Database Develop

[Q] Is lumia worth the price?

Hey, i'm going to buy a new phone soon and im thinking to get a lumia. Is it worth it? Is it better than android and ios in someway? How about the dataplan? Is it much cheaper than the others? Really need an existing windows phone user to reply how they feel about their phone. Thank you very much for your cooperation

"Is it worth it" is a personal question - it depends on what you value, how much you can afford to spend, what phone you're thinking of (there are at least six Lumias in active production and at least one older model still being sold), what deal you can get it for... however, you're asking a forum full of Windows Phone users, so the general answer would be "yes".
Is it better than Android or iOS somehow? Yeah, a few ways. The interface is much more dynamic, presenting at-a-glance info and requiring less popping into and out of apps, plus the lock screen is pretty configurable. The battery life requires much less shepherding on WP8 than on Android, and there's also none of the malware found on Android. The built-in Office apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote) are better than any that I have seen for either Android or iOS. Xbox Music Pass (formerly Zune Pass) is very sweet, although it's not available in all regions; check this. Similarly, Here Drive (formerly Nokia Drive) is better than other navigation apps (built-in or third-party) that I've tried, but may not be available, or at least not free, in all regions. Developing for WP8 is really easy and you can use a large number of languages. The software keyboard is excellent; I prefer it over the iOS one (massively) and over most Android ones. The integration of Skype calls is really nice. The ability to switch between Live messenger, Facebook chat, and SMS/MMS in the Messaging hub is very cool. The fact that you don't need to install iTunes is a plus on Windows (unless you already use it... eww). All Windows Phones are required to have a double-action camera button (half-press to focus, full press to shoot) although you can also use tap-to-shoot. There are lots of Xbox Live-enabled games, many of them quite good, which are not only fun but also earn you GamerScore on Xbox Live. The Xbox Live integration also lets you message and game with your Xbox Live buddies, although you can't generally play between phone and console directly. Xbox Smartglass lets you use the phone to control, view, and interact with the Xbox 360. Generally speaking, phones are updated faster than on Android. If you let us know what's important to you, we could possibly list other advantages...
The data plan is a carrier thing, not an OS thing, but will probably be the same price and features as other smartphones. That's something you will have to research yourself, though.
I like the Windows Phone devices I have (an HD7 running WP7, and an Ativ S running WP8). They do have some limitations - WP8 has not yet been hacked much at all, so there's a lot less homebrew for it than there was for WP7 - but overall they are nice. They get good battery life (the HD7 not anymore, but it's 2.5 years old), have good (if not all-encompassing) app selection, and have a number of nice features (WiFi tethering built in, for example). The main thing keeping me on Windows Phone is that I have a legacy Zune Pass (the kind that allows 10 DRM-free downloads a month) and therefore I really want a phone that will let me stream or download all the other songs so I can discover new stuff and decide what I want to use my credits on each month (before I use them).

[Q] Considering switching from HTC One to 1020; have questions

As the title suggests, I'm considering jumping from my HTC One to the Nokia Lumia 1020, and I have some questions. If this is the wrong forum, I'm sorry.
1. Is it possible (even through a hack) to set a homescreen background? I used to do this on the WP 7 themes on my iPhone, and it looked great with transparent tiles.
2. Has Google gotten into WP8? Voice, Gmail, Play Music?
3. Photo editing. What sort of post-processing options are there? I must have had 10gb of just photo apps on my iPhone, and I'm kinda struggling now on Android.
4. Keyboards? I've become a Swiftkey addict. Is there anything comparable to this in Redmond's garden?
5. Twitter and Facebook? My fiance has a Lumia 900, however her Facebook and Twitter apps look awful. Tweetbot was the best Twitter client I've ever used, so my standards are high.
Thank you in advance for any insight.

Start screen backgrounds are still not supported. There are pseudo-hacks to do it, using a large array of customized tiles, but there's still black or white behind them. The hacking scene or WP8 has been very limited.
Gmail works fine on WP8, as it did on WP7. There's no official app that I know of, though. Google has no official Music app for the OS, but there are plenty of third party ones (I cannot comment on the quality as I use Pandora and Zune/Xbox Music Pass). There's also Nokia's music app, which I don't use. Google Voice is similar; no official app but several third-party ones, and WP8 allows apps to integrate into the phone system and to continue calls when backgrounded (this is how Skype works).
Lots of photo editing apps, plus time-of-shot "filters". I have no idea of their quality as a PC is, and always will be, better at that task.
Sadly, custom keyboards are not currently supported at all. The built-in keyboard is excellent, with nice new features like next-word prediction, but it's not customizable or aimed at specific nich users, nor is it (yet) replaceable.
I don't use Twitter, even the integrated functionality. The new version of the Facebook app is excellent, though. It's much faster, has more features, and looks better than the old app.

