Looking for cheap Windows Phone 8.

[bearxor]

Yeah, I've got mixed answers on it. Several more techie places list it as a HSPA 21 device. But several places list it online in their descriptions as a 42 device. I asked a TMo customer service rep when I tried to get it unlocked and she noted it was a DC HSPA device. I don't know if its possible for me to tell in the field test mode or not.

As for unlocking, they said I needed to wait 7 days before they'd unlock it. I might be tempted to grab a AT&T MicroSIM, activate it on my iPad with my Mobile Share plan then stick it in the 521.

 

[bearxor]

iPhone 5:

Lumia 521:

 

[RedRooster]

Thanks for the review bearxor!

I'm really tempted to get one of these 520s to try out, as I have $150 on my account right now to burn up on a new phone, and don't feel a Nex4 is a big enough change from my GNex.
Just curious how WP8 has come along since I had my WP7 a couple years back.

 

[Crono]

Thanks for the review bearxor!

I'm really tempted to get one of these 520s to try out, as I have $150 on my account right now to burn up on a new phone, and don't feel a Nex4 is a big enough change from my GNex.
Just curious how WP8 has come along since I had my WP7 a couple years back.

Honestly, it doesn't feel that different from WP 7.5. IE might be a little faster and you have the new tile sizes, and there are some other minor tweaks and features, but everything else feels pretty much the same.

Which is good because it feels smooth and stable.
I think Windows Phones handily beat out all other new lower-end phones if you want a smartphone that works well and consistently. Android is good if you have Jellybean or higher and at least a gigabyte of RAM, though.

 

[RedRooster]

Honestly, it doesn't feel that different from WP 7.5. IE might be a little faster and you have the new tile sizes, and there are some other minor tweaks and features, but everything else feels pretty much the same.

Which is good because it feels smooth and stable.

And apps too, I'm kinda interested to see what two years did.

 

[Crono]

iPhone 5:


Lumia 521:

Nice comparison.

I was impressed that Nokia's cameras are pretty good down the line and not just with the 920. A definite plus for those comparing getting an older iPhone versus an inexpensive Lumia (though the iPhone does have some advantages in other areas).

I'm wondering now how good the Nokia Asha line cameras will be, though I doubt I will ever see one of those models.

 

[zokudu]

And apps too, I'm kinda interested to see what two years did.

Most of the "core" apps are there in good form now, this last week alone we got 3 major refreshes in Youtube, Foursquare and Facebook. Twitter and Pandora have good apps now as well as Hulu Plus and Netflix. I haven't really found an app that I want and can't find or have at least a decent replacement for, there is also this available to see what they do have before you buy:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.microsoft.switchtowp8

The big thing for WP8 wasn't any major upgrades to the OS frontend but it runs the NT kernel now, which should make porting W8 apps between the two a ton easier. It also added the ability to run native code as opposed to managed code on previous WP8 versions. This makes porting apps from other platforms much easier. I know WP has gotten a couple iPhone app ports simply due to this fact.

 

[bearxor]

So I got this thing for two reasons. The first is because I haven't had a chance to use a WP device as a daily driver yet. The second was to see if AWS TMobile coverage would be acceptable for me.

Suffice it to say that just having this phone for two days has pretty much killed any interest I had in switching to TMobile. I get EDGE when my house is labeled on the map as HSPA, and even driving around Charlotte I'll encounter pockets of EDGE or places where data just dies completely.

I'm basically waiting on the phone to get through TMo's system so I can unlock it and then I'll probably swap my AT&T SIM in to it and use if for a good couple of months.

It's definitely the best phone you can get new for $130. The only other phone I saw at this price in Walmart was a BB Curve. Having said that, I probably would have paid an extra $20-30 or so for a front facing camera and an extra 512MB of RAM. I don't think I've run in to a RAM problem yet, but it would be nice to know it was there. A front facing camera would probably be more preferable than more RAM though.

The more I thought about how I use my phone's camera, the more I don't care about the missing rear flash. On my iPhone 5, I set the flash to always off and enable it for photos only when I absolutely have to. So the majority of pictures I take are without a flash anyways. I will miss being able to use it as a flashlight.