[Quick Impressions] Who Has Gotten The Lumia 950?

[bruce1099]

Like the device hate the Iris scanner. I have been unable to get it to recognize mine during setup. Tried in different levels of like. Gimmick feature and not useful at all.

 

[Xsled]

Like the device hate the Iris scanner. I have been unable to get it to recognize mine during setup. Tried in different levels of like. Gimmick feature and not useful at all.

Really? I have trained it a few times now for certain situations. Lighting, glasses, hats. Since my initial setup (and training a few times) I have had it work 99.9% of the time. I absolutely love it. I don't see it as a gimmick and find it extremely useful. Sorry you aren't having as good of an experience.

 

[Martin Zone]

How close you have to put the phone to the face to unlock it with the iris scanner and would you do that in a business meeting, in a restaurant or similar?
Also I noticed it helps if you have a big (naturally wider opened eyelids) otherwise it can't "find" your eyes?
I was expecting I would be able to unlock looking at it in my lap, or a table, not in front of my nose. Does not the front camera have some sort of zoom to catch better your eye?
Some review I seen on the topic have big potential for a mockery with the gimmick...
This experience is just tragic : youtu.be/BpZvTBYvrMo?t=2m1s

Maybe it would have been better that the phone has face features recognition ability like the surfaces and forgot the iris recognition till better and more reliable performance.

 

[Xsled]

How close you have to put the phone to the face to unlock it with the iris scanner and would you do that in a business meeting, in a restaurant or similar?
Also I noticed it helps if you have a big (naturally wider opened eyelids) otherwise it can't "find" your eyes?
I was expecting I would be able to unlock looking at it in my lap, or a table, not in front of my nose. Does not the front camera have some sort of zoom to catch better your eye?
Some review I seen on the topic have big potential for a mockery with the gimmick...
This experience is just tragic : youtu.be/BpZvTBYvrMo?t=2m1s

Maybe it would have been better that the phone has face features recognition ability like the surfaces and forgot the iris recognition till better and more reliable performance.

I am finding about a 1.5' or so in front of my face has been the sweet spot. Yes, if it can't see your eyes due to squinting (Like the Dr. was in his video) then it won't unlock. Glasses, both regular and sun have been flawless, for me (with and without a hat on). Keep in mind I have trained it 3 or 4 times in different scenarios. Right now I am using it every time I am holding the phone, then pin when sitting on desk. I see a couple of benefits. 1: Winter with gloves on. 2: Corporate devices that require long pin passcodes. My company requires 8 digits and Hello is MUCH faster than my 8 digit pin. Since Friday, it has already become habit to me to unlock that way. I very much enjoy using it, though I am not having the problems that some others are. Mine just works.

 

[Jeddic]

I used my previous phone's backup (Lumia 1020 running W10 b10581) and many of the apps in the start list are duplicated but the duplicate is grayed out and cannot be selected or removed. Anyone else seeing these issues?

I had similar issues. My backup apparently had apps which are not available in W10 preview, so when I loaded it the store attempted to download them, but they just errored out repeatedly. This included Extras(?) Lumia apps. When I searched the store for the apps, they weren't there, so I just cancelled the downloads and uninstalled the apps if they were still listed.

 

[Hankerin]

I'm very happy with my 950 (replaced a 920) and contrary to many I actually prefer its appearance to my wife's iPhone 6S (I'm still using a 5S). The iris scanner has been working flawlessly though my wife says it looks goofy when I unlock the phone - will have to work on my "style" I guess. Meanwhile, I'm stuck on 10.0.10586.0 which came with the device - no updates available. It appears that an update to the touch settings may have come along with 10586.11 which has me wondering whether or not to revert back to the insider fast ring. The thought being that AT&T will be slow in releasing updates. Any thoughts.

 

[vartanarsen]

You love this phone? Doesn't it feel cheap like fisher-price plastic toy?

 

[NosmoRex]

I got mine Wednesday last week, and I love it with a few qualifications. Battery life is not great, but hopefully updates to Win10 Mobile will improve that. The back cover doesn't feel that "sturdy" to me. Not a deal breaker, and I have a Mozo cover coming anyway. Bluetooth connections seem to be a little hit or miss (could be my Bluetooth devices). I lost my HERE apps with Windows 10.
I am surprised at how well Windows Hello works. Very smooth and quick. The display is amazing.
I cannot find a 3rd party charge/sync cable that works at all. Three different cables that I've purchased will not charge or sync. The provided cable works fine as well as my Qi charger.

 

[Xsled]

You love this phone? Doesn't it feel cheap like fisher-price plastic toy?

To me, no, it doesn't. Far from it actually. I am really impressed with the screen and I think the white back looks really nice. It feels really good in the hand. (hehe). To me it feels very much like a premium device. I really like it.

 

[oldpueblo]

You love this phone? Doesn't it feel cheap like fisher-price plastic toy?

First of all I grew up playing with Fisher Price toys, loved them. But for a serious answer, I'd rather have this design than a highly breakable iPhone that I'm forced to put a case on so that it doesn't break if it falls 6 inches. I enjoy beauty, but not at the expense of practicality. And fancier shells are easily added if I want (Mozo). I loved the design of the 920, but that design I think would just be too heavy these days. The 830 was nice, but I'd still rather have the fully replaceable/customizable shell design.

 

[houkoholic]

Maybe it would have been better that the phone has face features recognition ability like the surfaces and forgot the iris recognition till better and more reliable performance.

Face recognition like in the Surface would require extra camera hardware to detect a "live" face to prevent photo spoofing, but that would mean cramming extra stuff at the top bazal and potentially increasing the size of the device, which means angering another bunch of people who are really picky about that sort of thing. Same if they went with fingerprint.

