Thinking of switching, i'd like some opinions.

[dpjackal89]

Hello. I just recently found this forum because I have been looking into the Windows phone scene recently. I am an android user and have been since the beginning of time. I have always loved the tinkering and the freedom and the huge number of apps. I especially loved flashing roms, etc. But all this in my opinion creates a highly unstable OS. I have finally reached the end of my limit. Android is extremely unstable. Every little thing causes some sort of an issue and I honestly can't take it anymore. Random restarts, apps closing down, google maps not working properly, and the list goes on.

Windows 8 has taken a lot of crap for their start menu and other gui changes and I am honestly not too fond of it either. But I still use Windows 8 on my desktop. I don't care what anyone says, windows 8 is the most stable version of windows I have ever used. I have yet to experience a single problem. The performance and stability completely blow Windows 7 out of the water. I have never really had the chance to use WP8 but I am thinking of making the switch over. From what I have read, WP8 seems to be completely stable and that is exactly what I am looking for. I don't need a bunch of silly apps like candy crush or anything like that. I just need my phone to work properly. I am a verizon wireless customer and am planning on buying the Lumia 928. What do you guys think of the Lumia 928/WP8 experience? Can someone shed some light on if I should make the switch or not? A lot of android/iOS fanboys seem to crap on WP8 a lot for every little thing but I want your opinion on the matter. Thank you.

 

[raccoon210]

Here you're gonna get biased answers of course. But I love wp8 and I hear the 928 is a great phone. I came from ios and I haven't regretted it for a second. Yes wp8 is very stable. Also why did you title it windows phone sucks?

 

[dpjackal89]

Lol. Thanks 2 reasons. 1 is because I am assuming it would get more views and 2 because I have heard that WP8 sucks from a lot of people. But to be honest, most people are social networking morons who play angry birds all day so I don't want to hear their opinions. I want to hear the opinions of people who actually use WP8 and can give me the pros and cons of it. I know there are a lack of apps but as long as I can still do everything I need then I am fine.

 

[txkimmers]

Tell us more about what your needs are? There may be some small but deal breaker kind of thing that you assuming will be covered by wp8.

 

[Martsicky]

Hey dpjackal!
If you're looking for top-performance and stability you should go all in for Windows Phone. 928 is quite good device, but I would recommend you to take a closer look on Lumia 925 It would be better choice in my opinion.
greetings

 

[dpjackal89]

Tell us more about what your needs are? There may be some small but deal breaker kind of thing that you assuming will be covered by wp8.

Thanks for the response. Well what I am mainly looking for is good battery life (about 1 day of moderate usage) and no lagginess, and be able to replace the apps I use every day. The apps I use every day are the browser (I don't need flash), citibank, discover, chase, google drive and dropbox (I will probably use skydrive), ebay, outlook, google maps (will probably be replaced by nokia maps as long as it supports public transportation, nyc subway maps app, poweramp (i like the wp8 music player, I'm a fan of zune), pdf, office, and slickdeals. The major thing I am looking for is to have a more stable OS than android.

 

[anon(123856)]

There are a few things that can be frustrating but overall I really like WP8 (I'm on a Lumia 822). The lack of apps is sort of true but as I don't use any social networking apps and don't really care about the latest instagramish fashionable app of the week it doesn't matter much to me. I use my phone for email, texting, light web browsing and OMG phone calls... :wink: It does everything I need. If you have an Outlook.com account email works very well (not saying that others won't, just haven't tried anything but Outlook). An alternative browser, like Firefox would be nice but may be a ways off. I would bet that most of the people that tell you WP8 sucks have never even seen it. I ended up with a Lumia because I went into a Verizon store to upgrade to another Android phone, started playing with the Lumia and got hooked on the OS right then and there. You should try it out for yourself and see what you think. The 928 wasn't out when I switched so it wasn't an option for me. The only other WP Verizon had at the time was the HTC 8x and it lacked a removable battery and expandable storage, deal breakers for me.

 

[EchoOne30]

My wife has had iPhones and now has a GS3.
Neither comes close to the stability of WP. If that's what you're looking for, you will not regret coming over.

Zero lag. I'll repeat for emphasis: zero. Lag. Ever. Its smoother than a stream of water. No matter what you've got it doing.

I use a Samsung ativ s, but I would advise to go with Nokia. Way more support. I'm not familiar with the models, but I'd suggest getting the best one. Why? Why not, the price difference won't be that much, and you get a beast of a device.

 

[Boris Lozac]

Thanks for the response. Well what I am mainly looking for is good battery life (about 1 day of moderate usage) and no lagginess

If you don't ran into the ominous random battery drain then you're good. I'm stepping into day 3 frequentely on my 520, turning off the wifi/3g only when i'm sleeping.. No laggines at all, everything works like you expect it to, every day every time..

 

[Maaz Mansori]

For someone like you who has had Android since the beginning and is comfortable rooting phones, etc., you should have no issue with using third party apps if you use the few major apps that aren't yet available for Windows Phone. There is no Citibank or Discover app; you would have to use the mobile websites. There is a Chase app, though. You should at least have good third party solutions for NYC Subway & Slickdeals. HERE (Nokia) Maps is there, as is Drive+ (Navigation), Transit (for public transportation), and City Lens.


The Lumia 928 has gotten largely positive reviews. The main issues with WP in my opinion are 1) bias against Microsoft, 2) the lack of official app support (How many times do I hear someone ask do you have a smartphone? You should download our app) and then it usually only available for iPhone or Android, and 3) the fact that everyone wants what their friend has, an iPhone or a Galaxy.
OS-wise, WP is largely feature complete, with the last few minor missing features to be included in updates over the next few months.

