Moving from Android (Nexus 6P) to Lumia 950XL

[MikeCallery]

This has been tough, reading a lot, researching what I can, but still, an unsure decision looms.

I like my Nexus 6P, but really want a Windows phone so that I have more continuity between my Surface Pro 4 at home and my phone. I like the idea of Cortana knowing more about me and becoming my assistant for reminders and other events. I've tested it against Google and so far, find Cortana working better.

My concern, for those of you reading this and those you who (thank you) take the time to respond, is that my work email is Gmail, my email is Gmail and my wife's is, yes, you guessed, Gmail. I have my MS account and will slowly move things over to it, but gradually.

So, how easy is it to use the Windows phone and still maintain Google email and calendar? I know the version of Outlook for my Android phone is terrible as I can add what I want but cannot edit anything, which I understand is an issue with the Android version.

Hope I'm making sense. I am ready to jump on a slightly used 950XL at $337. which I think is a great price but this is my biggest concern.

 

[Bjfcm]

Go for it!

I am a Windows Mobile Pre-IPhone-" App for That " World Type of Brother . I remember when Windows and Treo were the only players . I love WM. I have the 950 xl and Gmail is my 'MAIN " email client ( On my 950 XL) . I also have a Galaxy note Edge 4 . Gmail Works flawlessly on my 950 XL . I was on the insider Preview ,but grew tired of the updates and The last straw was when 'Hey Cortana " stopped working on a Preview build a few moths back

Cortana is very important to me. I use it for work ,travel and personal..


You will love the phone and using Gmail on it. Microsoft made if very very easy to install Gmail and the Calendar and Contacts work very well too.

I had to answer your post after reading it. There are some great people on here, But a lot of people who will read and not lift a finger to help ( I could not count myself among them dear friend) Good Luck .

 

[Bjfcm]

Go for it!<br>
<br>
I am a Windows Mobile Pre-IPhone-" App for That " World Type of Brother <img title="Cool" class="inlineimg" alt="" src="http://forums.windowscentral.com/images/smilies/wpcentral20/cool.png" border="0" smilieid="95">. I remember when Windows and Treo were the only players . I love WM. I have the 950 xl and Gmail is my 'MAIN " email client ( On my 950 XL) . I also have a Galaxy note Edge 4 . Gmail Works flawlessly on my 950 XL . I was on the insider Preview ,but grew tired of the updates and The last straw was when 'Hey Cortana " stopped working on a Preview build a few moths back<br>
<br>
Cortana is very important to me. I use it for work ,travel and personal..<br>
<br>
<br>
You will love the phone and using Gmail on it. Microsoft made if very very easy to install Gmail and the Calendar and Contacts work very well too.<br>
<br>
I had to answer your post after reading it. There are some great people on here, But a lot of people who will read and not lift a finger to help ( I could not count myself among them dear friend) Good Luck .

 

[BMT001]

I slowly made the switch from android and my Note 5 to W10M and my 950XL DS and I have zero regrets. I was kinda in the same boat as you. I always wanted a Windows phone but just wasn't sure. I love Windows 10 and also wanted a similar experience across all my platforms. I can honestly say I love my 950 XL. It is just so familiar, easy to use, great camera. I got a great deal through B&H photo for a new 950 XL DS for $379. Sure there is definitely a difference in apps. But I am not a big app user. Windows 10 mobile has just about every app I used on android. I can also say I have yet to have one problem with my 950 XL. I see tons of post with people having problem after problem sometimes I wonder what they are doing to there phones. I will say when I was on fast ring insider builds on my 950 sure there were problems. But I also expected them. My 950 was my second phone. When I got my 950 XL I went to preview builds and the stability is 100%. My recommendation is get a 950 XL you will love it. If not put the sim back in your old phone and at least you tried it. Honestly if more people tried W10M or even new about trust me more people would be using it. It's a great OS.

 

[garisa]

Regarding calendar and Google email there are no issues with that. I also have a Gmail as my primary personal email address, while I also have an Outlook email account which is the account I use got my phone, but when it comes ti emails - I've set it to sync daily, I don't communicate with people with that account.

When it comes to calendar, I use the Outlook account for that, but there is an option Outlook calendar to use Google calendar instead and my guess is that it would work the same as the Outlook one. In fact, my girlfriend uses Gmail for everything on her phone and has has no issues since she bought her Lumia 630. Now she has a Lumia 650 and still no issues using only Gmail account.

I only wouldn't recommend using some "random" @mycompany.com email accounts for using as Microsoft account oh the phone. Using that email address etc. is fine, but not as a Microsoft account for the phone. Gmail it's fine though.

Sent from mTalk on Windows 10 phone

 

[zocster]

Hi...

I have Gmail and Google for work (G suite) on my 950 XL.

There are a number of "client for... " Google services including hangouts, drive and music.

As others have mentioned, Cortana is as good as Siri, where Google Now experience (outside of pixel variants) would be less than the two.

Sure there are app gaps, but I am happy to have my windows as my daily and iPhone as backup.

Sent from mTalk on 950XL

 

[gourav mopidevi]

Shifting to windows from android is hard....
1) deal with new update/exclusive apps released by ms for android and ios living windows users in dark.
2) unwilling MS support for windows mobile.
3) lack of YouTube app/google app.
4) windows 10 mobile is not well optimized compare to google nougat or marshmallow or lollipop..it might be very much similar to KitKat.
5) I'm L950xl owner I feel windows 10 is not utilizing device hardware efficiently....S6 is fast even you're 6P is fast compare to this.
6) these days using my mobile alot it restart multiple times when it get heated and it heat pretty much.
7) lack of apps and apps like fb/messenger etc are slow to open..
8) gmail sync good my issue when we delete mail on device it wont get deleted on web..
9) calendar sync, brithdays.. as I don't have any mettings or reminders I cant say how good device remind you..it used to remind me one day before birthday now adays it ain't maybe I have to go through settings.
10) you cant use windows as primary device...no amazon/no ebay/lack of ms enthusiasm/lack of quality apps manytimes ms services are good on android or ios rather than windows..

