Anybody returning your 950 XL?

[nokia4life]

Starbucks doesn't need an app, their website works fine in the browser. You can even display a barcode.

VVM is an issue on US carriers especially with unlocked dual sim phones for some reason. Probably because the carriers don't have the IMEI in their databases and therefore don't know what the device capabilities are. I expect this situation to change depending on how many support calls ATT is getting about it.

Unified inbox doesn't work yet. It will eventually. Anybody who participated here the past few months really has no excuse, if they are surprised that Windows 10 Mobile is still a work in progress.

1. Its a surprise to me as I am coming from Android and IOS haven't used WM since 2012 I think it was still 7 then. I like it just some crazy things going on with pictures not showing up in emails.

2. I will take your advice and try the website to bring up the barcode for scanning. Thanks for any and all advice I just ask that you all understand last time I used WM was version 7 lumia 900 so this a change but its for the better if you ask me all OS's have bugs and are a work in process , android is in beta mode 24hr a day 365 year. Its just about how they implement and get fixes and new features added. I hope WM Team and Microsoft can get this going its a great OS.

 

[mdbuilder]

Not sure if you are being funny or not if there is an app here where i can load my starbucks account on so that I can pull up the card for them to scan my screen then that is awesome please provide the name. I am not complaining I am looking for answers lets not take it as someone is attacking and help each other. All I see is a Timmys app and there is no Timmys near me and I have never heard of it before going into the windows app store.

Also christenmartin - can you tell me when using groove music how do i get the songs downloaded to the device so that it is not streaming using data? I created the playlist and its on there but it is streaming it vs downloading to your phone like google music and Apple music does. I pay for both of those services , and I set up the groove music at 9.99 I would hope you could save these playlist vs just streaming using data.

In groove, go to playlists, press and hold the playlist. A menu will pop up, choose download.

 

[Jefstead]

I received my 950XL yesterday. Coming from an iPhone 6S Plus, I am enjoying the different OS and it is very fluid, for the most part. That being said, I probably won't keep it. I just don't see a particular feature that stands out for me and screams "keep me!" that makes me want to switch.

Continuum is a neat idea, but as a frequent business traveler, I am not going to carry around the (albeit small) dock, cables, keyboard, and mouse when I already have a Surface Book that is so much better at anything I would use Continuum for. Continuum also doesn't help you effectively get work done on a plane or in an airport, so why carry more things?

Windows Hello is great when it works, but as someone that wears glasses, I find the accuracy intolerably low despite many, many additional improve recognition attempts. I would have much rather they went with a fingerprint reader.

The power button placement in between volume buttons is annoying for me. The camera button also is in a bad spot and I find myself hitting that by mistake.

WiFi performance is significantly slower than my other devices. I have done repeated speed tests between my 950XL, iPad Pro, iPhone 6S Plus, and Surface Book. The 950XL has 3x as high a ping and upload/download speeds are 1/3 of the speed of the other devices. Maybe this is something to do with dual sim?

For me, though, the biggest problem is the lack of apps that I use frequently when compared to the IOS ecosystem. I hope Microsoft can figure out a way to get more developers onboard before it is too late as I want to see more competition between Android, iOS, and Windows (that helps everyone).

 

[gordonfink]

I agree, the unified inbox is not for everyone but with 3-4 mail accounts, having a separate tile on the home-screen for each email account or switching between the separate accounts within Outlook is something new and not welcome.

I've got 6 tiles for email accounts on my homescreen, and one that I have on the phone, but not a tile for. Three of them are for different businesses, 2 are personal, and one is an account that I use for posting on forums.

I like them all separate so I keep straight what's coming and going.

 

[gordonfink]

The 950XL has 3x as high a ping and upload/download speeds are 1/3 of the speed of the other devices. Maybe this is something to do with dual sim?

Not doubting you necessarily, but this is hard to picture. 1/3 the speed on wifi?

 

[James Maliki]

Hey!!!

I haven't picked up my phone yet, doing it by tonight at 6-7 and I can hopefully answer more.

I'll do my best to answer these!

Things that made me return the Lumia 950 XL

I so wanted to keep this device and thumb my nose at both Apple and Android.

You still can! I do at least. Well, Bite my thumb in jest more like.

