Prospective Lumia owner here: Users who switched from IOS and Android, how are you finding it?

[Gadgetry]

I had WP 7 then the 4S and I'm back with WP 8 on the L920. I think MS has the right people in place and they are beginning to understand what people want from their phone. I think they've done all they can to incent developers to write apps, it'll be up to demand for the product that will drive change in this area. In regards to phone hardware I think Nokia is making handsets much like they did years ago, solid devices that look good and work well.

 

[SteveISU]

If you aren't a avid app user and use your phone for SMS, calls, maps, navigation, the occasional browsing and facebook post. You won't have any issues with WP8 as the UI is about as good as it gets in terms of cohesion and smoothness. If you are all about apps, you had best take a look at windows marketplace and start looking to see if they have what you use a lot. Be honest with yourself and know what you're getting. Don't get the phone and then rip it too shreds about the lack of premium apps. It's like an Android user converting to iOS and then complaining apple lacks a LED notification light, FoxFi, and widgets.

 

[tylerjp]

I have used most every handheld and smartphone OS (even Danger OS), most recently have been an iOS/iPhone user since the weekend it released. Needless to say the iPhone 5 and iOS 6 release was a significant letdown, while WM 8 and Nokia 920's innovative hardware made for a compelling story to make the switch.

Love:

• Live Tiles
• Screen
  • Size
  • Colors
  • Refresh Rate
• Video Recording Stability
• Wireless Charging
  • This was a huge surprise
• Responsiveness/Speed/Fluidity of OS
• Construction
  • The 920 is a rock, not a brick...in a great way.
• Low Light Photos
• Baconit and WP Central

Like:

• Daytime Photos
• Office
• Internet Explorer
• Application Lockscreen Backgrounds
• Bing
  • This was shocking
• Camera Filters
• Calendar
• Groups
• Auto Read Messages on Bluetooth
• Xbox Music
• NFC Potential
• Battery Life
  • 9 hours w/ limited background apps, BT, WiFi, & NFC on.

Dislike:

• No YouTube Upload
• No Unified Unread Email View
  • Must go to each and every folder?
• App Development Behind Android & iOS
  • This will improve with greater adoption...I hope.
• Nokia Drive Beta (no traffic?)
  • For OS reasons Waze no longer supports WM...boo
• Win 8 App is Incomplete
• Voice Commands Doesn't Hold a Candle to Siri
  • Am I missing something?
• No "Do Not Disturb"
• No "iMessenger/BBM" MS equivalent.
• No Notification Center
  • Hopefully Q1 2013

Overall, I am very pleased with the switch and look forward to the progress being made by MS and WP Devs.

I will not be heading back to iOS anytime soon. If any of you have fixes/workarounds or solutions to any of the dislikes they would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Michael4000]

I've had both iOS and Android. My last 3 phones have been Android though. There are 2 things that I miss. Browser flash support and a system file explorer. Neither of these are deal breakers.

I was looking at the Lumia 920 and the Galaxy Note 2, and asked the sales guy why the Galaxy wouldn't open Flash sites. Turns out Adobe has dropped Flash for Android 4.1. Looks like Flash is dead for ALL future phones.

Michael

 

[tomatoes11]

I was looking at the Lumia 920 and the Galaxy Note 2, and asked the sales guy why the Galaxy wouldn't open Flash sites. Turns out Adobe has dropped Flash for Android 4.1. Looks like Flash is dead for ALL future phones.

Michael

True that Android 4.1 does not support flash anymore. However, you can still side load it pretty easily or use any of the many quality web browsers that do support it.

 

[contributorM]

I've never looked back. I've been an iPhone user since its first incarnation. I decided to check out the Lumia before buying the iPhone 5. I'm really happy I did. The great thing for me, is I've never had a "honeymoon" with this device. It felt like I've been a user of it since the first iPhone.

Most of all. I do t have to jailbreak line I did my iPhone just to have great functionality. I grew tired of always jail breaking the iPhone.

