Would you buy the new Lumia 950 XL Flagship , even if they had outdated hardware?

[Gunbust3r]

With the current pricing I'm going no. If they get on sale down to something like Oneplus 2 levels I might think about it. Heck the 635 was going for $9 a few days ago. I'm too trained by Microsoft's sale culture to purchase a handset right away.

 

[camstreet1]

Honestly, I think the price of the 950 and 950xl is reasonable for the tech inside compared to other phones. But, that doesn't take into account the massive hit you're taking on the ecosystem* by having a windows phone over android or iOS. I'd estimate that cost at around ?150. So unfortunately for microsoft, if they ever want to try and convince people like me to move to windows phone, they need to start discount very heavily compared to other flagships. Otherwise they're just not worth it.

*By ecosystem i mean apps, but not just apps. The fact that no one else has a windows phone means that you can't really play the same games in the same way as friends, you need to learn a new ui (or constantly show others hwo to do anything), when things go wrong nobody else has a clue etc. There's a really significant cost to running a niche operating system.

 

[Nick_1020]

Love the look of this phone. If third party developers started supporting WP, I'd switch back from Android immediately.

Having some annoying issues with my Note 4. It's a good phone but Android is just so crap.

However, I just cannot imaging WP getting the support it deserves so it looks unlikely that I'll be coming back. Certain apps and games are quite important to me and since switching to Android, I've kinda been spoilt with all the apps I could ever need and more. Just cannot stand the OS itself..feels so clunky and messy in comparison to the neatness of WP. Really gutted about the app situation as otherwise it's a no brainer.

Can't believe I'm contemplating this, but I'm beginning to think an iPhone will be the next step for me

 

[Captpt]

Love the look of this phone. If third party developers started supporting WP, I'd switch back from Android immediately.
Having some annoying issues with my Note 4. It's a good phone but Android is just so crap.
Can't believe I'm contemplating this, but I'm beginning to think an iPhone will be the next step for me

UGH don't do it!! I also have the Note 4(which is listed on ebay now) and I agree Android has gotten quite clunky & messy, I picked up a 640XL on Craigs for the interim until the 950 is released, I wanted to make sure WP has all my bases covered and honestly it does and does some things much better.. E.g. : With my Jeep's hands free system it connects faster, does a better job streaming music and the 640XL's hands free ecosystem overrides Uconnect's and honestly does it better..
If you can do it I'd recommend doing the same and try and pick up a used 640XL and see if WP works for you, granted compared to the Note the 640XL's display won't be as sharp, a tad slower and the speaker isn't quite as loud but you know these issues will be blown away with the 950XL..

 

[Nick_1020]

UGH don't do it!! I also have the Note 4(which is listed on ebay now) and I agree Android has gotten quite clunky & messy, I picked up a 640XL on Craigs for the interim until the 950 is released, I wanted to make sure WP has all my bases covered and honestly it does and does some things much better.. E.g. : With my Jeep's hands free system it connects faster, does a better job streaming music and the 640XL's hands free ecosystem overrides Uconnect's and honestly does it better..
If you can do it I'd recommend doing the same and try and pick up a used 640XL and see if WP works for you, granted compared to the Note the 640XL's display won't be as sharp, a tad slower and the speaker isn't quite as loud but you know these issues will be blown away with the 950XL..

It's just the app situation holding me back tbh.

I had the 920 then the 1020 but the lack of app support always made me feel I was missing out.

I absolutely love the WP design. The live tiles look great and the navigation around the phone and settings seems so much more natural compared to Android.

I just can't live without the apps.

I've had the Note 4 for a year now and it seems very little has changed on the WP store. I occasionally search for certain apps and games but still nothing. Very disappointing.

Not sure if I can bring myself to getting an iPhone but the only other alternative is a different Android.

Stuck between a rock and a hard place.

 

[Blacklac]

I feel the same way. Had an HTC Titan, 1020 and then 1520. Now a Note 4. It's really refreshing knowing the Note 4 can basically do anything any other smartphone can do, it has nearly every major App or game.

I love WP, but it will def be a big step back if I returned... I'm hoping things really are turned around with Universal Apps and the blending of WP and Win 10, by late 2016 Flagships.

Posted via the Note 4/Nexus 7 (2013)/Lumia 1020/Lumia 2520

 

[syspry]

I've always kind of kept one eye glancing at WP over the years waiting for the app situation to be resolved. MS has pretty much resolved all my grievances about missing OS features but the app gap still remains and efforts to lure developers even including outright paying them to develop have all met with little to no success.
The newest draw to getting people on WP devices is now Continuum. For businesses this is a decent feature. But is it a "I must have this" for the other billions of people who just use smartphones for personal use? No. Let's be real here. How many of your friends, family, and co-workers would even have something like this on their radar as something to care about? I think there's a lot of excessive fanfare being given to Continuum by MS for a feature that's not even going to register with the vast majority of smartphone users. The problem for MS is that they're banking heavily on Continuum and are in a situation where they have to keep going after mobile now because without W10 mobile, what's even the point of having Continuum?

