Why windows phone?

[dunamis]

Having a bug right now thinking of maybe switching os to a windows phone I need people who are experts to point some features that can convince me windows is better than Android.

Besides all the obvious like lack of apps, fluidity, etc...I can't find reason besides personal opinions why switch.

I just got the sp3 and think it is a tremendous tablet slash laptop. This is one of my first window device. And so it has intrigued me to try a window phone. So I picked up a Nokia Icon and it had a dp8.1 and understanding that it being a dp version..the bugs wouldn't allow me to enjoy it so got rid of it. But now with this HTC i m thinking a trying again.

But I thought I could get some help from some of the experts that has lot of know how of both android and wp why make the switch?

I've tried to find but everything seems to be a personal choice thing?

Posted via Windows Phone Central App

 

[xandros9]

In my experience, it has proven to be the most stable/reliable OS I have used. DISCLAIMER: My Android was a mid-low range and my iPod had only 256 MB of RAM.
I've found it to mesh very well with my Windows tablet and laptop, syncing bookmarks and other information via OneDrive and Bing/Cortana, like how Google Chrome and it web services mesh well with Android phones.

It's a unique OS that can often turn heads.
But hey, it really is a personal choice, we all value different things.

 

[salmanahmad]

Having a bug right now thinking of maybe switching os to a windows phone I need people who are experts to point some features that can convince me windows is better than Android.

Besides all the obvious like lack of apps, fluidity, etc...I can't find reason besides personal opinions why switch.

I just got the sp3 and think it is a tremendous tablet slash laptop. This is one of my first window device. And so it has intrigued me to try a window phone. So I picked up a Nokia Icon and it had a dp8.1 and understanding that it being a dp version..the bugs wouldn't allow me to enjoy it so got rid of it. But now with this HTC i m thinking a trying again.

But I thought I could get some help from some of the experts that has lot of know how of both android and wp why make the switch?

I've tried to find but everything seems to be a personal choice thing?

Posted via Windows Phone Central App

If you want reasons why it's better than Android, you won't find a whole lot of them.

I've used both Windows Phone and Android and IMO Windows Phone still has some significant catching up to do.

If photography is an integral part of your daily lifestyle and you like having control over your images, that is one of the reasons why I would recommend Windows Phone, primarily a high end Lumia.

Other than that some people find Windows Phone aesthetically more pleasing than Android, but that is a subjective matter.

 

[MDMcAtee]

I'll give you my opinion on this..and know that I am very critical of all of the manufacturers and how they do things.

First off...The HTC m8 in Android is a very good phone. It only lacks in the camera because of what they have done with the ultra pixels..If the camera is the most important thing to you about your phone,then don't buy one.there I said it...however if okay shots for casual shots with great macros suffice then you can get one.

Now..for me,a phone has to be a lot more. It has to be able to send and receive everything everywhere..and the Android phone does this better than any I have ever owned.I suspect the w8 will too.

Music and video players....This is where any Windows Phone falls flat on it's face...your limited to your choice of real music and video players because all that they have is tied directly into Xbox and it's salvaged code from their past Zune player...which on its own was excellent btw,but they have morphed it into something that is not very good....I'll give them credit though..they're trying to figure it out and have made some progress but nothing like you can easily have on Android in 2 of my favorite apps of Power Amp and MX player..and this is a sad fact.. Streaming music is okay and doesn't have as many issues so if that's all you do you should be fine..

Next issue is the browser...folks around here like Internet Explorer and as such they get it's hooks in every browser available for WP..and for my usages it's not a good thing...IE has caused way to much battery drain and over heating..

Customizing your phone...If you never need to change things around and just like a stock experience...you'll be fine with this...you can change some things with it,but nothing as much as you can with a Android..SO this means no additional launchers...keyboards,dialers all the things you take for granted on a Android phone..sorry they do have a third party dialer but it is limited by Microsoft on things with it like just dialing and then having to click okay to let it dial...very lame...

For now there's no way to root it..so for now it is what it is...many of us who have the Android version are hoping for a ported Rom for it since the bootloaders aren't an issue..

Now the good news...

The os is excellent in many respects...it's fluid and pretty much lag free..note pretty much here...some apps just like on Android just aren't optimized perfectly yet..but that's not the phones fault...

The big tiles are nice and now that they have transparent tiles it's 10000 times better...but not quite what you get on the Android..your limited in what you can do with them..but for everyday usage works excellent..

There is a first party app gap but you can generally find a suitable 3rd party replacement for it...It's getting better day by day..but in reality it still has a way to go to be equal.

As you are aware with all of the various types of skins that are put on Android phones,including having none at all available to you...how your present phone looks and acts can be exceedingly different than any Windows Phone...SO understand this because if you don't,you can be disappointed in its limitations....Both platforms have their strengths and weaknesses..

