is windows phone dead

[Rugish Dapeca]

I'd rather not switch at all to Android, but it sounds like the support for Windows mobile will come to an end in December of 2019. What would you recommend? Have you heard of the Nokia 6? How was your transition to Android? Thanks!

I really wasn't looking forward to switching to Android myself. Mostly because the limited exposure I've had with it was with my step-son's Samsung phone which has it's own custom launcher and apps installed. It just seemed too clunky and convoluted for me compared to W10M. But once I actually got my Essential and updated to Android 9.0 Pie I was pretty impressed how nice stock Android was compared to the Samsung devices.

If you can hang on to your current W10M device or even pick up a newer model for under $200 then it would probably be worth holding out a little longer. But if you think you are ready to make the switch to Android I would highly recommend you do a little research into whether or not the device you are interested in will be updated to Android 9.0 or if you would be stuck with Android 7.x or 8.x on the device. Even the latest and greatest Samsung devices will likely not be upgraded until some time next year. There are only a few devices (Google Pixel line and the Essential) that are already running Android 9.0, and the Nokia 7 is expected to be the next to get the update. Nokia has confirmed that the 6.0 and 6.1 will be updated as well, but they haven't given a target date yet.

List of devices expected to get Android 9.0 Pie

 

[qbenguy]

You can pick one up from Amazon right now for $234.32 which is quite a bit less than buying direct from Essential. Although the deal from Essential includes the 360 camera and case as well.

That's a price that's hard to beat but it looks like it may have gone up. Unless I'm looking at a different page. Would you happen to have a link for the $234.32 price? Thanks!

 

[qbenguy]

The 950XL has the better camera, especially in low light situations. But the Essential is getting monthly software updates that have been making its camera better each time. The Essential is really quick and has no OEM bloat software installed. It runs pretty much stock Android 9.0 Pie with just the Essential Camera app added. With the titanium banding and ceramic back, it's very durable, though I still recommend using a protective case to keep the front glass safe. The Essential has a very small camera notch, so if you are in the anti-notch camp you may want to take a longer look at it. They have also released the 360° camera and a hi-def audio adapter for the phone, so it adds to the hardware capabilities without needing to buy a new phone. And since it is on the Android-One program, you get security updates the same day that Google releases them. I've even had them come in hours ahead of a co-worker who has a Google Pixel 2 phone.

I figured the Lumia would have a better camera, seems that way for the entire line. When I've compared my Lumia 925 to other phones, the camera specs are usually better on the Lumia side. But if you're saying that there have been improvements made to the camera on the Essential, it could be worth trying it out.

I am trying to teach myself how to shoot digital, and the manual options on the Lumia allow me to learn before investing in a DSLR camera. But there might be some apps on the Android side that may still let me do the same. The camera may not be a deal breaker. It sounds like you've found a way to work around it, and that didn't stop you from moving on.

 

[qbenguy]

One thing to watch for with the Essential is the horrible T-Mobile connectivity. It supports the proper bands but the execution is lacking. Check Android forums and you'll see it's a widespread problem. I couldn't get mine to work properly outside of wifi calling range.

Thanks. At one point I was thinking of switching to T-Mobile, but decided to stick with AT&T.

 

[qbenguy]

The BLU phones were a mess, I had 2 of them. They're cheap for a reason.

Thanks. The more I learn about the Essential phone, the more I think I'll scratch the BLU phones off of my list.

 

[Rugish Dapeca]

That's a price that's hard to beat but it looks like it may have gone up. Unless I'm looking at a different page. Would you happen to have a link for the $234.32 price? Thanks!

The price and availability changes day to day, so it doesn't surprise me that the price has gone up again. Just keep checking and you will probably find the price come back down soon.

 

[qbenguy]

The price and availability changes day to day, so it doesn't surprise me that the price has gone up again. Just keep checking and you will probably find the price come back down soon.

Thanks. I've been looking on eBay, and there are some that are fairly priced.

How has your transition gone from Windows to Android? I see there's a Microsoft Launcher app that seems really well made. Have you installed it? I'm also concerned about transferring my contacts, and data. I guess I'll have to visit an AT&T store.

 

[Rugish Dapeca]

Thanks. I've been looking on eBay, and there are some that are fairly priced.

How has your transition gone from Windows to Android? I see there's a Microsoft Launcher app that seems really well made. Have you installed it? I'm also concerned about transferring my contacts, and data. I guess I'll have to visit an AT&T store.

