Why doesn't Nokia - Windows Phone uses retina display?

On HardOCP, screen resolution doesn't matter if Apple has the higher resolution.
 
In all fairness though, there was no Amazon Wireless when the iPhones launched and you still can't buy the iPhone with a plan on Amazon.
 
My brother asked yesterday about 480x800 on the 900 saying he read how it's terrible compared to higher resolution phones. Then I showed him the Titan and he said uhh what's the big deal that looks great. Put a WP7 phone and various other devices together with the same screen technology (amoled, etc) in front of most people and they could care less and wouldn't even mention PPI unless it were pointed out.
 
I just picked up my Lumia 900 today and I love the screen. Great phone!!
 
OldPueblo said:
My brother asked yesterday about 480x800 on the 900 saying he read how it's terrible compared to higher resolution phones. Then I showed him the Titan and he said uhh what's the big deal that looks great. Put a WP7 phone and various other devices together with the same screen technology (amoled, etc) in front of most people and they could care less and wouldn't even mention PPI unless it were pointed out.
Click to expand...

^^^ This. I've yet to hear anyone complain about the screen quality outside of the internet. I realize there are people that can appreciate a high res screen, and I respect that. But most people online will complain because they read someone else's opinion without seeing it in person.

If you told someone, you had a WP8 beta phone with a 720p screen and showed them a Lumia 900, I'd bet most would rave over how great the screen looks.
 
Went from IPhone 4 to the 900. No complaints so far other than the marketplace sucks, not just the lack of "official" apps but the fact that they approve so much crap. Filled with Chinese and OMGSexyBoobsHotSexFacts apps. There are 3rd party marketplace browsers that are much better and do the job until MS can get that straight. The screen is pretty awesome, it's not a retina but you have to get real close to be able to tell, and you have to get real close to a retina screen anyways just to see anything. ;) Serious question, do apps need to be written to support mulitple cores? Seems like much ado about nothing as long as everything runs smooth.
 
Ratfester said:
Filled with Chinese and OMGSexyBoobsHotSexFacts apps.
Click to expand...
That was an issue with the iOS app store early on as well, just a marketing plot to inflate the number of available apps. Once there were a bunch of legit apps Apple went and banned a whole bunch of devs from ever submitting anything again and removed thousands of apps in a day.
 
Thuleman said:
That was an issue with the iOS app store early on as well, just a marketing plot to inflate the number of available apps. Once there were a bunch of legit apps Apple went and banned a whole bunch of devs from ever submitting anything again and removed thousands of apps in a day.
Click to expand...

Yeah thats what I figured, hopefully sooner than later.
 
OldPueblo said:
My brother asked yesterday about 480x800 on the 900 saying he read how it's terrible compared to higher resolution phones. Then I showed him the Titan and he said uhh what's the big deal that looks great. Put a WP7 phone and various other devices together with the same screen technology (amoled, etc) in front of most people and they could care less and wouldn't even mention PPI unless it were pointed out.
Click to expand...

compare a WP7 device to a higher resolution one and the difference becomes appearant especially with text.....
 
OldPueblo said:
No it doesn't if you don't care, and most people don't.
Click to expand...

Uh huh- that's why reporters and the reviewers of the iPhone4 were like "gee- what's the big deal?" Since then high ppi screens have become the norm, not to keep the price of phones elevated, but because people DO care.

It's amazing how much fanboyism is out there- both on the Apple side and apparently the WP side. I'm not sure where that leaves me- I guess i'm on the sidelines stroking my sweet sweet android lovebot whose database knows more about me than my wife does...
 
I'm glad you like quoting reporters who's sole job is comparing specs and things like that. I "interviewed" every single person I switched to Windows Phone and they do not care at all. That's my point. They are regular people, the "true target market" for this new wave of smartphones. Reporters exist in a bubble, regular people exist in real life. Stuff like that is a tie-breaker for most.
 
OldPueblo said:
I'm glad you like quoting reporters who's sole job is comparing specs and things like that. I "interviewed" every single person I switched to Windows Phone and they do not care at all. That's my point. They are regular people, the "true target market" for this new wave of smartphones. Reporters exist in a bubble, regular people exist in real life. Stuff like that is a tie-breaker for most.
Click to expand...

As other people have pointed out... you're on the wrong forum to be preaching the gospel of "good enough"- as for your poll of people who switched to WP7 saying that they don't care... by sampling only those that switched, you've created a sampling bias.
 
