Category Archives: Windows Phone/RT

LG Lancet vs Microsoft Lumia 735 Video Comparison: Verizon’s Windows Phones

I’ve been working with the LG Lancet for over two weeks now. It’s a very interesting phone. Then again, I find all non-Lumia Windows Phones to be very interesting.

Verizon sells two mid-range Windows Phones, the Microsoft Lumia 735 and the LG Lancet, both of which have only been with the evil carrier for a couple months. While the Microsoft Lumia 735 is a bit more expensive, coming in at $192 (which is an amazing price for such a device), the LG Lancet certainly has some advantages while it comes in at $120.

It seemed fitting to do a comparison. I also did a written comparison, which you can find here.

Continue reading LG Lancet vs Microsoft Lumia 735 Video Comparison: Verizon’s Windows Phones

Windows 10 Mobile Build 10240 Not Coming to Insiders

By now, you’ve probably heard about Windows 10 Mobile build 10240. If you install Visual Studio 2015, it installs an emulator for the build. If you try to run a Windows 10 universal app on a Windows Phone running the Windows 10 Mobile Insider Preview, it tells you that you need build 10240.

You probably thought that Windows 10 Mobile build 10240 is coming soon.

It’s not.

Continue reading Windows 10 Mobile Build 10240 Not Coming to Insiders

Lumia Camera Classic vs Windows 10 Camera Comparison

I haven’t been able to confirm this, but it certainly appears that Lumia Camera Classic is going away in favor of the new stock Windows 10 Mobile Camera app. Now, keeping track of the four Lumia Camera apps is a bit confusing, so here’s a quick breakdown.

Continue reading Lumia Camera Classic vs Windows 10 Camera Comparison

Here are the First Ten Phones that will Get Windows 10 Mobile

I’m still haunted in my dreams by the time that Microsoft said that Lumia Denim (as well as Lumia Cyan) would come to flagship Lumias first. Well, it appears that they’re putting out a list of the first devices to get Windows 10 Mobile.

Those devices include Lumia 430, 435, 532, 535, 540, 640, 640 XL, 735, 830, and 930. It’s an interesting range of devices, from the super low end to the flagship. One thing that they have in common on the low end is that they’re all Microsoft Lumias.

Continue reading Here are the First Ten Phones that will Get Windows 10 Mobile

LG Lancet vs Yezz Billy 4.7 Comparison

Recently, I received the LG Lancet to review. It’s LG’s first attempt at a Windows Phone since Windows Phone 7. Well, let’s just say it’s LG’s first attempt at a modern Windows Phone.

So far, I’ve been pretty impressed with the LG Lancet. My first instinct was to compare it to the Microsoft Lumia 735. After all, those are Verizon’s two mid-range Windows Phones. As it turns out, the LG Lancet blows away the Lumia 735 in benchmarks, but not much else. Battery tests weren’t great, nor was the camera, which might not have been fair, considering how stellar the Lumia 735 camera is (first phone to have an f/1.9 aperture. That’s right, Galaxy S6 fans).

Continue reading LG Lancet vs Yezz Billy 4.7 Comparison

Lumia Camera Gets an Update with Transparent Live Tiles

Don’t get your hopes up. We’re talking about Lumia Camera, not Lumia Camera. First, let’s break down the FOUR different versions of Lumia Camera. At the end, we’ll talk about the update for Lumia Camera that’s not Lumia Camera 5.

First we have Lumia Camera 5. This is the new version of Lumia Camera for the Nokia Lumia 830, 930, Icon, 1520, and Microsoft Lumia 640 and 640 XL. It includes features like Rich Capture and a dedicated button for switching between cameras.

Continue reading Lumia Camera Gets an Update with Transparent Live Tiles

Lumia Camera Classic vs Lumia Camera 5 Comparison

This is going to be the first installment in a three part series. It will be three comparisons and the third contender will be the Windows 10 Camera app, which is supposedly the replacement for Lumia Camera Classic.

Nokia Camera was a terrible camera app. I’ll say it again. Nokia Camera was terrible. We put up with it because the app took such amazing pictures. It took a long time to focus, there was no dedicated button to switch between front and rear cameras, no dedicated button for Settings, and so on.

Microsoft bought Nokia and Nokia Camera became Lumia Camera. Lumia Camera 5 came out and Lumia Camera became Lumia Camera Classic.

Lumia Camera 5 came with Lumia Denim, the firmware update that was bundled with Windows Phone 8.1.1. It’s only available on select Windows Phones, such as the Lumia 830, Lumia Icon, Lumia 930, and Lumia 1520. When Microsoft released the Lumia 640 and 640 XL, it was available on those as well.

Lumia Camera 5 solves just about all of the things that were wrong with Lumia Camera Classic, but it also takes different pictures. Here, we’re actually going to put those pictures side by side.

I would also note that I still have a beef with all of the Lumia Camera apps, which is that certain things can be edited from within the app and some are only in other Lumia apps, such as Lumia Creative Studio. I would love to see all of those features in the Lumia Camera app or even in the Photos app.

