I love WP 8.1, but it's hard not to look at other platforms these days.

[Simon Tupper]

I'll start this post by saying that I'm not planning on switching away from WP, BUT it's starting to feel like unconditional love.

Let me explain myself.

I bought this nice Lumia 920 almost three years ago and it was a really good phone. I liked it a lot. To me the fact that I can view webpages in desktop mode is something I wouldn't want to lose. It is extremely convenient.
The camera is not what it used to be for some reasons, but it's still awesome in low-light situations. The phone does feel heavier, not because it actually is, but because all my other devices are lighter than they used to be... so picking up that beast feels like it's 3 pounds heavy when in reality its a lot lighter than that.

So, why am I here today?

I'm looking for a new phone since my contract with my carrier is over and I can pick whatever phone I want, but I can't... I could get a new iPhone or a new Android, but I want a WP and there's no such thing as a new WP. Even worse, there's only two I can get and it's the 630(I think) and the 830. Nothing worthy of an upgrade here or nothing i'd like to own for the next two years(if you prefer).

Now add a little bit of "no flagship until later next year" and you can see where I'm going with this... I'm seriously considering jumping ship for the lamest reason there is: I have no patience.

I had big expectations for WP and those expectations were fueled by MSFT's promises to double down it's WP efforts, but they did not deliver. Now I'm stuck with the feeling that I should jump ship if I don't want to be disappointed all the time. I'd love Microsoft if they released something good for the holidays, but they released a budget-friendly smartphone... again.

Am I the only one in this situation? I feel like this OS is never going to be a strong competitor for iOS and Android, because Microsoft is too slow. They build up the hype and then they let you wait for months just to tell you it's not going to be what you expected or they destroy the hype with an axe (Xbox One). Another thing they do is showing off some great discoveries from their research lab, which are never going to be on any of their products.

Microsoft is hard to follow and hard to trust... it's sad that I like their products so much, because I feel like it would be a lot easier to just buy an iPhone and upgrade whenever I want. You know they'll release a better phone every 6 months...

Sorry if it was hard to understand... i'm French and for me English feels like speaking backwards.

 

[steve_w_7]

Well said!

 

[sumothong01]

I understand completely what you are saying. Your English is good. The flagship device is something WP needs in a bad way. Nothing has stood out since the 1020. Hopefully MSFT has a flagship device they will release soon.
I really don't expect anything on the software front until W10.

 

[Noahma]

No one at Microsoft has said no flagship until late next year, its all speculation by the community. The 1520 and Icon / 930 came out very early in the year.

The 830 is a very good phone, runs much smoother than my 920 did that I replaced it with. Is it an earth shattering upgrade from the 920? no, but it is a minor upgrade. I pulled the trigger on it because it ran nicer than my 920 did and It to me was well worth it.

all of this talk seems to happen every year just before Christmas. My advice is to sit back, relax and see what comes. we KNOW there will be something, And we have an idea from the McLaren leaks where Microsoft seems to be looking in terms of their flagship devices. Unfortunately the one they created fell through at the last part of development due to some problems with the 3-d tech. So there WAS a flagship planned for the year. In the past there were a few flagships in the market at the same time (920, 1020, 1520, icon/930) and they were released at different times of the year. (920,1520 early year, 1020 / icon mid year)

Grab a 730/735 or 830 to play with while you wait, they are great phones.

 

[dorelse]

You are not alone. I do feel though that the HTC One for Windows is a current flagship phone. However, if you want a Lumia phone, then yes, you're right to feel the current lineup is missing something at the top.

I'd personally love a 1030...and will be waiting impatiently through the winter to see what happens.

I'm sure MS knows exactly what you've expressed, and I'm sure they're working on it!

 

[wasim sallam]

Lumia 930 is a huge upgrade fro 920,
you can try it and it will last for 2 years,
also it will be upgradable to Win10 when i comes out.
anyway, I also own 920 for almost 2 years, and it can hold on pretty well until next win10 device.
I really want to upgrade my 920 now, but to be honest it works so fine and do everything i need pretty well.
the camera still so cool and kill a lot of new (flagships) phones.
so i will wait a little time with my phone.
if you want to still can use 920 for sometime now, or upgrade to 930 or even 1520 if you like a bigger one.

 

[Matt Manahan]

I won't comment on the topic, but your English is awesome! I had no clue it was your second language until you gave it away at the end. You write better "backward" than many people I know who supposedly speak English fluently.

 

[Simon Tupper]

Microsoft is not going"all-in" with WP because they don't want to fail.

There's an old saying that MSFT must become more familiar with... It goes like, "if you are afraid of failure you don't deserve to be successful".

If I could have a conversation with Nadela I'd probably tell him to give us a win, we need it just as much as MSFT.

 

[tgp]

I don't know if you're French and living in the US, or if you live in France. Do you have cell phone contracts in France?

If you have a US contract, or a contract similar to the US, you will sign for 2 years. If you wait on a WP, about half of that new contract will be gone by the time a new WP flagship with W10 is released. Maybe you should get an iPhone or Android now, and then when you're up for renewal, WP10 will have been on the market for a year. This will give you time to see if W10 is what you want, and if iPhone/Android is not what you want.

