Lumia 520 : Discussion thread

[pranav0091]

I want to know is receiving and sending email through gmail just as easy as it is in android phones?Can i set Gmail as my default email and receive notications for Gmail in my homescreen ?Coz i rarely use Hotmail or Live.

Yes. You can use Gmail directly from the default mailbox.
Right now you can get Gmail to sync as often as every 15 minutes, although there is no push-sync for Gmail natively. (Used to, I had it on my 920, but not anymore but with CardAV support coming in Amber I think this is resolved as well, not sure though)
You can however forward all mails to hotmail to get push enabled, but you may not wish to do that. You can even set a tile on the homescreen to directly sync and open a particular folder (under hotmail) or a particular label/filter (under Gmail). All mails can be made to show notifications on the lockscreen and by default on tiles. Does that answer you question ?

Contacts can also be imported from gmail to the hotmail/live account and then they behave natively. Or you can use them directly from Gmail without importing it to the MS account, by adding the gmail account under settings > accounts. And if you have duplicates you can link the contacts to one single entity (joining the details for that contact from gmail, live, twitter, FB and your own additions if any on the phone itself so that you dont end up with 4 different entries for the same person in your phonebook. Its called linking)

Or like AndroidFan said you can use Android to get the best Gmail support

 

[mohit9206]

Yes. You can use Gmail directly from the default mailbox.
Right now you can get Gmail to sync as often as every 15 minutes, although there is no push-sync for Gmail natively. (Used to, I had it on my 920, but not anymore but with CardAV support coming in Amber I think this is resolved as well, not sure though)
You can however forward all mails to hotmail to get push enabled, but you may not wish to do that. You can even set a tile on the homescreen to directly sync and open a particular folder (under hotmail) or a particular label/filter (under Gmail). All mails can be made to show notifications on the lockscreen and by default on tiles. Does that answer you question ?

Contacts can also be imported from gmail to the hotmail/live account and then they behave natively. Or you can use them directly from Gmail without importing it to the MS account, by adding the gmail account under settings > accounts. And if you have duplicates you can link the contacts to one single entity (joining the details for that contact from gmail, live, twitter, FB and your own additions if any on the phone itself so that you dont end up with 4 different entries for the same person in your phonebook. Its called linking)

Or like AndroidFan said you can use Android to get the best Gmail support

Thanks.I only want to see my gmail notifications nothing else.No syncing,no replying or anything,just viewing.So i guess Lumia 520 is a really good device for 9k.

 

[Flash]

With the battery app, (for monitoring and that's the only app added to the background task), i get the discharge speed of 3~4/hr..
Anyone else getting low discharge speed?

PS: I switch on GPRS for 1-2 times for whatsapp, check it (2-3 minutes) and disconnect back.

 

[pranav0091]

As long as you dont want specific games or apps that arent available on WP, then the 520 is a very fine device. Do know the WP restrictions before you take the jump though. Unlike Android where some random ROm will have the setting you want, what you get on day one with WP is what you will use forever. Dont count too much on MS updating stuff fast. While they have promised updates to all WP8 devices (remember that the 520 will surely not get all the features of WP8.1 pr WP9 because of hardware, they will receive the updates a la Apple), they are slow

Thanks.I only want to see my gmail notifications nothing else.No syncing,no replying or anything,just viewing.So i guess Lumia 520 is a really good device for 9k.

 

[Flash]

Windows Phone 8 GDR2 update spotted for Nokia Lumia 920, 820

Nokia Lumia 520 vs. Galaxy S2 and S3 Mini

 

[pranav0091]

I dont even need any benchmarks. I have seen the 520 repeatedly load webpages faster than the S3 and the SP. And my late 920 used to be slightly better than the N4. Usability is proof aplenty for me personally

Though the whatsapp/skype/maps loading time is MUCH MUCH better on android devices.

 

[vijju6091]

If Google Does Not Support Wp8 In future then I am Considering outlook.com Better Then Gmail IMO.

