JQL
Growing old disgracefully
Executive Summary
Very simple to initially set up with very sensible suggestions for configuration. A completely integrated operating system with for example Cut and Paste that works. Very easy to use with a lot of thought going into ease of use, ease of getting work done, reminders, appointments etc.
If you are a business person and need to get work done, Buy it, it makes an excellent Assistant.
Introduction.
I am a geek. I like geeky toys but I also can't abide sloppy workmanship by anyone (including me). Therefore my choice of phone has to be made very carefully and only after extensive research - about 3 months in this case.
My previous phone was a Samsung Omnia 7 Windows phone running 7.5 and had reached 5 years of age with excellent service. The bundled software was good and the update to Windows 7.5 made the phone very usable. There were sufficient Apps available, most free, for my needs (I don't need a choice of 5 thousands apps to help me find my car!).
Unfortunately, Samsung made some very poor engineering decisions when designing the Omnia phone which has made me exceptionally wary of Samsung products.
So the candidates for a new phone were: Apple iPhone, Samsung Android, HTC Android and Windows phone, Nokia (now Microsoft) Lumia Windows Phones.
Apple make products for people who need something but don't understand the item (rather like Peugeot with cars, most people who drive Peugeots have no idea where the bonnet is let alone what's underneath!). Apple also want to micro-manage your ownership. That said, my girlfriend's daughters have iPhones and I was able to have a look at both the iPhone 5 and 6.
Samsung had "screwed the pooch" with me by their bad implementation of the hardware on my old phone and also by washing their hands of it when users complained. Never-the-less a friend had the latest Samsung Galaxy S5 so I had a look at that.
HTC. Again a friend had the Android version so I looked at that. Couldn't get my hands on a Windows version.
Nokia Lumia Windows Phone. My niece has the Lumia 535 and has had for sometime so I was able to glean some information from her.
In the end it was Nokia's high quality design & engineering and Microsoft's fully integrated system and the screen size which narrowed down my choices to the Lumia 830 or 930. The Lumia 930 lost out simply because it didn't have expandable memory. If you don't need expandable memory, the 930 is the one to buy.
What's in the box?
The phone with battery, a 1.5 amp output mains to USB charging plug, a high quality USB cable, a set of earphones with microphone and a very, very brief getting started guide.
Mine was a special Sim-free offer and came with some extras: Wireless charging plate; and a set of rather fancy Nokia headphones with integrated music controls all for about ?260, $390, 329€ .
Setting it up
The basic set up was incredibly easy to do. Take the back off, put in your Nano-Sim, optionally install an SD Card if so required (I recommend installing an SD Card before setting up your phone), put the battery in, replace the back and press the on button. The phone went through the start up, asked for my name, asked for a Microsoft account (which I have) or gave the option to create one or not (I recommend you use one). It asked some very sensible questions about configuring and installing options. It then cogitated for a while and when finished had found all the phone provider's info and properly configured it, had set up an email account and the rest of the phone. It then asked to update itself which I felt was a good idea and it downloaded all the latest updates, including Denim, and then restarted.
It had installed some bloatware but not very much. Surprisingly, I found the bloatware mostly useful so about 75% has stayed on the phone, the rest was very easily un-installed (usually 2 or 3 "clicks").
Here Drive+ is the SatNag system (GPS) and works really very well, is free and even pronounces the French road names correctly. Cortana is great. The ease of setting up other email accounts, Bookface, Twitter etc. is exceptional. The MSN fitness App is a must (and I'm about as interested in fitness as I am in the underside of a stone but it's got me hooked). As I'm in France, it installed a couple of well thought out French Apps as well. Someone has put some very serious thought into the sensible configuration of this phone.
I did make some configuration changes which required downloads followed by restarts to the phone - one when I wasn't expecting it (my fault for not paying attention).
