Ive been entertaining an idea of getting a Lumia myself. How many apps are on the windows market? If there is such a thing. And how customizable is it?
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An iPhone 4S Users Weekend with the Nokia Lumia 900 ( Lumia Review )
- Thread starter PacificBeach
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So, I am probably going to take this thing back this weekend. There are just a few things missing that I use daily which I am not willing to let go. WP8 is supposed to be a pretty huge update, so I am thinking I might just wait it out and see what devices that are designed for the specs of the OS look like.
Skype was a problem, my running app was a problem, but the biggest problem (that I didn't think would bother me) is the camera. I rely on my phone as my only means of taking pics, mainly because 99% of the time I wouldn't think to have an actual camera with my anyway. I wouldn't say the Lumia has a terrible camera, but there are some cases where the pics were strictly worse. Colors also seem to be brighter than life (not talking about the screen here, I am literally speaking of how the actual pics look side by side).
There are plenty of apps... very little in terms of games. And I mean very little. The only game I recognized from iOS was Angry Birds. And no, not seasons, or Space, the original.
As for customization, it is probably the least customizable OS I have found. Aside from being able to swap around your tiles on your home screen (there really only is a home screen and then an "all apps" screen) you don't get much. Most tiles are also all the same color... which you get to pick from a palet of about a dozen (I may be off her) or so. The saving grace is that these tiles can display live information. If you have used Android before, think of a sort of marriage between a widget on Android and an iOS icon.
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So I gave this a try, and it's not doing it for me. The camera is all garbled. I even tried a chat session with myself and another of my accounts and it was pretty bad. I have seen others using the Lumia 900 state they had the same problems.
Skype was a problem, my running app was a problem, but the biggest problem (that I didn't think would bother me) is the camera. I rely on my phone as my only means of taking pics, mainly because 99% of the time I wouldn't think to have an actual camera with my anyway. I wouldn't say the Lumia has a terrible camera, but there are some cases where the pics were strictly worse. Colors also seem to be brighter than life (not talking about the screen here, I am literally speaking of how the actual pics look side by side).
There are plenty of apps... very little in terms of games. And I mean very little. The only game I recognized from iOS was Angry Birds. And no, not seasons, or Space, the original.
As for customization, it is probably the least customizable OS I have found. Aside from being able to swap around your tiles on your home screen (there really only is a home screen and then an "all apps" screen) you don't get much. Most tiles are also all the same color... which you get to pick from a palet of about a dozen (I may be off her) or so. The saving grace is that these tiles can display live information. If you have used Android before, think of a sort of marriage between a widget on Android and an iOS icon.
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Umm... yes, there is.
It's still in beta, but works great.
http://www.windowsphone.com/en-US/apps/c3f8e570-68b3-4d6a-bdbb-c0a3f4360a51
So I gave this a try, and it's not doing it for me. The camera is all garbled. I even tried a chat session with myself and another of my accounts and it was pretty bad. I have seen others using the Lumia 900 state they had the same problems.
Mango really improved the experience on my Trophy, so I'm hoping for a similar step up in Windows 8. It should be a serious contender.
Sent from my Windows 7 phone using Board Express
Sent from my Windows 7 phone using Board Express
The comments in the linked article are very fair and accurate (in my experience with iPhone 4 and Nokia Lumia 800).
I agree with everything you've said here. I too own an iPhone 4. A family member recently bought an 800 and it's a wonderful phone if it wasn't for the uncertainty surrounding the upgrade path I'd probably have switched already.
In this statement, bumping the resolution heavily might be the very thing which requires a beefier cpu. Just food for thought.
Guys. Let's take some perspective on the smartphone wars.
With Microsft. It takes them at least 3 versions to finally "catch up" to the current market leaders.
Outlook 1997 was horrible. Outlook 1998 was much improved. And by Outlook 2000 (version 3) Microsoft had eaten into Groupwise email corporate software.
Same with Internet Exporer and Netscape browser wars. It took Internet explorer 3 to finally get on even ground with Netscape.
The reason Microsoft was so far behind in releasing the next gen windows phone software in late 2010 was because they spent a year and a half trying to make their windows mobile software backwards compatible with the newer generation smartphone platforums.
So by middle of 2008 Microsoft determined windows mobile just could not be integrated and made backwards compatible. They had to start from scratch in 2008. And it takes a couple of years to developed a brand new OS. That's why windows phone was released so late in the game.
With Microsft. It takes them at least 3 versions to finally "catch up" to the current market leaders.
Outlook 1997 was horrible. Outlook 1998 was much improved. And by Outlook 2000 (version 3) Microsoft had eaten into Groupwise email corporate software.
Same with Internet Exporer and Netscape browser wars. It took Internet explorer 3 to finally get on even ground with Netscape.
