Hello all, I'm currently on a Galaxy Nexus with Sprint, and I'm due for a new phone. I've been eying Windows Phones since.....well, since they first came out. Now that 8.1 is out, the last of my serious issues have been solved (notification center, Cortana, Word Flow, and few others). I'm not too concerned with losing the perfect Google experience, since I'm mostly just vested in Gmail. There will be a few apps missing, but I can either live without them or use the (slightly less convenient but still working) website.
Anyways, since it doesn't look like Sprint will be getting new WP devices anytime soon (and the Icon is exclusive to friggin Verizon), I was considering grabbing the 8XT, especially since it's free. I do have a couple concerns with it though:
1. Really, how good is the screen? My Gnex is a 4.65" 720p screen, and dropping down from ~315ppi to a 480p screen at 217ppi concerns me.....is it still a good screen though? Edit: The size doesn't bother me, especially since the Gnex has on-screen nav buttons, so it's really only about 4.5ish" of usable real estate.
2. Battery life on my Gnex is pretty terrible (I have to work hard to make it through a full day with low-medium usage). How does the 8XT compare?
3. Signal strength....my Gnex is consistently weak (which just makes the battery life even worse). It gets worse signal than my wife's 5c, and I'm a bit jealous of that, but I don't know if I can bring myself to get an iPhone. Besides, WP.
4. How is the performance of the 8XT? It seems like Snapdragon S4 (original 8X) and 400 are pretty similar, and I guess I don't want to be stuck with hardware that is already showing lag.
Thanks for your help....I know Sprint is a tough place to be for WP, but they seem to have a solid balance of coverage and price, and I can roam on Verizon for free, which is good in the back country of New Hampshire (but at least I'd get offline maps, so that would be even less of an issue).
Anyways, since it doesn't look like Sprint will be getting new WP devices anytime soon (and the Icon is exclusive to friggin Verizon), I was considering grabbing the 8XT, especially since it's free. I do have a couple concerns with it though:
1. Really, how good is the screen? My Gnex is a 4.65" 720p screen, and dropping down from ~315ppi to a 480p screen at 217ppi concerns me.....is it still a good screen though? Edit: The size doesn't bother me, especially since the Gnex has on-screen nav buttons, so it's really only about 4.5ish" of usable real estate.
2. Battery life on my Gnex is pretty terrible (I have to work hard to make it through a full day with low-medium usage). How does the 8XT compare?
3. Signal strength....my Gnex is consistently weak (which just makes the battery life even worse). It gets worse signal than my wife's 5c, and I'm a bit jealous of that, but I don't know if I can bring myself to get an iPhone. Besides, WP.
4. How is the performance of the 8XT? It seems like Snapdragon S4 (original 8X) and 400 are pretty similar, and I guess I don't want to be stuck with hardware that is already showing lag.
Thanks for your help....I know Sprint is a tough place to be for WP, but they seem to have a solid balance of coverage and price, and I can roam on Verizon for free, which is good in the back country of New Hampshire (but at least I'd get offline maps, so that would be even less of an issue).