So I got the Nokia PureVIew 920 as a combined birthday/Xmas gift for myself in the hopes of having a cool new OS to play with and being able to enjoy taking indoor photos in low light over the Christmas holidays.
As we all know, the phone as it was released was in no way good enough at taking pictures to warrant the PureView name. "An update will be coming this month" said various Nokia reps, the first of whom I believe was in France. Then it went quiet. Suddenly a few days ago, rumors abound that the update is indeed around the corner. Initial sample photos showed a slight improvement, but once the update for the US version went up on Navifirm various sites made their own samples, including WP Central - and the pics looked fantastic, at least compared to how it was before. The update would be pushed out starting 19 December and stretching to 7 January. In short order, reports of the release of the fix going out OTA hit the Internet. Then came the news ....
The international version of the 920 won't get the update until February 2013. WAIT, WHAT?!!!
Why on earth did I pay 50% more for an international, unlocked, carrier-free phone when I'm relegated to not just waiting a few days or weeks for an update, but more than two months?! The logic evades me. Nokia is completely and utterly alienating their broader customer base. We will not only be missing taking Pureview quality pics over the Christmas holidays, but the whole start of 2013!
I for one, won't be sticking around, unfortunately, to see if I really like the phone as it was meant to be. Every day that I own and use the phone is more wear-and-tear that will lower its second-hand value and every day I have it is another day that an accident could happen with it which could ruin its value altogether. Why on earth would I then pay the equivalent of $875 for the international version (the only difference of which is the LTE bands offered) and sit around and wait more than two months to see if it really meets my expectations?
This update was the last chance for this phone to wow me and it really looked like Nokia was being proactive in pushing the update out before Christmas. But February?! The lifetime of a flagship phone, as a leader on the market, is 12 months at best. With the upcoming releases from other manufacturerers (Sony in Q1, Samsung in Q2, Apple midyear), the international 920 (RM-821) will be going without an update for nearly one fourth or one third of its lifetime as a market leading flagship in a clearly impaired state.
Put simply, I HAVE NO INTEREST IN HAVING MY MONEY TIED UP FOR MONTHS ON END IN A PHONE THAT CLEARLY DOESN'T WORK THE WAY IT SHOULD.
I would have liked to be able to stick around and was really looking forward to seeing what the 920 camera was really made of, but I have no intention to stick around and be treated like a second-class citizen, especially when I've paid nearly twice of what the unsubsidized AT&T version of the 920 is sold for. Sure, I could have bought one on NegriElectronics and had it imported to where I currently live (Sweden), but after the import duty and VAT, it would have almost been the same price, and the LTE wouldn't have worked with my operator. Still, if I had any idea how little Nokia clearly thinks of its (former) customer base around the world, I wouldn't have touched the 920 with a barge pole, neither the RM-820 nor the RM-821.
I'm a long time Nokia fan since before smartphones, even my first smartphone was a Nokia (N95) and I sincerely hope that the media got things backwards and an update for the RM-821 will be coming forthwith, but if not, I doubt I will ever buy a Nokia phone again - EVER!
As we all know, the phone as it was released was in no way good enough at taking pictures to warrant the PureView name. "An update will be coming this month" said various Nokia reps, the first of whom I believe was in France. Then it went quiet. Suddenly a few days ago, rumors abound that the update is indeed around the corner. Initial sample photos showed a slight improvement, but once the update for the US version went up on Navifirm various sites made their own samples, including WP Central - and the pics looked fantastic, at least compared to how it was before. The update would be pushed out starting 19 December and stretching to 7 January. In short order, reports of the release of the fix going out OTA hit the Internet. Then came the news ....
The international version of the 920 won't get the update until February 2013. WAIT, WHAT?!!!
Why on earth did I pay 50% more for an international, unlocked, carrier-free phone when I'm relegated to not just waiting a few days or weeks for an update, but more than two months?! The logic evades me. Nokia is completely and utterly alienating their broader customer base. We will not only be missing taking Pureview quality pics over the Christmas holidays, but the whole start of 2013!
I for one, won't be sticking around, unfortunately, to see if I really like the phone as it was meant to be. Every day that I own and use the phone is more wear-and-tear that will lower its second-hand value and every day I have it is another day that an accident could happen with it which could ruin its value altogether. Why on earth would I then pay the equivalent of $875 for the international version (the only difference of which is the LTE bands offered) and sit around and wait more than two months to see if it really meets my expectations?
This update was the last chance for this phone to wow me and it really looked like Nokia was being proactive in pushing the update out before Christmas. But February?! The lifetime of a flagship phone, as a leader on the market, is 12 months at best. With the upcoming releases from other manufacturerers (Sony in Q1, Samsung in Q2, Apple midyear), the international 920 (RM-821) will be going without an update for nearly one fourth or one third of its lifetime as a market leading flagship in a clearly impaired state.
Put simply, I HAVE NO INTEREST IN HAVING MY MONEY TIED UP FOR MONTHS ON END IN A PHONE THAT CLEARLY DOESN'T WORK THE WAY IT SHOULD.
I would have liked to be able to stick around and was really looking forward to seeing what the 920 camera was really made of, but I have no intention to stick around and be treated like a second-class citizen, especially when I've paid nearly twice of what the unsubsidized AT&T version of the 920 is sold for. Sure, I could have bought one on NegriElectronics and had it imported to where I currently live (Sweden), but after the import duty and VAT, it would have almost been the same price, and the LTE wouldn't have worked with my operator. Still, if I had any idea how little Nokia clearly thinks of its (former) customer base around the world, I wouldn't have touched the 920 with a barge pole, neither the RM-820 nor the RM-821.
I'm a long time Nokia fan since before smartphones, even my first smartphone was a Nokia (N95) and I sincerely hope that the media got things backwards and an update for the RM-821 will be coming forthwith, but if not, I doubt I will ever buy a Nokia phone again - EVER!
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