Very long time Android user thinking about trying out the Lumia 950 XL

itguyjax8430

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Possibly, but be forewarned that if you rely heavily on Gmail's categories (Personal, Promotions, Social, etc.) to filter your mail, you won't get that with Windows 10. Only the official Gmail app supports that Google-proprietary feature, and you'll be back to an inbox flooded with mostly junk when you use Outlook. There's an app called MetroMail that's supposed to support categories, but it's incredibly buggy based on reviews. Personally, I've tried it several times, and it errors out trying to connect to my Gmail account, so I've given up on it.
I don't use the categories at all so I should be good.
 

itguyjax8430

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IMO, find a 640 on sale for new for $40.
Take it home, slap a memory card in it, sign up for the insider preview install 10 and see what you like.
The last time I had it on the phone about 2 months ago, I liked it, but it wasn't daily driver ready yet.
Not sure any phone has ever been as much bang for your buck.
$40 is like throw away pricing.

I've used a lot of different phones and OS's over the years.
And while many complain about the "app gap" on windows, most of those complaints can really be squashed just by adding a tile for a favorite web page.

I personally find nothing really missing that I absolutely need.
It's like a new pair of sneakers, after a few days of breaking them in, they start to feel like the most comfortable pair you ever had.

What I will urge you not to do, is go t the store, play with it for 2 minutes, then go online and tell everyone how bad it sucks.
An acceptable opinion should only come from people that have used it for a fair period of time.

Edit: Guess i'm late to this party and I should have read all three pages.
Looks like you have a 640 coming, great plan, lol.


Yeah, I like the bigger screened phones so that is why I went with the XL. I am planning on using it for a few months to really get the feel for the experience of Windows Phone.
 

fhm

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That's one of the things I love about W10. All my emails are neatly bunched into Outlook with just having to pick the account at the top,. No more searching through randomly separated emails and contacts like Google does. The other thing I love is not having to fight with the screen going black during phone calls or the numpad randomly disappearing like it does on my Samsung.
 

lbp775

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It's definitely the random reboots and app crashing you need to worry about - the hardware is great.

I have not had a single random reboot on my 950. And maybe had it happen a couple times with the old 640 running win 10 mobile.


The other thing I love is not having to fight with the screen going black during phone calls or the numpad randomly disappearing like it does on my Samsung.

Are you sure it's not the proximity sensor turning the screen off to keep your cheek from pressing buttons? Windows phones do that too.
 

cracgor

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That's one of the things I love about W10. All my emails are neatly bunched into Outlook with just having to pick the account at the top,. No more searching through randomly separated emails and contacts like Google does. The other thing I love is not having to fight with the screen going black during phone calls or the numpad randomly disappearing like it does on my Samsung.

Funny. I have the screen disappear on me on my 1520 and 640 all the time in phone calls. It has to do with the sensor for light getting covered. As far as the email organization, it is identical in Android except it rotates in landscape and gives me a preview pane for emails...not sure what is going on with your phone. Glad you found a solution.

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android
 

fhm

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No the S4 shutting off issue has been beaten to death and I've tried all the tricks with the proximity sensor. It turns off while near the face, in the hand, sitting on the table, everywhere. There are apps to stop it and force the screen to stay on but they are battery hogs and the battery is already only good for 4 hours of use. And no, my 950xl doesn't do any of those things.
 

itguyjax8430

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Just got my 640 in, got 10 installed on it and working on app installs now. I am actually posting with it right now. So far it's been a little time consuming getting set up but I'm hanging in there.
 

Florin Musetoiu

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From Android to WP to get rid of the Google ecosystem:

Google Maps - Here Maps (better than Google at street numbers, weaker at places) or Waze (it uses Google maps and has police radar and other info)
Gmail - Outlook Mail (personally i find it better)
Youtube - MyTube / TubeCast / Metrotube
Music player - After trying few from the store i stopped at Core Player - I don`t use Groove Music because in Core player i can search a song in the playlist and play that song without affecting the playlist, on Groove it will change your playlist to only that song / album.
Facebook - Sadly here the app sucks badly, the feed in People app is better than the feed in Facebook app but both have + -

Other people might come with variants for WP, in fact a thread with alternative apps for switching from Android to WP would be a + on WindowsCentral.
 

WalrusTangerine

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So far so good, it's taking some getting use to but I'm figuring things out.
Still trying to figure out how to enable the battery percentage.
You can't get the battery percentage directly in the status bar. The only way to see it quickly is to swipe down and back from the top (the percentage is underneath the battery icon in the action center.)
 

itguyjax8430

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You can't get the battery percentage directly in the status bar. The only way to see it quickly is to swipe down and back from the top (the percentage is underneath the battery icon in the action center.)
Gotcha, so it's kinda like a Nexus device situation. They don't put the battery percentage next to the battery.

