Some questions from Android user considering Windows Phone

[Dave Blake]

Very interesting! Whenever an Android is described as buggy, slow, laggy, crashing, it's because that's just the way Android is. But if someone has that experience with a WP, the user got a faulty device. A warranty replacement will take care of the problem. Does that really make sense?

I actively use all 3 leading platforms, and my experience has been closer to OzRob's. I've definitely had more trouble with my WP devices (all Nokia, both WP7 & WP8) than iPhone or Android.

It is what it is. Android can do many things but the more I try to do with it the more issues I have. I think again I THINK you will be hard pressed to find more than a hand full of Android users that will disagree with this. My nephew is an die hard Android guy, he wouldn't use any other OS but even he says he has to turn off many of the gadgets on his GS4 so it will work correctly. I use Android devices I have had a LG OGP, GS4 Active, Galaxy Mega, and a Note 3 all in the last few months. I want to find an Android device that is reliable but I can tell you from experience that none of those devices are reliable. I would love to have an Android device that is reliable for work I just can't find one. I have also owned a L1020, Samsung ATIVS, and L925 over the last few months and I can tell you those devices are reliable.

 

[OzRob]

Sounds like either a bad SD card or a defective unit because that has not been my experience.

Not according to Nokia Care, which tested the unit and said the hardware was A-OK. They performed a factory reset and gave it back. And if you think the 'bugs' on my phone are an anomaly, then perhaps take a walk through the Lumia 720 forums. There are multiple threads detailing unexplained power drain, random freezes, multiple song listings, etc.

The point is, describing WP8 as a 'bug free' experience is simply not accurate. If it was, 90% of the threads on this forum wouldn't exist. It's not necessarily 'buggier' than Android or iOS, but it's certainly not without it's stability challenges, and to characterize it as, "Windows Phone will be reliable and bug free." is simply wrong and very misleading to potential converts to the platform IMO.

 

[tgp]

It is what it is. Android can do many things but the more I try to do with it the more issues I have. I think again I THINK you will be hard pressed to find more than a hand full of Android users that will disagree with this. My nephew is an die hard Android guy, he wouldn't use any other OS but even he says he has to turn off many of the gadgets on his GS4 so it will work correctly. I use Android devices I have had a LG OGP, GS4 Active, Galaxy Mega, and a Note 3 all in the last few months. I want to find an Android device that is reliable but I can tell you from experience that none of those devices are reliable. I would love to have an Android device that is reliable for work I just can't find one. I have also owned a L1020, Samsung ATIVS, and L925 over the last few months and I can tell you those devices are reliable.

I do agree with you on the Samsung devices. My colleague just got a new Verizon Note 3, and he said it lagged. He installed the KitKat Google Launcher from the Nexus 5 after it was extracted, and he said it made a world of difference. He sacrificed a couple Touchwiz features, but the difference in performance was unbelievable. Quite honestly I'm not sure how Samsung sells double the number of their next closest competitor. They should get Touchwiz performance issues resolved. But probably most users are light users who don't run into issues. The issue is not so much with Android as with Touchwiz.

I've used Nexus devices the last year or so, and that's where my experience comes from. They are fast, stable, and reliable, as much so as any other phone on any other platform including iOS. In fact, I just rebooted my Nexus 4 when i reset it to pass it on to my wife last week, and the up time was just over 1,100 hours (45+ days). It was still lightening fast. If you would get a Nexus device and lay aside your bias, you might be surprised. You will have a reliable device.

My original question still hasn't been answered though: why are faults in other platforms inherent, but on a WP it's because of a defective device? My experience has been similar to yours, only reverse.

 

[OzRob]

I would love to have an Android device that is reliable for work I just can't find one.

I guess you'd need to define reliable a bit better to support that contention, and also define what's necessary for your work. My Xperia S was my primary work phone for just on two years and it rarely skipped a beat. And it worked fine with my company's network, which WP apparently doesn't (no EAP-TLS support, or something like that).

And all this goes to prove is that our needs and our experiences are different and are best served by different solutions. I just think people thinking about buying a Windows phone should be informed that WP does, like all phone OSs, have good points and bad points, and can suffer from stability issues like any other OS. These issues may adversely affect their usage (or not as the case may be), but pretending that the OS doesn't have issues doesn't really help anyone.

