that we all know an love about the OS that I haven't mentioned above. I had a Samsung Focus prior to getting the Lumia 920 and am very happy with the upgrade. Although, sometimes I pick up the old Focus, and think, "Wow...this thing is light"

 

[Akt1]

No.

I really want to love my Lumia completely (I have a 920), and on many levels I do:

Sleek and fast OS (I am coming from years of Blackberry hell),
- Great web browsing experience
- Tiled and dynamic style of UI is different and practical
- Excellent screen display, nice handset in general (even if a bit bulky for the pocket)
- Great sound quality with music and multimedia (not with voice calls though!)
- Really easy to drop files and content on/off the device
- Great camera
- I love the Office and Skydrive support/integration
- Wireless charging: very practical

However, there are issues.
The annoying things, which I have noticed after a few months:

- No global search: this is absurd. This is standard fare on other platforms and devices (Blackberry have had this for years!)
What is the (seems silly) thinking behind this? Especially when other parts of the Windows eco-system (Windows 7, 8 etc.) all have this? Not every app has a search feature (try to search through music files if you can using the native player?!)

- Lack of apps: usual bug bear, but this is a pain. For example, cannot use any banking apps that I can with an Android (my bank has no idea when WP will be supported, translates to 'no plans, not worth the expense and effort')...The lack of apps is a shame, as the real quality ones that are there I am very impressed with. Just need more of them! Other apps that are there (outside the Nokia developed ones) like Flickr, Google etc. are poor and not as feature-rich as versions found on other platforms - whether this is due to OS or Hardware issues I don't know. End result is a disappointing user experience.

- A bit fragile: I've had to get my handset repaired/replaced three times so far: ALL as a result of OS or component failure - no knocks, accidents etc. This is alarming me a lot as I cannot see it lasting the duration of the 2-year contract I have with my service provider, despite the excellence of Nokia after-sales care.

- No message hub...hello?

-Next updates, 8.1 etc? Apparently 'during' 2014? Are you kidding? Probably after new releases from Apple, Samsung, Blackberry etc. Not sure why possible extinction in this market is not worrying MS.

I am now wishing I had taken the Galaxy S4 I was offered a couple of months back, and then to take a look later on, whenever Windows Phone 9 comes out (if it survives).
WP has fabulous potential and I want it to work and succeed (having 1 or 2 dominant platforms is not healthy) - but these issues are deal-breakers for me.

Just my 2 pennies.

 

[NosRokanaske]

I've had my 920 since launch day and i can say that i am pretty happy to meh though i feel this way about every device i own after some time. I came from a Galaxy S2 Skyrocket so the battery life was such a big improvement even as sporadic as it can be. I have never been and probably never will be a heavy app user simply because I view my phone as something of relative productivity which is something that i realized even before switching to WP8. I only really download apps that will help me keep on task or have functionality between it and W8 variant. Plus, i got a Nexus 7 anyway so if i want to kill time with an app, I'll just get it over there.

There are things that i do miss from Android mainly being dedicated volume controls, the toggle bar/features for the wifi and stuff, higher DPI screen (on the newer phones), and a notification center. I do know that the live tiles do accomplish this, but so did widgets on Android and besides, it is a lot better to have a notification center so you can quickly look at what they are. Useful if you're in a meeting or somewhere where you cant exactly take out your phone. Also the "there's an app for that" argument for the toggle bar/features shouldn't exist because their main competitors have it and i shouldnt need a 3rd party app to do something that basic. The biggest thing i miss is being able to kill tasks without keep pressing the back button. With iOS 7 having those features and Android having them from the get-go, WP8 has to do something similar natively to start to compete. That being said, there are things that i like about Windows Phone 8. Smooth OS (always found Android somewhat laggy/stuttery), I prefer this UI over the icons on android (mainly because of consistency), Battery Life, relative simplicity, nokia maps is pretty legit though i do miss google maps sometimes, and general style on the phone (white glass + buttons with backlighting = white ugly blotches). However, in all fairness all my issues could be fixed by going to Android with the HTC One or even iOS because they accomplish those as well.

Overall i am pretty happy to meh on it only because of the way i use any smartphone which means if i owned a HTC One or iPhone 5 i would have pretty much the same experience. That aside, i am not compelled at the moment to buy another phone off contract because of the phone, nor am i compelled to continue supporting windows phone 8 after my contract ends. If MSFT and Nokia play their cards right this next year then i may stick with WP8, but if they dont Android is probably where im headed. All they really need to do is fix the core functionality for me and i am good to continue supporting. The app market will grow as a side effect of playing their cards right anyway.

 

[raacut]

Too many missing features , seems like a pretty bad beta compared to Android , iOS and even BB10. Knowing what i know now about WP8 and its limitations (Apps dont bother me at all , I have found all the apps that i needed ) I would never have gotten it on contract. However I'm very ambiguous about dishing out 500 bucks to get a new smart phone that can do the simple things like switching sound profiles , notification centre , screen orientation lock , universal phone search etc.
WP has been around for 3 years and this sort of mediocrity is just inexcusable. I am more disappointed in Nokia as the standards set by Nokia in the past were much higher. Recent statements (http://forums.windowscentral.com/wi...t-must-evolve-make-windows-phone-success.html) show how annoyed they are with Microsoft's complacency. Having an awesome UI just wont cut it if the phone cant do simple basic stuff that ALL the other competition can.

 

[DavidinCT]

I love Windows Phone (I have been using Windows Mobile/PocketPC devices from 1.0) but, like others, the App problem really bothers me. Every time I turn on the TV or radio, this TV station or radio station has app, I think it would be better than their webpage on a mobile device (I hate scrolling back and forth to read a page)....oh, they have a iOS, a Android and even some have a Blackberry app...Windows Phone? What's that ?

Yea, I know, the more market share, the more apps will come and there is a major differnce from a year ago, but I would have to say at least 2-3 times a week I think this. I know it will take time but, I do start get fed up time to time.

Back in the Windows Mobile days, there was Windows Mobile and blackberry...and apps were plentyfull, even if you had to manually hunt them down and install them (marketplace didn't actually come up to 6.1/6.5) but, with Windows Phone, iOS and Android we have to depend on them from their marketplace.

it will take time but, it does stink time to time....Oh, I have a Windows Phone, there wont be an app for that....