5 reasons why you should get a Nokia Lumia 820 now & a reason why you should not

[cesar ruiz1]

My mom has the 820 and she gets at least 8hour battery life with normal use (WiFi, glance, double tap, internet always on) she also plays a few games thats where battery life sucks but my 920 also has 8 hour battery life so I don't know why everyone says battery life sucks on L820 cause L920 sucks exactly the same.

 

[Tonchi91]

As I said, I come from Android, switched between a lot of devices and done it all, from flashing, rooting, to writing code and developing.
Actually my last device was Note 2 that has pretty much the same camera on paper and I was getting better shots with it.
I still haven't tested this camera to its fullest and much in real life conditions, if I can put it like that. Its not bad, but I think I was expecting better from this lens.
And also I think you are wrong about the 920 having the less superior camera from those two. Although I haven't had a chance to compare them, every review says that the 920 has the better camera.
I only used the Lumia 1020, but that is a whole different league.
On the storage side of things,one of the reasons I have bought this phone is for it's expandable storage. Put an 16gig mSD and I still haven't experienced any problems with running out of memory.
All in all its a great phone and I'm glad I joined the WP dudes. I see a bright future for this platform.


Sent from my Nokia Lumia 820 using Tapatalk

Yes, Lumia 1020 is a different league.I have done few shots with it and it's camera is superior to any smartphone camera.
And about comparing Lumia 820 with 920...I am thinking about doing a video on comparing those two cameras, because if you play right with camera settings, Lumia 820 will have better pictures. It's true, the main bad thing on L820 camera is OIS missing. OIS makes dynamic pictures with much less bluring, but in a globaly L820 gives better images.

 

[Gintonic820]

Yes, Lumia 1020 is a different league.I have done few shots with it and it's camera is superior to any smartphone camera.
And about comparing Lumia 820 with 920...I am thinking about doing a video on comparing those two cameras, because if you play right with camera settings, Lumia 820 will have better pictures. It's true, the main bad thing on L820 camera is OIS missing. OIS makes dynamic pictures with much less bluring, but in a globaly L820 gives better images.

Tonči, aren't you mistaken?

 

[Nogitsune Micah]

I had it's fraternal twin, the Lumia 810. I am not sure I could agree that that the Lumia 810/820/822 camera is on par with 920.

I remember getting the 920 because my camera was not great at all.

Also the loading of the apps, tbh I don't even see much difference from a 520, 820, or 920. Its not like windows phone 8 is a slow os. Even my 1520 doesn't open apps that much faster in my opinion.

But the 820 is a good phone that I recommend my friend buy if they are looking for a good midrange but I don't hype it up as something it isn't.

 

[Tonchi91]

Tonči, aren't you mistaken?

No, I am not. Today I will upload pictures and you will see for yourself.

 

[GerOrBa]

I Like:

-Interchangeable cases and simple designed (not unibody but still very classy)
-AMOLED screen with true RGB pixels (not pentile crap)
-Microprocessor and RAM specs (the same as L920, L925 and L928, same CPU as L1020)... this means it's still future proof even today!
-Expandable Memory (up to 64 gB)
-Price (at least in my market they are practically giving these away)
-LTE speeds and Qi Charging (with supporting case.)

I Don't Mind:
-8 Gigs of Internal Memory (because of expandable memory. It can be low for apps, though)
-Camera Quality. Not quite as good as the L920, L925, L1520 and L1020 but better that any other Lumia.
-Screen resolution: 480 x 800 is on the low side today, but windows phone makes excellent use of that resolution and must times you cannot see the lower resolution.

I don't Like:
-Battery life is just bad! ... can be managed.. but IT HAS to be managed

That's it... I really only see fault on the battery size... everything else it's just excellent... great phone just inches away from that "flagshippy" feel that the L920 and above have!

 

[link68759]

I agree with everything the OP said, but I would add one more reason why you should not get it: It's fragile. It will break easier than any other phone I've owned.

it's not that fragile.

Any phone, even gorilla glass, will break if dropped face down. Landing flat is a death sentence. I've dropped my 820 plenty of times from 5ft or higher onto cement and hardwood. If the impact is to a corner, the screen won't break.

