L920 still a good buy?

[JamesPTao]

Why not the 925? It looks and is better than the 920.

Half the memory, no qi, no thanks

 

[JamesPTao]

The delay in L930 is making me consider buying L920 while waiting for the next flagship (L1030, I guess). The price is almost half of its original price already. Will it perform like a mid-range phone or the new Lx30 series, e.g. L630, be a better buy?

The 930 is the natural successor for the 920. With that being said my 920 runs wp8.1 flawlessly. There is no lag or signs of its age. It is very durable, great phone, and I love the qi. Well worth the money. If I were you I would buy one so you don't feel pressured to jump the second the 930 becomes available in your area. Buying the 920 would allow you to wait and see what other phones such as maclaren are like. And will give you the buffer to wait a couple months for the 930 to drop In price once its mainstream. Just my opinion. Couldn't be happier with my 920. Plus once the maclaren/goldfinger comes out I guarantee you will see a big price drop in the cost of the 930.

 

[Keith Wallace]

It's running on early-2012 hardware (same stuff as the Galaxy S III). I'd have to say that for me to recommend it, you'd have to be in the $200 price range. Any more, and it's starting to lose value quickly, because it's going to get smoked by the newer stuff that comes out. When talking about a long-term device like that, I wouldn't want to risk dissatisfaction with it, because smartphones are basically a permanent extension of us nowadays. Taking the thing out and going "should have waited for the new one" for a year or two would be bothersome to me.

 

[cndspec]

For what it's worth, we have had 2 920's in our house since they first came out. Haven't ever had any problem with them that wasn't solved by simply turning them off and then back on again. They have survived several drops on to tile floors and ground and still look like new. Unlike some people I don't have a problem with the weight - I personally think it makes it feel like a premium device rather than a cheap piece of plastic. We have always consistently gotten 1 - 1 1/2 days of usage out of them. If usage is light have even gotten 2 days. As indicated previously 8.1 runs beautifully on them. With the prices being what they are these days I don't think you could go wrong getting one and waiting until something newer comes out that really floats your boat.

 

[jonahtrav]

I have a 920 and the only real bummer is the battery life as many have said... if you just want some thing to use while you wait for the next top end windows phone why don't you get a used one on swappa or ebay for like $150.

 

[trev81uk]

I really hope so, I have just upgraded from 520 to 920 but not had the change to use it yet – I’ve been waiting for screen protectors to arrive. Certainly from the encouragement I received in this thread http://forums.windowscentral.com/nokia-lumia-920/288216-upgrade-520-a.html, it definitely seems that the 920 still has life in it yet.

 

[JamesPTao]

It has a soft case made by Nokia too. I bought it and you can't even tell its on their and the fit is great. Got mine on eBay for $8. I'll try and look up the model # as that's the only way I was able to find it a year ago.

 

[DJCBS]

It has a soft case made by Nokia too. I bought it and you can't even tell its on their and the fit is great. Got mine on eBay for $8. I'll try and look up the model # as that's the only way I was able to find it a year ago.

Nokia CC-1043

It's available in all the colours the phone was sold in and it's a nice way to change the colour of the phone without having to change the phone's housing itself.

 

[Loco5150]

Not available in white.

 

[metalchick719]

The delay in L930 is making me consider buying L920 while waiting for the next flagship (L1030, I guess). The price is almost half of its original price already. Will it perform like a mid-range phone or the new Lx30 series, e.g. L630, be a better buy?

I think the 920 is still a great buy and it should last you at least a couple of years. I have a 920 that I absolutely loved and used for 10 straight months until I got my 925 in late February. No issues with it, either. It never heated up, gave me great battery life (over 50 hours at times; I once went two full days between chargings). Of course, it's also got a great camera. You can get a 920 for a lot cheaper than many other Windows Phones these days. Go for it!

 

[Shiroi]

Thanks for all the replies. I'm still really digging the design of L920 among all other Lumias. I hope Microsoft sticks with that.

 

[DJCBS]

Thanks for all the replies. I'm still really digging the design of L920 among all other Lumias. I hope Microsoft sticks with that.

Yeah...they won't, I'm afraid. Marko Ahtisaari, the designer of the L920, announced his departure from Nokia the day after the deal to sell the D&S division (and therefore, himself) to Microsoft was made public. He left in November 2013. The last Nokia Lumias to ever be released (L630 and L930) are already from a new designer and should give you a hint at where the design is going. Not to mention Microsoft may want to align the design of their first flagship phone with the design of the Surface.

 

[JamesPTao]

Yeah...they won't, I'm afraid. Marko Ahtisaari, the designer of the L920, announced his departure from Nokia the day after the deal to sell the D&S division (and therefore, himself) to Microsoft was made public. He left in November 2013. The last Nokia Lumias to ever be released (L630 and L930) are already from a new designer and should give you a hint at where the design is going. Not to mention Microsoft may want to align the design of their first flagship phone with the design of the Surface.

