950 XL vs iPhone 6s Plus comparison

[Cartman]

About a week ago I had the opportunity to obtain an iPhone 6s Plus for virtually nothing ($80) so I did. Moved my mobile Hotspot line to it and it actually saved me money there as well.

Immediate observations is that it is very large and heavy compared to my 950 XL. I can see why people regard it as having a better build quality but at the end of the day the 950 XL is easier to live with. It is smaller, lighter, has a bigger battery, bigger screen and takes better pictures.

Having said all that there is one huge glaring deficiency. No it is not the OS. I much prefer W10m over iOS even though it is not nearly as polished or works nearly as well. iOS is very mature and does everything extremely well. It is the small details that are hard to quantify that makes it a more pleasant experience. It is the quality of apps. Not only are the apps better...they work better and integrate better with the OS. It is a pleasant experience. Everything seems to work reliably unlike W10m where you sometimes have to try things two or three times before it works. There is no consistency in the usability with W10m. When it works it works great but you cant rely on it working every time. I am referring mostly to Cortana here but also other aspect of the OS. Windows Hello is another example.

All that aside I am finding myself using the iPhone version of the same apps more often. They have more features and just work better. This is due to the app developers spending a lot more time polishing the experience on the iPhone vs W10m and it is very evident. To make matters worse...or better depending on your view point. Most of the W10m apps can be had for iPhone now. If only I could replace Siri with Cortana that would be great! Even the legendary (IMO) keyboard from W10m is on iOS with an awesome one handed layout option.

My main line is still on my 950 XL but I am afraid that it may not be for too long. If a Surface phone comes out I will be the first one to get one though!

 

[abhishek singh21]

well there is nothing new that you have added which is already known about windows mobile and be aware surface phone is only a rumor and could spoil your mood if you are waiting for it. If you want to move on move on now. what is happening with windows mobile is gonna take time and nothing is gonna change it in a single night, not even surface phone. peace out.

 

[CraigCole]

The general reliability of W10M is what kills me. I can deal with the app gap, even the low-rent hardware doesn't bother me too much, but as the OP said, you just never know if it's going to work properly. Sometimes you have to do things multiple times because W10M can't decide if it wants to listen.

 

[mikepalma]

The general reliability of W10M is what kills me. I can deal with the app gap, even the low-rent hardware doesn't bother me too much, but as the OP said, you just never know if it's going to work properly. Sometimes you have to do things multiple times because W10M can't decide if it wants to listen.

Well said! However, after a miserable experience with the "low rent" 950xl, I am very pleased with the 640xl. It's a great device.

But, as you point out, w10m still is fraught with problems and bugs on the AU, and this isn't new software. Photos and camera apps, which are paramount features in today's mobile world, still are unreliable, slow and never quite sure of will just work...

 

[becakmang]

IPhones are well build. It just works. They're adding more and more features, but the important thing is these features are well implemented,not half baked.

Some manufacturers add features that are not fully hashed out, and it kills usability.

In saying that, there is no way I am paying 1300 for a phone. I cant swap the battery and I'm stuck with a slow memory (32gb vs 128, google that). Camera is ok, but I'm truly spoilt by the auto hdr on my 950xl. You get to choose how strong the effects are to your own taste.

Had the iPhone 6s, its a good feel, love the build quality....fingerprint sensor is much more useful than iris scanner. Eg, logging into banks utilise fingerprint. It'd be awesome if windows could do that.

 

[kaktus1389]

IPhones are well build. It just works. They're adding more and more features, but the important thing is these features are well implemented,not half baked.

Some manufacturers add features that are not fully hashed out, and it kills usability.

In saying that, there is no way I am paying 1300 for a phone. I cant swap the battery and I'm stuck with a slow memory (32gb vs 128, google that). Camera is ok, but I'm truly spoilt by the auto hdr on my 950xl. You get to choose how strong the effects are to your own taste.

Had the iPhone 6s, its a good feel, love the build quality....fingerprint sensor is much more useful than iris scanner. Eg, logging into banks utilise fingerprint. It'd be awesome if windows could do that.

What is a headphone jack? :amaze: Spending 900€ on a phone and another 150€ on earphones sounds like a pretty practical idea. What is SD card?

Also iris scanner on my 950 works as good as fingerprint scanner on my friend's iPhone 6s...

 

[Werentuckl]

Can I kindly ask if you can source one for me too Cartman. ^_^ At that price. I'd definitely take it over any android I can get on the market today right now. And it puts me on parity with the rest of the 'smart world' too. I'm betting/guessing that is why you pulled the trigger on it too. Also, I think its a given about the apps' quality disparity being the way it is. Its a simple comparison of economies of scale, and ROIs my friend. :/

-- W

 

[Aneres11]

I have a 7 Plus (my main contract device) and I bought a 950 XL at the weekend seeing as they're cheap in UK now. I had a normal size 950 earlier in the year and loved it, not really sure why I got rid of it tbh.

