I Challenge You To Explain How Different 950/950 XL are from the last gen phones that you LOVE

[anon(5383410)]

1I'm seeing a lot of comments about how poor the design of Cityman/Talkman are. Perhaps I've been staring at computer screens too long and it's distorted my vision, but I really don't see a drastic enough distinction between the 950 line and what MS/Nokia have designed to date. The phones look fine to me, and the specs are more than enough to get the job done.

So again, I challenge you all to give a concise, articulate description of what exactly is so dramatically different (and BAD) about Cityman/Talkman that has you ready to switch (if you say "the corner aren't rounded enough" I'm going to chuckle to myself). I ask because in all honesty I think this is just a case of sophomore jinx. You've been waiting so long that the anticipation has you expecting a phone that can teleport you through the wormhole into the future for lotto numbers.

In all seriousness I think they're well designed and really don't think there's much more that can be done design wise. It's more about having the juice to be productive enough for an enterprise environment. I'm running an HTC One M8 with "old" hardware that I can use as my daily driver in an enterprise environment so I really can't see how these aren't powerful enough to tackle any task.

Tell me why I'm wrong. Readyyyyyyy...GO!

 

[ven07]

Plot twist... You ain't wrong

While I'm not "head over heels" with regards to the design, I feel that both of them will function very well A lot of people wanted more.. Some saw renders and fell in love.. I've never seen nokia or MS use any of those renders so.... I don't get the fuss

 

[wplee]

Here's why people are mad. They have waited for over 15 months for a true stand out flagship. These phones will compete with iPhone 6S/6S+, Galaxy S6 Edge+, Sony Z5 and Huawei Mate S. Those phones are premium metal and glitzy. They cost the same and at this price point its all about brand/coolness. iPhone is about Badge. Samsung about Edge. Huawei about cool Fingerprint and Force Touch. Sony about 4K.

These new Lumia 950s will launch Windows 10 on mobile. They should look like McLaren NOT like a $70 Lumia 635. Average Joe thinks Lumias are cheap. They don't know about specs. This was an opportunity to capture Flagship users with the well received Windows 10. Yet Microsoft have no new design or material to use on these 950s. I love Windows Phone, but I would call myself insane to spend ?700 on the 950 XL over the beautiful Titanium Edge+ or iPhone 6S. Seriously compare all the phones above side by side and imagine your Average Joe in the store. They wont event notice these Lumias. Microsoft can make good stand out hardware like the Surface Pro 3 or Xbox One. But these are boring designs with similar materials to the dozens of Lumias models already out. I still think a Surface phone could arrive next year, but there is so much frustration with this waiting game once again...

 

[ven07]

Seriously compare all the phones above side by side and imagine your Average Joe in the store.

I agree with your whole theory, but I'm singling this out, because it's the base for my question.. Instead of looking at "beauty" shouldn't we look at what the device can get done? If MS fails on both fronts, then I'll be willing to call this one a loss, but I think that the phones will have enough "power" to accomplish any daily tasks and more..

I should add that, yes I was disappointed by the overall design of the phones, but specs wise.. Well I won't say it's a loss

 

[realwarder]

You do have a point. Side by side with say the 1520, lets look at the improvements... Slightly faster CPU that runs hotter. Support for Continuum. Is the rest the same?

 

[ven07]

You do have a point. Side by side with say the 1520, lets look at the improvements... Slightly faster CPU that runs hotter. Support for Continuum. Is the rest the same?

And this is why some, if not most, are going for one of those "old" phones nonetheless the CPU in the 950 (I think) does have me worried

 

[anon(5383410)]

I know Samsung chose to go in another direction but do we have any real world proof that the cpu runs hot enough to be an issue? How do we know it hasn't been addressed? I remember reading an article that claimed the LG G4 might have the 808 and the big deal about the story was that Qualcomm was rumored to not be able to fix the overheating issue until the second half of this year. So it's possible that the 808 overheating issue may have been corrected.

 

[anon(5383410)]

its all about brand/coolness.

I'm not sure what this means which is probably the root of my confusion about why exactly some people are so disappointed. Smartphones were invented for productivity not coolness. I guess that's changing now that they're crossing over and becoming a consumer standard.

 

[Rod Iron]

its all about brand/coolness...

Seriously? It's about you (not you personally) need to get a life if a phone I what defines your status. iPhones look the same! Samsung looks the same! I saw pics of some Huawei and thought it was a Samsung. The point is all of them look the same. And what does it really matter? 6 to 8 months from now most will be looking for they're next device anyway.

 

[ML10]

The phones are beautiful.

But my 640 is sexy

 

[ArtificiallyYours]

A lot of phones today are same-same, I seriously do miss when a particular model was signature to the year it was made in in terms of aesthetics, the omnibalance has taken away from the personality and doesn't exactly improve the build quality. I appreciate it when any phone still allows you to change the battery or SD Card without mangling the outside to fiddle your way in. Some designs (Nubia, iPhone, Galaxy S6) are ostentatious in my opinion. Some of us buy phones to use for more than a year or two, not always to be in the relevant era of fashionable designs.