I've broken an 820, bought another and dropped that one my fair share of times too. The thing about the glass in our phones is it can resist shock but not warping. Dropping it face first applies pressure to two or more parts of the glass at the same time, and it cracks. Even gorilla glass won't survive a drop like that.

I suspect the 820 is just weighted so that it tends to fall on its face though

 

[link68759]

Camera the weak side? Believe it or not, camera is better than on Lumia 920. If you don't believe it go to Phone Arena and compare Lumia 820 with Lumia 920. There are only two better thing on camera on Lumia 920 and that's OIS and ISO 3200. As you can see from this link Nokia Lumia 820 vs Nokia Lumia 920 - Phone specs comparison
Lumia 820 have better: Aperture size, Focal length, Camera senzor size. And those 3 thing makes a difference in the picture quality. My friend got Lumia 920 today and I have tested the picture quality on both of Lumia 820 (mine) and Lumia 920 (from my friend) and 820 gives more realistic colors, less bluring (even when you zoom), better details.

I have also bought microSD of 32 GB and I am storing there music, videos, pdf's,...And my internal memory is only for apps and games. I have installed 54 apps and 5 games and I still got 3,53 GB of internal memory.

eh, the 920 has good low light shots and just takes better pictures. The 820's camera is crummy in practice.

 

[Tonchi91]

It's all because 920 have OIS. With Lumia 820 you have to have perfectly calm hands, that's why I have a tripod for my L820. Ofc, tripod for itself would be it if I didn't order lens for my phone on ebay few days ago (only for $8,50 with free shipping).

 

[cckgz4]

Since I can't afford a 500 dollar phone, and I'm craving for a ffc, I'm eyeing this. Especially since I've found a way to help with battery life

 

[ptrkhh]

Also the loading of the apps, tbh I don't even see much difference from a 520, 820, or 920. Its not like windows phone 8 is a slow os. Even my 1520 doesn't open apps that much faster in my opinion.

I tried on the launch day of the 820 and 920 (no GDR then, still Nokia Drive+ Beta instead of HERE Drive+), the 820 generally opens Nokia apps 1/2 second faster than the 920

it's not that fragile.

Any phone, even gorilla glass, will break if dropped face down. Landing flat is a death sentence. I've dropped my 820 plenty of times from 5ft or higher onto cement and hardwood. If the impact is to a corner, the screen won't break.

I've broken an 820, bought another and dropped that one my fair share of times too. The thing about the glass in our phones is it can resist shock but not warping. Dropping it face first applies pressure to two or more parts of the glass at the same time, and it cracks. Even gorilla glass won't survive a drop like that.

I suspect the 820 is just weighted so that it tends to fall on its face though

My 800's glass survived when it fell flat, but the panel behind didn't. There was a brown hue to it. However, the Nokia serviced it for free of charge. I think Nokia phones are guaranteed to survive a fall
My 820 fell more than 5 times, and all of the impacts are on the edges. The worst edge is the bottom left, where the shell is around 1mm off the body, but its still barely visible when viewed at a normal distance. I don't use any case at all.

 

[jodahav]

The 820 was the phone I originally wanted (well, not completely true because I had my eye on the blue-purple 8X when it was announced) as I thought it was going to be the one to hit T-Mobile US. Alas, I ended up getting an 810 last November and then a Rogers 920 that I've been using since May. I've always read that the battery in the 820 is really bad, but I wonder if it's possible to just swap out its original battery and install one that's better?

I agree. I had an 810 and thought the battery was fine. Always left WiFi and data on. Turned off bluetooth and NFC. Always made it through the day. The only issue I ran into was the 8GB of storage. I bumped up against that fairly regularly. To get GDR2 I had to delete half of my apps. It got better with DataSense though..
L810/820 are fantastic phones which I would recommend to anyone. Especially at this price.

 

[Julek]

I also dropped my L820 numerous times and I'm more than satisfied with its durability. There are minor scratches here and there (mainly on the edges), but the overall condition is great. I use no case and screen protector. I'm leaning towards saying it is one of the most durable phones I have ever had.

Battery life sucks, that's true.