 

[Dave Blake]

I do agree with you on the Samsung devices. My colleague just got a new Verizon Note 3, and he said it lagged. He installed the KitKat Google Launcher from the Nexus 5 after it was extracted, and he said it made a world of difference. He sacrificed a couple Touchwiz features, but the difference in performance was unbelievable. Quite honestly I'm not sure how Samsung sells double the number of their next closest competitor. They should get Touchwiz performance issues resolved. But probably most users are light users who don't run into issues. The issue is not so much with Android as with Touchwiz.

I've used Nexus devices the last year or so, and that's where my experience comes from. They are fast, stable, and reliable, as much so as any other phone on any other platform including iOS. In fact, I just rebooted my Nexus 4 when i reset it to pass it on to my wife last week, and the up time was just over 1,100 hours (45+ days). It was still lightening fast. If you would get a Nexus device and lay aside your bias, you might be surprised. You will have a reliable device.

My original question still hasn't been answered though: why are faults in other platforms inherent, but on a WP it's because of a defective device? My experience has been similar to yours, only reverse.

I speak from my experience and you speak from yours so we balance right? I would like to try a Nexus device but they just don't suet my needs. My Android pass through of late was to find a 5+ inch device that works and is reliable. I didn't have any luck. Now I have a L1520 on reserve I am sure that this will be my dream device.

To be more direct in an attempt to answer your question is a way that you will understand. Windows Phone is designed to be stable. It is locked down to insure its stability. Windows Phone is by nature made in a way that makes the OS more reliable and stable. Stability and the security of the OS are the main features the driving force if you will of Windows Phone. This is not true of Android. Google has open sourced the OS allowing the manufacturers to build into it their own overlying OS. This by nature of the OS makes Android unstable. Some apps designed to work on your Nexus can render a Samsung device unusable. This is the nature of Android. Most people encounter apps like this on their Android devices at some point.

Why do I say instability in a WP is most likely hardware? Because it is the nature and design of WP OS to be stable. Bad code in apps can cause the app to run badly but bad apps can't cause the OS to be unstable that is not the framework of WP.

 

[fatclue_98]

Do I detect another Android vs. WP thread?

Guys, warranties exist for a simple reason: nothing is ever perfect. If everything was hunky dory on every purchase we made a lot of companies would cease to exist.

 

[OzRob]

Do I detect another Android vs. WP thread?

If you'd looked closely, you could have detected that simply by reading the title of the thread.

Guys, warranties exist for a simple reason: nothing is ever perfect. If everything was hunky dory on every purchase we made a lot of companies would cease to exist.

Warranties? Generally software bugs in the OS aren't covered, only hardware and manufacturing faults.

 

[tgp]

To be more direct in an attempt to answer your question is a way that you will understand. Windows Phone is designed to be stable. It is locked down to insure its stability. Windows Phone is by nature made in a way that makes the OS more reliable and stable. Stability and the security of the OS are the main features the driving force if you will of Windows Phone.
<snip>
Why do I say instability in a WP is most likely hardware? Because it is the nature and design of WP OS to be stable. Bad code in apps can cause the app to run badly but bad apps can't cause the OS to be unstable that is not the framework of WP.

You know, I very seldom saw any of my WP devices simply reboot for no reason, but apps crash way too much. A stable OS doesn't do a whole lot of good if apps don't work properly. Live Tiles are also a real issue. I realize that poorly written apps have their own problems, but I've had trouble with too many apps and Live Tiles for too many apps to believe it's all the app's fault. MLB finally released an official app, but it didn't work half the time (at least). I had to manually set the time on my phone to a day earlier to get MLB At Bat to work. Sure, maybe locking the OS down so much that you can't email documents (more than one at a time) or join a VPN helps make it stable, but it also seriously affects the usability. Maybe limiting Live Tile updates to every 30 minutes helps battery life, but again, it negatively affects usability.

Is the locked down OS is working against itself? It seems that as a general rule WP apps are of lower quality than their iOS or Android counterparts. I'm not a developer, but I have to wonder if the devs don't have the APIs available that they need to make the apps work as well as is possible on iOS or Android.

