Nokia Lumia 520 vs. Samsung Galaxy SIII Mini
 

My parents are upgrading their old, old, old Nokia flip phone (from 2005) as the screen backlighting died and Rogers is offering one of these phones as a free upgrade.

They live out in the boonies and their local Rogers store doesn't have either in stock, so they asked me which one they should get. I have no experience with either phone, but have used higher-end versions of both (the regular S3 and the Lumia 920) and I personally like the Nokia better of those two.

They won't have a data plan, don't text, and will essentially just use it to call, maybe take a few photos (My mom likes to take photos of price tags when she's shopping around), and use Skype and e-mail over WiFi when they go to the US. Really basic stuff.

Their priorities are ease of use, durability, and battery life. My mom would also like to swap SIMs for when they go to the US and the Nokia appears to have a MicroSIM slot, which is a plus I think.

Does anyone have any experience with either (or preferably both) of these phones that could maybe provide a bit more insight?

the Lumias are really easy for adults to adapt to like really easy
and its got the sensitive screen so if they ever wear gloves they can still operate the phone

and the os should be a lot slicker/less laggy than the s3 mini given that the OS/ui is pretty barebones

no experience with the s3 in particular

if they like apps though they'll likely prefer Android

As someone who owns recently mid-range Android devices and a Lumia 920, this is what I have to say

• The Samsung device lags a whole lot more, even on Android 4.4
• All apps that were previously missing, we now have on WP8 (e.g. Instagram, Snapchat, Vine, Tinder, etc)
• With regards to ease of use, I feel like WP8 is much better put together than Android, which is sometimes confusing/frustrating even for someone who knows how to root their phone
• Both my father and mother were able to pick up WP easily, while the father struggled with Android to the point where he slammed the phone onto the table while eating Pineapple Bun at Lido :lawl:

They're both 60, so any apps will be limited to basic things like solitaire.

Like a boss. Guy doesn't fuck around.

Thanked for the Lolz. :woot2:

Used WP since 7.0 and have a TF101 since jellybean, used a S4 for a few months when my 920 crapped out and I was too lazy to warranty. I actually wanted to break the S4 in half since it was acting retarded so I'm not too fond of android on cell phones :lol.

WP apps open like a brochure so its easier to comprehend. Skype + WP = shitty battery life so plug in while skyping. Sending a photo to people is definitely easier via WP - view photo>share>email = photo attached in outlook/gmail. Nokia drive+ is a plus, its a pretty damm good navigation app, nokia maps are life savers when traveling.

Just watch out for rogers phone as they recently allowed marketplace to charge your rogers account for app purchases.

Are you signing the 520 as contract?

No contract, month-to-month voice only

Nokia all the way. S3 mini is too old with all the bloatware Samsung installed on the phone it will be laggy as hell.

WP8 is pretty easy to use. I play around with my co-workers WP8 and is pretty easy to know where everything is. While with JB it takes a while, not to mention each manfacture put their own custom skin ontop.

Recently got my gf's dad a S3 mini last week. It is slow. But I guess this is expected cuz the specs aren't too good. Its very light though!

Thanks guys, it made their decision easy :)