Personally I would try one before making any switch...and I do mean to try as many of the features it has before making any decisions...

I switched back to Android from the Nokia 1520 for the reasons I stated up front,so folks might think I anti WP..but that's not entirely true...I'm more a firm believer for myself to be able to utilize my phone in the manner that I choose to...but have no issues with those who feel different about it.. If Microsoft ever gets around to fixing the things I dislike about it,this phone will be on my short list to get...because it will do everything I want to in a phone..If a dual boot option becomes available it the one I get for sure....

Hope that helps

Posted via Windows Phone Central App

 

[z33dev33l]

I think my Android experience is more compelling than saying why Windows phone is better so here goes...

No, regardless of how deep you go in customization, Android is not user friendly. On top of that, Google Now is a joke. I can't even make it play a song in my collection. My 4 year old phone did that just fine. Also, the new design language won't bring any huge differentials because Android is basically Samsung to the mass market and I sincerely doubt they're changing up their design language a whole lot. Also, three keyboards are awful. Tried about 15 suggested keyboards on my m8 and none of them were as responsive as the windows phone keyboard. Not to mention the auto correct and predictions were absolutely dismal. Go ahead, get your Android phone, root it to get rid of those carrier apps that are, in most cases, an absolute blight. Oh, then install an all new music app to have something not awful. Oh, don't forget that keyboard. Hmm, launcher while we are at it? No one likes touchwiz anyway. Well, while we are this deep, let's install 27 other apps from 19 different publishers that don't really adhere to any cohesive design language and make this Frankenstein's monster kinda work well for me. Don't forget to give these apps address to every aspect of your personal life. Sure, a live wallpaper of puppies needing access to your contacts is totally viable. Man, you pieced that Frankenstein's monster together well. Hope you weren't too big a fan of battery life though since all of those are running in the background.

 

[salmanahmad]

I think my Android experience is more compelling than saying why Windows phone is better so here goes...

No, regardless of how deep you go in customization, Android is not user friendly. On top of that, Google Now is a joke. I can't even make it play a song in my collection. My 4 year old phone did that just fine. Also, the new design language won't bring any huge differentials because Android is basically Samsung to the mass market and I sincerely doubt they're changing up their design language a whole lot. Also, three keyboards are awful. Tried about 15 suggested keyboards on my m8 and none of them were as responsive as the windows phone keyboard. Not to mention the auto correct and predictions were absolutely dismal. Go ahead, get your Android phone, root it to get rid of those carrier apps that are, in most cases, an absolute blight. Oh, then install an all new music app to have something not awful. Oh, don't forget that keyboard. Hmm, launcher while we are at it? No one likes touchwiz anyway. Well, while we are this deep, let's install 27 other apps from 19 different publishers that don't really adhere to any cohesive design language and make this Frankenstein's monster kinda work well for me. Don't forget to give these apps address to every aspect of your personal life. Sure, a live wallpaper of puppies needing access to your contacts is totally viable. Man, you pieced that Frankenstein's monster together well. Hope you weren't too big a fan of battery life though since all of those are running in the background.

Haha, in my opinion user-friendliness is an overrated virtue and I would prefer functionality over user-friendliness, any day.

With that said however Android is indeed user friendly, if you don't like the sea of widgets just pin your favorite apps, that's it. No fuss and no clutter. Android isn't as hard to use as people make it out to be. Oh and some OEMs like Samsung actually give you an "Easy Mode" where you just have the essentials on your homescreen.

This is what makes Android so versatile, it appeals to the average user and the power user.

You can't put down Google Now for one thing, I mean maybe it can't play a song but it can be activated anywhere and it mostly responds instead of just giving you a written response. Plus you can activate it from any app by just saying "Ok Google" and in Android L you'll also be able to wake your phone from sleep by saying "Ok Google." For one feature that Google Now may not have, it has many features that Cortana doesn't.

I actually in some ways prefer Cortana over Google Now, thus my point that Windows Phone has a few advantages over Android and iOS.

Moving on Samsung has always differed from how other OEMs and Google design the operating system, Android 4.4 is very different from TouchWiz. And a decent amount of people really love TouchWiz, why do you think Samsung sells so well?

Android isn't Samsung to the main market and there has been a huge visual overhaul in Android L, now with a universal design language. It's looks quite amazing, go check out a video about it. It beats Windows Phone 8 in just about every way.

I've used keyboards on Windows Phone and keyboards on Android, it depends on how fast you type but I generally find that I type much faster on my Nexus 5, even gesture typing is better because I get a preview of what is being typed. So your argument about keyboards holds no value, no one has complained about keyboard touch responsiveness on Android.

