My thoughts on Nokia quality

[jgbstetson]

I'm writing this because there's a lot of bashing of other OEMs and misconception about Nokia (now MS) quality. I should stress that this is my experience and may not represent the larger sample. However, there have been too many things go wrong to be coincidence.

My first WP was the HTC Radar. I bought it because my POS Android broke and I wasn't eligible for an upgrade. It was a nifty little phone and it worked well except the BT was broken. I should note it was a heavily used device when I purchased it.

I eagerly awaited the arrival of 8.1 on T-mobile, only to be disappointed by the blocky 810. Despite its looks, it was capable and I was mostly satisfied with it. I noticed one day that the window to the camera moved under my fingers. I assumed this was a loose window, so I sent it in for repair. They replaced it, no problem and I thought it was secure. It turns out the window is secured with no more than a ring of PSA. Down the road, we all know what happened to the 810 and I sold it for that reason: poor support. The experience with the 810 prompted me to buy and an unlocked 720. Great device...kind of. Remember that crummy camera window on the 810? Exact same thing on the 720. Worse yet, the window on the 720 window actually fell off! Try epoxy next time Nokia. I was able to make a sad replacement window and get along with it for a bit.

Fast forward to my next device, the 925. I added Qi and was generally pleased. Oh wait, did I mention that was my third 925 I was happy with. The first one's screen was hanging off the chassis right out of the box. No joke. The back cover fit on the 2nd one was way off. The 3rd one still wasn't straight, but I kinda gave in. The 3rd device served me pretty well, but those things just shouldn't happen. ever.

Fast forward to the 1020. This was a solid device from day 1. Never had an issue, but the battery life was terrible.

The next device was the 1520. What magnificent hardware completely ruined the the tap-touch bug. I sent it in for repair. They did not repair it at all. I couldn't live with it.

Next was the Icon. Most of my frustration was with updates and carrier compatibility (my fault). I might have been really really pleased with this had I been on Verizon and stuck it out for, oh, maybe 6 months.

This brings me to the the 830. Denim? Check. Lumia Camera? Nope. Wait, it has denim right? Umm, sort of. BS. Rebooted every day...so frustrating. It also doesn't help their image to have every 830 on display hanging off its rear cover. Embarrassing.

Now I'm using the M8. Fit and finish is terrific and this thing runs like a dream. I'm a believer and I hope they keep it up. Microsoft needs to look seriously at the quality systems they inherited. Bush league.

 

[bo_woods]

Finally someone said it... Not saying Nokia isn't great, but they are far from perfect...

Went through two blue screen of death 925's...

I had a 920 with various bugs (dysfunctional speaker that made loud screeches, and a headphone jack that stopped audio output whenever the lock button was pressed, or the screen timed out)

Had a 1520 that even before all the abuse had a shaky camera (people here have said this of their 1520's and 930's)

Also the tap scroll issue was annoying...

Nokia clearly has a higher defect rate then what is wanting to be admitted...every device seems to have a set of wide wide wide spread issues that affect many....not just complaints here, but in Lumia conversations throughout the years and tmobile,Verizon and att forums...

Once again not saying Nokia has poor build quality or is unreliable but they have some very common defects... And alot of times don't even have fixes or a solution for them.. Heck alot of times the widespread issue isn't even something that happens on a rare "defective" unit but is something that the phone model in general is known to have.

I may watch a video on to youtube with the 1520 in it, and boy are there a plethora of fanboys blindly saying things like, "yeah Nokia only makes the toughest phones", "the 1520 sure doesn't bend in your pocket like ijunk"...

When in fact the 1520 can and does bend in your pocket, and with that slight not easily noticeable bend comes screen issues, that aren't easy to find a solution for... There are apparently more causes for the screen issues than just the bending.

All I know is the iPhone never gets KNOWN for having a set of common defects every generation...

The 5c is a great buy but note it has such and such and you'll need to do such and such to avoid it, so that's why the 5s is better for such and such until the 6 comes bit note the 5s has such and such... Never heard of such before

"Bendgate" did not affect many and I think those who were affected got replacements... A very rare issue, not a common widespread feature of the device.
The devices Nokia made were great, they just were known for having such and such widespread defects, and a product being known for having such and such defects is not good.

