Should I jump from 920 to 830?

[PiggyMiddle]

Ok, here's Fred

Good to see you back, hope we didn't drag you out of bed too early for a Saturday!

Thanks for the detail, my main reason for moving up from a 520! {gasp} yes, I know, is that I want a better camera. For 90% of the time I use a phone as a phone. The only apps I have installed are the ones msoft will not let me uninstall. Ooops, I lie, I have MetroTube paid for and installed.

I don't do the silly social stuff, can't see the sense or need to have my personal life freely exposed on the Internet. But, to each their own.

So, I started this quest looking at a 925 for it's camera, but didn't think the step from a 4" screen to a 4.5" was worth the cost just for the camera so I started looking at the 930 and 830. Given that the 920 camera is a lens-short (5) of the 925 (6), and the main complaint I have with the 520 camera is low light performance and no flash, so, the 925 still rates well for me given that extra lens and better low light performance. Even though the 920 has a slightly faster f2.0 lens.

But the 925 has the similar squared shape to the 930 and 830, so the hand-comfy state of the 920 is not available to me. Then there is the cost of all three, 925-4.5" screen, 830/930-5" screen and they all seem to be at around similar prices give or take 50-bucks.

I fear I am no closer to jumping in any one direction.

 

[scumdogmillionaire]

My 920 tragically died on Wednesday. Ordered an 830 to replace it which arrived yesterday afternoon.

It's a nice device, but I feel like its not as responsive to touch as the 920 is and the display certainly isn't as nice (not as deep blacks). I appreciate having an SD card now, which is nice. The size and weight are also nice.

That said, if you have a working 920, I'd hold onto it. The 830 is like a new girlfriend after a breakup. Yeah, she might do some new stuff that your old one didn't. Maybe some of her features are better looking, but the last one was a little better and you're going to be wanting to trade this one in for someone hotter soon. She's a rebound.

 

[furkanavshar]

YES OF COURSE!
There are many people switching even from L1520 and L930 to L830.
From L1520 for phantom issue.
From L930 for heat issue, battery life, unsupporting SD card and Glance Screen.

True story. You can find out a lot of story about these in this forum.

 

[fdalbor]

Don't have a 920 but I do have a 820 and if I were you I would replace the battery and keep the 920. The 830 is a decent phone; but it is not better than the 920 or 820 and is way too expensive if you already have a 920/820. After they did the comparison of the 920 vs the 830 on Windows Central I decided to stay with my 820 (very happy with it). If they lowered the price of the 830 to 300/350$ I would consider it. Instead I got one of th 635's (49$) to play with until I find something better (really better) than my 820. I then bought a Moto G lte for 189$ to even have more options. Still prefer my 820 and Microsoft is going to have to do better to get me to upgrade. Oh yea my 820 is much better than my Moto G lte; but its nice also. My wife has the 925 and it is really nice; but without a changable battery or a SD card slot it does not fit myneeds. Microsoft should take the 925 and add a SD slot, 800+ processor etc and it would be my next phone. For now I will just wait and see.

 

[Fred Wilson2]

Part of the performance difference between the 920 and the 830 is most like the difference in ram. The 920 has dual channel ram and the 830 single channel ram, same for the screen memory. The 920 was a higher end device at the time and the 830 is a mid end device.


Fred

 

[Blkacesvf41]

