Thoughts on Windows Phone (using a Lumia 1020 for a month)

[Speedygi]

I cannot ever see myself moving away from the iPhone anytime soon, but when I saw that a Lumia 1020 had a 41 megapixel pureview camera I had to take the plunge and see for myself just how good the camera was and what Windows Phone was all about.

I knew going in, I was never going to have as many apps on the Windows Phone as I had on my iPhones, but it turned out the difference in experience is far greater than just the apps. The User interface of Windows Phone was so much different than I had imagined. You no longer have app drawers on every home screen page, but a singular row of apps all arranged alphabetically on the right side, reachable with a single user interface button or just a swipe to the left that pushes the live tiles you have placed, in any sequence you deem necessary, on your main home screen.

Sometimes if I have too many live tiles on the home screen, it really scrolls down a long way, and since when you exit an app and go back to the home screen you go back to the top of the live tiles, nowhere else, you are forced to scroll down to the live tile that you really want to get to again, which is a pain. The app list actually helps me in the end to get to the app I want, which actually provides a faster way of navigation than I thought I would have, but I cannot help thinking there could be a better system being made for getting to the apps I really want to get to.

That said, getting to the apps I want on Windows Phone proved to be faster than on iOS on more occasions than I expected and the interface does look prettier with the customizable color themes and the live tiles, if the apps you happen to use support putting pretty looking pictures and text for updates on the tiles, which is admittedly the majority of the apps I have used on there.

I have used a ton of the apps on there, and largely if you choose the free versions, you are going to get a ton of apps, so beware of that very annoying Android-esque advertising thing going on in the apps. However, I did find most of the Windows Phone apps to be better designed compared to Android ones, but don't expect iOS polish. Apple does take great pains to get app developers on the same page with design and with APIs, and far reduced fragmentation.

Windows Phone apps still impresses on many occasions where, like in Tapatalk, the sleek design actually made me want to use them more, which really got me thinking of how in a year or so Windows Phone could very well be like Apple in terms of getting a good design ethic among developers to push for more unified, and better graphical interfaces across the board. That is something I think Windows Phone has that Android sadly still doesn't have, which is a very impressive plus point for Windows Phone.

With the Lumia 1020 I had, I did expect things to be far more optimized for the screen size. I have heard stories about the six inch 1520 really not utilizing the scaling on the keyboard in proportion to the rest of the screen space, but I was lucky to have the smaller device in the 1020, which has a 4.5 inch Amoled screen.

You would expect the 1020 to have a better battery life because of the Amoled screen as opposed to an iPhone 5c, but sadly I still feel the iPhone 5c, or 5s for that matter, is still going to be better with both visual quality and battery life. As sharp as the photos I could take on the 1020, I never thought the photos looked better viewed on the 1020 screen than the photos I took on an iPhone 5c or 5s and viewed on those screens. Pentile technology on the 1020 was not going to help much to improve the comparison and the LCD was going to be better on photography based viewing.

Do not go rejoicing just yet, because I do think the 1020's camera is far better in terms of both resolution and visual quality. The pro camera app on Nokia's offerings really do offer far more customizations with the ISO settings and more, and I have to disagree with people who said the speed of the photography is far slower than on an iPhone. That is true, but not that much. Photos taken on average on a 1020 average about 5-8 seconds per shot, which isn't all that bad when you see the actual pixels being produced on those photos. In addition, you get to crop those glorious 41 megapixel photos to really sharp looking ones suitable for Instagram sharing, which to me is a big selling point. The iPhones still do much better for mainstream photo sharing, but the 1020 actually impresses on times when you feel a little more energy to work for your shots and tweaking them to get some really amazing shots even iPhones cannot produce, I think.

I fear for the battery life on the 1020 still, although I have been getting easy 16 hours days on the phone. I still think the iOS battery optimizations are more reliable going into the end of the day, however, and I still think the battery saving options I have on Lumia made me feel like I was back in Android zone. I absolutely loathe things like the ultra battery saving mode on the Galaxy S5s, and the battery saver mode on this Lumia reminded me on those things. My personal opinion on these things is that if the operating system has good battery optimizations built in right from conception, and not as afterthoughts by way of add-in modes, iOS is always going to be having the upper hand in terms of battery, no matter what people say.

The 1020 is a polycarbonate phone, and has a much sturdier heft and build to it than the iPhone 5c, so I would give it the nod in terms of build durability, but it really isn't a phone that looks as ugly as a Samsung phone, which to me is the greatest seller of Windows Phone for people like me who wants a second device that's not Android. It is a good phone, and I think with Windows Phone 8.1 it could finally give iOS and Android a run for the money.

The edge still goes to iOS for battery life and apps, I think...which is a pity for Windows Phone. They really do deserve some credit for putting good devices out there...