 

[ylap]

This brings me to the the 830. Denim? Check. Lumia Camera? Nope.

Lumia Camera is available and works just fine on 830. Yes, Lumia Camera, not Classic one. Although I can use both of them.

 

[hasasimo]

Every generation of the iPhone has had very well documented and borderline asinine problems... from the grip of death, to bendgate, to OS updates that disabled the ability to make calls and texts -_-, to device-crashing SMS bugs. Never had anything that severe or ridiculous with any generation of Nokia. Have there been issues? For sure, but not more than any other OEM.

And just FYI, the 830 was produced under the auspices of Microsoft, not Nokia.

 

[Giovanni830]

I have had the 630 and was happy with it. The only "issue" was the camera, as it doesn't do a good job in low light and it doesn't have OIS.
Therefore I bought the 830 (black frame) last December. Firstly I had the rebooting issue, almost 5 times a days and sometimes during conversation....
Since the update to the full denim, I haven't experience any bug or lag. My 830 is near perfect and really stable (I am a super user). The search button is not really responsive but it does its job (without screen protector).

I just regret that I didn't chose the "White frame" because some white teeths appear on my black frame - which is quite disapointing because I really take care of my phone and it never met my keys or other metals! Moreover the logo Nokia disappeared from the back cover, which in some ways is not bad!

However from a price/quality point of view, I am REALLY satisfied!

 

[jgbstetson]

Every generation of the iPhone has had very well documented and borderline asinine problems... from the grip of death, to bendgate, to OS updates that disabled the ability to make calls and texts -_-, to device-crashing SMS bugs. Never had anything that severe or ridiculous with any generation of Nokia. Have there been issues? For sure, but not more than any other OEM.

And just FYI, the 830 was produced under the auspices of Microsoft, not Nokia.

You're splitting hairs. When MS bought Nokia, did all if the Nokia designers, factory workers, QA inspectors, etc get replaced? I don't think so.

 

[RumoredNow]

Lumia Camera is available and works just fine on 830. Yes, Lumia Camera, not Classic one. Although I can use both of them.

Still to this day, the RM-983 variant of Lumia 830 branded to ATT only has the "1/2 Denim" it shipped with and can not get Lumia Camera 5.

Argentina and Columbia lack full Denim as well, but users there can flash to another country variant and get full Denim. ATT has locked out that possibility in their Firmware so all owners of RM-983 are upset as they don't have what the rest of the world takes for granted.

 

[Giovanni830]

ATT has locked out that possibility in their Firmware so all owners of RM-983

Well, this issue is not a fault of Nokia (well, they might have sold the 830 with full denim directly, but obviously the lumia camera was not ready at that time...). ATT update issues are also part of the Android devices history!

 

[RumoredNow]

I'm just verifying the OP does not have full Denim and you saying you have it does not automatically mean he is just not aware of it being out there... See what I mean?

 

[Derausgewanderte]

It also doesn't help their image to have every 830 on display hanging off its rear cover.

I did notice this in the local ATT stores as well. This has nothing to do with its quality. It does talk to the ignorance of the people displaying the phone though. Of course the back cover will come off if I put the store antitheft lock on the cover. And it will leave a bad impression of the phone as well.
sorry to hear your bad experience with reboots. With the exception of ATT not getting their act together with Denim, I still like my L830.
PS, you pay a premium price for a premium phone with the M8. The retail price was $200 over the L830 (and did not come with a free fitbit).

 

[hasasimo]

You're splitting hairs. When MS bought Nokia, did all if the Nokia designers, factory workers, QA inspectors, etc get replaced? I don't think so.

By the time the 830 was produced there were already thousands of lay-offs and restructuring was well underway. I don't think it's splitting hairs. Regardless, I'm pretty happy with my 830.

 

[bo_woods]

By the time the 830 was produced there were already thousands of lay-offs and restructuring was well underway. I don't think it's splitting hairs. Regardless, I'm pretty happy with my 830.

How could you not?

It's impossible to be unhappy with a bright yellow Nokia Lumia? Your one lucky person to have gotten that back

 

[hasasimo]

How could you not?

