From iPhone to Lumia 950: One man's quest for something new (review)

[spazzmeister]

If you're happy with your 1520 just keep it. Nobody's holding a gun to your head.. Let the ones that like the 950 enjoy their new phone without all the negativity.

Insecure much?

Posted from my Note 5

 

[HoosierDaddy]

General lack of awareness is the biggest problem microsoft has to address to.

Nobody's holding a gun to your head.

Now I'm confused. Is the biggest problem awareness or that nobody is holding a gun to people's heads?

But maybe a two pronged approach would work.

 

[KimRM]

Insecure much?

Posted from my Note 5

Why? I'm just saying nobody is forcing anyone to buy the 950. His opinion was that MS should get their **** together and that these phones are not flagships when they clearly are. They're just not the flagshipes HE wants..

 

[KimRM]

Now I'm confused. Is the biggest problem awareness or that nobody is holding a gun to people's heads?

But maybe a two pronged approach would work.

I sure can se panos Panay holding a gun to peoples heads

 

[v535]

Apple iphones or iDevices are primarily targeted for noobs and even for geeks. So, taking noobs into consideration, they want a device that just works at the end of the day w/o a hitch. Even a kid can use an iDevice because of its ease of use. Windows on the other hand, is a little unfriendly with noobs, but after spending a little time with windows ecosystem, they prefer windows 75% of the time.

 

[libra89]

Apple iphones or iDevices are primarily targeted for noobs and even for geeks. So, taking noobs into consideration, they want a device that just works at the end of the day w/o a hitch. Even a kid can use an iDevice because of its ease of use. Windows on the other hand, is a little unfriendly with noobs, but after spending a little time with windows ecosystem, they prefer windows 75% of the time.

Really? I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting something that works. Isn't that part of the point? I am an average user (I guess? lol) and I was able to figure it out.

 

[BLKahuna]

Thank you Plandy for breathing a little bit of joy in the doom-and-gloom that's taken over this forum.

Microsoft didn't do a good job of finishing WM10 before releasing it and I'm sure some of the cons you noted will be addressed with improvements to drivers in upcoming releases. Microsoft has said that Windows 10 will always be a work in progress and so we'll get improvements on a regular basis (rather than an SP every 3 years or so).

The big question now is how much AT&T will interfere with the distribution of these improvements. They have a very bad history of sitting on Windows upgrades and releasing them very slowly (can you say Lumia 830?). MS has been building a channel to deliver updates to us while circumventing AT&T and hopefully our OS will improve quickly over the coming months.

 

[Finchee]

I have been an iPhone user for the past 5 years and began searching for something new after my last contract expired (Verizon). I started exploring new phone hardware and OS's and came across WP a while back on a friends 8.1 phone. I was impressed with it from the start. I was just getting bored and tired with iOS which has remained largely the same since birth.

I am an avid mac/iphone user but use windows daily as well and am impressed with windows 10 so I started following WP10 shortly after.

I finally settled on the Lumia 950 with WP 10 after researching it and waiting for weeks. I read the forums and reviews. I asked friends and mobile reps. It was barely positive but I had hope for something coming from MS. I wanted it enough that I even jumped carriers.

I've heavily used the phone since it's release on Friday and I am pretty impressed so far. The phone gets warm just like my 5S but it's a non issue. Here are my thoughts.

Pros:
Gorgeous UI and design
Love the live tiles
All the apps I regularly use are available except Chase banking and snapchat
Unique windows apps like baconit are great
Phone itself is nice. Getting used to the big screen still
The plastic design doesn't feel like an apple device by any means but it feels more solid than Samsung and some others. It's definitely not cheap feeling
Camera is awesome
Cortana works as well as Siri for what I do
Screen is great
Battery life after a day of heavy use leaves about 30% remaining
Ease of transferring contacts
Removable back cover
Hello or the iris recognition works better than expected

Cons:
New keyboard not easy to get used to
Keyboard is laggy at times
Some apps seem a bit laggy and slow
Speaker is underwhelming
Touch screen not as sensitive or accurate as iPhone but it works well enough
Some live tiles/apps don't seem to update their notifications very quickly

Overall:
I am a bit of a techy but I think anybody can pick up and use WP easy enough. I picked up my iPhone after two days and it felt so outdated! I am willing to wait for MS to work out the kinks and have high hopes for snapchat to arrive. I also want my fantasy football apps (yahoo)! Making the switch has been easy enough and I'm sure I've made the right decision so far.

I was a Windows Phone fan that switched over to iOS with the iPhone 6s Plus. Here are my thoughts on your findings and a short comparison between platforms.

- The Windows Phone UI is the best out of the 3 platforms. iOS and Android are simply boring to use when it comes to the UI.

- The Live Tiles are awesome and I miss not being able to look at them. That said, the Widgets section on iOS is pretty good, albeit, limited to only certain apps that support that feature.

- I miss being able to pin a Live Tile for my wife.

- Agreed on the app gap/app parity on the Windows Phone. I can only hope Microsoft can resolve this going forward. I have no such problems on iOS, except, Age of Empires Castle Siege is not available on iOS. If you have a Windows Phone, you better be enjoying that game I can still play it on my desktop and Surface though.

- Have not been able to test a 950 yet, but I will say the iPhone 6s Plus design is boring. It kinda feels premium and is very light, but I think my old Lumia 920 looks better and feels better than the iPhone 6s Plus.

- Cortana is more fun to use than Siri

- Finger print reader on iPhone 6s Plus is super fast. Going forward I will never buy a phone without a finger print reader or iris scanner. The ideal phone of the future should have support for both of these features at the same time.

