One of my most popular blog posts is my Nokia Lumia 1020 Camera Phone Preview. Which you can read here. However this was written well before I actually purchased the phone. And my opinion, enthusiasm, and love for the phone are much different now, after having owned the Nokia Lumia for over a year already. The bottom line is, I would NOT recommend this phone. And I’m going to tell you why.
First of all it crashes, or freezes, multiple times a week. It’s done this pretty much from day 1. ATT just advises me to press and hold all 3 buttons, and soft reset the phone. Which usually works, except sometimes it doesn’t, in which case you have to perform a hard reset.
My entire family got one of these phones. My mother’s phone INEXPLICABLY died within 3 months of owning it. It’d never been dropped, never gotten wet, etc. ATT agreed there was no logical reason for the phone to die and not turn back on and so gave her a replacement one, and so far hers has been fine.
Out of the four phones, MINE is the only one that freezes all the time. I have more apps than anyone else in my family on this phone. BUT that can’t be the reason, because as I mentioned, it’s done this from DAY ONE.
So there’s the first point, freezing, crashing.
Next, let’s talk about “all of those apps” on my phone. Truth be told, I’ve owned androids all my life, ever since the first motorola droid back in the early 2000s. You know, the one with the keyboard and everything? Right. So when I first got android, there were not many apps available in the google play store. Fair enough, it was early technology. It was not long before it began gaining traction, and now, 15+ years later, google has ALMOST as many apps as the Apple App store. I know, because I ALSO own an Ipad, and play mobile games on it EXTENSIVELY (daily). … So where are all the apps for Windows Phone? In a recent marketing conference, Microsoft announced that developers could very easily port their games over to the windows phone at the simple push of a button, and they showed a demonstration. AT LAST, I thought maybe we would see some good apps….. That was almost six months ago…. and you know how many of my existing games now have windows apps? TWO of them, out of probably 70 games… TWO….. And the apps that ARE available are DRASTICALLY different from their IOS and Android versions. For example, Instagram, has maybe 5 filters on the windows version, and you can not control the “strength” of the filters, etc the way you can on the other versions.
So there’s point 2: No third party application support.
Along a similar vein, none of the big-box electronic stores such as Fryes, Best Buy, Radio Shack, etc, carry any accessories for the Windows Phone. Sure you can find a few things online, but I REALLY miss just being able to walk into a store and buy something off the shelf, the way I could with my Galaxy phone. As a girl, who regards her phone as a fashion accessory, and enjoys customizing her phones, this is a definite draw back. I can’t even find screen protectors or cases and have to order those online also. Design and selection of which are often limited.
Point 3, availability of phone accessories.
So Now that I’ve told you about the bad things, let me tell you a couple really cool things that the Nokia Lumia 1020 can do that Apple and Android can’t. My favorite thing is the ability to block a caller. I’ve blocked so many unwanted messages. When I first got my phone, someone had text alerts turned on whoever had my number previously, and I kept texting back STOP UNSUB UNSUBSCRIBE REMOVE DELETE HELP etc. None of these worked. I eventually found by pressing and holding my finger down over a number in my call or text history, I can block that number! This is AMAZE-BALLS you guys. Why don’t android and apple have this, built into the phones natively? I assume they probably have apps for this, but this is like the most useful feature of a phone EVER. Telemarketers, bill collectors, angry ex boyfriend/girlfriends, whoever, wherever just block them! It’s so awesome. Their calls and texts no longer show up, never ring, never alert you, never get recorded. BEST THING EVER!!!.
The camera also is pretty badass. I showed some photos from flicker in my Preview a few years ago, and I have to say, at the time, my camera, completely blew any android or apple camera out of the water. However, I’m not so sure now, with the new Iphone 6 camera, it looks pretty amazing too, even though it has far less Megapixels. Here are a few pictures I’ve taken with my own Nokia Lumia 1020 taken at night in a dark room and 100% unretouched/unfiltered.
My Limited edition Migidoll Kay 2 head with default faceup from Migidoll
My limited edition Migidoll Kay 2 head with default faceup from Migidoll
A photo posted by jenilee (@xenokitten) on
My Migidoll Kay 2 Limited edition head with default faceup from Migidoll
So in it’s defense, the ability to block any number, and the capabilities of the camera, are both amazing selling points in favor of purchasing the Nokia Lumia 1020.
In the end, it’s not the worst phone, but it definitely is not the best phone either! I’m writing this as a follow up to my Nokia Lumia 1020 PREVIEW article which I had written before owning this phone. Every day that article gets tons of hits and views. So I wanted to write this piece as a follow up. I hope it helps you to make an informed buying decision. I plan to switch to Iphone as soon as my contract ends, but I will keep the phone as an ultra lightweight portable DSLR camera.
