Cricket - Moto G (Original) or Lumia 630?

[malman89]

I registered just to post this here, and who knows, maybe I'll be a WP owner soon!

I live in the Detroit/Ann Arbor area, which has some T-Mobile dead spots, so I've been leaning toward two Cricket offerings: the original Moto G and the new Nokia Lumia 630. Some background info:

Running an HTC One V on Virgin Mobile. Been with VM since 2010 after ditching Verizon. Been on Android exclusively (outside of the 7 day Test Drive from T-Mobile with an iPhone 5S) since Christmas 2009 (HTC Droid Eris). Fairly heavily invested into GMail and my Google Calendars, Drive/other apps not so much. Using Windows 8.1 at home and some OneDrive/outlook email, but not a lot. Actually a big Dropbox user more than anything. My current HTC met a little water last fall and it has picked up some problems related to that (random ear speaker issues) and just general lagging.

Main apps I use in Android are: Facebook, Twitter, Chase, BeyondPod, Duolingo, Feedly, GasBuddy, Sports (Yahoo), Wunderlist, and a whole lot of Google Maps.

Cricket is currently offering the Nokia Lumia 630 for $49.99 with a $50 VISA gift card, while they are offering the original Moto G for $99.99 with the same $50 VISA gift card. The newer Moto G 4G/LTE is a pretty distant third choice. Part of me wants something new with the OS, but part of me thinks the Moto G, which is pretty universally well liked, would be a tough competitor.

Anyone use both and have any observations? Seems like they use the same processor, same storage (though Lumia expandable), Lumia has a better camera (but no front facing - neither does my HTC for the record), Lumia has 512 MB RAM to 1 GB for the G, but WP is said to be much more optimized. Also, does WP play nice with GMail/Google Calendars or no? Thanks for any info.

 

[nexialbinding]

Re: Moto G (Original) or Lumia 630?

I'll give you some information about WP based on what you mentioned as important to help you decide. I've used a Moto G and am a heavy user of both Android and WP, but I've not played with a 630.

Gmail and Google Calendar have no trouble being synced with Windows Phone. You can check your email just fine with push notifications built in, and the calendar can sync with your default calendar app (or any third-party one you choose). Dropbox has a third-party client called CloudSix made by Rudy Huyn, who does fantastic work. I haven't used it myself but I'm sure it works well. The Facebook Beta is finally good after a long time of poor performance and bad UI (in my opinion). Make sure you get the beta and not the full version, it's better in every way. Not quite as smooth as the Android version but close. The official Twitter client works fine with a few gripes, but there's a bunch of third-party alternatives. Shouldn't be an issue there. Here Maps is a great alternative to Google Maps and you probably won't have any issue with it, but you should know that there is no official Google Maps client since Google refuses to provide their services for WP. The other apps you mention I haven't used, but search the Store (you can browse it online) and see if there are WP versions.

As for the hardware, you can compare it yourself. Both phones should be smooth, as WP is known for its optimization and Motorola worked wonders in getting Android to run so well on a device so cheap. Just do some research on WP and see whether it has the apps you need.

 

[AlexanderJJJ]

Re: Moto G (Original) or Lumia 630?

Bought my grandparents a Lumia 635 (its a 630 just with LTE) and I was actually surprised how great of a phone it is! Good build quality, rarely any lag, screen looks decent. I actually wouldn't mind living with it, but I have a 1520 soooo Wish it had 720p, but its not that bad and auto brightness would be a plus. I would recommend this phone! Sure it'll get Windows Phone 9 too! Motorola is better than Samsung on the low-end, but its Android which still turns me off but at least it's stock. Sure their will be more lag on it too. I say go with the 630 but the Moto G is probably alright.

 

[rcloke91]

I picked up the Cricket 520 when I signed up a month ago, and been using my Moto G while my daily driver (HTC One) gets replaced.

I'm really intrigued by Windows Phone, truly, but the Moto G is a really fantastic device. It runs really smoothly (the 520 that has a worse processor than the 630 is no slouch either). Two points from my perspective:

The Moto G has a much better screen. The resolution ,regardless of the clearblack display, isn't going to match up on the 630.

Also, the cameras on both the G and 520 suck. The G's is better, though.

If you have enough cash, buy the G and pickup the 635 from the MS store for $100, or the 520 on Amazon for $50. Between $100-150 dollars and you'd have two solid devices.

Put me in a corner and make me pick one? Moto G.

 

[snowmutt]

I think you would be fine with Gmail- email clients work fine with WP. Yes, at he risk of sounding a bit like a fan boy, I believe the OS will work better on the L630 VS. the Moto G over the life of the devices. WP is just a bit streamlined for lower powered devices.

I cannot give an opinion on the Google calendar. I know there are a few apps that will help with synching to it, but again I can't vouch for them:

True Calendar 8 | Windows Phone Apps+Games Store (United States)
gCalendar | Windows Phone Apps+Games Store (United States)
SuperG Calendar | Windows Phone Apps+Games Store (United States)

 

[mart27]

I had a Moto G from launch before moving to a Nexus 5 and tomorrow I'm picking up a Lumia 635.

I had the Google Now launcher installed on my G and at first it was fine. The downsides for me were that when I had a few apps and games on it, when available storage was down to under 1GB, it slowed down quite a bit. I kept having to clear stuff off it to get it running well. Also, no expandable storage is a real deal breaker. 8GB is just not enough with not all of that available out of the box.

Someone above mentioned that the G camera is better than the 520. The reviews say that the camera software had been optimised for the 630 and I've seen some decent shots from it. The camera on the G though is terrible. I found myself not bothering to take photos because I knew they'd be poor.

The Lumia 635 with a 32GB class 10 card is plenty. WP is coming on in leaps and bounds. I'd go for the 635.

Posted via Windows Phone Central App

 

[r4incs]

Moto G 16 GB is wayyy better than 630. Or wait for 730, hopefully it will not be the same letdown as 530 was.

 

[mart27]

Moto G 16 GB is wayyy better than 630. Or wait for 730, hopefully it will not be the same letdown as 530 was.

This guy is cracking me up. The laggy Moto G is not better than the 630.

 

[malman89]

The Moto G 16 GB is not available at that after rebate price. I would pay full retail ($199.99 iirc) and at that point, I'd probably just throw another $20 down on the Moto G 4G/LTE and pop in a SIM card instead.

For the 635, Cricket caps their data speeds to the point where LTE isn't necessary. It's basically just HSPA+, which is fine for me. And it's $100 for basically nothing else on the 'free' 630.

I'm pretty much set on paying no more than $200 for an off-contract phone, but these two were incredibly tempting giving their insanely cheap prices for decent hardware.