[snowmutt]

To me, iOS is fine if you are all in on the Apple community and ecosystem. It is stable, controlled, and supported well. The devices work excellently across the platforms. However, if you are not Apple only, it is a large waste of money. Yes, you can get it to work fine with other OS's, but you are paying a premium and not getting the advantages. Is it dull? That is preferences. I do no like the price or lack of device choices, so I have stayed away. But I respect what they have built.

Google is Google. It is easy to tamper with, but over time even the top end devices get bogged down in the performance. It is how back ground tasks work- you need to manage an Android device, or it will manage you. But, it is the easiest to own because of the huge selection, has the most tools and options, you can find any type of device you want, and apps are available to you from all walks of life, big and small. I absolutely feel you should buy the elite of Android. And actually, I feel updates on Android are over rated. If you buy an Ice Cream Sandwich device, keep it there. Updates tend to cause more problems then they are worth. (Not firmware updates or fixes, just OS upgrades) .

WP has some proving to do. As top level games, apps, and functions come to iOS and Android, we still sit back and just wonder when is it our turn. We also need to see MS prove it's support. The lack of WP7 upgrades leaves a lot of room for doubt. MS needs to show this 18 month support and OS upgrades.

But, remove those two complaints and WP shines. It is personable. You move around any tile to any place and what is important to you is there. It is smooth and seamless. Nokia especially is great for fixng problems with their devices, and truth be told MS has been slow but really good about addressing firmware issues as well. It is fun, easy to find what you want, XBOX Music and XBOX Live are fun developing services, and the choices in devices is improving (again, thank you Nokia). Samsung has also done a decent job of supporting their WP's, if not promoting them. I love where MS is going with their ecosystem. I love the upside of WP.

[Shawn Magm]

Having had an S3 (Jellybean 4.1.1) and now a Lumia 520, I like Android better. I didn't really notice any lag, and I rely on Google apps (Google Now, Keep, Tasks, Play (for music), Drive, Photosphere), some of which has no 1st or 3rd party equivalent on WP8. Personally, I like the look of Android better, the file manager, Calendar looks better on Android, more app selection, notification customization. there is a greater choice of browsers. I had Chrome, Firefox, Stock, Opera, and others, which I could sync with my desktop browsers. One thing I hope WP8 implements is better notification. I use 3 email accounts (Hotmail, Gmail, and Work). I can turn each notification on independently and have a different ringtone for each. For WP8, it's either all on or all off with the same tone.

WP8 is smooth and without lag. Not so much a WP8 feature, but I do appreciate the FM radio on my 520. I like how I can take pics w/out unlocking the phone, something I couldn't do on my Android. In time, the app selection will improve. I hope Google will develop some more apps for WP8. A couple annoying things on WP8 apps (at least for me) is that on Skype, I cannot attach messages whereas I could on Android. Also, a minor thing with the eBay app is that if one of my auctions ended, I could not relist it with the WP8 app. Yes, I could do it on the IE mobile browser, but it's annoying that I have to do that. Anyways, I am enjoying WP8 and hope that as the platform matures, some of these things will be improved.

[MazoMark]

Some great responses here!

I currently use both WP8 and Android. I've had an iPhone in the past, but find ios boring and too confining. My thoughts:

Android positives:
Highly flexible
Huge hardware selection
Great app store
Fantastic keyboards
Google software integration

Android negatives:
Poor cameras in general
Mid & low tier phones are weak
Lack of consistency in app UI
Bigger learning curve for a beginner

WP8 positives
Consistent app design
Smooth even on low tier phones
Great camera options
Nokia hardware is very solid
Easy to use for beginners

WP8 negatives
Keyboard is not good
Hard to use with Google software
Apps still not all there and too often lack functions found in Android and ios

There are many things I like about both platforms. I plan to hang on to my 920 to see how WP8 matures, but Android is my daily driver for now.

[johnnyboy5520]

I just came from Android and love Windows Phone 8 so far, however, I'm not giving up Android altogether. I plan to get a Nexus 7 so I'll have the best of both worlds. What do I like about Windows 8? Well I like the Metro UI and the OS is fluid. I also like Mobile IE believe or not. Mobile Outlook is excellent and of course syncing is a breeze. All the apps aren't there yet and but I found most of the ones I need and use. And any that I can't find, I'll get with the Nexus. It doesn't have to be one or the other.

Sure, WP 8 is missing some features compared to the competition, but that's sure to be remedied in time. I'm also looking forward to some 7" Windows tablets. I'll soon be drowning in gadgets.

I don't care for IOS though. It does nothing for me.

[WanderingTraveler]

I have a Lumia 620, my mom has an iPhone 5 and my brother has an entry level Android phone. Let's see...

