Which phone

RonH

Current phone is Nokia 8.1. I am considering updating to the Nokia 8.3 or Nokia X20. Which should I choose. Prices are similar here

Thanks Ron

loco73

https://community.phones.nokia.com/discussion/64888/which-phone

Because I'm biased towards the Nokia 8.3 5G , I'd say that one. Especially now that the price has come down so as to make it a good deal. Other than that, instead of the Nokia X20, you may want to give the Nokia XR-20 a look as well and see for yourself that device. From all the fleet of devices that HMD Global/Nokia Mobile has launched over the past two years or so, for me the Nokia 8.3 and XR-20 are the best. But of course these are nothing more than suggestions, at the end of the day you should choose the device that makes the most sense to you, in terms of use, price, specs etc.

RonH

Thanks for prompt reply. The 8.3 was my thought because it was originally a higher priced phone and has a solid spec. But it is not the latest Nokia high end and I have concerns about phone upgrade to Android 11 and general support. The XR 20 is build for rugged use which I do not really need and its price here is quite high.

Should I be concerned.? Your views and others appreciated.

Cheers Ron

badger810

@RonH The 8.3 is a great device, however since August, the updates seem to be every two months and a month behind. For example it is still on the Nov security update which was updated around 20th December. It is now Feb and still no December update. The Google play update is still on August 2021 or Feb 2021 if you reset the device. It is due one last os update, which will be Android 12 and should arrive end of Feb or March time, but who knows. I recently brought a cheap X10 as a replacement/spare as the 8.3 isn't getting updates regularly and that is already on Android 12 with Jan security and Google system play updates.

RonH

Thanks for your comments.

I'm pretty much convinced to buy. There are still a few at some of the electronic chains here.

The lack of updates is probably due to product age and interest by Nokia, given their push on later models. So long as all the early release issues have been resolved, plus I get the Android 11 or 12, that's good enough for my needs. My 8.1 on Android 11is still quiet acceptable (and with OIS camera) but I want to try something 'new'.

What is the 8.3 camera like without OIS? Though it does have EOS which should help these ageing hands of mine.

RonH

After viewing some (many!) videos by The Mr Nokia I decided on the 8.3. Collect at the store tomorrow and looking forward to setting up.

Hopefully all updates will be installed without issues plus Android 11.

Thanks for guidence Loco & Badger. If you have any more clues then your comments would be most welcome.

terminusaquo

https://community.phones.nokia.com/discussion/comment/202238#Comment_202238

I love my 8.3 but it does have an issue where it restarts when browsing through the Google feed. I'm waiting for Android 12 to factory reset it and see if that fixes the issue.

Other than that I think it's a great phone that's very forward thinking by adding 5G.

RonH

Phone purchased ... what a good price for a high spec phone. Security Downloads etc completed including Android 11. Yet to install the SIM ... I leave this until I have received a case, the phone is very attractive but so slippery!

All seems OK but I hope that I do not miss the 8.1 OIS ... In texting with the Support Centre they did reply that OIS was included so one wonders what they really know about their own product.

Video capture is very stable ... is the EIS also supposed to function when capturing stills? I have lots of tests to conduct to gain experience.

First early impressions ... very good.

Cheers

Ron

badger810

@RonH It is a great device apart from the lack of patches. I would recommend if you haven't already, it is worth doing a factory reset after all the updates etc and before you put your SIM in, just to be on the safe side to reduce any bugs after the A11 upgrade. Just out of curiousity what is the size of you system files after the upgrade to A11, mine is around 21Gb which seems high after factory reset.

RonH

System Files on mine is 24 GB, somewhat more than yours. Wouldn't it always be the same on each 8.3 device?

I think for now I will skip factory reset. Whilst Google makes it relatively easy phone to phone, there is still a bit of work to do within many of the apps, though I have only 80 in total. See how it behaves over time.

badger810

@RonH Thanks for the update. On my X10, after the upgrade to Android 12, it is about 15Gb of system storage, so 21Gb and certainly 24Gb seems high. It might reduce after a factory reset for you and as long as you have done a Google back up on the previous phone, all the apps will be restored.

RonH

Google back up is excellent but it's a pity that one can't do an Android system restore, retaining personal files and apps eg Windows technology.

Images using 8.3 are very good, though I find that in poor light I need to post image adjust the brightness.

alex12345

https://community.phones.nokia.com/discussion/comment/202324#Comment_202324

The quality varies, i find that there is noise even in broad daylight in the shadowy areas, especially if you use HDR on the wide-angle lens, it becomes unbearable, in that case i would like a weaker hdr effect (its quite strong), so that less noise becomes visible.

Another thing i would like they fix, is the sharpening: Its too much. If you zoom in to 80-100% many details look-like artificial..

I like the white balance / colours, but especially was impressed by:

At night, if you can set the phone down on a supporting structure (table...) and keep it steady for lets say 2 seconds, use the manual mode with 2s+ exposure, if you can keep it steady, the photos are really, really beautiful and much better than simply using night mode.

But i saw that even using night mode they become, well, not exceptional, but quite good.

RonH

Thanks for your photo tips. If the 8.3 is as good as the 8.1 (or the Nexus I used some years ago) then I will have no complaints.

Our images primarily serve my lady's story book albums, though from time to time I indulge in online 'fun' photo competitions. I still have a Nikon and a more recent Panasonic camera but mobile convenience is taking over.

RonH

2022-02 security patch just delivered so I am now very much up to date.

RonH

https://community.phones.nokia.com/discussion/comment/202328#Comment_202328

Alex ... Would you recommend general Auto use of camera without HDR (HDR Auto?) or Scene recognition set. I found this gave the best result on my 8.1.

Also, what is the latest app version for Android 11? Mine has no updates listed & is version.... 1400.24 There is a later version mentioned in another thread .... 1400.52?

alex12345

Well, it depends on the situation, if you are on broad daylight with lots of contrast, i would generally recommend it, to prevent the shadows from getting too contrasty.

Otherwise, to keep the pictures more naturally, i often turn it off, especially in situations where there is not so much contrast.

The latest is: 97.10.1400.55

But its from jan. 2021, so no, they did not update it for over a year and we had to keep the problems such as oversharpening, noise even in broad daylight...

RonH

Understood Alex.

Latest camera version is not offered on Play Store to my phone. Any idea how I can get it? Since its from Jan 2021, maybe Nokia has withdrawn it.

Ron

warre1

In my phone app info of Camera app reports version 97.10.1400.24, but Play Store says 97.10.1400.55.

Darrin Beresford

https://community.phones.nokia.com/discussion/comment/202470#Comment_202470

Same here and no way of being able to update it either?

RonH

Mine is also at version 24 according to the phone app info but, like both of you, Play Store says 55. Which should we believe, does version 55 not exist in reality? I am trying to get answers from Nokia Help.

I am also seeing app crashes related to selfie mode so clearly some update is needed. Beginning to think that I should have stayed with my 8.1 which was stable and with a good camera. I like the 8.3 though, and hope that Nokia will take action to resolve any issues before the phone no longer gets any support.

RonH

Answer from Nokia ....

We have to inform you that with the next Security Patch this difference will be fixed.

So I guess we have a long wait.