Looking to buy my first Windows Phone!

[Noremacam]

Hey all,

I wanted to introduce myself to the forum and ask a couple of questions about Windows Phone that I thought you guys might be able to answer.

I love to try different phones and platforms and I get bored with using the same thing after a while. I'm addicted to change. In January I reviewed the blackberry z10, here, and now I am looking at trying out Windows Phone.

I'm on Verizon, and so I'm considering the rumored HTC M8 with Windows Phone, but if that rumor proves untrue, I may consider the Samsung Ativ SE just because it is less common than the Lumia Icon. The lack in camera resolution doesn't bother me that much, and I would probably enjoy swapping batteries and using the expanded storage.

My question for most of you is, what is the biggest "gotcha" you experienced when switching to Windows Phone? IE. what set back did you not anticipate when you got your microsoft driven phone?

 

[hotphil]

The oft-mentioned app gap didn't affect me.
What's making me leave the system again is that playing music on it is a poor experience. If I'd known how bad it was I'd not have come back to Windows Phone.

 

[aiden bunce]

the biggest letdown for me was a lack of a digital assistant and a notes app. these should be basics on a smartphone :eck:

 

[Noremacam]

The oft-mentioned app gap didn't affect me.
What's making me leave the system again is that playing music on it is a poor experience. If I'd known how bad it was I'd not have come back to Windows Phone.

Is it sound quality, or the music app itself?

 

[hotphil]

Is it sound quality, or the music app itself?

Quality is fair enough for a phone. But search on here for Xbox Music for the issues actually getting a track to play. And if it does, all your tags are ignored. Then there's a lovely great click between tracks. Forget gapless. Best workaround I found was to buy an iPod and forget about Windows Phone for music playing.

 

[Malay Agarwal]

the biggest letdown for me was a lack of a digital assistant and a notes app. these should be basics on a smartphone :eck:

Digital assistant? Hello, Cortana
Notes app? Hello, OneNote

 

[Noremacam]

Quality is fair enough for a phone. But search on here for Xbox Music for the issues actually getting a track to play. And if it does, all your tags are ignored. Then there's a lovely great click between tracks. Forget gapless. Best workaround I found was to but an iPod and forget about Windows Phone for music playing.

Yikes! I did some googling and noted that apt-x bluetooth audio codec is missing as well, which is a bummer. Are there any 3rd party apps in the store that perform bettery

 

[hotphil]

Apt-x is supposedly on the way in a future update. But that could be many, many, many months away (if at all).
Cortana digital assistant is a bit of an unknown. It's beta. And only available in the Us - something a lot of our US friends forget.
There's other music player apps in the store. But I just bought a dedicated device and moved on.

 

[hopmedic]

Welcome to WPCentral. Since I've only been in Microsoft's ecosystem, I can't really compare the others for you, but it has definitely kept me happy.

 

[Noremacam]

How does file management work on windows phone? Does it have a file explorer? Can you access windows shares? Can you manage your files remotely from your desktop?

 

[xandros9]

How does file management work on windows phone? Does it have a file explorer? Can you access windows shares? Can you manage your files remotely from your desktop?

file management is basic. there's an official Files app, but it is fairly spartan.

As for the others, I don't do those, so I would see if one of the other 3rd party file managers have that functionality.

The biggest "gotcha" for me is... hmm.
I don't think there really was one, I made sure I knew what I was getting.
I've found Music to be great in 8, meh in 8.1, (so I use the old 8.0 app)

 

[heickelrrx]

Well I use nokia mixradio 4 music. It's exclusively 4 nokia devices

If you bored with similar playlist all time this could be good option 4 music

 

[worldspy99]

Music is a problem especially in WP8.1 but Nokia Mix Radio is pretty good with some unique features.
App gap is an issue occasionally.
I still use my Lumia 810 on a daily basis and use my Android tablet for stuff the WP device lacks in when necessary.
Welcome and good luck trying out the Ativ SE.

 

[anon(7900571)]

Welcome abroad