Android user, but would like a Windows phone...

[jeddo45]

So, some of you may recognize me. If you do, you know that I love Android and it is my favorite mobile OS. With that being said, I would like to get a Windows Phone for trial and error. I haven't had a hands on experience, so in short, what is a good phone I could get that won't break the bank? My biggest concern is how fast updates get pushed out (hence why I use a Nexus).

If you could recommend a phone, other than the new 950s, what would it be? Thanks!

Posted with the Nexus 6, Nexus 5, or Surface Pro 3

 

[Laura Knotek]

What country do you reside in, and what carrier do you have?

 

[jeddo45]

I am in the US and T-Mobile is my Carrier. I should have specified that.

Posted with the Nexus 6, Nexus 5, or Surface Pro 3

 

[Pete]

This really depends on how heavily you're tied into your apps and whether there's workable Windows alternatives

Windows 10 Mobile is a different beast to Android. If you move over and expect to do everything on Windows that you can with Android, you'll be disappointed. If you want to take a fresh approach and concentrate on what you need to do as opposed to how you do it, then you'll be delighted with Windows 10 Mobile.

As long as you don't want snapchat, or any other faddy app that's only on Apple/Android....

 

[Giddora]

The 550 or the upcoming 650 series will get W10m-updates as soon as they are ready. Updates for the older generation of phones haven't been released yet.

Either of the 650 or 550 should do you good to test out the best OS in the world.

 

[g808]

Or the new Alcatel OneTouch Fierce XL

Alcatel ONETOUCH FIERCE XL Windows 10 Phone | T-Mobile
You can now order the Alcatel OneTouch Fierce XL from T-Mobile | Windows Central

 

[Laura Knotek]

The 550 or the upcoming 650 series will get W10m-updates as soon as they are ready. Updates for the older generation of phones haven't been released yet.

Either of the 650 or 550 should do you good to test out the best OS in the world.

I agree with both of these members. Those devices are modestly priced if you are looking for an inexpensive device just to try Windows 10 Mobile, which is how it sounds to me.

Or the new Alcatel OneTouch Fierce XL

Alcatel ONETOUCH FIERCE XL Windows 10 Phone | T-Mobile
You can now order the Alcatel OneTouch Fierce XL from T-Mobile | Windows Central

 

[Mad Cabbie]

How about the 640? Ok, it's running 8.1 but with the huge discounts in the US, you won't find a better device for the money! OK, the 550 is inexpensive, but from personal experience, the 640 on insider with W10M is hard to beat for a budget device. I love them. In my cab firm we have 4 of them, 2 regular and 2 XL. We also have 2 550's. Drivers seem to show a preference for the 640's. The 550's will be a great budget device once MSFT update the OS.

 

[SteveSAPA]

So, some of you may recognize me. If you do, you know that I love Android and it is my favorite mobile OS. With that being said, I would like to get a Windows Phone for trial and error. I haven't had a hands on experience, so in short, what is a good phone I could get that won't break the bank? My biggest concern is how fast updates get pushed out (hence why I use a Nexus).

If you could recommend a phone, other than the new 950s, what would it be? Thanks!

Posted with the Nexus 6, Nexus 5, or Surface Pro 3

Could I ask why your looking at getting a Windows phone? I only ask because I switched from an iPhone after buying the surface pro 2 and loved it. I saw you had a SP3 & thought that might have played a part in it.

I think that's part of Microsoft's strategy. Get people to like Windows again and they might take a look at there phones.

 

[SocratesG4]

I recommend you 640 or 640 xl.
They are the best wp for their price.

 

[libra89]

How about the 640? Ok, it's running 8.1 but with the huge discounts in the US, you won't find a better device for the money! OK, the 550 is inexpensive, but from personal experience, the 640 on insider with W10M is hard to beat for a budget device. I love them. In my cab firm we have 4 of them, 2 regular and 2 XL. We also have 2 550's. Drivers seem to show a preference for the 640's. The 550's will be a great budget device once MSFT update the OS.

Unfortunately, the T-Mobile 640 is hard to find now. If they wants to deal with unlocking an at&t one, they'll have to wait a few days for the unlock to go through, unless they are willing to do the unlocked route.

