Let's Take a Poll: Cityman & Talkman Press Images

[bo_woods]

Lumia 925 still pretty great looking even these days. My friends really like the 925 and asking how much is it.

If we just have 950 with 925 looks but some updated features like removable back covers (Its a must for Lumia), similar camera design from 950 XL and maybe have front stereo speakers just like the N-Series days and HTC One series.
I have a concept on other post but I'll just repost it here.
View attachment 111413

Additional to the discussion. I also played around the current leaked 950 and 950 XL images with some changes like speaker design from 640 XL and borrowing 950 XL camera to 950.
View attachment 111415
Speakers at the bottom, like most Lumia devices before.
View attachment 111416
Same speaker placement from the leaked image but got 640 XL design instead of dotted speaker.
View attachment 111417
Front stereo speakers just like old N-Series and HTC One devices. The bezel at the bottom is bit larger since we have to put speakers in it.
View attachment 111418
Speakers place at the bottom side/base of the device, just like what 920, 820 and 1020 did. Not shown in the image.

Omg that edited Talkman looks wayy better with that speaker design... It looks really beautiful, so does that 925 inspired one... The Blue Cityman doesn't look that bad to me at all, it's really the Black Talkman I don't like, with its big fat ugly silver camera rim, and ugly placement of the speakers (not to mention the circle of dots looks cheap) and flash.. And its not necessarily those two individual specific things, but more so how the whole entire design of the back comes together...

But yea, both of those concepts look awesome

 

[bo_woods]

And also by the way, back speakers placed on the top of the phone is better than the bottom function wise, because then your hand wont be covering them up, but still not as great as front facing or even bottom speakers imo... Im not complaining

 

[bo_woods]

Lumia 925 still pretty great looking even these days. My friends really like the 925 and asking how much is it.

If we just have 950 with 925 looks but some updated features like removable back covers (Its a must for Lumia), similar camera design from 950 XL and maybe have front stereo speakers just like the N-Series days and HTC One series.
I have a concept on other post but I'll just repost it here.
View attachment 111413

Additional to the discussion. I also played around the current leaked 950 and 950 XL images with some changes like speaker design from 640 XL and borrowing 950 XL camera to 950.
View attachment 111415
Speakers at the bottom, like most Lumia devices before.
View attachment 111416
Same speaker placement from the leaked image but got 640 XL design instead of dotted speaker.
View attachment 111417
Front stereo speakers just like old N-Series and HTC One devices. The bezel at the bottom is bit larger since we have to put speakers in it.
View attachment 111418
Speakers place at the bottom side/base of the device, just like what 920, 820 and 1020 did. Not shown in the image.

Although since the 925 inspired one is using the silver rim, you should give it the white back, and use the black back on a dark metal rim

 

[hasasimo]

No,,im not joking. Is there any proof anywhere that these are so-called budget designs?

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

What on earth are you asking? Would you call those phones flagships?

 

[aXross]

Omg that edited Talkman looks wayy better with that speaker design... It looks really beautiful, so does that 925 inspired one... The Talkman doesn't look that bad to me at all, it's really the Cityman I don't like, with its ugly silver camera rim, and ugly placement of the speakers and flash.. And its not necessarily those two individual specific things, but more so how the whole entire design of the back comes together...

But yea, bbothof those concepts look awesome

Thanks and I agree! Few little changes can improve the looks a lot, which is quite magical in a sense. This is the best look so far I can tweak based on the image and looks way better at least than the original ones. Looks sleeker and the design as whole looks much more in harmony. Also I have to mention that I increased the screen size a bit to and reduce the bezel so the front looks more modern and sharp looking. Especially the bottom bezel which needs to reduce a lot since its quite too big in original, except with the front-speaker concept which needs to have bigger bezel to have room for speaker of course.

Dotted speaker did a lot of ruining the overall design of 950 and 950 XL. It instantly looks cheap-ish at the back because of it. That's the first thing I saw that I instantly underwhelmed by the looks of 950 and 950 XL.

At least 950 XL is indeed little bit better than 950, especially that weird camera ring and all the placements on other things. It really looks like a generic Chinese Android OEM at the back. Especially the fact that the devices lacks color options as we know

And also by the way, back speakers placed on the top of the phone is better than the bottom function wise, because then your hand wont be covering them up, but still not as great as front facing or even bottom speakers imo... Im not complaining

I agree, technically speaker near the camera and top portion of the device is better on function-wise and technically more feasible when making slim phones. You have to cram everything on the top and the rest will have battery and screen consuming the space.
That's why I included in the concepts. But yeah, I always prefer front stereo speakers because....this is a flagship and N-Series used to have those. Also it always good to have high-quality, louder speakers for the phone. Useful for many cases and always an advantage. I honestly dislike the trend of mono speakers and lack of camera shutter that we used to have Pre-iPhone days.

Although since the 925 inspired one is using the silver rim, you should give it the white back, and use the black back on a dark metal rim

Here I tried to make even more color options and even gold.

 

[dakken]

What on earth are you asking? Would you call those phones flagships?

Yes. Top notch camera, SD810, hi-res screen, Iris scanner, replacable battery, sd card support, rich recording. I dont see anything mid or low range about them.