I don't mind good looks, but what good is flashy "artisan" glass after it gets covered in micro scratches or in a chunky case you'll never remove until the next upgrade?

These Lumia flagships are not missing anything in terms of design because we haven't seen the tangible product, and proportionally speaking, renders are hugely inaccurate to the internal dimensions, which make a lot of what you see on the outside somewhat implausible because a drawing tends to look thinner/leaner than the actual product.

I just think people get a rise out of knocking MS for buying out Nokia, it's a way corporations work... Take the ****** salt if you must.

 

[sik2k]

I wonder how many folk buy a phone then put it in some sort of case? I know many of my mates do.

I had a L920 for over two and a half years and it was spotless even though I never used a case and it spent a lot of time in my back pocket. A couple of months ago it hit a tiled floor from a great height (drunken friends!) and smashed. I've replaced it temporarily with a 535 and you can tell the difference in quality (and weight) even though the 535 still looks ok for what it is.

If both of these phones had been in cases would people really notice the difference when I was using them? I can tell the difference (capacitive buttons, camera button, screen smoothness, weight, screen quality, speed, etc) but from the outside it would be a 'windows phone in a case' to onlookers, surely?

I guess what I'm rambling on about is for me, firstly a phone has to do what I want so the internals and the O/S is important. Then, because I like to have them 'naked' I do consider the looks somewhat too but that is a secondary issue and I think it is would be moot for many as they cover them up with cases anyway.

Saying that, the new Xperia Z5 Premium looks beautiful, even in it's case (which itself is great) and it has great internals and screen. I just really don't want to move to Android and would rather have a lesser looking Lumia over I just so I could stay in the Windows platform.

I am looking forward to seeing a 950 in the flesh and if the XL isn't too big for me to handle then I'll probably get one.

 

[Joshwin]

I've never seen nokia or MS use any of those renders so

I think the renders have made to the final design in the past.
this is the reported press render of L1520 leaked by evleaks in 2013.

 

[Nemesis-X]

I was surprised that MS didn't go with an Intel chip solution for these phones. But then again, these were planned a long time ago and any Intel chip that looks good now, did not exist back then I'm thinking.

 

[Harry Wild]

I Challenge You To Explain How Different 950/950 XL are from the last gen pho...

With WP hardware you take what you can get. The 950s do look cheap and dated compare to the competition; but Microsoft fired 3/4 of the Lumia personnel; so I did not expect much.

I am surprised that Microsoft did not go back to the 925 design and use that for the 950 models!

 

[Musicman247]

These devices are going to look gorgeous, especially from the front (which users will see 90% of the time). The screens are OLED, so the side bezels will blend in with the screen on black backgrounds. They are both QHD (quad 1080p), which will make them beautiful to look at. They will both have outstanding 20MP cameras on back and 5MP shooters on the front. Most of all, they will have Continuum. Continuum will be a game changer. I can already see the commercials showing the phones turning into PCs and people flocking to the stores to ask about the phone that's a PC. Yeah, these phones are great. I'm still looking forward to seeing what the Surface phone looks like, though.

 

[Rich215]

These phones are the last of the left over projects from Nokia Lumia division. Look for the phones released next year to be Microsoft phones and not Nokia Lumia projects.

 

[Visa Declined]

These devices are going to look gorgeous, especially from the front

I disagree, from the front they look just like a cheap 640, with on screen navigation controls that previously signified low end, and rounded corners. The beautiful Lumia's that I've always loved have been square shaped, it was a distinctive Nokia design that is now lost forever.

They will both have outstanding 20MP cameras on back

Nobody knows yet, but Paul Thurrott said the cameras are probably the same units form the 930/1520

Most of all, they will have Continuum. Continuum will be a game changer.

I think Continuum will peak peoples interest initially, but I don't think it will be a game changer. Right now we can only speculate.

 

[realwarder]

I really doubt they'll be the same camera units from 2 years ago. Rarely does a newly designed phone use such old parts as the technology comes on leaps and bounds in that time. And sourcing old parts becomes an issue.

 

[Keith Wallace]

The 950's silver ring is atrocious, and doesn't exist on my 920. My 920 has capacitive buttons, not the on-screen ones I dislike so much. The volume buttons on the 950 XL are moronically placed. The off-center Windows logo on the back is bothersome, I'd prefer something straight-on (if anything). I much prefer the hard corners of the 830/930 to the rounded ones of the 950/950 XL.

It's mostly about that camera on the 950, though. The silver-on-black setup is just the nastiest-looking thing. I don't care or the light blue of the 950 XL (especially after we first heard that the WC renders with a darker blue were supposedly accurate), and the fact we can only choose between white or black on the 950 is sad (hopefully we have colored backplates we can swap for those).