Nokia Lumia 920 vs Samsung Galaxy S3

[THE JUICEMAN]

I did a quick search on my phone and didn't see any threads on this. I know the Lumia is not out but there has already been a lot of talk on it on these threads so I think it's fair to discuss. So what do you all think?

I think the screen will be better on the 920 and the build quality. I am just a little concerned about the apps and windows phone in general. I also love the stand out features if the lumia like wireless charging, high frame rate for scrolling, and super sensitive touch.

For the GS3 android is more mature and has a lot more apps. The build quality is not great but not bad. Same with the screen. But man that thing is fast and I can only imagine how fast it will be with jelly bean. I love the quick toggles in the notification tray and the tray itself and the lock screen quick app launching. Don't like the colors that the phone comes in though. Sorry for the long post! What do you all think!? Thanks.

 

[iphonefan74]

SIII by a mile. Windows makes Web OS seem relevant and cool

 

[THE JUICEMAN]

Lol I thought windows looked liked a fresh, clean, smooth UI

 

[Technarchy]

I'd take the Nokia by a wide margin.

 

[flameproof]

I did setup a Lumia 800 for somebody and loved it.

You have all major apps (currently >100,000). Touch is more fluid then on the iPhone 4.

There are 2 cool out of the box functions:

Navigation for 110 countries
Image recognition in the normal camera function (I can i.e. translate Chinese characters to English - without any special app)

...but the 920 ain't out yet.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

I have a nokia 800 and love it. The build quality is superb, and my next phone will be a 920.

Having said that, there's definitely a few apps that haven't made it to the app store yet, but I'm hoping that will improve now that developers can use C++ in their apps.

 

[THE JUICEMAN]

I did setup a Lumia 800 for somebody and loved it.

You have all major apps (currently >100,000). Touch is more fluid then on the iPhone 4.

There are 2 cool out of the box functions:

Navigation for 110 countries
Image recognition in the normal camera function (I can i.e. translate Chinese characters to English - without any special app)

...but the 920 ain't out yet.

Do you think the OS would get stale like iOS because there is a lot less customization than android. Even with the live tiles there isn't as much to change as in android. But do I really need all that customizations?

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I have a nokia 800 and love it. The build quality is superb, and my next phone will be a 920.

Having said that, there's definitely a few apps that haven't made it to the app store yet, but I'm hoping that will improve now that developers can use C++ in their apps.

Same question to you as above.

 

[flameproof]

Do you think the OS would get stale like iOS because there is a lot less customization than android. Even with the live tiles there isn't as much to change as in android. But do I really need all that customizations?Same question to you as above.

You can shuffle the tiles. I didn't try to check how deep I can get down into the system.

How much I can customize wouldn't be buy issue for me. But the free offline car navigation is really tempting.

BTW: not sure I would like the 920 size, I would look at the 820 first (800 is pretty much same as iphone 4)

 

[MRU]

Android customisation can get boring too in time, once the look what I can do wears off. Most heavy android users plump for a stock AOSP look, so in actual fact they start to tend to all look the same. And when you have seen a dozen phones and people have loaded the same old launchers again and again on the,, it again all starts to look the same.

No no doubt Android trumps iOS for customisation in regards to themes etc, but again I just say that after 2 years of android and lots of different handsets, the novelty like everything else disappears and even myself finds I prefer the look of a stock device.

So grass may seem greener, until you are on the other side. Just be aware of that.

Personally given the two devices, I'd plump for the Lumia 920 at this point, at least you would know the device will be a top of the line windows phone for at least 18-24 months. Whereas in reality we can expect the Samsung GS4 or at least updated hardware on GS3 to be announced in the new year, releasing . Always irritates me how quickly manufactuers on Android update their flagship hardware so quickly, meaning your flagship for about 6 months in...

 

[THE JUICEMAN]

Android customisation can get boring too in time, once the look what I can do wears off. Most heavy android users plump for a stock AOSP look, so in actual fact they start to tend to all look the same. And when you have seen a dozen phones and people have loaded the same old launchers again and again on the,, it again all starts to look the same.