One single issue is the that eclipsed them all. No Apple OSX tool to transfer content to and from the phone. An app did exist this summer when I tried out a less expensive Lumia 521 (WP8), but the app is gone from the Apple app store and the forums speculate it's because
Microsoft has not submitted an updated app to the Apple store. Without the ability to easily transfer content to and from the phone, this downside is a HUGE issue. Using some networked based storage as a relay is not an option for a device that cost $689.56 USD.

Why is OneDrive not viable to transfer content? Also! Pretty neat thing with the Type C USB is that On-The-Go storage works now. So if you get a Type C - USB adapter, you plug in any usb device, such as a USB drive or even a hub. That should make the transferring of files much easier for the initial transfer.

The second big fail was having to wait over 30 days for the dock. Continuium is the single feature, even if not perfect would have made me ignore all the other gripes and keep the phone. I had 30 days to return the phone and if not able to experience Continuium until after the window to return the phone ended, it was a deal breaker for me.

You can buy a Continuum Dock right now and then return the one you get for free. This part I think really sucks, I don't understand why they won't give you the dock when you pick up the phone from the store. I'm personally excited for continuum but have no immediate need for it. They have demos in the stores if you want to try it! I think it's pretty neat.

Hardware:

Hunting for the middle button to sleep and wake is an annoyance. If there was only one button on the right for power and the volume rockers were on the left then sleep and wake would be easier. I keep hitting the volume up button instead of the power button.

There is the option to have 'Double Tap to Wake," I know it doesn't move the power button but it is at least an alternative. The power button is also something to get used to I guess, it's a bit bigger than the volume rocker buttons so there is that little bit of learning curve. (I actually like the new button layout).

No notification LED.

No option for Notification LEDs right now but I thinks soon. In the mean time, Glance does really well with providing notification information if you set it up properly. I've had Glance on my L925 and it hasn't been a battery drainer for me at all.


Email:

No unified inbox for the built in email application.

Last time I updated the Outlook app it allowed for a Unified Inbox. I read somewhere that they took it out of the latest update because it was causing some bugs for other users but would be back ASAP


BIG-ONE, Even though the preference download all images is checked off only senders in my contacts will display all the images.

I'm pretty sure that's a security thing. Most of my email clients won't display photos unless they are in my contacts or are considered a approved sender. There's also just adding them into your contacts, if you're getting those email frequently.

Even a message sent from the phone to myself with an attached image will not display the attached picture until I tap the picture.


Using the LIGHT theme, there is not enough contrast when viewing the inbox to see which messages are NEW/UNREAD.

Maybe it's your setup, because I use the light theme and it's pretty much like day and night seeing what emails are NEW/UNREAD versus Read. Although that could just be my opinion. I think it's got enough a contrast; all the unread emails are in the color of whatever you pick in Personalization.



Apps:

The "HERE MAPS" was replaced by "Maps" which takes forever to download even the smallest of individual maps. Can't imagine how log it's going to take when all the maps have to be updated, probably a day.

You should still be able to download HERE Maps. I have HERE Maps, HERE Drive, and Maps installed on my phone. I don't know why it would take so long. If you're trying to download Offline Maps after just getting the phone it'll take a while because your phone will be trying to update everything at the same time, which sort of slows down everything. But after a couple of hours of updating, everything should work smoothly.

Activating Cortana by voice is not consistent, sometimes three tries before it catches.

I believe there is a training segment that you can go through to improve the effectiveness of "Hey Cortana."

The "Lumia Offers" app once launched will hide the three (3) soft buttons so you can't hit the Home button. You have to sleep then wake to get back to the home screen.

That should actually be the one of the properties of the on-screen navigation buttons. Swiping up from the bottom of the screen should have them appear and disappear. Was made so that people who wanted to use the entire screen real estate could dismiss the navigation buttons and return them whenever they needed to.


Missing Apps:

The only Starbucks app, a 3rd party one was killed by Starbucks, I love Starbucks.
What part of the Starbucks app are you looking for?

No visual voicemail app from T-Mobile to support the Windows 10 Mobile platform.

My L925 from T-Mobile doesn't have a visual voicemail app. You have to go into the Phone Settings and scroll down to toggle on Visual Voicemail; as far as I recall, that is the way you've had to do it since Windows Phone 7. There is a caveat, Visual Voicemail won't sync when you are on WiFi.