GoodDayToDie said:
Start screen backgrounds are still not supported. There are pseudo-hacks to do it, using a large array of customized tiles, but there's still black or white behind them. The hacking scene or WP8 has been very limited.
Gmail works fine on WP8, as it did on WP7. There's no official app that I know of, though. Google has no official Music app for the OS, but there are plenty of third party ones (I cannot comment on the quality as I use Pandora and Zune/Xbox Music Pass). There's also Nokia's music app, which I don't use. Google Voice is similar; no official app but several third-party ones, and WP8 allows apps to integrate into the phone system and to continue calls when backgrounded (this is how Skype works).
Lots of photo editing apps, plus time-of-shot "filters". I have no idea of their quality as a PC is, and always will be, better at that task.
Sadly, custom keyboards are not currently supported at all. The built-in keyboard is excellent, with nice new features like next-word prediction, but it's not customizable or aimed at specific nich users, nor is it (yet) replaceable.
I don't use Twitter, even the integrated functionality. The new version of the Facebook app is excellent, though. It's much faster, has more features, and looks better than the old app.
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Thanks for the responses. With regards to music, I had a 64gb iPhone 4S and still have an active subscription to iTunes in the Cloud. So I could store most of my music on my phone, and have access to the rest as needed. My One is only 32gb, so I keep some music on it, and the rest I stream via Google Play.
As for Google, does WP8 integrate with Google Voice at all? Or is there at least an app?
With photos, there are some apps from iOS that I truely miss, and haven't seen any alternatives on Android as of yet. I fear my pickings will be even slimmer on WP8.
Does the built in keyboard have anything akin to Swype? I'm fairly certain my girls WP7 does not.
As my girl does have WP7, she can't upgrade to the newest Facebook and is thus stuck with the awful one she currently has.
Thanks again.

As I mentioned, there are apps for streaming music from Google. Nothing official, but the reviews say they work.
There's one app I can find in the store, "Spare Phone", which claims to integrate somewhat (and has the WP8-specific app capability to do so). However, it looks like it can't recieve GV calls directly (forward to your mobile number or take voicemail notifications only) when it's in the background. I'm pretty sure the dev could fix this with enough effort. The app costs $3.49 USD, so I can't easily test if for you. There's no OS-level integration with GV, which doesn't surprise me in the least. Google is Microsoft's biggest competitor in this space...
I have no real idea what the photo app situation is like. There are tons of them, some well-rated, plus some built-in features of the OS. I still prefer to do my photo editing with the power and precision of a PC, though, so I haven't tried. The photos are overcompressed as is (all smartphone photos are), so manipulating them tends to produce artifacts anyhow.
Nothing like Swype, sorry. Microsoft really needs to get with the picture there. It's especially sad/funny, considering that Swype was originally for Windows Mobile and (according to a guy I know who works there) they'd be happy to bring it to WP, but MS hasn't allowed it yet.
Most of my FB on the phone is just done using the built-in integration (People hub, Messaging hub. etc.), but the new WP8 app really is excellent.

1. No you can't set homescreen background. I hope it will be coming in WP Blue update.
2.Gmail works fine, Xbox music is very much better option.
3. WP store is full of lots of photo editing apps, 1020 itself has proshot app. I think you would be very happy in this department.
4.No, unfortunately but you can expect it in updates.
5. Both official apps are very very good. FB just got updated and it's very good. You can also have beta app which updates continuously so FB support from MS is very much active. Official twitter app has everything you want, same as its iOS & Android counter part.
Instagram has 3rd party app instance which is very good, even you can save photo in it. Official Vine app is coming till then 6 sec is available.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

Google Voice is handled quite nicely by Metrotalk. It takes some work to get setup properly, but once setup works very seamlessly.

Google has no official apps (aside from a poor Google search app) on Windows Phone, and the only thing known on the horizon is an official YouTube app (a joint project between Microsoft and Google). Otherwise Google has been pretty anti-Windows Phone. If you want the quality and selection of Google apps and services that you find on an Android phone, you simply won't get it anywhere except Android. Windows Phone and even iPhone don't compare to what Google offers on it's own platform. There are third party apps, and some of them are decent.
The Twitter and Facebook apps for WP8 now very closely match the functionality and look/feel of their official counterparts on iOS and Android. They still aren't as awesome, but thankfully, because of the tight OS integration, they aren't necessarily needed as much as you would need them on iOS or Android.
Nothing close to Swype and I'm gonna take a guess and say that it won't be coming anytime soon. There just isn't a demand for it. Clearly there is one here on this site (and other enthusiast sites), but this is a site made up of hardcore tweakers and enthusiasts. In the real world, most people do not know what Swype is and simply don't bother to learn it even if it is available to them. The Windows Phone keyboard is an excellent stock keyboard, and with some of the improvements being seen in Windows 8.1, you can expect it to get better as time goes on.
Almost any kind of configuring, tweaking, or hacking you may be used to on Android goes out the window with Windows Phone 8. For the most part, the operating system just works, so you don't always need it (like iOS), but some people still have that itch to tweak, and if that's you, Windows Phone 8 may not make you happy. But then again, I used to be that type of person, but once I got used to a platform that just worked and didn't need me to go ROM hunting every week, its just became so much better. The operating system is just so much more secure than WP7 or Android, so there isn't much of a development/hacking community for it.
As with any upgrade, new line, or purchase, you should have an opportunity to try it for a bit before you go past the point of no return. So your best bet is to try it as your main driver for a week and see how it works for you.

prjkthack said:
The operating system is just so much more secure than WP7 or Android, so there isn't much of a development/hacking community for it.
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You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
Security, in the context of operating systems or really anything else, is about granting or revoking authorization for access or activity. The key point, there, is "authorization". Authority is a property of ownership. However, I actually have relatively (compared to other OSes) little ability to authorize, *or* revoke authorization for, actions occurring on what is nominally my phone. So, which of the following is true?
A) It's not my phone; it's actually owned by Microsoft, the OEM, and the operator (but mostly Microsoft).
B) The OS is "so much more" locked down than WP7 or Android, and is actually pretty meager on security features.
Did you know that on some Android ROMs, you can do things like prevent apps from making using of certain capabilities while still using the app? That on WP7, you can disable the "Microsoft, may I install or run sideloaded apps?" check that the OS makes periodically without your authorization? Now *that* is an increase in security!