Iris is totally the right call for a mobile phone with limited physical real estate and the anti-bazal crowd out there ready to jump on anything with a bazal that is more than 2mm thick, but it looks like they need to tune it and they probably didn't have the time to do it, hence the "beta" tag.

 

[ashram]

You love this phone? Doesn't it feel cheap like fisher-price plastic toy?

nope, not even close. it would be nice if fisher price toys felt as nice as my 950

 

[Martin Zone]

Face recognition like in the Surface would require extra camera hardware to detect a "live" face to prevent photo spoofing, but that would mean cramming extra stuff at the top bazal and potentially increasing the size of the device, which means angering another bunch of people who are really picky about that sort of thing. Same if they went with fingerprint.

That maybe so and I hope future updates may improve the iris recognition login process. Just saying that current "put the phone on top of your nose" way to successful login, the 950's Iris Hello is just a gimmick and prone to mockery.
I would not try to unlock my phone in that way in any serious or business situation.

 

[houkoholic]

That maybe so and I hope future updates may improve the iris recognition login process. Just saying that current "put the phone on top of your nose" way to successful login, the 950's Iris Hello is just a gimmick and prone to mockery.
I would not try to unlock my phone in that way in any serious or business situation.

Some people have success just looking at it with phone at chest high level and not the exaggerate "right up to the tip of the nose" demos as well as with glasses etc, also because the iris recognition camera uses IR light which is supplied by the device itself, so contrary to "common sense" move AWAY from bright light sources which would introduce light pollution in the recognition, so definitely YMMV. Either way there is a very lack of understanding of the tech in most reviews/hands-on impression I've found which may be the cause of lack of accuracy of the system.

Also iris recognition is inherently more secure than fingerprints and facial, if you are in a business situations who cares about security then the image thing should be least of your concern and you can tell those people who does to get stuffed instead. I really hope MS gets going with improving the iris recognition tech because this is the way to go as fingerprints is really yesterday's technology that is already shunned in serious security applications which has moved to much more secure tech like vein and retinal which is only hindered by price and miniaturization of the hardware to perform the recognition. Fingerprint is only making its way into consumer's hands as a swan song for that last bit of remaining profit of a matured tech that's due to be phased out.

 

[Maluta_Shatalov]

Owners, what about volume in earphones?

 

[Jeff Merritt1]

Owners, what about volume in earphones?

I have it connected to speakers at work in my office and if works well. Headphone levels are adequate and sound good, equalizer helps.

I do have to say call quality is stellar at times. I felt like I was sitting in the same room as my best friend...I'm in Miami he's in Austin...on a call I made. It's pretty amazing.

I really like this device. I thought it wouldn't be as nice as it is but I really like it. The 920 has been dethroned...a few BT issues to work out and it will be perfect.

 

[Xsled]

I have it connected to speakers at work in my office and if works well. Headphone levels are adequate and sound good, equalizer helps.

I do have to say call quality is stellar at times. I felt like I was sitting in the same room as my best friend...I'm in Miami he's in Austin...on a call I made. It's pretty amazing.

I really like this device. I thought it wouldn't be as nice as it is but I really like it. The 920 has been dethroned...a few BT issues to work out and it will be perfect.

That is HD voice. I was blown away Sunday when I talked to my brother who also has an HD voice handset.

 

[davebwi]

Can you please tell me which of this phones you prefer and why?
I'm considering the Lumia 950 but otherwise it will be the iphone 6s, i absolutely don't want android.

Love the 950, I had the Lumia 830 ..big difference, My plug AGAINST the Iphone6 .. 950 has QI Charging, Fast charging, Live tiles are awesome. Ease of use , It is exactly like windows 10 on my Surface pro 3.

 

[Maluta_Shatalov]

I have it connected to speakers at work in my office and if works well. Headphone levels are adequate and sound good, equalizer helps.

I do have to say call quality is stellar at times. I felt like I was sitting in the same room as my best friend...I'm in Miami he's in Austin...on a call I made. It's pretty amazing.

I really like this device. I thought it wouldn't be as nice as it is but I really like it. The 920 has been dethroned...a few BT issues to work out and it will be perfect.

Thank you! But the question is about the volume of the headphones! My L920 and L1520 much quieter than iPhone and I want to know how loud is 950 plays music through headphones.

 

[asikis]

Hello all and congrats to the first lucky owners of the 950. I am in the waiting room in my country (Athens, Greece) for the device official launch.
User of WP since 2012 and currently with an 830 with W10M TP latest build. I like very much W10M and in general WP as they offer some key advantages, to my needs, that no other OS can offer.

I would like, if possible, any of the 950 owners to clarify the following:
1. On glance screen is the day of the week also displayed along with the date and time? Currently on my 830 with W10M TP the day of the week is only displayed and the date is not (the date is normally displayed on lock screen though). What is the situation on 950?
2. On WP8.1 when i was dismissing a notification, e.g. a call, sms or mail, from notification area at the same time the icon from lock screen and also from glance screen was removed cause i have seen the notification and had decided to dismiss it. But on W10M TP this is not the case. And even when seeing a call or sms form its application the icon from lock/glance screen may take hours to disappear. What is the situation on 950?
3. On 950 are the "resume" or "loading" screens totally disappeared?
4. With 3GB RAM, what is the case with the Edge browser if I have opened e.g. 6 pages and I move from one page to another. Then i go off Edge and after some hours I open again Edge. Are the pages I had opened still there? And if I select any of the pages is it reloaded or I can just continue seeing the page from previous state?
5. Are Mail, Calendar, Store, messages, i.e. MSFT built in apps, open really fast without lagging?
6. What about the multitasking abilities? Do we really have true multitasking on 950? I mean if i resume a previously opened app do i continue from the point i left it or the app reloads from scratch?

That's all, sorry for the long list guys.
Appreciate your feedback.