Unknown-One said:
Broken? Works just fine here...

Also, there are plenty of 4.3" Android phones that run at 480x800, just like the Lumia 900.
Click to expand...

Yeah, but those old Android phones arent flagships for the OS releasing in 2012. They are old phones that released and were flagships 13 months ago. And the iPhone 4 released over a year ago as well at a much higher res.

WP7 devices don't exist in a vacuum, the Lumia has to compete for consumer dollars versus the best of the best on the market for Android and iOS right now, not a year ago.

That being said, its not like this is a surprise, and this 'issue' if you can call it that, will soon be remedied with Apollo. I look forward to all the current WP7 haters shutting the hell up about specs and screen resolutions all of a sudden come Q4 2012.
 
Cipherr said:
I look forward to all the current WP7 haters shutting the hell up about specs and screen resolutions all of a sudden come Q4 2012.
Click to expand...

It's not hating, it's just dislike for fanboyism that can't even acknowledge the flaws of the OS as it exists today- as you pointed out, it doesn't exist in a vacuum and has to be compared to today's devices. I would also point out that if the resolution in 7.5 is sufficient, there would be no need to increase the capable resolution of 8... the fact that 8 DOES support higher resolutions is prima facie evidence that MS even believes that the resolution should go higher.
I look forward to a WP that's actually comparable in specs to anything Android or Apple has- I just can't bring myself to spend money on a phone that's a downgrade in every spec- and unfortunately that's what 7.5 offers me right now.
 
marshac said:
As other people have pointed out... you're on the wrong forum to be preaching the gospel of "good enough"- as for your poll of people who switched to WP7 saying that they don't care... by sampling only those that switched, you've created a sampling bias.
Click to expand...

Last I checked this forum was still full of reasonable people.

No I just pointed out that bigger is not always better. Sometimes bigger is flat out ignored for other more important features/factors. Tell me what's better, two LCDs that are 20" 1920x1080 or two that are 30" 2048x1536? The second right? Unless I value desk space more, in which case the specs flat out don't matter I just want the 20". Why does the 900 not have a "retina" display? It's absolutely fine without it, and those that love it are not stupid or just fanboys, or confused or whatever. They just care about other features more as do I. I picked it over a slew of phones with "better specs" because it does what I want it to do. And the 900 leaves most of them in the dust performance-wise/useability-wise in my opinion. There are plenty of comparison videos that prove this.
 
Yeah, I'll probably be moving from Sprint to AT&T for the 900. I played with one today, it's a great phone and the price can't be beat. I think 800x480 is fine in a device this size, what's more important is the quality of the display.

But Microsoft is getting hammered on specs but Windows Phone 7 was just a place holder. When Microsoft announced Windows on ARM at the beginning of last year, I think it became pretty clear where Microsoft was heading with phones and Metro in Windows 8 made it beyond obvious. With an OS as powerful as Windows 8 powering phones (the WOA kernel is the platform for Windows Phone 8 it appears) and with Nokia as a hardware partner I think Windows Phone 8 is have no problem with specs, from multi-core processors to high pixel displays, WOA can handle displays as dense as the new iPads.

A big question is will all existing Windows Phones get an upgrade to Windows Phone 8? As efficient as Windows 8 looks I'm thinking it's possible, and it's practically a must, especially with the brand new devices like the 900.
 
OldPueblo said:
No it doesn't if you don't care, and most people don't.
Click to expand...

Yes it does, even though I am in my 40's I can definately tell the difference between 800*480 and 5XX*9XX on the same size screen lol
 
Last edited:
YeuEmMaiMai said:
Yes it does, even though I am in my 40's I can definately tell the difference between 800*480 and 5XX*9XX on the same size screen lol
Click to expand...
The question isn't whether you can tell the difference, the question is whether the difference matters.

Consider this; Most people who upgrade to a currently available phone had their old phones for the past two years. My old phone was 320x480 and it was OK for what I was doing. Now I am at 800x480 and I am like WHOA! look at all the space! Would my WHOA! be bigger if I had more pixels? Maybe, but the display I got with the 900 is such a large upgrade that I am perfectly happy with it.

I bought the Lumia 900 for the fact that it runs on AT&T (primary requirement for me), that it does what I need it to do, that I like the design/feel, and the price (which turned out to be free).