I agree that Windows mobile has some way to go, but I know from using my 950 and XL this weekend before the phone updates to the latest OS that Microsoft have worked hard since launching it.
It positively flies and rarely stutters compared to first turning the phone on.
Having said that, the phone does often ave a mind of it's own.
A couple of time now I've loaded Instagram and i've been sat waiting for 30 seconds before anything happens. With iPhone you press Instagram and Instagram is up and loaded.

It isn't a phone I can imagine myself using for business anyway, as it doesn't seem like it would be very reliable. Even sending pictures to One Drive or sharing pictures is slow and sometimes buggy. It's strange.

With all of that out of the way, the XL still does have some redeeming qualities. The camera is easily the best on the market. I've got the 7 Plus which is good, but it doesn't come close to the Lumia. Same with video recording. Lumia just trounces it.

I also think the screen is better on the Lumia. But that's an area iPhone is lagging in I think.

The OS itself with the 950 is lovely. I love the tiles, and I love the possiblities. It's so good to see how different people have diferent layouts and how they make it work for them. Mine is pretty plain and boring but I've seen some amazing start screens on this forum and online.
iPhone can't do that - they all look the same.

Same with Continuum, can't get it on iPhone which is a bonus to Lumia users, but it's not without its flaws.

Maybe with updates we'll see some more platform stability, but for now I love my Lumia for the things it does well / better than the iPhone (albeit the small list of things) and I love my iPhone for everything else.

 

[Tullphan]

I bought a 6s Plus. Sold my Icon & 1520.3 to get it.
Used it for a month & couldn't handle it. Sold it & bought a used Icon to get back to Windows.
Some people like iPhones, some like Androids. I just like W10M. It's never caused me any problems & I love the layout.
For me, it's got everything I need.
Of course, if I could get an iPhone 6s for $80, i'd get it for a backup phone and hope I never had to use it.

 

[macros_1]

Went through the same thing last month. My first instinct when using iOS was similar, but over time it was similar "little things" from a usability standpoint that made me go back to my Lumia 950 XL and beg for forgiveness. Things like the camera lens placement, lack of camera button, worthless lock screen, no glance, no wireless charging, lower quality screen (IMHO), heavier and larger though has a smaller display, the horror that is Force Touch, lack of customization options, ease of use issues like not able to pin my wife to the home screen for quick dial, and more... It was a....nice experience, but after a time it wasn't the utopia I had been led to believe. Heck, the iPhone I used locked up three times over four weeks...more than my Lumia has since I went back to it.

Every platform has its strengths and weaknesses. It just takes more than a few days of usage to see them.

 

[Cartman]

Thank you for all the comments...they reflect the same thoughts I am having between the two platforms. The iPhone handles a number of small but important things very well. Some examples....quickly going to the top of any page (browser, instragram, fb, etc) simply by tapping the top of the screen is nice. The quick switch back to an app when it links you into another app is nice. Refreshing content by pulling down on the screen works everywhere I have tried it...beats having to hit the refresh button or searching for how to refresh in so many different ways on W10m (email, swarm, etc.).

...but so far I simply like the UI from W10m better. A lot of things I take for granted are not there on iOS as others have pointed out...When people ask why I have two phones I either say one is a personal phone (W10m) and the other is business (iOS ironically) or that one is my Pokemon Go phone.

 

[rdubmu]

What is a headphone jack? :amaze: Spending 900? on a phone and another 150? on earphones sounds like a pretty practical idea. What is SD card?

Also iris scanner on my 950 works as good as fingerprint scanner on my friend's iPhone 6s...

It comes with headphones and also a free adapter.

 

[Grodelj]

Also iris scanner on my 950 works as good as fingerprint scanner on my friend's iPhone 6s...

Well, this is just simply not true. Iris scanner on 950 or 950XL is pure crap and an example of a really bad engineering decision. It is completely unusable if the phone is to far away from your face (for example on the car mount), if it's lying on the work desk, etc. And even if it is in the ideal position (which feels and look totally weird btw), it just takes toooo long, even a second is too long. And ofcourse, there is another thing which adds more salt to the wound: general instability of windows hello system on mobile devices.

It should have been implemented in the same way as it is on surface 4 pro, where it's actually very usable.

And sadly..I find my self totally agreeing with OP. I gues there are less and less good things keeping me on windows mobile. Especially because everything can be found on iOS (onedrive, office, ...) and sometimes it works even better. Even the camera, which was once the key selling point, is on a great way to become inferior compared to competition.

All that is left are cortana and continuum.

 

[kaktus1389]

Well, this is just simply not true. Iris scanner on 950 or 950XL is pure crap and an example of a really bad engineering decision. It is completely unusable if the phone is to far away from your face (for example on the car mount), if it's lying on the work desk, etc. And even if it is in the ideal position (which feels and look totally weird btw), it just takes toooo long, even a second is too long. And ofcourse, there is another thing which adds more salt to the wound: general instability of windows hello system on mobile devices.

It should have been implemented in the same way as it is on surface 4 pro, where it's actually very usable.

And sadly..I find my self totally agreeing with OP. I gues there are less and less good things keeping me on windows mobile. Especially because everything can be found on iOS (onedrive, office, ...) and sometimes it works even better. Even the camera, which was once the key selling point, is on a great way to become inferior compared to competition.