The Play Music app bundled with most Android devices hands down is both faster, functional and has better animations than Xbox Music on Windows Phone. The Play Music app also has better integration with the lockscreen and notification center.

Using a different launcher doesn't kill your battery depending on what kind of launcher that you use and apps on Android may not have maintained a central design language but they were nonetheless in many places much better looking and functional than the Windows Phone counterparts.

Android also sees amazing apps that no other platform gets and the quality of most Android apps is superb.

To end your argument Android Central has explained countless times why apps like Facebook Messenger need certain permissions and even many app developers explain why as well.

If you don't like live wallpapers don't use them, it's not like you had them on Windows Phone and are gonna miss them.

And there are a lot of apps on Windows Phone that ask for your location even though they aren't used for navigation. People have also complained about this.

The simple answer is that don't download apps that ask for too many permissions, they probably won't be worth it anyways.

As far your argument about battery life goes, Windows Phone isn't known for superb battery life either, those titles are still retained by many Android phones.

 

[z33dev33l]

Haha, in my opinion user-friendliness is an overrated virtue and I would prefer functionality over user-friendliness, any day.

With that said however Android is indeed user friendly, if you don't like the sea of widgets just pin your favorite apps, that's it. No fuss and no clutter. Android isn't as hard to use as people make it out to be. Oh and some OEMs like Samsung actually give you an "Easy Mode" where you just have the essentials on your homescreen.

This is what makes Android so versatile, it appeals to the average user and the power user.

You can't put down Google Now for one thing, I mean maybe it can't play a song but it can be activated anywhere and it mostly responds instead of just giving you a written response. Plus you can activate it from any app by just saying "Ok Google" and in Android L you'll also be able to wake your phone from sleep by saying "Ok Google." For one feature that Google Now may not have, it has many features that Cortana doesn't.

I actually in some ways prefer Cortana over Google Now, thus my point that Windows Phone has a few advantages over Android and iOS.

Moving on Samsung has always differed from how other OEMs and Google design the operating system, Android 4.4 is very different from TouchWiz. And a decent amount of people really love TouchWiz, why do you think Samsung sells so well?

Android isn't Samsung to the main market and there has been a huge visual overhaul in Android L, now with a universal design language. It's looks quite amazing, go check out a video about it. It beats Windows Phone 8 in just about every way.

I've used keyboards on Windows Phone and keyboards on Android, it depends on how fast you type but I generally find that I type much faster on my Nexus 5, even gesture typing is better because I get a preview of what is being typed. So your argument about keyboards holds no value, no one has complained about keyboard touch responsiveness on Android.

The Play Music app bundled with most Android devices hands down is both faster, functional and has better animations than Xbox Music on Windows Phone. The Play Music app also has better integration with the lockscreen and notification center.

Using a different launcher doesn't kill your battery depending on what kind of launcher that you use and apps on Android may not have maintained a central design language but they were nonetheless in many places much better looking and functional than the Windows Phone counterparts.

Android also sees amazing apps that no other platform gets and the quality of most Android apps is superb.

To end your argument Android Central has explained countless times why apps like Facebook Messenger need certain permissions and even many app developers explain why as well.

If you don't like live wallpapers don't use them, it's not like you had them on Windows Phone and are gonna miss them.

And there are a lot of apps on Windows Phone that ask for your location even though they aren't used for navigation. People have also complained about this.

The simple answer is that don't download apps that ask for too many permissions, they probably won't be worth it anyways.

As far your argument about battery life goes, Windows Phone isn't known for superb battery life either, those titles are still retained by many Android phones.

Should we just post the entire contents of the PM chain where you admitted I had good points and walked away?

 

[Novron]

You had a Icon with DP and the bugs put you off, let's start there instead of grasping in the dark arguing back and forth amongst ourselves trying to guess what you're after. What exactly put you off?

 

[chezm]

Windows phone as an OS, what is love is the start screen, unique UI, camera apps, simplicity...thats about it and that's been enough to keep me locked for some time (I left for 7 months as I got an iPhone 5s but returned). With that said, its got things I don't like that Android has such as better battery life (for normal sized phones, smaller than 6"), more flexibility with what it can do such as save files from emails, the abundance of tools for os mgmt, solid app support and google maps is much better than Bing (in Canada anyway).

I have a SP2, the integration is minimal with windows 8.1...so I wouldn't consider it a selling point (right now, windows 9 may change things).

I would honestly recommend using a cheap windows phone aside your android before making the jump. Again, I really like WP...the few things I like it does better than Android have kept me here...but to be honest I'm on the verge of going back to Android soon if WP9 doesn't accelerate the gap functionality.

 

[MDMcAtee]

Is the op being best served by all this bickering folks.

I suggest just stating the reality of what he's asking and leaving out the drama..

