back to article Microsoft's Lumia 930... a real HANDFUL

Microkia's new Lumia 930 is quite a handful – in the best way possible. Let's start with the phone's dimensions. At 9.8mm deep it's rather chunkier than the 8.1mm Galaxy S5 and 7.6mm iPhone 5s. And that's a good thing: in my paws the Apple and Samsung phones sometimes feel a little too thin for casual handling. The 930 feels …

  1. AMBxx Silver badge
    Thumb Up

    Something wrong

    You appear to have written the review after actually using the phone. Surely it's more important to put together a hatchet job based upon the reviews by bloggers who haven't used a WP since version 6?

    1. Adam 1

      Re: Something wrong

      Never fear. The long running tradition has been continued where phone reviews don't mention the capability (or otherwise) of "making a telephone call".

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Something wrong @Adam 1

        That is the reason I take ALL phone reviews with a large shovel full of salt.

        Without that key bit of key information it might as well be a review of a very small tablet.

    2. big_D Silver badge

      Re: Something wrong

      Although... He does say not much difference between 8.0 and 8.1; I would say the notification center (drop down a la Android and iPhone) and Cortana are big steps forward. :-S

      Otherwise it seems well balanced, which is nice for a change.

      I much prefer the feel of my 1020 to my Galaxy S4.

    3. TheVogon

      Re: Something wrong

      Just ordered one with an orange cover from Clove - £430 inc the '£130 worth' of early adopter starter pack - seems to be the best price.

  2. Andraž 'ruskie' Levstik

    And I smuggly observe from

    My Jolla perch.

    1. cambsukguy

      Re: And I smuggly observe from

      Because? It as more apps, doubtful, it has a better camera? doubtful, it runs a Linux derivative, aah, gotcha.

      Obviously superior then, after all, I had an N900, I know what I am talking about.

      1. Lars Silver badge
        Happy

        Re: And I smuggly observe from

        "more apps, doubtful"! I suppose you know you can use the Android store with Jolla.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: And I smuggly observe from

      Is that the type of perch that they nail dead parrots to?

  3. king of foo

    er, specs?

    Your typical el reg reader wants specifics. That article would have been fine on a hipster site or on mums net but we want specifics here please.

    How does the battery life compare to x? What CPU/GPU/ram. The camera does look pretty good but I'd rather know if ms have been stingy with ram again like they were in the 630.

    I'm sure it's a cracking phone but I'd want to know how it compares to a reference device, like a nexus or iPhone.

    I was quite critical of the 630, purely due to the stinginess of the ram, and I still stand by what I said now i've had first hand experience of using one. I'm sure the 930 doesn't suffer from this, but now I'll need to look elsewhere for more detail, and I can't be bothered...

    1. Mike Taylor

      Re: er, specs?

      The 930 has 2 gigs of RAM c/w the 630's 0.5.

      I ordered my 930 on Friday.

      1. eJ2095

        Re: er, specs?

        1.5 gig as a page file....... ;-0

    2. Simon Sharwood, Reg APAC Editor (Written by Reg staff)

      Re: er, specs?

      I've billed this article as a "first fondle" because that's what it is, as opposed to a full review. I expect we'll get to that soon, at which point you'll get all the data you could want.

      1. king of foo

        Re: er, specs?

        Sorry - I came across a bit harsh this morning. Mondayitus.I also had a killer hangover from the footie last night.

        It was a good read; I was just hoping for a little table at the bottom benchmarking specs/performance. Appreciate it was a "first fondle" and that info may not have been to hand.

        What can I say? I'm a sweary pedant!

    3. Down not across

      Re: er, specs?

      Whilst I do agree that we do like full details, from pure user experience viewpoint (as "first fondle" suggests) the cpu/gpu/ram etc don't matter. If the device behaves well without niggles and feels nippy to use that is what really matters.

      As for comparing cpu/ram of completely different platforms that utilise the hardware somewhat differently is kind of pointless.

      Battery life of course is important and quite comparable

      1. Babbit55

        Re: er, specs?

        Being a Win 8 phone the battery life shouldn't be too bad. My 520 lasts for ever, normal use I can get about 2.5 days out of it, my work iPhone struggles with 1!