GoodDayToDie said:
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
Security, in the context of operating systems or really anything else, is about granting or revoking authorization for access or activity. The key point, there, is "authorization". Authority is a property of ownership. However, I actually have relatively (compared to other OSes) little ability to authorize, *or* revoke authorization for, actions occurring on what is nominally my phone. So, which of the following is true?
A) It's not my phone; it's actually owned by Microsoft, the OEM, and the operator (but mostly Microsoft).
B) The OS is "so much more" locked down than WP7 or Android, and is actually pretty meager on security features.
Did you know that on some Android ROMs, you can do things like prevent apps from making using of certain capabilities while still using the app? That on WP7, you can disable the "Microsoft, may I install or run sideloaded apps?" check that the OS makes periodically without your authorization? Now *that* is an increase in security!
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Whether the product is yours or not does not matter much here. At its base level, all the platforms are "locked down" to a certain extent, some more than others, and what you can do is limited by what the OEMs (Microsoft, Apple, or Google) say you can do. Now you can go ahead and throw hacks at it, tear it apart, or throw money at it to completely change it, but that's going beyond the scope of this discussion. They choose what permissions you may alter or ask for. Finding loopholes to get around permissions or authorization goes beyond what the original manufacturer intended, but its pretty fair to say that its far easier to circumvent security on Android than on any other platform. Android's inherently more "open" platform allows for greater risk at times because it isn't as locked down as iOS or Windows Phone.
That being said, being more locked down inherently offers more security or at the very least, piece of mind, whether that be protection from scripts or hacks, viruses, financial security, or just preventing errors/crashes. Denying or granting access to certain activities, or just flat out not having the option to deny/grant certain activities can be the base for a safer, more reliable, more secure operating environment. "Security" and being "locked down", in some cases, go hand in hand. Of course it can mean many different things to many people.
Now you could also be referring to other "security" features like corporate encryption policies or secure NFC or stuff like that, but that wasn't part of the original discussion, so my use of the word security does not include any of that, but I understand that certainly those types of security features may or may not exist between platforms.

So I have another question.
I've been quite spoiled by 64gb of storage on my 4S combined with iTunes in the Cloud and lately been forced to stream from Play Music due to my One only having 32gb of storage.
Does WP8 have any sort of set up where I upload my music collection to the cloud and can download/stream from there? I do have a 50gb AT&T Locker account, but I'd rather use something that's a little more polished.

OGhoul said:
So I have another question.
I've been quite spoiled by 64gb of storage on my 4S combined with iTunes in the Cloud and lately been forced to stream from Play Music due to my One only having 32gb of storage.
Does WP8 have any sort of set up where I upload my music collection to the cloud and can download/stream from there? I do have a 50gb AT&T Locker account, but I'd rather use something that's a little more polished.
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Yes, you have 7GB of skydrive space for free, can be increased for additional cost.

mcosmin222 said:
Yes, you have 7GB of skydrive space for free, can be increased for additional cost.
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I have over 60 gigs of music alone.

OGhoul said:
I have over 60 gigs of music alone.
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I doubt anybody is going to give you 60 gigs of storage for free (ATT does not count, since you pay for it anyway)

There are apps which can stream from Google Music.
Alternatively, get a phone that has a microSD slot; my ATIV S has 80GB of total local storage, never mind the amount I have in my butt.

mcosmin222 said:
I doubt anybody is going to give you 60 gigs of storage for free (ATT does not count, since you pay for it anyway)
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iCloud.

OGhoul said:
iCloud.
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so then what's the problem?
I mean, you can stream it the same way you did on your HTC one.
But unless you want that camera badly, there is no real reason to get the lumia 1020.
lumia 820 or Ativ S are probably better for you.

mcosmin222 said:
so then what's the problem?
I mean, you can stream it the same way you did on your HTC one.
But unless you want that camera badly, there is no real reason to get the lumia 1020.
lumia 820 or Ativ S are probably better for you.
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The camera is the reason I'm considering a WP. Don't get me wrong, I like the Metro UI. I would usually install a Metro theme on my iPhone when I had it. I'm tremendously underwhelmed with Android and in particular, the camera in my One, which is what prompted my questions.
Basically, if I can get WP8 to do things close to as seamless as they are on iOS, I'd really consider switching. If I'm reading this correctly, SkyDrive offers automatic syncing of photos to my PC from my phone, the way iCloud does?

OGhoul said:
The camera is the reason I'm considering a WP. Don't get me wrong, I like the Metro UI. I would usually install a Metro theme on my iPhone when I had it. I'm tremendously underwhelmed with Android and in particular, the camera in my One, which is what prompted my questions.
Basically, if I can get WP8 to do things close to as seamless as they are on iOS, I'd really consider switching. If I'm reading this correctly, SkyDrive offers automatic syncing of photos to my PC from my phone, the way iCloud does?
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Yes windows phone will upload full res images to skydrive. Great feature actually. BTW have you looked at Xbox music? Its similar to Google play music and iTunes streaming. Take a look, it might be what your looking for: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/music
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

Xbox music, Pandora, Nokia Music all work great on my 1020. And something new in WP8, it can sync from your iTunes library. (new WP8 desktop app, no more Zune app like used for WP7)

Did you ever get the 1020 and what were your thoughts?
Sent from my XT1058 using Tapatalk 4

[Q] WP8 Noob Thinking about switching from android

I am a hardcore Google user. I have an android phone and tablet and lots of google stuff online. My phone is getting old, and I was thinking of trying out something new.
Couple questions:
1. Whats the equivalent of "rooting" on wp8, if any?
2. How would you go about "rooting" your phone.
3. Are there any recommend phones for general use+development?

