Lumia 928 on VZW

[dagamer34]

Um, almost every Gingerbread-era flagship Android phone eventually made it to ICS. Even weaker ones like the Thunderbolt.

Good try though.

You had to wait a year? Is that really "support"?

 

[OBLAMA2009]

Windows phone has always been reviewed to run well on lower spec hardware. The internals are basically the same as the Lumia 920, so you may want to take a look at that. IMO though the real answer to this question will come on Tuesday. Nokia has a big media event in London, where presumably they will announce their next major release. If it blows the 928 away I'd be pretty wary of getting it myself - and I have been waiting seemingly forever for a Windows phone on Verizon that I liked. At this rate I may well end up with a Note III or something similar.

is this really what ms is counting on to compete with android--its ok that our devices are lower end than the android flagships cuz they "run well on lower spec hardware."??? thats pretty pathetic

 

[poofyhairguy]

You had to wait a year? Is that really "support"?

1 year is better than eternity.

 

[pantsaregood]

is this really what ms is counting on to compete with android--its ok that our devices are lower end than the android flagships cuz they "run well on lower spec hardware."??? thats pretty pathetic

How is that pathetic? At the end of the day, the performance of the phone is what matters, not its specs. You could throw a load of amazing hardware at a phone, then run some sort of command line-based OS on it, and suddenly you have something completely unwieldy that lacks functionality.

If people were more concerned with hardware specs than performance, you wouldn't see the large amount of distaste that exists for Sense and TouchWiz. AOSP-based ROMs are popular largely because they allow phones that aren't "high-end" to perform modestly.

Something else that isn't being addressed is that, in the case of a lot of common apps, increased CPU power is becoming less useful. Loads of cores help with rendering web pages (or not, since that's offloaded to the GPU in a lot of cases), but a lot of apps don't do any intensive information processing.

 

[bearxor]

is this really what ms is counting on to compete with android--its ok that our devices are lower end than the android flagships cuz they "run well on lower spec hardware."??? thats pretty pathetic

I have a Lumia 521 here that is the lowest-spec'd of the "lower spec'd" windows phones and it feels faster and smoother than the RAZR HD I have sitting here.

 

[pantsaregood]

I have a Lumia 521 here that is the lowest-spec'd of the "lower spec'd" windows phones and it feels faster and smoother than the RAZR HD I have sitting here.

Not very surprising. I was going to say that the RAZR HD was probably better at CPU-intensive tasks, such as encoding, but I don't really think that's necessarily true in this case. The RAZR HD has a faster CPU, but MotoBlur is a mess

In web rendering, they should be fairly comparable.

I'm not advocating low specs, though. The reason WP7/8 have always been able to keep up with Android devices with better specs is simple: the OS is specifically built to run on the hardware, and receives a lot of optimization as a result. Android often gets thrown on fairly random hardware with a kernel simply thrown together, which can result in mediocre performance. Bloatware doesn't help, either.

 

[Deeko]

is this really what ms is counting on to compete with android--its ok that our devices are lower end than the android flagships cuz they "run well on lower spec hardware."??? thats pretty pathetic

Only pathetic if you opt not to actually think about it. The majority of smartphones out there are not flagships, and if Windows Phone is more efficient and runs better on lower end phones, it has a huge market. Plus, if you don't NEED the fastest SoC on the block to achieve the same performance, why waste battery powering it?

 

[Selenium_Glow]

is this really what ms is counting on to compete with android--its ok that our devices are lower end than the android flagships cuz they "run well on lower spec hardware."??? thats pretty pathetic

I find it intriguing that people will applaud hardware innovation and design, but completely ignore software efficiency and innovation.

What MS (a software company) has done is make a software that is efficient and does what it is supposed to do. They've worked (hard or not, I can't say) to improve the end user experience. I appreciate them for this, though I can't explain everyone around me "why" software efficiency is important, but it is.

 

[Duraz0rz]

I've had an HTC Arrive for 2 years now and it still runs pretty well, not counting the severe limitations of the Sprint network around here. I'm looking forward to switching to Verizon and grabbing the 928, not only for the awesome camera, but for WP8 and LTE.

While I do appreciate the openness of Android on my Nexus 7, the user experience (from my perspective) is all over the place. It's mostly the apps that have wildly varying degrees of design, which kind of puts me off. In contrast, WP7 had pretty much the same consistent user experience across both first- and third-party apps. Microsoft has done a good job, for the most part, of enforcing their design decisions.

