First bad review of the 950

[Jazmac]

There are a few articles around like that, which isn't a lot unusual when a new device drops but what I don't understand is why these these people care about what I spend my money on? If a restaurant had not real clean cooking conditions then by all means let me know. But this is a cell phone. It is web enabled device and can do some of the things I can do at home on my computer. So what is it with ars-technica or the Verge telling me where I should spend my money on?

And who is dumb enough to allow them to tell you what you should and should not like? They have taken the blog thing too dang far if you ask me. When they start buying and paying the bill, then I'll believe they got skin in the game. Beyond that, they sound like a bunch of angry men wearing pumps..

 

[runamuck83]

And who is dumb enough to allow them to tell you what you should and should not like?

Pretty much 90% of the human race

 

[Krystianpants]

There are a few articles around like that, which isn't a lot unusual when a new device drops but what I don't understand is why these these people care about what I spend my money on? If a restaurant had not real clean cooking conditions then by all means let me know. But this is a cell phone. It is web enabled device and can do some of the things I can do at home on my computer. So what is it with ars-technica or the Verge telling me where I should spend my money on?

And who is dumb enough to allow them to tell you what you should and should not like? They have taken the blog thing too dang far if you ask me. When they start buying and paying the bill, then I'll believe they got skin in the game. Beyond that, they sound like a bunch of angry men wearing pumps..

So you're on the hunt for a new phone right? And you pick a phone you think looks nice and start doing some research to make sure you make a good investment. Where do you go to? reviews right? Ok. So if every review out there is not making this phone out to be great, including windows positive websites, then of course you're going to pick another phone and again go through reviews. You want to know you're getting your money's worth. And without putting down the money you have no way of judging for yourself, so the next best thing is see what others are saying about it.

 

[runamuck83]

So you're on the hunt for a new phone right? And you pick a phone you think looks nice and start doing some research to make sure you make a good investment. Where do you go to? reviews right? Ok. So if every review out there is not making this phone out to be great, including windows positive websites, then of course you're going to pick another phone and again go through reviews. You want to know you're getting your money's worth. And without putting down the money you have no way of judging for yourself, so the next best thing is see what others are saying about it.

Truth be told, I'd venture to guess the vast majority of average people NEVER read a review on a phone and simply buy the phone their friends/family have or recommended. Only extremely conscious shoppers will read a phone review these days and those people usually are cheapskates

 

[Jack Neill]

10586 ruined my 640. Its a steaming pile. Doesn't matter how nice the phone is, if the OS is garbage then the phone will suck

 

[Jazmac]

So you're on the hunt for a new phone right? And you pick a phone you think looks nice and start doing some research to make sure you make a good investment. Where do you go to? reviews right? Ok. So if every review out there is not making this phone out to be great, including windows positive websites, then of course you're going to pick another phone and again go through reviews. You want to know you're getting your money's worth. And without putting down the money you have no way of judging for yourself, so the next best thing is see what others are saying about it.

A review compares one against another and makes a judgement based on features, specs etc. The creepy bloggers I'm talking about are going over and above; doing what CSR's do at the phone store and tell you NOT to buy a phone. Ars Technica article you posted really didn't abuse the 950 as I expected based on your topic. But its clear that blogger can't or don't know how to more forward in a world without google. Maybe he lives overseas where Bing or MS services are not as robust as it is here in the states. But it is absolutely possible to live in a google free environment and never miss them. I've done it for years, but don't tell me not to get the 950 based on nothing to go on. Compare it to an android or iPhone and give me opinion based on analysis.

 

[helichrysum]

I think Dan's review is spot on and touched on something that no other reviews really do at all...

Maybe Microsoft doesn't really care that these phones won't help them grow their 1.5% market share. All these reviewers are essentially saying at best "no reason to leave ios or Android". No kidding. In order to do that MS would have to design a waterproof, titanium with 24k gold highlights, 4k screen, 50MP camera, that supports teleporting. And even still that would fall flat because there's still no Snap Chat or Tinder.

What if Microsoft wanted to do what they said they wanted to do and release a phone for WP fans? Yep we've been waiting a long time so they probably rushed the launch. I think this release helps solidify and round out their technology lineup.

Microsoft's best bid to get users to ditch ios and Android is to sure up W10 and make it so robust and prevalent, people start giving W10 mobile a look. Maybe that happens in 2016, maybe not.