Ok, here's Fred
I have both the 830 and 920 and the 830 has been sitting in it's box on a shelf for close to 2 months now, since I got the 920.
The 830 is certainly thinner and lighter than the 920, however, for me, the 920 is much easier to hold and use, especially one handed, because of it's rounded design (the Lumia smile as it's called). All the "newer" Lumia's that I tried (930, 1020, 1520, 925) are all a much more square and "sharp" edge design and all feel lager, in the hand, then other makes of phones with the same screen size. Easy to check, go to a store and pick up a Samsung S5 (which has a larger screen than the 830) and see how much easier it is to hold and use, than the 830, especially one handed, which, to me, is important.
Regarding "speed" or "snappiness" I found a handful of videos on Youtube (before I got the 920) doing direct compares with the 1520 and 920, loading webpages, starting apps (same apps on both phones and same wi-fi connection on both phones), changing screens, scrolling, bring background task back to the foreground and the 920 was actually a little faster than the 1520 on more than half of the demos.
My experience with the 920, compared to the 830 (already mentioned "holdability", even though the 920 is a lot heavier), the 920's screen is a LOT more responsive to touch than my 830 (yes both have the touch setting at "normal"). For instance my 920 responds instantly to the double tap to wake, the 830 you have to be a little delibrate with it, two (not too hard) taps and not too fast. The 920 doesn't care. The 920's response touch is very noticeable better than the 830.
The 920 has much less "resuming" when switching between apps (same apps on both phones).
The 920 loads probably about half the apps that I regularly use, faster than the 830, the other half about the same.
In the almost 2 months that I've had the 920, I have not seen a single "problem" with it as opposed to the 830 which locks and resets fairly often and seems less optimized for a few of the chat apps that I use, that is those apps use battery faster on the 830 than the 920 when I'm in an extended chat session with a friend or friends.
So those are the basic reasons why my 920 is my dd now and my 830 is sitting in it's box.
I used the 830 for several months before I got the 920, so I do have even more drive time on it than the 920, currently.


Fred

Never had any freeze ups or resets with the 830. However, I'd agree with the "Hold ability" point that you make. It didn't feel comfortable holding the 830 till I got a silicone case on it. While beautiful, being so thin makes it kinda hard and slippery to hold.

 

[Ejay Lozano]

I did , for the newest OS, expandable memory, battery removal, and the L1520 was way too big and the L1020 was out dated and the L930 wasn't available in the US...

 

[Fred Wilson2]

Just for grins (since it's been a while since I used my 830), I pulled my 830 out of it's box yesterday morning (Sunday my time) and popped my sim from the 920 in it and used the 830 all day.
Guess which one I'm using now ?
830 is back in it's box and 920 is in my hand.
830 is just too sluggish, especially the screen response(s) to touch, nav.c buttons and the "resuming...."
"Fresh" (unused previously, not pulled back up from the background) load maybe about the same, however apps that are in the "background" are much faster when returning to them.
Also, and I had forgotten about this one, I was unable to get the screen looking as good on the 830 as it does on the 920, not matter how much I adjusted the saturation and backlighting.
No resets during the one day use on the 830.

Fred

 

[C LaBelle]

I went ahead and ordered the 830. It was free on Amazon with a fitbit. Still with no flagship announced I couldn't pass it up. I'll give it a go and see how I like it, if I really don't like it then I'll sell it for a couple hundred bucks, go back to the 920 and wait for a new flagship and buy it outright if I have to with the money from the 830. Thanks for all the input everyone!!

 

[Estep16]

Nice choice! I also moved from a 920 to an 830 after the same battery issue. I do not regret it one bit! I also definitely consider this phone an upgrade rather than just a "sidegrade". It is a pleasure to use, to hold, and the camera is excellent.

The touch responsiveness on the back button is indeed lower than the 920, as Fred pointed out, but you will get used to it. Also having the charging port on top is a bit weird and annoying sometimes.

Otherwise, I think you will be very pleased with your new device. Enjoy!

 

[C LaBelle]

Just got it in my hands a few min ago, it feels pretty good and still getting it set up. The charge port on top is pretty strange but wont matter because all my chargers are wireless. Its charging now. I'll be trying some side by side tests once its fully charged. Going to take some doing getting all my photos, music, and data moved over, shouldn't be too bad thanks to OneDrive and my MS account backup.

 

[BSobotta]

I did , for the newest OS, expandable memory, battery removal, and the L1520 was way too big and the L1020 was out dated and the L930 wasn't available in the US...

I could have returned the 830 and bought a 930, but I am just sticking to the 830 til the next flag ship. Really like this phone.