And FYI, your English is excellent! I didn't realize it's not your first language until you mentioned it at the end of your post.

 

[Simon Tupper]

I don't know if you're French and living in the US, or if you live in France. Do you have cell phone contracts in France?

If you have a US contract, or a contract similar to the US, you will sign for 2 years. If you wait on a WP, about half of that new contract will be gone by the time a new WP flagship with W10 is released. Maybe you should get an iPhone or Android now, and then when you're up for renewal, WP10 will have been on the market for a year. This will give you time to see if W10 is what you want, and if iPhone/Android is not what you want.

And FYI, your English is excellent! I didn't realize it's not your first language until you mentioned it at the end of your post.

I'm from Quebec in Canada. We're French up there, but most of us are bilingual (kind of).

I think I'll buy an android device and i'll keep my 920 in case I dont like it. I used to hate Android years ago, because it was buggy and slow. So I'm not really a fan, but my girlfriend has one and it seems a lot better than it used to be.

 

[tgp]

I'm from Quebec in Canada. We're French up there, but most of us are bilingual (kind of).

I think I'll buy an android device and i'll keep my 920 in case I dont like it. I used to hate Android years ago, because it was buggy and slow. So I'm not really a fan, but my girlfriend has one and it seems a lot better then it used to be.

Ah yes, I should have thought about the possibility of you being Canadian!

It sounds like you have a plan. Even if you want to get something else while on contract, you can often sell your device and use the cash to put towards a new one off contract. You'll often lose some $$$$ in the process, but it at least softens the blow.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

I'm looking for a new phone since my contract with my carrier is over and I can pick whatever phone I want, but I can't... I could get a new iPhone or a new Android, but I want a WP and there's no such thing as a new WP. Even worse, there's only two I can get and it's the 630(I think) and the 830. Nothing worthy of an upgrade here or nothing i'd like to own for the next two years(if you prefer).

Get off the hamster wheel. Step back and listen to your words: I'm replacing my phone because my contract says its time.

That's nuts to let some company force you to either get a new phone OR keep paying for the one you have despite it being paid for.

Switch to a contract that's just for the service. Then get a new phone when and if YOU want to. There is no need to be stuck with a phone you don't like because you have to keep it for x months or years OR to be forced to replace a phone you like just because your carrier tells you to. Plus you will save money this way.

I apologize to anyone who can't afford to buy a phone outright and doesn't have credit to make payments. To those I say keep on loading those 16 tons.

 

[dgr_874]

Go ahead and switch for a year. All your Microsoft stuff will be here waiting for you next year and by that time you will see if you like another OS or not. I'm switching to and iPhone for a year. I figure if Microsoft gets their stuff together next year I can just sell it for a decent price and then buy another WP.

You can always come back to Microsoft so switch and have fun exploring the things the other OS's offer!

 

[rhapdog]

I really feel the need to add my 2 cents here.

If it were me, I would not let the "contract" determine it is time to get a new phone. I had my last phone for 7 years, and it was a good phone. In the mean time, instead of spending money towards a contract phone (because with AT&T, I get a discount for not having a phone on contract) I put that money aside each month, and when I feel like I'm ready and have found the phone I want, I can just go pay cash for the full thing and still not have a contract. That way I get to upgrade on my terms, not the carrier's terms. It also helps when I want to negotiate with the carrier's retention department, because when you've been with them for so long without a contract, they know it could be easy for you to jump ship since you don't have any commitments to them.

I would probably wait a bit longer. WP10 comes out and there's a new flag ship device for it, you may be thinking it was worth the wait.

I married my first wife because I was impatient and wanted to get married. Spent the next 12 years with regret. Don't make a commitment for the sake of having to have a commitment. This time around I waited for the right girl to come along and I'm real happy. So wait on what you really want, and don't spend money on a commitment to something you think you might like because it might have improved. A phone is too personal and too much a part of everyday life to settle for something less than what you really want in life.

Yeah, I went there. I know, shame on me for it.

 

[typhon62_1]

I couldn't wait and went Android hoping to come back in a year or so.
I'm getting used to Android, but I REALLY miss the WP OS.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

I couldn't wait and went Android hoping to come back in a year or so.
I'm getting used to Android, but I REALLY miss the WP OS.

Sorry you decided to stay on the same wheel that put you in this spot in the first place. Hope you can prepare to get off it next time you have a chance.

 

[schiznatch]

As a few others have said, try another OS for a while and see what happens. It makes it easier to see the pros and cons of different OS's that way too.

I'm kind of the opposite of you; I have been an Android user and wanted to try something different, so I bought a Samsung Ativ S Neo to try out WP. I had it for almost a year and ended up switching back to Android until WP matures a little bit more.

My biggest issues were the fact that Sprint/Samsung wouldn't release any of the 8.1 updates (until very recently), so I used Dev Preview to get the updates. After doing a factory reset one day, my roaming options were greyed out. My whole family lives in roaming zones, so my phone was useless during these visits. On top of that, pretty much the only two games I play are not available on WP, a couple of my most used apps are not available on WP, and my Pebble Steel doesn’t work with WP. If I wanted something that locked down, I would have just went with iPhone.