Are there things I don't like about it? Sure, but the screen isn't one of them. I don't get how Microsoft doesn't have a built-in RDP client in WP7. That seems insane to me. Also, it doesn't do EAP-TLS which is a HUGE problem for me, in fact it's so huge that I may be returning the phone in favor of one that runs an OS that does EAP-TLS. That's a WP7 problem though and doesn't have anything to do with the hardware.
 
Thuleman said:
The question isn't whether you can tell the difference, the question is whether the difference matters.

Consider this; Most people who upgrade to a currently available phone had their old phones for the past two years. My old phone was 320x480 and it was OK for what I was doing. Now I am at 800x480 and I am like WHOA! look at all the space! Would my WHOA! be bigger if I had more pixels? Maybe, but the display I got with the 900 is such a large upgrade that I am perfectly happy with it.

I bought the Lumia 900 for the fact that it runs on AT&T (primary requirement for me), that it does what I need it to do, that I like the design/feel, and the price (which turned out to be free).

Are there things I don't like about it? Sure, but the screen isn't one of them. I don't get how Microsoft doesn't have a built-in RDP client in WP7. That seems insane to me. Also, it doesn't do EAP-TLS which is a HUGE problem for me, in fact it's so huge that I may be returning the phone in favor of one that runs an OS that does EAP-TLS. That's a WP7 problem though and doesn't have anything to do with the hardware.
Click to expand...

So basically, your old phone had a pitiful display resolution, you think the age old 800x480 is still "woah?" Don't try to deflect the issue: if there was a proper RDP client, the low resolution would show up immediately. At work, the new iPads immediately replaced a few iPad 1 and 2s after a coworker demonstrated how effective it was for remoteing into several office remote hosts (and actual readability). Resolution matters.

Sure, WP7 is defficient in many other areas, premoninantly software (not even considering App count, which I care little of) and the general WP7 ecosystem, however, that doesn't detract from the key point of this thread: WP7 chasis specs are behind, even back during launch (which caused WP7 to miss the transition from the 16:9.5 [800x480] to 16:9 [960x540, 1280x720] displays).

Yes, there are bigger fish for WP7 to fry, however, this is still a big one. Microsoft/Nokia are going to have to solve all these issues, including this dated display spec, before WP7 will be further accepted. Right now, it *cannot* do anything Android and iOS cannot do, and their HW specs blow away WP7 by a distance as great as the disparity is current sales show. Their HW designs? I still view the iPhone 4/4S design as more asthetically pleasing than the Lumia 900, even in person.

So why buy a WP7 device, unless if the consumer in question dislikes Android, and also dislikes iOS/iTunes (or rather, still have the idea that iTunes is necessary in any way), while liking MS (and willing to put up with the worst mobile browser - IE9 is great, just not on a phone)? Seems like a small market to me, and it's showing in the sales.
 
jeremyshaw said:
So basically, your old phone had a pitiful display resolution, you think the age old 800x480 is still "woah?" Don't try to deflect the issue: if there was a proper RDP client, the low resolution would show up immediately. At work, the new iPads immediately replaced a few iPad 1 and 2s after a coworker demonstrated how effective it was for remoteing into several office remote hosts (and actual readability). Resolution matters.

Sure, WP7 is defficient in many other areas, premoninantly software (not even considering App count, which I care little of) and the general WP7 ecosystem, however, that doesn't detract from the key point of this thread: WP7 chasis specs are behind, even back during launch (which caused WP7 to miss the transition from the 16:9.5 [800x480] to 16:9 [960x540, 1280x720] displays).

Yes, there are bigger fish for WP7 to fry, however, this is still a big one. Microsoft/Nokia are going to have to solve all these issues, including this dated display spec, before WP7 will be further accepted. Right now, it *cannot* do anything Android and iOS cannot do, and their HW specs blow away WP7 by a distance as great as the disparity is current sales show. Their HW designs? I still view the iPhone 4/4S design as more asthetically pleasing than the Lumia 900, even in person.

So why buy a WP7 device, unless if the consumer in question dislikes Android, and also dislikes iOS/iTunes (or rather, still have the idea that iTunes is necessary in any way), while liking MS (and willing to put up with the worst mobile browser - IE9 is great, just not on a phone)? Seems like a small market to me, and it's showing in the sales.
Click to expand...

Sure the specs on Windows Phone 7's aren't top of the line, but there area number of Android devices with the same 800×480 resolution like the Galaxy S II.

At any rate the next version of Windows Phone which should be out at the same time Windows 8 launches will be a much different animal and it's going to go toe to with Android and iOS on the hardware side. And one trick that Microsoft could have up its sleeve is an x86 phone running full blown Windows 8.