      2. greenawayr

        Re: er, specs?

        "Battery life of course is important and quite comparable"

        I'm not so sure. Time seems to pass considerably slower whilst waiting for my crappy Galaxy S3 to wake up or open an app.

        1. Darryl

          Re: er, specs?

          Might want to remove some apps from that phone. My non-crappy S3 wakes up and opens apps just fine.

    4. cambsukguy

      Re: er, specs?

      So, you would buy a high-end phone of a different variety because a particular website that you read, that occasionally reviews items, rarely exhaustively IMO, re-reviews a device that has been available for some time and you like the idea of it but, since it lacks an indicator of the RAM size (2GB according the response below, the same as a 1020, huge for a WinPhone) or a (subjective) view of the camera capabilities.

      You have more money than sense as they say.

    5. Shady
      Joke

      Re: er, specs?

      Your typical el reg reader wants swearing, bad puns, pedantry etc.

  4. msknight

    Positive review from behind me

    A colleague has one and reported that everything was "on" by default so battery life tanked so he is still researching how to turn stuff off. Some of the pictures he has taken are really nice. As an amateur shutterbug I'm impressed by the colour, contrast and overall performance.

    Also, he reported no headphones in his box, but he has, "enough bloody headphones" anyway.

    (sorry, his is the 635, but it's a damn nice performer. I'm still not umping to Windows myself, though.)

  5. Charlie Clark Silver badge

    Is this the review of a camera or a phone?

    giving users a chance to do a little more than point, shoot and…

    Why and? Point and shoot is what most people do with any camera, especially phones. I know Nokia has some very clever and good technology in the cameras in their phones but most people do just want stuff to work as quickly and simply as possible.

    You praise Windows Phone 8.1 but how far does it go to resolve the gripes that people have with the previous version?

    1. Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face

      Re: Is this the review of a camera or a phone?

      I'm still on 8.0. If you can live with (amongst other things) the mandatory synching of your data to the MS cloud, random battery drainage, a mail client which can't handle Postfix "plain" SMTP authentication, the inability to switch off the phone while charging, a Skype client that doesn't allow old style Skype logins, a screen which locks while you're driving, delving through interminable menus to perform the simplest tasks, a search button that's hardwired to Bing and a satnav that has apparently never heard of the M62 it's really not too bad.

      1. Babbit55

        Re: Is this the review of a camera or a phone?

        Here maps is the best satnav I have used, are you sure you are using a windows phone? Syncing to MS cloud is nice, not seen any random battery usage and my mail for our standard SMTP server worked without a hitch. You shouldn't be using your phone while driving so locking screens shouldn't be a problem while you drive! also use the right search button, the one on the device goes to bing though the one within the apps menu searches apps.

        Just to point out I live near and use the M62 frequently and my 520 hasn't failed me on a journey yet, en-fact my wife nicks my phone to go to work sometimes cause she dislikes the satnavs available on her iPhone!

      2. cambsukguy

        Re: Is this the review of a camera or a phone?

        You can set the search to Google, it is in the settings for search - it is the only other option mind you.

        You can also not sync pictures and texts to Onedrive if you are keen to risk losing them to a phone theft etc. Not sure why. Also don't see why they should support other competing cloud services instead, increases the risk of unreliability and bloatware in an Android-like way, specifically what WP user do not want.

        When they add a choice that is not essential (e.g. Google vs Bing) I want it to be thoroughly reliable and not affect the slickness and stability of the platform.

        Having myriad choices always seems wonderful to the user but each one introduces more and more corner cases for testing and inherent risk of instability and unforeseen problems.

        Twiddlers need to use Android and live with the fact that they often *have* to twiddle to get it to work in a suitable way for them.

        Most people I know with WPs are happy with the stock machine and manipulation of live-tiles is pretty much all that is required.

        Even all-on WiFi/BT/Data/GPS leaves me with 40-50% battery at the end of a normal day (with the specific switching off of the WiFi options to scan for networks all over the place, can't connect to most anyway). I even leave the WiFi on after locking now because it is a minimal extra drain.

        1. Charlie Clark Silver badge

          Re: Is this the review of a camera or a phone?

