Is it Windows Phone that sucks? The slow Lumia 620? Or are all phones like this?

[Crono]

Clearly, I'm asking about other phones from the beginning. It was quickly established afterwards that it's likely the phone model, so I have no reason to switch from WP.

Yeah, there's nothing wrong with WP overall if you are happy with it otherwise. I've played around with enough low-end to flagship Android, WP, and iOS devices to know that you aren't going to get a perfect experience on anything, though the flagship devices tend to be very good on all the platforms now (newcomers like Firefox OS have some ways to go, though).

Low-end Android phones don't have the same problems with browsing, but they get very bogged down when you have a lot of apps. Many apps will eat up RAM or CPU cycles in the background. Android has gotten better at managing apps with Jelly Bean and Kit Kat, but the OS still feels slow on dual core processors with less than 1GB (and preferably you really want 2GB of RAM or more). The situation changes if you are looking at devices priced around the Moto G level and up (~ $100, though it's current available prepaid for Verizon for $70).

Do a factory reset and sign onto the Developer Preview program (it's free to become a developer through the "Register as a developer with App Studio" link). Only takes a few minutes, and the 8.1 update is worth getting. Let us know if that makes it more tolerable and less throw worthy .

 

[Turbonium]

Yeah, there's nothing wrong with WP overall if you are happy with it otherwise. I've played around with enough low-end to flagship Android, WP, and iOS devices to know that you aren't going to get a perfect experience on anything, though the flagship devices tend to be very good on all the platforms now (newcomers like Firefox OS have some ways to go, though).

Low-end Android phones don't have the same problems with browsing, but they get very bogged down when you have a lot of apps. Many apps will eat up RAM or CPU cycles in the background. Android has gotten better at managing apps with Jelly Bean and Kit Kat, but the OS still feels slow on dual core processors with less than 1GB (and preferably you really want 2GB of RAM or more). The situation changes if you are looking at devices priced around the Moto G level and up (~ $100).

Do a factory reset and sign onto the Developer Preview program (it's free to become a developer through the "Register as a developer with App Studio" link. Only takes a few minutes, and the 8.1 update is worth getting. Let us know if that makes it more tolerable and less throw worthy .

Thanks for your help btw.

Sidenote: I really wish there was a way to disable the animations in WP. Things like the tiles "flowing" into view or whatever, etc. Or at least a way to speed up the animations, to strike a balance between visual feedback and getting things done fast.

 

[AstroManLuca]

I think the animations got a little faster in 8.1, so that should help a bit. IE is a little better in 8.1 than in 8.0 as well.

Biggest thing will be getting a phone with 1 GB of RAM instead of 512 MB. WP8 runs decently on 512 MB, but 1 GB helps when you switch apps a lot. You're less likely to have to wait while it gives you the "resuming..." screen.

Also, sorry for being a butt.

 

[Imaginer]

My HTC 8X wasn't performing to par of late.

However, installing 8.1 via Developer's Preview (because Verizon and HTC wouldn't push this out) AND uninstalling the HTC apps drastically improved some areas on my slim handset.

8.1 is nicer in some areas. There is notifications that you can slide down to reveal without unlocking, activate bluetooth, access some quick functions. If one does need to access the information in the notifications in depth - I would have to unlock the phone.

Camera access is unhindered, and invoked without unlocking via camera button on the 8X (and the side physical camera button is why I am hesitant on the Samsung ATIV SE).

Cortana is a nice encompassing portal of things relevant to the user/me. I haven't played with voice recognition.

Also, for notifications, I can assign vibrate and/or different sounds for each of them, and a default sound if I do not have one specified for the encompassing app area. I have VPN options under settings but haven't used it.

One thing with the update of Windows Phone 8.1 is quiet hours. I haven't made extensive use of it, but I do like that option.

And of course the Start Screen wallpaper background option, which is a nice touch for some, and for me if I pick a background that doesn't conflict with the forefront live information and tile icon/text display.

 

[bearxor]

I see a lot of IE-trouble deniers in this thread so I want to chime in.

I've owned, and used fairly extensively, a Lumia 521 and a Lumia 920/925. Currently own the 925 on WP 8.1.

