Yes, the Lumia 1020 isn't a new device anymore, but with the Developer Preview of Windows Phone 8.1 at least it's being kept bang up to date. Interestingly, not one, but two prominent voices in the mobile world have come out in the last week and said that they keep getting drawn back to the device as their primary smartphone. Some quotes below from both Matt Miller and James Pearce, through whose hands just about every other 2014 device has already passed - and they've still ended up back at the 1020, kitted out with the update.

First of all, Matt Miller, part time tech journalist for ZDNet, in a piece entitled "Why Windows Phone 8.1 became my daily driver again":

...Microsoft provided more than I expected in Windows Phone 8.1 and the more I use it, the more I find I am starting to prefer it over Android. I gave up on an iPhone several months ago, I use an iPad Mini for iOS familiarity, but just recently bought a Sony Xperia Z2 and am considering putting it up for sale already.

When I went back and read the list of things I like about the Z2, I see that my Lumia 1020 has at least half of these things and the others are made up in different ways, music playback on Windows Phone through the headphone jack is amazing and the mono speaker on the Lumia 1020 is actually very good.

Let me first address the issues I mentioned in February:

1. Live Tiles: Live Tiles were improved in WP 8.1 with better information update support and a very cool effect where you can put an image behind the Live Tiles to really customize the look of your phone. You can also put smaller tiles into folders and even extend to a third column on larger display devices. 
   
   
2. OS responsiveness: Windows Phone has always been zippy, but I was tired of seeing some lag in app responsiveness. I am seeing much less of that in WP 8.1, even though it is still in Developer Preview mode and I don't yet have the latest and greatest Nokia improvements.
   
   
3. Notifications: Simply put, Action Center rocks. I never use the notifications area on iOS and the one on Android can often be so overwhelming that I end up just clearing all without even looking at the notifications. Microsoft struck a great balance with Action Center and I use it all the time.
   
   
4. Google services: I understand this one is more of an issue with the way I use services and that much of this is out of Microsoft's control. However, the Google account setup does now give me multiple calendar support (the new calendar views are great) and contacts seem to be working well too.
   
   
5. Voice control: Microsoft stepped up to the plate here too with Cortana and she gets better every day with regular interaction. I hope that the hardware in the future lets me access and use Cortana in active listening mode like my Moto X, but I am still very satisfied with the performance as it is now. To help improve Cortana I have also now switched my desktop search to Bing.

...There looks to be little reason not to pick up and use Windows Phone as my daily driver now. I do wish there was support for mobile gear like my UP24, Fitbit, or Pebble and hope that Microsoft adds support for these accessories in the future. They are not essential though and I can still connect them to my iPad for syncing the data.

...When I look at the apps I use daily on my Android smartphone compared to the Lumia 1020, I personally don't find any major gaps. Since my last Windows Phone article, Microsoft even added Alaska Airlines, which is an essential application for my travel needs. Apps still don't launch on Windows Phone as quickly as other platforms and I still find iOS and Android apps often have more functionality, but I don't feel I am compromising with Windows Phone like I have been in the past.

You can read the whole piece here.

Reading between the lines, I do get the impression that, even though the Lumia 1020 with 8.1 is Matt's best option, there's still a long way to go for the platform. Even the biggest Windows Phone fan would admit that much more support of accessories is needed, especially in the burgeoning 'health' area - and I'd add in that the lack of the HID Bluetooth profile remains a frustration, meaning that there's no way to use Bluetooth keyboards.

And yes, I'm a little jealous that Matt is able to use Cortana officially - I can't wait for that to arrive on Windows Phone in other countries.

Along similar lines, James Pearce, from CoolSmartphone, writes in a piece entitled "I think I’ve fallen for Windows Phone":

....Something keeps pulling me back to the platform, I really don’t know what it is either. All I know is that when I haven’t got my trusty Lumia 1020 by my side I feel like part of me is missing.

As you may know I use Android for my main daily device and I always have a secondary backup phone with me as well. Windows Phone for me slots into that position well, I’ve tried out alternatives for my no.2 slot recently with the BlackBerry Q5 and the Firefox OS equipped Geeksphone Peak and needless to say I ended up with that SIM back in my Lumia (a Lumia 1020 if you’re wondering). So what is it that keeps pulling me back to the OS? As I said earlier I really don’t know, but here are my favourite features now that I’m running Windows Phone 8.1.

The People Hub

The People Hub is a great tool, that when you open it up for the first time you think it’s just your standard contacts app. It’s only when you start to dig into it that you can find out quite how good it is....

...The other nice thing about it are the groups. You create a new group, add some members and then when you load up your “girls from school who used to be cute” group it will harvest all of their details from whichever social networks you choose to stalk them on and show the latest updates. Similarly I have a group for the writers here at Coolsmartphone, it pulls in the various tweets or updates and shows it in one nice easy to handle stream. Replying to anything is only one tap away.

The Home Screen

Where do I start with the home screen. Since the Windows Phone 8.1 update the home screen has taken on a whole new lease of life. Being allowed 3 or 6 columns of times really spices things up. Also being allowed to use transparent tiles and a background wallpaper just totally tipped Windows Phone customisation on its head.

Live Tiles are pretty useful showing you at a glance that you’ve got a notification or showing that there is a new article to read or just something as simple as telling you the time or showing calendar appointments. They’re great, I love them.

The Word Flow keyboard

...The new keyboard in Windows Phone 8.1 is ridiculously fast, it’s a Swype style of keyboard where you trace a line between the letters you want and using some fancy word prediction you can now type so much faster than ever before. I’ve used Swype keyboards before and absolutely hated them, the day I tried the Windows Phone version it all suddenly clicked and I’ve even been using the SwiftKey Flow version on Android.

The problems

Over the years I’ve written things about Windows Phone which painted it in a negative light. The latest update fixed a lot of the problems me and many others had. Such as volume controls, notifications, file management and to a certain extent customisation. Microsoft seemingly also have attracted / bribed some big name developers such as Instagram and Vine to create apps for the OS.

A few little niggles still exist though. But for me the core functionality is great, most of my problems revolve around third party developers making weird apps that just don’t function properly. Another long term annoyance is the delay for new and exciting apps to be released, take Snapchat for instance. It’s been around for Android and iOS for a while and the Windows Phone version is nowhere to be seen. It’s a similar story with big name apps like Dropbox or banking apps.

You can read the whole piece here.

So James comes to very similar conclusions to Matt, while providing some nice tips and pointers. Yet he too comes up with niggles and omissions, showing just how far Windows Phone has to go before it can truly satisfy 'power users'.

A tip of the hat to the Nokia Lumia 1020 though, one of James' comments struck a chord with me: "when I haven’t got my trusty Lumia 1020 by my side I feel like part of me is missing." Indeed. I can get a fuller set of applications and profiles with an Android device but all the while I'll be eyeing up my 1020 and then picking it up anyway - for its camera, component and build quality, and now for the usability and cosmetics of Windows Phone 8.1 too.

Comments welcome, are you a 1020-aholic too?