Julian90090 said:
I am a hardcore Google user. I have an android phone and tablet and lots of google stuff online. My phone is getting old, and I was thinking of trying out something new.
Couple questions:
1. Whats the equivalent of "rooting" on wp8, if any?
2. How would you go about "rooting" your phone.
3. Are there any recommend phones for general use+development?
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Click to collapse
1. There is no equivalent of rooting at this time, as Windows Phone is much more locked down than Android (comparable to iOS) and there aren't as many devs working on it
2. Nothing yet, but its very easy to developer unlock it to side load custom made apps
3. You are probably best off getting a Nokia, either a cheap (~$100) Lumia 520 or a higher end like the Lumia 920/925/928 (I'd go with the 1020 if you can afford it). Windows Phone is very efficient, and runs almost as well on lower end hardware like the 520 as it does on higher end.
If you are really a hardcore Google user you are likely to find Windows Phone lacking as Google is intentionally keeping their programs and services off the platform (at least first party, nearly everything can be accessed through third party apps).
I made the switch, and I love it, but Windows Phone is not for people that want to constantly tweak everything because it is locked down. I used to love to tinker, now I love that I can't.

Yeah... WP7 was eventually broken wide open, but WP8's lockdown has been harder to bypass. There's a few devices (Huawei W1?) for which people have reported being able to edit the stock ROM somewhat, which is probably usable for "rooting" the phone, but none of the high-end devices have a known working exploit yet.
Developer-unlock, which will allow sideloading low-permission (no special capabilities, just the standard public ones) apps, is available for free, but you have to use PC tools to do it. Get the WP8 SDK from Microsoft (free, but a big download) and run the Windows Phone Developer Registration tool. Unless you pay for a developer account, there will be a very low limit on the number of apps you can sideload.
I'm actually personally pretty happy with the Samsung ATIV S phones; they have the best hardware in many ways (biggest battery, biggest and nearly highest-resolution displays, biggest internal storage that also has an SD card slot, best currently-available-in-WP8 CPUs) and you can install many of the Nokia apps anyhow (you can also install the Samsung apps on Nokia phones, same for HTC, etc.) using a proxy to modify the store requests. However, for a budget phone, the Nokia Lumia 52x line is hard to beat, and for camera quality, the Lumia 1020 is the best smartphone available, bar none.
There's plenty to do if you like to tinker with the phone... the problem is, you have to find it all yourself. There's not that much, aside from things like using a proxy to get apps intended for different OEMs' phones, that we've found to work so far. I've written a neat app that lets you browse the visible parts of the WP8 file system and registry from your PC (see my signature, it's the webserver app) which I hope will help people find something exploitable to get full Admin privileges on the phone, but so far, that hasn't happened. There's lots of other potential exploit vectors too; people just need to find them and make them usable!

Like GoodDayToDie said, it's NOT rootable. End of story.
As an experience goes, though, I switched iOS -> Android earlier this year because I was firmly in camp Google. I seemed to have problems that most other users did not, but all in all it was a miserable experience. After about 4mo switched to WP8.
For reference, on the phone; I use Google Maps, Google Voice, GMail, Contacts, Calendar, and search.
Contacts, Calendar, and mail all sync smoothly with built-in stuff. Search is an app, and it can't take Bing's place on the search button.
There's not an official Google Maps app, but there are apps in the Store that offer it. After about 6w now, I'm mostly using Nokia's Here stuff for mapping though.
Google Voice is available as a third party app. I was using Metrotalk. It was better than GV on iOS but inferior to GV on Android.
For what it's worth.

Except, you know, the part where it's nothing at all like a desktop OS.
No support for arbitrary applications or running as Admin. No file browser or registry editor. No command prompt or built-in scripting engine. No third-party background services (officially, at least; unofficially it's possible if you can work with the low permissions) or multiple windows at once. No task manager or management console. No device manager or third-party drivers. No user installer or recovery tools. No way to uninstall updates or make disk backups. No way to pass a file directly to another application (it must go through a registered extension handler, which the other app must be selected as the handler for). No multi-user support. None of the standard Windows power management tools. No OpenGL support, or ability to manually update the drivers. No support for external mice (or really for any mice, properly speaking). No support for USB host mode (that I can see, at least not in the base OS). No support for Windows networking or VPNs. No (built-in) support for remote desktop. No printing. The included version of Office is very limited compared to the full thing. No way to change the default web browser, email client, or several other such things. No support for installing new system media codecs or fonts. No way to choose what store a certificate is saved into, to export a saved cert, or to delete a saved cert.Browser has a limit of six tabs, no Flashplayer, and no Tracking Protection [Lists] feature.
Windows Phone 8 has about as much to do with Windows 8 as Android has to do with Ubuntu. In fact, it has significantly less, from the user's perspective.