 

[Raghav94]

Off-topic:
Which android phone do you use?

 

[dpjackal89]

Off-topic:
Which android phone do you use?

I use an HTC Rezound. It is complete junk. I also have a Nexus 7 tablet though and although it is not as unstable as the HTC, it is still too unstable for me. Makes me want to bang my head against the wall.

 

[ag1986]

Oh it doesn't suck, but there are a few little frustrations - mainly these are lack of a notification center, no multiple volume levels and lack of a decent email attachment experience. Also a file explorer, but I think I could live without that. Just try it out, you have a 15-day return period.

 

[ag1986]

I use an HTC Rezound. It is complete junk. I also have a Nexus 7 tablet though and although it is not as unstable as the HTC, it is still too unstable for me. Makes me want to bang my head against the wall.

Hm, I thought you were having trouble with a flagship. Since you mention rooting etc, why not try a stock Moto X? It's quite stable and smooth, not quite as smooth as the Lumia. But I feel the extra functionality is worth it, and will wait till MS fixes WP.

 

[dpjackal89]

Oh it doesn't suck, but there are a few little frustrations - mainly these are lack of a notification center, no multiple volume levels and lack of a decent email attachment experience. Also a file explorer, but I think I could live without that. Just try it out, you have a 15-day return period.

How do you know when you have a text waiting for you if your phone is on your desk and you are looking at it from far away? Since there is no file explorer, how do you search through your files?

 

[SergikUK]

Oh it doesn't suck, but there are a few little frustrations - mainly these are lack of a notification center, no multiple volume levels and lack of a decent email attachment experience. Also a file explorer, but I think I could live without that. Just try it out, you have a 15-day return period.

I simply don't get it guys. Why does one need a notification center when you have live tiles? If you have a watsapp, skype message or whatever it is right there in your start screen. Windows phone UI has been designed in the way that you simply don't need one. Am I not right?

 

[J_WP]

I have a Lumia 920 and I love it - here's what my pros and cons would be:

Pros
-The main user interface is very simple and easy to use (it's essentially just two main screens...1) the start screen with the live tiles, and then swipe over for 2) a screen with an alphabetical listing of all your apps)
-You can quickly find apps and contacts by clicking to jump to a certain letter of the alphabet.
-You can launch apps, call people, and text people through voice recognition.
-The apps are gorgeous because of the way many of them are designed to mimic the Windows Phone interface (both from an aesthetic standpoint and navigational logic standpoint). In a way it makes for a more holistic and unified experience.
-Really good camera for a smart phone
-An integrated Microsoft environment, specifically with SkyDrive cloud storage that you can sync up with your Windows PC/Tablet. Your calendar and contacts are also sync'd to your Microsoft account.
-Comes with Mobile MS Office, which is handy for viewing documents like PowerPoint on the go (especially if you are going to use this phone in a business environment). To a certain degree you can also edit some of the documents - like make minor text corrections to PowerPoint presentations - and re-save them to your SkyDrive.
-The Live Tiles can be rearranged, resized, etc. allowing you to customize your workflow and experience.
-The ability to pin a webpage directly to your start screen as a tile (it's essentially a webpage favorite that you can launch in one touch right from the start screen).

Cons
-Currently no screen rotation lock, but this will be fixed with the latest update that's coming out.
-Currently there's no way to individually adjust the volume for say a text notification, main ringer, volume in apps, etc. It's just controlled my a master volume control like on a Windows PC. But I think this is something simple that will be fixed in due time with updates.
-The apps run in a sandboxed environment, so there's no file browser on the Windows Phone operating system. So for example if you're going to attach a photo to an email, you can't just hit attach and browse for the file. Instead, you'll need to go to where the file is located (in the photos app) and then essentially "send/share the file to email as an attachment" from there. It's an extra step, and I'll admit it took some getting used to at the beginning, but now it isn't too much of an annoyance.
-Sometimes the live tiles can drain your battery if they constantly update with new info - but you can easily disable the updates in each app if it allows, or block the background task with the operating system. I don't know how this compares to widgets on Android, but it's probably the same issue.
-Apps (quality and selection) aren't the greatest, but I think as Windows Phone picks up more marketshare this will remediate itself. But most of the apps I need & want are available so it hasn't been too much of an issue for me.

 

[dpjackal89]

Hm, I thought you were having trouble with a flagship. Since you mention rooting etc, why not try a stock Moto X? It's quite stable and smooth, not quite as smooth as the Lumia. But I feel the extra functionality is worth it, and will wait till MS fixes WP.

Honestly. After buying the Nexus 7, I don't want to deal with android anymore.I love the nexus 7 but it does have its problems.

 

[Boris Lozac]

How do you know when you have a text waiting for you if your phone is on your desk and you are looking at it from far away? Since there is no file explorer, how do you search through your files?

There are toast notifications, that pop up when you recieve something, waking up your phone, tapping on it it gets you straight to that app. You can also have 5 little notifications on lockscreen, for whatever you want, and a big one. I put the big one as SMS, so i can see the unread text right on the lockscreen even if i've missed the toast..

And yeah the live tiles are much better for me than Android notifications center.

 

[EchoOne30]

How do you know when you have a text waiting for you if your phone is on your desk and you are looking at it from far away? Since there is no file explorer, how do you search through your files?

The live tiles replace the notification center. You'll know because when you pick up your phone, the messaging tile will have a notification on it. And if you've set it to double wide, it'll display the message on it.

You browse your files in the apps that use them. Example you browse word documents in the Word app. Or songs in the music app.

Conversely, it uses drag and drop, so for a top down view, you can plug it into your PC and look through the folders on the phone (this is also how you load songs on. Very similar to android in this regard).