Some people can be served well with a Windows Phone and some can't. It's really up to what the op wants it to be for him?

Both platforms offer a different way of doing things...and different things with them
So...neither will ever be perfect for everyone....

This new iteration of Windows Phone os is not complete yet...and that needs to be said again.

I think it's pretty nice for a lot of people,but again for someone already using a Android that is up to date with the os and is looking for a similar experience with WP..it's best to be realistic about it...not just sugar coat WP faults.

Posted via Windows Phone Central App

 

[Guytronic]

Moved to phone wars because this thread is more about Android against WP than the M8...

 

[z33dev33l]

I admitted to you having some good points but the fact is that you continuously overlook all the faults of Windows Phone and keep saying that added functionality in Android is unnecessary for you, also when i say that apps aren't as good as Android you told me about third party clients.

Third party clients don't even meet the quality of Android apps, you can't upload pre-recorded videos on 6tag, and you can't take a video at all using 6snap.

You can make all the sacrifices you want for Windows Phone, but for many people it is just too much.

I'd not necessarily call them faults. They mostly lack arbitrary features. No big deal for most users. Also,I don't use any instagram app (Not 13) but as far as Snapchat goes,I can send a video on 6snap just fine. You pointed out one solid instance of the app not being as good and that's fine.

​

 

[fatclue_98]

Mr. OP,

Please forgive my fellow posters for starting another Phone War. You asked what makes WP better than Android. The simple answer is, it's not. By the same token, Android's not better either. Confused? Don't be, nobody can answer that for you. Your needs AND wants are what determines which OS is right for you. Maybe you don't care about apps, which is the biggest knock against WP. Maybe you're a music lover and want a phone with excellent speakers, that would be a hardware choice. I can tell you that you will absolutely lose your mind and end up talking to dolls if you go in search of the "perfect phone". You want to turn into one of us?

Happy hunting.

 

[salmanahmad]

Mr. OP,

Please forgive my fellow posters for starting another Phone War. You asked what makes WP better than Android. The simple answer is, it's not. By the same token, Android's not better either. Confused? Don't be, nobody can answer that for you. Your needs AND wants are what determines which OS is right for you. Maybe you don't care about apps, which is the biggest knock against WP. Maybe you're a music lover and want a phone with excellent speakers, that would be a hardware choice. I can tell you that you will absolutely lose your mind and end up talking to dolls if you go in search of the "perfect phone". You want to turn into one of us?

Happy hunting.

He asked for people to convince him that Windows Phone was better than Android, I simply gave my points. One of my recent posts seems to have gotten deleted.

No point of arguing here because it isn't really tolerated. OP could message me if you want to decide which device to get next, I won't be biased and depending on what your preferences are I might even recommend a Lumia 930 or 1520, or 1020.

 

[fatclue_98]

He asked for people to convince him that Windows Phone was better than Android, I simply gave my points. One of my recent posts seems to have gotten deleted.

No point of arguing here because it isn't really tolerated. OP could message me if you want to decide which device to get next, I won't be biased and depending on what your preferences are I might even recommend a Lumia 930 or 1520, or 1020.

Nowhere did I mention you or single you out. Please enlighten us how one OS is better than the other without knowing what the OP's needs and wants are. That was my advice to him. Since we haven't heard a peep yet, it's very premature to offer any advice.

 

[psychotron]

There have to be dozens, if not hundreds, of threads on this topic already in the forum. If you did a search for "switch to windows phone" or similar you'd probably end up with a full days worth of topics to review about this very subject. That being said, best advice I can give you is just go play with one. People can tout this feature or that feature but you're the only one that can really make that decision. If you think you'll like it just go ahead and use your upgrade to get it. You always have 30 days to immerse yourself in it and then return it and get something else if you find you don't like it.

 

[Phone Guy 4567]

If the OP needs to be convinced to switch by what other people say then IMO they've answered their own question. Switching is not for you if you can't clearly see an advantage to switching for yourself, you will be happier staying with what you're using now in the long term.

 

[Novron]

If the OP needs to be convinced to switch by what other people say then IMO they've answered their own question. Switching is not for you if you can't clearly see an advantage to switching for yourself, you will be happier staying with what you're using now in the long term.

That would require knowledge of the OS before switching. You don't get that without asking questions or buying one.

 

[Phone Guy 4567]

OP mentions having picked up the Icon but that they got rid of it because of bugs in the 8.1 developer preview.

 

[fatclue_98]

OP mentions having picked up the Icon but that they got rid of it because of bugs in the 8.1 developer preview.

But we still don't know what the OP's after. As Novron suggested, he's gotta ask some questions. The "which is better" question is so vague and open-ended, we could be here for weeks and end up with yet ANOTHER Android vs. WP threads.