I'll make due with just swiping down.

So far Windows 10 has been running pretty smooth. Trying out the different browsers this morning to see which one I like the best. The Edge Browser seems a little too slow for my liking. Not sure if it is because I am using a lower end device or the browser is just that slow. The UC Browser seems to do a lot better.
 

chezm

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Gotcha, so it's kinda like a Nexus device situation. They don't put the battery percentage next to the battery.

I'll make due with just swiping down.
.

There are tons of apps you can download that display battery percentage overlay battery icon on android, Windows has live tiles but they don't update nearly frequently enough. I don't get why this hasn't become a standard for all os by 2015...

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android
 

alodar101

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I have been an Android user since pretty much day one of Androids release. Recently I have been fascinated by the new Windows Phone 10 and seeing the release of the Lumia 950 XL piqued my interest even more. Are there any Samsung Note 5 users here that have made the switch? What are you thoughts after the switch?

I am a long time windows phone user. Been with them since the beginning. But I have always had an android too. I actually preferred the windows experience. When w10 was introduced earlier this year I moved my phones over. After a few months I gave up. I bought an iPhone 6plus, then a note 5. I was happy. I felt like a traitor but I was content. But I still watched windows phone. When the 950xl was offered for preorder, I resisted...for all of 10 seconds. My iPhone and note sit in a drawer. I have not used them since I got the xl....but...

I prefer live tiles. I'm not bothered by Edge. Continuum is cool. The OS update process, unbinded from carriers is good. All pluses in MY book..regardless of others experiences. But...

The iPhone and note have the same problems as windows phones are accused of..hangs, freezes, reboots. The media covers it by saying...but look at the apps. But...

I finally notice the app gap. Sure, I have most of what I used this year, but the apps are different. Social media apps are definitely a cut below others. I have my bank app, but lost the Starbucks app. I resort to using pinned web sites, which is ok in most cases. But...

Customization ...with android I got tired of not knowing how to do something. I found myself preferring to be mad at not being able to do something rather than not knowing how. But....

Finally...Google. For years people complained about the evil empire that was Microsoft. In many cases they were right. So much against Microsoft are they that they close a blind eye to Google. They are far more blatant that Microsoft ever was, and getting worse everyday. Trust at your own risk.

Just my thoughts...

PS
 

itguyjax8430

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I am a long time windows phone user. Been with them since the beginning. But I have always had an android too. I actually preferred the windows experience. When w10 was introduced earlier this year I moved my phones over. After a few months I gave up. I bought an iPhone 6plus, then a note 5. I was happy. I felt like a traitor but I was content. But I still watched windows phone. When the 950xl was offered for preorder, I resisted...for all of 10 seconds. My iPhone and note sit in a drawer. I have not used them since I got the xl....but...

I prefer live tiles. I'm not bothered by Edge. Continuum is cool. The OS update process, unbinded from carriers is good. All pluses in MY book..regardless of others experiences. But...

The iPhone and note have the same problems as windows phones are accused of..hangs, freezes, reboots. The media covers it by saying...but look at the apps. But...

I finally notice the app gap. Sure, I have most of what I used this year, but the apps are different. Social media apps are definitely a cut below others. I have my bank app, but lost the Starbucks app. I resort to using pinned web sites, which is ok in most cases. But...

Customization ...with android I got tired of not knowing how to do something. I found myself preferring to be mad at not being able to do something rather than not knowing how. But....

Finally...Google. For years people complained about the evil empire that was Microsoft. In many cases they were right. So much against Microsoft are they that they close a blind eye to Google. They are far more blatant that Microsoft ever was, and getting worse everyday. Trust at your own risk.

Just my thoughts...

PS
Thanks for the insight. I'm starting to dig the OS. There are a lot of apps that are missing for me but luckily most have mobile websites. I am just pinning them to my start screen. Still need to figure out how to make the tile custom to the site so I don't have a bunch of E's on my home screen. I am using the Facebook Mobile website as well. I have to say that Facebook really did a bad job with the WP version. I really don't see why they don't update it to look like iOS or Android. Seems a little lazy to me.

I think the only app I am really missing is my Hangouts app. I tried IM+ but it does not do group chats. I tried the website but it does not scale correctly. I'll just have to keep on trying to figure a workaround out. Right now I'm just carrying around my Nexus 6P for that sole purpose. Only while I'm at home, if I go out I just leave the Nexus at home.
 

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