          Also don't see why they should support other competing cloud services instead, increases the risk of unreliability and bloatware in an Android-like way…

          That is complete bollocks. Allowing users to choose different services has nothing whatsoever to do with unreliability and bloatware.

          If I'm already using a service such as Dropbox to sync my data to, why shouldn't I be able to continue doing so? By preventing this Microsoft is throttling competition. By all means provide a default but let the user choose to decide otherwise.

          1. cambsukguy

            Re: Is this the review of a camera or a phone?

            >That is complete bollocks. Allowing users to choose different services has nothing whatsoever to do with unreliability and bloatware.

            Common-sense (look it up) says it is not bollocks.

            Having an app that performs a service using the system API means that app may screw up. The App cannot offer itself as a service to the rest of the system or apps - another reason WP is so stable.

            Adding an option to the entire system to utilise a differing methodology to (say) sync stuff to the cloud affects every part of the system that uses the cloud storage mechanism - and apps that want to as well.

            This would require that they shoe-horn every cloud service into the current API doing whatever is necessary to make the API work for that service (an API designed generically perhaps but almost certainly weighted towards Onedrive and tested only against Onedrive).

            Alternatively, they would have to add to the API to cover the cases that could not be driven within the current API. This would still increase the amount of testing and make the system bigger, obviously.

            It is completely possible to do, even reliably. It cannot, however, be as reliable and as small as supporting one, baked-in, system. Since that system is theirs and completely under their control, it is even more reliable.

            This is partly why the Facebook, Twitter integration mechanism is limited - trying to maintain a part of the system with external agencies' APIs sucks balls.

            1. Charlie Clark Silver badge
              FAIL

              Re: Is this the review of a camera or a phone?

              Having an app that performs a service using the system API means that app may screw up.

              And? How is that going to make the system unstable? If the system is not providing APIs for this then it's going to be tightly coupled and much more difficult to maintain than one using an API.

              This would require that they shoe-horn every cloud service into the current API

              No, alternative services would have to provide code that fulfils the API. That is the whole point of an API.

              Alternatively, they would have to add to the API to cover the cases that could not be driven within the current API.

              Nice oxymoron.

      3. Charlie Clark Silver badge

        Re: Is this the review of a camera or a phone?

        a Skype client that doesn't allow old style Skype logins…

        Is anyone still really using Skype? Only a matter of time before Microsoft starts closing down the old style accounts and forcing its UI abomination on the holdouts. For the odd time I use it I still have my pre-eBay Mac OS client; you know the simple one that just works.

      4. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Is this the review of a camera or a phone?

        I agree with a couple of your gripes. The 'phone turns on while charging' seems odd. The skype client that doesn't allow all Skype logins is unbelievably infuriating. I don't like the sensitivity of the Bing search or the default to Bing either.

        But I haven't had to delve through lots of menus, I find pretty much everything I need in settings and I don't find it hard to turn stuff off. The synching is useful rather than annoying, particularly if you have a Win8 tablet or tabltop (or desktop if you're mad) and it makes restoring a phone from backup much easier.

        I do like my Windows phone despite the annoyances.

        1. Matt_payne666

          Re: Is this the review of a camera or a phone?

          A nice first glimpse... a subjective feel of a product... how it feels in the hand and how it feels when using it... I look forward to the full review.

          with glance enabled the display was always on when charging, but the win 8.1 wupdate the phone screen is now off when charging - If you are referring to the need for the machine to be on as opposed to just the display, that's a 'feature shared by lots of phones - even the iPhone.

          The 930 is what I am hankering after as a replacement to my 920 (win8.1) but as the contract is up in October I will probably hold out for the McLaren

          What I need Microsoft to do is release an nice easy way to migrate my current phone to the new hardware... yes my app list is saved and the majority of my data will be re-downloaded when I connect the new unit up, but non-skydrive synced apps, wall paper, tile positions and a myriad of little settings don't get restored... I wish a backup and restore like the iphones existed - I plug my new iPhone in, hit restore and the new phone is a carbon copy of my old one... no dicking around or swearing because the high score on some fiendishly tricky game has vanished....

          1. Daniel Bower

            Re: Is this the review of a camera or a phone?

            Under WinPho 8.1 all settings including wallpaper, tile position and size etc are backed up and restore pretty much ok.