My number one gripe about Android isn't its glaring similarity to desktop Windows (Fragmentation, Lag, slowing down over time, widgets, security...), it's not even Google, it's the default font. I know that it's supposed to be robotic, and it's supposed to look cool, and I know I can replace it anyway, but the best you could come up with is Roboto? Really? I say you replace it with Comic Sans and call it a day.
Then again, that's one of the few problems I have with Android. If I did go Android, I'd wait for HTC to bring Sense 5 to their Desire line.

My number one gripe about Windows Phone is how half-baked it looks, and how half-baked Windows 8 is compared to it.

And, I have a ton of gripes about iOS.

I'm fine with any of these three as a daily driver, though. Heck, let's toss in a Q5 for good measure!

[lam lam]

đơn giản l mượt v đầy đủ những app game mnh cần :)

[DalekSnare]

Does the Windows Phone have the advantage when using a PC (with Windows 8) or does it matter?

Apparently it will be better when WP 8.1 comes out, but for now, not really.

[LMZR]

I always thought that Android users were mostly developers or people who were brought over simply due to trend.

Windows Phone users were people whom most remained very loyal to Microsoft, and many most likely were Windows Mobile users.

iOS users are people who like to stand out, and have the trendiest features in their phone (Many Android users are kinda like this too.)

Blackberry users are usually business men, who give two craps about what they use, and they want what they use to work efficiently.

Many might Disagree, but from other forums, and people in general where i live. This is how it seems.

[ammarmalik2011]

I have a Lumia 620, my mom has an iPhone 5 and my brother has an entry level Android phone. Let's see...

My number one gripe about Android isn't its glaring similarity to desktop Windows (Fragmentation, Lag, slowing down over time, widgets, security...), it's not even Google, it's the default font. I know that it's supposed to be robotic, and it's supposed to look cool, and I know I can replace it anyway, but the best you could come up with is Roboto? Really? I say you replace it with Comic Sans and call it a day.
Then again, that's one of the few problems I have with Android. If I did go Android, I'd wait for HTC to bring Sense 5 to their Desire line.

My number one gripe about Windows Phone is how half-baked it looks, and how half-baked Windows 8 is compared to it.

And, I have a ton of gripes about iOS.

I'm fine with any of these three as a daily driver, though. Heck, let's toss in a Q5 for good measure!

Roboto is only on stock Android phones. Whatever entry level Android phone you have will most definitely NOT have Roboto. HTC, Samsung, Sony etc all use their own fonts. I have the new Nexus 7 in front of me right now and Roboto looks beautiful.

[ammarmalik2011]

This is a difficult question to answer because the system requirements for each mobile OS are different. You can't directly compare specs between Android phones and WP phones and then fairly conclude that WP hardware is lacking.

Actually you can. The core OS itself might have different requirements but apps and games require powerful hardware, regardless of platform. There isn't any gold-dust developers can use to make a really stunning looking game for Tegra 4, and then have it look just as good on a 2 year old Snapdragon S 4 of a Windows Phone. Same goes with video and picture editing apps which tend to heavily rely on CPU power, which again is lacking on Windows Phone.

[taymur]

You buy an iPhone because its exotic, the nearest to be complete. sadly its very far from my daily drivers experience "a PC". its fun to switch to an iPhone at this point if you haven't been an iPhone user, because to you, its not boring as those people who only used IPhones from the begging.

You buy an Android because you are a Geek, and you love fiddling around with ROMs, and you enjoy that update progress bar reaching 100% on a daily basis as support is amazing. a huge amount of features that I am sure you would love about 40% of them what ever type of user you were. sadly all of this freedom and joy comes with the cost of crashing, lagging, and fast aging.

and since you are asking a Q in a WP forum, i don't promise to be fair with my judgment, but...

You buy a WP to be unique, because you are an early adopter who likes to try new things, because new is always better and because you feel like the person who is making a difference in the mobile ecosystem with each positive or negative thing you say about it to a friend.

WP is very fluid, very simple, the design is wow, the idea of having squares that represent window tiles (you look through them to see information) and the animation of opening them and closing them is as you are dealing with a real window is enough to understand were the design process reached while creating this master piece.

WP is limited on features, but the ones that we have (especially Nokia devices) are more superior that any other. Microsoft promised us a lot of exciting features, some works fine others are in development but are pretty promising.

I love the WP experience.

[Junaid96]

I always thought that Android users were mostly developers or people who were brought over simply due to trend.

Windows Phone users were people whom most remained very loyal to Microsoft, and many most likely were Windows Mobile users.

iOS users are people who like to stand out, and have the trendiest features in their phone (Many Android users are kinda like this too.)

