Lumia 950 is Microsoft's Last Chance.

[Pete]

As has always been the case, clicks = ad revenue. More clickbait = more money

 

[Zachary Boddy]

Meteorologists just pray, thanks for the laugh. �
(You do know that their modeling is quite extensive right?)

Expensive does not immediately equate to accuracy. It's just a more refined praying. A hypothetical prayer.

 

[eortizr]

If they can't get the same apps most user have in iOS and Anrdiod, Yes they are dead. I have been a windows phone user since the first Lumia 900, but always got back to either Android or iOS based on the lack of APPS. I'm currently using an iOS device, wanted to switch to WP the other day, but after a quick search of the apps I'm currently using, I decided not too. WP still missing all Google stuff (Youtube, Photos, Gmail), Uber app is crap, Snapchat, Facebook just like in iOS and Android the WP version is just not the same.

 

[rdubmu]

No but I think Microsoft should only provide the OS, and have a nexus type of device (aka Lumia) to show what the platform is capable of. Microsoft should only release 1 high end, 1 mid, 1 entry level... Only to raise the level of Windows 10 Mobile

 

[Nabkawe5]

Censor? No, not at all. Not my objective anyway. I'm pretty much used to comments like yours on Windows Central. You attempted to bear witness to my comment and as it turns out, you don't even know the video. A very atypical response but that was the thrust of my comment to you. The rest was absolution

Do you mean that video of that new Asian dude who reviewed the preview software? That video? because every point he mentioned seemed solid, I maybe disagreed with a point here or there but I also disagree when someone says "ah um no one needs multitasking anyways"

I don't understand that mentality that great reviews should be a given for any product. Has Microsoft managed to impress any reviewer in the past three years?

* thick phones, big bezel
* one to two years behind spec wise
* camera phones that has magnetic OIS that shook even when the phone was steadied which created worst shots instead of blur free shots
* terrible low rangers which they tried to market as flagships! and asked for way too much for it too
* premium prices for phones that had terrible touchscreen issues and very flimsy plastic (I have two Lumia 1520s each had a problem with either the buttons or the Sdcard tray!)
* not to mention the **** Microsoft pulled off when it provided the Lumia 1020 with the worst processor ever (because it was too slow to support better processors and didn't allow an image processing chipset either) and then they managed to say Oops this is a phone with terrible hardware we won't be updating it with all the cool features!

All what Microsoft did in it's mobile business is hype few features and then sell at premium and later abandon ship.
wasn't it enough that the Lumia 830 was launched without all the camera features the announcement event hyped! Even funnier that the head of imaging didn't even know that this actually happened!

I know Nokia introduced lots of innovation through Windows Phone, but after all people were always excited for Nokia's firmwar.
Amber,Black,Cyan and Denim were the things we waited for and not the artificial advancements Microsoft pushed every now or then! (remember GDR3!)

When Microsoft doesn't believe in it's products and still provide better experiences on competing platforms than that of which they own, I wouldn't get mad if any reviewer bashed the crap out of "Resume OS TM"

 

[Jazmac]

Do you mean that video of that new Asian dude who reviewed the preview software? That video? because every point he mentioned seemed solid, I maybe disagreed with a point here or there but I also disagree when someone says "ah um no one needs multitasking anyways"

I don't understand that mentality that great reviews should be a given for any product. Has Microsoft managed to impress any reviewer in the past three years?
..."

As a matter of fact, the cat was white but it doesn't matter anymore. So drop it. I'm not interested in rehashing old meaningless conversations. I've moved on.

 

[iamakii]

maybe they will come adopt android in the future but i doubt they quit the mobile game

That would be the last thing I want MS to do. Using a competitor's OS and dropping their own.

 

[imnotevenhererightnow]

I can admit that I fell in love with Windows Phone when I bought my Samsung Focus in 2010. While I have enjoyed my time with WP, I can admit that I've allowed myself to be strung along by Microsoft repeatedly in hopes of a truly killer experience.