Misc:

Not a part of any mobile payments system yet.

They are working on something. Though it'll most likely require you to get a Secure Sim for it.

No infrared like my other phone, a Samsung Galaxy Note 4, cant use the phone as a TV remote.

Maybe you can keep your Note 4 around for a TV Remote then!

Expected a single sim model but received a dual-sim model, specs are slower data on DUAL-SIM verses SINGLE-SIM.

I am really confused as to why anyone thought there would be a Single SIM unlocked model. Almost all of their unlocked phones at this point are Dual SIM, AND it says so in the phones Specs that is can do Dual Nano-Sim.... I've been a little baffled as to why people were wondering if it was dual sim or not when it clearly says so.


Can't disable the icon in the notification bar about the empty second sim slot, taking up valuable notification bar real-estate.

Not that you can change what is on the notification bar anyway? When I get my phone in 8 hours, I'll see if I can find something. I'm sure they are coming with that option soon though.

I can add items to the speed dial on the Phone app but can't delete an entry I just addedd.

Did you try holding down the contact you wanted to delete? It should show a option that says delete.


Hunting for the middle button to sleep and wake is an annoyance. If there was only one button on the right for power and the volume rockers were on the left then sleep and wake would be easier.

I personally think its easy to distinguish between the buttons since the power button is twice the size of the volume rockers.

While doing very little, when the screen is on, the unit is noticably warmer than every other phone I have owned.


WiFi disconnects when sleeping, doesn't connect reliably when powered back on.

The ( PHONE & MESSAGES ) desktop icons show unread items but all the items have been read.


There was a quick choice for "QUIET TIME" but I could not find where to enable it and be quiet between 10pm-6am. It maybe buried somewhere but it was just not very intuitive and easy to find.

Good tip!!! Any time you want to go to the setting from a quick notification, you just have to hold the setting. You can do that for Quiet Hours and it'll take you straight to the Quiet Hours settings where you can add automatic rules, your breakthrough list (people you'll allow to break through Quiet rules), and a few other settings. Another way to get to Quiet Hours is going into Cortana -> Hamburger Menu -> Notebooks -> Quiet Hours. The notebook is where you find a majority of her settings and as I recall, it's the only way to get to the 'Hey Cortana' function, so if you have that set up, you should have seen the Quiet Hours setting.




All in all, I would say you should try the phone out for a few days to a week before you go any return it.

 

[Jefstead]

My other devices average 30ms/113mb/25mb for ping/download/upload via Speedtest.net.
The 950XL averaged 125ms/36mb/16mb for the same test (done 10 times as I thought something might have been wrong).

 

[donkiluminate]

I'll be returning it. Its a great phone but I need wifi calling and it doesn't have it.

Going into it I knew there wouldn't be wifi calling but I was hoping the awesomeness of it would be enough for me to overlook the lack of wifi calling(currently I bounce back and forth from a 925 and 930)

After playing with the 950xl I've decided that its basically a bigger 930 and doesn't differentiate itself enough for the price tag.

 

[Daniel B1]

I don't have OSX, I don't have a 950XL but I do have some comments (some may duplicate what others have posted)

the forums speculate it's because Microsoft has not submitted an updated app to the Apple store. Without the ability to easily transfer content to and from the phone, this downside is a HUGE issue. Using some networked based storage as a relay is not an option for a device that cost $689.56 USD.

The cost of the phone is irrelevant... the issue is huge, period. That said, there are workarounds:
- OneDrive, can be set to auto-sync over WiFi.
- Set up a personal FTP server on your computer and use a WP FTP app
- SD Card transfer

The second big fail was having to wait over 30 days for the dock. Continuium is the single feature, even if not perfect would have made me ignore all the other gripes and keep the phone. I had 30 days to return the phone and if not able to experience Continuium until after the window to return the phone ended, it was a deal breaker for me.

Well if it was such a big deal to you, buy a Continuum dock so you can try it out during your phone's 30-day return period. You want to keep the phone?.. apply for your free dock and near the end of the purchased dock's 30-day return period, return it. There may be a gap between the return and the arrival of the free one, but hey, it solves the problem of you not being able to test it.

