Windows Phone Question (Lumia 1020)

[The Evil Overlord]

Hi guys

...And now, the time has come

And so I face the final curtain.........

 

Not really,

 

I was wondering, can someone who has a good knowledge of the Windows Phone os specifically, the Nokia Lumia 1020 answer a few questions?

I tried going into my local Carphone Whorehouse and after I was done talking about my upgrade, I left thinking WP might not be for me (which is a shame as I really wanted to try it out)

 

Basically how customisable is it?

I asked questions about it but the advisor was more interested in what package I should be on, or how 'superior' the iphone was to it.

I'm not interested in that, when I go to buy something I go specifically to buy that particular something, now I'm second guessing myself

(Don't get me wrong, the iphone appeared to be a great phone and did meet some of my criteria, but then nearly all mobile phones 'meet some of my criteria')

 

As a description of my mindset, I suppose you could call me a Symbian fanboy. But this is something that is important to me as the os was customisable.

 

I'm currently reaching the end of my contract for my sgs3, I can upgrade late January if I choose.

 

Anyway, the questions...

 

 

Can the ringtones be customised to whatever I want?

 

How about wallpapers?

(My N8 could have a different wallpaper on every homescreen, which was nice, s3 doesn't do that, but I discovered by accident that some features and apps can)

 

I know the tiles can be added or removed as needed, but how does one close unused applications?

(By this I mean on the sgs3 you would hold down the home key until another option screen appeared, or in the case of Symbian, you could 'end' the use of a specific application from it's options)

 

How loud is the ringer and how much force is there in the phone's vibrate function? (one of the key questions I need answering)

(This is important to me as in a busy place, with the phone in the front left pocket of my jeans, ringer facing outwards, I rarely hear my phone ring, and almost never feel it vibrate, this to me is where all modern smartphones fall short, the piezo buzzers in older phones were guaranteed to get heard)

 

Also, if there was something about the device that a concerned user who has had one, thinks I should be aware of, please let me know, as good as my s3 is, I didn't bond with it, not like I used to with Symbian phones, and the headaches I've had with my wife's iphone already ruled those out (a comparison of her iphone 4 to my then Nokia N8 showed she preferred the screen, the colour reproduction, the camera, the ringer, <the list goes on> to the point she wanted to trade.)

But I'm getting off topic and I haven't actually posted one yet..

 

I just want to make clear, the iphone is a great device, but it's not for me, and not what this set of questions is about. :)

I would like to get a phone I like, and not one that 'oh I guess I could live with it'

 

I look forward to any replies

 

(Also Mods, if this topic already exists with these questions answered, please point me to before you close it :) )

[Arachno 1D]

My feedback is to get a Droid

[MDboyz]

You probably get more helps and info from www.wpcentral.com ...

[LimeMaster]

To be honest, it's not as customizable as Android or iOS as you can't set wallpapers to your homescreen as far as I know. To close an app simply use the back button. The vibrator isn't too strong, but I imagine there's an app to fix that and the ringer, I don't know as I keep it on vibrate all the time.

[The Evil Overlord]

You probably get more helps and info from www.wpcentral.com ...

Yes but I was looking for user evaluations of it, quite a few users here have, or had all 3 architectures of smartphone os, it's their voice I would like to hear

(plus they're most likely to answer if I was actually asking face to face, and not writing a review for a website :) )

[Arachno 1D]

This is the Droid your looking for

 

[The Evil Overlord]

I'm bored of android at the moment, the novelty didn't last long, which is why I'm looking for an alternative

[Daedroth]

Q. Basically how customisable is it?

A. Somewhat

 

Q. Can the ringtones be customised to whatever I want?

A. I believe so, but it's not straight forward, or it wasn't last time I googled it.

 

Q. How about wallpapers?

A. Windows Phone doesn't have 'wallpapers' due to the tile based screen, however you can change the lock screen photo.

 

Q. I know the tiles can be added or removed as needed, but how does one close unused applications?

A. There is no easy way (like is iOS you can double tap the home button)...basically pressing back loads until you are back to the home screen and can't go back further. This method closes ALL open apps though, which is annoying if you want to only close some.