Transferring my contacts was super simple for me. I just had to login to my Hotmail account on my PC via a web browser and then export my contact list as a .CSV file. Then I logged in to the GMail account I setup for Android and imported that file to my contacts. Took only a few minutes.

I tried the Microsoft Launcher, and it works pretty well. I switched back to the stock Android launcher after a week or two and just have my phone set-up with a minimalist home page now. I only have the Phone, Messaging, Edge, Duo and Camera icon on the lower quick bar. Nothing else on the home page besides a daily wall paper.

As far as getting used to Android goes, I think it was a fairly smooth transition. I still miss the Live Tiles, but there are plenty of Widgets available if you really want something similar.

 

[nate0]

What's your thoughts
Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

Technically "windows phone" was discontinued and replaced by Windows 10 Mobile. What are YOUR thoughts?

 

[Kevin Rush]

Transferring my contacts was super simple for me. I just had to login to my Hotmail account on my PC via a web browser and then export my contact list as a .CSV file. Then I logged in to the GMail account I setup for Android and imported that file to my contacts. Took only a few minutes.

I tried the Microsoft Launcher, and it works pretty well. I switched back to the stock Android launcher after a week or two and just have my phone set-up with a minimalist home page now. I only have the Phone, Messaging, Edge, Duo and Camera icon on the lower quick bar. Nothing else on the home page besides a daily wall paper.

As far as getting used to Android goes, I think it was a fairly smooth transition. I still miss the Live Tiles, but there are plenty of Widgets available if you really want something similar.

Re: Regish,
I'm sure the opposite would be true too? Does Google/Android make it easy to move your contacts from Google/Android? Respectfully, your description of your Android Start screen sounds like a major step backwards from the design and user interface of Windows Mobile Phone. I understand that how each of us set up our individual start screens is a personal choice. My personal choice is to continue using Windows Mobile Phone (Windows 10 Mobile) as long as I can. Hopefully by then there will be more choices available.
Best Wishes

 

[nate0]

Thanks. The more I learn about the Essential phone, the more I think I'll scratch the BLU phones off of my list.

Get a OnePlus device if you look for a budget Chinese made phone. Some OnePlus 5ts can be had for under 300.00 US.

 

[Adventurer64]

Re: My personal choice is to continue using Windows Mobile Phone (Windows 10 Mobile) as long as I can. Hopefully by then there will be more choices available.
Best Wishes

I wish there were more of us out there. I did run across another Windows 10 Mobile user in the wild several weeks ago. Unfortunately he was a low tech kind of guy and had no idea he was using a "Windows Phone".

 

[Rugish Dapeca]

Re: Regish,
I'm sure the opposite would be true too? Does Google/Android make it easy to move your contacts from Google/Android? Respectfully, your description of your Android Start screen sounds like a major step backwards from the design and user interface of Windows Mobile Phone. I understand that how each of us set up our individual start screens is a personal choice. My personal choice is to continue using Windows Mobile Phone (Windows 10 Mobile) as long as I can. Hopefully by then there will be more choices available.
Best Wishes

Yep, just do the same type of operation starting in GMail. Select the Google Apps icon in the top right of the screen (looks like a box of 9 dots) and pick Contacts. Then Ctrl-A to select all of them. Finally, pick the More Actions icon on the top left (3 vertical dots) and Export.

I wouldn't say that the Android Home screen is a major step backwards, it just went a different direction in the design philosophy. There are loads of topics on AndroidCentral where people share screenshots of their layouts. You'd be surprised how nice some of them are.

I tried to stay with my 950XL as long as possible, and I will keep it as a backup for the foreseeable future. I just got frustrated when the October and November security updates failed to install due to the Date/Time bug, and when my bank pulled its app from W10M. Now that I've moved over to Android I have my bank app back. I really don't have many apps installed that I didn't already have on W10M. So it wasn't the "app gap" that made me jump ship. I also managed to finally get my 950XL to install the November security update by using the WDRT to flash it back to the initial factory settings and then do the OTA updates.

 

[fatclue_98]

Man this sucks donkey. I can do without a lot of apps, I'm a Windows fan for God's sake, but there's no Edge workaround for CamScanner. This was truly a coup d' grace for me.

Time to see how Your Phone and all those nifty Android features work.

 

[Elky64]

Man this sucks donkey. I can do without a lot of apps, I'm a Windows fan for God's sake, but there's no Edge workaround for CamScanner. This was truly a coup d' grace for me.

Time to see how Your Phone and all those nifty Android features work.
View attachment 140207

Yup that does suck.