 

[BSobotta]

Just got it in my hands a few min ago, it feels pretty good and still getting it set up. The charge port on top is pretty strange but wont matter because all my chargers are wireless. Its charging now. I'll be trying some side by side tests once its fully charged. Going to take some doing getting all my photos, music, and data moved over, shouldn't be too bad thanks to OneDrive and my MS account backup.

If your search button acts up, just do a soft reset. Fixed my issue I had.

Also, which case did you get? The black incipio from the att store is great for 20 bucks.

 

[Ejay Lozano]

If your search button acts up, just do a soft reset. Fixed my issue I had.

Also, which case did you get? The black incipio from the att store is great for 20 bucks.

I got all the cases from incipio clear, black and green (not the octane ones), as well as the back covers from eBay, I have white, orange as wells as the black and green back covers. I also bought a cool yellow minion case where the camera disc acts as the minions eyeball.

 

[BSobotta]

Went to our local Microsoft store, and they had some extra white and orange back covers laying around. They gave them to me and my wide. Made my day. I have the Black case, my wife's 830 is naked. I am kind of nervous about that.

 

[C LaBelle]

I just bought a random case from amazon for now until I find a better one. I'd like a more heavy duty case but I like the slimness of the phone and don't want to make it too bulky. I'll also have to see how it fits in my car cradle. I'd like to find the orange back but for now only have the black and green ones with the green installed. I really want a red back since my 920 had a red case and my tablet has a red skin and my wireless charge plate holder is red. Going to ATT to activate it later today.

 

[Blkacesvf41]

I just bought a random case from amazon for now until I find a better one. I'd like a more heavy duty case but I like the slimness of the phone and don't want to make it too bulky. I'll also have to see how it fits in my car cradle. I'd like to find the orange back but for now only have the black and green ones with the green installed. I really want a red back since my 920 had a red case and my tablet has a red skin and my wireless charge plate holder is red. Going to ATT to activate it later today.

I was going to recommend to you the Totu transparent gel case, but I just don't see it on eBay anymore! Very slim, so it doesn't add any bulk and so incredibly clear.

 

[scumdogmillionaire]

A follow up to my story from Friday. My 920 died, so I replaced it and my wifes (still working) 920 with the 830.

Her's is packaged back in the box and headed back to Amazon. She was not happy with it at all. I really don't like it either, but am sticking with it until new flagship comes out.

Touch is super weird on it, the keyboard spazzes out constantly during texting, the display doesn't look as good, etc...

If you have a working 920, don't go to the 830. The word "side grade" comes up a lot when comparing those two. It's not... it's a downgrade.

 

[Fred Wilson2]

My 830 is still sitting in it's box on a shelf at the house since I got a new 920 a couple of months ago.



Fred

A follow up to my story from Friday. My 920 died, so I replaced it and my wifes (still working) 920 with the 830.

Her's is packaged back in the box and headed back to Amazon. She was not happy with it at all. I really don't like it either, but am sticking with it until new flagship comes out.

Touch is super weird on it, the keyboard spazzes out constantly during texting, the display doesn't look as good, etc...

If you have a working 920, don't go to the 830. The word "side grade" comes up a lot when comparing those two. It's not... it's a downgrade.

 

[C LaBelle]

I found the Incipio Octane case and it has good reviews and it looks like a compromise between a industrial case and a slim case. I'll post it up when I get it. Today was the first "half" day run. I used it most of the day but still took my 920 with me till I get everything transferred and set up on the 830 which is now almost done. I have to say I am liking the 830's slimness and lesser weight than the 920. The bigger screen is very nice too. At first the screens were noticeably different (920 better) but after tweaking the display settings (Auto brightness on low, vivid turned up, and color a little towards cool) the displays are nearly identical. I did some side by side tests of apps and it was pretty even. There were apps that the 830 opened slower, some faster and some dead even. On average I would say it's a tie. The SD card is nice and I put as many apps there as I could. There are a few things that will take some getting used to like but so far I like it. The 920 will stay with me for a day or two more just to make sure everything has migrated to the 830. I also ordered a glass screen protector for it (wife got one for her iPhone and I really like it) but I am concerned about the rounded edges of the glass.