In theory, Android by design may be unstable. In real life, on a Nexus device, it is very stable. Like I said earlier, my Nexus 4 was running a month and a half with no issues. When I did reboot it, the reason was that I was doing a hard reset because I was transferring it to my wife. For the most part, instability in Android is either from a poorly written app or the manufacturers' launcher. That is proved by Nexus devices. And by the way, you said you're looking for a 5" device? The Nexus 5 is close, at 4.95".

I'm still hoping that WP makes some more progress. After all, I'm employed by a Microsoft partner, and I have a few Microsoft certifications. I'd love to jump in to the total Microsoft ecosystem with both feet and never look back. Twice in the last year I made the move to WP, but I soon retreated. I even had a 920 at one point. Probably for me the the two biggest strikes against WP were a very poor Facebook app, and no MLB At Bat app. The 2nd one was provided halfway through the baseball season, but by that time I had gotten rid of my 920, and got a cheap 520 just to keep my feet in the water. As it turned out MLB At Bat didn't work half the time anyway.

 

[broar94]

Did they fix the email bug with the G2? On my LG OGP every time I opened an email them backed out it would close email and go to the start screen. Very annoying. Samsung devices don't do this so I know it is the LG software causing it. Its a trade off for sure. Windows Phone will be reliable and bug free. With Android you get more options, more bugs, and less reliability.

Sorry I wouldnt know.. I dont have a LG OGP but would like LG G2 some day. Android FTW always, I have a Nexus 7 and it has never crashed on me. Only dolphin browser resorts to force closes when I visit some pages, I think that might be due to some software bug. Otherwise it just works great. The same has happened on UC Browser on WP as well, crashes when I visit full sites, so actually speaking, software reliability is based on how well the software is written and optimized. I will agree with you WP is very reliable.. anyway IIm gonna wait till Windows 8.1 next year, if there are some great features (and more apps in 2014) I WILL stick to WP otherwise It's android. I woudlnt mind trading off ever smooth WP interface for a better OS(Kitkat is already looking great), plenty of games, proper task manager. WP has nothing to show off except fluid interface?

 

[Tankwa Yep]

I don't agree with your second answer. Windows phone does need a file manager. Now it is impossible to download files and store them on your SD card for example. Since files are stored in a location determined by apps, storage fills up fast and the SD card becomes useless. The only way you can save a file on the sd is by connecting your phone to the computer which makes it unsmart.
There is also no cleaner for temp files so apps store up junk and you can't remove them except by deleting the apps.

 

[ntice_521]

Some apps allow you to open files on the SD card - for example, the Adobe PDF reader does. Others, like the Microsoft PDF reader, don't. So there is some file support, but it's inconsistent and limited. The only way to write files is to connect to a computer via the USB port, or physically remove the SD card.

On a more positive note...using a special Nokia app ("nokia storage check beta"), it's possible to store maps on the SD card. This is VERY helpful for phones with only 8GB of storage, like the Nokia 520/521.

 

[fatclue_98]

If you'd looked closely, you could have detected that simply by reading the title of the thread.



Warranties? Generally software bugs in the OS aren't covered, only hardware and manufacturing faults.

The title suggests an Android user considering WP. The replies are the same too buggy, random reboots, laggy UI comments we've been seeing for the past three years. As for warranties, if a handset doesn't function properly and it's within the warranty period, you take it back. The customer doesn't care what's causing it.

 

[squire777]

Basic theme of Android related threads on this forum:

"Well when I tried Windows Phone I had a terrible experience so the same must be true for everyone out there... oh you had issues with your Android phone? Must only be your phone since we all know how great Android is"

 

[OzRob]

The title suggests an Android user considering WP.

Exactly.

As for warranties, if a handset doesn't function properly and it's within the warranty period, you take it back. The customer doesn't care what's causing it.

LOL. The customer might not care but customer "care" certainly does. And if they don't find a fault they just do a factory reset and give the phone back to you.

 

[OzRob]

Basic theme of Android related threads on this forum:

"Well when I tried Windows Phone I had a terrible experience so the same must be true for everyone out there... oh you had issues with your Android phone? Must only be your phone since we all know how great Android is"

Well you must be reading a different thread, 'cause a few posts back Dave Blake pretty much made the opposite statement - to paraphrase, 'WP bug-free, Android buggy, the issues you've had with your WP must be a dud handset 'cause it certainly isn't a WP bug'.

 

[eric12341]

This thread has run it's course