 

[tomatoes11]

Honest answer. If you can live without the fancy transition animations of IOS and WP8, go with Android. Get a Nexus 4. It's blazing fast, although windows just pop up without a fancy animation sometimes. It has the best hardware by far in the Qualcomm S4 pro, wireless charging, 2gb of ram, screen that looks just as good as anything out there. All that for $299 unlocked. You just can't beat that.

Sure, some WP8 and IOS fans like socialcarpet might give you some terrible advice and harp on the fact that it has no 4g LTE anywhere except in Canada, but what they think doesn't follow logic. They suggest you pay twice as much for an iphone 5 or put up with poor applications or brick phones with a WP8 device.

 

[TechAbstract]

Honest answer. If you can live without the fancy transition animations of IOS and WP8, go with Android. Get a Nexus 4. It's blazing fast, although windows just pop up without a fancy animation sometimes. It has the best hardware by far in the Qualcomm S4 pro, wireless charging, 2gb of ram, screen that looks just as good as anything out there. All that for $299 unlocked. You just can't beat that.

Sure, some WP8 and IOS fans like socialcarpet might give you some terrible advice and harp on the fact that it has no 4g LTE anywhere except in Canada, but what they think doesn't follow logic. They suggest you pay twice as much for an iphone 5 or put up with poor applications ( brick phones with a WP8 device.

Have you seen the video recording from Nexus 4? It's terrible. 2GB doesn't mean it's gonna be better. Some OS just eat a lot of memory. WP8 is buttery smooth with 1GB. All the flagship phones have LTE now.

 

[diaper84]

I really like the phone, but os not so much.
there are so many little things that need to be polished. for example no dedicated volume control (when you lower volume on music you're lowering your ring volume too), no slider for music control, etc.
I'll probably head back to android, but currently no android phone is that interesting.....

 

[AZBrowncoat]

Honest answer. If you can live without the fancy transition animations of IOS and WP8, go with Android. Get a Nexus 4. It's blazing fast, although windows just pop up without a fancy animation sometimes. It has the best hardware by far in the Qualcomm S4 pro, wireless charging, 2gb of ram, screen that looks just as good as anything out there. All that for $299 unlocked. You just can't beat that.

Sure, some WP8 and IOS fans like socialcarpet might give you some terrible advice and harp on the fact that it has no 4g LTE anywhere except in Canada, but what they think doesn't follow logic. They suggest you pay twice as much for an iphone 5 or put up with poor applications or brick phones with a WP8 device.

I've used iOS, wpOS, webOS & Android...and of them all I like Android the least. Like any mobile OS - Android isn't for everyone so "Get a Nexus 4" is a gross oversimplification of the issue.

 

[SteveISU]

As much as I love the UI of WP8 it feels incomplete and a little scattered. I don't trust the battery one iota and right now the vibrate makes the phone sound like a $5 sex toy. I keep reaching for my Note 2. My 14 days is up tomorrow and I may need a 3rd phone. I'm gonna try to convince ATT to extend my trial, if not I may just return it all together.

 

[ClixT]

My first smartphone is the Xperia X10i (which I loved for the past year.)
I still like Android (and still mess with it sometimes); however, I love the new WP8!
IMHO, there's a lot of basic things missing like what the rest already mentioned.
For the past 2 weeks of using my L920, lot's of people already complemented my phone hehehe, so get used it.

Pros:
Build quality, no lag, simplistic os, and many more I can't think of right now.

Cons:
some basic functionalities are missing, daytime photo could be better, not a lot of "real" WP8 apps as I write this.

Conclusion: Buy one, but test it out first at a local ATT shop or MS store. In the end, it's up to you.

 

[krystea]

I went from an iPhone 3GS for two years, to a Samsung Evergreen (to get away from that "constantly being connected" feeling) that I had for a little longer than a year, now to the 920. To keep it short and sweet, I adapted quickly and love it so much more than any phone I've ever had. Once in a while will boot up the iPhone and not understand how I used it for as long as I did.