            Some third party app settings are saved but developers are now able to access the API's to enable them to do so.

            If you move phones upgrade your current one to 8.1, back everything up and then restore on the new phone.

            My 930 comes today...

      5. Vince

        Re: Is this the review of a camera or a phone?

        Sync = mandatory? Weird because I can choose.

        Plain SMTP Auth works just fine to my MTA - maybe yours is broken.

        Skype - I'm logged in with my "old" credentials

        "Interminable menus" - give me an example?

        SatNav - what are you using? Here maps is very goodf.

      6. tiggertaebo

        Re: Is this the review of a camera or a phone?

        I'm on 8.0 on my Lumia 920.. sync of your data to the cloud is completely optional, random battery drainage seems to have been fixed in the "Black" update (at least for me), can't speak as to the mail situation as I've got my gmail account on there instead, my utterly ancient Skype account works fine, if you use the official "Car Mode" app it doesn't lock the phone with it active and the HERE Drive satnav kicks seven shades out of all but the most high end sat navs that I've ever used, M62 included!

        Good point on the Bing button though - that is something of an annoyance!

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    no glance :o(

    going to give it a miss and wait to later in the year for other high end WP8.1 stuff. Main reason is it hasn't got glance, which as any Lumia with it will tell you is a very handy feature

    1. cambsukguy

      Re: no glance :o(

      I hope the AMOLEDS they use in future don't have this issue, I want glance when I come to upgrade. AMOLED makers' conspiracy no doubt.

      I suppose they have the glance in the style I use, on for a short time with a pocket removal or hand-wave, switching the display on properly and displaying the minimal info. Worse battery usage than now but better than a full screen start and slide etc.

      1. cambsukguy

        Re: no glance :o(

        >I suppose they have

        I suppose they *could* have.

    2. RainbowTrout

      Re: no glance :o(

      Glance was why I decided on the 1520 after having a 920. Main issue with the 1520 is it doesn't fit in my shirt pocket anymore........

  7. jason 7
    Meh

    Just waiting for the main review...

    ...where it says "the beefy Lumia weighs in at a huge hefty titanic biceps snapping 20 grams more than the iPhone!"

    Like somehow the human race has become enfeebled and cannot carry anything more weighty than a feather in case it snaps their wrists.

    Note to Smart Phone reviewers, some of us are still capable of getting ourselves dressed in the morning.

    1. jason 7
      Facepalm

      Re: Just waiting for the main review...

      Hmmm seems The Inquirer has written just that.

      Predictable.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Just waiting for the main review...

      "the beefy Lumia weighs in at a huge hefty titanic biceps snapping 20 grams more than the iPhone!"

      It has a larger screen than the iphone.

  8. Dave 126 Silver badge

    Nice, but... good, cheap Android hardware is available.

    I could be tempted by a WinPho, since I have only had one Android handset before and I know that I'm not too bothered by apps - I'm not really 'invested' in the Android ecosystem.

    However, the Snapdragon 800 powered LG G2 can be had for less than £300, and has very good battery life, screen, performance, camera and audio. Not the best in any one category, but amongst the top three in each.

  9. thejimthing

    our acid test is.....

    Gave a trial 920 on WP8.1 Beta code to our most picky end user who's an iPhone obsessive and .....

    They loved it, we're well into "when you prise it out of my cold dead fingers" territory when we talk about the trial ending.

    The win was that it actually works with MS Office apps, calendars especially as they're very important in this use case, just goes to show that there's a market for Win Phone, might just be the one person though :-)

    1. king of foo

      Re: our acid test is.....

      Could be a killer business phone if it has a strong battery life. El reg was hyping the 63X for business for some unknown reason - this is a different animal and I can see the appeal. The camera comes into play as a "screenshotting" tool for people who don't know what "prnt scrn" means or for those scribbles on whiteboards and flip charts. OCR?

      What it needs is a decent hook in with "non Microsoft" business tools - e.g. syncing nicely with salesforce.com.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: our acid test is.....

        Check out Office Lens on the WinStore. An MS app that does natty things with whiteboard pictures, document image picture OCR, and OneNote.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    What, no whiny "Pity it runs Windows" comments?