 

[Beyond Fire]

Yeah I can see that Windows phones have come a long way and MS actually looks committed to improving their phone and tablet experience. I might be getting a job at VZW pretty soon so that will give me a great opportunity to try out every device I want! I'm hoping MS can get some more manufactures for WP as I think it would be awesome to have a WP on a Sony device.

 

[Speedygi]

Yeah I can see that Windows phones have come a long way and MS actually looks committed to improving their phone and tablet experience. I might be getting a job at VZW pretty soon so that will give me a great opportunity to try out every device I want! I'm hoping MS can get some more manufactures for WP as I think it would be awesome to have a WP on a Sony device.

I like how Nokia and Microsoft are trying really hard to not make Android wannabes or clones, they are really trying to stamp their marks on the mobile industry, which is one exciting trend to be looking out for. If Sony wants to make WP, they have to really go out of the box to impress.

You'd look at a Lumia 1020, and you would never see an Android phone look as sleek as that...that speaks volumes on where the platform is going.

 

[Alex_Hong]

So at the end of the month, which platform do you prefer?

I've had a bunch of WP devices as well. Lumia 800, Lumia 610, Lumia 920, Lumia 520, and Lumia 625. And I had the chance to test run a friend's Lumia 1520 for a week or 2 as well. Completely agree on the keyboard front. Here's the landscape keyboard on the 1520 for giggles.



On the apps front, being reliant on a great deal of Google?s service, the complete lack of Google?s support fot WP is a huge deal breaker for me. While the ecosystem is catching up, the quality is still somewhat lacking with a ton of copycats apps. Even official apps go without updates for long periods of time. I do like the ability to customise my home screen via live tiles to suit my needs. Apps that i use more gets a bigger tile, and those that provides live updates proves to be useful as well.


On the point of getting to apps, this is where our mileage vary. One of my gripe is the free vertical scrolling on both the home and app screen. Because of this, the apps you pinned on your home screen aren?t always at the same position. Meaning you still have to rely on sight rather than muscle memory, and with the uniform looking logos/icons/tiles, it makes finding a particular app tricky.


Because of this i tend to rely on only a page of un-scrollable live tiles, and thankfully with 8.1, I can use smaller tiles, and pin more tiles while still maintaining a single page. One example of vertical scrolling done well is HTC Sense. Scrolling the app list is vertical, but page by page. But I guess it could be preference as well.


On the camera front, it might be subjective, but compared to the 1520, I still just might prefer iPhone 5/5S? camera. Don?t get me wrong, i do think that the 1020 and 1520 will take better shots than the iPhone 5/5S, but it kinda requires some tinkering with the settings. On auto mode, i find that the iPhone 5/5S still has a higher hit rate of producing decent images. And on a mobile devices, that?s what i think is the most important. The iPhone is still easier to take good shots with, whereas the Lumia 1020/1520 require more effort to take great shots. Hope that this made sense. Lol. I have a sample of the shots i took here (https://www.flickr.com/photos/axhng/sets/72157639032212196).


I?ve been running 8.1 ever since they released the developer preview, and I do seriously like the additions to it. I could probably use it as my daily driver if it had as much Google support as the iPhone does. But i think it?s still a distance away for giving iOS and Android a run for the money, and most of it is down to apps and getting people to actually want to try their devices.


Nokia definitely deserves credit for putting good WP devices out there in the market. Hopefully Microsoft would continue the same. But for now, I will only be using my Windows Phone devices as secondary/spare devices. But I'm definitely thankful that WP is around. The more choices there are for consumers, the better it is.

 

[Speedygi]

One thing I can say about Google's support on Windows Phone is that you must choose one or the other, which I prefer at the end of these comparisons, I don't expect Windows Phones to have good Google support as much as I expect Android phones to have good Microsoft support. So, really, if you are looking for Google's ecosystem go Android, and if you really aren't that dependent on Google, go Windows Phone or iOS. That's acceptable to me.

Also, multitasking on Windows Phone is still a pain and a confused mess due to resource management. You really have to accept the dots flashing across the screen when you load an app that was loaded at the beginning of the day or a long time ago. That would have to be addressed to really push Windows Phone 8.1 to really good levels. As of now, it's still a good phone with some issues needing to be ironed out.

At the end of it, I'm still an iOS lover, and that won't change anytime soon.

 

[Alex_Hong]

Microsoft support for Android isn't that bad actually haha, but Microsoft can't afford not to support Android or iOS. Google support for iOS is actually not that bad, I have most of what I need.

I think WP might be a bit aggressive at managing resources so that the OS runs well even on low end hardware. I'm hoping with the next generation of devices with modern SOC and decent amount of RAMs, the situation would be greatly improved.

I'm definitely looking forward to iOS 8, iPhone 6, and OS X Yosemite.