I've got loads of apps on my Droids yet there are like 4-5 go-to apps we use constantly and Edge is no match for them either. Reason being our WPs rest comfortably in a drawer now :eck:

 

[Kevin Rush]

Man this sucks donkey. I can do without a lot of apps, I'm a Windows fan for God's sake, but there's no Edge workaround for CamScanner. This was truly a coup d' grace for me.

Time to see how Your Phone and all those nifty Android features work.
View attachment 140207

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't OfficeLens the Microsoft version of the Korean CamScanner?

I've always used OfficeLens.

Just my thoughts.

 

[fatclue_98]

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't OfficeLens the Microsoft version of the Korean CamScanner?

I've always used OfficeLens.

Just my thoughts.

I don't know about any of that but I do know that Office Lens is nowhere near as functional as CamScanner. Even Adobe's Scan To PDF falls way short. This has become a deal-breaker for me as it's the main app I use 4 or 5 times a day outside of Office apps.

 

[Kevin Rush]

I don't know about any of that but I do know that Office Lens is nowhere near as functional as CamScanner. Even Adobe's Scan To PDF falls way short. This has become a deal-breaker for me as it's the main app I use 4 or 5 times a day outside of Office apps.

May I ask, specifically what functionality and what use cases you are referring to? I guess I feel that I make vastly more productively use of my Windows Mobile Phone than the vast majority of owners, that I know, of google and apple phones. I wonder if those people (owners of apple and google phones) have no real extensive use of their expensive phones, other than trophies? They really only use a few apps. For that reason, I'm wondering about real use cases. Maybe we all can learn the from each other.
Best Wishes

 

[fatclue_98]

May I ask, specifically what functionality and what use cases you are referring to? I guess I feel that I make vastly more productively use of my Windows Mobile Phone than the vast majority of owners, that I know, of google and apple phones. I wonder if those people (owners of apple and google phones) have no real extensive use of their expensive phones, other than trophies? They really only use a few apps. For that reason, I'm wondering about real use cases. Maybe we all can learn the from each other.
Best Wishes

Document scanning obviously is my main use. I manage 12 construction projects at any given time and I have 12 superintendents needing shop drawings, cut sheets, isometric drawings, etc. on a constant basis. Office Lens doesn't have any real image enhancements at my disposal like CamScanner so that makes it a non-starter for me. OneDrive upload reduces my email load immensely since they can retrieve docs at their leisure.

Android and iOS have more choices for uploading to the cloud but the image handling is superior on the Windows version. InNote also works better on Windows than the other platforms for annotation and Office Lens doesn't offer any equivalent so there's that too. Batch scanning on the iOS version is a painful experience, I'm looking for a suitable alternative for my iPhone users.

 

[qbenguy]

Yep, just do the same type of operation starting in GMail. Select the Google Apps icon in the top right of the screen (looks like a box of 9 dots) and pick Contacts. Then Ctrl-A to select all of them. Finally, pick the More Actions icon on the top left (3 vertical dots) and Export.

I wouldn't say that the Android Home screen is a major step backwards, it just went a different direction in the design philosophy. There are loads of topics on AndroidCentral where people share screenshots of their layouts. You'd be surprised how nice some of them are.

I tried to stay with my 950XL as long as possible, and I will keep it as a backup for the foreseeable future. I just got frustrated when the October and November security updates failed to install due to the Date/Time bug, and when my bank pulled its app from W10M. Now that I've moved over to Android I have my bank app back. I really don't have many apps installed that I didn't already have on W10M. So it wasn't the "app gap" that made me jump ship. I also managed to finally get my 950XL to install the November security update by using the WDRT to flash it back to the initial factory settings and then do the OTA updates.

Hey Rugish,

Hope all's well. It took some convincing, but I made the switch. I'm expecting my Essential phone this coming weekend. I'm excited, anxious, but also a bit nervous about the transition. I'm now looking for a back cover case, and a screen protector. Not a lot options, or at least not what I've found so far.

I'm looking for a slim matte back cover, and a simple case. Here are a few that I'm considering:

Phone Case: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FQH4VZ...ag=hawk-future-20&ascsubtag=UUwpUvbUpU3769206

Screen Protector: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07558DWW...ag=hawk-future-20&ascsubtag=UUwpUvbUpU3769206

Phone Pouch: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073VY9CG...ag=hawk-future-20&ascsubtag=UUwpUvbUpU3769206

What did you end up choosing? Thanks again for turning me on to the Essential Phone. I appreciate it. Hope you have a great weekend!