At any rate the game changes dramatically this year. The Windows 8 ecosystem will easily rival Android and even iOS in terms of both hardware and software simply because of its size. Interesting times are ahead.
 
jeremyshaw said:
So basically, your old phone had a pitiful display resolution, you think the age old 800x480 is still "woah?" Don't try to deflect the issue
Click to expand...
I am not deflecting at all. Obviously the resolution is what it is and there are phones with higher resolution, that's a fact. The rest however is perception, and perception is reality.

My perception is that the 900 screen is a lot better than the screen I had. My perception is that when comparing the 900 to the iPhone 4S which were side by side at the ATT store I found the 900 to be better in part because of the physically larger display. I found the iPhone to be heavier in comparison and I did not like that.

The specs don't matter at all when you are looking at the phones side by side at a store. What matters is how you feel about the phone when you see it. Why do people buy cars with inferior specs? Because they go to the dealership and look at them, test drive them, and then make an irrational decision to purchase a specific car with little regard for specs.

In fact, you can easily argue that most purchases of any kind are irrational and based on emotional responses to the product/marketing/weather/spouse/whatever.

No one here is saying that the WP resolution is better than higher resolution screens. What some, including myself, are saying is that in the end it just doesn't matter for most people.

Also consider that it's not my goal to convince you to buy a 900, I am merely explaining why I bought one. Amazon sales stats also show that there are quite a few other people who didn't mind the 800x480 display.
 
http://www.ubergizmo.com/2012/04/no...th-windows-8-being-prepped-for-verizon-rumor/
Nokia prepping a PureView Lumia device, will run Windows Phone 8 Apollo, feature a ClearBlack 1280×720 display, Qualcomm MSM8960 processor and will be headed for Verizon this Fall.

In my opinion these new Windows8 phones can confidently take on the Android phones this Fall, as well as the iPhone6 ( will be named iPhone6 due it running iOS6 and being 6th generation iPhone ) This Fall will see some bad ass releases; all three of these phones will be very good in their own way, can't go wrong with any of them.

- Nexus-Four Jellybean
- iPhone6
- Windows8 phone
 
Last edited:
Zorachus said:
http://www.ubergizmo.com/2012/04/no...th-windows-8-being-prepped-for-verizon-rumor/
Nokia prepping a PureView Lumia device, will run Windows Phone 8 Apollo, feature a ClearBlack 1280×720 display, Qualcomm MSM8960 processor and will be headed for Verizon this Fall.

In my opinion these new Windows8 phones can confidently take on the Android phones this Fall, as well as the iPhone6 ( will be named iPhone6 due it running iOS6 and being 6th generation iPhone ) This Fall will see some bad ass releases; all three of these phones will be very good in their own way, can't go wrong with any of them.

- Nexus-Four Jellybean
- iPhone6
- Windows8 phone
Click to expand...
<troll hat>
And that nice 1280x720 screen will come near 1 year to the day after android had a 720p screen; and ~6 months behind when android hit 1080p on a handset.
</troll hat>

Seriously though; competition is good; and I hope Windows Phone, IOS, and Android all stay competitive and moving ; it just keeps progress moving for all three that much faster. The fact that this conversation even comes up is a testament to the improvements in Windows Phone 7.
 
Worminater said:
<troll hat>
And that nice 1280x720 screen will come near 1 year to the day after android had a 720p screen; and ~6 months behind when android hit 1080p on a handset.
</troll hat>
Click to expand...

But in the spec war of phones who had what 6 months are a year ago really doesn't matter, it's about the here and now. Microsoft was just trying to get itself reestablished in the phone market with Windows Phone 7. Though I'm sure Microsoft would have liked WP7 to have done better, Microsoft already had Windows 8 in the wings and Windows on ARM in the wings, they just weren't ready but they will be this fall and I would imagine that Windows 8 Phones will be able match Android spec for spec for the most part, maybe even pull a trick or two like an x86 phone that can run desktop Windows 8, that could be a hell of device though I imagine that wouldn't come until Intel is ready with its phones and that's GOT to be something Intel is working on with Microsoft, it would be pretty dumb if they weren't.
 
I know this is a 900 thread but just to chime in on the screen argument even with the largest screen for wp7 i find the resolution perfectly usable.

I love my HTC Titan.