 

[pjs37]

I used iOS since the original iPhone came out until the Lumia 900 came out. I have to say the switch was made easier by the fact I still use an iPad as my tablet device. This way i don't feel completely cut out of the app store. That being said I have since the Lumia 900 been using a Windows Phone as my primary phone.; I tried the web demo of Windows Phone and that's what sold me.

Things I do miss is things like some key apps though I have found some alternatives they usually are not up to par with the iOS version, and there are some still weird glitches which bother me at times and those are things I never worried about on iOS.

But it is doable and not bad. The live tiles are a huge improvement over the terribly boring IOS interface and I need to click a lot less things to get the info I need. The whole app panaromic thing is really nice at least when apps bother to use them once you get used to swiping left and right to get to different screens its impossible to use an iPhone you try and swipe and it does like nothing. Not having to hit the home button all the time is nice and I love having a back button.

 

[danjah]

I switched from iPhone to L920 last week, and I'm loving it!

The phone itself is close to perfect:
- The camera almost feels like magic and makes me wanna take pictures all the time.
- The screen is superb.
- The shape and design is great.

The OS on the other hand is a mixed experience:
- Generally lacking a bunch of settings.
- ..but flows like water most of the time.
- Not as many apps, and the quality of them sometimes not as good as on ios. (ie Facebook).
- ..but those well made apps makes you regain hope and see all the potential.

Bottom line; I think you should go for it!

 

[cruzcat]

I have had my fair share of Android and iOS devices in the past. But I can honestly say without reservation that the lumia 920 is the best device I have ever owned. Just a gorgeous device to hold.
After lengthy consideration I was willing to embrace the dark side (AT&T) for the privilege of owning the Nokia.
After using the metro UI for the past few weeks the Android interface feels antiquated to me. I am running CM10 (Jelly Bean) on the kindle fire and the Galaxy Tab and even JB doesnt feel as fluid as the metro UI. Although, I must admit that the Kindle/Galaxy Tab hardware is quite a bit slower compared to the Lumia 920 and JB may be much smoother on Nexus 4 etc.
Things that are irritations (minor) to me on the Lumia compared to latest Android devices
1.) A unified notification system. I really like the notification center from Jelly Bean. I can live with the live tile notifications and hope the Microsoft step up in the next few months.
2.) Google Maps and Navigation is much better in terms of interface and integration compared to Nokia Maps/Drive. Need Nokia Drive to at least provide an alternate route option and one integrated app.
3.) Lack of support for some core Google services such as Maps and Google voice. I cant even launch the mobile version of Google maps from IE.
I use Metrotalk but it doesnt have the same usability as Google Voice.
4.)I would really like better integration with Windows 8. I record tv show using Media Center but dont understand why I have to convert them to play them on my WP8 device. With my Android devices, I could actually mount my Windows drive using cifs and stream the tv shows directly to my phone/tab and play .wtv file with MX player. This is more of a MS issue and hope they provide better integration.

5.) Daytime pics are soft (as everyone has noticed) but the low light pics are fantastic and I can live with this tradeoff for now knowing that a software update will fix this.

6.) IE on the lumia feels incredibly quick to render pages but the interface is very minimal and could use an update. I like dolphin on Android and wish IE was updated or MS allowed 3rd party browsers. Left Swipe from main screen to access favorites and right swipe for setting and a tabbed browser option (similar to dolphin) would be great.
7.) The app store is growing and I dont mind the lack of apps that much but my wife uses a bunch of apps like Path, Okta and cannot migrate to a Lumia 920 despite the fact that she really likes the device.

I havent had any issues with my battery life since I uninstalled Skype and get a least a day and half with my normal usage patterns. Overall, I am quite happy with the Lumia 920 and hope that most of the small issues are fixed in the first quarter of 2013.

In some ways some of these issues may be deal breakers for others but I have a soft corner for Nokia as my first mobile device was a Nokia 5190 (which I recently threw away and was still working) and I worked at Nokia Research for 6+ months.

Just to give a sense of where I am coming from

 

[Slai]

I have not touched my iPhone except for GPS during traveling(no 920 international plan).

Pro-tip: just download your maps and use them offline. That is, if they actually are up to date enough to travel with.