I thought that last year I'd find my sweet spot with the rumors of an "affordable flagship" Lumia 830. Then, when it released, it had the same low-mid-range Snapdragon 400 SoC. Nice design, good camera, mediocre SoC. The dealbreaker? It was $449 on release...hardly a "deal" in that regard.

I settled on a Lumia 640 this year to "get me by" because I still want to believe that MS has something left in the tank. But really, that's not a particularly rational position. They've been making these promises since 2010 with WP7 release and the song hasn't changed since then. There's still an app gap and Microsoft is still promising that their new Desktop OS is going to drive their Mobile OS (the same promise made with the release of Windows8 and WP8.

So, is the Lumia 950/XL Microsoft's "last chance?" Not for Microsoft, rest assured.

Is the 950/XL the "last chance" that I give Microsoft. Almost assuredly. Put up or shut up Microsoft. I've spent four years trying to convince other people that you were the real deal, but you have repeatedly failed to have my back. I still love the OS (at least its potential), but freaking deliver for once...please!

 

[mjrtoo]

I can admit that I fell in love with Windows Phone when I bought my Samsung Focus in 2010. While I have enjoyed my time with WP, I can admit that I've allowed myself to be strung along by Microsoft repeatedly in hopes of a truly killer experience.

I thought that last year I'd find my sweet spot with the rumors of an "affordable flagship" Lumia 830. Then, when it released, it had the same low-mid-range Snapdragon 400 SoC. Nice design, good camera, mediocre SoC. The dealbreaker? It was $449 on release...hardly a "deal" in that regard.

I settled on a Lumia 640 this year to "get me by" because I still want to believe that MS has something left in the tank. But really, that's not a particularly rational position. They've been making these promises since 2010 with WP7 release and the song hasn't changed since then. There's still an app gap and Microsoft is still promising that their new Desktop OS is going to drive their Mobile OS (the same promise made with the release of Windows8 and WP8.

So, is the Lumia 950/XL Microsoft's "last chance?" Not for Microsoft, rest assured.

Is the 950/XL the "last chance" that I give Microsoft. Almost assuredly. Put up or shut up Microsoft. I've spent four years trying to convince other people that you were the real deal, but you have repeatedly failed to have my back. I still love the OS (at least its potential), but freaking deliver for once...please!

So what are they not delivering? A phone up to your hardware specification? Even if it doesn't need that to run flawlessly?

 

[imnotevenhererightnow]

So what are they not delivering? A phone up to your hardware specification? Even if it doesn't need that to run flawlessly?

they aren't delivering on any semblance of a good value at the upper-mid-range or the high end. We've been 18 months in the wilderness at the high end and the "affordable flagship" of 2014 was $450 for a handset spec'd with a low/mid-range SoC.

What aren't they delivering? Value in any price bracket above the 640XL. The 640XL is excellent at $199. I want to see a similar value at $399 with accordingly bumped specs.

Pretty simple.

 

[mjrtoo]

Do what you want then, because the numbers show that isn't the core users of windows phone choice. It has consistently been value added users that have driven Windows Phone thus far. So while I agree to a point that they may not have a phone YOU want, that isn't really the truth.

Just because you thinks specsmanship is a necessity, again, isn't the truth for a perfect experience.

 

[anon(5383410)]

I'm still holding out hope that HTC is going to release a Windows version of the M9. If they released it at w10m launch it might help the platform get off the ground. I remember their CFO saying they were monitoring w10 closely to see how it fits in with their plans or something like that. Although they could've already had an M9 with 8.1 on it that could be upgraded to w10 released by now so I'm afraid they might just release a mid-range device.

Then there's Verizon. The friggin monkey wrench in all of this. Sure they just made it a lot easier to simply switch carriers if you want a specific phone, but not having a high-end Windows offering on all three major US carriers is a bad thing. The ironic thing to me is that Verizon should be very familiar with the power of competition, and thus more receptive to a third platform. TMobile forced both them and AT&T to dramatically change their business models.

