Long time Windows Phone user trying to decide between iPhone 6s Plus or 950xl

[Baron164]

I'm looking for some advice on what to do about my family's cell phones/plans and I'm hoping for some good arguments to help push me in one direction or another.

I've been using Windows Phone since the Samsung Focus. My wife and I are currently on ATT, she has a 1520 and I have a rapidly failing 920. I've been waiting for a 950xl as I want the larger device. My wife loves her phone and especially the camera, but is sick of not having any apps and wants to get an iPhone, plus she wants FaceTime with her family, which all use iOS devices.

I have been patiently waiting for a 950xl, but since it appears ATT won't be stocking them so I'd have to buy one unlocked. My 920 reboots randomly several times a day and is becoming increasingly annoying so waiting an unknown amount of time for ATT to maybe get the phone is not an option anymore. However I don't want to drop $650 plus tax on an unlocked 950xl from the MS store which is 2 hours away so if anything happens I need to drive back to the store to have it replaced under the MS warranty (if they even offer it anymore).

I've been thinking about switching to Sprint and getting their iPhone forever plan for me an my wife. Even with getting two 6s Plus 64gb phones I'd still save $40 a month compared to getting ATT closest Next plan. And I have a local Apple store that I could purchase the phones and Apple Care through.

I don't like the Android OS so that's not even an option for me so the way I see it, I have three options.

1) Get my wife an iPhone with ATT and buy a 950xl unlocked from MS. (Most expensive, if only Microsoft had a financing system similar to Apple)
2) Get my wife an iPhone with ATT and just use her 1520 for the time being until either the 950xl comes out or something better comes out. (Locks me back into ATT which I'm not fond of, and this also means if Windows 10 runs like crap on the 1520 I'm stuck with either WP 8.1 or buying a 950XL anyway)
3) Switch to Sprint and get two iPhones and at (least for now), give up on Windows Mobile

Any suggestions would be appreciated

 

[Laura Knotek]

Regarding #3, how is Sprint's coverage where you live, work, and travel? I always recommend choosing a carrier first, based upon coverage, rather than a phone. A cool phone just is a paperweight if you can't get a signal.

If coverage is equally good, then you can consider devices and pricing of plans.

 

[MDK22]

Depends on your use case ...
iPhone 6S+ @ 64GB would be $850 if purchased (unless a 16GB would do @ $750) - assuming Sprint will give you the service / coverage you need.

Lumia 950XL @ 32GB (with expandable storage to 160GB (128GB sdcard + 32GB onboard)) would be $650 (plus cost of an Sdcard)

What's most important to YOU - the iOS apps or WinPhone - what do you use the phone for?
Skype could be a suitable replacement for Facetime.

 

[jwspradlen]

1 thing you could do is get her the iPhone and you take the 1520 and wait a little before getting the xl and see user reviews after a week and decide on the phone you want from there. It would lock you into the plan for 2 more years yes but honestly don't like sprint. My rates would always go up and no one could ever tell me why. I enjoy att but my experience could differ from yours.

 

[Baron164]

I've tried getting my wife to use Skype as a replacement for FaceTime but it's a lost cause at this point. She had all sorts of issues trying to get it to connect and her mother would never see the call come in or it just wasn't ringing on her end. Where as FaceTime just works.

I still prefer the Windows Phone operating system to iOS (I also despise installing iTunes on Windows) but the lack of apps is an issue as is Microsoft's lack of apparent motivation in the space. Also, I don't like the lack of a sync app in Windows 10. The new photo app is junk and won't actually sync from either of our current phones which leaves me having to copy music, photos and videos to the PC manually. With Windows 8 at least they had the Sync tool which did what it was supposed to do. iTunes also has better support for Podcasts on the device. I can't find a lot of Podcasts using Microsoft's Podcast app and I don't like the third party apps that I've tried.

