3 Months with the 950XL (please respond with your experiences)

[Mr Hyde]

You cant hard reset to roll back to Threshold from Redstone. You will need to use the Windows Device Recovery Tool just as Corwin has mentioned. I just had to use the WDRT for a different reason and when it was done I was back to Build .29. I let all the system and app updates finish. It took nearly an hour. There were 48 of them. When that was done search for phone updates started a download of .164 and I had not yet downloaded the insider app, so it must be a release build.

 

[Mr Hyde]

My experience so far on my 950XL has been very good for what I use it for. Phone works well no complaints from me or from anyone on the other end. Texting works well. Calendar and email both seem to have worked for me since the day I purchased the phone in mid January. I only use a few apps on a regular basis. Windows Central works. I use Endomondo to track my bike rides and running and it works fine. No problems with FB or FB messenger. Amazon works. The walgreens app works. Camera had some issues at first but it seems to be working much better now. Groove seems to work fine for me. I used the FM radio the other day with no problems. The Health app works well with my Band 2. I have only tried continuum once and it seemed to work fine but I had to restart the phone after I unplugged it from the dock. This was pre .164 and I haven't had time to test it again. No problems with WiFi or Bluetooth so far. Today I took it for an 8 hour drive using the Maps appp. Navigation/GPS worked without any problems and the phone never got hot. I even have no trouble with wireless charging.

But I have had a few issues. I already mentioned the phone locked up after continuum. I also had some issues after I joined the insider program. The worst being that my phone could not see the .164 update even after a hard reset so I was forced to use the WDRT which was a bit of a nightmare.

My phone is now running the .164 build without being on the insider program and I have to admit that I'm a bit reluctant to jump back in. Its only been a day but my phone seems rock solid now and I'm really liking it that way.

 

[maherkhalil]

the phone do not connect to internet over cellular data for both SIM cards
I feel very bad
I sent messages to Microsoft and no solution

 

[rianext]

Redstone on my 950xl is terrible. Battery life is about 4 hours, excessive heat, camera app just stinks, random restarts, won't wake from Glance, no tap to pay, no double tap to wake, wifi inconsistent. What a flagship

Can't believe this guy is complaining about beta builds on a phone, that too Redstone. IT IS EXPECTED TO BE BUGGY!
If you have issues with official software or the hardware is a mess, feel free to complain.

 

[Thorgal Aegirsson]

I have had my 950XL since late November, and I am loving it...best phone I have ever had. I had random reboots with 107, but not that I am on redstone and the latest firmware, I have not had a reboot that I am aware of. I have had some instances of overheating over the months, but I have solved them. One time I saw the messaging app was using a lot of the battery, and even rebooting it did not help. I ended up disabling it being able to run in the background, and the phone cooled down. Later I turned it back on and all was well. I think overheating and battery issues, at least for me, have been apps or processes running out of control in the background. I normally still have 40% left on my battery at the end of very long days. Now I do not play games, and am not the heaviest user, but I use it regularly. I also stop all programs from running when I am done with them most of the time, something I learned from my earliest windows phones. The only real issue I have is that the screen is not perfectly flat in the corners so I have problems with glass screen protectors, but I am living with that since the phone is working so well.

"The best phone I have ever had" and then the litany of problems. What kind of phones did you have earlier? My goodness, trust me - there are phones that actually work...

