The 2014 Lumia lineup makes zero sense, thinking 2015 lineup

[anon(5348756)]

I don't really see the need for a 2K screen, but then again I'm blind, a 720p screen looks perfect to my eyes. I agree that MS could use some lineup simplification. 5/7/9 and phablet series would be great but I doubt this will happen. They like having price segmentation at all points, although let's not forget there's currently a $200 difference between the 635 and the 735. Maybe they'll kick the 6xx back to the $200 range and actually make a successor to the 620, which was great, while the 635 is quite lacking on screen, camera and memory fronts (but for $99 you can't complain... yet I'd rather pay more and get a better device, just not the unjustifiable $300 for the 735).

 

[Willy Soughers]

Hmm I see a lot of you guys already have this pretty much figured but I made this with what I think the x40 lineup should be like a while back. If it looks crummy, its cause I made it on my phone but still. P.s. If the pic doesn't show up, its cause I've never posted a pic from my phone and the app doesn't allow for it so I trying on the website.
Here's a link hopefully it works haha.
https://onedrive.live.com/redir?res...authkey=!AMSLbl6Q3vvOtIo&v=3&ithint=photo,jpg

 

[anon(5348756)]

Hmmmm I wouldn't put a SD210 on a 6xx Lumia, no sir. The 2xx range is the absolute lowest and the 6xx range is not that: that's why we have the 5xx and soon the 4xx. The 6xx needs to jump into SD410 in 2015.

 

[fl_x]

I don't get why we would need 12 different speced phones. All you / we really need are 3 categories: High end, mid range and low end/budged. Throw in some different form factors, say two per tier and your done. ffs.

 

[Ebuka Allison]

I don't really see the need for a 2K screen, but then again I'm blind, a 720p screen looks perfect to my eyes. I agree that MS could use some lineup simplification. 5/7/9 and phablet series would be great but I doubt this will happen. They like having price segmentation at all points, although let's not forget there's currently a $200 difference between the 635 and the 735. Maybe they'll kick the 6xx back to the $200 range and actually make a successor to the 620, which was great, while the 635 is quite lacking on screen, camera and memory fronts (but for $99 you can't complain... yet I'd rather pay more and get a better device, just not the unjustifiable $300 for the 735).

I got my 735 for ?130 (less than 300 dollars)

 

[anon(5348756)]

Yeah, lucky you in the UK. The cheapest I've found it in the US is $290. That phone should be selling for $200 at the most.

 

[fdalbor]

A little off the point; but have you all noticed all the phones comming out are 2xx, 4xx and 8xx. What ever happen to the 6xx. Which would have been perfect for the 830. I was going to get a 830 to replace my old (but excellent 820). But after reading the compairson of the 920 and 830 (820 has same insides as 920) I decided the 830 was not 450$ better than my 820. Then considered the 735; but it is almost as expensive as the 830. If I could get a 735 that would work on AT&T or AT&T MVNO's for around 300$ or less I would take it in a minute and use it until a high end I want would come out. As it is I decided to get a Moto G lte (very similar to the 735) and use it along with my excellent 820. Oh yea the Moto G lte was less than 200$. With KitKat 4.4.4 and Android 5.0 around the corner its not bad at all; but I wanted the 735. Microsoft did not put me in a position to get it. AT least not yet.

 

[Willy Soughers]

Hmmmm I wouldn't put a SD210 on a 6xx Lumia, no sir. The 2xx range is the absolute lowest and the 6xx range is not that: that's why we have the 5xx and soon the 4xx. The 6xx needs to jump into SD410 in 2015.

Well the 210 is actually quite good, especially considering it has support for lte and if it'll cut down processor cost to give way to a ffc and flash, something it desperately needs. At this point what Microsoft really needs is to compete with android. We cant keep up if we don't really explore every angle, the Moto e and g are killer devices at floor prices. The 640 and 740 should compete with those 2 respectively. The 940 should compete with flagship Moto x devices and the rest of the lineup should support and fill in the gaps. That's advantage.

 

[anon(5348756)]

Oh yea the Moto G lte was less than 200$. With KitKat 4.4.4 and Android 5.0 around the corner its not bad at all; but I wanted the 735. Microsoft did not put me in a position to get it. AT least not yet.