The reason Microsoft was so far behind in releasing the next gen windows phone software in late 2010 was because they spent a year and a half trying to make their windows mobile software backwards compatible with the newer generation smartphone platforums.
So by middle of 2008 Microsoft determined windows mobile just could not be integrated and made backwards compatible. They had to start from scratch in 2008. And it takes a couple of years to developed a brand new OS. That's why windows phone was released so late in the game.
I picked up my Lumia 900 after almost five years with iPhone, iPhone 3G and iPhone 4. I realized I had never tried what have become Apple's closest competitors in that time.
My initial thoughts are very mixed. Some things are very nice to have, LTE obviously, contacts really do look neat and it all integrates very nicely.
On the downside there are a couple quirks I am not sure I can overcome in the next week or two as I decide if I want to keep the phone. I don't like how there is not a back button just for the internet. It means if I leave IE and go do some other tasks, I can't just come back to it at some point and hit back to get to the previous page. I also don't like how I have to hunt for the back key if the phone gets rotated as it is affixed to the hardware.
The other major gripe I have is how sounds work. I want to turn off sounds so the keyboard doesn't click and games don't makes noises. Though that means that apps which require sound, like Skype or even visual voice mail no longer function without turning sounds for the entire phone back up. Seems like a really poor design flaw of not differentiating between speaker sounds and earphone sounds.
My initial thoughts are very mixed. Some things are very nice to have, LTE obviously, contacts really do look neat and it all integrates very nicely.
On the downside there are a couple quirks I am not sure I can overcome in the next week or two as I decide if I want to keep the phone. I don't like how there is not a back button just for the internet. It means if I leave IE and go do some other tasks, I can't just come back to it at some point and hit back to get to the previous page. I also don't like how I have to hunt for the back key if the phone gets rotated as it is affixed to the hardware.
The other major gripe I have is how sounds work. I want to turn off sounds so the keyboard doesn't click and games don't makes noises. Though that means that apps which require sound, like Skype or even visual voice mail no longer function without turning sounds for the entire phone back up. Seems like a really poor design flaw of not differentiating between speaker sounds and earphone sounds.
I've had my Lumia for a few days, so after the initial excitement wore off, I was more clearly able to post a few things about the phone without hyping it up.
The phone has a very solid feel. I got the black, and the material is uses is unlike anything I've seen on a phone. The display is also raised slightly from the unibody chassis, but it very nice to hold and use.
The 4.3" screen has a 800x480 res, so its PPI is much lower than the iPhone's. This plays a factor in the crispness of the test, but most of the WP7 software uses very large fonts so you don't notice until you use the browser where smaller text is used before you realize this weakness. The colors are great, as it's AMOLED and the blacks are deep.
The browser is Internet Explorer. As you can imagine, it is well behind the webkit browsers used in Apple and Android devices. Text rendering is not great, nor is CSS but javascript looks to be okay. You can actually use the drop down menus on these forums for example (make sure to use the Fluid HD theme, not the mobile for best results). It does not support Flash.
The WP7 software is quick. Though it can be debated that its use of animation plays tricks on the eye making the phone "feel" faster than it might actually be, it's still a nice experience.
The phone part of it is excellent. I've heard that phone is capable of a higher quality signal than its iPhone counterpart. I have no way of testing this theory other than the fact I believe it sounds great. I would say it does indeed sound clearer than my iPhone 4 but it might be the difference in my case between CDMA and GSM. I have a very good reception where I live for both phones and make the majority of my calls from home so as far as I can tell, the Nokia wins on this front.
The apps selection is, as you might expect, brazen. There are some good WP7 exclusive apps that I've come to discover and some of the apps from "big name" companies and news outlets are there but it has a very long ways to go. If you are very heavily depending on a number of apps, you might be disappointed in the selection here. The Facebook, Youtube, and Twitter apps for example, are horrible...basically to the point you're better off using the mobile site for each. I do like, however, that you install apps on the fly with one click and with the LTE speeds, it's the fastest I've seen on a phone.
The music is of course Zune and I'm glad to see it doesn't force you have a PC with the Zune software in order to use it. Upon signing up for the Zune Pass (free 14 day trial), you can download or stream almost anything in the Zune store and as a current Spotify subscriber, this has me thinking I'm going to switch.