I am very disappointed with my Lumia 950XL. Incredibly unstable, every next build makes it even less stable, hard resets seem to make it even worse. I'm so tired of this. I can't do my work with this phone. The battery is terrible. I'm back to carrying battery packs to survive my work day. It's crazy and pathetic, considering that I paid as much as I would for an iPhone or premium android. As we speak I'm doing the second hard reset this weekend and going back to the official build. Redstone definitely didn't work for me. I started installing preview builds because the official ones didn't work. Even if official build will turn out to be stable and working it doesn't support visual voice mail, a feature that I've been using for a couple of years now and need for my work.
If you need a phone for work, a phone that you actually frequently use for many things, not just texting some chick then don't get this phone. Or maybe I should say don't get Windows 10 Mobile because that is the root of the problems.
The biggest issues I have with my 950 XL:
- constant reboots,
- frequently loses connectivity to internet, requires reboot,
- hot spot is the worst implementation I have seen so far in a mobile phone; even if when you manage to connect your laptop to it and then disconnect from it, to use it a second time you need to reboot the phone because there's no way the hot spot will start again,
- sending emails with big attachments fails very often and blocks the whole internet connectivity until they are fully sent,
- during a call, screen turns off and sometimes won't come back up again,
- the phone wouldn't unlock until you restart it.
The list can go on and on. Definitely it is not something you would expect after spending $700, no matter how big of a fan you are.

 

[mikepalma]

$650 for this? 1.7% is close to zero. A 16 month Beta? Hell the lifespan of a phone is about 2 years... Post above is truthful and accurate. The problem with these fanboys who are afraid to criticize MS, is that they are actually exacerbating an already bad situation. none of these guys could convince an iOSer to.convert with this crapware. #burned

 

[flitchtag]

$650 for this? 1.7% is close to zero. A 16 month Beta? Hell the lifespan of a phone is about 2 years... Post above is truthful and accurate. The problem with these fanboys who are afraid to criticize MS, is that they are actually exacerbating an already bad situation. none of these guys could convince an iOSer to.convert with this crapware. #burned

Yep this the harsh truth. W10M is literally disappearing. A Beta of this length is pitiful and I cant even show my 950xl to iphoners as its barely functional, forget actually showing off additional features! Stop accepting this garbage software and demand a product worthy of your $.

 

[Corwin_Amber1]

Yeah Mike, glad you told me what I am supposed to think. So if I was satisfied, would that be OK with you?

 

[Joe920]

The good news: after a couple of months there are only a handful (OK, two hands full) issues that annoy me daily.

What I can recall:
- I still try double tap to wake, I'd like this back
- Hitting 'shuffle all' on my music collection usually fails once. Second time it works
- Voice call quality is remarkably worse than on my Amazon Fire(sale) phone
- I suffer the 'creaking case' syndrome, which feels a bit cheap
- Windows Hello waits until the playback controls auto-hide, at least for some audio. Annoying
- Still no VVM for me on 10586.164, but supposedly coming
- Cortana isn't able to do things like "play Alabama Shakes" even though Groove knows it's on my SD card
- I can't use Hey Cortana because of the calling echo it used to give, and I don't feel like testing this every few weeks
- checking for updates in the store takes forever and is super uninformative. You don't get an overview of what was updated.
- the phone does still occasionally get hot seemingly for no reason, and uses more power than it should
- generating an email draft by 'sharing' a picture to outlook sometimes fails
- Edge is unreliable (pages refuse to load, suggestions box overlays loaded page)
- I'm not happy that the status of 950XL on ATT is so unclear. My display never shows LTE (onyl '4G'), although the phone does seem to be getting LTE speeds.

Otherwise I love the high quality camera, I love the size, weight, looks. Love the Start Screen. None of first party phones (nexus, iphone) offer all hardware options I want, so I will suffer these bugs for the foreseeable future. For me definitely "the best phone", but definitely not a perfect phone by any means.

 

[mikepalma]

Yeah Mike, glad you told me what I am supposed to think. So if I was satisfied, would that be OK with you?

Yes, please wallow in your ignorance as this platform disappears into obscurity

 

[Paul1266]

Yes, please wallow in your ignorance as this platform disappears into obscurity

Christ you sound angry and bitter. Lighten up ffs. Try getting some perspective and maybe realise that we're not all thoroughly p*ssed off...

 

[teiva]

I'm pretty happy with my 950XL. Each build of the OS gets better,especially the current .164 OS one with the latest firmware. The only thing I miss coming from an Android phone is the Google+ app. Camera is great, Battery life is good, stability is great. I guess I'm one of the lucky ones that didn't experience all the showstopping issues. I feel for those that do.

