[Q] Lumia 710 or Sony Xperia U

[babu.rajiv2007]

I'd been using a Nokia 5233 (hmph!) for the past 2 years, and its time i considered an upgrade.

Once the Lumia's were out, i kind of fell in love with WP. The non stuttering UI seemed awesome to me. And, i'd promised(breakable ) that the Lumia 710 would be my next phone.
But, it was after being a member here that i came to know the shortcomings of WP. You really can't download a music file, can we? And, heard that the Lumia 710 got a pathetic battery life.

So, i was forced to look elsewhere. That's when the Xperia U caught my attention. It got some Novathor 1 ghz dual core processor, and cute design. And the colour changing transparent bar felt like a deal breaker to me. Being in the Nxt series, Sony has promised an ICS update(Sweet!). Well, now, i'm in a dilemma.
Can any WP user out there, comment and help me choose my upgrade?

 

[GoodDayToDie]

Well, downloading music through the store works just fine. Downloading music through the web browser will let the music be played, but it doesn't seem to let you save it to the media library. I'm sure it's possible with homebrew... eventually, when somebody gets around to writing it.

I can't speak to the battery life of the 710 specifically, or even the Lumias in general, but I know Nokia has been releasing firmware updates that address the poor battery life the lumias had originally. I don't know how far they can take that, but it's profress. Also bear in mind that Android is hardly a battery-sipping OS either.

There's also the minor fact that Sony, even Sony-Ericson, is a company I will never buy anything from, on account of the horrible way they treat their customers and the industry as a whole (rootkits on audio CDs, retroactively removing console features, etc.) So, I would never recommend them... there's lots of other phone OEMs if you don't want to go with Nokia.

 

[babu.rajiv2007]

Thanks for your valuable words.
So, if one requires a song, he's supposed to buy it from the store, eh? I wouldn't mind.

And yeah, i've heard about the Droids' battery draining powers . But, when i googled, i never found anyone mentioning battery drains from Xperia U.


I guess you're indirectly asking me to stick with the Lumia, right? Let me see... I guess Microsoft would preview their WP8 tomorrow.
Waiting for the day...

 

[GoodDayToDie]

It's totally up to you. But, you asked for advice, and that's what you got!

As a side note, the Lumia 710 is a good choice if you want a device you can modify or hack on. It's possible to very easily unlock its bootloader so you can install custom ROMs, with extra features and fewer restrictions.

In addition to music from the store, you can also listed to the radio (all Windows phones have FM receivers) and you can use apps (there are lots of apps that provides access to streaming music, for example). Also, that's just ways to get music on the phone without using the PC. HOwever, when you sync the phone to the PC, you can send music to it from the Zune software, which will then be available to play on the phone.

We're all waiting to hear about WP8. Don't know if it'll be tomorrow or not, but we can hope...

 

[creamy]

Sony........Never again

Hi babu.rajiv2007,

I would agree with GoodDayToDie and will also never buy anything from Sony ever again. In The past they have been underhand with their contractual obligations to their customers and after the initial sale has them your money i would wish you or anyone else the very best of luck with their aftercare, updates, RMA policies etc...etc...etc.......(very bad taste left after owning an X1, took almost 9 months and 5 returns of that handset to have them recall the chassis and admit that it wasnt my fault) I am also of the opinion that Sony is trading off a name that they made for themselves many years ago regarding quality of their products and services and that in this day and age they will (hopefully) not last much longer.
Anyway, in my personal opinion i would go for the Nokia. The OS is splendid (of course) and the handset is really well put together, not that i would try to put you off the Android option, I would advise that you take one for a 30 day cool down period and put yourself off it.....it didnt take me long to see that there is indeed a difference between the two.
I'm running a custom ROM atm and can tell you that the homebrew scene is very much alive with the WP7 O/S, there are several apps that will allow you to do what you like regarding music.

Hope this helps (still i say try both, but hell no to Sony)
Creamy

 

[daAppu]

I don't know if you remember me. I had almost bought a Lumia710 but returned it as I found its display to be horrible and quite different from demo models. After it, I considered buying Xperia U too. But two of my friends own Sony Androids (Xperia X8 and Xperia X10 respectively) and they swear that they will never buy a Sony again and strongly advise me to stay away too. Because Sony never bothers to update their phones.