 

[pranav0091]

520: Comments on the sunlight visibility of the screen :-

Used on a cloudy day with intermittent bursts of sunlight (just keep in mind that it wasnt the brightest of days but bright enough) Visibility is slightly below to on par with the 920 (the 920 had a matte screen guard so that might have played a factor). Didnt see the 'sunlight legibility' mode kick in but even then it was op par with anyother phone I have used for all I can tell.

Conclusion: Average. Nothing great, nothing ridiculous. Middle of the road. Matte screen guard may help.

@theterminator: In addtion to the above comments, you can also enable the high contrast mode and make systemwide changes of fontsizes (it goes pretty large) under settings > ease of use for your particular case. There is a zoom feature as well, but couldnt get it to work

 

[Flash]

Google already said it has ”no plans to build out Windows apps” and that the company is “very careful about where we invest and will go where the users are but they are not on Windows Phone or Windows 8.”

So, Google users on WP are doomed.

 

[pranav0091]

Google already said it has ”no plans to build out Windows apps” and that the company is “very careful about where we invest and will go where the users are but they are not on Windows Phone or Windows 8.”

So, Google users on WP are doomed.

Not really. I am more concerned about a decent FB app/integration than Google. Already moving to Live instead of gmail, no G+, Nokia maps is great but there are a few apps that can use google maps data if the need be. Why else do I need google?
Oh search - there is an app and in any case I am just hoping MS gets it right with Bing. Google can do whatever the hell they want. On the other hand one cant just replace FB with something else

 

[The Incinerator]

Windows Phone 8 GDR2 update spotted for Nokia Lumia 920, 820

Nokia Lumia 520 vs. Galaxy S2 and S3 Mini

TWO DIFFERENT PLATFORMS WITH DIFFERENT BENCHMARKING SOFTWARES OPTIMISED FOR SPECIFICS.SO WHAT DO WE DERIVE OUT OF THAT OMG REVIEW?=CONFUSION!!!

 

[Flash]

*www.change.org/petitions/subway-surfers-for-windows-phone-8-we-want-this-app-for-windows-phone

Do you think "Subway surfers" will come to WP8, if the petition reaches his support count?
As of now, only 54 votes are needed..

 

[Vyom]

So here are some features which would be coming with the final version of Amber update:
Amber Update on the Lumia 920: A First, In-Depth Look - Mobile Phone | ThinkDigit Features

Data Sense
Ability to keep a track on data usage for both Carrier date and Wifi data saperately.

Glance and Peek
To display a live clock along with missed notifications on the screen, and to be able to invoke it by waving over the phone.

Radio
FM finally.. Yay...

Shutter Button Customization
Ability to assign camera button to Nokia's Camera app

Display Colour Profiles
A way to set your own colour temperature and saturation level for the screen.

SMS and Call Filter
To block contacts (have to see if wildcards are supported, most probably it wont)

CardDAV and CalDAV Protocols Support
To continue syncing your contacts and calendars from Google. And to receive business cards over text messages.

 

[vijju6091]

So here are some features which would be coming with the final version of Amber update:
Amber Update on the Lumia 920: A First, In-Depth Look - Mobile Phone | ThinkDigit Features

Data Sense
Ability to keep a track on data usage for both Carrier date and Wifi data saperately.

Glance and Peek
To display a live clock along with missed notifications on the screen, and to be able to invoke it by waving over the phone.

Radio
FM finally.. Yay...

Shutter Button Customization
Ability to assign camera button to Nokia's Camera app

Display Colour Profiles
A way to set your own colour temperature and saturation level for the screen.

SMS and Call Filter
To block contacts (have to see if wildcards are supported, most probably it wont)

CardDAV and CalDAV Protocols Support
To continue syncing your contacts and calendars from Google. And to receive business cards over text messages.

Looks Great.
Will the Update come to 520 Ever?

 

[Gauravs90]

Looks Great.
Will the Update come to 520 Ever?

It will come in 2 weeks.

 

[pranav0091]

*www.change.org/petitions/subway-surfers-for-windows-phone-8-we-want-this-app-for-windows-phone

Do you think "Subway surfers" will come to WP8, if the petition reaches his support count?
As of now, only 54 votes are needed..

