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Lumia 920–Best Smartphone I Have Owned

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Lumia 920–Best Smartphone I Have Owned

from JoeUser Forums

Before I left on vacation I went and bought myself a late birthday present which was the Nokia Lumia 920 smartphone running Windows Phone 8.  It was a decision between the iPhone 5 and the Lumia 920.  I’ve mostly used iPhones over the past few years, but I did have a Windows Phone 7 device as well.  I liked it, but too many quirks made me return to the iPhone.

I’ve been watching closely the progress of Windows Phone 8, and between that and the hardware from Nokia, I decided to take another plunge into Windows Phone.  I’m certainly glad I did.

lumia920

Most of the quirks I had with Windows Phone 7 were resolved in WP8, and the hardware side is so much better than the iPhone at half the price (on contract).  The device is bigger than the iPhone with a beautiful 4.5” display.  Some reviewers like to point out the 920 is “big”, but that’s a plus in my book as the larger screen area is much easier on the eyes.

I’ll go into Windows Phone 8 in another article, but it’s no problem for me to say this is much better than the stale iOS platform.  Live Tiles are a great feature, integration with Office and SkyDrive is done right, and overall it’s a smooth experience.

I’ve only had it a short time, so I’ll keep writing about it, but if you are in the market for a new smartphone, give this one a look.

597,385 views 208 replies
Reply #51 from WinCustomize Forums Top

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:   Good one Giz, that made my day... beauty!  :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

+1 Loading…
Reply #52 from WinCustomize Forums Top

I have a question about the 'Live' tiles: Are those 'pulling' or 'pushing' data all the time? Is that what live tiles means? Beautiful phone btw.

Sins of a Solar Empire II
Reply #53 from WinCustomize Forums Top

well, the local at&t store only had the black version in stock when i was there. they should have other colors available next tuesday so i'll make another visit then. i want to see more than one color before making a decision on which one to get. i know how nice the white and black versions look but i've yet to see a red one.

Reply #54 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting werewolf, reply 52
I have a question about the 'Live' tiles: Are those 'pulling' or 'pushing' data all the time? Is that what live tiles means? Beautiful phone btw.
End of werewolf's quote

 

"Live Tiles" means that they are actually useful at presenting information as opposed to the flat minimalist (numerical count) info provided by the iOS or droid grid-look.

 

Some of them will be pulling/pushing data in order to display info, others like calendar and email just show you details about the latest appointment/email.  Of course the "size" you set your tile to determines whether or not it displays more info than in iOS or droid grid-look or not.

 

Reply #55 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting MadDeez, reply 53
well, the local at&t store only had the black version in stock when i was there. they should have other colors available next tuesday so i'll make another visit then. i want to see more than one color before making a decision on which one to get. i know how nice the white and black versions look but i've yet to see a red one.
End of MadDeez's quote

 

Keep in mind the black and cyan models have a matte finish as opposed to the glossy finish of the white, yellow and red.

 

Personally I prefer the matte black for two reasons.  First, it doesn't attract fingerprints and lint as badly as the glossy models and it also doesn't look like the phone has a coloured border around it.  The black meshes seamlessly with the screen and just looks more "premium/classy" than the other colours to me.  ;)

Reply #56 from WinCustomize Forums Top

yeah, monk, i had already seen a white one and the black is pretty sweet. i almost went with black but i really want to see the red before making a choice. the cyan doesn't interest me in the least. we'll see tuesday or wednesday.

Reply #57 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting MadDeez, reply 56
the cyan doesn't interest me in the least.
End of MadDeez's quote

Aw, I dunno, I'd take a sky blue pink one with polka dots if it came with infinite free calls and text for the rest of my life. :-"

Shoot, I'd even take one in baby poop yellow if the price was right, I got a free phone cover, unlimited data and a free lifetime sub to the Playboy site.

O:)

Reply #58 from WinCustomize Forums Top

what kind of a hit does your data plan take with live tiles going all the time?

Reply #59 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting werewolf, reply 59
what kind of a hit does your data plan take with live tiles going all the time?
End of werewolf's quote

 

Again it depends on what kind of info your "live tiles" are displaying.  Since most of the live tiles I use in large size (the size where they display useful info) are things like calendar, email etc. the only "data" those tiles/apps use is in the downloading/syncing process and as such no additional data is being used to display said useful info to me on the home screen.

Reply #60 from JoeUser Forums Top

OK - next question - can you use the phone as a wi-fi hotspot without incurring some sort of provider fee?  For instance, on my jail broken iPhone, I have no issue with tethering or using as a wi-fi hotspot. That's another deal breaker for me anyway.  Thanks!

