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Thinking of switching to WP8 from Android

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nite_monkey:
So right now, I'm using the Nexus 5, and I love it. Though, I was curious about Windows phone. I was thinking about getting the Nokia Lumia 1520. If anyone that has used both Android, and Windows phone could give me some insight on WP, that would be great. The Nexus 5 is very open and gets the newest version of Android shortly after it is released. How locked down is Windows Phone, and how is Microsoft about updating phones? (are they like nexus phones, or will Microsoft stop updating their phone after like 2 or 3 updates?) On a side note, the Nexus 5 uses a micro sim card, and the Lumia 1520 apparently uses a nano sim card. If I wanted to switch between the two phones periodically, how hard would it be to transfer service between my micro sim card, and the new nano sim card?

Would it be worth it for me to switch, or should I just stick with my Nexus?

Edit: One more thing that is actually kind of a big deal for me. I have my phone paired to my car stereo via bluetooth, and use the pandora controls on the stereo, because I hate all the commercials that FM radio has, and satellite radio is to expensive for me. Will I be able to use the pandora controls with windows phone? Or at the very least, can I use the bluetooth streaming option on my car stereo to atleast skip songs, and pause them?

Shades:
There are schematics to cut your card to the proper size. Did that myself when transferring from a Nokia 5530 Xpress to the Lumia 520 and that works fine. But if you are not sure of your cutting skills you can to a local vendor and they likely have a cutter that does this in one go. Perhaps your telecom provider has a close by outlet that is able to do this for you.

I have no clue about your other questions as my usage of smartphones is limited, hence I bought just the Lumia 520. Someone actually bought it, decided after using it for a day that he didn't like it and sold it to me for less than 100 USD, quite far under the normal retail price here in Paraguay (which is drastically higher than in the US (150USD without plan/contract), rest assured about that...which is not helping the MS cause one bit).

For my use that Lumia is actually a good deal, I like it better than the android phones in the same price range. Then again, I would have bought a Blackberry Z10 if that deal wouldn't go through. Android is more than capable, but somehow it didn't do it for me. And to be honest, the WP8 interface doesn't take long to appreciate it.

Choice of software is limited though. Not a bad thing in my book, but you have clearly more uses planned for your phone than I do. Perhaps there is more in (the Windows) store for you as you aren't a resident of the South Americas.

eleman:
In one word: Don't.

In more: WP8's pros are not worth the jump. And there are significant cons too.

WP8 is not bad, and gets better by the time. For instance the new 8.1 update will bring a proper notification center. Previously you had to use live tiles (the rectangles, large and small squares on the home screen) to provide notifications. But they provided only limited notifications, and even then they were not accurate. For instance samsung's chat-on client did not reliably show the messages in the tiles until you opened up the app itself. It may be an error on part of the app, but I saw the same problem with numerous apps. Android's notification system looks much more issue-free in comparison.

WP8 is not that customizable. Sure, it's customizable in comparison to apple's banknote press, but in comparison to android, it fails bad. Just an example: you can't switch to another keyboard like swype. WP8 keyboard is not bad. Just what you expect out of a stock keyboard, but you may be looking for something more, and there is no option to get it. So switching to WP8 effectively limits your options.

The APIs WP8 offers are thoroughly locked down. You don't get a proper file manager, because many sections of the file system are off limits to third party apps. There are rudimentary file managers, but they are not of much use. In a similar vein, you can't record (as audio files) the calls you make. Android apps like callx are not possible in WP8. If you need that function (mom does not, but I do; speaking to tens of clients each day, I can't always take notes of what they order, so I record the calls) WP8 is not an option. You can't add apps like blacklist because there are no APIs for those functions. These are just a few examples. WP8 is much more locked down compared to android, that you can't do much with it.

If you like tinkering with your phone, have rooted or consider rooting the thingie, WP8 is not an option. No rooting whatsoever. End of story. But as I said, the customization options are limited even compared to non-rooted android.

Appstore is growing, but still is way, way behind android. Just out of my mind, there is no booking.com app for windows phone. And no, this isn't for windows phone. You have to do with the also-ran hotelz.com. And because the APIs are thoroughly locked down, the app store will never be as rich as that of android.

The settings are crowded and disorganized (or at least organized in a way incomprehensible to me). Some functions such as call forwarding are located in weird places.

Battery life is nothing to brag about. Nokia, I don't know why, uses very conservative batteries. For instance, my LG L4 II has a bigger battery compared to wifey's lumia 820, despite mine being a single core and small screen phone. I get 3-4 days use out of a full charge, wifey often does not get 1. There are exceptions to this rule, I hear. For instance lumia 720 is better in the battery life scale, but I don't hear praises about 1520 either.

WP8 does not really multitask. When you switch apps, the old app is not just pushed to the background. It is suspended in effect. There are exceptions to this, for instance the music player and voice guided navigation seems to work in the background, but as a general rule, the app you push to background stops. When you return to it, it just resumes from where you left. So you can't have apps like noom, because once in the background, they will not be able to continue counting your steps. sucks. really. hard.

On the bright side, the OS is more responsive, especially compared to landfill android. Yeah, I get better battery life, but my phone often makes me wait for a couple of seconds, especially when I am in a hurry. WP8 feels way faster in comparison. Not just high-end devices like 820, but lower end ones like 620 too.

Nokia's here maps and navigation suite is way way way better than what android offers, assuming you don't have (or don't like to use) data connection. Google maps and yandex maps are not bad, but they need constant data connection (which is not an option when you are roaming, or low on battery). Nokia's maps are offline and very good. You just download the map for the country you live in (or you will be visiting), and you're good to go. I know there are offline maps you can download on google play, but they all suck. really. hard. Openstreetmap based solutions are not an option if you need a reliable map. And they are not an option if you are in or will be visiting developing countries like Turkey, period. The maps is the single most important advantage Nokia's phones offer over android, and they may be important enough for you to justify the jump to WP8.

Finally, the updates: Microsoft seems to offer updates to the whole WP8 line, regardless of how old or how underpowered your phone may be. The platform as a whole gets new updates. So every WP8 phone will move to 8.1 in the near future. But your guess is as good as mine about what will happen when WP9 comes out.

edit: typo fix.
edit^2: Nokia released its maps software for Android. So you have one less plus for WP. Thanks goes to 4wd for alerting me to it.

nite_monkey:
Thanks @eleman You've made some great points there. I'll probably stick with my nexus 5 after all. I was just looking at the WP app store, and couldn't find some of my must have apps. I was also watching some youtube videos on windows phone, and it does seem a bit to cookie cutter simple to me. There isn't really that much customization to it.

superboyac:
I had WP8 (lumia 920) and now I'm on the Nexus 5.  I don't miss WP8 at all.

The worst part about WP8 is that it can't really do anything.  And the things it does do, android and ios do much better.  There was only one feature I was really impressed with: the handling of contacts was awesome.  Android sucks at it and iOS is probably equally good.  All the apps for WP8 are either kind of broken or aren't good enough where you really want to use it.  There are practically no customization options. 
You will be satisfied (maybe) with the windows phone if all you do is use the phone, text, email, browse web, plus some popular apps...and not being able to customize much is ok.

But after the Nexus and all the things I can do to it, i'm a little embarrassed to have even considered the windows phone.  order of preference:
android > jailbroken iphone > iphone > blackberry > windows phone

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