Petitions are just public sentiments., not an order for the devs or anyone else.

 

[Flash]

Petitions are just public sentiments., not an order for the devs or anyone else.

Just my opinion. Maybe the devs can consider, if the petition shows there's really a lot of users in a particular OS who needs their app.

Looks Great.
Will the Update come to 520 Ever?

Though it's of minor feature: If Asha 501 can have Glance screen, why not Lumia 520 ?
I don't think it's because of hardware limitation..

 

[mohit9206]

Guys i read this post from one user about WP8.If all these all true i am scared of investing in Windows Phone 8.Please tell me if these are all true or not ?

35+ Drawbacks or Limitations of windows phone

1. Video and audio downloading is natively restricted
2. No file manager. You can't see files without a appropriate app. You can't move , rename the files... You Can't delete files that are not supported. Can't move files between SDcard and phone memory. simply you always need a computer for every single file operation.
3. You can't send Prerecorded audio and video files via any social networking apps like WhatsApp, Wechat etc
4. You Can't save received audio and video files with any social networking apps
5. You Can't upload video, audio, document files to any sites. And unable to upload image files to most of the websites. And can't attach with email.
6. No video players for playing popular video formats like .mkv,.avi,.flv etc
( offcourse there is one, yxplayer (Rs235), but Its NOT A STANDALONE APPLICATION... You Need buy another SDCard viwer application (Rs 110) for working with this player. total cost Rs 345... But still it can't give a satisfactory performance coz it can't play files from video hub and take minutes to open a video file, poor quality playback and many features are not present)
7. You can't share videos via Bluetooth except your personal videos taken with this phone.
8. No multiple file sending for files except images
9. No multiple delete option except audio and image files
10. No notification center. Always results in delayed notifications.
11. Call recording not possible. Its restricted
12. No background downloading support ( except app store)
13. Charging phone while its switched off is not possible. It automatically get on while connect to charger
14. No flash plugin support .. So you can't see any flash videos or web content that requires flash support..
15. No zooming while video recording in progress and no pause option for video recording
16. No way to see files properties.
17. No separate volume controls for music and ring tones. Can't set custom ring tone for message.
18. Can't save numbers directly to contacts from call record
19. Sms delivery reports comes into a separate thread
20. No looping option in to do list. No proper notification. No way to set alerts for different day intervals
21. No way to close internet explorer immediately
22. To close apps you need first bring the app into foreground
23. Page refreshing in browsers and other applications when switching to foreground. Typed content vanishes.
24. No USB tethering. So you can't use it with your desktop computer.
25. No Equalizer for music player
26. One waste hardware button. dedicated for bing. No one using it. Its really irritating when bing launches by accidently touching it while running other apps or games.
27. Day by day increasing other storage. No way to clean it
28. Duplication of files
29. No seek bar for music player
30. No CUT option in text editing. Only COPY option..
31. No rotation lock. Really Annoying while in bed.
32. No auto alignment for text while zooming in documents and web pages... Really annoying while reading web pages
33. No quick short cuts for WiFi,Bluetooth,battery,network,gps, brightness settings. No Bluetooth auto on while sending files.
34. No task killing, one hanging application leads to entire phone hang and restart.
35. No privacy features. Only way to protect your personal data is screen lock password.
36. In video and audio hub. There is no way to categorize your files. every thing shows mixed... In video hub there is no way to even sort the files. Everything mixed up. No matter whether its p*rn or movie clip.
37. While receiving video files via Bluetooth it goes to saved images folder instead of video hub.
38. Vibration alerts are not really helpful. It vibrates only once when getting a call.


And offcourse Less availability of apps and games, limited features in available popular apps as compared to other platforms ( eg: 360camara, WhatsApp etc ), unexpected restarting.... And Still counting...

 

[Pasapa]

i didnt know that there were so many limitations for wp. i myself has been using l620 for quite a while now

 

[a2mn2002]

WP8