Nokia Lumia 1520, Red 16GB (AT&T)

Let me start by saying this phone is amazing.This is my 6th windows phone in a span of 1 year. I keep phone maximum for 3 months and sell it with good value. Earlier i had Lumia 1020 which is amazing phone too. I was in market for a mini ipad.Then i came across this phone . So i thought why not buy Lumia 1520 which can be used as a mini tablet and phone.I have no regrets in buying this phone. Below is my experience with this phone.Form Factor: Yes phone is little big. As this is a phablet category, the size is expected.We cant have a SUV's room in a compact car. So the benefits of large screen is obvious. Also at the same time there will be some inconvinience.Both Hands: Yes most times you need to use both hands. For instance, you cant use back button without using 2nd hand. But i got used to it.After couple weeks ownership , i dont feel this as a inconvinience any more. It matters most in a CAR where you need to handle the phone single handed. So all the time i mount my phone and i can use single hand.Screen: Screen is great and retina. But if you use phone screen without any protector then the screen is very slippery.Camera: Didnt test much but looks as good as lumia 1020 with less zoom.Slim. This phone is very slim when compared to lumia 1020. there is no bulge on the back so it sits flat.I se phone for movies at gym. Lumia 1020's camera bulge was always a chalange at gym. As 1520 sits flat, it is more secure.Speed: I dont think i see much speed improvement over 1020. Though it is quad core ,system still takes time to repsond on certain apps.I believe the speed has to do with particular apps then the phones hardware.When i switched to 1520 ,i thought some lagging in 1020 will be gone in 1520/. but certains apps still lagg.Lanyard: I miss Lanyard of lumia 1020 in this phablet. As this is a big phone, Nokia must have Lanyard option. To remedy this, i added my own . I used incipio air case and added Lanyard to the speaker grill. It works great as the case is strong.Speakers:It is almost same as lumia 1020 speaker with 10-15% improvement in volume. The clarity is same. Both speakers are great. Ear piece could be louder. I dont know but Nokia Lumia series suffers with low ear piece volume.Red Lumia. Red is slippery as every one suggested. Incipio case took care of it.Tiles: Extra column for tiles is a plus. Now one can see more information without moving the screen.Side Keys: Side keys are too flat. It is quite difficult to find volume keys and lock keys .It could be better like lumia 1020.Phone in public: Yes it is eye catching. It doesnt look good if you talk on this phablet in public. But who cares.when Iphone first came, it looked too BIG. but it has become new NORM now. So people will get used to it as phablets become more popular.Also it keep you out of crowd.Pocket: It easily slides into pocket. In my formals and jeans i have no issue in sliding the phone. It fits and doesnt pop out of pocket. As it is slim, the extra length doesnt bother me.Wireless charging. I am really mad on ATT on removing wireless charging from this phone. Hell with the technology and standards. IF they care too much then why did they sell qi wireless chargers. Now that every one got one qi wireless chargers they removed this from phone.ATT ------ in this regard.battery: Awesome. It has very good battery life.It is almost twice that of lumia 1020. I tested battery by turning on everything.Even though the location was turned on, the battery drain was not significant. I believe if location is not used by any app then system turns it off.

I have been a windows phone user for 4 years and have seen it slowly get better and better with each release. I can finally say that, feature wise, it is on par with Android and IOS. That is not to say that it doesn't have shortcomings, it does, but overall it is a feature rich OS with a clean, fresh look. There are very few "missing" app on the platform, but any apps that are on WP usually have a superior look and feel to their Android, or IOS counterparts.As far as the phone, Nokia makes the best WP8 phone out there. I have had HTC, and tried Samsungs WP8 phones. I now own a Nokia 920, 1020, and 1520. They are all top notch mobile devices. The 1520 is huge. It has a large 1080p screen that is both bright and clear. Having larger hands, I had no problem holding it and typing with one had, although it is a stretch when typeing long text messages. You will definitely find yourself using two hands.MS has one of the best on screen keyboards out of any of the leading OSes. Add to that kids corner, Onenote (and Office), and you have a winning combination.For someone who is checking email, or on the internet more than talking on the phone, the large screen size was perfect for me. When I am on the phone, I usually use hands free, so I rarely hold it up to my face. I cant really comment on how comfortable that is.The screen is also easily visible in bright sunlight, a big plus.The device is soft to hold and comes in bright colors, like the red one I purchased. It has scratch resistant glass and I have not had a scratch that you can see on the body yet after multiple months of use without a case.This is the phone to get if you want a true multi-media powerhouse.It may not be great for those looking for a compact device, or have small hands and like "single handed" use.I added 32Gs of expandable storage so I can have all of my music in one place.Which brings me to one of the downsides. Xbox music. On W8, it is currently kind of a mess. It works, and at times works really well, but when it doesn't work, it is completely useless. There are times when music playback just stops after every song. Or time when Xbox music refuses to work when you don't have a good cellular/wifi connection. I have been an Xbox music user for a while, and the WP8 app is disappointing. Hopefully, they will improve on it soon.Keep in mind, WP 8.1 is due out in April, which will add amny new features to the OS. It should really make this phone shine more than it already does.

I do like this phone, BUT - the particular seller I purchased from sent me one that I believed to be used/open box, but after using it for a few months it was obviously refurbished. The screen has a bunch of white spots now (common problem so this alone isnt really an indication) and it cracked in three places without any dropping or impacts. The microphone was very muffled and the screen is starting to pop out of the body on one side (I can see the backlight shining through the gap). If the screen was gorilla glass as original I fully believe that it would have taken a lot more to crack it, and the other issues point to shoddy re-assembly. If you don't need a lot of apps, want a big screen, good camera, and a reasonably powerful Windows 10 phone (check the specs, this still holds its own against current x50 models) on the cheap these 1520s are the best deal. Just make sure you are aware that used/refurbished might have some hidden problems.