It's impossible to be unhappy with a bright yellow Nokia Lumia? Your one lucky person to have gotten that back

It really was blind luck! :grin: Stumbled upon it at the right time. Although my 830 is currently dressed in matte black, bordered by that lustrous silver.

 

[gordonfink]

Over the past 18 months, I've had about 300 Nokia phones pass through. I had had 920's, 930's, Icons, 1020's, 1520's, 925's, 928's, and 830's.

I mostly focus more high end, so it's been mostly 1520, Icon, 930, and of late 830.

I have had an 830, 930, and 920 as my daily drivers, and I've done extended testing on a 1520 and 635.

I've sold all over the world - to every continent.

Out of all of that, I have had exactly one 920 with the issues Bo describes, because it was his that I bought.

I have had one 930 with a wireless charging issue, a 928 with a bad search button, an 830 with a bad back button, and a 1020 that had a random reboot and battery issue (customer got it wet, and claimed I sold it water damaged, so it came back).

I may be extraordinarily lucky, but I doubt it. My phones come from a variety of sources, so I have to believe they are representative random samples. The breakdown is something like this:
1520 - 35
1020 - 20
Icon - 40
830 - 25
928 - 25
930 - 3 (one on the way, which I may take for myself again - I miss that phone)
920 - 40
925 -10
635 - 5

I don't know exact numbers without digging, but it's pretty close to the above. Out of all of that, only 2 have been returned - the 928 with the bad search button I missed, and the 1020 that got wet.

One thing that brought me to Nokia from Apple was that I was sick of software problems, restore error codes, wifi/Bluetooth errors, then the topper - cloud locks. After I had bought and sold about 30 Nokias, I tried one myself. I have not gone back.

I was actually working on an iPhone 5 this evening, reminding myself why I got away from those. I still fix them for the kids and their friends, but I don't buy them personally anymore. Way too much hassle and too many problems.

Before iphones, it was all Android phones, mostly Samsung Galaxy and Note products, along with Galaxy and Note tabs. Again - soft bricks, updates issues, screen burn (particularly bad it seems with Samsungs), wifi/Bluetooth errors, etc. Just on and on.

It's all Nokia (and Surface tablets) now. If you want to add the Surface tablets, I've had around 50-60 of those pass through over the past 18 months, and I've not had one single return on those.

So, it is interesting to me that build quality is so awful, that I buy around 30-40 a month, have sold on all continents, and have had 2 returns.

I may be the luckiest human alive, but if you knew me, you'd know that was very far from true.

So, my money (literally, every single day), says that Nokia is the one of, if not, the best.

edited to add: I have had 2 1520 with random screen taps, one I bought here, one 920 with a bad sim reader (bought from ebay, but I knew it before I bought it), and one Icon with a headphone jack issue (again, from ebay, but I knew it before I bought it).

So, it is mystifying to me how I can have owned around 300+ of these devices, and had problems with about 5, while some of you have owned 4 or 5, and had problems with them all.

 

[bo_woods]

Over the past 18 months, I've had about 300 Nokia phones pass through. I had had 920's, 930's, Icons, 1020's, 1520's, 925's, 928's, and 830's.

I mostly focus more high end, so it's been mostly 1520, Icon, 930, and of late 830.

I have had an 830, 930, and 920 as my daily drivers, and I've done extended testing on a 1520 and 635.

I've sold all over the world - to every continent.

Out of all of that, I have had exactly one 920 with the issues Bo describes, .

Btw what excactly was causing those speaker screeches? Were you able to fix the problem... I'm curious, because I bought it in "good" condition from alltech wholesale on eBay (didn't have too much of a good experience with them, but I think id still buy from them again)

 

[bo_woods]

Don't get me wrong though.. I still love the devices Nokia made, and would rather go through 2 defective Lumias to finally get a defect free one than to just move to an iPhone or android. Nokia Lumia flagships are just that good.