 

[Indistinguishable]

The 950 is Microsoft's last chance. Until their next flagship. Then that will be their last chance.

:winktongue:

 

[jlangner]

The 950 is Microsoft's last chance. Until their next flagship. Then that will be their last chance.

:winktongue:

If they are going AT&T only they blew there last chance.

 

[ytrewq]

I would agree that the 950 is the last chance, but not for the reasons the OP lays out.

WP is dying from a lack of developers, hardware manufacturers, and consumers interested in the platform. Windows 10 presents an opportunity to spark interest. The 950 and 950XL are the phones that MS has chosen to put out their as the shining example of what Windows 10 Mobile can be. If they don't get people's attention, then the consumers won't buy it, which means other hardware manufacturers won't build more windows phones, which means developers won't port apps to it, which means consumers won't buy it, etc., etc.

So, MS has to capitalize on this opportunity, because they won't have a shiny new OS to couple with the next flagship. I think it's do or die time.

The 950 and 950XL are fine phones, and I don't see that as the thing that will hold this back. The downfall will be the price. If MS pulls its usual pricing nonsense -- "we don't care that we came last and have no present market share, we still want to charge for our product as if we were the market leader" -- then these will go relatively unnoticed and I think the OS is done for. That's what I expect, because MS has a strong track record of failing to recognize when it needs to get aggressive on pricing. I hope they do better than that.

 

[jabtano]

The problem that I see is this when i look at the new renders of the 950-950XL they don't look as wowish like the L 920 did or the L925-L1520 to me and this is just me they look midrange. I do like the specs but the device to look at is well nothing much. with that said I'm not on AT&T so I know what it is to really like a device and know that hey I'm on another network so I have to go with a device that I really don't care for just to use this OS. I was really hopping that this time around going forward with WP10 that exclusive would be a thing of the past. but from what I'm reading , and again we do not really know until 10-6-2015 if this will hold true. I'm leaning to the 950XL. But! if that device will be exclusive to AT&T then on 10-07 I'm going and buying a S6 edge I feel I waited along time for WP and always had to settle for a lesser device because of nthe dam exclusive thing. this time I will not do that. exclusive have hurt WP a great deal.

 

[PepperdotNet]

I too will not buy an AT&T exclusive device, even though I am an AT&T customer.

I will buy the dual-sim Asian variant if I have to. Probably will be cheaper anyway.

 

[mariusmuntean]

prices started to appear on a russian website and are not pretty: ~775$ for 950 and 865$ for 950XL lol...good luck MS in trying to sell them

 

[Gregory Newman]

in Russia the market prices of devices is very very much higher than other markets. Things must be
hard in Russia for their businesses to rape the Russian People's money. also in other countries a 500 USA Dollar Surface 3 atom CPU tablet cost is nearly a thousand dollars making it hard for overseas People to justify even buying a lowly Surface 3 ATOM CPU Tablet. People in the USA should be glad they pay the prices they pay I hope the MS 950 is 450 to 500 Dollars and the 950XL is 580 to a max of 650 dollars. I think Microsoft wants to make it sales with MS Lumia 550 because their best selling Windows 8.1 Smart phone is the Nokia Lumia 520 which is a low cost budget Smart phone. Microsoft will push sales of the MS Lumia 550 because People can afford to buy them.

 

[oussama ait]

Totally diaagree

Why is lumia 950 MS last chance ? Ms has set itself to become a software company so like google its has now the lumia 950/xl just like google has nexus , and its encouraging now ither oems to adopt windows mobile and of course flagship phones are coming like the hp elite x3 with monster specs and the vaio phone , so MS now should focus on improvements on its software wich is windows 10/mobile to make it on par with IOS/android in terms of performance and functionality