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

 

[cheetahwig1]

I have an Icon, and go back to WP 6.5, so I've stuck with them through it all, but only because I'm a hopeless optimist (which has worn very thin). It's always the next iteration that will fix everything and finally catch us up to our rivals. Just as Apple is a consumer-based company that is trying to also win enterprise, Microsoft is an enterprise-based company trying to also win consumers, and neither company is doing very well with their secondary goal. How MS could let go all of the talented Nokia folks that knew how to build a phone that people wanted, to put out the bland-looking 950's, is beyond me. They have the billions to truly go all-in on the phones if they really wanted to, and yet phones were barely worked on while their teams all did the desktop version of Windows 10. Why wait to then do phones, and put out a version that is so buggy when they could've done them simultaneously? My Icon's battery now lasts less than a day on 10 where with 8.1 it lasted nearly 2 days = poor coding. Continuum, that is basically WinRT, and was a $900 million write-off previously, will not add any new users to our WP base due to its limitations. So I guess I'm still hoping that maybe a Surface Phone, with an Intel-chip that can run Win32 programs is the next holy grail I'll look forward to that might pull us out of the <2% of smartphone user doldrums. I did see that the number of developers for Win10 has gone up from around 200k to about 1.9 million, and that gives me hope that they'll develop universal apps that can be used on our phones and may eventually give us parity with the iPhone and Android OS's. I'll guess I'll go on hoping...

 

[ArmandsFM]

It would be naive to expect that suddenly reviews of 950 and XL would suddenly be all positive and rosy. There is nothing new in those reviews for me. Certainly, new operating system will have some glitches at the beginning it is not a surprise. Apps will not appear magically in thousands, but we all know that. Do not like plastic cover? There is good selection available to replace it with. For me important things is improved battery life, interface that I believe is the best, ample capacity for memory cards and now continuum that is certainly game changer. Only disappointing thing was that 950XL would not offer dual SIM capability. In any case those phones are not for the masses at this stage and I am perfectly fine with it.

 

[Clinton_O]

I dont think the review was negative or that harsh, just honest.

 

[Hurried Sense]

Those QHD AMOLED (most likely from Samsung whom Microsoft seem to have partnered with for the supposedly excellent Surface Pro 4 and Book screens) screens use pentile matrix so the actual number of subpixels is going to be lower than a QHD RGB LCD/OLED display. So in that s sense the increased resolution is actually a good thing. Plus using an AMOLED means much better contrast ratios so I can understand why they went with it.

 

[adigawi]

I agree. I'd happily take a 720p screen (that's what we used to have on TVs!) if it meant a much better battery life.

This is exactly what I'm talking about, my current Lumia 640 is 5 inch HD with 2500mah battery, and on win 8.1 it easily lasts two days with a heavy use.
I don't believe that QHD amoled is more efficient in terms of battery life, look at any current flagship with such screen, when you use the phone for browsing, emailing, videos, etc. where the screen is on, it hardly lasts a full day and this is truth.

 

[Hurried Sense]

I did see that the number of developers for Win10 has gone up from around 200k to about 1.9 million, and that gives me hope that they'll develop universal apps that can be used on our phones and may eventually give us parity with the iPhone and Android OS's.

Where did you see that? Could you provide some sources please?

 

[Roderick Aspiras]

I think it must be Windows hello.

 

[Jole Bogdanovic]

because that is all bull ****

 

[amcluesent]

I'm waiting to read The Register's inevitable utterly damning review

 

[Krystianpants]

Those QHD AMOLED (most likely from Samsung whom Microsoft seem to have partnered with for the supposedly excellent Surface Pro 4 and Book screens) screens use pentile matrix so the actual number of subpixels is going to be lower than a QHD RGB LCD/OLED display. So in that s sense the increased resolution is actually a good thing. Plus using an AMOLED means much better contrast ratios so I can understand why they went with it.

How do you know they are pentile? Are you able to tell up close? I know samsung recently started using full stripe rgb screens and these are quite new. Though pentile apparently can last longer as blue's tend to die faster.

 

[Hawktree]

In Canada, the 950 is $849 including taxes. Was in the store checkout, when I stopped, shook my head and quit while I was ahead.

 

[TexasLabRat]

<censored>, you think that I don't know how to change the settings?

The longest screen time out is 5 minutes.

snarky cut-n-paste reply from Ars (which violates this site's TOS due to the pseudo-cursing, but I digress) aside, I (and others) think that's exactly the situation. I just got back from the Microsoft store and the longest screen timeout is "Never" on the AT&T 950. Seriously, if you didn't want to review the phone, just tell Microsoft "no thank you". The half-hearted drivel you published is beneath Ars and beneath you. At least with the Verge, you know that they have a bias and an agenda..and you roll with it. This article was just laziness incarnate.

 

[naijab0y]

Yup, Priv reviews were not at all positive, but they were not as negative as Lumia 950 reviews

You guys need to stop being biased just because the 950 reviews are for the most part.. Not great. There are a few negative reviews of the Priv like arstechnica (very negative) and a few others. But let's be real.. The vast majority are positive. Just read android central, mobile syrup, verge, Engadget, mashable, stuff TV, wsj and loads of YouTube reviews. There's even one where the guy throws away an iPhone 6 cos he prefers the Priv.

They do point out the negatives and say there is room for improvement but for the most part.. They agree BlackBerry is on the right path.

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android