some Noob's experience with WP8/ Nokia 928
Some other problemsthat i have stumbled on while trying WP8 for past 2 days, Nokia 928.
1. Ringtones and txt messages are changeable but notifications sounds for other programs are not (i.e. metrotalk - client)
2. Using public wifi that requires a comfirmatory click on their acceptable use page - Broken - works first time for me, then every time after it constantly loads up "w w w.msftncsi.com/nsci.txt" and the phone is constantly asking if I want to continue connecting to that wifi hotspot - Annoying.
3. Internet explorer is the builtin browser ( with some 3rd party UC browser, Surfcube 3D browser) but NO chrome nor firefox, - some pages load weird, especially if you choose desktop mode.
Images that appears in the browser search in IE 10 or UC browser, using bing or google comes back blurry, until you choose to open that one pic in full size image , but then you can't scroll through the result of images until you go back, at which time the images will sometimes not load, mind you this is on wifi.
4. No native Google voice apps - Metrotalk is good but you have to go through some hoops to setup push notification (ie having the app be able to notify you of txt and voicemail without actually having that app open), and you can't change the notification sound of Metrotalk as stated above
5. No file browsers
As I said, this is my experience with the phone and WP8 for the last 2 days, YMMV

Nokia 1520 or Note 3?

Please help me to decide. I have used android for long time. I want to try something different but I'm not sure . Any one here switched from the Note or an android phone?

argo1a said:
Please help me to decide. I have used android for long time. I want to try something different but I'm not sure . Any one here switched from the Note or an android phone?
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First of all, you're asking in the Windows Phone 8 General section, so you probably won't get an unbiased opinion, so be sure to check out other sources too, which should help you decide.
Honestly, I think I would go for the Note 3. I currently use both Windows Phone 8 and Android 4.4.2 (ATIV S and Nexus 4) and I think both of them are great devices. But I prefere using the ATIV S because of its camera, the keyboard and its performance.
But in case of a phablet, I think the Note 3 (with a good custom ROM) is a much better choice.
The Nokia Lumia 1520 has a great camera, a wonderful screen and Windows Phone 8 performs seemlessly on it. The Note 3 has a bit smaller screen than the Lumia 1520, does support input via stylus and can be used much more productively. If you need or want a stylus, you have no other choice.
The Lumia 1520 is a great phone though, but imho it is not a good phablet, because I simply expect stylus support from a smartphone with such a big screen. If you just want a phone that has a great battery, great camera, great screen, great performance, great built-quality all the advantages and disadvanteges of Windows Phone 8 and you want to try something different/new, you should totally get the Lumia.
Maybe take a look at some reviews, but I don't think that you are making a wrong decision when buying either of these devices.

If you want to change from ecosystem.......from Droid to WP8x
Then you should do a lot more than compare devices.
There is a upcomming update for wp8 ( wp8.1 ) so some of the stuf you read wil soon be obsolete.
Phablets is not only about stylus.
I got a 1320, the big little brother of the 1520.
And i like it better than the note I of my wife and the note II of my daugter.
The letterfonts are bigger, i dont need my glasses to work with it.
Its simply strait forward and does everything what it supose to do.
Battery life is a lot longer and also i find the gps a lot better.
Aspecialy with the Here maps and Here drive.
Also the Nokia camera-app is way better than the one on the Samsung.
But there is no possibility to change custom roms and root ( yet ),
but thats oke because it works great strait out of the box, no need for tinkering.

yeah, he should definitely take a look at Windows Phone 8.1.
The Lumia 1520 is great, but imho it is just another Nokia phone with a bigger screen. This is not bad at all, Nokia makes great phones, but it is not really a phablet like the Note 3.
If you want something that will work out-of the box for years, have a great performance as always and will just become better the more you use it, you should take the Lumia 1520. For everything else, like Custom-ROMs, stylus support, etc. you will have to get the Samsung Galaxy Note 3.

1520
HI
i own a nokia 1520 and i like it very very much. everything goes smooth and the phablet is very handy , long battery life ...in my case 3 days... beautiful design...much quicker browsing !!
there are so many android devices on the market and allmost everybody has such a phone.
with the 1520 you have something special in your hand. all my friends want to have a nokia 1x20 or x20 ...
go for the NOKIA LUMIA 1520 !!!!

I like the 1520. I can live with windows phone limitations. Android is indeed a better OS without a doubt cz you can drop your PC for an android phone but with WP you can't do a lot of things.. But I love the windows phone, its faster, more secure, stylish and has a better look. Its a matter of taste and a subjective approach... I chose the Lumia 1520 and didn't buy the Note 3.

argo1a said:
Please help me to decide. I have used android for long time. I want to try something different but I'm not sure . Any one here switched from the Note or an android phone?
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i switched android phone...

note 3 is more productive than nokia :good:

patraaas said:
note 3 is more productive than nokia :good:
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wel nee, Nokia is more productive ..........
serious
How come that N3 is more productive than a 1520, care to explane?
I heard that a lot, but they never could explane.

I, too, wanted to leave android and get a windows phone.
Until I realized what I used primarily, and how windows phones didn't have it (officially, or yet)
I didn't want a clone of VLC - I wanted VLC. Or a subsitute of Chrome/Firefox - I wanted the real thing.
My bank didn't have an app - I could just use the mobile version, but then again, that's true for almost everything! Right???
Tethering wasn't available, or at least how I would tether. So those long trips w/me using my Verizon unlimited plan instead of those crappy hotel wifis....gone!
Shoot, even the price of the windows store seemed pitiful! Apps that were 99 cents on android were 2.99 on windows!
These are things you gotta take into account!!!!

