Oh Lumia 950 how I missed you

[rollindice]

950 is best no compromised windows handset there is hands down, loving mine!

 

[patcherd]

Had did the world get by before apps ? If I were 25 years younger I might see the situation differently, but apps or lack of apps is not a deal breaker for me.

The windows OS continues to improve and the updates are coming regularly. Hang in there people!

If the app situation is that much of a problem for some then go to one of the other two. There won't be a torch wielding mob hunting you down.

Thank the LORD JESUS we are blessed with choice!

 

[agaskew]

If the app situation is that much of a problem for some then go to one of the other two. There won't be a torch wielding mob hunting you down.

...because this is not an Apple forum :winktongue:

 

[G4Grandad]

I've just left an EE store after going in to discuss a new contract and handset to replace my 2 year old L830 which I love and like even more since upgrading to W10M. The "adviser" was enthusiastic until told what phone I have and I want to stay with Windows. He told me Don't Do It, adding that he couldn't even sell me one if I insisted as they haven't had any in stock for months because every one they've ever sold had been returned as either faulty or unreliable!! This is the same store that 2 years ago tried for half an hour to talk me out of having the L830.
It's great to read so many positive accounts here about the 950. I've nothing against android,I use a Note 4 every day, and to anyone who enjoys Apple, good for you. But I want a Windows Phone and always will.

 

[fpena911]

I bought a 950 within a week of it's release last year. It's been quite a ride and I love the phone and the concept of Windows 10 mobile. But unfortunately even now it is still buggy and the lack of apps is absolutely a concern.

Just this past weekend I went ahead and purchased one of the Amazon Prime Moto G4s. Yes in terms of specs it isn't the flagship my 950 is but I wanted to try Android out and see how I felt about it. Granted I've only had this phone 36 hours but Microsoft has made it way too easy to transition to another OS. I loaded all of the Office apps, OneDrive, Cortana, OneNote, and the Bing News apps. Once I did that I was able to access all of my saved contacts and pictures/videos within minutes of breaking the new phone out of the box. After that I even loaded some of my favorite Win 10 Mobile games on to the G4 and noticed they played more smoothly than they do on my 950 even though the specs are superior on the Windows phone.

My 950 is still my main phone for now but from what I see now there is little unique on the 950 that would force me to stay on Windows 10 Mobile. I seem to get the same experience yet access to so many other apps and features that I've been shut out of with the Windows Phone ecosystem. It really is sad but my 950 might end up becoming my backup camera and music player some time in the near future.

 

[camaroz1985]

I too love the 950, but thought I would be remiss if I did not try other OS as well (the only smart phones I have had to this point were Windows). I am trying iOS 10 on an iPhone 6S. It is very smooth and functions, there are apps aplenty, but I do miss Windows 10's start screen and live tiles. The app shortage isn't really a concern for me, and I love Continuum. I committed myself to try iOS for a year, but that may be a struggle. I will most likely try Android as well before I make my final decision. At this point I am about a month and a half into iOS, and at this point I would switch back to W10M and the 950.

I might start a new thread to document my time away from Windows.

 

[libra89]

I might start a new thread to document my time away from Windows.

Feel free to...or just post in the sticky thread in the General Windows Phone Discussion!

I find it interesting that you mention that about iOS and how it is been for you. The iPhone is solid, but having no customization is really what makes it hard for me to stick with iOS for a month, never mind a year. I have an iPhone SE...and after about a month, I'm done with wanting to use it because of that. I wish you the best in this journey though.

Also, not related to the above response, but this thread is great.

 

[mattdodwell]

Thanks to everyone that has commented to my thread, it's great to see some many views and posts.

 

[mattdodwell]

I've just got back from a long weekend away with my family and am looking forward to putting my 950 through is paces in my general day to day use. I saw a comment questioning the signal quality, as I only got my new (but 2nd) 950 on Thursday then went away on Friday to a mobile signal unfriendly area, I can't comment, but I will be keeping an eye on it over the coming week.

I've not seen any issues with the battery life, but coming from the iPhone which's battery isn't all that great so it's no a great comparison. I have to admit, that I am in the situation that I have two batteries for the Lumia 950, as I still have the cracked screen handset which still works all be it that I can not see anything on the screen , so I have a spare battery that I could keep charged. Also, because of the iPhones battery life, I've always carried around a portable battery pack in my bag.

The app issue people mention isn't really an issue, unless more drop of the radar and specifically the ones I use. I am not an app heavy user, I never had that many on my iPhones or Android handsets, and the core apps have a version on Windows, and the missing two I have found practical and minor work arounds.

As for the likes of Amazon or eBay etc, I never used them on my phone, and to be honest I actually think they are bad as it promotes easy access to buying crap you don't need.