Then it became a bit more difficult. There are a lot of options available on this phone and you do need to do some serious RTFM (Read The Flippin' Manual) on the Microsoft site to understand the options and choices. You could ignore them but then you wouldn't be using the phone to it's full potential. It really can replace your PA or Secretary for most things
The best place to start is Cortana. Press the search icon at the bottom of the phone and Cortana starts. Click on the menu and configure the various settings. For example, when I have an appointment in my diary, Contana automatically turns off all alerts for the duration of that appointment and only allows people in my Inner Circle (configured in Cortana) to interrupt me. The rest get a message saying I'll call back when I'm free (you can adapt the messages).
Niggles
May as well get them over with as soon as possible:
The back is made of plastic and is a PITA to put back on. Though, I suppose it will very rarely taken off.
The USB slot doesn't have a cover like the Samsung Omnia 7. It's an easy target for a rain drop.
Some of the default Alerts are too quiet and I didn't hear them at first. Now changed to much louder and more annoying ones!
There are so many configuration options that some sort of guidance is required to tell you why you need to set a particular option. There are one or two options I haven't touched because I haven't a clue what they do and I'm a geek!
In Use
The screen is bright and easy to read in all light levels. It is also very responsive to touch and has a "glove" mode as well.
The wireless charger is phenomenal. Just put the phone on the charging plate and it charges (it is a bit geeky though. Right up my street!).
All my appointments are synced with Google Calendar (though you can sync with Outlook etc.) and the phone goes quiet automagically during the appointment. Unlike Google Calendar on Android, you can see both the start AND finish time of the appointment (mine are variable length so this is important to know) as well as the address etc..
All my Contacts have been automatically downloaded from each of my email accounts (including Bookface etc.). You then have the option of merging them (on the phone only) so you don't have 5 entries for one person! Again it makes sensible suggestions as to whom to merge. The Contacts can also show you Bookface (useful for finding out what the family is doing) and Twitter etc.
Cortana can give you reminders to do things and advise you if your commute to work is more congested than usual etc. Oh and it is the Search as well. The Voice recognition is pretty good (only two mistakes so far).
Office works well. I have my Expenses Spreadsheet (8 tabs) on MS One Drive and I can easily edit it on the phone (much better than the Google Docs aberration). You can also have a subscription to Office 365.
Everything is fully integrated unlike Android. For example: a little thing is the Copy and Paste - it works seamlessly in ALL the Apps on Windows Phone unlike Android.
The camera takes good pictures (10.0MP) and is easy to use. Apart from a few snaps over Christmas I haven't explored the camera fully yet. I haven't tried the front facing "selfie" camera yet.
Storage is good: 16 GB on board, up to 128 GB removable SD Card and 15 GB free on MS One Drive.
The 4G works well and the data transfer using 4G isn't half a bit quick!
Separate volume controls for phone, music, notifications, headset, Bluetooth etc.
The Apps available on the Microsoft Store have covered everything I need except Google Drive, which isn't available. Unfortunately Work uses Google Drive and, if I can get Google Drive to work, I could ditch the appalling Android Tablet I have to use.
I haven't tried a lot of the features like Internet Sharing, Workplace, Driving Mode, NFC, Project my Screen, Selfies, Lumia Photo etc.
Conclusion
This is a well thought out phone. The Operating System and Apps are fully integrated. The battery life is about 1.5 days in my normal use but the wireless charging system means that the battery is always being easily topped up when in the office.
There are all the Apps and more that I need in the Store or bundled on the phone, including Office, AccuWeather, Collins French to English dictionary (?9.99 - the only App I've paid for so far), excellent GPS, MSN Fitness and an App so I can write or edit web-pages/JavaScript/php on the fly, Trip Advisor among lots of others. I don't need 1,000 Android Apps to find my Bike - the bundled GPS (Here Drive+) does that for me.
The Tiles on the main screen are a fantastically brilliant idea and make using the phone remarkably easy.
There is so much about to say this phone that it would take a very long time to describe it all. Suffice to say it has made my life a lot easier in just 2 weeks. Imagine what it'll do when I get used to it.
Having used an Android (and I still use an Android Tablet) I have absolutely no idea why anyone would buy an Android anything when you have the likes of the Lumia Windows Phone and the iPhone available.
Quite simply the Windows operating system on a Nokia is rather like having a Rolls Royce with a Chauffeur, Butler and Secretary to Android's Lada. It just works, and it looks after you unobtrusively.