Myself, Ive used meego, maemo5, nokia belle, android 2.3 and up and wp7.5. My last phone was the SGS3.

SGS3 is a GREAT phone. Like seriously, its basically a perfect phone for me. Battery is amazing, screen is great, phone feels good in use, its fast, and so on and so forth.

However, my 920 FEELS amazing. In addition it does have as good a screen as the SGS3, about the same battery or so it seems (mine had battery issues and is in for a fix atm), the OS itself just feels more coherent, and the way social sites are working with contacts, pictures, chat, Me-tile etc is great. I love that.

Iunno, Id put the 920 and the SGS3 on almost equal footing for my own use. With the 920 a step ahead for doing 80% of what I do easier, prettier and faster than the SGS3.

 

[socialcarpet]

Honest answer. If you can live without the fancy transition animations of IOS and WP8, go with Android. Get a Nexus 4. It's blazing fast, although windows just pop up without a fancy animation sometimes. It has the best hardware by far in the Qualcomm S4 pro, wireless charging, 2gb of ram, screen that looks just as good as anything out there. All that for $299 unlocked. You just can't beat that.

Sure, some WP8 and IOS fans like socialcarpet might give you some terrible advice and harp on the fact that it has no 4g LTE anywhere except in Canada, but what they think doesn't follow logic. They suggest you pay twice as much for an iphone 5 or put up with poor applications or brick phones with a WP8 device.

I don't just harp on the lack of LTE, which is significant, but also the fact that LG builds garbage. If you think corners aren't being cut to make the phone that price, you're sadly mistaken.

That's without even getting into what I hate about Android.

Specs aside, I'd still rather have a Galaxy Nexus or an S3 or even a silly Note 2 than this POS. At least we know Samsung can build decent, reliable phones (even if they are hewn from cheap and chintzy plastics)

I had an LG Revolution and it was a worthless piece of crap, so many problems with that thing and LG was useless as far as support, the polar opposite of Nokia. It pretty much convinced me never to buy an LG product again.

 

[socialcarpet]

As much as I love the UI of WP8 it feels incomplete and a little scattered. I don't trust the battery one iota and right now the vibrate makes the phone sound like a $5 sex toy. I keep reaching for my Note 2. My 14 days is up tomorrow and I may need a 3rd phone. I'm gonna try to convince ATT to extend my trial, if not I may just return it all together.

Make sure you use both hands when reaching for the Note. LOL

 

[Rich Edmonds]

Honest answer. If you can live without the fancy transition animations of IOS and WP8, go with Android. Get a Nexus 4. It's blazing fast, although windows just pop up without a fancy animation sometimes. It has the best hardware by far in the Qualcomm S4 pro, wireless charging, 2gb of ram, screen that looks just as good as anything out there. All that for $299 unlocked. You just can't beat that.

Sure, some WP8 and IOS fans like socialcarpet might give you some terrible advice and harp on the fact that it has no 4g LTE anywhere except in Canada, but what they think doesn't follow logic. They suggest you pay twice as much for an iphone 5 or put up with poor applications or brick phones with a WP8 device.

I'd have to disagree here, coming from a previous Android owner. WP8 transitions don't really affect performance of the devices themselves, so I'm not sure exactly how that should be a factor when attempting to choose a platform to go for. While the Nexus 4 may well be fast, a low-end Windows Phone isn't exactly "slow" - you still get the butter smooth experience. If you're going for all out specifications then I wouldn't say there's much in it comparing the new Nexus 4 to the Lumia 920. Sure, it has 2GB RAM and a more advanced chip, but it needs that just to get by without stuttering. It's the beauty of Windows Phone. Microsoft has done a superb job in optimising Windows Phone 8 with the new core.

I've never had a bricked Windows Phone 8 handset. How you're flat out recommending an Android device purely on specifications is slightly misleading when you're not talking about Android as an OS with future updates that aren't being delivered to many consumers, problems with malware, as well as other issues. Sure, iOS and Windows Phone have their problems, I'm not denying that, but to recommend Android over both with the Nexus 4 is slightly humorous, no?