I had the note 3 when it first came out for T-Mobile. I actually had every major galaxy phone S1, s2, s3, sIV,(I will be skipping S V, 1 because it didn't impress me, and 2 I'm so bored with Samsung phones), Note 2 and Note3, along with some HTC android phones and some Sony android phones. I recently switched to the unicorn model of the Lumia 1520. I say unicorn model because it's a very hard and rare phone to find. It actually supports the AWS band for T-Mobile along with the At&t bands and rest of the world bands.
I actually got bored with Android and wanted something different. Pretty much it comes down to the how much do you really care about apps/games. I don't game a lot on a phone that's why I have consoles, 3ds, vita, and a pc. I do a lot of productivity on my phone though. A lot of banking and emails. Not really into the social media stuff. As people always say, windows phone does not have a lot of apps. Some of my banks do not have apps on windows phone. But when you look at what an app does it is just a pretty UI that connects to your bank. In windows I can just pin the website to the home page and poof instant app for that bank or that website, etc. On the Lumia 1520, the screen is large enough where it's not hassle.
I can say that battery life between the two, are very good. Both will last all day with heavy usage. I normally am streaming music, checking emails, playing a game or two, viewing websites, and watch a little Netflix and I don't have to charge untill I go to bed. Normally the phone is off the charger about 6:00 am each day and I got bed around 11pm or 12am. Performance wise, I have to say the windows phone runs a little smoother.
When it comes to customization, Android wins hands down. I actually do miss the customization that Android allows. On windows phone you have the tiles you can put and you can resize them between small, medium, and large. Medium and large will show additional information, where as small tile just shows the app without any info.
Tethering works fine on both, although on the Lumia 1520 I did have to do a few extra steps to get it to work. Apparently the US carriers has some type of block on the built in tethering app. One last thing, if you heavily in with google services, pretty much none of those services are available on windows phone. So no google play, no google voice, no push service for gmail, no chrome, etc.
The things I don't like about windows phone:
1.) Unable to download large files - I tried to download a 2 GB map file for the nokia here and it said I had to switch to wifi. Android has no such restrictions.
2.) Lack of Customization
3.) Lack of Google services (Not sure if it's Google or MS)
The things I like:
1.) Very clean and simple interface,
2.) The Lumia 1520 has a great design
3.) Runs smooth and works
4.) Office intergration
5.) Native Email and Calendar apps are the best (much better than android or ios)
Things I like about android:
1.) Customization
2.) Tethering worked out the box
3.) No restrictions on file types to download or file size
4.) Multitasking with 2 apps on the screen at once.
Things I don't like about android:
1.) You have to root to really use the phone as you want
2.) A lot of bloatware
3.) You have to watch out for rogue apps (haven't heard of any in windows phone)
4.) You may or may not get the next version of the OS regardless of how new your phone may be.
This is just my thoughts. So far though I'm like the 1520. I have high hopes for the next update to windows phone and look forward to it improving. Windows phone is still young so still is playing catch-up, but I think it has a bright future.

Erm... there are plenty of third-party apps for Google Voice on WP8, and push for Gmail works fine for me and has been for years (since WP7). With that said, yeah, the integration with Google services other than Gmail and Calendar isn't great, and mostly relies on third-party apps.

GoodDayToDie said:
Erm... there are plenty of third-party apps for Google Voice on WP8, and push for Gmail works fine for me and has been for years (since WP7). With that said, yeah, the integration with Google services other than Gmail and Calendar isn't great, and mostly relies on third-party apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's actually fetch if you use the default email client on non Microsoft accounts. It only allows push on Microsoft accounts (.msn,.live,.hotmail,.outlook). For those accounts you have the option to receive mail as they arrive. But when you set up Gmail you have to select intervals and the shortest interval is every 15 minutes. At least when I set it up it did not give me the option of as mail arrives on the Gmail accounts.

Ah... I still have ActiveSync on my Gmail account, and therefore get push email plus calendar and contact sync. I've heard that new accounts may not get ActiveSync anymore, but it still works for me. Try setting up an Exchange/Outlook account with the following details and see if it works? May only work for accounts created before 2013 or something (mine's from way back when Gmail was invite-only beta...)
Username = <your Gmail address, including the @gmail.com or similar>
Password = <your Google password>
Server = m.google.com
Require SSL = Yes

Note 3 for sure... and I'm a Windows Phone user, really good OS. Note 3 is the best Android device ever, at least for me.

hotrock11 said:
I, too, wanted to leave android and get a windows phone.
Until I realized what I used primarily, and how windows phones didn't have it (officially, or yet)
I didn't want a clone of VLC - I wanted VLC. Or a subsitute of Chrome/Firefox - I wanted the real thing.
My bank didn't have an app - I could just use the mobile version, but then again, that's true for almost everything! Right???
Tethering wasn't available, or at least how I would tether. So those long trips w/me using my Verizon unlimited plan instead of those crappy hotel wifis....gone!
Shoot, even the price of the windows store seemed pitiful! Apps that were 99 cents on android were 2.99 on windows!
These are things you gotta take into account!!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah you're 100% right, but after all, and I'm talking about myself - android guy- I threw away all "reason" and I did buy the Lumia cz its simply better than the note. Better in hand, better in screen, better in sound, camera, looks, touch sensitivity (or at least how I feel), build quality.....etc... its a Nokia !!!! Lol

