Why I am Dumping the World’s Best Mobile Phone (the Lumia 1520)

Enough is Enough

17 September, 2014
Melbourne,
Loren W

When Apple sent me a review unit in the shape of an iPhone 1 in June 2007 it was to be 9 months before it was to be released here in Australia. Even getting the device was not easy, calling in a favor or three, the iPhone was a game changer, made extra special being one of the first in the world to have one, even rarer in Australia for the better part of a year. It was not till 2011 when the first real phablet hit the market the Samsung Note that I decided to ditch the iPhone series of phones, for this larger form factor, and never looked back.

The Sony Xperia Z Ultra was released in 2013 carried on the Android phablet tradition well,

with the best looking and largest Android phablet to date and thinnest at 65mm and with an amazing waterproof design, slick finish, with the ability to take video and pictures even underwater, which I did just that in the Cook Islands on a holiday there. The Sony Z Ultra suffered from some odd issues to date I do not know if they were OS or hardware and the phone’s camera had no flash. A bit of a drama but almost bearable.

Shipping with Android 4.2.2.

I had one issue that I could not ignore. In 2014 with a boring UI .
Apple iOS was dated being 7 years old, and there was no phablet version and even Android’s UI is looking old as well.

Then along comes Windows Phone 8. Looking all new and fresh, with its tiles and thing, it was hard to resist.

With Sony about to bring out a new phablet to replace the Z Ultra, it was time to dump it mine, but for what, the Note 4 would not be out in time, so buying the Samsung Note 3 would be stupid, and there was no Apple phablet yet. Nokia released the Lumia 1520, and it was love at first sight, but I had to get one from China to satisfy my love affair, as again they were not out yet in Australia,

The Lumia 1520, is I still believe the best mobile phone hardware on the market today. The Camera is amazing and the weight and design once you have taken a bite of the phablet fruit, was a no brainer as well. There were 2 issues that made we have to dump it. Lack of apps. – something I can live with I had enough farting apps with the iPhone 1, 2, 3 to last me a life time, but everytime I wanted a new app, Windows was 99% of the time not on the list but Android and Apple were. This is even tolerable because there were compromises and work-abounds for most apps or doing without was ok. I started carrying my iPad Mini and using that where I needed iOS apps.

What Finally made Me Decide to Dump the Best Mobile in the World (to Date) the Lumia 1520

On a few occasions and at an increasing rate, the 1520 has thought it was an Android or iOS device when loading pages via safari. That is it asks me to install an app vs using the webpage I am on. Sometimes this is iOS, and other time Android but never Windows Phone 8 ironically. On some occasions the screen locks or crashes as it I assume tries to install the iOS or Android apps in question. My test for Windows Phone 8 is simple are the top 8 apps I use for android or iOS available for Windows Phone 8, including games that I do play occasionally. The resounding answer is a big no. Saying that I like how Windows Phone manage Office files, but that too is being addressed by the others.

What Can Save Windows Phone

If you have amazing hardware like the 1520, then can anything save or grow the marketplace. There are a few things, if tablets were to run the Windows Phone OS as Apple / Android do then it would be a no brainer as developers on the new hardware would benefit, new apps would be born, and they could both grow each other. If as I and others suggested before, and as Microsoft has sometimes hinted, if Windows Phone was to also run Android Apps the additional 1.4m apps added to the mix would be nothing to sneeze at. Training is a huge issue in Australia and until that is addressed Microsoft will have a hard time gaining any traction. Viva la iPhone6 Plus.