Yeah the design of the l920 was taken from the design of a Symbian phone. Pretty much it was the Symbian phone with windows os (oversimplified but pretty close). The windows deal and commitment lost many Nokia employees that were hardcore Symbian fans.

 

[DJCBS]

Yeah the design of the l920 was taken from the design of a Symbian phone. Pretty much it was the Symbian phone with windows os (oversimplified but pretty close). The windows deal and commitment lost many Nokia employees that were hardcore Symbian fans.

That is true, however, the L920 was inspired by the L800 which that one yes, was just the N9 with a different OS. The N9 didn't run Symbian though, it run MeeGo, the OS Nokia was developing with Intel.
Today MeeGo evolved into Jolla with Nokia's help.

 

[DJCBS]

I know its a wee bit bigger, but the 1520 is the gift that keeps on giving thanks to its top of the line WP innards and you do not have to give up anything. It can be had for about 450 new. I have a brand new red one (Xtra) I am considering what to do with.

The ridiculous size of the L1520 plays against it, though. I haven't met a single person in the real world who would want a device that big to use daily. And I'm talking regular people, not tech enthusiasts like us.

If I had to chose between a 920 or a 1520, the size of the 1520 would be enough for me to pick the 920 instead.

 

[Scienceguy Labs]

I love my 1520, but I just picked up a white 920 to use as a wifi device around the house....music, social media, etc. I bought a cyan 920 back when they were originally released, and I've always missed it after I sold it to buy my 1520. The 1520, for me, is the perfect device. It satisfies all of my needs. I miss the 920 purely from a nostalgic perspective because it was/is such a great phone. If for whatever reason I had to get rid of my 1520, I'd have no problem going back to the 920...other than getting acquainted with the smaller screen size again.

 

[DJCBS]

That is your opinion and yours alone.

Actually it's the opinion of a lot of people. Whether you like it and agree with it or not

 

[Nogitsune Micah]

Actually it's the opinion of a lot of people. Whether you like it and agree with it or not

A lot of people don't think that. Just look at Samsung phones and their jot series.....Millions of those devices are being sold and i am willing to bet that most of those users are not tech enthusiasts.
Phablets are the new thing nowadays. Just because you don't see them in use doesn't mean that nobody except enthusiasts are rocking them.

I have never seen a Samsung windows phone in the wild but i would never say "nobody wants them really except tech enthusiasts".

The running joke with my mother and I is when she is trying to do something often complains her 1020 is too small and I always say you probably should have gotten the 1520 like me. She was worried about it being big but now she sees it has its benefits and she is nowhere a tech enthusiast.

 

[scgf]

I have a 920 and the only real bummer is the battery life as many have said... if you just want some thing to use while you wait for the next top end windows phone why don't you get a used one on swappa or ebay for like $150.

TBH I don't have a problem with the battery life - it seems comparable to the iPhone 5 and the Nexus 5, having owned both. It is rare for a phone to make it through a day with heavy usage. If I know I'm away from a charger for a whole day I carry round the Nokia portable charger - you charge it at home and it will fully charge your phone while out and about.

I bought my 920 from eBay a month or so ago after selling my 1020, then trying the Nexus 5 for a while. I decided I wanted a 930 and got the 920 as a stop gap with the intention of keeping it as a spare in case my new 930 broke for any reason. I like the 920 heft and form factor and with 8.1 it feels thoroughly up to date and not like a 2012 phone. If I couldn't get hold of a 930 I'd be more than happy to carry on using it. Windows Phone works well on hardware Android would choke on so don't compare specs on paper.

 

[DJCBS]

A lot of people don't think that. Just look at Samsung phones and their jot series.....Millions of those devices are being sold and i am willing to bet that most of those users are not tech enthusiasts.
Phablets are the new thing nowadays. Just because you don't see them in use doesn't mean that nobody except enthusiasts are rocking them.

I have never seen a Samsung windows phone in the wild but i would never say "nobody wants them really except tech enthusiasts".

The running joke with my mother and I is when she is trying to do something often complains her 1020 is too small and I always say you probably should have gotten the 1520 like me. She was worried about it being big but now she sees it has its benefits and she is nowhere a tech enthusiast.

Sales of phablets are still dwarfed by sales of normal-sized phones. No matter how you spin it, phablets are a niche. Even within Samsung, their Note series is nothing compared to the sales of their other Galaxy offers.
I don't agree phablets are the new thing nowadays. I think some people try to make phablets the new thing, yet they forget, the normal consumer is looking for a phone, not a dinner tray or a mini-tablet.
The sales of the 1520, for example, are really far from stellar. Even the 1020, which is also a niche device, sells better than it. And it's not a question of price. It's all about size.

I'm pretty sure your mother would end up annoyed with the 1520 when she realized the size it would took from her purse or how un-practical it is to carry around a 6" phone without cargo pants.

(post scriptum - I'm not arguing the 1520 is a great phone. It is. I'm arguing that it's unfortunately great even in aspect where it shouldn't be. Like size. Just to clear that out.)