Microsoft Surface and Microsoft (whatever their upcoming flagships get called) are for me... Im sure they'll live up to if not succeed what Nokia Lumia flagships have brought to the table

And on another note I've seen so many people I know with iPhone 5c's that have misaligned home buttons... The square would be somewhat titled... They weren't bothered by it, but that would irk me... Gladly the new iPhone home buttons are empty

 

[gordonfink]

Btw what excactly was causing those speaker screeches? Were you able to fix the problem...

Haven't even tried - it's sitting in a box right now.

 

[Nogitsune Micah]

HTC is awful quality. I owned the 8x where the paint was coming off the phone and I briefly owned the m8 recently and had issues with it overheating and apps locking up that didn't lock up with my 1520. Plus the issues I used to have with their android phones

Screen tap issues aside I never had much trouble with any of the Lumia devices I owned.

Compared to most OEMs, Nokia has the best quality. There is a reason most of us own Nokia and now Microsoft lumias when we had the choice of owning HTC or Samsung.

 

[mrshots]

Over the past 18 months, I've had about 300 Nokia phones pass through. I had had 920's, 930's, Icons, 1020's, 1520's, 925's, 928's, and 830's.

I mostly focus more high end, so it's been mostly 1520, Icon, 930, and of late 830.

I have had an 830, 930, and 920 as my daily drivers, and I've done extended testing on a 1520 and 635.

I've sold all over the world - to every continent.

Out of all of that, I have had exactly one 920 with the issues Bo describes, because it was his that I bought.

I have had one 930 with a wireless charging issue, a 928 with a bad search button, an 830 with a bad back button, and a 1020 that had a random reboot and battery issue (customer got it wet, and claimed I sold it water damaged, so it came back).

I may be extraordinarily lucky, but I doubt it. My phones come from a variety of sources, so I have to believe they are representative random samples. The breakdown is something like this:
1520 - 35
1020 - 20
Icon - 40
830 - 25
928 - 25
930 - 3 (one on the way, which I may take for myself again - I miss that phone)
920 - 40
925 -10
635 - 5

I don't know exact numbers without digging, but it's pretty close to the above. Out of all of that, only 2 have been returned - the 928 with the bad search button I missed, and the 1020 that got wet.

One thing that brought me to Nokia from Apple was that I was sick of software problems, restore error codes, wifi/Bluetooth errors, then the topper - cloud locks. After I had bought and sold about 30 Nokias, I tried one myself. I have not gone back.

I was actually working on an iPhone 5 this evening, reminding myself why I got away from those. I still fix them for the kids and their friends, but I don't buy them personally anymore. Way too much hassle and too many problems.

Before iphones, it was all Android phones, mostly Samsung Galaxy and Note products, along with Galaxy and Note tabs. Again - soft bricks, updates issues, screen burn (particularly bad it seems with Samsungs), wifi/Bluetooth errors, etc. Just on and on.

It's all Nokia (and Surface tablets) now. If you want to add the Surface tablets, I've had around 50-60 of those pass through over the past 18 months, and I've not had one single return on those.

So, it is interesting to me that build quality is so awful, that I buy around 30-40 a month, have sold on all continents, and have had 2 returns.

I may be the luckiest human alive, but if you knew me, you'd know that was very far from true.

So, my money (literally, every single day), says that Nokia is the one of, if not, the best.

edited to add: I have had 2 1520 with random screen taps, one I bought here, one 920 with a bad sim reader (bought from ebay, but I knew it before I bought it), and one Icon with a headphone jack issue (again, from ebay, but I knew it before I bought it).

So, it is mystifying to me how I can have owned around 300+ of these devices, and had problems with about 5, while some of you have owned 4 or 5, and had problems with them all.

not all people with the bigs will return them to you. Some will just keep it and think 'oh well' so what you have said may not be a reliable source information. Just my twopence

 

[gordonfink]

not all people with the bigs will return them to you. Some will just keep it and think 'oh well' so what you have said may not be a reliable source information. Just my twopence

That may well be, but they were not bashful about returning Samsung Galaxies or iPhones. My return rate has plummeted since I went to Nokia.

And, with iphones and samsungs, about 1 in 3 that I bought had a problem. It's about 1 in 100 with the Nokias. It's arguable that 1 in 100 is too many, which I'd agree with, but I don't buy them new either.