Considering upgrading to the 950

[HerrKaputt]

I currently use a Lumia 635. I like Windows Phone, but the lack of RAM hurts me since now I multi-task more. I am considering upgrading to the 950.

My top two priorities for a phone are stability and battery life. Nice camera, lotsa RAM, nice screen etc are nice-to-haves compared to those two.

Can folks please tell me:
- what's your typical usage of your 950?
- how much battery life do you get with that usage?
- how often do you get apps crashing?
- what about system crashes?

Thanks in advance!

 

[PauloP]

My dual sim 950 is pretty much stable and bug free here since the official .164 update.

Mind you that I had some pretty annoying bugs, like sd card not being able to serve as the standard place to save pictures and videos without crashing my WhatsApp.

I didn't have any reboots or crashes on mine so far.

 

[DLong4]

If you are a US consumer and have the option of purchasing the AT&T branded L950, my advice is: don't. The carrier is not releasing any firmware updates. I wish I had purchased an unlocked L950 from the Microsoft Store.

 

[silentghost1979]

Can get a full day of battery life out of mine with light to medium use and around 5 to 6 on heavier. Had a rare app crash but mostly bug free on the new build and the camera is brilliant one of the best I have ever used

 

[VineRider]

Agree with this....I have the AT&T branded phone and recently bought the unlocked version from the MS store. Immediately got the latest O/S update as well as the latest firmware update. Reliability and battery life are much improved on the non-branded 950. Only caveat is that on the released build, there is no visual voicemail. That is added in a subsequent fast ring update, but know this before you spring for the unbranded phone. To me, unbranded is the only way to go after experiencing both.

 

[patcherd]

My 950 is running very smoothly now on the latest official .164 update. Had a few random restarts early on in my first month, but it has gotten better with every update.
Haven't really timed how many hrs. I get during the day. Will have to check that out.
Wonderful camera that takes excellent photos. Beautiful AMOLED screen too.

I say to the OP go for it ! These are very good devices and some of the most powerful out there. Get yours unlocked if its possible.
Best Lumia i have owned so far coming from a L925.

 

[Albatross2]

Happy with my unlocked dual sim 950 from MS running on AT&T. I'm running the latest fast ring Redstone branch of the OS because it allows me to use visual voice-mail. Battery life is good. I have a few minor annoyances with app crashes and GPS lock, but I'm generally happy with this as my daily driver. The photos from this phone are awesome.

 

[TheChazas]

Short answer, now with latest firmware with .1000 RS build and since .63 update or so I never had any crashes. Battery is good enough, full charge shows 4 days of life time.

 

[Azensun]

I absolutely love my 950XL. It's been quite stable even with the 'slow' ring release previews. I've had no issues with battery life or serious app crashes. If you can, go for it!

 

[HerrKaputt]

Thanks for all the replies!

I decided I won't get the 950, at least not now. Some people report 5 to 6 hours, others report 4 days. Most report one day which is insufficient, I want two.

Any other experiences are welcome. Please don't just say "battery life is good", clearly state your usage and how often you need to charge. Otherwise it's of no use to the reader.

Thanks!

 

[coolj40041]

If you have an ATT 950, can't you apply online to get it unlocked like you can for the 640?

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

 

[jason10mm]

I was in the same boat as the OP. My 1020 screen finally died (on my second cheap Chinese knock off screen) so I fell back to the 635. But the 950 is just too buggy for the price, so I got a 640. Now I have a large screen, it is pretty snappy, and pretty robust. I get a forward facing camera for Skype, a flash for the rear camera, a SD card, and 8.1 Denim (which I never got on the 635 go-phone). All for $30! Much cheaper than replacing the 1020 screen yet again and will hopefully let me wait till the 950 stability improves and the price drastically drops (or a new flagship to come out). I considered the 650 but it isn't out here in the US yet and $30 beats $200 for the feature set.

 

[patcherd]

Thanks for all the replies!

I decided I won't get the 950, at least not now. Some people report 5 to 6 hours, others report 4 days. Most report one day which is insufficient, I want two.

Any other experiences are welcome. Please don't just say "battery life is good", clearly state your usage and how often you need to charge. Otherwise it's of no use to the reader.

Thanks!

This may be of use then. From 6 a.m. when I left the house with a fully charged battery, I have been using the 950 with moderate to heavy use and now at 1:04 p.m. I am at critically low battery. So 7 hrs not bad.

Almost forgot the phone was charged for 24 hrs sitting in my drawer. So a whole day it kept the charge until I used it today.

 

[darth furious]

I decided I won't get the 950, at least not now. Some people report 5 to 6 hours, others report 4 days. Most report one day which is insufficient, I want two.

If battery life is your priority, then get a lumia 1520. They should be pretty cheap now. Get one running 8.1 and don't upgrade to w10m. It's super stable, fast, nice screen, 2gb ram, no lag, everything you would want.... and mine had about 36 hours battery life always! Sometimes I would get 28 hours with heavy usage. I would forget to charge overnight, take it to work at 20% and bring my charger to work.

It is the undisputed battery champ for windows phone (1520 running wp8.1). Read any forum anywhere and you'll see no other phone comes close. I even heard 48 hours from some people, which is what you want.

I would wait another year until w10 gets very polished and people start saying they get good battery life on their 950 or 950xl before you upgrade the 1520 software to w10m or upgrade hardware to the 950 series.

My 950xl gets 12-16 hours and is disappointing but I do quick charges mid day so it's ok. I keep my old 1520 as a media device for my daughter. I keep it on airplane mode and play lullabys to put her to sleep. The 1520 lasts 1-2 weeks between charges! It's insane how long the battery lasts in airplane mode/standby and only used 1 hr/day to play mp3s with the screen off.

 

[minus365]

Got Lumia 950 for about a month and never had a single random reboot.
Battery life is very good, comparing to my previous Lumia 925.
I've got cellular data always on
3 email accounts syncing on 30mins basis
I receive about 70-80 email messages/day
got Skype messages turned on in Messaging App
about 10mins a day of phone calls
about 30mins a day browsing the web

with above usage I can easily get to 48 days without charging.