Hunting for the middle button to sleep and wake is an annoyance. If there was only one button on the right for power and the volume rockers were on the left then sleep and wake would be easier. I keep hitting the volume up button instead of the power button.

I'm sure your mind & fingers will soon become accustomed to what it is they have to do. Double-tap to wake/sleep is (rumored to) likely be added at some point.

No notification LED

True. But there is Glance.

No unified inbox for the built in email application.

On my W8.1 phone, I created a start screen folder called "EMAIL & TXT", and dragged my 7 individual email account pinned tiles into it + Messaging. I resized the folder tile to large and as new mails & TXT messages come in, I can instantly see how many new messages I have for each account. Tap once to expand, tap the desired item. I assume you can do the same on W10M. If so, try it.. you may find unified inbox is inferior.

BIG-ONE, Even though the preference download all images is checked off only senders in my contacts will display all the images.

Sounds like a bug that is likely to get addressed in an update.

Using the LIGHT theme, there is not enough contrast when viewing the inbox to see which messages are NEW/UNREAD.

Then don't use the LIGHT theme (or change the Accent color), or go into Ease of Access (I assume it's still there in Settings in W10M) and try toggling "High contrast". Disclaimer: until this week, I had the same problem on my HTC.. the default "HTC blue" was unreadable. I changed to Orange, and realized there was absolutely no need for me to have been straining my eyes all this time!

The "HERE MAPS" was replaced by "Maps" which takes forever to download even the smallest of individual maps. Can't imagine how log it's going to take when all the maps have to be updated, probably a day.

Map updates are usually small in comparison to new region download. I just downloaded a new 500MB region yesterday and it took 4-5 minutes over WiFi. If W10M Maps operates the same way as WP8.1, you can't use the phone while the maps are downloading, but unless your internet connection is a dial-up modem, I don't see it as an issue worthy of complaint. You can surely find a time (ex: bedtime) when you're not going to be using the phone for a few minutes and upload them then? Also, how is this "issue" unique to W10M?

Activating Cortana by voice is not consistent, sometimes three tries before it catches.

Go into Cortana's speech settings and try the "Improve recognition for non-native speakers". Is Siri perfect? Point: if you return this phone, are you going to be any better off? (on this individual issue).

The "Lumia Offers" app once launched will hide the three (3) soft buttons so you can't hit the Home button. You have to sleep then wake to get back to the home screen.

Haven't used it but can you not swipe up from the bottom of the screen to hide/reshow the navigation bar? In any case, sounds like (another) silly bug that really has very little bearing on whether you keep the phone or not.

The only Starbucks app, a 3rd party one was killed by Starbucks, I love Starbucks.

I'm not familiar with what it does. Can you do the same thing(s) via their website? Pin the page(/s) you need to your start screen (in their own folder?) perhaps? If you want to scan a SB card's barcode so you don't have to use a physical card, look for a barcode wallet app? Complain to Starbucks that Windows Phone users want an app too?

No visual voicemail app from T-Mobile to support the Windows 10 Mobile platform.
[.... other complaints... ]

addressed by others or I don't have anything to add.

 

[badMojo69]

And I'm sure they'll have it fixed in a few weeks. Why did you even buy the phone? I mean listing the dock as a reason is just silly...beyond silly. You would have been better off waiting for the Surface Phone anyway. I'm just baffled by your reasons, but that being said...I do have my popcorn.

 

[badMojo69]

I received my 950XL yesterday. Coming from an iPhone 6S Plus, I am enjoying the different OS and it is very fluid, for the most part. That being said, I probably won't keep it. I just don't see a particular feature that stands out for me and screams "keep me!" that makes me want to switch.

Continuum is a neat idea, but as a frequent business traveler, I am not going to carry around the (albeit small) dock, cables, keyboard, and mouse when I already have a Surface Book that is so much better at anything I would use Continuum for. Continuum also doesn't help you effectively get work done on a plane or in an airport, so why carry more things?

Windows Hello is great when it works, but as someone that wears glasses, I find the accuracy intolerably low despite many, many additional improve recognition attempts. I would have much rather they went with a fingerprint reader.

The power button placement in between volume buttons is annoying for me. The camera button also is in a bad spot and I find myself hitting that by mistake.