No no doubt Android trumps iOS for customisation in regards to themes etc, but again I just say that after 2 years of android and lots of different handsets, the novelty like everything else disappears and even myself finds I prefer the look of a stock device.

So grass may seem greener, until you are on the other side. Just be aware of that.

Personally given the two devices, I'd plump for the Lumia 920 at this point, at least you would know the device will be a top of the line windows phone for at least 18-24 months. Whereas in reality we can expect the Samsung GS4 or at least updated hardware on GS3 to be announced in the new year, releasing . Always irritates me how quickly manufactuers on Android update their flagship hardware so quickly, meaning your flagship for about 6 months in...

Very great points. Thanks I guess I agree. When I use to jailbreak I always ended up going back to stock. Also, you are right the GS3 will be out done by the next nexus however many there are.

 

[flameproof]

Always irritates me how quickly manufactuers on Android update their flagship hardware so quickly

IMHO technology should come to the market when it is ready and when the makers think it can sell. Apple hold artificially back on upgrades.

To give an example, they could with very little hardware change change the iPad 3 to more LTE bands. They have the technology anyway.

 

[THE JUICEMAN]

I have a nokia 800 and love it. The build quality is superb, and my next phone will be a 920.

Having said that, there's definitely a few apps that haven't made it to the app store yet, but I'm hoping that will improve now that developers can use C++ in their apps.

I don't think anyone can disagree on Nokia's build quality. What about windows phone? I haven't used it for an extended period of time but everything seems pretty straight forward and quick to do. Apps aside what are your thoughts on the OS? (I know windows phone 8 will improve a lot but the way the OS is used and operated will be very similar)

Edit: forgot things like backing up to the cloud and getting music and pics on and off the phone. Thanks.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

I don't think anyone can disagree on Nokia's build quality. What about windows phone? I haven't used it for an extended period of time but everything seems pretty straight forward and quick to do. Apps aside what are your thoughts on the OS? (I know windows phone 8 will improve a lot but the way the OS is used and operated will be very similar)

Edit: forgot things like backing up to the cloud and getting music and pics on and off the phone. Thanks.

The Windows Phone OS in many ways reminds me of the iPhone OS (iOS 1.x if you will). Everything it does, it does better than any other OS out there. But sometimes you run into things it can't do, and then it falls flat. App data backup is a great example. But the live tiles are a great counter example. Instead of it being 73ºf all of the time, it's... 60º thundering and there's a weather advisory of some sort. And I get that just from looking at my home screen, I didn't even have to open the app up.

As far as backup, you can have your phone upload any photos to Skydrive automatically, which are then downloaded on your computer, automatically. It's like Photostream, but not...

Likewise whenever you sync your phone (which is wireless and happens automatically when you plug it in to charge, if you use a PC) it will copy any photos to your computer, and copy and new music from your computer to your phone. If you manually manage your music, you can set a song to sync without syncing the phone and next time your phone syncs, it will grab the song.

Contacts are all stored in the cloud and cached locally, so you never have to back them up. Likewise, if you have 2 phones as I do (1 for dev, one for use), and you add a contact on 1 phone, it'll appear on the other. In many ways I suppose that's just like iCloud.

Remote wipe, remote lock, find my phone, they're all standard.

And the UI is a pleasant, bright and fun experience. Even on a low end device, the UI is responsive, and the phone just feels fast.

Also, I know some people don't like how the search button is a dedicated bing search button, but it's very handy, and I'd much rather a back, home, and search button to the iPhone's single button.

 

[THE JUICEMAN]

The Windows Phone OS in many ways reminds me of the iPhone OS (iOS 1.x if you will). Everything it does, it does better than any other OS out there. But sometimes you run into things it can't do, and then it falls flat. App data backup is a great example. But the live tiles are a great counter example. Instead of it being 73ºf all of the time, it's... 60º thundering and there's a weather advisory of some sort. And I get that just from looking at my home screen, I didn't even have to open the app up.

As far as backup, you can have your phone upload any photos to Skydrive automatically, which are then downloaded on your computer, automatically. It's like Photostream, but not...