 

Q. How loud is the ringer and how much force is there in the phone's vibrate function?

A. The volume on my HTC Windows Phone 8S is average, I don't know if other models or manufacturers differ in volume levels. I can miss my phone going off in my pocket in loud places. The vibrate is also average. Windows Phone does have a feature called attentive ringer, which detects whether it is in your pocket and makes it louder accordingly.

 

The BIGGEST issue that I really dislike is that I cannot connect to my work WiFi. We require users to authenticate through a proxy to get out onto the Internet for security reasons. iPhones and Andriod...this is fine as you can enter your credentials into the WiFi profile. Windows Phone...you can't. Meaning that the proxy server denies access. 

 

The second biggest issue is that I cannot store apps onto the SD card, and with only 4GB of integrated memory, it means I can't have that many apps.

 

All in all, I am both happy and unhappy with my HTC Windows Phone 8S. There are some issues that I would like resolved. Other than the two I have mentioned, Xbox Music needs to be updated as it is clunky, as well as a central way to keep all your installed apps up to date.

 

However, I do like the way the phone works, with the customisable tile screen and the OS in general. It's just a shame that the OS is not as well refined as it should be.

[cleverclogs]

Can the ringtones be customised to whatever I want?

Ringtones yes, message-tones no.

 

How about wallpapers?

Lockscreen pictures, YES (either static image, Bing image-of-the-day, special lockscreen picture like weather conditions etc, or slideshow of facebook images etc (I believe)).

You don't get a "wallpaper" per se - you wouldn't see it anyway behind the tiles. You can change the colour of the tiles to 20 preset colours.

 

I know the tiles can be added or removed as needed, but how does one close unused applications?

Hold the back-key down - brings up the multitasking - swipe left right, a close-icon appears over each 'app' that's open. OR just spam the back-button when in an app.

 

How loud is the ringer and how much force is there in the phone's vibrate function? (one of the key questions I need answering)

My 1020 ringer is VERY loud. Haven't ever bothered with vibrate

 

 

[The Evil Overlord]

Q. Basically how customisable is it?

A. Somewhat

 

Q. Can the ringtones be customised to whatever I want?

A. I believe so, but it's not straight forward, or it wasn't last time I googled it.

 

Q. How about wallpapers?

A. Windows Phone doesn't have 'wallpapers' due to the tile based screen, however you can change the lock screen photo.

 

Q. I know the tiles can be added or removed as needed, but how does one close unused applications?

A. There is no easy way (like is iOS you can double tap the home button)...basically pressing back loads until you are back to the home screen and can't go back further. This method closes ALL open apps though, which is annoying if you want to only close some.

 

Q. How loud is the ringer and how much force is there in the phone's vibrate function?

A. The volume on my HTC Windows Phone 8S is average, I don't know if other models or manufacturers differ in volume levels. I can miss my phone going off in my pocket in loud places. The vibrate is also average. Windows Phone does have a feature called attentive ringer, which detects whether it is in your pocket and makes it louder accordingly.

 

The BIGGEST issue that I really dislike is that I cannot connect to my work WiFi. We require users to authenticate through a proxy to get out onto the Internet for security reasons. iPhones and Andriod...this is fine as you can enter your credentials into the WiFi profile. Windows Phone...you can't. Meaning that the proxy server denies access. 

 

The second biggest issue is that I cannot store apps onto the SD card, and with only 4GB of integrated memory, it means I can't have that many apps.

 

All in all, I am both happy and unhappy with my HTC Windows Phone 8S. There are some issues that I would like resolved. Other than the two I have mentioned, Xbox Music needs to be updated as it is clunky, as well as a central way to keep all your installed apps up to date.