    Some kind of rent in the fabric of the universe?

    1. Matt_payne666

      Re: What, no whiny "Pity it runs Windows" comments?

      although we have had one (ironically un-jolly) jollia user post a single line, un-related rant!

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: What, no whiny "Pity it runs Windows" comments?

      You aren't allowed to say anything negative about Windows Phone here, posts just get rejected. You are seeing a one-side conversation between the 10 real customers, 20 paid shills, and some paid-off "journalists" all having a WinPho lovefest.

      All the while, nobody else cares.

      1. JudeKay (Written by Reg staff)

        Re: Re: What, no whiny "Pity it runs Windows" comments?

        Yes anon,

        We were just being a "paid-off" shills when we rejected 1) a comment accusing a company of legally actionable wrongdoing for which you provided no evidence 2) a comment calling someone a "pathetic pleb" and 3) random abuse hurled at people who disagree with you.

        For heaven's sake, just say that you don't like the Lumia 930 and say why. I'll help you: it still doesn't have a heck of a lot of apps...

        Love,

        Your friendly El <del>Mod</del> Shill

        1. rizb

          Re: What, no whiny "Pity it runs Windows" comments?

          > just say that you don't like the Lumia 930 and say why

          That's going to be tricky, since only reviewers have the bloody things.

          1. Arctic fox
            Headmaster

            "That's going to be tricky, since only reviewers have the bloody things"

            Then maybe the aforementioned AC should have kept his gob shut when it came to such "comprehensive" howling - so much howling that he actually succeeded in getting modded here of all places....hmm?

        2. Arctic fox
          Thumb Up

          @JudeKay "............legally actionable wrongdoing........"

          If the tosser concerned does not realize that a website will end up in very deep shit if they publish/relay libelous material without evidence to support the allegations then he deserves to have his arse modded, end of.

        3. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: What, no whiny "Pity it runs Windows" comments?

          Of course you are censoring... Why not just be honest about it.

          http://postimg.org/image/fft6hy1tp/

          1. Intractable Potsherd

            Re: What, no whiny "Pity it runs Windows" comments?

            So, why do you care, AC?

    3. plrndl
      Linux

      Re: What, no whiny "Pity it runs Windows" comments?

      Perhaps because for that money, you have a huge range of Android phones from which to choose.

  11. jason 7
    Facepalm

    Can we get rid of the AC function?

    I automatically reduce the validity of any AC comment by 90% if someone doesn't even have the balls to put their 'made up name' to it.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Can we get rid of the AC function?

      says Jason 7....

      How is than any less anonymous than Anonymous... Bet your name isn't even Jason...

      1. Intractable Potsherd

        Re: Can we get rid of the AC function?

        Because even a pseudonym gives people the chance to look back at previous posts, and build up an idea of the persona behind it. I've had the same nom-de-plume on here for many years now, and that carries some meaning to those who visit regularly. It wouldn't make any difference if I gave my real name, except it would make me a bit nervous about making some comments - the world we live in makes certain opinions dangerous in the eyes of employers etc.

        It really isn't so much different from going down to the pub, or being a member of a club (ate least for me) - I know people who only exist in that environment, as far as I'm concerned. I don't know their full names, what they do for a living, marital status etc. It makes no difference. I'd be extremely wary of anyone that came in and said "I'm not giving you any name at all", though.

        Some people have reasons for being AC, which they will often justify. Others hide behind it to try to cause trouble with no reason. Based on your published comments and those in your linked page, you seem to fall into the latter group, though your anti-Windows stance does sound like a previously banned ex-commenter - long term readers will know who I mean.

      2. jason 7

        Re: Can we get rid of the AC function?

        It is Jason actually.

        But one of millions of course. However, as the poster above me says at least people can track back and form a opinion of what I say as Jason 7 on this forum.

        Whereas you hide so bravely behind the AC moniker. It's so much easier when you see a nutcase post and realise "Oh it it's just that window licker Eadon at it again!"

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    If the AC icon provides you with a quick way of identifying posts you might want to skip, why then would you want to get rid of the AC option?

    1. jason 7

      Because then...

      ....we can identify the 'usual nutcases' and apply 100% insignificance to their posts.

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