I went from OG Droid -> Droid X -> Galaxy Nexus = 6 years of Android to a brand spanking new Nokia Lumia Icon (the slightly smaller version of the 1520 on Verizon).
I can say, in the end, I just got tired of tinkering with my Android phones. Root-wipe-backup-install rom-install kernel-backup, rinse and repeat - over and over again, every time a updated ROM was submitted to the site. I just got tired of it all. Windows phone has limitations, but you have to take it for what it is, after all, these are smart PHONES we are talking about here. They all do the same things, some differently, some the same. The Galaxy nexus was awesome when I first got it, but after about a year, it lagged like crazy, no matter what rom/kernel combo I had on it. The battery life was abysmal. The Note 3 is better on all accords, but from seeing my friends GS4 lag it up after a year, it seems that even new hardware cant keep up on Android. But I think this is also dependent on the user, if you have a lot of apps, and you tinker its bound to run like $hit after a year +.
If your debating between the Note and a Lumia phone, my recommendation is to go with the Lumia (unless you have a specific need for the stylus). I tried the Note 3 out for 2 weeks, and returned it. It was faster, and almost lag free, but touchwiz is just aweful, and trying to put 2 apps on screen lagged the thing to death. Its a good feature, that is really not ready for prime time. Maybe in a year or 2 Android and the chips will be ready for this feature, but its just not there yet, for me.
My reasons for choosing the Lumia are very simple. I looked at my Android device, and decided that there were really no apps that I couldn't live without. I looked through the windows phone store to see if I could do what I needed to, and haven't really missed a beat. The phone is highly customizable with apps like Custom Tile Maker, and Lockmix, and I find the live tiles refreshing and new. The things I miss, are reported coming to Windows phone 8.1 - VPN, Notification Center, and Cortana (Google Now replacement), and background images on the start screen. The Camera is better than my point and shoot camera, it gives me RAW .dng files, that I can open in Photoshop / Lightroom and edit. Add to it all, the fact that I use a Windows 8 PC, and the syncing between the devices is really pretty awesome. I forward all my GMAIL to my Outlook.com account, and I can say, outlook.com is soooooooo much better than gmail. The App gap is more media perceived than reality. The only apps I couldn't find a suitable replacement for were kids apps, and an HSBC banking app (which is supposedly coming soon).
To replace your Google services:
Here Maps/Drive is better than Google Maps Navigation. Only think I miss is street view.
MetroTube for Youtube (you can download audio or video for anything
Outlook > GMAIL (forward gmail to outlook.com, or just use built in mail app with fetch)
Onedrive > Google Drive
Office > Google Docs
No stupid requirement to use Google +. Windows Phone ME tile, allows you to connect to multiple social media apps, and integrates them into the experience. Its pretty great once you get into it.
Music: Cloudmuzik Beta - works for Google Music you have previously uploaded, but I find that XBOX music subscription blows everything out of the water. I like it better than Spotify. Nokia Mix Radio is better than Pandora too, and its free on Nokia devices.
Hangouts - I use IM+, works fine. I have a feeling Skype will be integrating google chat at some point, but until then, IM+ is suitable chat replacement.
Bing and Google.....difference is really subjective. if im not getting the results I want on Bing, just go to google.com, and do the same search
for File management, and multiple cloud storage integration, use Pocket File Manager app - I paid for it, its pretty awesome. Theres no Dropbox app, you can access your files via Pocket File Manager, or use Cloudsix for Dropbox app.
I don't know, I guess my opinion of Android just soured over time. The only thing that I "miss" is being able to steal wifi tethering through a rooted device. Take my opinion like a grain of salt, because that's what it is, my opinion, and just like everyone else, im entitled to my opinion.
Thanks

I had the note 2 since it came out,and before that the Captivate and all the others up to #3...Motorola,and a few Iphones..
Last Sunday..I traded it in on the 1520 along with my wife's original Captivate for her a 1020
I had both rooted and custom roms loaded..
As much as I used to enjoy flashing roms,radios,themes...it just became tiresome to me as well..
I did my comparison of all the new Sammy phones..and went with these because they did exactly what we wanted,and because for me there was no comparison of build quality or screen displays...no for my wife a better camera.
Also,as far as connectativity these connect better than any here at work and home..
Do I miss my Androids...no..not in the least and have run win 7/8 themes off and on for a couple of years anyway...and there isn't any apps I can't find I use in the wins app store
FWIW..I'm extremely pleased with my choices..
Mac
Sent from my Nokia 1520

I've had a Note1, Note2 and S4. An iphone 3g and 4. A lumia 920 and 1520. I like my 1520 much better than my note 2. The note3 isn't a significant upgrade as far as I'm concerned. Aside from missing a lot of games and not being able to tether for free, I love wp8 and the 1530. Wp8 is smoother than even ios. Btw, I also have an ipad3 and galaxy tab pro 8.4.

[Q] Nexus 5 owner thinking of upgrading to the Lumia 1520

I have been thinking about buying the Lumia 1520 since it was launched. Unfortunately the AT&T carrier branding and the removal of qi wireless charging put me off. I have been using iOS for a long time. My last 3 phones is the iPhone 5, Nexus 4, and now the Nexus 5. Every platform have its pros and cons. Windows Phone have always had my attention because I'm a Windows user and I use a lot of Microsoft's services like Hotmail. Obviously Microsoft is going to do a much better job integrating their own services with their own operating systems (Windows or Windows Phone).
Now that I can buy a Lumia 1520 with no carrier branding, qi wireless charging, and US LTE bands, I've been thinking about Windows Phone again. I like how the Lumia 1520 have expandable storage. That's perfect for that long road trip or when I'm on the plane and want to watch movies or listen to music. In terms of multi-tasking, is Windows Phone more similar to iOS or Android? Most of the core apps that I need or want is available for Windows Phone, which is great.
If I do upgrade from the Nexus 5 to the Lumia 1520, just what else will I be getting that I can't get on Android besides what I have mentioned already? I do love that Here Maps can be downloaded so I can use it offline. That's a pretty big advantage over Google Maps considering how inflexible its offline mode is. As stated before, tight integration between Microsoft services and Windows Phone is a major plus. What about Internet Explorer for Windows Phone? Is it as powerful as Chrome (tab and history synchronization between desktop and mobile)?
In terms of travel apps, what are your must have applications for Windows Phone? I know the selection will not be as extensive as on either iOS or Android.
Thanks!