All that is left are cortana and continuum.

Simply you can't say what works for me because I believe you didn't use my device. Maybe it is your problem that you didn't use it properly, and I do not think it is a bad engineering decision because I'd like to see someone else bringing up something new and more secure than a fingerprint scanner.
If a second is too long for you then iPhone's fingerprint scanner won't be any good to you as well as I am sure it takes at least 1 second. My iris scanner recognizes me immediately, if it didn't work for you that way you simply CANNOT generalize it for all of the users...

 

[Grodelj]

Simply you can't say what works for me because I believe you didn't use my device. Maybe it is your problem that you didn't use it properly, and I do not think it is a bad engineering decision because I'd like to see someone else bringing up something new and more secure than a fingerprint scanner.
If a second is too long for you then iPhone's fingerprint scanner won't be any good to you as well as I am sure it takes at least 1 second. My iris scanner recognizes me immediately, if it didn't work for you that way you simply CANNOT generalize it for all of the users...

There is one mayor difference: If you take your iphone from the pocket, it is already unlocked when you look at it and the second does not matter. If you take your lumia out of the pocket, you have to double tap it and bring it in front of your face (or the other way arround), and wait for it to recognize you and unlock. And yes, I can generalize it, because it does not work if the phone is not straight in front of your face or if it is more than 30-40cm away. So, it is impossible to unlock a phone with iris scanner if the phone is lying on your desk/table, or if it is mounted on any kind of car mount, because a) it's not in front of your face and b) it's probably too far. Unfortunately a very poor implementation of an interesting technology. It may work for you, because you are making your best to use it in ideal conditions, but I like to have practical solutions that work outside of ideal (lab) conditions and this definitely is not one of them. And more than one year after the release, it's still marked as BETA and I am sure that it will die as BETA too.

Not to mention that people look very strange when they are looking at the phone and waiting if it will unlock or not. It looks just like someone would put their life on a pause for a sec..or three.

 

[paulxxwall]

Don't put that 950 up against that 6s plus....it'll beat the pants of it in speed, multitasking , browsing etc. nothing beats Apple fusion chips!

 

[kaktus1389]

And yes, I can generalize it, because it does not work if the phone is not straight in front of your face or if it is more than 30-40cm away. So, it is impossible to unlock a phone with iris scanner if the phone is lying on your desk/table, or if it is mounted on any kind of car mount

I've tried to unlock it while it was on my desk just for you and it worked just as I would put it in front of my face.
You can wake up the Lumia with the power button if you have it in your pocket

 

[becakmang]

What is a headphone jack? :amaze: Spending 900? on a phone and another 150? on earphones sounds like a pretty practical idea. What is SD card?

Also iris scanner on my 950 works as good as fingerprint scanner on my friend's iPhone 6s...

Fingerprint works much quicker than iris scanner. IPhone has one of the best fingerprint implementations. Even the s6edge+ has a very minor but palpable delay.

Ps, just saying what each phone has its strength and weaknesses

 

[pedmar007]

About a week ago I had the opportunity to obtain an iPhone 6s Plus for virtually nothing ($80) so I did. Moved my mobile Hotspot line to it and it actually saved me money there as well.

Immediate observations is that it is very large and heavy compared to my 950 XL. I can see why people regard it as having a better build quality but at the end of the day the 950 XL is easier to live with. It is smaller, lighter, has a bigger battery, bigger screen and takes better pictures.

Having said all that there is one huge glaring deficiency. No it is not the OS. I much prefer W10m over iOS even though it is not nearly as polished or works nearly as well. iOS is very mature and does everything extremely well. It is the small details that are hard to quantify that makes it a more pleasant experience. It is the quality of apps. Not only are the apps better...they work better and integrate better with the OS. It is a pleasant experience. Everything seems to work reliably unlike W10m where you sometimes have to try things two or three times before it works. There is no consistency in the usability with W10m. When it works it works great but you cant rely on it working every time. I am referring mostly to Cortana here but also other aspect of the OS. Windows Hello is another example.

All that aside I am finding myself using the iPhone version of the same apps more often. They have more features and just work better. This is due to the app developers spending a lot more time polishing the experience on the iPhone vs W10m and it is very evident. To make matters worse...or better depending on your view point. Most of the W10m apps can be had for iPhone now. If only I could replace Siri with Cortana that would be great! Even the legendary (IMO) keyboard from W10m is on iOS with an awesome one handed layout option.

My main line is still on my 950 XL but I am afraid that it may not be for too long. If a Surface phone comes out I will be the first one to get one though!

Improved OS updates and migrating OS to 64bit would greatly enhance our experiences on W10M.

 

[pedmar007]

What is a headphone jack? :amaze: Spending 900€ on a phone and another 150€ on earphones sounds like a pretty practical idea. What is SD card?

Also iris scanner on my 950 works as good as fingerprint scanner on my friend's iPhone 6s...

Good luck if you're outside with a lot of sunlight with that iris scanner.