There's not very much I wish from an app perspective. Maybe a better FB messenger client that supports group chats (that's not the official FB app).

 

[Deeko]

It may be WP8 only but the beta version of the new Facebook app is MUCH better all around and does support group chat.

 

[Deeko]

http://www.windowsphone.com/s?appid=93da5d29-daf0-4783-9ed5-a87b33247ec6

 

[jacktesterson]

I had a Windows 8 phone for about a month - Its great for casual smartphone users - but power users, I'd avoid. Just nothing like a Android.

 

[pcsavvy]

Just a FYI: I walked into a Verizon store to check out the 928 and I found an offer from Microsoft that between 5/16-6/23/13 with the purchase of a 928 you can get a $25 credit for the Microsoft Store. I will say the display looked vibrant and scrolling was very smooth.

edit: At&t is currently offering a $100 trade in for your working cell phone, an option if you don't like Verizon, either online or in store.

Of course, if you go to some third party sites, you can get the 928 or 920 for less money than the what Verizon or At&t is listing it at.(subsidized price)

 

[spdfreak]

I bought a 822 off ebay so I could keep my unlimited data. Lots of brand new 822's in the 150.00 range. Great phone- OLED screen, removable battery, sd card slot, and it feels really good in the hand. Plus still pocketable. It was the only phone out there with all those features. The camera is 8MP and takes good pictures but not outstanding. I'd like the 928 camera...

 

[pcsavvy]

According to Nokia, there will be an update for all Lumias concerning their camera software. I think it is being released sometime in June.

 

[notposting]

Just went to the VZW store and fondled the 928 (and the 822, and the 8X). I want it...now I just need to find the money for retail pricing (second kid due in August, trying to buy a house right now, one income, laptop already dying...).

Very nice though. I do like the 8X though -- stick that Pureview cam in it and I would be sold.

 

[pcsavvy]

If you have a Bank of America Bankcard, they have a cash back deal, that if you click on, you can get the 928 through Wirefly for $49 and eventually get $50 back. Or NE has it listed for $29. Check out RadioShack too. Of course I think you have to pay the activation fee. Amazon has it too but it is at retail pricing for now. I am sure as time goes on, it will go down like the 920 has, in subsidized price.

 

[spdfreak]

According to Nokia, there will be an update for all Lumias concerning their camera software. I think it is being released sometime in June.

That's good to hear since there is a thread over on WP forum with people quite unhappy with the photo quality of the 928. My personal assessment of my 822 camera is that it is slightly better than the camera on my Trophy- but not significantly better. My old 8 yr old Canon Powershot A75 3MP point and shoot takes amazingly better pictures than either of my phones. It's not just the sensor size and software, it's the lenses.

 

[pcsavvy]

Here is a link about the Amber update that is upcoming to the Lumias:
http://allaboutwindowsphone.com/features/item/17513_Nokias_Lumia_Amber_software_up.php

In the article it states that it will rollout with the GDR2 update that Windows is rolling out in the summer of 2013. This combination not only adds more functionality to the camera but FM radio and double tap screen and other modifications. The 925 will have these updates as it hits T-Mobile but the rest of the Lumia line will get over the air updates.

I maybe wrong about this stuff coming out in June, more like July/August time frame, if the carriers let it roll through right away.

 

[openwheel]

I have unlimited data.
Does windows phone have something similar to FoxFi for wifi tethering?

 

[notposting]

I have unlimited data.
Does windows phone have something similar to FoxFi for wifi tethering?

At least in WP7.5, wifi tethering is built-in.

 

[pcsavvy]

Depending upon which Lumia model you are looking at most but not all allow mobile hotspot as long as you have a data sharing plan with the carrier.

 

[spdfreak]

I have unlimited data.
Does windows phone have something similar to FoxFi for wifi tethering?

no way to do it without paying the 30.00/mo sharing fee but you just enable it in the settings menu.

 

[notposting]

no way to do it without paying the 30.00/mo sharing fee but you just enable it in the settings menu.

I have no fee on Verizon, still have unlimited data. But can't do it on WP8...I still have my old Trophy.

HOWEVER, you don't have a smartphone already -- the new shared data (even if only one device) include free hotspot functionality I believe.

 

[Crono]

I have no fee on Verizon, still have unlimited data. But can't do it on WP8...I still have my old Trophy.

HOWEVER, you don't have a smartphone already -- the new shared data (even if only one device) include free hotspot functionality I believe.

Yeah, on shared you can do it free. Unlimited they want to charge you extra for it.