Very simple to initially set up with very sensible suggestions for configuration. A completely integrated operating system with for example Cut and Paste that works. Very easy to use with a lot of thought going into ease of use, ease of getting work done, reminders, appointments etc.
If you are a business person and need to get work done, Buy it, it makes an excellent Assistant.
Introduction.
I am a geek. I like geeky toys but I also can't abide sloppy workmanship by anyone (including me). Therefore my choice of phone has to be made very carefully and only after extensive research - about 3 months in this case.
My previous phone was a Samsung Omnia 7 Windows phone running 7.5 and had reached 5 years of age with excellent service. The bundled software was good and the update to Windows 7.5 made the phone very usable. There were sufficient Apps available, most free, for my needs (I don't need a choice of 5 thousands apps to help me find my car!).
Unfortunately, Samsung made some very poor engineering decisions when designing the Omnia phone which has made me exceptionally wary of Samsung products.
So the candidates for a new phone were: Apple iPhone, Samsung Android, HTC Android and Windows phone, Nokia (now Microsoft) Lumia Windows Phones.
Apple make products for people who need something but don't understand the item (rather like Peugeot with cars, most people who drive Peugeots have no idea where the bonnet is let alone what's underneath!). Apple also want to micro-manage your ownership. That said, my girlfriend's daughters have iPhones and I was able to have a look at both the iPhone 5 and 6.
Samsung had "screwed the pooch" with me by their bad implementation of the hardware on my old phone and also by washing their hands of it when users complained. Never-the-less a friend had the latest Samsung Galaxy S5 so I had a look at that.
HTC. Again a friend had the Android version so I looked at that. Couldn't get my hands on a Windows version.
Nokia Lumia Windows Phone. My niece has the Lumia 535 and has had for sometime so I was able to glean some information from her.
In the end it was Nokia's high quality design & engineering and Microsoft's fully integrated system and the screen size which narrowed down my choices to the Lumia 830 or 930. The Lumia 930 lost out simply because it didn't have expandable memory. If you don't need expandable memory, the 930 is the one to buy.
What's in the box?
The phone with battery, a 1.5 amp output mains to USB charging plug, a high quality USB cable, a set of earphones with microphone and a very, very brief getting started guide.
Mine was a special Sim-free offer and came with some extras: Wireless charging plate; and a set of rather fancy Nokia headphones with integrated music controls all for about ?260, $390, 329€ .
Setting it up
The basic set up was incredibly easy to do. Take the back off, put in your Nano-Sim, optionally install an SD Card if so required (I recommend installing an SD Card before setting up your phone), put the battery in, replace the back and press the on button. The phone went through the start up, asked for my name, asked for a Microsoft account (which I have) or gave the option to create one or not (I recommend you use one). It asked some very sensible questions about configuring and installing options. It then cogitated for a while and when finished had found all the phone provider's info and properly configured it, had set up an email account and the rest of the phone. It then asked to update itself which I felt was a good idea and it downloaded all the latest updates, including Denim, and then restarted.
It had installed some bloatware but not very much. Surprisingly, I found the bloatware mostly useful so about 75% has stayed on the phone, the rest was very easily un-installed (usually 2 or 3 "clicks").
Here Drive+ is the SatNag system (GPS) and works really very well, is free and even pronounces the French road names correctly. Cortana is great. The ease of setting up other email accounts, Bookface, Twitter etc. is exceptional. The MSN fitness App is a must (and I'm about as interested in fitness as I am in the underside of a stone but it's got me hooked). As I'm in France, it installed a couple of well thought out French Apps as well. Someone has put some very serious thought into the sensible configuration of this phone.
I did make some configuration changes which required downloads followed by restarts to the phone - one when I wasn't expecting it (my fault for not paying attention).
Then it became a bit more difficult. There are a lot of options available on this phone and you do need to do some serious RTFM (Read The Flippin' Manual) on the Microsoft site to understand the options and choices. You could ignore them but then you wouldn't be using the phone to it's full potential. It really can replace your PA or Secretary for most things
The best place to start is Cortana. Press the search icon at the bottom of the phone and Cortana starts. Click on the menu and configure the various settings. For example, when I have an appointment in my diary, Contana automatically turns off all alerts for the duration of that appointment and only allows people in my Inner Circle (configured in Cortana) to interrupt me. The rest get a message saying I'll call back when I'm free (you can adapt the messages).
