Windows Phone
This weekend there was a Nokia 830 in the mail, my first modern smartphone. I’ve managed to make do with a trusty Nokia 808 for the last 2,5 years, and before that a Nokia C7 and an Acer Android 2.2 phone.
Finding a new one wasn’t easy, because as you may suspect, I’m used to a half-decent camera on my phone. Now, I knew getting something similar to the 808 was going to be difficult. The Nokia 1020 is hard to get (or expensive), and in the Android universe only some top-end phones have decent cameras. It’s a real pity that the Android universe is so spec-dominated: you can have all the cores, memory and megapixels you want, just don’t expect it’s well put together. It seems Nokia is continuing the tradition of decent cameras on cheap to mid-range phones too. The 830 has Pureview optics, and performs on par with any ol’ LG G4 or Samsung Galaxy S6, but for a fraction of the price (and with just 10MP). I havn’t really put it to the test yet, but my first impression is indeed that the 830 performs well, even in low light conditions. Sound’s good, phone’s fast, not a bad purchase. Another trend I’m unhappy about is size: this thing is 5 inches, waaaaay to big. I’ve fond memories of my C7: 3.5" was perfect. My girlfriends Blackberry Q5 I like for the same reason. But you just try to get a decent camera on a 4-ish inch phone: not even Nokia does that anymore…
Earlier, I’ve used a Windows phone for about a week, so I hadn’t really tested it until now. I can say I’m pleasantly surprised. It’s really bare-bones, and I like things that get out of my way. Even Internet Explorer is not bad when I enable data compression (I wouldn’t have thought I’d even utter those words post IE5.5). I always liked Opera Mini on Symbian, but under Windows Phone (or Mobile or whatever) it definitely not as snappy as it seemed on Symbian. I’ll keep it around for those 3G moments (it blocks most ads thankfully). Even the music player is not bad (I can browse by genre!). Apps are hit and miss, as you know, but I don’t really care. There is Whatsapp, good ActiveSync/Cal-/CardDav integration, a decent music player, a Gameboy emulator, what more do I need? I’ll perhaps miss QuasarMX. Anyway, app support much better than Symbian, so I don’t expect any problems here, even if Windows 10 MobilePhoneWhatever doesn’t result in better support.
So, that’s my initial impression of the Nokia 830. Apart from its size, I think it’ll suit my needs.