 

However, I do like the way the phone works, with the customisable tile screen and the OS in general. It's just a shame that the OS is not as well refined as it should be.

Thank you :) (I really want to try out one, but it's a 2 year contract so I just want to make sure I'm not going to regret it)

[The Evil Overlord]

 

Can the ringtones be customised to whatever I want?

Ringtones yes, message-tones no.

 

How about wallpapers?

Lockscreen pictures, YES (either static image, Bing image-of-the-day, special lockscreen picture like weather conditions etc, or slideshow of facebook images etc (I believe)).

You don't get a "wallpaper" per se - you wouldn't see it anyway behind the tiles. You can change the colour of the tiles to 20 preset colours.

 

I know the tiles can be added or removed as needed, but how does one close unused applications?

Hold the back-key down - brings up the multitasking - swipe left right, a close-icon appears over each 'app' that's open. OR just spam the back-button when in an app.

 

How loud is the ringer and how much force is there in the phone's vibrate function? (one of the key questions I need answering)

My 1020 ringer is VERY loud. Haven't ever bothered with vibrate

 

 

 

Interesting, could you set the vibrate and let me know how much force it uses, (I can only assume you've tried the vibrate function on the sgs3 which, if you haven't,  is in reality, too weak for me to even notice in my pocket)

And you mention message tones aren't customisable, this has caught my attention, can you confirm, there's no option to change tones?

I'm assuming you can set a different ringtone for groups, and independently, like one could using Symbian, (and obviously android, and I mean one's I have download, not the stock ones the device comes with?)

[DaveGreen93]

Q. I know the tiles can be added or removed as needed, but how does one close unused applications?

A. There is no easy way (like is iOS you can double tap the home button)...basically pressing back loads until you are back to the home screen and can't go back further. This method closes ALL open apps though, which is annoying if you want to only close some.

 

I'd like to weigh in on this question here.

 

Q. I know the tiles can be added or removed as needed, but how does one close unused applications?

You can in fact just close a single application. Holding back brings up all open apps. If you have GDR3, you will then be able to close the app from here, if not click on the app you want to close and then tap back until you come out of that app. If you keep tapping back it will close all your apps (you know when you reach the home screen with the tiles).

 

As far as the ringer/vibration is concerned, this is very much phone specific. It's pretty decent on my Lumia 920. If I can't hear the ringer, I can almost always feel the vibration. I too wear jeans pretty much all the time :)

[cleverclogs]

You can set message tones yes, but only from their selection (I haven't tried recently to make any from the nokia ringtone maker). Yes, contacts can have their own ringtone (on device or something you make from the nokia app) or message tone from what's available. Not sure about groups.

 

The vibrate is adequate for my taste, but it's hard to be quantitative about how vibratey it is.

 

Interesting, could you set the vibrate and let me know how much force it uses, (I can only assume you've tried the vibrate function on the sgs3 which, if you haven't,  is in reality, too weak for me to even notice in my pocket)

And you mention message tones aren't customisable, this has caught my attention, can you confirm, there's no option to change tones?

I'm assuming you can set a different ringtone for groups, and independently, like one could using Symbian, (and obviously android, and I mean one's I have download, not the stock ones the device comes with?)

[Daedroth]

Thank you :) (I really want to try out one, but it's a 2 year contract so I just want to make sure I'm not going to regret it)

You see, I'm in two minds. I am half way through my two year contract and I both like and dislike my Windows Phone. However I don't use my phone as much as I could/should. I mainly text/call with the occasional web browse/twitter, facebook and game.

 

Unless Microsoft make some massive changes to the OS in the next year, I will probably not get a Windows Phone again.

[The Evil Overlord]

You can set message tones yes, but only from their selection (I haven't tried recently to make any from the nokia ringtone maker). Yes, contacts can have their own ringtone (on device or something you make from the nokia app) or message tone from what's available. Not sure about groups.

