Nokia Lumia 900
In my previous post I said I would have to buy a new laptop, but since then I discovered a phone that I should get my hands on: the Nokia Lumia 800. I was intrigued with its operating system, it was new and something I haven't seen before. Also, it looks like it's integrated with Facebook. I have an iPad so I am already used to how iOS works, and my sister, and recently my father, have Android-powered smartphones, so I know how they look like and how they work. (I wasn't impressed). So the obvious step for someone like me who doesn't always go with the flow (yay Aquarius!) is to buy something new and unique. I did some research on the Lumia 800, and even with the cons of buying this Windows phone, I am impressed with the pros that I told myself I will buy this phone, as soon as I get my credit card. Ha!
So I got my credit card a couple of days ago (June 2), and went to SM Bacoor to buy a phone, and later to watch the Snow White movie (short review: it was boring). I went to the Nokia store on the 3rd floor, and asked a sales woman for the Lumia 800. She got it out for me, and she started her spiel of how the phone works. I knew there was no front-facing camera, but I told her about it anyway. But then she said something that totally changed my cellphone-buying plan: why don't I try the Lumia 900? I did not even know it exists! So I said "Sure!" She brought it out, and did her work again of selling the phone to me, and I was impressed! (With the phone, not her sales pitch. Not that she was bad at it, just that when I buy something, I usually know what to buy). The 900 has a larger screen than the 800, and of course it has the front-facing camera, which is great for those Skype video calls. The rest are the same: Live Tiles, Facebook integration, 8mp camera, 720p video, etc. Since I went there to buy the phone, it was an easy decision for me.
My friends and I were planning on watching the 3pm showing of Snow White, so they were with me while the Nokia people were finalizing my order. We missed the 3pm show because apparently it takes about an hour to buy a phone? (I didn't know, my last phone was a gift from my previous work, and the one before that was something I bought from a person). I wanted to hurry the people up, but the mood in the store was a happy fuzzy positive one and I didn't want to burst their cheery bubble. We planned to watch Snow White at the next screening time at 5.50pm. (We were 10 minutes late there, but that's not part of this story.)
So the phone was bought, my card was charged (yay that it wasn't declined!), and they entered me into 2 contests, a Nokia one, and a Lumia one. I told Nokia people and my friends that if I win I will buy them new phones, so I hope they're praying that I win the 1 million grand prize. Heh. Before I left the store, they took my picture in front of the Nokia sign, with me holding up my new Lumia 900. If you see me on a billboard somewhere, let me know, they didn't pay me anything for that.
That happened 2 days ago. Fast forward to now. I had 2 days to play with my phone, and I am loving it. I will start with the cons, i.e. the bad side of the Nokia Lumia 900. (I will start with the bad news so that this post ends on the positive side. I try to be a positive person).
Cons:
Have you used a Windows phone before? What are your thoughts about it?
So I got my credit card a couple of days ago (June 2), and went to SM Bacoor to buy a phone, and later to watch the Snow White movie (short review: it was boring). I went to the Nokia store on the 3rd floor, and asked a sales woman for the Lumia 800. She got it out for me, and she started her spiel of how the phone works. I knew there was no front-facing camera, but I told her about it anyway. But then she said something that totally changed my cellphone-buying plan: why don't I try the Lumia 900? I did not even know it exists! So I said "Sure!" She brought it out, and did her work again of selling the phone to me, and I was impressed! (With the phone, not her sales pitch. Not that she was bad at it, just that when I buy something, I usually know what to buy). The 900 has a larger screen than the 800, and of course it has the front-facing camera, which is great for those Skype video calls. The rest are the same: Live Tiles, Facebook integration, 8mp camera, 720p video, etc. Since I went there to buy the phone, it was an easy decision for me.
My friends and I were planning on watching the 3pm showing of Snow White, so they were with me while the Nokia people were finalizing my order. We missed the 3pm show because apparently it takes about an hour to buy a phone? (I didn't know, my last phone was a gift from my previous work, and the one before that was something I bought from a person). I wanted to hurry the people up, but the mood in the store was a happy fuzzy positive one and I didn't want to burst their cheery bubble. We planned to watch Snow White at the next screening time at 5.50pm. (We were 10 minutes late there, but that's not part of this story.)
So the phone was bought, my card was charged (yay that it wasn't declined!), and they entered me into 2 contests, a Nokia one, and a Lumia one. I told Nokia people and my friends that if I win I will buy them new phones, so I hope they're praying that I win the 1 million grand prize. Heh. Before I left the store, they took my picture in front of the Nokia sign, with me holding up my new Lumia 900. If you see me on a billboard somewhere, let me know, they didn't pay me anything for that.
That happened 2 days ago. Fast forward to now. I had 2 days to play with my phone, and I am loving it. I will start with the cons, i.e. the bad side of the Nokia Lumia 900. (I will start with the bad news so that this post ends on the positive side. I try to be a positive person).
Cons:
- The number con for the Nokia Lumia 900 are the apps. There just isn't that many apps that are available to the Windows phone. However, it doesn't really bother me that much, because I already have my iPad, and I am very with the apps that it has. So even if having few apps is a downside to the Lumia 900, I am not affected by it.
- The 8mp camera isn't that great. Maybe it's because I only took pictures in indoor places and haven't really tried it on the outdoors (it's been rainy lately). But my friend has an iPhone 4s and we compared our pictures (both indoors, inside Starbucks actually) and his was much better, so it's definitely the Nokia camera.
- It has a 16gb capacity, but it doesn't have any room for external memory cards. I haven't filled it up yet with stuff, so I don't feel as if it's a downside of the phone, but other phones offer memory card support, so I am compelled to add it as a negative.
- No "profiles." Not sure if other smart phones have this, or if profiles are now a thing of the past. By profiles, I mean setting up your phone to have a certain configuration. For example, if in Silent mode, your phone doesn't ring but it vibrates. In Loud mode, the volumes are set to max (useful if you're inside a mall). The Lumia 900 doesn't have that. You can only mute it, or increase the volume. You have to manually turn on or off the vibrate.
- Limited mp3 ringtone support. I had to convert an mp3 song to a small, 27-second clip in order for the phone to use it as a ringtone. Also, I can't use an mp3 clip as a text message tone.
- It's different. It looks awesome! My friend was using my phone while I was ordering a coffee in Starbucks and I noticed people on the next table looking at my phone. You know you've got something beautiful when it can turn heads. Android phones don't turn heads, and the iPhone has lost some of its novelty already. The tiles on the Lumia 900 are large, bright, and different, so they're easy to spot in a crowd. Have I told you that Aquarius people like to be a rebel?
- It's fast and smooth. When I swipe the tiles I have never encountered any lags.
- It notifies me by voice that I have a text message, and I can command it to read the text for me. How awesome is that? She sounds like Siri, maybe she's a sister.
- Facebook is closely integrated with the phone, so all my Facebook contacts show up on my phone as contacts as well. If you have your cellphone number set on your Facebook profile, it means it's also added to my phone's contact list. I can also "link" my friends' cellphone numbers in my SIM card to their Facebook profile, so when they call their face shows up. Also, any Facebook events show up in my phone calendar. Your Facebook friends' birthdays appear in your calendar as well.
Have you used a Windows phone before? What are your thoughts about it?
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