Now that we have the AT&T pricing, who wants to eat crow?

[dharmababa]

No one has the final 'Lumia Camera' app to test the 830's cam quality with all the chips on the table, as far as I know. Will it make a huge difference? Hard to say; we'll see. Gaming wise it makes no difference to me, I don't game on my phone much at all - and when I do, it's super basic puzzlers and the like.

The only way I would consider this deal AT&T is offering: Having a buyer lined up for the "free" fitbit. If I could get a guaranteed $70-80 back from offloading that thing, I might pull the trigger.

Agree on the camera. I'm sure Paul is comparing it to the 1520 and 1020. I'm in the market for my wife who has an 8X so it should be an easy step up.

I'm considering putting the Fitbit in eBay. Searching completed listings shows that they fetch $60-80 pretty regularly. You'll lose a bit on eBay fees but still a good way to have a guaranteed market of buyers.

 

[norir82]

I'm aiming towards trying the Lumia 830 using AT&T's Next Program. I know it's relatively new but has anyone actually signed up for this program and what were your thoughts? It seems like a good deal to someone like me who likes to buy a new phone every year.

 

[dharmababa]

I'm aiming towards trying the Lumia 830 using AT&T's Next Program. I know it's relatively new but has anyone actually signed up for this program and what were your thoughts? It seems like a good deal to someone like me who likes to buy a new phone every year.

It's reasonable. Think of it this way, for Next 12 you are paying 60% of the cost of the phone to use it for a year then you give it back (trade in). Some don't like the idea of leasing a phone like that, but phones depreciate a ton in their first year anyway so you're probably losing almost that much money in the first year regardless.
Plus, if you really want to keep the phone you can always just keep making the payments (no interest) or pay it off at any time. Unfortunately the off contract price itself is inflated ($450) which hides some of the cost.

 

[hasasimo]

As I wrote in my pretty extensive review of the 830 a month or so ago, the camera on my 830 was no worse than the one on my 1520. For reference, the 1020 (by comparison) is noticeably better with photo quality than the 1520 and 830.

 

[oryan_dunn]

Who wants to do hilarious alternative suggestions for close-money?? My contribution: For a mere $50 more - Get yourself a brand spankin' new Moto X 2nd Gen for $499 unlocked (with android 5.0 virtually guaranteed).

For $50 more, the mini flagship Sony Xperia Z3 Compact. Sony has confirmed it will get Lollipop, and even has AOSP Lollipop running on their dev page.

If you sign up for a Sony card and use the student discount, you can get the Z3 compact for $376.

 

[hasasimo]

If you're a Windows Phone fan, chances are you're already tech savvy enough to know what the alternatives are, and their prices. We choose Windows Phone because we prefer a modern OS and attractive hardware over ugly phones with disjointed user interfaces.

 

[fdalbor]

Not sure it is worth that much or not. Trouble is I already have a 820 and a Moto G lte so I would be upgrading the 820. After seeing the compairson of the 920 (820 has same insides) and the 830 I know the 830 is not worth 449$ more than my 820 which has been flawless since I got it. Might look at the 735 when it comes out; but the price is going to have to be much lower before I put my 820 in the drawer as my backup. Would love a highend phone; but nothing is out there, it would have to have a removeable battery, SD card slot etc. I'll just wait.

 

[Tellus82]

For $50 more, the mini flagship Sony Xperia Z3 Compact. Sony has confirmed it will get Lollipop, and even has AOSP Lollipop running on their dev page.

If you sign up for a Sony card and use the student discount, you can get the Z3 compact for $376.

If you like taking photos you should stay very far away from the Z3 line and here is the reason why
There are more issues with the Z3/Z3 compact such as pink whites in photos, cracking glass backs, not so waterproof as advertised on many units and so on. It's a model plagued by issues so even with it's high spec's i would not recommend it to anyone until Sony gets it together.

 

[Ryan Burke]

Was having a convo with one of my friends (fellow windows fan) and this happened:

He says, "The 830 is launching for too much, it's like convenience store pricing!"
Then we both realize the launch date is 7/11, lol.

 

[oryan_dunn]

If you like taking photos you should stay very far away from the Z3 line and here is the reason why
There are more issues with the Z3/Z3 compact such as pink whites in photos, cracking glass backs, not so waterproof as advertised on many units and so on. It's a model plagued by issues so even with it's high spec's i would not recommend it to anyone until Sony gets it together.

I know. I was hoping to hear reports of anyone who would load Sony's Lollipop beta to see if Sony will allow raw capture from the sensor. If so, there is great hope 3rd party apps could really unlock the potential in the Z3 sensor.

I was hoping the 830 would have been priced a bit lower, as I'd get it no question right now, and later pick up a Z3c after Lollipop release. I'd then have two awesome phones for about the price of most high end phones.