So let’s look at Lumia Camera Classic and Lumia Camera 5 side by side. Both photos were taken with the Lumia 930. To be fair with each other, they both used automatic settings. To enlarge the photo, click on it. To view the full size image, there is a link in the carousel.

Lumia Camera Classic Lumia Camera 5

Obviously, both cameras take similar photos. After all, they were taken with the same camera with the same firmware, but there are some differences.

Lumia Camera Classic
Lumia Camera 5

Lumia Camera Classic - Lumia Camera 5

Lumia Camera Classic
Lumia Camera 5

Lumia Camera Classic - Lumia Camera 5

Lumia Camera Classic
Lumia Camera 5

Lumia Camera Classic - Lumia Camera 5

One thing that I noticed in some of my camera tests with the Lumia 640 is that the photos seemed to be oversaturated. I see now that that’s not the case. We do notice that the reds seem darker with Lumia Camera 5.

Lumia Camera 5 also comes with a feature called Rich Capture. It’s a wonderful feature, which is why it’s named after me. Here’s a video I did that shows off Rich Capture and what it does.

Now, let’s look at some samples:

Lumia Camera 5 No Flash
Rich Capture

Lumia Camera 5 without Flash - Rich Capture

Lumia Camera 5 with Flash
Rich Capture

Lumia Camera 5 with Flash - Rich Capture

Lumia Camera 5 without Flash
Rich Capture

Lumia Camera 5 without Flash - Rich Capture

Lumia Camera 5 with Flash
Rich Capture

Lumia Camera 5 with Flash - Rich Capture

Lumia Camera 5 without Flash
Rich Capture

Lumia Camera 5 without Flash - Rich Capture

Lumia Camera 5 with Flash
Rich Capture

Lumia Camera 5 with Flash - Rich Capture

The idea behind Rich Capture is to allow the user to adjust the exposure of an image after it’s taken. When you take the photo with a flash, it allows you to choose the image with a flash, without the flash, or anywhere in between, which is a huge benefit.

Then there’s the front camera. I don’t have my Lumia 640 XL review unit anymore, which is the only phone with a solid front camera that’s got Lumia Camera 5. Because of this, we’re going to do it with the 1.2 MP front camera on the Nokia Lumia 930. i’m not expecting to see big differences here.

It could be the lighting or a slightly different angle, but I think Lumia Camera 5 does a better job on the front camera.

Sadly, I don’t think this comparison is going to matter. As far as I can tell, Lumia Camera Classic dies with the birth of Windows 10 Mobile. Every phone I have running the Insider Preview doesn’t have Lumia Camera on it anymore unless it’s a phone with Lumia Camera 5, such as the Lumia 930 or the Lumia Icon.

I really wanted to get this comparison in before Lumia Camera Classic is gone forever.

When Microsoft bought Nokia, the firm made the pledge to open up all of the Nokia specific apps to all Windows Phones. They have not made good on that promise, even a little. Even apps such as Lumia Creative Studio aren’t available on non-Lumia Windows Phones. This is another reason why I think that Lumias ultimately hurt the Windows Phone platform, despite the fact that they’re amazing phones.

The new stock Camera app in Windows 10 Mobile is the first step toward that goal. After all, Windows Phone has always had a stock Camera app, which is pretty terrible. Big companies such as HTC, Samsung, and LG have their own camera apps, but smaller companies such as Blu and Yezz use the stock Camera app.

In Windows 10 Mobile, the stock Camera app will be much more similar to the Lumia Camera app. Let’s just hope it works as well. If you’re running the Windows 10 Mobile Insider Preview, you know that the stock Camera app is far from complete.

LG Lancet vs Microsoft Lumia 735: Verizon’s Two Windows Phones

Currently, Verizon sells two Windows Phones. Well, in the mid-range. They still sell the HTC One M8 for Windows. You can still find a Nokia Lumia Icon in some places, both of which are amazing phones.

But we have two brand new Windows Phones on Verizon now, the Microsoft Lumia 735 and the LG Lancet. The phones are very similar in that they use similar chipsets and have the same RAM and storage. They’re different since the Lumia 735 has a camera with better specs and the Lancet has a 64 bit processor, but we’ll get to that later.

I’m extremely excited about the LG Lancet. It’s LG’s first try at Windows Phone since Windows Phone 7 and so far, I think they’ve done a pretty good job.

Continue reading LG Lancet vs Microsoft Lumia 735: Verizon’s Two Windows Phones

Microsoft Lumia 735 Unboxing and First Impressions

OK, OK, I know I’m not unboxing the Microsoft Lumia 735. It’s the Nokia Lumia 735; however, I really promise that for the purposes here, both phones are exactly the same.

I recently received an LG Lancet to review. The interesting thing here is that it’s exclusive to Verizon and it sits on the mid-range side by side with the Microsoft Lumia 735 as Verizon’s two Windows Phones.

The objective is to compare the two devices and find out what the best Verizon Windows Phone really is (it’s the Lumia Icon, but they don’t sell it anymore). So take a look at the unboxing of the Nokia Lumia 735.

Continue reading Microsoft Lumia 735 Unboxing and First Impressions