This came from a guy who used S3/S4/L1020/L730/L930/L640/L950xl with display dock.

 

[garisa]

3) GDrive? And apps like myTube it Metrotube?

Sent from mTalk on Windows 10 phone

 

[MikeCallery]

Well, thanks Windows 10 mail, I finally found out that everyone was replying (thank you) by checking my junk folder! ARGGG.

I went ahead and bought a 950XL that should be here later in the week and I can start playing before I jump and put my 6P up on eBay. That way if I really am debating, I have the chance to play with both. Some of you are mentioning apps that are for the phone that I have not seen in the Windows Store. Is it possible that on the phone when I hit the store I will see additional apps that I do not see looking at the store via a Tablet?? I would guess if an app is only for a phone I would not see it logging in on the tablet, which makes sense?

 

[libra89]

Well, thanks Windows 10 mail, I finally found out that everyone was replying (thank you) by checking my junk folder! ARGGG.

I went ahead and bought a 950XL that should be here later in the week and I can start playing before I jump and put my 6P up on eBay. That way if I really am debating, I have the chance to play with both. Some of you are mentioning apps that are for the phone that I have not seen in the Windows Store. Is it possible that on the phone when I hit the store I will see additional apps that I do not see looking at the store via a Tablet?? I would guess if an app is only for a phone I would not see it logging in on the tablet, which makes sense?

Yes that's correct.

I also think it's a great idea to play with it and maybe put your sim in it for at least 2 days to see how that goes for you.

 

[garisa]

You can see search for apps in your browser. I just type "[name of the app] Windows 10 store", and I get the app I wanted to see. Then you can see on which devices does the app work.

Sent from mTalk on Windows 10 phone

 

[becakmang]

I've swapped between android and windows for the past few years.

Had the Lumia 710, then note 2, then 1520, then note edge and the s6edge+. Now I'm back to the 950xl.

I love the windows ui. The live tiles looks awesome. Functionality wise its debatable if android widgets are better, but for me live tiles definitely looks much better.

Camera is great. Don't need those online reviews. The best thing about this camera is the algorithm. You turn on auto HDR, and when you take a picture, you can adjust the picture to whatever you prefer. Darker,lighter,in between, it's your choice. With other phones, it's simply set to auto and you cant do anything about it. Sure you can play with the manual settings, but not with the Lumia. Turn it on auto, and that's it. The quality of your pictures are 99% better.

Build quality is decent. I like the removable battery (any ideas where I can get a new battery?) and micro SD card. It's less slippery and less likely to be damaged if it falls. Screen is amazing.

The thing you'll miss the most are apps. Most can be fixed by bookmarking and live tiling the website versions, but it's different. I know because I've compared in both android and wp; at least it works I suppose.

App quality is also...mediocre at best. IOS has the best app experience (in terms of umber of apps and quality of each app). Android isn't far off. Windows is quite behind.

I miss my banking apps the most. Facebook app is ultra slow, but live tiling works. Typing this on the windows central app is laggy.

So its a great phone, but in this day and age, everything is connected via apps for a majority of users. Hence why windows isn't breaking any barriers. For me it works well and this is probably he same as everyone here.

You'll have no issues if you use windows software. I've got the continuum dock and its amazing, I dont need to get a computer (all I do is emails and word processing). I have a surface rt and was going to buy an ultra book, but nope.

Hope that helped someone

 

[Blacklizted]

This has been tough, reading a lot, researching what I can, but still, an unsure decision looms.

I like my Nexus 6P, but really want a Windows phone so that I have more continuity between my Surface Pro 4 at home and my phone. I like the idea of Cortana knowing more about me and becoming my assistant for reminders and other events. I've tested it against Google and so far, find Cortana working better.

My concern, for those of you reading this and those you who (thank you) take the time to respond, is that my work email is Gmail, my email is Gmail and my wife's is, yes, you guessed, Gmail. I have my MS account and will slowly move things over to it, but gradually.

So, how easy is it to use the Windows phone and still maintain Google email and calendar? I know the version of Outlook for I'm my Android phone is terrible as I can add what I want but cannot edit anything, which I understand is an issue with the Android version.

Hope I'm making sense. I am ready to jump on a slightly used 950XL at $337. which I think is a great price but this is my biggest concern.

You'll love mail and calendar on Windows.

 

[PGrey]

Hah, I went the other way, to a 6P, from a 950XL (and a whole series of Win Phones, since Win Phone 7 days...).

My Credit Union gave up on WIndows Phone, and that along with the (in)stability of AU builds, right after the AU release, pushed me over the edge.

I really, really miss the continuity, and the UI, being able to get almost all my info at-a-glance. I miss a few features on the camera (although the 6P is close).

I don't miss not having some apps, horrible battery life, random hangs and reboots, wondering if an update is going to be stable, and some other stuff.

I like being able to use a VOIP app(s) too, get texts and calls on WiFi, that one is huge for me, some days I'm located where I'm WiFi only, and it looks like MS is never going to fix the VoLTE and WiFi call/text on these phones.

If Win Phone ever got "truly stable" again, which it was getting too, right before AU, and some of the other issues got fixed, and my small number of apps got re-enabled or ported to AU builds, I'd go back, in a heartbeat.
For the near-term though, I'm on the 6P, making it work, as best as I can, with all my old Win Phone familiarity.