Windows Phones
Buy and sell Windows phones in Guatemala.
Nearly every Windows phone in Guatemala is a Nokia or Microsoft Lumia, from the plain 520, the best-selling Windows phone ever made, to the 1020 with its oversized camera bump and the 950 XL, the last flagship Microsoft built. None of them gets updates any more and the app store has stopped working, so the people who want one now are after a dedicated camera, a phone for calls and texts only, something to tinker with, or a piece for a collection. Sealed boxes and pre-owned handsets both turn up, along with docks, camera grips and spare batteries.
Windows Phone 8.1, Windows 10 Mobile and the Lumias that ran them:
the system a phone ended on decides most of what it can still do. Windows Phone 7 handsets such as the Lumia 800 never moved past their first system and are shelf pieces now. Windows Phone 8.1 covers the bulk, from the Lumia 520 and 920 to HTC’s 8X. Microsoft offered Windows 10 Mobile to some of them, the 640, 830, 930 and 1520 among others, and left the 520, 920 and 1020 behind. The phones that shipped with Windows 10 Mobile are the 550, the 650 and the 950 pair. Anyone who needs apps that still update is better served by Android phones or an iPhone.
A Lumia as a camera, a call phone or a project:
each use points to a different model. The 1020 is the camera people still seek out, for its large sensor and Xenon flash, and the 950 and 950 XL hold up well too; both save a raw DNG file next to the JPEG. For calls and texts with nothing to scroll, a 520 or 640 does the job, and their batteries pop out so a spare can ride in a pocket. Tinkerers favour the 950 XL, which enthusiast projects have booting the desktop Windows built for ARM laptops. Extras carry part of the value: the 950 pair drive a monitor through Microsoft’s Display Dock, the 1020 had a camera grip with its own battery, and several models charge on a Qi pad. Cables, micro-USB for most Lumias and USB-C for the 950 pair, sit under phone accessories.
The RM code and Guatemala’s 850 and 1900 MHz networks:
every Lumia was built in regional versions, told apart by an RM code shown on the About screen in Settings, and printed under the battery on models where it comes out. Guatemala’s networks run mainly on 850 and 1900 MHz, which suits the versions made for the Americas. The international Lumia 520 has its 3G on other bands, so here it can fall back to slow 2G. Look the code up before paying, then put your own chip in and make a call.
Tired batteries, Reset Protection and the apps a reset erases:
the battery is the part of any Lumia that has aged worst. A cell left flat in a drawer for years may never hold a charge again, and a swollen one lifts the back cover or the screen; sealed new-old-stock boxes are not exempt. On the 520, 640 and the 950 pair the battery comes out and a replacement is a simple swap, while the 920, 930 and 1020 have theirs sealed inside. The phone should arrive erased and accept your own Microsoft account: if Reset Protection was left on, it asks for the previous owner’s account after a reset, and only that person can release it. Expect only the built-in apps, because a reset wipes anything downloaded and with the store gone it cannot be put back. Collectors pay for a boxed 1020 or 950 XL with its accessories, while an ordinary 520 is valued on how long its battery still lasts.
Listing a Lumia with its box, dock or camera grip:
give the model and RM code, the colour, and whether it ended on Windows Phone 8.1 or Windows 10 Mobile. Say how long the battery lasts now and whether it is the original, and name the extras that go with it: the Display Dock, the 1020’s grip, a wireless charging pad, spare batteries, the box. Before the handover, turn off Reset Protection under Find my phone, then reset the phone so your Microsoft account leaves with you. Whoever comes from Huehuetenango or Escuintla to collect it mainly wants to know it will work with their chip, and an RM code in the listing settles that before they set off.