 

[Mr Hyde]

Can't believe this guy is complaining about beta builds on a phone, that too Redstone. IT IS EXPECTED TO BE BUGGY!
If you have issues with official software or the hardware is a mess, feel free to complain.

I don't understand this either. Do people actually think that insider builds are the path to stability? Especially fast ring builds? it would seem to me that entering the fast ring would be the buggiest and least stable. Maybe I think that because that's what it says when you opt into the fast ring... but what do I know?

 

[martinfab]

I went back to my iPhone today. Three months of beta has been too long. I have hung in there but I am now used up. I guess I am not cut out for a Windows phone I am willing to admit I'm a quitter. I really wanted to like it and really tried hard. I really liked having a removable battery and the SD card for easily moving files around. In the end the phone was just too buggy and not improving quickly enough. Maybe I'll be back another day, for the rest of you good luck and I hope it all works out.

 

[mikepalma]

I went back to my iPhone today. Three months of beta has been too long. I have hung in there but I am now used up. I guess I am not cut out for a Windows phone I am willing to admit I'm a quitter. I really wanted to like it and really tried hard. I really liked having a removable battery and the SD card for easily moving files around. In the end the phone was just too buggy and not improving quickly enough. Maybe I'll be back another day, for the rest of you good luck and I hope it all works out.

1.7% gets even smaller...

 

[m1dawkins]

I have had my unlocked 950XL for about 3 weeks and so far have not had any major issues at all, no unexpected reboots or having to reboot to fix a stuck app etc. The only issue I have noticed is the phone getting hot, but this has not been so noticeable since the last update .164, battery is now lasting a lot longer between charges. I am getting used to the app gap and some apps not being as good in WP or not there at all so use the mobile internet version instead e.g. Virgin My Account. The only niggle I have coming from Android is there is no 'close all' apps option when displaying all running apps, and for some reason I keep randomly pressing the Windows button when typing but will get used to the keyboard or remember to minimise the navigation bar. Overall I like the interface, and receiving regular updates, unlike Samsung/Virgin on android that was nearly 2 years before any major OS update.

 

[Corwin_Amber1]

1.7% gets even smaller...

Whats the problem? If it fits my bill, why should I care?

BTT, I seem to have been lucky. My Lumia 950XL is performing well. No random reboots (there were not a handful on early builds), not a single freeze. I am sorry for the people disappointed - try to get it exchanged or give it back, and rightly so. Just don't be so grim - relax.

 

[Babs75]

I'm having no problems, never have, not on insider, just patiently wait for each release. I moved over from Android and am very happy with my 950XL. Only thing I've found is some 'app gap' but I seem to be getting along fine using the browser instead. I haven't had any of the problems others are talking about.

 

[Limer24]

I must be very lucky. Had this phone since late November and it has run every new build without problems. Currently using the latest Redstone build. And it looks great with the Mozo red and gold case.

 

[JRDEMASKUS]

I still spend the most time couch surfing on my 7" Android tablet.

I picked up a BlackBerry Passport SE recently, and Love it. First BB. Moved my SIM card out of the 950XL a few days ago, I find it to be the most frustrating. Apps suddenly close, Edge on Continuum is unusable.
(First day buy, Not on insider, very long time Windows "Mobile" user, this is my 5th WP)

Yesterday, after several hours of using the tablet and BB, the 950XL got a turn. It only lasted an hour in my hand. I was trying to read the new camera showdown, S7 vs I6+ vs N6P vs L/M950, but the page kept freezing and reloading until I finally got a message, "We have tried to load this page several times"...I closed the page and opened it on the tablet to finish reading the article.
In that 1 hour of using the 950XL, in airplane mode with only WiFi on, it used 36% battery, with Edge Browser at the top of the usage list. This is the first time I have EVER seen such battery use.
I think I will take this time out to do another Factory Reset.

My 1520 almost never left my hands vs the Nexus 5 and tablet I had at that time. Hoping to get that sense of satisfaction back soon.