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My Two Week Trial with the Nokia Lumia 925!
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
So, a
couple of weeks ago I received an e-mail offering me the chance to
try out the Nokia Lumia 925. I have to admit that I was pretty
excited, as well as surprised. Who'd have thought a Fashion &
Beauty blogger would be sent a phone?! Well, my excitement was
curtailed a bit when I discovered it was only for two weeks. How am I
supposed to get to grips with a new phone within two weeks?
I'd read a
little bit about the phone and recalled their adverts talking about
how great the camera is in low light, so I took them up on their
offer and duly received it a few days later. Straight out of the box
it does look pretty special: piano black at the front, creamy white at the back, huge screen but super slim.
A good first impression, but from there on in it was all downhill.
That's not
to say this is a rubbish phone, because it isn't. There are so many
good things about it, I probably couldn't describe them all in one
post but I will at least cover a few. Firstly, the screen is like a
work of art. It's bigger than my iPhone 4s, and isn't a funny looking
shape like the iPhone 5. It felt quite responsive and the graphics
were so smooth and dreamy. The camera is far better than the iPhone
4s. I find my usual phone's camera struggles to find light, with
photos quite often looking dull. The Lumia camera found light in
almost all situations, and I have to say I was impressed by that.
What I was not impressed by though was Windows 8. It's a bit like Marmite. You either love it or you hate it, and I hate it with a passion. The main menu is awful, with an assortment of different sized-squares, mostly in a child-like and garish blue colour with useless icons that didn't seem to make much sense. Maybe after a while you'd get used to it, but I didn't really have a while. I had two weeks. If you swipe in from the left a list-style menu with all your apps appears, this is a little better but it isn't a patch on the Apple or Android menu systems.
As much as I hated Windows 8, I think I might have been able to live
with this phone had it not been for one fatal flaw. Instagram. You
cannot download Instagram on to this phone. From a blogger's
perspective, one that makes heavy usage of Social Media, this was
unacceptable. There are workarounds though: you could probably use
Instagram via Internet Explorer, or more
realistically you can download other free apps which interface with
Instagram such as Hipstamatic Oggl. I could not for the life of me
get this to work. The app kept on crashing every time I tried to do
something, and the terrible icons Windows 8 insists on using were so
confusing, I couldn't even work out how to post a photo to Instagram.
Now,
maybe more technically minded souls could have managed to get this
phone to work beautifully for them but I couldn't. Perhaps it was the
lack of time, perhaps it was the badly designed Windows 8 or perhaps
the Hipstamatic Oggl app just isn't any good. I don't know. But to be
honest, I don't care. I don't want
to have to use workarounds. I want to be able to access Instagram
easily, but this phone wouldn't let me. What's the point of having a
phone that takes great photos, if you can't use the biggest photo
sharing app on the net?
So for all the flaws that my iPhone 4s has, it lets me do all the
basic things I expect from a smartphone (Tweet, Whatsapp, Photos,
Instagram, Email, Phone and Text) without any trouble. There is
absolutely no way I would purchase this Nokia, it has potential for
sure. But if I'm to give up something that is the finished article, I
want something that's going to take me forward, not hold me back.
6 comments
No Instagram!? I can't stand Windows 8 but I guess you'd get used to it over time. But no Instagram? PUH-LEASE. ;)
ReplyDeleteTara xo
The phone looks so promising on the adverts it's sad to hear how difficult it is to use. I don't think I'd change from my trusty iPhone now, all other phones seem inferior!!
ReplyDeletexxx
www.salted-roses.blogspot.com
Such a shame that you didn't like it. I think they've focused massively on the camera rather than the phone. Why give a blogger a phone to test if you can't use instagram?!! #thewholepoint
ReplyDeleteKatie <3
Haha I hate Windows 8 with a passion as well :) I've got it in my mini lappy that I work with outdoors and I have just about learnt to tolerate it without throwing the laptop in a fit of anger lol. I CANNOT imaging using windows 8 in a phone. Android all the phone. You have to try a Samsung or Sony next time Halima :)
ReplyDeleteI will never give up my iPhone... I'm just not into Androids for many of the reasons you discussed. Are you going to get the 5s?
ReplyDeleteSarah
Eyeshadow Addicts Anonymous
A phone without Instagram? In this day in age? That seems utterly unfathomable! Honestly, as far as phones go I would never leave my iPhone simply because the access to apps is so much better. And the camera quality is still exceptionally good, even if the Lumia is slightly better!
ReplyDeletexox,
Cee