Three customer service tells me Note 3 camera best on the market, better than 1020 #Ramble

At the start of my academic term I bought a three SIM to use the unlimited data as my placement location would not have internet. (Yeah I know right, what’s that about). 4 months, no internet, lolwut?!

I almost cancelled after the first month as I couldn’t get internet at the placement location in blackburn. Outside, it zipped fine. But possibly due to the number of people (it was at the hospital – thousands there) capacity of the cell-masts were exceeded and thus no internet – at least that’s what customer services said. Three’s customer services offered me a booster which would work by connecting to broadband internet. They couldn’t quite understand why if had broadband, I wouldn’t be bothering them in the first place.

Fortunately 6 weeks on, three seem to have remedied something and I went on to consume about 50GB in a month apparently (and that was only during the ‘free’ time we had).

I should have cancelled in advance but having that unlimited 3G at times 4G was wonderful. Also, when the WiFi at home died, I just flicked share internet on and all was well. What with exams and coursework, I kept that little safety net of back up internet there but really, it’s time to cancel now I’m back from placement (back to the uni house).

So this is what the post is about. I call up to cancel and sure as expected end up at retention with some guy trying to tell me that based on my account I should stay when they roll out 4G and all that jazz. He also told me that I could get a phone upgrade. I was genuinely interested. My ‘real’ contract that I picked up last year to get the 920 is going to be finished next November so I wanted to know what kind of deals they had. I told him I was currently using a 925 and 1020.

He goes on to tell me that the S4 and Note 3. I asked about the Note 3 as I’m itching for a phablet :p. He says the Note 3 has 3GB of RAM and a processor that’s never been seen on the market before so it can multitask. I told him I was interested in the best camera on the market. I asked which is the phone with the best camera on the market as that’s what I’m interested in. He says the Note 3 has the best camera. It takes crystal clear pictures in low light. 13 MP he kept on going on about. I didn’t say anything. I said I’m happy with what I have and would like to proceed with cancellations and my call was transferred.

Just before completing the call transfer he came back to the phone. I asked if threeUK had the 1020. They did. Well I had to do my bit and educate him. The 1020 is currently the best camera smartphone on the market. Several independent reviews and tests say so.

So the guy who was initially touting ’13’ as a big number, I tell him this has 41mp.

He tries to say it can be any MP but the Note 3 has better lenses. I tell him the 1020 has the biggest sensor on the market (yes because the 808 is not on the market. I can’t afford to add confusion to this call). It excels in low light and detail. Unfortunately I didn’t have time to explain about oversampling as he mentions the flash on the Note 3. I tell him the 1020 has xenon (also LED but again, didn’t want to complicate things). He tells me that’s because the 1020 NEEDS to xenon to support the 41mp whilst the Note 3 doesn’t.

I didn’t want to go on a specs thing anymore. I calmly say that the 1020 produces better pictures than the Note 3. Several respected sites online say so, that’s with direct and ‘blind’ tests to remove bias. I’m sure he didn’t expect to face a phone geek, let alone a Nokia one. He kinda backed down then.

The call proceeded to cancellations, where I spoke to a very nice guy called Akshay and we had a nice conversation about India and how it’s 9 degrees there and everyone’s wrapped up in gloves. He asked if I’d visited India before so we talked about Chennai. Just at the end, he said Three will always welcome me back if I wanted and I said I’d be looking to rejoin when my contract ends and we wished each other well.

So ends this story and ramble.

Screenshot btw is from here. In GSM Arena’s test, the Note 3 came last. 6th place. Not even behind the 1020. It comes closer in PhoneArena’s comparison. Though of course, quite consistently, the 1020 is number 1.

Sometimes we get comments from 1020 camera comparisons that they don’t need to see these comparisons. ‘Obviously’ the 1020 wins. But it isn’t so obvious. Even when the most important criteria of ‘camera’ is mentioned, sales peeps seem to try and shove other phones in your face. If there were some other criteria I was interested in, then yes, an alternative to the 1020 may push another customer to a different device. Credit where it’s due. It’ll be some time before WP ever matures to the point where it’s not the “great phone but oh, it has WP” to where the choices of Android vs iOS is now.

On a side note, on a train to Wales I caught 3 yellow Nokia Lumia 1020s at the side of the platform (3 different stops). I noticed the yellow headphones first trailing to a yellow phone and then the infamous black circle. A couple were also on the opposite side of the aisle with their two kids. The older toddler was banging the phone on the table making noise and potentially damaging the phone making the mum tell him off. The dad said it’s ok, it’s a Nokia (520 I think). I hope the spirit of fantastic design, incredible cameras, awesome build, neat innovations and general good-guy-vibes continue on in the family line of smartphones when the Nokia name is no longer imprinted on them. I think I might buy some Nokia stickers to stick on them (I covered up the Samsung logo on the Omnia 7 I gave to my mum before she ended up with the 800 and now her own white 920).

Category: Nokia