Blackberry users are usually business men, who give two craps about what they use, and they want what they use to work efficiently.

Many might Disagree, but from other forums, and people in general where i live. This is how it seems.

I wouldn't know about where you live, but here in Perth, Australia, an iPhone definitely does not stand out. More people here use an iPhone than pretty much any other phone and I'm pretty sure as of now (correct me if I'm wrong though) the iPhone 4 is still the most used phone in the world. I wouldn't say they use it to stand out at all, I'd say quite the opposite in fact - they're following the sheep because that's what's considered 'cool'.

Android users I wouldn't say are following the trend or anything, they just end up buying one because they're the most abundant in the market. The sheer variety of options Android has allows it to target pretty much every single level of the market - about 90% of people who are browsing their options of the particular price point or range of smartphones that they're interested in are going to end up getting an Android for the aforementioned reason.

[LMZR]

I wouldn't know about where you live, but here in Perth, Australia, an iPhone definitely does not stand out. More people here use an iPhone than pretty much any other phone and I'm pretty sure as of now (correct me if I'm wrong though) the iPhone 4 is still the most used phone in the world. I wouldn't say they use it to stand out at all, I'd say quite the opposite in fact - they're following the sheep because that's what's considered 'cool'.

Android users I wouldn't say are following the trend or anything, they just end up buying one because they're the most abundant in the market. The sheer variety of options Android has allows it to target pretty much every single level of the market - about 90% of people who are browsing their options of the particular price point or range of smartphones that they're interested in are going to end up getting an Android for the aforementioned reason.

I fully agree with your points, they actually were better than mine. :)

I live in south east Victoria, what I meant was that people who think if they get an iPhone, they'll stand out.

I didnt get a Windows phone because it wasn't an iPhone, it was because it was it was running Windows phone, it was a Nokia and I love Nokia. :)

[doublebullout]

Actually you can. The core OS itself might have different requirements but apps and games require powerful hardware, regardless of platform. There isn't any gold-dust developers can use to make a really stunning looking game for Tegra 4, and then have it look just as good on a 2 year old Snapdragon S 4 of a Windows Phone. Same goes with video and picture editing apps which tend to heavily rely on CPU power, which again is lacking on Windows Phone.

That is a good point. I don't tend to play games on my smartphones, so that comparison didn't occur to me.

[Junaid96]

I fully agree with your points, they actually were better than mine. :)

I live in south east Victoria, what I meant was that people who think if they get an iPhone, they'll stand out.

I didnt get a Windows phone because it wasn't an iPhone, it was because it was it was running Windows phone, it was a Nokia and I love Nokia. :)

Ah so you live in Australia then... good to meet a fellow countryman on here :D Haha

But yeah I get what you mean. I wouldn't exactly say they buy it to stand out, but rather to look rich and top class since in today's world the iPhone and pretty much all other Apple products are looked upon as the most 'premium' devices in their category that everyone desires to have. They're mostly ignorant people though. ;)

[doublebullout]

Windows Phone users were people whom most remained very loyal to Microsoft, and many most likely were Windows Mobile users.

Speaking from personal experience, I am a long-time PalmOS and Apple loyalist. I never liked Windows Mobile. When Palm/HP killed WebOS, the mobile OS that seemed the closest in feel and efficiency as a potential replacement was WP7. That's why I eventually decided to switch to WP. WP8 is even better now.

[mikkokartano]

Just switched iPhone5 to Lumia720(!). Had Lumia920 before iPhone5 and now i'am perfectly happy to 720. Too little changes to iOs7 and it feeled really boring..

[JustlMe]

Had a year experience with the Htc Desire HD, less than a year of Samsung s3, about a year of iPhone 5 and now currently using my new Lumia 1020.

What i enjoyed about android was the amount of customisability I had and control over my phone. I was a pretty crazy flashaholic always trying different roms, messing with kernels and trying to sexify my home screen, but after a little over half a year kinda grew lazy and became less crazy about it.During the time of my Desire hd the market just didn't have enough apps to keep me going at that age. I mean, I occasionally stole my dads iphone to play some games .
I upgraded to an s3,quality apps and games started coming in, but android really didn't impress me much anymore, so i decided to give iOs a shot.