- iOS keyboard seems to be easier for me to use. BUT, Windows Phone has native support for Wordflow (like Swype from Android). I miss being able to just swipe words when messaging. The predictive text algorithm in Windows Phone also seem to work better than in iOS. There were times in the past where I could text my wife by simply swiping the first word, then finish up the message purely by using the predictive text suggestions.

- I also miss the Glance feature from Windows Phone

 

[worldspy99]

I set up a iPhone 6 for my wife who has been using a Lumia 928 for about 1.5 years now. Within the first 10 minutes the biggest gripe was keyboard is worthless - extra tap to get a period or comma and no wordflow. Also autocorrect and autosuggestion are terrible on iOS compared to WP - this is her observation (as someone who is not too heavily into tech).

 

[plandyman]

Yes despite my poor typing in WP so far, the auto correct and predictive typing are quite better than my old iPhone.

I only wish I could drag my finger in the text to insert the cursor rather than tapping and hoping for the best.

On another note, I specifically asked the ATT rep about future updates and he said they now release updates from all manufacturers and companies as soon as they get them. I told him of the problems in the past with windows and he seemed to shrug it off, saying there will be no wait going forward. I hope that's true!

 

[Padr1n0]

The keyboard is actually much better on WP8 than it is in WP10. I don't know why they changed it. I also agree that while cooler, Iris scanner is not better than Fingerprint and MS shouldn't have tried to reinvent the wheel and just provided a fingerprint reader. Same as they did with the "action center". Android and iOS have no problems ripping off windows features. I don't know why MS acts like it's ashamed to crib features from them.

Forget emotions. Give the user, a great experience period! I still cant wait to unlock my phone with my eyes obviously lol

 

[Witness]

I picked up my iPhone after two days and it felt so outdated!

This statement is what most people would say if they'd only give WP a run for a few days. As for the apps, we'll need more people giving WP a shot and when the user base grows, the apps will come.

 

[coip]

I had some friends and family switch from iOS to Windows Phone and they really liked the Windows Phone OS a lot more for several reasons:
1. Live tiles: superior notifications and home-screen customizability
2. Pins: the ability to pin individual contacts, websites, or in-app groups (like Facebook or GroupMe groups, etc.) to the Start screen
3. Dedicated buttons: back button and camera shutter
4. Xbox gaming: earning achievements on the go

Personally, I switched from Android to Windows Phone and don't miss Android at all. In addition to the four points above, I also think the Windows mobile OS performance is much better.

 

[Skyway]

When I went into my local ATT store, they literally held a gun to my head and said I HAD to buy the 950. I didn't want to take any chances so I reluctantly bought one


Seriously though, to all the people who have used or bought the 950 and didn't like/hated it, I feel ya. I was the exact same way after I unboxed it and used it for the first time. It just didn't feel finished, it lagged a lot, got pretty warm, and was just an unpleasant experience. Fast forward a couple of days and my tune has changed. I love this phone, it's smooth and lag free, barely gets warm under heavy use, and the battery life is only getting better. There is a break in period of a couple days to a week and while I'll admit that Android phones don't seem so broken at first, they also require a break in period as well. It is just so much more pronounced on this phone. If people would just give it time (you have a 14 day buyers remorse period in which you can return it), I think they would be pleasantly surprised how much better of a device it becomes. This is just my .02 on the matter, take it how you will.

 

[treeflip7]

I was in the exact same position as the original poster (iphone to lumia 950) and I largely agree with his pros and cons. The only addition I would have is that there are all sorts of nuances in WM10 that ios doesn't have that I really enjoy. While I'm sure android has them that platform is just too ugly to look at all day.

My battery life is not great, although I'm running on the light theme. Additionally, it's a pain in the *** outlook doesn't have one integrated inbox. Other than that, I would highlight that the keyboard is indeed worse than ios's.

 

[odin09]

I think a lot of this is related to what we are used to. I have been using windows phone since windows 7 and love the keyboard. I have a hard time trying on the iPhone keyboard. The iPhone is billed as the super easy and intuitive phone but for me personally I prefer windows a lot.

 

[Skyway]

I think a lot of this is related to what we are used to. I have been using windows phone since windows 7 and love the keyboard. I have a hard time trying on the iPhone keyboard. The iPhone is billed as the super easy and intuitive phone but for me personally I prefer windows a lot.

My biggest gripe with the kb is it's lack of swipe integration. It works great with some apps (windows central), but then doesn't work at all with others (edge).

 

[nukesheart1520]

My battery life is not great, although I'm running on the light theme.

I think you should use the Dark theme, since 950 has an OLED screen, and black colors are better for its battery.

 

[tgp]

I set up a iPhone 6 for my wife who has been using a Lumia 928 for about 1.5 years now. Within the first 10 minutes the biggest gripe was keyboard is worthless - extra tap to get a period or comma and no wordflow. Also autocorrect and autosuggestion are terrible on iOS compared to WP - this is her observation (as someone who is not too heavily into tech).

As an avid user of all 3 platforms, I can compare the keyboards from first hand experience. iOS easily has the worst of the 3. No swiping and the need to tap the symbols key to get symbols and numbers automatically drops it into last place. I find the word prediction and autocorrect similar on the 3, except for SwiftKey on Android. In my opinion, this one easily takes the cake, winning pretty much every point on all keyboards.

SwiftKey is also available on iOS, but so far 3rd party keyboard integration is quite flaky. It often reverts to the stock keyboard for no apparant reason (that I've noticed anyway), and automatically uses stock when entering a password (granted, this is understandable for security reasons).

Lining them up, overall I'd give a tie to WP and Android stock keyboards, with iOS a distant 3rd. But add SwiftKey (Android) to the list, and it goes to the top with the rest moving way down the list!

 

[ROBBIE HALL]

To the OP...
what apps are you missing? there is always the "app gap" argument. and this is very personal. but coming from an iPhone to WP are there any apps that
you are missing? that may be a major setback?