However it is most certain Xperia U will be upgraded to ICS (though no 100% guarantee). I have used a real Xperia U (not the demo model). It was fine though it it didn't feel as nice to use as a WP7 device or even a Samsung Galaxy S2. Main reason being uninspiring UI and the dim LED back-lit LCD. The display feels like a candle when compared to S-LCD and AMOLED based displays. Camera is definitely awesome. The phone does feel fast but not as fluid as a WP7. Its UI lacks the wow factor which makes me love my WP7. Heck, it doesn't feel as nice as my friend's Galaxy S2.

Confused, I've decided to postpone my purchase for another two-three week. I see that newer devices are coming in Indian market. One example is HTC Desire C. Please note that it is a 600MHz phone but runs on ARM v7 and hence should be as good as 1GHz ARM v6 devices or even better. This signals that newer ARM devices are coming within two weeks. And hence I've decided to wait and watch since I don't want to get stuck with ARM v6 devices.

Last but not least, I'm also eagerly waiting for WP8 announcement

 

[chaitanya91845]

Thanks for your valuable words.
So, if one requires a song, he's supposed to buy it from the store, eh? I wouldn't mind.

And yeah, i've heard about the Droids' battery draining powers . But, when i googled, i never found anyone mentioning battery drains from Xperia U.


I guess you're indirectly asking me to stick with the Lumia, right? Let me see... I guess Microsoft would preview their WP8 tomorrow.
Waiting for the day...

Better wait for Windows Phone 8 release and see what it offers if you want to buy songs directly from the store. Because downloading songs requires a ZunePass and as far as I know, India is not one of the supported countries for Zunepass. I would be happy if I am proven wrong though.
You can always transfer songs from your PC to phone through Zune though.

 

[babu.rajiv2007]

Thanks a lot, guys.

So, that helps me let go of Xperia U. Whew! What a headache it made

 

[babu.rajiv2007]

I don't know if you remember me.

Confused, I've decided to postpone my purchase for another two-three week. I see that newer devices are coming in Indian market. One example is HTC Desire C. Please note that it is a 600MHz phone but runs on ARM v7 and hence should be as good as 1GHz ARM v6 devices or even better. This signals that newer ARM devices are coming within two weeks. And hence I've decided to wait and watch since I don't want to get stuck with ARM v6 devices.

Last but not least, I'm also eagerly waiting for WP8 announcement

Of course. I do remember you.

And 600 Mhz? You sure it'd be a good deal? I've seen the One V lag. For the droids, will it be enough?
Tell me, what do you think of HTC One V. Not that i've considered it, but, seems to fall under my price range.

About WP8, i won't be willing to wait for more than a month. My choice would solely be based on tomorrow. Can't wait!

 

[dellooo]

I think Xperia the best cause Lumia very slownly I think that

 

[GoodDayToDie]

@chaitanya91845: You do not need a Zune Pass in order to buy music from the store. Zune Pass is only needed for streaming full songs. The old Zune Pass would give you 10 credits a month toward buying songs, but the song buying is independent of Zune Pass.

With that said, it's possible that Microsoft's licensing with the music labels don't allow them to sell music in India at all. I haven't tried. One easy way to tell would be to download the free Zune software (http://zune.net), sign in with your Windows Live account, go to the Marketplace, and see if you can buy songs (most are about $1 US, and are MP3s so you can play them in anything). If that works, it should be fine on the phone too.

 

[chaitanya91845]

@chaitanya91845: You do not need a Zune Pass in order to buy music from the store. Zune Pass is only needed for streaming full songs. The old Zune Pass would give you 10 credits a month toward buying songs, but the song buying is independent of Zune Pass.

With that said, it's possible that Microsoft's licensing with the music labels don't allow them to sell music in India at all. I haven't tried. One easy way to tell would be to download the free Zune software (http://zune.net), sign in with your Windows Live account, go to the Marketplace, and see if you can buy songs (most are about $1 US, and are MP3s so you can play them in anything). If that works, it should be fine on the phone too.