Reply #61 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting pacov, reply 60
OK - next question - can you use the phone as a wi-fi hotspot without incurring some sort of provider fee?  For instance, on my jail broken iPhone, I have no issue with tethering or using as a wi-fi hotspot. That's another deal breaker for me anyway.  Thanks!
End of pacov's quote

That's going to depend on your data plan.  For instance, if you have AT&T and shared data you can do wifi hotspots.

Reply #62 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting pacov, reply 61
OK - next question - can you use the phone as a wi-fi hotspot without incurring some sort of provider fee?  For instance, on my jail broken iPhone, I have no issue with tethering or using as a wi-fi hotspot. That's another deal breaker for me anyway.  Thanks!
End of pacov's quote

 

I have no issues doing either with my 920 without incurring any additional costs.  Oh and I don't have to "jailbreak" anything......hehe  O:)

 

But yes as ID already said, some of that may depend on carrier settings/rules.  All I know is everything works fine doing tethering/wifi hotspot for me with my carrier.

Reply #63 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting the_Monk, reply 62
I have no issues doing either with my 920 without incurring any additional costs.  Oh and I don't have to "jailbreak" anything......hehe 
End of the_Monk's quote

 

you do not have to jailbreak the iPhone for tethering.

 

the benefit of jailbreaking is that you do can do tethering even if it's not included in your plan.

Reply #64 from JoeUser Forums Top

Quoting moshi, reply 63
the benefit of jailbreaking is that you do can do tethering even if it's not included in your plan.
End of moshi's quote

yeah - that's what I'm getting at.  I don't want to be in a situation where I lose "free" functionality.

Reply #65 from WinCustomize Forums Top

ok, i finally got one tuesday and although i like the phone, it's going back as soon as the cordless charger is delivered which should be tomorrow. i like the display and screen. the gorilla glass is great. i enjoy the os quite a bit. much more than i expected to, to be honest. but, and this a huge but, the calendar is not up to the level i want it to be. in the monthly view, it is far too small for me to use. also, the calendar is not importing the birthdays of people in my contacts list even tho the birthday calendar is enabled in calendar settings. another miss for me is the lack of being able to create albums in the photo area. i also have a problem with no app for my bank. i know that sounds trivial but i want that app and the bank people say there are no plans to create on for wp8. another app i want is one for the indianapolis star. again, there isn't a wp8 app for that. also, the speaker phone isn't near loud enough in my humble opinion. i may be old but my hearing is still pretty good and i can barely hear anyone when using the speaker phone. i hate sounding like i'm slamming the 920 because i do like the phone. it just doesn't work for me right now. the display on this phone is amazing and the gorilla glass kicks major ass but the issues i've described are sale killers for me.

Reply #66 from Stardock Forums Top

@MadDeez

 

Sorry to hear that, but as we all know......not everything is for everyone.  Having said that, here are a few "FYI"'s just in case.

 

The small text you see on a calendar day in the WP8 calendar in month view are latin text-markers only.  They are not your actual appointments and are only there to show you which days you have appointments on.  The more appointments on a day, the more latin text markers.  Here is a list (may be a partial list only) of the latin text markers.

  • Dignis milt Worthy of milt.

  • Nulla facilis There are no easy ones.

  • Aliquam sodale A member

  • Nam rhoncus nis For the work

  • Nam nec vulputate For the builders

  • Hello from Seattle Hello from Seattle

  • Suspendisse egetos We suffer

  • Maecenas sem mattis Read more here

  • Clas aptent tacitis And drive the fleet of silence

  • Vestibulum imperdiet Your event

 

Also make sure your calendar settings are set right for birthdays.  I did find that depending on how many other accounts you have added to your WP8 device it will add options for additional calendars (birthdays, holidays etc.).

 

As far as the apps go, unfortunately as you know you're at the mercy of the bank as to whether or not they are making one.  I'm sorry to hear that they are not supporting WP8.

 

Hope that helps.......somewhat.   ;)

 

Reply #67 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting the_Monk, reply 66
@MadDeez

 

Sorry to hear that, but as we all know......not everything is for everyone.  Having said that, here are a few "FYI"'s just in case.

 

The small text you see on a calendar day in the WP8 calendar in month view are latin text-markers only.  They are not your actual appointments and are only there to show you which days you have appointments on.  The more appointments on a day, the more latin text markers.  Here is a list (may be a partial list only) of the latin text markers.



Dignis milt Worthy of milt.



Nulla facilis There are no easy ones.