WP8 multitasking basically works like on iOS, where apps can schedule specific tasks to periodically run in the background but, except for a few specific special cases like media streaming and GPS navigation, cannot just continuously run in the background and eat the battery.
If you were coming from any non-Nexus Android phone, I'd say that the ability to get updates right from MS (option to bypass the OEMs and carriers) was a huge advantage, as is it's not such a big deal. Mobile malware is currently a non-issue on WP, and the store is curated like it is on iOS (this is both a good and a bad thing).
Xbox Music Pass (formerly Zune Pass) is a great deal if you like music and want to be able to download it for later use when streaming isn't available (road trips, etc.). Downloaded (but not purchased) songs are good for a month and their license renews automatically as long as you have your subscription.
Office is built in, and includes things like SharePoint integration. On 8.1 in particular, the WP mail client got some cool features like support for S/MIME (secure email). Also, Live Tiles are legitimately useful things.
WP8.1 has browser synch with the desktop. I don't know how well it compares to mobile Chrome specifically, though. WP8.0 doesn't have this synch, and has a silly 6-tab limit in the browser; if you do a lot of mobile browsing you'll want the upgrade for sure.

GoodDayToDie said:
WP8 multitasking basically works like on iOS, where apps can schedule specific tasks to periodically run in the background but, except for a few specific special cases like media streaming and GPS navigation, cannot just continuously run in the background and eat the battery.
If you were coming from any non-Nexus Android phone, I'd say that the ability to get updates right from MS (option to bypass the OEMs and carriers) was a huge advantage, as is it's not such a big deal. Mobile malware is currently a non-issue on WP, and the store is curated like it is on iOS (this is both a good and a bad thing).
Xbox Music Pass (formerly Zune Pass) is a great deal if you like music and want to be able to download it for later use when streaming isn't available (road trips, etc.). Downloaded (but not purchased) songs are good for a month and their license renews automatically as long as you have your subscription.
Office is built in, and includes things like SharePoint integration. On 8.1 in particular, the WP mail client got some cool features like support for S/MIME (secure email). Also, Live Tiles are legitimately useful things.
WP8.1 has browser synch with the desktop. I don't know how well it compares to mobile Chrome specifically, though. WP8.0 doesn't have this synch, and has a silly 6-tab limit in the browser; if you do a lot of mobile browsing you'll want the upgrade for sure.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does WP 8.1 have the same 6 tab limitation?
In terms of apps, what are the unique apps for Windows Phone that could possibly entice new users to the platform?
I really do love the Metro interface and that in itself is a draw to Windows Phone.

No, that limitation is gone in 8.1.
Xbox Live games are pretty cool if you're into that. They are only rarely free, but they often go on sale. As for other exclusives... I don't actually have a good answer there, because I don't know what Android has either. Somebody else may have a better answer for that part, but to me, the apps are not why I would get WP.

GoodDayToDie said:
No, that limitation is gone in 8.1.
Xbox Live games are pretty cool if you're into that. They are only rarely free, but they often go on sale. As for other exclusives... I don't actually have a good answer there, because I don't know what Android has either. Somebody else may have a better answer for that part, but to me, the apps are not why I would get WP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then what was your reason for going with WP?

Personally? I wanted to hack on it. Everybody hacks on Android and iOS; WP was mostly untouched. It was a new challenge, and an interesting one.
More generally applicable reasons? The live tiles concept is really slick. The balance between the extreme lockdown of iOS and the Wild West of Android is appealing, although I wanted more control than I had by default (hence the hacking). The built-in Office support is great. The "hubs" concept is quite clever; it wasn't very extensible until 8.1 but it worked well for people who used the supported tools (Messenger and later Skype, Facebook and later some other social networks, etc.). I basically never actually sign into Facebook anymore, but I can see stuff that people post on it using the People hub if I want to. The battery life compares well to Android without even needing nearly as powerful of hardware for the same UI smoothness.

One thing to add on...
Nexus devices have a history of only being supported for 18 months.
Windows Phone 8 devices are supported for at least 36 months, if I've read right.

Well, there are also a lot of small (but important) things that make WP and Nokia Lumia 1520 a unique device, like super sensitive touch, rich recording(great recording sound in any environment), double tap screen to wake(it seems a non important
---------- Post added at 09:16 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:05 AM ----------
Feature, but once you get used to it, you'll be very unhappy without it), this is available if we're talking about Nokia specific features.
Oh, and I forgot to mention great camera and a ton of useful lenses(a WP only feature ).
Also if you're a parent you'll love kids corner, a truly great way of keeping your kids away from important stuff or restricted content.
---------- Post added at 09:18 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:16 AM ----------
Driving mode(I think is also a WP only feature) is also very handy if you're often on the road.