I know this isn’t all 100% Microsoft’s fault, but they seem to be only half-*** trying. If Microsoft is just dipping their toes in the water and not going all in, then why should I? I loved the look and feel of the OS in general, so hopefully they are in it to win it and everything will start coming together with Windows 10. If they start gaining more traction and getting more developer support so that I have the apps/games I want and proper support for my Pebble, then I’ll definitely be back. Until then, Android does everything I need without too many issues. It’s definitely way better than it was a few years ago.

 

[typhon62_1]

Sorry you decided to stay on the same wheel that put you in this spot in the first place. Hope you can prepare to get off it next time you have a chance.

I would have jumped on the 930 if ATT was allowed to offer it.

 

[nohra]

With the 920 being as popular as it was, there's a lot of us in the same boat with you. I haven't minded the contract route as it's always provided a phone for free for the same monthly price as I would have paid anyway. It worked. But now, with AT&T no longer offering free phones, plus no Windows Phone to consider changing to anyway (according to their website, it looks like AT&T doesn't offer the 1020 anymore, which is the only phone I would have really considered), I've changed tactics. As has been mentioned above, I'm now on one of their new smaller and cheaper plans, so I can put aside that difference to buy a phone when it becomes necessary down the road. That, and my 920 is just as good as when I got it. Battery life is about the same, camera still takes great pictures, screen is still in good shape, and the only change in performance is a little more lag in scrolling the start screen up and down, probably due to all the 8.1 enhancements that weren't exactly made for the 920 but for newer phones. Still, the fact that I HAVE WP8.1 on it means it doesn't really feel outdated. I can still impress non-WP users with Cortana just as someone with an 830 could. People still rave about the pictures it takes. It still has the same Mobile Office as the new phones... which of course isn't saying much since WP7 users have basically the same mobile Office as new phones!

In short, my 920 is still great and while I would love to have a camera on the line of the 1020 or better, it's not out there and I can't really justify any reason for getting a 1020 at this point in its life-cycle (I wish I had realized how soon the 1020 would come out after they announced it, but I wasn't hip to the smartphone world back then. It came out a few months after I went with the 920, when I had figured the rumors about a 40MP camera phone would equate to it coming out a year later).

Having a 920 still means you have a better phone than many of the phones out there (on any platform), and that extra heft just makes it tough for the long haul! But if you want something new and it's renewal time and you're willing to try another OS and your carrier is still offering free phones, why not just give one a try? Like people have said, Microsoft might have finally come out with the 1020 successor by the time your contract comes around again.

Cheers!

 

[archkron]

I'm in exactly the same situation and I probably would have jumped ship sooner if it wasn't for the fact that no flagship seems to be the 'complete package' this year. As in:

- The One M8's camera is not a step up from my 920
- The G3 is too big, and also there's LG's horrible UI to deal with. (I know you can flash a new ROM on it blah blah blah. I'm not interested. My experience from the WinMo days - and a year with an HTC Desire - tells me that no one ROM is ever quite perfect.) I also don't trust LG to support the device for long.
- The S5 is ugly and has horrible software (TouchWiz), and the Note 4 is impractically large
- The iPhone 6 is expensive and the iPhone 6+ is comically large (and expensive). Also looks as if a child's taken Tipp-Ex to the back of it: the antenna lines are hideous. No OIS on the 6, either, and I don't want to go back to a phone without OIS.
- The Z3 is too big and I've heard bad things about the build quality. The Z3 Compact has a tepid screen.

Then what of Windows Phone?
- The 1020 is rocking a three year-old SoC. I don't want to buy a phone for it to become outdated within a year.
- The 1520 is impractically large and has year-old internals
- The 930 has year-old internals, mediocre battery life and no Glance support
- The 830 is a side-step at best

Perhaps the 920 has spoiled me.

If it wasn't for the recent 6snap/Snapchat account locking furore I probably wouldn't be in this position; I'd stick with the 920 until the 1020's successor comes out. The problem is that Snapchat has become one of the primary ways I communicate with friends now. Apps aren't a big deal for me - with the exception of Snapchat.

And it's a shame. I don't like Android's continuing issue with stutter after getting used to WP, and I'm not a huge fan of the UI (though Lollipop goes some way to rectifying that). iOS is smooth, but that's really all it has going for it in terms of UI as all the UX patterns are antiquated IMO. If I switch, I *will* miss the WP UI. I'll miss panoramas and I'll particularly miss pivots. I'll miss being able to access menu commands by swiping up from the bottom. WP is fun to interact with in a way that no other mobile OS is.

I'm torn between an iPhone 5s (pros: smooth, decent camera, app availability; cons: laughably small screen, fragile, second-rate software keyboard) and something like the Z3 Compact. If anyone has any suggestions for an Android device that's both relatively inexpensive - used is fine - and has a camera that matches or betters what's in the 920, please do let me know...