As far as coverage maps they are pretty much equal where I live so I'm not terribly concerned about it. No one I know has Sprint unfortunately so I can't get an accurate real world comparison. And 95% of my current data is over Wifi anyway so I'm only looking at the 4/5gb data plans

I know the iPhone is more expensive than the 950XL but with Sprint the cost of the phone gets wrapped up into the plan which makes Sprint the cheaper option. I'll list out what I'm seeing, all costs before taxes/fees.
1) Sprint, 2x 64gb iPhone 6s Plus, 4gb data, $130 a month. (Can trade in for new iPhone when it's released no issues, trade wipes remaining balance)
2) ATT Next, same phones, 5gb of data, $170 a month. (Need to pay off phone completely before getting no one)
3) ATT - Get new iPhone for wife and keep 1520, plan would be about $145 a month.
3a) ATT - Get new iPhone for wife, buy a 950xl Unlocked, plan would still be about $145 a month but then I have to either spend $700(after tax) on a phone, or finance it with a 12month no interest card which would be about $60 a month for 1 year.

So even though a 950xl is cheaper it's still the more expensive option.

I did not include the cost of AppleCare+ because it would be the same for ATT/Sprint.

On a side Note, Verizon is even more expensive than ATT and has an even worse track record with Windows Phones so I'm not going there. T-Mobile is the same price as ATT so I don't see a perk with going with T-Mobile.

 

[GMJeff]

It sounds like you already have your heart set to get an iPhone as well and are using the wife as your crutch.

I left iphones when the 4s was coming out. I had the 3, 3G and 4, and guess what........Apple did nothing to impress me year upon year of OS updates. It was always the same...grid of icons.

Yes they have apps galore, more than the average person can consume, presumably in a lifetime. But apps are not all that makes the phone. Things like live tiles, resizing the tiles, making the live tiles transparent so you can see a background picture.

Apps in the iOS app store are numerous, yes. You say you have not seen any alternatives for some apps, or you just don't like them. Well, let me tell you, for every one good app you find in the iOS store, there are probably 100 to 1000 bad ones to go along with it. Skype is a good alternative to FaceTime but when you say that it "just works", you are quoting an Apple tag line. They like to make you think it works properly every time because it is baked into the OS. If Microsoft started doing the same with Skype, Google and Apple would scream antitrust lawsuit like they did with Internet Explorer years ago. There may be some minor tinkering with the iPhone to get Skype to "just work", but it will.

As far as your displeasure with at&t, I have had their service for years and only a few issues the whole time. None that couldn't be resolved with a phone call or visit to the corporate store.

I have owned Windows Phones since the days of Windows Mobile (Treo 650w, Motorola MPx220 etc) as well as Samsung Focus, HTC Surround, HTC One (M8), Nokia Lumia 920, Nokia Lumia 1020, Nokia Lumia 1520 (2) and soon to be a Microsoft Lumia 950XL.

I converted my wife from iphones due to their lame OS "upgrades" as well. She now uses a Nokia Lumia 830 and loves it.

Get over your fear of not being in the in crowd, or the peer pressure of not owning a device that defines status, supposedly. If you are truly unhappy about Windows Phone and at&t, just say so. Asking people here on the forums to justify your decision is just plain asinine.

 

[jwspradlen]

I've never really liked apple. To me it seems way to overrated. There's not much you can do to customize it. You put your iPhone next to someone else's your not going to be able to tell much of a difference. It's not something you can really make "yours". For example, on the forums here you'll find "lets see a screenshot of your tiles" because you can customize them and change the tiles in any kind of way. You won't see that kind of thing with iPhone because all the icons are generally the same....unless you jailbreak your iPhone but doing that is bye bye warranty hello slower phone.

 

[Baron164]

I don't want to go back to an iPhone, I left it for a reason. I don't like Apple at all, it's just I'm not finding many good reasons for staying with Windows at this point. Cost and support are the biggest for me. I'd love it if I could get a good Windows device on Sprint, cheaper service plan with a phone I want, that would solve both my problems but I can't. And I'm not unhappy with ATT's service, it's the price of the plans that's bothering me. If they would actually have the 950XL for sale this week I'd probably be getting it but they don't so now my options are more difficult. As far as FaceTime/Skype I'm quoting what my wife said. I've yet to ever actually use FaceTime. I would setup Skype for her, it would work find for me, and then she'd try it a few days later and it wouldn't work for her.