Likewise whenever you sync your phone (which is wireless and happens automatically when you plug it in to charge, if you use a PC) it will copy any photos to your computer, and copy and new music from your computer to your phone. If you manually manage your music, you can set a song to sync without syncing the phone and next time your phone syncs, it will grab the song.

Contacts are all stored in the cloud and cached locally, so you never have to back them up. Likewise, if you have 2 phones as I do (1 for dev, one for use), and you add a contact on 1 phone, it'll appear on the other. In many ways I suppose that's just like iCloud.

Remote wipe, remote lock, find my phone, they're all standard.

And the UI is a pleasant, bright and fun experience. Even on a low end device, the UI is responsive, and the phone just feels fast.

Also, I know some people don't like how the search button is a dedicated bing search button, but it's very handy, and I'd much rather a back, home, and search button to the iPhone's single button.

Great information! Thanks.

----------

So I just played with an old Lumia and the S3 in the AT&T store. Two things I like with the S3 over the Lumia right away (though they are small). Notifications are persistent in the status bar. With the Lumia/ say I'm browsing and I get a text or tweet Well that notifications disappears.. But I decide to keep browsing. 30 minutes later I have completely forgotten about that text/tweet. This wouldn't happen with the S3 because it would always be there.

Also, think about how much time we spend scrolling through everything all day. Scrolling on the S3 is lightening fast. It takes one flick to get to the bottom of a web page. With iPhone or Lumia it takes like ten.

Just a few small details. But important details.

 

[iphonefan74]

People give Android phones crap for so many coming out, what about these? Nokia just keeps tossing aside Lumias left and right and even worse, the poor people who just bought older models cant even upgrade to Windows 8, what a joke. How long before a new model comes out and 920 owners get screwed? It has no SD slot, non removable battery, Bing (which is awful and a flop) as your built in search, Nokia maps, IE for a browser (ugh) and an app store thats barely at 100k apps. You want THAT over a proven excellent device like the SIII?

 

[THE JUICEMAN]

You make very valid points. I think the major draw is the hardware here. It is significantly better than the S3 by most people's opinion. The screen, the build quality, wireless charging etc. the software is a concern for me as I haven't used it very much.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

People give Android phones crap for so many coming out, what about these? Nokia just keeps tossing aside Lumias left and right and even worse, the poor people who just bought older models cant even upgrade to Windows 8, what a joke. How long before a new model comes out and 920 owners get screwed? It has no SD slot, non removable battery, Bing (which is awful and a flop) as your built in search, Nokia maps, IE for a browser (ugh) and an app store thats barely at 100k apps. You want THAT over a proven excellent device like the SIII?

People give Android phones crap for so many coming out, what about these? Nokia just keeps tossing aside Lumias left and right and even worse, the poor people who just bought older models cant even upgrade to Windows 8, what a joke. How long before a new model comes out and 920 owners get screwed? It has no SD slot, non removable battery, Bing (which is awful and a flop) as your built in search, Nokia maps, IE for a browser (ugh) and an app store thats barely at 100k apps. You want THAT over a proven excellent device like the SIII?

Well I mean, are you talking about hardware or software? Because the Lumia 920 is as proven as an un-released product can be, but the Lumia 900 is definitely proven. And I'd hazard it'll be a while before the successor to the 920 comes out, as the 920 isn't out yet

And if you're personally worried about your Lumia 900 not being upgradable to WP8, don't worry. As far as I know there's only 2 features that aren't being supported on the 7.8 update: GPS in background and native C++ code. Every other new feature in the Lumia 920 is hardware based.

Having said that, Nokia maps are some of the best maps around - better than the iPhone maps for sure, in iOS 5 or iOS 6 - and Bing is actually really good, at least in the US. Music search, movie times, it's really quite good and interpreting what you're looknig for and giving you results based off of that. The only time it sometimes fails is for what I would call a straight up "Google search".

Sp yes, I do want and use THAT daily as it's the best mobile OS on the market IMO.

Great information! Thanks.