Next up is their effort to lure devs with porting tools combined with universal apps to close the app gap. I've said it before and I'll say it again because it's already happened. MS could literally walk into your home and develop the app you don't want to FOR you and developers still won't care. They just won't, no matter how easy MS tries to make porting. The simple fact of the matter is that developers aren't willing to go to the effort of developing and maintaining an app unless it's for phones where the users are. That's always been MS's mobile conundrum. No apps no adoption - no adoption no developers, no apps. Even were MS to pull a Blackberry and allow Android apps to run on WP, that won't work any better than it did for BB because Google simply doesn't grant access to Play Services unless you run their android. Without Play Services you end up loading crappy unsupported freeware versions of the Play Store apps and look how well that's worked out in the past.

The big unanswered question is if there's even room for a 3rd major OS on mobile. I'm going to say no at this point. MacOS and Windows have dominated home and business desktops and laptops for 20+ years now, and I don't see the duopoly situation changing any time soon for mobile, where the current duopoly has already fleshed out for nearly a decade already. In that time how many have tried to break it? The short list answer is: MS, Blackberry, Amazon, Facebook, Ubuntu, Mozilla, Samsung, WebOS, Jolla. All former or current heavy hitters in the tech industry aside from Jolla. Out of that list only MS and BB were able to even show as a miniscule blip on worldwide marketshare compared to Android and iOS.

It's not that I blame these companies for trying or that I want to see them go away. Absolutely and unequivocally no. But when the question is will I buy from any of them in today's climate then my answer must likewise be no. If I'm unable to not only get the apps both major and niche I want, but also multiple choices of those, then no. And I won't settle for having to use my browser or apps that are basically the browser in a web app wrapping either.

 

[Blacklac]

Continuum could be huge. If people were really understanding they could just buy a monitor, mouse and keyboard and basically have an entire computer without actually buying a tower, that would entice people. Granted it would just be for basic things. Alot of people could actually get by with that as a main computer. Think of all the people that only use their computer for email, Facebook, YouTube, web browsing, etc... All easily done with Continuum as a main computer.

People just have to be aware of it... It won't happen fast.

Posted via the Note 4/Nexus 7 (2013)/Lumia 1020/Lumia 2520

 

[aitt]

I've always kind of kept one eye glancing at WP over the years waiting for the app situation to be resolved. MS has pretty much resolved all my grievances about missing OS features but the app gap still remains and efforts to lure developers even including outright paying them to develop have all met with little to no success.
The newest draw to getting people on WP devices is now Continuum. For businesses this is a decent feature. But is it a "I must have this" for the other billions of people who just use smartphones for personal use? No. Let's be real here. How many of your friends, family, and co-workers would even have something like this on their radar as something to care about? I think there's a lot of excessive fanfare being given to Continuum by MS for a feature that's not even going to register with the vast majority of smartphone users. The problem for MS is that they're banking heavily on Continuum and are in a situation where they have to keep going after mobile now because without W10 mobile, what's even the point of having Continuum?

Next up is their effort to lure devs with porting tools combined with universal apps to close the app gap. I've said it before and I'll say it again because it's already happened. MS could literally walk into your home and develop the app you don't want to FOR you and developers still won't care. They just won't, no matter how easy MS tries to make porting. The simple fact of the matter is that developers aren't willing to go to the effort of developing and maintaining an app unless it's for phones where the users are. That's always been MS's mobile conundrum. No apps no adoption - no adoption no developers, no apps. Even were MS to pull a Blackberry and allow Android apps to run on WP, that won't work any better than it did for BB because Google simply doesn't grant access to Play Services unless you run their android. Without Play Services you end up loading crappy unsupported freeware versions of the Play Store apps and look how well that's worked out in the past.

The big unanswered question is if there's even room for a 3rd major OS on mobile. I'm going to say no at this point. MacOS and Windows have dominated home and business desktops and laptops for 20+ years now, and I don't see the duopoly situation changing any time soon for mobile, where the current duopoly has already fleshed out for nearly a decade already. In that time how many have tried to break it? The short list answer is: MS, Blackberry, Amazon, Facebook, Ubuntu, Mozilla, Samsung, WebOS, Jolla. All former or current heavy hitters in the tech industry aside from Jolla. Out of that list only MS and BB were able to even show as a miniscule blip on worldwide marketshare compared to Android and iOS.

It's not that I blame these companies for trying or that I want to see them go away. Absolutely and unequivocally no. But when the question is will I buy from any of them in today's climate then my answer must likewise be no. If I'm unable to not only get the apps both major and niche I want, but also multiple choices of those, then no. And I won't settle for having to use my browser or apps that are basically the browser in a web app wrapping either.

I knew you cared. LOL

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

 

[syspry]

I knew you cared. LOL

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

:winktongue:

 

[Mad Cabbie]

Outdated hardware? What is the definition of outdated?? Almost all phones are 'outdated' the minute they are released. Personally, I don't fall for the hype of megacore phones. I rather have the 950xl with the current chipset, but I would like more ram in a phone. I am lucky to own an 'outdated' device, a 930. Pretty quick for what I need. I also own a 1320. Once again 'outdated', but as a phone, it works fine and is a pleasure to use. It's my go to phone. I also have a 640xl. Again more than capable as a phone, and plays many games from store really well.

I'll see what Win10M does to the lower spec devices first and then make my choice. I have never been a phone 'bragger', I've never 'wanted' the latest, although from a business user point of view, the 950 should be more than adequately specced. For a personal users view, it will be 'over specced', unless of course you are playing a million and one games at the same time, whilst browsing and texting and calling etc....As long as it works, who cares.....