This is my first WinMo device since my Tilt2. I have been a Android user since that time, and I was sick of the lag, ****ty battery life, ****ty reception and the dropped calls.
First, this phone seems well built. It feels good in my hands and has a quality look to it. The OS is smooth and fast and is intuitive. Having never used the OS before, ever, I have no problems getting around, adding apps, pinning, etc. You can tell MS put in a lot of effort to make the OS great.
I have installed some apps, and I can find most of what I have been using on my Android phones for the last couple years, with some exceptions, but so far nothing that I think I will miss.
I am loving Zune. Just signed up for an account last night in prep for the phones arrival. Created a playlist and then synced the phone this afternoon. I have a Mercedes Benz with BT and it immediately picked up the phone and connected. My Android device never did that as quickly. My wife's iPhone did but this phone seemed to do it in just seconds. I started up Zune tuned the audio system to BT and music started playing immediately from the Zune app. Sound was excellent. I can easily control the music from the dash and the song titles, album title and artist all displayed properly. Nice alternative to the standard radio and Sirius. Me like.
Call quality - just a couple work related calls but all were crystal clear. Have not tried the speakerphone yet or BT headset. More importantly, a 20 minute call through a couple of known dead spots for my Android where the call would almost always drop, this phone never did. It was a nice surprise to not have to call someone back and apologize for the drop.
Loving the live tiles. Just a very cool feature.
Camera - only took one image, indoors, and while I was not WOW'ed it was not horrible. Basically ok for a phone. Would I trade in my dSLR? Heck no, but it is good enough for quick snapshots.
My work email (Exchange 2010 Server) setup was incredibly easy. I just typed in my email address and password and the phone did the rest. All of emails synced, my calendar and tasks and contacts. No messing with settings like I had to with the Android.
Gmail and Hotmail also setup and synced without a problem.
Battery life - Unknow. I let it get down a bunch and got the critical battery level warning before I put it on the charger. I am not in an LTE area (Really AT&T - Denver is a major market, why is it taking so long), so not sure how LTE would affect battery life.
Reception - My HTC Inspire gets one, maybe two bars in my house, mostly one. This phone is showing 3 bars at all times throughout the house and a 4G indicator always. Sometimes by Inspire would drop down to 3G in the house. So far, this alone is worth the switch.
So far, I am loving this phone. Very impressed with just about everything. No problems so far and setup was a breeze. This OS is just good all around. I think if more people tried it, they could not help but like it. Hopefully this phone and the future ones coming up will push people to give it a try and in turn give developers a good reason to build more apps. Some apps I find are so much better on this OS than Android or even iOS. For instance, FourSquare's app is 100% better than on the Android phones. Better look, better use.
If anyone is on the fence, I say give it a try, chances are you will like it. It blows Android out of the water. Is it better than iOS? Tough call. I like it better, but some people may not.
First, this phone seems well built. It feels good in my hands and has a quality look to it. The OS is smooth and fast and is intuitive. Having never used the OS before, ever, I have no problems getting around, adding apps, pinning, etc. You can tell MS put in a lot of effort to make the OS great.
I have installed some apps, and I can find most of what I have been using on my Android phones for the last couple years, with some exceptions, but so far nothing that I think I will miss.
I am loving Zune. Just signed up for an account last night in prep for the phones arrival. Created a playlist and then synced the phone this afternoon. I have a Mercedes Benz with BT and it immediately picked up the phone and connected. My Android device never did that as quickly. My wife's iPhone did but this phone seemed to do it in just seconds. I started up Zune tuned the audio system to BT and music started playing immediately from the Zune app. Sound was excellent. I can easily control the music from the dash and the song titles, album title and artist all displayed properly. Nice alternative to the standard radio and Sirius. Me like.
Call quality - just a couple work related calls but all were crystal clear. Have not tried the speakerphone yet or BT headset. More importantly, a 20 minute call through a couple of known dead spots for my Android where the call would almost always drop, this phone never did. It was a nice surprise to not have to call someone back and apologize for the drop.
Loving the live tiles. Just a very cool feature.
Camera - only took one image, indoors, and while I was not WOW'ed it was not horrible. Basically ok for a phone. Would I trade in my dSLR? Heck no, but it is good enough for quick snapshots.
My work email (Exchange 2010 Server) setup was incredibly easy. I just typed in my email address and password and the phone did the rest. All of emails synced, my calendar and tasks and contacts. No messing with settings like I had to with the Android.
Gmail and Hotmail also setup and synced without a problem.
Battery life - Unknow. I let it get down a bunch and got the critical battery level warning before I put it on the charger. I am not in an LTE area (Really AT&T - Denver is a major market, why is it taking so long), so not sure how LTE would affect battery life.
Reception - My HTC Inspire gets one, maybe two bars in my house, mostly one. This phone is showing 3 bars at all times throughout the house and a 4G indicator always. Sometimes by Inspire would drop down to 3G in the house. So far, this alone is worth the switch.
So far, I am loving this phone. Very impressed with just about everything. No problems so far and setup was a breeze. This OS is just good all around. I think if more people tried it, they could not help but like it. Hopefully this phone and the future ones coming up will push people to give it a try and in turn give developers a good reason to build more apps. Some apps I find are so much better on this OS than Android or even iOS. For instance, FourSquare's app is 100% better than on the Android phones. Better look, better use.
If anyone is on the fence, I say give it a try, chances are you will like it. It blows Android out of the water. Is it better than iOS? Tough call. I like it better, but some people may not.
Can't wait to take this bad boy out for its first day on the town. Welcome to WP7!
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