Internet Explorer is probably the biggest issue with the OS. It is such a terrible browser on so many says. I don't understand how anyone could use it in their day to day life and not just be happy with it, but find it "acceptable to use".

Basically, it reminds me of Safari before iOS 4. But that kind of mobile browser was perfectly acceptable in 2010. But now? If you need to use the web browser on your phone and it's one of your top features, you shouldn't even be considering Windows Phone. An iPhone 4 running iOS 7 or a Galaxy Nexus running 4.2 will give you a far superior browsing experience even compared to 8.1.

Now, I've not had the pleasure of using one of the newer WP devices like the Icon or the 1520. If they perform better that's fantastic. But it's also terrible that they need a quad-core processor with 2GB of RAM.

But I think it's just modern IE in general. On the Surface Pro, Modern IE exhibits a lot of the same quirkiness with loading pages. And that's a dual-core i5. Desktop IE runs fine though.

 

[Imaginer]

I see a lot of IE-trouble deniers in this thread so I want to chime in.

I've owned, and used fairly extensively, a Lumia 521 and a Lumia 920/925. Currently own the 925 on WP 8.1.

Internet Explorer is probably the biggest issue with the OS. It is such a terrible browser on so many says. I don't understand how anyone could use it in their day to day life and not just be happy with it, but find it "acceptable to use".

If you need to use the web browser on your phone and it's one of your top features, you shouldn't even be considering Windows Phone.

But I think it's just modern IE in general. On the Surface Pro, Modern IE exhibits a lot of the same quirkiness with loading pages. And that's a dual-core i5. Desktop IE runs fine though.

No problems now with Modern IE on my Surface Pro 2. The back caching issues are now mostly non-existant for me that was there before which was the only major problem I have had. Others include being able to run files directly if I download them at will - saving them first and then running them pose no problems however.

IE on my phone? It loads and renders fine on WiFi connections and cellular connections for me. If you are talking how fast pages load, comparatively on Opera on my desktop, both are perceived for me in loading the same speed and rendering in full well enough.

The only issue I have, is the back button collusion with Windows Phone and IE. But it is a design necessity to prevent a hoard of history backlog of tabs and pages. I tend to treat each page as part of the queue of back information on the phone (and sometimes forget that at times).

 

[bearxor]

No problems now with Modern IE on my Surface Pro 2. The back caching issues are now mostly non-existant for me that was there before which was the only major problem I have had. Others include being able to run files directly if I download them at will - saving them first and then running them pose no problems however.

IE on my phone? It loads and renders fine on WiFi connections and cellular connections for me. If you are talking how fast pages load, comparatively on Opera on my desktop, both are perceived for me in loading the same speed and rendering in full well enough.

The only issue I have, is the back button collusion with Windows Phone and IE. But it is a design necessity to prevent a hoard of history backlog of tabs and pages. I tend to treat each page as part of the queue of back information on the phone (and sometimes forget that at times).

It's not really about the rendering or the speed of the rendering. It's more about the user experience. It's just terrible.

But back caching is a pretty major problem still for me on a Surface Pro. And the Surface Pro 2 isn't THAT much more powerful than a Pro 1. But then I'd just have to ask: Why does it not happen in desktop IE?

Ok, if I hit the back button and you don't want to keep that page in memory and want to reload it when you go back. Ok, fine. I get it. No big deal. But when I hit back and can see the cached version of the page and then dots start flying across my screen and I wait five minutes to be able to do something and you're still just sitting there, that's unacceptable. It would be one thing if it happened once in a blue moon. But it doesn't. It's a daily occurrence multiple times. It's just a fact of life web browsing in Modern IE. And it happens on the phone and the surface. And it can be a freshly wiped device with nothing installed on it. It's just terrible.

 

[darkewaffle]

I can't say IE has been a problem for me at all on my phone. I've basically only ever used it for Youtube and some occasional reading though.

 

[pantsaregood]

The problem you're encountering is a result of 512 MB RAM, not the CPU. That's also why pages reload every time you switch tabs - there's simply not enough RAM to store multiple pages at once.

Some sites (like Reddit) tend to use excessively large amounts of RAM, and work quite poorly on low-end phones like the Lumia 620 as a result. Download a Reddit client and your problems will probably cease to exist.