Niggles
May as well get them over with as soon as possible:
The back is made of plastic and is a PITA to put back on. Though, I suppose it will very rarely taken off.
The USB slot doesn't have a cover like the Samsung Omnia 7. It's an easy target for a rain drop.
Some of the default Alerts are too quiet and I didn't hear them at first. Now changed to much louder and more annoying ones!
There are so many configuration options that some sort of guidance is required to tell you why you need to set a particular option. There are one or two options I haven't touched because I haven't a clue what they do and I'm a geek!
In Use
The screen is bright and easy to read in all light levels. It is also very responsive to touch and has a "glove" mode as well.
The wireless charger is phenomenal. Just put the phone on the charging plate and it charges (it is a bit geeky though
. Right up my street!).All my appointments are synced with Google Calendar (though you can sync with Outlook etc.) and the phone goes quiet automagically during the appointment. Unlike Google Calendar on Android, you can see both the start AND finish time of the appointment (mine are variable length so this is important to know) as well as the address etc..
All my Contacts have been automatically downloaded from each of my email accounts (including Bookface etc.). You then have the option of merging them (on the phone only) so you don't have 5 entries for one person! Again it makes sensible suggestions as to whom to merge. The Contacts can also show you Bookface (useful for finding out what the family is doing) and Twitter etc.
Cortana can give you reminders to do things and advise you if your commute to work is more congested than usual etc. Oh and it is the Search as well. The Voice recognition is pretty good (only two mistakes so far).
Office works well. I have my Expenses Spreadsheet (8 tabs) on MS One Drive and I can easily edit it on the phone (much better than the Google Docs aberration). You can also have a subscription to Office 365.
Everything is fully integrated unlike Android. For example: a little thing is the Copy and Paste - it works seamlessly in ALL the Apps on Windows Phone unlike Android.
The camera takes good pictures (10.0MP) and is easy to use. Apart from a few snaps over Christmas I haven't explored the camera fully yet. I haven't tried the front facing "selfie" camera yet.
Storage is good: 16 GB on board, up to 128 GB removable SD Card and 15 GB free on MS One Drive.
The 4G works well and the data transfer using 4G isn't half a bit quick!
Separate volume controls for phone, music, notifications, headset, Bluetooth etc.
The Apps available on the Microsoft Store have covered everything I need except Google Drive, which isn't available. Unfortunately Work uses Google Drive and, if I can get Google Drive to work, I could ditch the appalling Android Tablet I have to use.
I haven't tried a lot of the features like Internet Sharing, Workplace, Driving Mode, NFC, Project my Screen, Selfies, Lumia Photo etc.
Conclusion
This is a well thought out phone. The Operating System and Apps are fully integrated. The battery life is about 1.5 days in my normal use but the wireless charging system means that the battery is always being easily topped up when in the office.
There are all the Apps and more that I need in the Store or bundled on the phone, including Office, AccuWeather, Collins French to English dictionary (?9.99 - the only App I've paid for so far), excellent GPS, MSN Fitness and an App so I can write or edit web-pages/JavaScript/php on the fly, Trip Advisor among lots of others. I don't need 1,000 Android Apps to find my Bike - the bundled GPS (Here Drive+) does that for me.
The Tiles on the main screen are a fantastically brilliant idea and make using the phone remarkably easy.
There is so much about to say this phone that it would take a very long time to describe it all. Suffice to say it has made my life a lot easier in just 2 weeks. Imagine what it'll do when I get used to it.
Having used an Android (and I still use an Android Tablet) I have absolutely no idea why anyone would buy an Android anything when you have the likes of the Lumia Windows Phone and the iPhone available.
Quite simply the Windows operating system on a Nokia is rather like having a Rolls Royce with a Chauffeur, Butler and Secretary to Android's Lada. It just works, and it looks after you unobtrusively.
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