The 4.7 inch screen is just right size and the iphone lovers around me are clearly irked when I show them how much of a bitch their iphone looks when mine is next to it :D

Looking forward to wp8 since all 2nd gen and most 1st gen phones have been said to be able to run it in a number of wp7 blog releases.

I do wish AT&T wasnt so lazy on os updates slackers.
 
It only has a PPI of 284 so clearly the iPhone is much better than it! (The galaxy note is amazing, if I went back to Android I'd get it. But I'm not going back.)
 
I was playing with a Note the other day at the AT&T store and it's pretty cool but it's just too big for a phone and the pen is pretty awkward though you can use another Wacom pen I believe.
 
Zorachus said:
http://www.ubergizmo.com/2012/04/no...th-windows-8-being-prepped-for-verizon-rumor/
Nokia prepping a PureView Lumia device, will run Windows Phone 8 Apollo, feature a ClearBlack 1280×720 display, Qualcomm MSM8960 processor and will be headed for Verizon this Fall.

In my opinion these new Windows8 phones can confidently take on the Android phones this Fall, as well as the iPhone6 ( will be named iPhone6 due it running iOS6 and being 6th generation iPhone ) This Fall will see some bad ass releases; all three of these phones will be very good in their own way, can't go wrong with any of them.

- Nexus-Four Jellybean
- iPhone6
- Windows8 phone
Click to expand...

Considering VZW told MS to go to hell.... I doubt it. They also turned down the Lumia 800 and 900.
 
Zurginator said:
Considering VZW told MS to go to hell.... I doubt it. They also turned down the Lumia 800 and 900.
Click to expand...

For now, but with Windows 8 and tablets, no one is going to tell Microsoft to go to hell with Windows Phone 8. My guess is is that Verizon and Sprint were waiting for Windows 8 anyway as they probably had inside knowledge as to has this as going to play out. Windows Phone 7 is really a place holder and no Windows tablets to go with it. I Sprint and Verizon are going to want sell Windows 8 tablets and that's obviously going to come with strings attached to sell Windows Phone 8.

And honestly I'm thinking that the 900 is going to to better than Verizon or Sprint realized. The fix for the LTE issue for the 900 being rolled out in the same week as the 900 launched? I've been a Verizon customer since 2005 and never have seen that kind of turned around.

Right now all AT&T, Verizon and Sprint want to do is ride on the back of the iPhone. Sure Android phones sell a lot and are their money maker but none of these carriers gives a shit about support or updates. They just want to sell phones. The fact that a phone update for not an iPhone got pushed this fast means a lot. I almost think it was staged because this just doesn't happen, especially for a phone OS that many consider will be scrapped next week. At any rate, for free dollars, the 900 is fucking awesome and the LTE is great in my area.
 
I just don't think that Verizon or Sprint want to bend over backwards for updates like Microsoft wants... As has been noted with Android, they really don't want to mess with pushing out updates. AT&T might just be the one that is good in this regard.... they accepted those terms with the iPhone, and seem to be doing the same with WP7/8 now.
 
Zurginator said:
AT&T might just be the one that is good in this regard.... they accepted those terms with the iPhone, and seem to be doing the same with WP7/8 now.
Click to expand...

I don't follow- Apple pushes out iPhone updates, not the carriers. VZW and Sprint iPhones are updated on the exact same day as AT&T, so I'm not sure how their track record with timely iPhone updates is any indicator for WP update frequency.

If anything, MS should be fighting for the same ability to directly update devices just like Apple does.
 
Apple also sells customers to Sprint/ATT/VZ via their store front and also customer service. Apple bricks phones via an update and they are on the hook to replace/repair them.

MS doesn't have this (well they have 12 stores).

MS isn't the customer of VZ/ATT/Sprint, the cell phone OEM's are. MS's customers are the OEM's, not end users.
 
Zurginator said:
Considering VZW told MS to go to hell.... I doubt it. They also turned down the Lumia 800 and 900.
Click to expand...

This is technically incorrect. VZ told MS they wanted an LTE windows phone and MS said not till Win8 so VZ said screw you we only want LTE phones. Then AT&T came and asked nicely and since they hadn't been assholes in the past like VZ had regarding WP7 then MS acquiesced. Then of course VZ heard about it and threw another fit, but hey you reap what you sow. :p They didn't really turn down the 900, they turned down what would've been a pre-LTE Nokia phone at the time. I think because AT&T got the first LTE WP7 they also cancelled their plans to carry a version of the 710.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top