 

The vibrate is adequate for my taste, but it's hard to be quantitative about how vibratey it is.

Yes, as soon as I hit 'post' I thought that to myself, sorry

[The Evil Overlord]

You see, I'm in two minds. I am half way through my two year contract and I both like and dislike my Windows Phone. However I don't use my phone as much as I could/should. I mainly text/call with the occasional web browse/twitter, facebook and game.

 

Unless Microsoft make some massive changes to the OS in the next year, I will probably not get a Windows Phone again.

Thank you, this is why I was asking here, to get an honest opinion as opposed to a review

I regret getting an android (like I mentioned, I never bonded with it, it's just a device, whereas my beloved Symbian phones I instantly fell in love with, and played pretty much all the time with, I can customise Android to appear and behave almost like my N8 used to, but it just 'feels' a little dead, I suppose is one work I could use.  3 months in and I had got bored with the whole thing and started counting down the days til I can upgrade as it's cheaper than simply buying another handset outright, I even found sellers on ebay and amazon with new N8's in stock, and thought to myself, f*ck it, go back to what I like, but then I'd be comparing a dead os to the latest flagship of 2012)

Don't get me wrong, it's still the fastest thing I've ever had to date, but it doesn't have the little quirks I like and miss, and I'm missing Nokias, I'm desperately looking for reasons from users like yourself to weigh up the pros and cons.

 

The opinions I'm receiving, from everyone here, matter to me :)

[Daedroth]

You're welcome. :) From what I've heard, the HTC One is meant to have one of the best implementations of Andriod, so you may want to go into a store and see if you can play with a demo unit of one of those. However, they are expensive so you may want to look at the HTC One Mini.

 

Like I said, unless Microsoft fix the OS, I will be switching...probably to Andriod, simply because I can't afford/can't justify the cost for an iPhone.

[Arachno 1D]

The HTC One has a pseudo windows 8 live tile window but I have it disabled as I dislike the look which is why I dont have the 8 version of HTC.  

[TAZMINATOR]

I'm bored of android at the moment, the novelty didn't last long, which is why I'm looking for an alternative

 

Oh come on. Can't be that bored. Android has more features and is customizable than iPhone and others... I used to have an iPhone in the past before I switched to Android.

 

You will need to look at the apps store and see what you like..

 

I use Nova Launcher.

 

I use swipe gestures for apps because the app icons are hidden... which are not showing on the screen.

 

I use 3rd party clock instead of default's clock. Because of clock font and color... and the date format.

 

The dock can be disabled or hidden. Mine is disabled.

 

LED colors and vibration patterns. You can use a pattern for each contact and color for each app. For example, red for text, blue for email, green for battery, etc.

 

There is more to the list I could go on but you get the idea.

 

My phone works since the day 1. I have not gotten a new phone yet... I have a Note 2. My contract is finished.

[The Evil Overlord]

~snipped~

I know, but my problem is, I didn't bond, nor get attached to it.

So I was looking for anything that would be considered a good alternative, iphones are a little pricey for flagship devices, and there is one or 2 other considerations that ruled them out, that leaves WP (specifically the Nokia in my case), now due to being an o2 customer for over 20 years now, I can throw a little weight around with them to get something of a decent contract deal, But I really needed to hear the voices from people who have had them, like Daedroth said, he has one, overall it ain't bad, but needs improvement if they're to keep him as a customer, now if this is in fact a global trend then I'm risking getting burned, but it's just the way I feel, partly to try something New, partly because I miss having Nokias (that's all I've ever had until this Sammy) I even considered Blackberry devices.

I can always get another android, not like I'm not catered for there, but I need to feel the comfort and reassurance of a 'this is for me' device <best way I could think of putting it>

[Forjo]

I really can't keep my wife off of hers -- until the battery dies. She loves it.

But that's not what you asked.

