I became a (fairly) early adopter of Windows phone way back when the HTC Surround was released on AT&T. My wife and I picked up a pair and loved the way the phone and operating system worked. Unfortunately, there was a complete lack of apps and once in a while when a developer threw up a proverbial bone such as Angry Birds-it failed to receive updates and generally cost three times as much as it's iOS and Droid counterparts.
I don't get into the "phone wars" nor do I support one operating system over another because it is the underdog, the industry leader, etc. I use what I enjoy and what works best for me. So When my contract was up at AT&T for upgrade purposes, I jumped on a shiny new Lumia 920 in Red. More apps, bigger screen, great camera...you get the idea. But this is where my troubles began. My phone would randomly drop signal and more often than not, I couldn't even receive 3G. Within two days, I took this phone back and exchanged it for another red Lumia 920. Though I had a steady signal now, I still had issues with it running slow on the network. Running Speed Test side-by-side with my wife's Galaxy SIII and my Lumia I was so proud of was averaging about half the speed as her crappy Android (I have a pretty strong dislike for Android if you can't tell).
I began an exhausting search online to find out how to get my phone to have a faster connection. It was how I found out about the test mode you dial ##3282. Where I live, 3G HSPA+ was (at that time earlier this year) the fastest connection. I had to travel to the St. Louis metro area to receive LTE. So I set my phone to use the 3G mode, thus preventing it from dropping into the slower-than-snot 2G and also to conserve battery life by preventing the phone from constantly trying to connect to a different speed/frequency. So far, so good right? Well, that was until Microsoft released the GDR1 update. With over 20 gigs of apps, files, music, videos, etc on my phone, the update went off without a hitch...except it disabled the ##3282 and locked my phone into the 3G HSPA+, no matter where I went and even when LTE was activated a few months later in my area.
It was this issue coupled with the following that has led me to leave the Windows Phone operating system for the first time in three years (though I still own my Lumia 920 and will continue to update it). My phone and apparently many other users suffer from these issues which Microsoft has failed to address as well as lacking in certain "no-duh" areas.
Randomly, my phone becomes hot and the battery drains. Full shut-downs sometimes fix this. But randomly even with all apps closed and running airplane mode while I'm in work, some days I may come out to 98% battery or 20% battery.
Apps are quite frequently sub-par versions of their iOS and Android counterparts. Framerate issues, lower resolution, lack of updates, etc.
No matter what I do, certain Live Tiles REFUSE to update. I've gone through every support page and forum I can find. Nothing more annoying than your weather, calendar, etc not updating on y'know-LIVE TILES.
No way to close apps except to either repeatedly click the back button or shut the phone down. GDR3 will add this option, but how long do we have to wait?
No way to make the signal and battery icons remain on the screen. It should be optional.
No independent volume adjustment. For me, a huge pain in the @SS when I have to turn the volume up and down in a game/app only to realize when I miss a call that my ringer was turned down.
Internet Explorer frequently has issues loading certain web pages, video playback errors (this file is not supported) after it has already been playing for several minutes and no forward button.
And my biggest beef, Other Storage. Four gigs of my 32, inaccessible for whatever reason. Four gigs isn't a drop in the hat that's 1/8th of my total storage!
I hope that in the future, Microsoft can iron these issues out and bring the operating system up to par with the competition. I know things take time, it took iOS and Android X-amount of time to have all these features, blah-blah-blah. But the fact is Microsoft is trying to compete in the Here & Now and their slow response to the competition isn't helping. People and would-be-customers aren't looking toward the future, they are looking at what is available today. And one of Lumia's best features-the wireless charging which to me is a strong selling point, seems to be less & less of a priority since all the phones (I believe) post-920 needs a shell for wireless charging. I just don't get it.
I don't get into the "phone wars" nor do I support one operating system over another because it is the underdog, the industry leader, etc. I use what I enjoy and what works best for me. So When my contract was up at AT&T for upgrade purposes, I jumped on a shiny new Lumia 920 in Red. More apps, bigger screen, great camera...you get the idea. But this is where my troubles began. My phone would randomly drop signal and more often than not, I couldn't even receive 3G. Within two days, I took this phone back and exchanged it for another red Lumia 920. Though I had a steady signal now, I still had issues with it running slow on the network. Running Speed Test side-by-side with my wife's Galaxy SIII and my Lumia I was so proud of was averaging about half the speed as her crappy Android (I have a pretty strong dislike for Android if you can't tell).
I began an exhausting search online to find out how to get my phone to have a faster connection. It was how I found out about the test mode you dial ##3282. Where I live, 3G HSPA+ was (at that time earlier this year) the fastest connection. I had to travel to the St. Louis metro area to receive LTE. So I set my phone to use the 3G mode, thus preventing it from dropping into the slower-than-snot 2G and also to conserve battery life by preventing the phone from constantly trying to connect to a different speed/frequency. So far, so good right? Well, that was until Microsoft released the GDR1 update. With over 20 gigs of apps, files, music, videos, etc on my phone, the update went off without a hitch...except it disabled the ##3282 and locked my phone into the 3G HSPA+, no matter where I went and even when LTE was activated a few months later in my area.
It was this issue coupled with the following that has led me to leave the Windows Phone operating system for the first time in three years (though I still own my Lumia 920 and will continue to update it). My phone and apparently many other users suffer from these issues which Microsoft has failed to address as well as lacking in certain "no-duh" areas.
Randomly, my phone becomes hot and the battery drains. Full shut-downs sometimes fix this. But randomly even with all apps closed and running airplane mode while I'm in work, some days I may come out to 98% battery or 20% battery.
Apps are quite frequently sub-par versions of their iOS and Android counterparts. Framerate issues, lower resolution, lack of updates, etc.
No matter what I do, certain Live Tiles REFUSE to update. I've gone through every support page and forum I can find. Nothing more annoying than your weather, calendar, etc not updating on y'know-LIVE TILES.
No way to close apps except to either repeatedly click the back button or shut the phone down. GDR3 will add this option, but how long do we have to wait?
No way to make the signal and battery icons remain on the screen. It should be optional.
No independent volume adjustment. For me, a huge pain in the @SS when I have to turn the volume up and down in a game/app only to realize when I miss a call that my ringer was turned down.
Internet Explorer frequently has issues loading certain web pages, video playback errors (this file is not supported) after it has already been playing for several minutes and no forward button.
And my biggest beef, Other Storage. Four gigs of my 32, inaccessible for whatever reason. Four gigs isn't a drop in the hat that's 1/8th of my total storage!
I hope that in the future, Microsoft can iron these issues out and bring the operating system up to par with the competition. I know things take time, it took iOS and Android X-amount of time to have all these features, blah-blah-blah. But the fact is Microsoft is trying to compete in the Here & Now and their slow response to the competition isn't helping. People and would-be-customers aren't looking toward the future, they are looking at what is available today. And one of Lumia's best features-the wireless charging which to me is a strong selling point, seems to be less & less of a priority since all the phones (I believe) post-920 needs a shell for wireless charging. I just don't get it.
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