----------
So I just played with an old Lumia and the S3 in the AT&T store. Two things I like with the S3 over the Lumia right away (though they are small). Notifications are persistent in the status bar. With the Lumia/ say I'm browsing and I get a text or tweet Well that notifications disappears.. But I decide to keep browsing. 30 minutes later I have completely forgotten about that text/tweet. This wouldn't happen with the S3 because it would always be there.

Also, think about how much time we spend scrolling through everything all day. Scrolling on the S3 is lightening fast. It takes one flick to get to the bottom of a web page. With iPhone or Lumia it takes like ten.

Just a few small details. But important details.

One of the main differences that I noticed was scroll speed between my Focus and Lumia 800. If the lumia doesn't do it for you, try a Samsung. Also, WP8 should have some support for more notifications on the lock screen.

 

[THE JUICEMAN]

Sooooo I just picked up a galaxy s3. I just had to at least try it longer than a few minutes in the store. I'm liking it so far. We will see how long I make it. But its been great for the last hour or so lol

 

[Huliodude]

Android customisation can get boring too in time, once the look what I can do wears off. Most heavy android users plump for a stock AOSP look, so in actual fact they start to tend to all look the same. And when you have seen a dozen phones and people have loaded the same old launchers again and again on the,, it again all starts to look the same.

No no doubt Android trumps iOS for customisation in regards to themes etc, but again I just say that after 2 years of android and lots of different handsets, the novelty like everything else disappears and even myself finds I prefer the look of a stock device.

So grass may seem greener, until you are on the other side. Just be aware of that.

Great post. Convinced me to stay with my iPhone and not bother jumping into Android just for the novelty.

Thanks!

 

[watchthisspace]

People give Android phones crap for so many coming out, what about these? Nokia just keeps tossing aside Lumias left and right and even worse, the poor people who just bought older models cant even upgrade to Windows 8, what a joke. How long before a new model comes out and 920 owners get screwed? It has no SD slot, non removable battery, Bing (which is awful and a flop) as your built in search, Nokia maps, IE for a browser (ugh) and an app store thats barely at 100k apps. You want THAT over a proven excellent device like the SIII?

Nokia only have 3 Lumia's out at the moment, plus another 3 coming, so 6 total. I wouldn't call that "tossing aside Lumia's left and right" Samsung have a lot of Android based phone's too. Not fair to bag Nokia and neither is anything wrong with it.

Windows phone 7.8 will keep existing users perfectly happy and Nokia has stated that they're still committed to their Windows Phone 7 devices which is great. A lot of Samsung phone's aren't running Jelly Bean or Ice Cream Sandwich. Nothing wrong with that, there is still lots of apps available.

No SD card is a bummer, I do agree. The Lumia 800 is getting an SD card slot. But at the same time, a lot people may never need one.

Non-removable battery? Really? The iPhone has been this way since forever. As long as the battery just prematurely fail, it doesn't matter for most people. Also I think the Lumia 800 has a removable battery.

Built in Bing, yes Google would be better. Would be nice to have it as an option. But you can't blame Microsoft for trying. At the same time Bing will do the job.

Nokia Maps, what's wrong with Nokia maps?

IE for a browser? Meh. It opens web pages, cool. The days of IE being a piece of vile garbage are starting to be behind us.

http://thenextweb.com/microsoft/201...ocks-95-threats-google-chrome-blocks-just-33/

A good read.

And an app store with 100k apps? You're right there. Google's Play store has been around a lot longer though.

Yes the S3 is a great device and well established. But it doesn't mean consumers can't have a look at something new and wonder what this new device will be like compared.

And finally, The S3 is looking like it will be cheaper than the Lumia 900.

 

[b166er]

My mind is all but made up, I'm getting a 920. Only thing is I would really prefer to get one unlocked. But since we don't know for sure when it will be out of how much, I may just get one on contract to get it that much quicker.

I'm really looking forward to a non iPhone for a while. I can always come back if I'm unhappy. It's good to at least try other platforms so you know for sure what your options are. Android wasn't really for me.

 

[aznguyen316]

I am really liking what I see of the Lumia 920... so many camera and video updates lately. Plus WP8 looks pretty smooth and sleek. I wish the iP5 had the 920 features.. I would've been all over it.