Is the Lumia 550 good as a 2nd device ?

[sip1995]

Hi to all. In les than a month it's time to renew my contract, and i'm looking into a cheap Windows phone device. I found the Lumia 550, but is it good (?), please note hat i want as a 2nd device, a developer device actually to test apps, listen some music and ect. Will it be okay for these things ?

 

[charlatan1978]

The Lumia 550 had a fairly respectable review here on Windows Central.
You would be advised to check it out.

 

[charlatan1978]

Here's the link.
Microsoft Lumia 550 review: The latest entry-level Lumia brings some good with the bad | Windows Central

 

[sip1995]

Here's the link.
Microsoft Lumia 550 review: The latest entry-level Lumia brings some good with the bad | Windows Central

I know there's a review about it, i know that somehow it's a good for its price....but i ask for users opinions.

 

[libra89]

I know there's a review about it, i know that somehow it's a good for its price....but i ask for users opinions.

As someone who owned one, it would be great for that! There are even some users on this forum who do just that. I just didn't keep mine because it fell short in low light pictures for a primary device.

 

[charlatan1978]

I know there's a review about it, i know that somehow it's a good for its price....but i ask for users opinions.

Ok sure, you didn't mention that in your original post though.

 

[xandros9]

You could probably be better served with a used phone.

 

[sip1995]

You could probably be better served with a used phone.

Ι'll get it with my contract, so it'll be free....the other option is to give 30€ more and get the Lumia 640.

 

[libra89]

The Lumia 640 is better, but at least with the 550, it's a device with native Windows 10 Mobile.

 

[xandros9]

Ι'll get it with my contract, so it'll be free....the other option is to give 30€ more and get the Lumia 640.

a contract for a secondary device?

 

[sip1995]

a contract for a secondary device?

First of all I already have a main phone (the LG G3)....Let me explain you the things work in my country. When you make or renew a contract here, the carrier gives you an amount of money to fat a new device. That money depends on what type of plan you'll choose. So for my plan (15?/month) carrier will give 100? to get a new phone...I'll give about 30? more to take the Lumia 550. btw the phone is unlocked.

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

 

[patcherd]

Hi to all. In les than a month it's time to renew my contract, and i'm looking into a cheap Windows phone device. I found the Lumia 550, but is it good (?), please note hat i want as a 2nd device, a developer device actually to test apps, listen some music and ect. Will it be okay for these things ?

Well I don't test apps, but I would say it is fine for music listening, browsing, and what I use the 550 a lot for is the navigation. Works pretty well overall. I got this as a backup to my 950 .
I say give it a go. You can always return it if you are not satisfied with it.

 

[Adam McVeigh]

Hi to all. In les than a month it's time to renew my contract, and i'm looking into a cheap Windows phone device. I found the Lumia 550, but is it good (?), please note hat i want as a 2nd device, a developer device actually to test apps, listen some music and ect. Will it be okay for these things ?

It may end up being a frustrating experience given the WiFi problems that honest users admit to. There's a firmware update soon to go OTA, so hopefully that will fix it and all will be well. Or maybe you'll just get lucky and it will be fine for you. Mine is a wreck. Most of my time on the device is spent waiting for it to stop unfreezing, constantly turning the WiFi toggle on and off to catch a signal that sustains long enough to download app updates, and apologising to my contacts for the fact that none of their messages have been received by me.

I don't think the 550 would be the best choice right now for the purposes you're looking to use it for. But it does seem that Microsoft is addressing the issues now, it's just a case of how long and if the new firmware does the trick.

 

[xandros9]

First of all I already have a main phone (the LG G3)....Let me explain you the things work in my country. When you make or renew a contract here, the carrier gives you an amount of money to fat a new device. That money depends on what type of plan you'll choose. So for my plan (15€/month) carrier will give 100€ to get a new phone...I'll give about 30€ more to take the Lumia 550. btw the phone is unlocked.

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

Oh so you're renewing the contract, continuing to use your G3 and putting the money they give you towards the phone of choice! OK that makes more sense.

 

[sip1995]

It may end up being a frustrating experience given the WiFi problems that honest users admit to. There's a firmware update soon to go OTA, so hopefully that will fix it and all will be well. Or maybe you'll just get lucky and it will be fine for you. Mine is a wreck. Most of my time on the device is spent waiting for it to stop unfreezing, constantly turning the WiFi toggle on and off to catch a signal that sustains long enough to download app updates, and apologising to my contacts for the fact that none of their messages have been received by me.