Whem it comes to the camera performance I have mixed feelings. Sometimes it is astonishing and I cannot believe it was produced by a mobile phone, but sometimes It's beneath all criticism (and bear in mind, I'm not talking about night shots).

All in all, I really enjoy my L820 and It is worth its price.

 

[Shawn Magm]

I've had my 820 for about a month, and I'm really loving it. I'm using it as a mini-tablet/iPod Touch killer. My primary phone is a Nexus 5, but other than making calls, I always reach for the 820 for checking email, quick web surfing, music. Although I don't have a huge music collection, the total storage for music, apps, etc. can be increased to 72 GB with a 64 GB card (edit: I learned it supports 128 GB). I upgraded from the 520 for many of the reasons that the TS listed. I have WP8.1 and haven't had any major issues. The screen is really beautiful, and I like it better than my Nexus. I learned that I just prefer AMOLED screens.
The phone is really underrated. Used ones in good condition can be had for quite good prices.

On the downside, it's a bit heavy. It feels noticeably heavier than a 1020.

 

[Sandeep Parandekar]

I also dropped my L820 numerous times and I'm more than satisfied with its durability. There are minor scratches here and there (mainly on the edges), but the overall condition is great. I use no case and screen protector. I'm leaning towards saying it is one of the most durable phones I have ever had.

Battery life sucks, that's true.

Whem it comes to the camera performance I have mixed feelings. Sometimes it is astonishing and I cannot believe it was produced by a mobile phone, but sometimes It's beneath all criticism (and bear in mind, I'm not talking about night shots).

All in all, I really enjoy my L820 and It is worth its price.

I have also dropped my NL820 number of times and still it is working cool...

as far as Battery life is concern, I am still getting decent backup.. so 200% satisfied with my NL820..

Cheers,
Sandeep

 

[kmok]

I've had my 820 for about a month, and I'm really loving it. I'm using it as a mini-tablet/iPod Touch killer. My primary phone is a Nexus 5, but other than making calls, I always reach for the 820 for checking email, quick web surfing, music. Although I don't have a huge music collection, the total storage for music, apps, etc. can be increased to 72 GB with a 64 GB card. I upgraded from the 520 for many of the reasons that the TS listed. I have WP8.1 and haven't had any major issues. The screen is really beautiful, and I like it better than my Nexus. I learned that I just prefer AMOLED screens.
The phone is really underrated. Used ones in good condition can be had for quite good prices.

On the downside, it's a bit heavy. It feels noticeably heavier than a 1020.

128GB Micro SD card works for a total of 136 GB of storage :wink:

 

[Shawn Magm]

128GB Micro SD card works for a total of 136 GB of storage :wink:

I didn't realize that the 820 will support a 128 GB SD card now. I don't even use up that much storage on my desktop.

 

[kmok]

I didn't realize that the 820 will support a 128 GB SD card now. I don't even use up that much storage on my desktop.

I'm currently using a 128GB micro SD card and it is working very well for me. I have a large music collection I like to bring around with me and I have room for expansion.

 

[fdalbor]

Picked up one of the Nokia 925"s when AT&T offered them for 79.99 for one day. (great deal, got phone in 2 days). I thought about replacing my 820 with it. But after setting the phone up and trying it side by side (using the sim from my wife's 520) against my 820 I decided to stay with the 820. Don't get me wrong the 925 is beautiful has the same Amoled screen (higher resolution) as the 820; but only 16GB of memory (no sd slot), and no removeable battery. The other thing that surprised me was the 820 has four antenna's while the 925 only has two. I got much better wifi reception on my 820. Plus the antenna's on the 925 are only at the bottom of the phone (where most people hold it) while the 820 has antenna's at the top, bottom and even one on the side. I gave the 925 to my wife (she loves it) and am staying with my 820.

 

[BIG ACH]

I actually just bought the 820 today on eBay.... It was $139 and I also went ahead and bought the mugen 3600mah extended battery.

I finally got so sick of Android. And just wanted a simple small sized smart phone with long battery life and the 820 with the Mugen fits the bill..


Very excited to be back in the Windows mobile world... My last windows phone was the Samsung Jack before I jumped on Android lol

Probably picking up a windows tablet this weekend.

I'm Changing sides!!

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