Am I missing anything? What keeps you on Windows phone instead of the typical iOS or Android platforms? My daughter borrowed a worn Windows 8 phone with a broken charger port for me to check out. I got to play with it for a few minutes before the battery died and is similar to my tablet but much leaner. I appreciate any thoughts or feedback. Thanks,
Lee
Well I hate the iPhone (ok, anything "Apple" really) but I will be honest: you're missing nothing.
To be on Windows Phone is really only a matter of preference, convenience, masochism or all together. I'm just giving you MY opinion and feedback, though notice that others will have a very different opinion:
- Windows Phone 8.1 is almost on the same level as iOS 7 in terms of OS overall functionality. It's not on pair with Android but then again, only pure Windows on a phone would do that and Microsoft doesn't seem inclined to go that route.
The differences between WP8.1 and iOS 7 are in the design and execution. Both platforms will give you a start screen filled with apps. iOS gives you icons, WP gives you Live Tiles which are, admittedly, more useful in what screen-cluttering things go.
- I came to Windows Phone for one reason and one reason only:
Nokia. Nothing else made me come, nothing else made me stay and with Nokia out of the phone business for the time being, nothing will make me stay. Because there are now no OEMs I trust building high end WP devices (except the HTC One W8 but the awful camera breaks the deal to me) I will be moving to Android once Sony releases the Xperia Z3 Compact. If Sony were to release a WP device, though, I would stay with WP. To me the hardware matters more than the OS that runs in it.
- Windows Phone HAS a problem with apps. There's the "app gap" which is real. That app gap has been filled...and created another problem: a sub-par-app problem. While we have basically all the big names (Instagram, Vine, 9Gag, Facebook etc etc etc) all the apps give you an inferior experience than the one you get on iOS. Worst of all, among the apps that are better on iOS are Microsoft's own apps like Skype. There's also a problem with lack on incentive for developers to keep support and so many of them end up dropping support after the app is out.
Well and if you rely on Google apps, forget it. There's none available. You have to rely on third party apps. Mind you, some, like MetroTube for YouTube are as good when not better than the official ones. But still.
- Then you have Microsoft and their slowness. Yes, they're issuing several updates, but only a significant one a year. All the GDRs are minor things and they're always done because some OEM needs them. All the 2013 GDRs were made upon Nokia's request and 2014's GDR 1 was made to accommodate HTC's requests (mainly to allow them to reuse the hardware of their Android offerings). So if you're willing to put up with slow update cycles, you won't have a problem with WP. Windows Phone 8.1 was a massive update. But Microsoft has to do more to compete with iOS and Android. It's not enough to try to catch up on features.
- The big advantage to me of WP is, apart from Nokia's hardware, the integration of Microsoft services. Office and OneDrive are seamlessly integrated with the OS. And you indeed get a similar experience to the one you get on Windows 8.1 on a tablet. With the upcoming Windows 9 ("Threshold") Windows Phone 9 should take the place of Windows RT on tablets and merge more with Windows 9 itself. So the experience should become just one on any of your portable devices, much like you now have with iOS on the iPhone and the iPad. Microsoft is trying to add Windows itself to that experience (unlike Apple who keeps OS X separate) but I honestly doubt they'll succeed because the things people demand of Windows on a PC aren't compatible with mobile experiences.
- Until now Windows Phone had a big advantage over the competition for me: Nokia and all they bring. Specially the cameras. Nokia phones have the best cameras on the market, hands down. The only other OEM that comes close is Sony with their Xperia Zx line and the iPhone 5S (because it uses a Sony camera and Sony lenses).
However, I say "until now" because that was all proprietary software of Nokia. With the sale of the D&S division to Microsoft, all that technology became available for licensing by other OEMs. Which means the technology behind things like the PureView cameras can end up in other phones, like the iPhone for example (and Apple hired one of the leading engineers on the PureView team when the sale of the D&S took place).
If you can get a Nokia phone still (and the 820, with WP8.1 is a GREAT phone), do it. Give it a try. Windows Phone has many virtues and I'm sure others will tell you about them. To me the main virtues of WP are with the Nokia hardware. The OS is good and it's getting better with each update but it's nothing that will blow your mind.
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