 

[nausky]

I did this with a really low end phone (a used 635 with 512mb ram that I got for 20 bucks) and left impressed. Definitely get the 640 if you can. Excellent value.

I love Android and still loved the experience. Being a 512mb ram device, browsing with Edge caused a lot of crashes and the apps that accumulate a lot of data (Aeries for Twitter and Readit for Reddit) would eventually crash, but that's to be expected. I'm not sure about the display on the 640, but the 635 had a garbage display that I couldn't wait to replace with the gorgeous AMOLED on the 950 XL.

So yes I did actually make the move, swapped over to Microsoft services for most things. Ad free YouTube with much nicer interfaces (you've got a million to pick from here) is a great perk.

As a fan of Android Holo, you know I appreciate the black theming here. ☺ Material is not something I like at all. With Microsoft you'll get the lovely option of choosing color themes (either uniformly or app specific), the best SD card support of the mobile OSs, a superb music experience that only lacks social features, and very frequent updates.

W10 Mobile has not been released to the public and is currently in bug fix mode, but it's more than capable as a daily driver. I figure its worth enjoying while it's still around. If the public doesn't pick up on it within the next few years, MSFT may very well write off the mobile division and it'll be back to the stagnating iOS and Android.

 

[jeetu4444]

Iam a happy windows 10 mobile user...being using Lumia phones since 4 years now...obv there are hits abd misses...thou I find wm10 a complete os...better than ios and there with android but being more fluid and smooth and good battery life...iam using lumia 950 and iam very happy.
Only thing that wm10 lack now are apps and quality in apps....but its catching up...new universal apps are hitting the store everyday

 

[jeddo45]

I do understand that there is probably going to be functionality differences between Android and WM, not to mention Google doesn't really support W10M. Being said, I want to see what it is all about. I tried iOS and I didn't enjoy it in the least bit. Great hardware. Bogus software. It's mainly for educational purposes.

Posted with the Nexus 6, Nexus 5, or Surface Pro 3

 

[jeddo45]

So it looks like a lot of people are recommending the 640. Does it natively support W10M?

Posted with the Nexus 6, Nexus 5, or Surface Pro 3

 

[nausky]

Depends on what you mean. It's a mid range Windows 8.1 device that has great specs for the price you can pick it up for. Signing up for W10 on it is as easy as downloading the insider app and selecting Fast Ring.

It won't get Redstone builds through the insider program. Those are being focus tested on new windows 10 devices only (650, 950). Redstone builds wont start coming until Windows 10 launches officially though, and it will surely get them after they pass the insider rings.

 

[libra89]

So it looks like a lot of people are recommending the 640. Does it natively support W10M?

Posted with the Nexus 6, Nexus 5, or Surface Pro 3

No, not out the gate. The 650 will. but it's not out yet.

 

[Ian Legarda]

For getting your feet wet, definitely do the 640. They are relatively inexpensive. I got in on the $29.99 deal @ Walmart, got it unlocked and a day later was installing the insider build and putting my tmobile sim in it. LTE works fine. At the price, it is a no brainer.

 

[fredriks]

I'm a android and ios user, bought a 830 because I wanted to try wp. I used it for about 2 weeks and then realised that I was to stuck in Google /ios apps. There is so much missing in wp so it's really hard to go from android/ios, you will probably miss to much in daily use. I still think wp 10 is a great experience, it works fantastic but didn't work for me in daily basis.

 

[nausky]

I'm a android and ios user, bought a 830 because I wanted to try wp. I used it for about 2 weeks and then realised that I was to stuck in Google /ios apps. There is so much missing in wp so it's really hard to go from android/ios, you will probably miss to much in daily use. I still think wp 10 is a great experience, it works fantastic but didn't work for me in daily basis.

Out of curiosity, what are you missing? I was fully invested in google services. Drive, Maps, Photos, Music, Wallet, Hangouts, you name it. But windows phone had an alternative for everything except Google Wallet (which I can still use online) and some Chromecast features, like casting from 3rd party services: Netflix/Hulu. I can still cast personal media and from Youtube which is all that I find important.
I guess I could see having this problem if you aren't actually willing to switch to Microsoft services, but I feel like that comes along with the territory of using these phones.