Ran my iphone 5 for 3 months before i decided what jailbreak can offer me . And i was honestly pretty hooked with it. My 32gb white iphone was sexy( ran naked) and stuffed with more than 15gb of weird games that kept me entertained for many many hours. Sure it didn't have the level of customisability of an andoird but the ios look kinda grew on me and i must say i had lots of fun with the phone. My last remaining time with my iphone 5, i spent it running with ios7 beta, I for one enjoyed it, its a fresh new look and when i went back to 6.1.4 ( passed it on to my sis ) the UI was an eyesore to me , even my sister preferred the looks of ios7

Then lumia 1020 was released and i was instantaneously hooked by its looks. ( Yes I'm a sucker for looks), and the fact its a windows phone cause well, i've always wanted to give it a go. Had it for around 2 weeks and I'm so far enjoying it . Window phone does feel more streamlined, it pretty simple, and honestly i kind like the tiles, a few kinks here and there in the system but nothing i cant roll with yet. I could say i do definitely prefer windows over android, but haven't used it long enough for me to compare with my iphone yet xD. One thing i do miss from the transition was the apps and games. I don't play much games now, but it is something I still miss.

Theres my short story of my experiences with android , ios and windows phone

[WPhoney]

You must have never used an iOS device. You say iPhone has everything, lol. If iPhone had everything why do people have to jailbreak their devices? An iPhone is like being in a jail. You have very limited freedom.

People hold Apple to lower standards. Nobody complained about the need to convert any videos (even MP4s) before transferring them into iDevices....or the lack of USB/HDMI ports....Or SD card slots....or the fact the iPhone was tied exclusively to the worst wireless carrier in the country. Apple could release a black+white TV and sell it for 1 Grand and people would still find a way to rationalize it.

[wamsille]

I went back to Windows Phone after stints with an Atrix HD, Nexus 4 and most recently a Samsung Galaxy S4 Active. Despite imporvements in hardware, processor speed and the like I noticed regular slowdowns and force closures. I was almost guaranteed a reboot about every other day. The final nail in the coffin was the alleged water resistance on the S4 - not a knock on Android but more on the hardware manufacturers that bring out hookey features that look great on paper but don't always yield a positive result. I went through two S4 Actives within the last week and a half. I was out of town on a trip to Orlando when the first phone I bought bit the dust. Despite AT&T's own internal communications about water damage replacements the first store told me to go to Best Buy. After that I managed to get in with a much cleaner and better organized store that made the swap which took around 90 minutes to complete. (I was the first S4 Active exchange processed there)

AT&T is taking back my second S4 because the device failed without being submerged in water. What's the point of having a device you cannot submerge in water? Is that Aqua Mode really meant for photos in the rain or worse the shower?

I have a Lumia 1020 right now, thanks to multiple lines. Because I've owned a 900 and 920 the interface is very familiar and the build of the 1020 is nearly identical to previous models. I have not had to restart the phone, force close unresponsive apps, etc. It just works. Hopefully an 1120 isn't on the horizon for a December 9th launch.

[garak0410]

I enjoy WP because of fluidity, ease of use, security, native social network integration, ease with connecting to PC, Skydrive integration, I can edit docs and spreadsheets easily, everything backs up and restores automatically or very simply if you need to, and last but not least, I like how it looks!!

Tiles be flippin!!!!

I echo this reply. That said, I did get a Nexus 7 tablet because I believe the sweet spot for tablets is that size. I have a WP8 and a Surface Pro. The Surface is basically my laptop replacement and the Nexus 7 is my consumption device. I can't want to see what Microsoft and their partners do with a tablet that size. The Iconia W3 didn't cut it...

[Jumoke Bolanle]

One thing holding me back is the notification system as it lacks the functionality that other OS's might have. I understand that Microsoft is looking into a really minimalist approach but I think they should build a notification system that combines the simplicity and functionality. Maybe a slide up feature or vice-versa. Maybe even a slide to the left option in the home-screen to view notifications.

Personally, I think that the slide down from the top notification system is the best way for all OS's. It can be simple and functional. Being able to see ALL your notifications in other apps is also a must. I even believe the best version of the slide down notification system might be best implemented with Windows Phone 8.

I'm still getting a WP8 though

[juanitoriv]

I have all the stuff that gives me notification pinned to my start screen. Its right there that I see it all anyway. No need for a notification screen. If its important to me, I pin it. Buff said

[o0Nighthawk0o]

While a notification screen may be nice I don't understand the absolute need for it. I keep my messaging, room, and group tiles pinned towards the top of my start screen. At a glance I can see if I have a message/update. Depending on which tile has a number, I know if it's just a message from someone, a message from a close friend or a message from family. Quick, simple and just one gesture.

[Fade_z]

While a notification screen may be nice I don't understand the absolute need for it. I keep my messaging, room, and group tiles pinned towards the top of my start screen. At a glance I can see if I have a message/update. Depending on which tile has a number, I know if it's just a message from someone, a message from a close friend or a message from family. Quick, simple and just one gesture.

well, nobody forces you to use it.
I would like it alot