I don't think the 550 would be the best choice right now for the purposes you're looking to use it for. But it does seem that Microsoft is addressing the issues now, it's just a case of how long and if the new firmware does the trick.

Thanks for your honest opinion. Actually i didn't know there is a problem with the wifi on Lumia 550. Hope until i renew my contract, Microsoft will make the new firmware available soon and fix the issues.

 

[fkpaul]

I've been using the L550 as a secondary phone for the last 3 weeks. My previous WP was a L1020 running WP8.1. For what you pay for, the L550 is okay. I've not had the HW issues described here or elsewhere, yet, so of course the jury remains open on durability. Being a work phone I use it in a 'pocket PC' kind of way; I installed a spare 64GB microSD card I had lying around, and use a Microsoft Universal Mobile keyboard and a Logitech Ultraslimt630 mouse. I occasionally connect a Nokia MD-12 BT speaker for conference calling and for music. I rely heavily on the Office suite (mainly Word), Outlook client for email, and Skype for Business client for instant messaging and conference calls via my corporate enterprise servers.


Frankly speaking I'm quite demanding on my tech. So far the L550 has managed to keep up ` performance is acceptable if not a little laggy sometimes. Based on my particular use-case I would probably be better off with a little more display real estate and much more CPU performance. I also miss the wireless charging and the camera of the L1020. However when you take into consideration the very low price point of the L550 I believe it to be very good value, making up for it's performance and feature shortcomings.

Would I recommend it as a secondary device? Sure, big thumbs up. Would I recommend it as a primary/ sole device? Depending on intentions and budget, then maybe. For me personally, no.

 

[libra89]

I've been using the L550 as a secondary phone for the last 3 weeks. My previous WP was a L1020 running WP8.1. For what you pay for, the L550 is okay. I've not had the HW issues described here or elsewhere, yet, so of course the jury remains open on durability. Being a work phone I use it in a 'pocket PC' kind of way; I installed a spare 64GB microSD card I had lying around, and use a Microsoft Universal Mobile keyboard and a Logitech Ultraslimt630 mouse. I occasionally connect a Nokia MD-12 BT speaker for conference calling and for music. I rely heavily on the Office suite (mainly Word), Outlook client for email, and Skype for Business client for instant messaging and conference calls via my corporate enterprise servers.


Frankly speaking I'm quite demanding on my tech. So far the L550 has managed to keep up ` performance is acceptable if not a little laggy sometimes. Based on my particular use-case I would probably be better off with a little more display real estate and much more CPU performance. I also miss the wireless charging and the camera of the L1020. However when you take into consideration the very low price point of the L550 I believe it to be very good value, making up for it's performance and feature shortcomings.

Would I recommend it as a secondary device? Sure, big thumbs up. Would I recommend it as a primary/ sole device? Depending on intentions and budget, then maybe. For me personally, no.

I agree. In my case, I wanted it to be the primary device, and it didn't work for that. It almost made it for me as one though.

 

[TheRadBear]

Hey,

OP, thanks for setting up this threadl - this is exactly what I am going to use my device for - backup/secondary device.

Last week I bought a black L550 unlocked from MS Canada; for the price point of $189 I am not holding my breath, but I am very pleased seeing rather positive reviews. The fact that is an LTE phone with expandable storage and first-class Windows Mobile (10) citizen, I think you cannot go wrong. Sure, there are other Lumias of consideration, but this is truly a budget phone with the latest software already on-board. Lastly, given the fact that it is unlocked (no contracts!) at this price, it is a no-brainer, IMHO.

I am going to test with Public Mobile (Telus subsidiary). We'll see how it works.

Cheers!

 

[Joedels]

In my opinion, yes it's worth it. I use one as a secondary device next to my Galaxy S6 and honestly it's a great little device for the price. Yes, Windows 10 Mobile is still not what it should be, especially on the L550, but the progress this far is huge. I bought it when .29 was out and it's on .107 now, it just makes a big difference. It's a good device for that purpose, but I have to admit that the L640 is a bit better (screen and camera wise).

But then again, you'll be using it as a secondary device so I say, save 30 and go for the L550.

 

[Marko Marjanovic]

I got my 550 for 57? with 2yrs warranty and to be completly honest, it's great. Yes, it is my backup device but for now i use it as primary to test .107 and overall experience with it.
And yeah, you CAN'T beat the price!