It's customizable within the bounds of the OS -- you can change tile sizes, position, default color (you can't override tiles that define their own color). You can do quite a lot to the lockscreen, and you can customize the glance screen that it keeps on all the time with custom images and in an upcoming update, additional information. The beauty of WP is the ability to get the information and the look you want while keeping organized in the grid-like formation.

Ringtones are fully customizable, and you can have different ones for each contact.

WP doesn't use wallpaper -- but the lock screen and glance screen are selectable and can have dynamic information on them.

The OS does a VERY good job of suspending and closing applications. You really don't ever need to do it yourself as the OS NEVER slows down due to open apps. But, like someone else mentioned, you can just task switch to the app in question, and hit back until you come out of it to close it. A direct close from the task list screen is being added in an upcoming update.

The ringer on the 1020 is VERY loud -- it has a very good speaker. This depends, of course, on the ringtone, but you can get pretty obnoxious with it.

My wife doesn't use vibrate, so I can't really answer on that one.

What strikes me is that the first thing you mentioned was customization. If that is what's most important to you, then WP is probably not for you. Where WP excels is in speed, consistency, and stability -- and of course the excellent integration with MS products.

If I had to pick a negative it's that the Nokia Camera app is pretty slow when taking the 38MP pictures. You can still do the old "Smoked by Windows Phone" quick shots if you default to the built-in camera app -- though your pictures will drop to 5MP. They're still GREAT, since the sensor is so good, but if you're shooting quality stuff you'll need to accept the speed tradeoff.

Having said this, 90% of the pictures we take end up looking like professional sample images. But you didn't really state how important photography is to you.

Good luck!

-Forjo

[The Evil Overlord]

The ringer on the 1020 is VERY loud -- it has a very good speaker. This depends, of course, on the ringtone, but you can get pretty obnoxious with it.

What strikes me is that the first thing you mentioned was customization. If that is what's most important to you, then WP is probably not for you.

Thank you for your reply.

These are 2 of the key questions the guy in the store could not answer, I'm guessing I was unlucky enough to land a trainee

The ringer is of the biggest importance as I've mentioned barely, if ever hearing it in a busy or loud place, much less feel the device vibrate,

 

The customisation is more a personal thing as I've mentioned missing Symbian, not the end of the world, but it's something I like to do, I play with my phone and like seeing changes I've made, I can live without that featue, of course, and the camera is something I was interested in because my old N8 used to murder my wife's newer iphone, as far as images go, (personal satisfaction, nothing more)

[HawkMan]

This post needs some corrections from someone with an actual WP, and a1020 at that.

Q. Basically how customisable is it?

A. Somewhat - true, ish,,

 

Q. Can the ringtones be customised to whatever I want?

A. I believe so, but it's not straight forward, or it wasn't last time I googled it.

- Correct answer: yes, easily panel to change ringtones, also message tones can be customized and changed at will as well with update 3(Nokia black)

 

Q. How about wallpapers?

A. Windows Phone doesn't have 'wallpapers' due to the tile based screen, however you can change the lock screen photo.

-true

 

Q. I know the tiles can be added or removed as needed, but how does one close unused applications?

A. There is no easy way (like is iOS you can double tap the home button)...basically pressing back loads until you are back to the home screen and can't go back further. This method closes ALL open apps though, which is annoying if you want to only close some.

- correct Answer: apps will run or be tombstones in the background until another app needs the memory, however you can close them properly from the multitask screen. But there p's no point in doing so. There's no performance hit to having apps in the background or tombstones, this isn't droid or iOS.

 

Q. How loud is the ringer and how much force is there in the phone's vibrate function?

A. The volume on my HTC Windows Phone 8S is average, I don't know if other models or manufacturers differ in volume levels. I can miss my phone going off in my pocket in loud places. The vibrate is also average. Windows Phone does have a feature called attentive ringer, which detects whether it is in your pocket and makes it louder accordingly.