OMG. And I was under the impression that you need a ZunePass to purchase songs from the store. Almost a year, and I still dont know some basic stuff!!
But yes, if you download Zune and login, the music(in marketplace)/social sections used to disappear if my Control Panel "Location" settings were set to India. And if you change Location settings to USA, then you will require a US credit card to purchase.
So probably not possible to buy songs as of now.

 

[guilhermedsx]

Xperia U will get you Android 4, Lumia won't get you Windows Phone 8. Go Xperia for now.

 

[babu.rajiv2007]

Xperia U will get you Android 4, Lumia won't get you Windows Phone 8. Go Xperia for now.

Hm... Microsoft's announcement made me reconsider my decision... Damn!
I bet the developer's would start using native code for developing apps, and older devices WON'T support those apps
I'm sad not because of WP8(i'd be happy with 7.8), but, the low availability of apps once WP8 enters the scene is displeasing.

 

[daAppu]

Now choosing a new phone is really confusing! Unless some awesome features are revealed about WP 7.8 and if WP7 device prices crash to sub-10,000 Indian Rupees, I certainly don't want a WP7 device now.

I honestly have no idea which's better- 1GHz ARM v6 Android vs 600MHz v7 Android. Having owned a smooth and fluid WP device for over a year, I certainly don't want a lagging phone for my sister.

The choices are vastly split-
1. Single core v6 1GHz Android (like One V, running ICS)
2. Single core v7 600MHz Android (like Desire C, running ICS)
3. Dual core v6 Xperia U (might not get ICS)
4. WP7 device (least chance of buying it).

I honestly have no idea which phone to choose

 

[babu.rajiv2007]

@daAppu

I'd advice against a WP7 device now. It just don't make sense going for one, now. Once WP8 devices enters the scene, the scenario might change.

About your processor doubts, i'd recommend you to post at the Android Q&A section. They might be a bit experienced. But, what i think is that those devices would be under powered. The Xperia U now, starts to make more sense to me.

But, i'm sad.

 

[maraver]

Xperia U Android 4, Lumia never Windows Phone 8, Microsoft Down. Go Xperia.

 

[GoodDayToDie]

Did MS actually state that WP8 apps wouldn't work on WP7.8? The impression I got was that 7.8 was basically WP8-without-the-new-hardware-features. For example, there's no reason that native code can't be used on WP7.x (most homebrew apps, and even a few Marketplace apps, already use native code, in fact). It is possible that the native code API for WP7.X and WP8 will be incompatible, though. This would be mildly stupid of Microsoft, but eh, what else is new? They do seem to have an incredible talent for releasing excellent products and then botching them up horribly...

 

[babu.rajiv2007]

Microsoft did announce it indirectly...
No doubt the developers would use native code, and according to what i read at wpcentral, older devices won't support it.
Anyway, just watched the video of the new tiles... Kinda cool. But, it doesn't make sense sticking to a WP7 device. And, i'm not willing to wait for a WP8 device(i guess it come by December).
I guess i'll move along with the pack, stick with droid :\

 

[daAppu]

Regardless of whether apps will still come to WP7 or not, I'm also not interested in buying a WP7 right now.

But wait, we're not alone. No one is gonna buy WP7 also. We can easily bet that there are thousands (possibly hundreds of thousands) of WP7 devices already manufactured but unsold. So this opens a possibility that WP7 devices will be sold at half the original price or even less. Don't believe me? I bought my BB Playbook for only INR 13,000!

So this opens two choices for us-
1. A really nice WP7 like Lumia 800 for price of INR 10,000. I'm talking about a brand new one, not second hand.
2. A 600MHz ARM v7 Android phone for INR 15,000 or 1GHz ARM v7 Android phone for INR 19,000.

That's why I didn't completely ruled out WP7 in my last post. I really can't decide a phone quickly. Heart says go for an Android now. Head says "Wait and watch for 2 more weeks, you stupid compulsive buyer!"