My concern will be if any more that I use fall to their death.

 

[mattdodwell]

I need to buy a spare mains adaptor for the 950, but can't seem to find one (in the UK). I am concerned about 3rd party options as I know that some people have lost the fast charge capabilities with them. Therefore I want to stay with OEM kit. It is really annoying that the MS Store doesn't have any left which is why I assume they are not selling them.

 

[mattdodwell]

Whilst away I sent some photos I took with the 950 (jpeg) to a mate who has a iPhone 6s and he kept asking me if I had a iPhone 7 because the photos looked so good, clean, clear, sharp. I am really pleased with the camera and video on my 950.

 

[mattdodwell]

I've just installed Grover Pro for my Podcasts. What a wonderful app. Does exactly what I need and looks outstanding to boot.

All I need in an app is a clean UI which looks awesome, and the ability to subscribe, download and play. Nothing more nothing less, and Grover Pro does it perfectly.

 

[mattdodwell]

I've been pretty positive about the 950 on this thread so far but I will point out elements I'm not too keen on. One of these is in the handset design. Firstly let me reiterate that I do love the handset and its design to about 90%. One concern I do have is over it's slippiness, it is a smooth and slippy so in so. The reason I dropped my original 950 handset was that it slipped out of my hand whilst I was typing one handed with it. Hopefully one of the cases I've ordered will meet my desired criteria and drastically reduce the dropsbility factor .

 

[mattdodwell]

Now a positive. Damn it I love the Start Screen and it's Tile Layout. Using W10M again has made me realise how boring and mundane the iOS and Android app icons are.

I also love the fact I can adjust the transparency of the tiles. I took a photo of my kids this weekend and set it as the Start Screen image. On the iPhone I would have to strategically place the app icons so not to cover the important elements of the photo which made my screen look crap, but on my Lumia I've just increased the transparency, turned off the Live Tile feature on all tiles I don't need it on and placed them at the top of the start screen, therefore showing the image underneath clearly without compromising the app tile. For all apps I want the Live tile running I've moved them to the bottom of the start page. This is a perfect layout for me.

 

[mattdodwell]

Originally posted by ananve
Please share some photos of your 950 with cases. Would love to see it.

Will do. Still waiting on delivery of them.

 

[mattdodwell]

One really simple but awesome feature that means I love the 950 is the fact the camera focal length stays the same between stills and video. I shot a lot of video whilst away this weekend, just small reminders of the fun we had, but I was SO pleased with the fact that a quick flick in the camera app to change the function from video to stills didn't warrant a completely recomposure of what I was capturing.

Same focal length video and still cameras should be an automatic must when OEM's design the handsets etc.

 

[speccy]

W10M is still quite buggy, that's my major gripe. I was on the insider program, but the issues with that drove me back to using the Anniversary Update i.e. the production build that is meant to be stable and is what the general public get. But this has quite a few issues too, the major ones being - not waking up or taking forever to wake up (going from Glance screen to just black), and more recently, when sharing photos via Outlook, the picture attaches to the email as normal, but when the recipient (me in most case on my work email) receives the email, there is no attachment at all. It does this most of the time now, a reboot does not cure this.

 

[mattdodwell]

W10M is still quite buggy, that's my major gripe. I was on the insider program, but the issues with that drove me back to using the Anniversary Update i.e. the production build that is meant to be stable and is what the general public get. But this has quite a few issues too, the major ones being - not waking up or taking forever to wake up (going from Glance screen to just black), and more recently, when sharing photos via Outlook, the picture attaches to the email as normal, but when the recipient (me in most case on my work email) receives the email, there is no attachment at all. It does this most of the time now, a reboot does not cure this.

I guess for me I am not that literate with technical insight and don't notice these things. I do feel that W10M is not as smooth as iOS when using it, but it doesn't really feel that much of an issue on anything I am using it for.

I guess ignorance is bliss

 

[mattdodwell]

I have just realised a minor benefit to the Lumia 950 over the iPhone 6 and onward which is a must.

The headphone jack is at the top and not bottom of the phone. This used to irritate the heck out of me with the iPhone as I like to put my iPhone in my office (I work from home), sit it in a dock and plug my office speakers into it. I kept ummming and arrrrring about buying a new set of speakers so that iPhone could plug in to them directly via the lighting port, but I could not do it as that would be yet more expense.

I want the world to force every manufacture to use the same connection so I don't need a million cables (but that is another gripe), for all my different devices.

I am now looking for a desktop dock for the Lumia 950 (ideally with charging capabilities) so I hopefully can use it with my loved set up and current speakers.

 

[agaskew]

IMO every phone should have a 3.5mm headphone jack, and have it on the top.

I have had the same issue as speccy with missing email attachments.