The battery life is probably better than most Android phones but compared to my iPhone 4, it is noticeably less. You will have to charge it every day. With the LTE signal always on and no way to turn it off (unless you disable all data), it might be just enough to get you through the day but you should carry a phone charger with you just in case. I pull my phone off the charger when I get up, and do some browsing, stream/ download music off Zune, take some pictures, and read a few news apps throughout the day and it I will be down to 20-30%. The iPhone doesn't have LTE, live tiles, or a 4" screen but otherwise the hardware is similar, but it can go much further on a charge. I don't have any exact numbers but take my word for it.
lastly, the much criticized camera. Yes, it doesn't have backside illumination on its 8MP sensor. low light pictures will struggle to look good in those conditions, but I have found the ones taken with a good amount of lighting turn out pretty good. the lens (with Carl Zeiss branding) has an aperture of 2.2/28 which I'm guessing is wider the iPhone? Not a camera expert but here are some sample pictures I took with the phone so you be the judge:
I'm going to keep my iPhone as sort of a do it all iPod because I still have 16GB of music on it plus all my apps, pictures, games etc. It would be dumb to abandon it, but the Lumia has become my daily driver and will fill the void nicely until the next iPhone comes out.
The phone has a very solid feel. I got the black, and the material is uses is unlike anything I've seen on a phone. The display is also raised slightly from the unibody chassis, but it very nice to hold and use.
The 4.3" screen has a 800x480 res, so its PPI is much lower than the iPhone's. This plays a factor in the crispness of the test, but most of the WP7 software uses very large fonts so you don't notice until you use the browser where smaller text is used before you realize this weakness. The colors are great, as it's AMOLED and the blacks are deep.
The browser is Internet Explorer. As you can imagine, it is well behind the webkit browsers used in Apple and Android devices. Text rendering is not great, nor is CSS but javascript looks to be okay. You can actually use the drop down menus on these forums for example (make sure to use the Fluid HD theme, not the mobile for best results). It does not support Flash.
The WP7 software is quick. Though it can be debated that its use of animation plays tricks on the eye making the phone "feel" faster than it might actually be, it's still a nice experience.
The phone part of it is excellent. I've heard that phone is capable of a higher quality signal than its iPhone counterpart. I have no way of testing this theory other than the fact I believe it sounds great. I would say it does indeed sound clearer than my iPhone 4 but it might be the difference in my case between CDMA and GSM. I have a very good reception where I live for both phones and make the majority of my calls from home so as far as I can tell, the Nokia wins on this front.
The apps selection is, as you might expect, brazen. There are some good WP7 exclusive apps that I've come to discover and some of the apps from "big name" companies and news outlets are there but it has a very long ways to go. If you are very heavily depending on a number of apps, you might be disappointed in the selection here. The Facebook, Youtube, and Twitter apps for example, are horrible...basically to the point you're better off using the mobile site for each. I do like, however, that you install apps on the fly with one click and with the LTE speeds, it's the fastest I've seen on a phone.
The music is of course Zune and I'm glad to see it doesn't force you have a PC with the Zune software in order to use it. Upon signing up for the Zune Pass (free 14 day trial), you can download or stream almost anything in the Zune store and as a current Spotify subscriber, this has me thinking I'm going to switch.
The battery life is probably better than most Android phones but compared to my iPhone 4, it is noticeably less. You will have to charge it every day. With the LTE signal always on and no way to turn it off (unless you disable all data), it might be just enough to get you through the day but you should carry a phone charger with you just in case. I pull my phone off the charger when I get up, and do some browsing, stream/ download music off Zune, take some pictures, and read a few news apps throughout the day and it I will be down to 20-30%. The iPhone doesn't have LTE, live tiles, or a 4" screen but otherwise the hardware is similar, but it can go much further on a charge. I don't have any exact numbers but take my word for it.
lastly, the much criticized camera. Yes, it doesn't have backside illumination on its 8MP sensor. low light pictures will struggle to look good in those conditions, but I have found the ones taken with a good amount of lighting turn out pretty good. the lens (with Carl Zeiss branding) has an aperture of 2.2/28 which I'm guessing is wider the iPhone? Not a camera expert but here are some sample pictures I took with the phone so you be the judge:
I'm going to keep my iPhone as sort of a do it all iPod because I still have 16GB of music on it plus all my apps, pictures, games etc. It would be dumb to abandon it, but the Lumia has become my daily driver and will fill the void nicely until the next iPhone comes out.
When you re-enter IE, a short tab on the back button should take you to the previous page. The Metro guideline is pretty clear to the app developer that to utilize the back hardware key, so I doubt IE will ever draw a software key on screen in landscape mode.
And I just muted my 900 and my Skype and Visual Voice Mail still works. Can you be more specific about your problem? What I get from you is that when you mute your phone, any program that requires sound won't work??
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Did anyone buying the Lumia look at any of the other windows phones? How does it compare to Samsung or HTC windows phones? I feel like I want to get the Samsung Focus Flash (outright not on contract) because it's reasonably fast and has a smaller screen so I could operate easily with one hand.