Thank you. Somebody sees my point perfectly, finally. This is one of the many reasons why the 2014 lineup doesn't make sense. The 830 is way too expensive with the same CPU as the $99 635. The 635 is cheap but a bit too low for somebody coming from a 920 like me. The 735 would be a perfect sidegrade into a newer, slimmer WP. However, it has basically the same internals as the Moto G and costs $130 more than that phone for no good reason.

So, as you said, Microsoft has prevented me from buying anything new, as all the phones right now are a) overpriced or b) unsuitable for a WP user coming from an older high end. I could buy any of these phones, but I don't like to throw my money away. The 2014 lineup simply isn't good value. Here's to hoping 2015 fixes that. I'd be happy getting a 640 with a SD410, 1GB RAM, a clearblack screen and front/back cams. I'm not really asking for much, I think. I don't care for a 720p screen - though I'd prefer one, obviously.

Well the 210 is actually quite good, especially considering it has support for lte

You're completely right in that sense. However basically the biggest gain from the 410/610/810 families, among other goodies, is the jump to x64 architecture, which the SD210 doesn't get. That alone is reason enough to leave the 210 family for 4xx and 4xx as a clear differentiator of low end. Anything 6xx and above should/will go x64 - even if the code is still x86, which is debatable, there will be a performance jump. Not just because of x64, but because the 410 uses ARM's Cortex A53 CPUs - their newest and greatest low power ones - while the 210 will still use the A7s that we have now in the SD400. Also, from the 410 and up we'll get actual, real global LTE in the chip! That's going to be BIG news next year.

 

[tapehead]

They should have:

Discontinued the 530 given how bad it is.

Quickly released the 535 in its place.

Put a front-facing camera in the 630/5; only dual-SIM model.

This is the only place I see an issue. But I will admit that the 2014 line-up of Lumias is in nowhere near as charming or straight-forward as the original line-up and the x20 series.

 

[phlamethrowre]

It shouldn't be this hard to get a phone.

 

[DJCBS]

Notice how MS only got the 930 and 1520 devices right.

Nokia did those devices, not Microsoft. And as the deal came to a close, things got messier and messier with Microsoft wanting to flood the market with more and more cheap devices. The repurpose of Nokia X devices as Lumia devices will just make everything messier.

Microsoft would do better with starting over and release a Microsoft Lumia 1, 2, 3, 4 etc.

 

[tapehead]

Microsoft seems a bit haphazard with it all.

 

[phlamethrowre]

MSFT seems more interested in cheap phones for emerging markets than superphones for the top 5% of the world. That's what happens when dope smoking, tree hugging liberals run major tech companies.

 

[anon(5348756)]

For those who thought that I'm crazy with the topic of this thread, please check Neowin's latest article from today making basically the same points I made here a few days ago:

Microsoft's low end smartphone strategy needs a reboot - Neowin

 

[SlickShoesRUCrazy]

Microsoft totally dropped the ball, there's no excuse for omitting a high-end Windows Phone in Q4 2014: the Lumia 920, hello?

Anyways, Microsoft should streamline the Lumia line, here's my suggestion:

$129 - Lumia 5 (replace 5xx & 6xx), equip with Snapdragon 400 & 1GB RAM
$199 - Lumia 7 (replace 7xx & 8xx), equip with 720p screen, Snapdragon 400 & 1GB RAM & basic PureView camera
$449 - Lumia 9 (replace 9xx and 10xx), equip with 1080p screen, Snapdragon 80x, 2GB RAM & 20MP PureView camera
$699 - Lumia 15 (replace 15xx), equip with 2K screen, Snapdragon 80x, 3GB RAM & 40MP PureView camera

$699 - Surface Phone, equip with active digitizer, 2K screen, Snapdragon 80x, 3GB RAM & 20MP PureView camera

This should be exactly what they do.

 

[anon(5348756)]

They won't have nothing cheaper than $129 and nothing between $199 and $449. That's a crazy gap in the midrange where many people would buy a phone. Microsoft wants to attack all price segments. Not saying that I agree with their logic... just that, that's what they'll do, because that's what they do.