Aliquam sodale A member



Nam rhoncus nis For the work



Nam nec vulputate For the builders



Hello from Seattle Hello from Seattle



Suspendisse egetos We suffer



Maecenas sem mattis Read more here



Clas aptent tacitis And drive the fleet of silence



Vestibulum imperdiet Your event



 
End of the_Monk's quote

 

 

rofl ....

they forgot the placeholder text? and nobody at MS or Nokia noticed that?

 

no, this is not a feature, but poor in-house testing.

Reply #68 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting moshi, reply 68

 

 

rofl ....

they forgot the placeholder text? and nobody at MS or Nokia noticed that?

 

no, this is not a feature, but poor in-house testing.
End of moshi's quote

 

I don't know what you mean?  On Windows Phone 7-8 devices there is no way to zoom on the monthly calendar view and if they had your actual appointments displaying they would be impossibly small (way too small to read), certainly that place-holder text is so small if you didn't know beforehand what it was you wouldn't be able to make it out.  At this point, for whatever reason it actually is a WP8 feature.  ;)

Reply #69 from WinCustomize Forums Top

see, it is very common to use placeholder text at the beginning of the devlopment of an interface. at the start of the process they probaly had these phrases in the daily and weekly view as well. and then they just forgot about it.

but if they really decided to leave the placeholder text there instead of using the first words of the real stuff, that would be worse than forgetting about it. 

even if the text would be unreadable (which is poor design, cosidering how much whitespace is wasted on the monthly view), the pattern of the real stuff alone would provide more information than random gibberish.

an example for useful unreadable text is the "map" in the Sublime Text text editor. of course this thing would not make any sense if it were just "lorem ipsum dolor ..."

http://imag.malavida.com/mvimgbig/download/sublime-text-10216-1.jpg

Reply #70 from Stardock Forums Top

 

I understand all of that.  My point was I didn't understand your reaction to the fact that the "place holder" text is still there.....apparantly by design.  That is all.

 

EDIT:

In my view it doesn't matter what they "scribbled" in on the monthly view since that view really is the least-used view.  The only reason I for instance would ever go to the monthly view would be to see what day a certain date in the past/future was for reference.

Reply #71 from JoeUser Forums Top

Have you used any android phones?

Reply #72 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting Anthony, reply 71
Have you used any android phones?
End of Anthony's quote

Mine's an Android.

I don't think I'll ever go near an iPhone....the latest so-called maps are somewhat screwed....apparently Mildura is 30 km to the West of itself....;p

Reply #73 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting Jafo, reply 72
I don't think I'll ever go near an iPhone....the latest so-called maps are somewhat screwed....apparently Mildura is 30 km to the West of itself...
End of Jafo's quote

And in the Pacific, they've added two islands... which should aid in the ownership dispute between China and Japan... they can now each have a set of their own.

:w00t:

Reply #74 from JoeUser Forums Top

Never touched iphone either. I'm currently using an android Galaxy 3. Great phone, I wonder if ID has ever tried an android before claiming a windows phone is the 'best ever".

Reply #75 from Stardock Forums Top

 

Well I can't speak for ID, but I also claim this phone to currently be the best available on the market and:

Quoting the_Monk, reply 31
I have owned a myriad of smartphones to date (various models of the iPhone, several Samsung and Sony droid devices, and windows-mobile devices of the past) and....
End of the_Monk's quote

I also forgot to add the several Blackberry devices I owned/used in tandem with some of these other devices (mostly while I was on droid devices) because nothing on droid even came close filling my business/enterprise-integration needs at the time.

 

This is not to say that I don't have some issues with it.  For instance I don't like how it appears to be impossible to connect the Lumia to an adHoc WiFi network using static addressing at this point (the phone has no trouble connecting to regular WiFi networks also using static addressing).  MS has been aware of this issue since WP7, so I'm hoping they aren't just ignoring the community on this one.  Another issue I seem to be having is that MS doesn't want my money......in that for whatever reason the windows marketplace refuses to allow me to add the credit card I usually use for those types of expenses to the WP8 "wallet" and thereby use it for app/game purchases.  So far I've had to use a different card which appears to have no issues whatsoever.  The credit card refusing to work with WP8 has never had issues with either the apple or the droid stores so I know it's not the card.  I have contacted MS several times with regard to this issue and it is currently in an "escalated" state (whatever that means).

 

As I stated earlier in this thread I will post updates of my use of the Lumia 920 as I go along, and any issues I am having with it.  I still (even after experiencing the above noted issues) cannot recommend any other smartphone over the Lumia at this point.  That may change in the future, but as it stands right now the 920 remains the clear "smartphone of 2012" for me.