 

[Speedygi]

Microsoft support for Android isn't that bad actually haha, but Microsoft can't afford not to support Android or iOS. Google support for iOS is actually not that bad, I have most of what I need.

I think WP might be a bit aggressive at managing resources so that the OS runs well even on low end hardware. I'm hoping with the next generation of devices with modern SOC and decent amount of RAMs, the situation would be greatly improved.

I'm definitely looking forward to iOS 8, iPhone 6, and OS X Yosemite.

Ah, it's still the age old problem of market share...Google...and market share always...

That said, many good apps are coming out with the introduction of Windows Phone 8.1 like Torrex and a few others...Things are looking slightly brighter.

 

[Algus]

Did you get a chance to use Cortana? She's the killer feature for me. Yeah, I'm a nerd. Much as I love my Note 3, I'll probably move to iOS or Windows Phone when my contract is up.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Speedygi]

Did you get a chance to use Cortana? She's the killer feature for me. Yeah, I'm a nerd. Much as I love my Note 3, I'll probably move to iOS or Windows Phone when my contract is up.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I hadn't used Windows Phone 8.1, but will give my thoughts on the update too when the time comes, I reckon...

 

[dkhmwilliams]

I really would like to use a Windows Phone, but there are some apps that are missing. I really need those apps, so for now I will have to stick with my iPhone and iOS.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Speedygi]

I really would like to use a Windows Phone, but there are some apps that are missing. I really need those apps, so for now I will have to stick with my iPhone and iOS.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

What apps are those?

 

[dkhmwilliams]

First Class email and Google Hangouts are the two big ones I have to have. Then there are about 5 more that aren't as important, but I would really want.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Premium1]

I actually like WP but the lack of apps and experience is what holds me back. I love the look and feel of Nokia's, if only apple could make a high end device in similar form the some of the Nokia's that would be a sweet phone. (nothing against the iPhone, just the feel and size of lumia are a little better IMO)

 

[z33dev33l]

I consider going iOS sometimes but that magic often wears off quick when I actualyl get the iDevice in hand. The keyboard has always made it completely unusable as a daily driver in my eyes. Luckily, that's being resolved now. Outside of that, prior to iOS 7, the user interface was a bit of a joke to me, looking stale and very mechanical and now it's almost... fluorescent. I do wish they'd make the OS a bit more alive too like Windows Phone. I posted many threads about WWDC on several forums but at the end of the day, I'm pretty sure that I'll still be a Windows Phone user when that time comes.

 

[Speedygi]

Some additional notes about the Lumia 1020 (just for reference):

1. Bluetooth sucks alot of battery on Windows Phone. For some reason it managed to suck away an excess of 10% in battery life everytime I use the Bluetooth feature to get my stored music playing in an external speaker.

2. The display screen has Gorilla Glass 3 and I have not gotten a single scratch on it. I don't have a screen protector on it at all.

3. There is a hole for looping your leather straps down on the bottom left of the phone, which is handy.

 

[Harry Wild]

All you have to do is a search using # icon to the right of the tiles. then press the first letter of the app you are looking for! Takes you to the list starting with the letter you push. That the way I use WP8 directory. I just arrange the tiles that I most frequently use and then take out the ones that I rarely use and get access to them with the search function. It really fast and efficient!

I used both Windows Phone and iOS 6. I like Windows Phone functionality but since I have an iPad Mini retina and an itouch; I kind of trending now towards going with the iPhone 6 but try to buy a Lumia 925 on impulse and it turn out that the seller was out of stock on the model!

I hate the way Nokia was marketing their phones in the U.S. through carrier exclusivity and lock in period usually 120 days to 180 days. That the second major reason that probably going back to the iPhone. I like buying unlocked full price and have the phone right away instead of jumping through hoops. It a big turn off for me!

 

[Speedygi]

All you have to do is a search using # icon to the right of the tiles. then press the first letter of the app you are looking for! Takes you to the list starting with the letter you push. That the way I use WP8 directory. I just arrange the tiles that I most frequently use and then take out the ones that I rarely use and get access to them with the search function. It really fast and efficient!

I used both Windows Phone and iOS 6. I like Windows Phone functionality but since I have an iPad Mini retina and an itouch; I kind of trending now towards going with the iPhone 6 but try to buy a Lumia 925 on impulse and it turn out that the seller was out of stock on the model!

I hate the way Nokia was marketing their phones in the U.S. through carrier exclusivity and lock in period usually 120 days to 180 days. That the second major reason that probably going back to the iPhone. I like buying unlocked full price and have the phone right away instead of jumping through hoops. It a big turn off for me!

Well, you could go with the Lumia 930 coming out soon.

I always get my Lumias unlocked and off-contract, because simply I don't see myself wanting to burn a contract upgrade for a Lumia phone at the moment, when I can get the flagship iPhone instead.