 

[jwspradlen]

This whole windows 10 concept is still new. True there aren't that many apps but I think in time that will change. Tons of people have a windows device in one form or another. I think apps will start to increase because of them being able to pretty much work on all Windows devices. It's more incentive for people to pay for apps. If I can buy an app for my phone and use it on my computer without having to purchase it again I'll be more inclined to pay for it. Being that the whole concept is new not everyone is jumping on board. When more apps are being made and more money is spent more developers are going to want to jump on that band wagon.

 

[Baron164]

Yeah, I've been hoping the app situation will improve with Win10. I'm just looking at all of my options since at this point I'm not really tied to any particular eco system. There are things about each of them that I like and things about each of them that I hate. I'd like to stick with Windows but I've yet to actually use a functional Windows 10 mobile device. I've tried twice upgrading my 920 to Win10 and it's a complete mess.

 

[jwspradlen]

I'm on the current windows 10 preview and really don't have any issues. The ones I've noticed are-
Sometimes screen goes black for a second and comes back on. Literally for just a second.
Flashlight in quick action center takes a while to load.
Really that's about it for me. I'm using a Lumia 830. It's been smooth, haven't noticed any lag and everything other than the flashlight is pretty responsive.

 

[princeegli]

I like the GPS navigation on windows phone better,and maps,afew other apps.....i like better than android or apple.....but my next phone will be 6" or more,im on 1520.....if no windows by next march,I may go with the Sony Expeia Z5 ultra....which is 6.44"

 

[Baron164]

I don't think Win10 is really fully baked yet for the 920, I'm sure it works fine on some newer devices. My 920 is really long in the tooth at this point. I like my wife's 1520, the size, the screen, the camera. All though I wish it would give me an option to save just the 16mp image instead of saving two copies of the same picture, one 5mp and one 16mp. Just burns through the SD card faster. I've been looking forward to the 950xl as a actual replacement for the 1520 which is already 2 years old.

 

[ALpHa.Q.RoUgH]

After having my iPhone for 9 days of the 14 day trial period thinking I'm going to bring it back when the 950XL comes out, right now I can't justify a reason to return the device. After being with Windows since Windows 7 and the Samsung Focus days I don't see the app situation getting better. Over time, apps have either gotten worse or have disappeared over time.

I think what's making the transition easier for me is that the office apps (Onenote, Word, PowerPoint) are just as good if not better than they are on Windows 10. Half of my live tiles don't work anymore because most secs have stopped supporting them or neglected them.

Of course, everybody is different but unless something changes in 5 days with Windows 10 and the 950XL I'll probably just hold on to my iPhone and come back to see if Windows has matured since. I know for me it has been a chore trying to get people to use Skype over FaceTime and everybody content with iMessage. I will still have my backup 1520 but quality is happening at iOS. Only thing I hate about the iPhone is that Bing Maps is better than Apple Maps and Siri is not as useful as Cortana.

 

[ttsoldier]

Get the two iPhones. You won't regret it.

 

[tangledW]

These threads always amuse me.

If you don't know if you want a Windows phone, you don't.
Just get an iPhone.

 

[ArtificiallyYours]

Apple and Google did a great deal both defining and ruining the Smartphone market altogether. I think it's time Google had their slow annoying hell to go through. Maybe the goat brained masses could think for themselves for once instead of buying through what's the most popular...... Or what idiotic musical hipster nonsense on the TV tells them to buy.

 

[Baron164]

So as a follow up, I purchased one of the Lumia 640's for $40 from the Microsoft Store. I'm going to use this for awhile so A) I hopefully have a stable phone, and B) I can see how much I like Win10 on mobile. So far I'm liking parts much more than WP8.1. I'll hopefully be able to grab an unlocked 950xl in a couple of months.