Why is my @Nokia Lumia 920 turning itself off? Even after the Portico update? Beta Test is NOT over.

If there was one thing I could say about my Nokia Lumia 800 and then the 900 I used after it was that they were super reliable. No freezing, no random reboots, no switching themselves off.  Within a few days of my first Nokia Lumia 920, I found out the LED stopped working. That’s fine, the rest of the phone was OK, and I got a replacement as it was within the 30 days. That was a hardware issue.

I’ve no idea if I’ve ended up swapping it for another dud 920 or it’s just part of the quality of WP8 (I guess it should be more widespread if that’s the case) but my Nokia Lumia 920 randomly turns itself off. Before, it did this once or twice a month. Then every other week. Then a couple of times a week. I thought that this infamous Portico update would sort it so I waited around for that. No. It happened not long after the update and just this morning when it was meant to be an alarm. I was kinda wishing I didn’t set an alarm as I wanted extra sleep (I didn’t have to come in till late anyway – call it a new Lumia extra rest feature that intuitively knows if you’ve slept late and need more sleep :/). Imagine if I had set it as my only alarm for an exam, morning lecture or whatever situation I might have actually needed it in.

I’ve looked around and I’ve noticed this happening with a some users on this thread. They’ve had the update since December.

http://wmpoweruser.com/any-issues-after-the-nokia-lumia-920-windows-phone-8-update/

I am now an expert of soft reseting (volume down and power) which resets my date to September 5th, 2012, 09:47.

Here’s a  different thread, I guess before the update with users experiencing the same problem.

http://forums.wpcentral.com/nokia-lumia-920/206290-nokia-lumia-920-turns-off-itself.html

I was wondering if this was a WP8 thing. But I searched for users of HTC 8X experiencing the same thing. Unless it’s my google-fu gone bad, I can’t seem to find a thread about it.

BTW, here’s yet another 920 thread, from Nokia discussions.

http://discussions.nokia.com/t5/Nokia-Lumia/Lumia-920-intermittently-shuts-off-shuts-down-for-no-reason/td-p/1606444

Is this something Nokia is aware of? Is this a specific Nokia firmware problem? Or a hardware issue? Am I going to have to send in my 920 for servicing (I’d rather not have to send a phone away and use an old one, lose all whatsapp messages etc)?

The 900 and my 800 have gone months without being turned off (and when they did turn off, it was a no-phone-zone me turning them off). I did find out the reason why my 800 would not turn on after the battery depleted was the Samsung charger I used on it didn’t supply the same power – as my other Nokia chargers could ‘wake it up’.

I’d love to blame MS and whine about how they’re taking so long to implement few features (hey to being late with notification centre!) – I thought it would be to at least make the phone stable (and it is when using the rest of the phone) but looking at it, it’s sadly seeming to have a lot more Nokia involvement to it…actually, no wait. whilst I was updating this post with screenshots I found one. Just one so far.

http://forums.wpcentral.com/htc-8x/210773-8x-turning-off-after-portico-update.html

I’d like to know what’s causing it to turn off. I’d like to know what can be done about it.

Update: Peter’s comment below suggests it could be hardware.

http://forums.wpcentral.com/nokia-lumia-920/214477-nokia-just-replaced-my-920-no-more-crashes.html

Update 2: As for ‘Doug’ recommending “other” more reliable phones, for every one thread about the 920 shut down, there is about 20 of the “recommended” handset. Perhaps as it has more users, but still goes to show it plagues them too. See comment

Update 3: I forgot about this twitter service – @NokiaHelps.  Various companies have specific twitter accounts to help their customers. I’ve found a lot of them more useful than having to call customer care lines. Let’s see how this works.

Update 4: Got an email from Nokia Care ( Customer Support & Team Coordinator
Customer Escalations and Resolutions Team) who wants to give me a call. Phone on standby. Let’s hope it doesn’t turn off so I don’t miss the call, eh :p.

Update 5: Well, that was quick. Nokia helps, certainly did help. I got a call as soon as they received my email (they were having problems with their email system so things were coming in slowly). They’re sorting it out through something called Door Step Swap. I don’t have to come in to a shop, I don’t have to call the shop and wait for them to get stock, I don’t have to send my phone away. They do next day (it’s Friday so it’ll be Monday, or Monday dispatch with Tuesday delivery) service. Just swap the phone on the doorstep. How cool is that. 😀 Thanks!

Fingers crossed I am third time lucky.

Category: Lumia, Nokia, Windows Phone