My co-worker has the Focus S and I really like the screen except the casing. But if you go with the Samsung route, then you will miss out the Nokia apps ?
It wasn't quite built from the ground up. The kernel is still CE. Like Windows Mobile and PocketPC. Although obviously Microsoft has made some iterative improvements in that time.Aside from the name, Windows Phone 7 really isn't a windows OS in that it was built from the ground up. If they called the OS on the 360 (I am not sure it even has a name currently?) something like Windows 360, would that automatically have you cast it aside as an (I assume you imply bad) Windows OS?
For Windows Phone 8 (Apollo) they are switching to NT. So by the end this year Windows Phone will very much be Windows.
Not that the Lumia 900 will be able to upgrade to Apollo but that is another story for another thread.
No mobile flash support on iOS, Windows Phone OS.
Also no mobile flash support on Chrome for Android either. Adobe discontinued mobile flash development in Q4 2011.
Everyone is moving towards html5.
You are going to be picky about the kernel... Ok, but I think it's clear what we meant. WP7 doesn't play like any other windows OS. Anyone that has used it would agree, I think.
Appreciate the input, btw.
I have a Windows Phone. The HTC 7 Mozart. I agree it has some similarities to the next version of Windows, but almost no similarities with the current version of Windows.
I think MS is seeing that people prefer an ultra simple OS (look at Apple incorporating stuff from iOS into OSX with each revision). I don't know how I feel about that, though. I feel like things are being dumbed down. Might be more user friendly for the average Joe, but for those who know a bit more, it's kind of painful.
I just ordered mine a few days ago...got it for free. Should be a good supplement to my iPhone
I also wonder if they're aware that they were just flat wrong about zune marketplace...it's far from "bathed in copy protection". If you buy a song, it's yours to do what you want with...no copy protection at all (and higher quality than iTunes as well). It's only if you download it with zune pass that its protected...and what did they expect? They could pay $10, download as much as they want, and the stop paying and keep it all?
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not a single feature is removed in windows 8. all they really changed is the start screen, and added metro apps. but standard apps (and desktop) aren't removed. It's actually really pleasant using the metro apps (switching is intuitive and fast, the side snap is really useful, etc). But you can keep everything like normal except for the start screen on the desktop if you want. And the start screen is honestly an improvement over the old pop-up menu
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unfortunately yes. theres a very nice htc app i had when I had an htc surround that I've been missing on my focus, and will continue to miss on my lumia.
I also wonder if they're aware that they were just flat wrong about zune marketplace...it's far from "bathed in copy protection". If you buy a song, it's yours to do what you want with...no copy protection at all (and higher quality than iTunes as well). It's only if you download it with zune pass that its protected...and what did they expect? They could pay $10, download as much as they want, and the stop paying and keep it all?
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not a single feature is removed in windows 8. all they really changed is the start screen, and added metro apps. but standard apps (and desktop) aren't removed. It's actually really pleasant using the metro apps (switching is intuitive and fast, the side snap is really useful, etc). But you can keep everything like normal except for the start screen on the desktop if you want. And the start screen is honestly an improvement over the old pop-up menu
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unfortunately yes. theres a very nice htc app i had when I had an htc surround that I've been missing on my focus, and will continue to miss on my lumia.
I realize they aren't removing features. This is true for OSX as well. I guess I phrased it wrong. They are making it so you have to learn even less about the OS. I think generations ahead will know much less about basic things like file systems because they don't have to. A little depressing.
well, there I do agree with you. But I'm a person who believes that much, much more in depth computer education needs to be a part of school curriculums from a young age. Particularly for kids who are in elementary school/middle school now, computer knowledge (and I mean knowledge like coding, etc, not just how to use word) is going to be pivotal in their ability to get a job. The US economy is moving towards an information/technology based economy.
and android phones in theory outperform the iPhone in all those areas (maybe not the camera). It's about the OS, plain and simple. Now, I love the iPhone, and I do agree that it is superior, but I think windows phone has the potential to be the best platform out there down the road, and I think the OS itself is the best designed of any of them
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luckily the screen in the lumia 900 isn't pentile...I agree pentile screens seem a little off
To all those complaining about the lack of dual core... It doesn't mean much. The Lumia has a 1.4GHz cortex A9 while the 4S has 2x800MHz A9 cores. Generally doubling the number of cores does not result in twice the performance; doubling the clock speed usually does. Apps have to be specially designed to take advantage of multiple cores too. I would not be surprised if the Lumia's CPU outperforms the A5 in most CPU intensive tasks.
Actually, a lot has been removed compared to Windows 7. Here's a list: http://xpwasmyidea.blogspot.com/2011/09/features-removed-in-windows-8.html
Has there ever been a more argumentative and frankly headache inducing thread in the history of macrumors?