- Correct answer: the 1020 has a very loud ringer I keep mine at 10-13 of 30 and it's fricken loud.the vibration I would say is about average, same as all the other high end phones.

The 1020 is the best phone I've used to date, it simply works, no need to mess with alternate apps or roms or crap like that, it just works and it works well. The camera is awesome and the screen as well. The Nokia glance screen/clock is also great

I wouldn't switch to android or iOS from this, it would be like going back and downgrading.

[TAZMINATOR]

I know, but my problem is, I didn't bond, nor get attached to it.

So I was looking for anything that would be considered a good alternative, iphones are a little pricey for flagship devices, and there is one or 2 other considerations that ruled them out, that leaves WP (specifically the Nokia in my case), now due to being an o2 customer for over 20 years now, I can throw a little weight around with them to get something of a decent contract deal, But I really needed to hear the voices from people who have had them, like Daedroth said, he has one, overall it ain't bad, but needs improvement if they're to keep him as a customer, now if this is in fact a global trend then I'm risking getting burned, but it's just the way I feel, partly to try something New, partly because I miss having Nokias (that's all I've ever had until this Sammy) I even considered Blackberry devices.

I can always get another android, not like I'm not catered for there, but I need to feel the comfort and reassurance of a 'this is for me' device <best way I could think of putting it>

 

I understand.

 

Here is my screenshot I just captured:

 

 

Floating browser.  :)

[The Evil Overlord]

This post needs some corrections from someone with an actual WP, and a1020 at that.

Q. Basically how customisable is it?

A. Somewhat - true, ish,,

 

Q. Can the ringtones be customised to whatever I want?

A. I believe so, but it's not straight forward, or it wasn't last time I googled it.

- Correct answer: yes, easily panel to change ringtones, also message tones can be customized and changed at will as well with update 3(Nokia black)

 

Q. How about wallpapers?

A. Windows Phone doesn't have 'wallpapers' due to the tile based screen, however you can change the lock screen photo.

-true

 

Q. I know the tiles can be added or removed as needed, but how does one close unused applications?

A. There is no easy way (like is iOS you can double tap the home button)...basically pressing back loads until you are back to the home screen and can't go back further. This method closes ALL open apps though, which is annoying if you want to only close some.

- correct Answer: apps will run or be tombstones in the background until another app needs the memory, however you can close them properly from the multitask screen. But there p's no point in doing so. There's no performance hit to having apps in the background or tombstones, this isn't droid or iOS.

 

Q. How loud is the ringer and how much force is there in the phone's vibrate function?

A. The volume on my HTC Windows Phone 8S is average, I don't know if other models or manufacturers differ in volume levels. I can miss my phone going off in my pocket in loud places. The vibrate is also average. Windows Phone does have a feature called attentive ringer, which detects whether it is in your pocket and makes it louder accordingly.

- Correct answer: the 1020 has a very loud ringer I keep mine at 10-13 of 30 and it's fricken loud.the vibration I would say is about average, same as all the other high end phones.

The 1020 is the best phone I've used to date, it simply works, no need to mess with alternate apps or roms or crap like that, it just works and it works well. The camera is awesome and the screen as well. The Nokia glance screen/clock is also great

I wouldn't switch to android or iOS from this, it would be like going back and downgrading.

Hi Hawk, thank you.

I may as well just 'take the plunge' as it were, and get one then. Can't be worse than just living with an s3 from what I've read so far.

The force closure for apps was because I remember my N8 would feel like it's getting slower towards the end of the day, under what would be 'normal use' not an issue with the s3, I just close unused apps out of force of habit now, and in the case of the s3, I still am able to get between 2 and 4 days use from one charge depending on amount of use, (much less if I need to use the sat nav) I will most likely continue to close unused apps no matter what phone I had. (I hope the manual is more helpful than the one the N8 came with, but as I knew Symbian, I didn't really look at it as it was just an overly folded pamphlet)