WiFi performance is significantly slower than my other devices. I have done repeated speed tests between my 950XL, iPad Pro, iPhone 6S Plus, and Surface Book. The 950XL has 3x as high a ping and upload/download speeds are 1/3 of the speed of the other devices. Maybe this is something to do with dual sim?

For me, though, the biggest problem is the lack of apps that I use frequently when compared to the IOS ecosystem. I hope Microsoft can figure out a way to get more developers onboard before it is too late as I want to see more competition between Android, iOS, and Windows (that helps everyone).

Then Continuum is not a reason for you okay then it's not a reason to by or keep the phone, so it's a non issue.
I wear glasses and Windows Hello works 100% everytime for me, even in the dark. Maybe train it a little more. LOL did you not know about the apps issue before you purchased the phone? You people kill me, but I have my popcorn.

 

[James Maliki]

I'll be returning it. Its a great phone but I need wifi calling and it doesn't have it.

Going into it I knew there wouldn't be wifi calling but I was hoping the awesomeness of it would be enough for me to overlook the lack of wifi calling(currently I bounce back and forth from a 925 and 930)

After playing with the 950xl I've decided that its basically a bigger 930 and doesn't differentiate itself enough for the price tag.

Returning it is fine.

I just thought that... you know, why would people put money down on a phone and not buy it with the intent to keep.


Oh!!! Wondering, if you have T-Mobile, can't you just go into the Store -> Library -> All Apps
It should show the T-Mobile specific apps like Wi-Fi Calling, that's what I had to do when I uninstalled it once.
I also have a AT&T Lumia 920 and the option of downloading the AT&T apps on my T-Mobile Lumia 925 is there.

 

[Gustav A]

I don't really get these criticisms, personally.

1. 90% of these points seem to be non-issues, or highly subjective problems at best. I love Android and my HTC One M8, but I could still name a gazillion minor issues and annoyances I have had with the pair. Doesn't keep me from loving the experience overall, though.

2. The lack of apps is well-known about Windows Mobile, and if you bought into the OS without really knowing how you'd feel about this in advance, I think this is a mistake on your end to be honest. Doing some basic research before purchasing something is always useful.

3. Lastly, the overall vibe I'm getting here is pretty much "this isn't iOS or Android, therefore I don't particularly enjoy it". Well, that's simply because first of all, it isn't iOS or Android. Each OS has its own way of doing things. I can understand if it's a deal-breaker for you personally, but I don't see the need for making it a public affair, as if it was somehow a fault of the OS itself for being a bit different to what you're used to. Second of all, W10M is barely out the door yet, and I think it's unfair to judge it too harshly for the little hiccups at this point. Most major new OS versions have a bumpy start (let's not forget the Apple map debacle a couple of years ago, shall we?).

Sorry if I'm coming off as a bit harsh here. No offence intended.

 

[Kha Bui]

I am going to return because the battery life is horrible.

 

[Xsled]

I am going to return because the battery life is horrible.

When did you get it? Battery life is super hard to judge in any device the first day or two.

 

[Kha Bui]

When did you get it? Battery life is super hard to judge in any device the first day or two.

I got the phone yesterday morning. Battery dropped quickly. I charged the phone full at 9am this morning and now it is 60% left. No video, no camera, no game, just web and messenger....
Also some apps are broken, worse than they are on wp8.1.....

 

[explosive0]

I have one ready for pickup at the Microsoft store but reading this scares me already. Wonder if I should just cancel.

 

[Giddora]

I got the phone yesterday morning. Battery dropped quickly. I charged the phone full at 9am this morning and now it is 60% left. No video, no camera, no game, just web and messenger....
Also some apps are broken, worse than they are on wp8.1.....

The 950 gets great feedback from reviews on battery life... So there's two options here:
1. Your phone is defective. Return it for a new one.
2. You've had the phone for too short of a period and it hasn't calibrated the battery yet.

Having bad battery life on 950XL is not normal.

 

[anon5266280]

Thank you "James Maliki ", your responses were welcome and well though out.

 

[anon5266280]

In response to "Gustav A".

Shure my husband beats me but I love him. At least that what I hear you saying, personally I don't have to take it.

:wink: