Friday, September 20, 2013

Nokia Lumia 920 first impressions

Coming from a Samsung Focus running Windows Phone 7.8 background, my first impressions:

  • Faster Web browsing as pages rendered quickly.  Ditto for PDFs
  • No need to plug into computer to update operating system software as was necessary for WP7 and need for Zune
  • Larger screen is good but expected to be able to put more Live Tiles on screen, that is, 5 small tiles across rather than 4 as with Samsung Focus.  Tiles almost look too big
  • Sharpness of resolution appreciated - back to what I was used to with 4th generation iPod Touch 
  • Camera is disappointing in terms of sharpness but need to test further with latest Lumia updates 
  • Weight of phone is hefty but I think should be something manageable.  I notice when I think about the weight of my Focus in hand, even though it is an extremely light phone like the iPhone 5, it begins to feel weighty when you deliberately think about its weight 

Friday, September 13, 2013

Continue with Windows Phone?

I've been using a Samsung Focus since November 2011.  I bought it used and it was already released for a year.  It was missing a front-facing camera which I didn't think of much use until I wanted to have grandpa see my son using video calling.  I came from a pairing of a Windows Mobile 6 phone plus a 4th generation iPod Touch.  In retrospect, the WM6 device was awful but I hung onto it for almost 4 years due to the initial cost of $400.

So what are the options now:  iPhone 5S, Moto X, Nokia Lumia 1020?   The iPhones prior to iPhone 5 have a screen that is just too small for reading fixed-format PDFs and the like but the iPhone 5 has a decent-sized screen and iOS 7 is intriguing.  Moto X is also interesting and has some subtleties that I probably would like; it's Leo Laporte's current phone of choice.  Lumia 1020 is too camera-centric and too expensive at this time. 

Well, I'm one to watch my budget so I'm considering the almost year-old Nokia Lumia 920.  Yes, possibly another Windows Phone.