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

 

[dakken]

These must be Nokia latest unfinished design patterns made by the guys that were thrown away by Satya, and Microsoft didn't bother to finish them up..why to bother with something that implies more costs.Besides the Surface line, eveything at MS looks now cheap, amateur made, with a serious lack of quality and detail.

How in the world can you tell anything about the quality of a phone you havnt even seen or held in person.

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

 

[dakken]

Not sure if you're joking or not, but I'll bite. The 950/950 XL much more closely resembles the following Lumias than any of the flagships: 520, 530, 535, 1320, 620, 635, 640, 640 XL

What does THIS phone being a flagship have to do with what it resembles? Cheap iphone knock offs look so much like the real thing people cant even tell them apart,,,does that mean there high end devices?

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

 

[hasasimo]

Yes. Top notch camera, SD810, hi-res screen, Iris scanner, replacable battery, sd card support, rich recording. I dont see anything mid or low range about them.

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

This whole time you thought I was talking about specs? I'm talking strictly design. Those Lumia 950/XL renders are as low-mid range in aesthetics as Lumias come.

 

[hasasimo]

What does THIS phone being a flagship have to do with what it resembles? Cheap iphone knock offs look so much like the real thing people cant even tell them apart,,,does that mean there high end devices?

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

I really don't know why this is such a difficult concept to grasp. The Lumia 950 and 950 XL resemble the more boring, drab designs of low-mid range Lumias. Much more so than they do previous Lumia flagships, which as countless others have noted used to be the gold standard in flagship design. The 950 and 950 XL, as a ton of others can see, are aesthetically challenged.

 

[dakken]

I really don't know why this is such a difficult concept to grasp. The Lumia 950 and 950 XL resemble the more boring, drab designs of low-mid range Lumias. Much more so than they do previous Lumia flagships, which as countless others have noted used to be the gold standard in flagship design. The 950 and 950 XL, as a ton of others can see, are aesthetically challenged.

Once again,, these are your assumptions on what a flagship should look like. Has absolutely nothing to do what Nokia has dona in the past. What other Nokia phones they resemble. Or What other Nokia flagships have looked like.
You DONT work for nokia.
You have no idea what theire future design languages would have looked like if they werent purchased by MS .
You are NOT nokia.

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

 

[dakken]

This whole time you thought I was talking about specs? I'm talking strictly design. Those Lumia 950/XL renders are as low-mid range in aesthetics as Lumias come.

Im talking about both.

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

 

[Joel DSO]

I agree! I think a bottom bezel that is too small is hugely annoying. What makes me think it looks cheap is the placement of the screen relative to the Bezel, personally I think that handhelds with approximately equal top and bottom bezel look incredibly boring and basic, one of the reasons I dislike the look of iPhone and galaxy.

 

[hasasimo]

Once again,, these are your assumptions on what a flagship should look like. Has absolutely nothing to do what Nokia has dona in the past. What other Nokia phones they resemble. Or What other Nokia flagships have looked like.
You DONT work for nokia.
You have no idea what theire future design languages would have looked like if they werent purchased by MS .
You are NOT nokia.

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

I haven't assumed a damn thing. I offered a ton of examples of what Nokia flagships look like vs what Nokia low-mid tier Lumias look like. The difference is obvious. The resemblance between the low-mid tier and what Microsoft calls a "flagship" is obvious.

The only one making assumptions is you... that Nokia magically would have decided to make an ugly flagship Lumia based on their low-mid end designs when it's done that 0% of the time. There's a reason none of the flagships under Nokia's auspices garnered the enormous criticism these Microsoft abominations have, let alone even a little criticism.

 

[sinime]

Looks a lot like a cross between a 930 and 1520 to me. I wouldn't say that's based on mid to low end devices. The 830 and I think it was a 630 I played with, both had cheap snap on plastic backs, which the 950/950xl do not seem to have.

 

[dakken]

I haven't assumed a damn thing. I offered a ton of examples of what Nokia flagships look like vs what Nokia low-mid tier Lumias look like. The difference is obvious. The resemblance between the low-mid tier and what Microsoft calls a "flagship" is obvious.

The only one making assumptions is you... that Nokia magically would have decided to make an ugly flagship Lumia based on their low-mid end designs when it's done that 0% of the time. There's a reason none of the flagships under Nokia's auspices garnered the enormous criticism these Microsoft abominations have, let alone even a little criticism.

Unless you work for Nokia everything your saying is just speculation and assumptions.

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

 

[fx747]

Software controls look cheap. No, wait, in fact they're screaming loud: "Yo, look, no buttons! Another dolar saved!"
These two pretend to be FLAGSHIPS. No flagship should have hiding/unhiding software controls. This is cheap and uncomfortable.

 

[rhapdog]

Software controls look cheap. No, wait, in fact they're screaming loud: "Yo, look, no buttons! Another dolar saved!"
These two pretend to be FLAGSHIPS. No flagship should have hiding/unhiding software controls. This is cheap and uncomfortable.

Let's get an understanding of where the software buttons come from. I'm not saying it's right, I'm just saying there is a valid reason behind the whole thing, which is "Good Business" for Microsoft.
The only reason that Microsoft is making phones at this point, since they have decided to bring it down to just a few devices, is to do what they did with the Surface line. That is to showcase to other manufacturers what the possibilities are. They aren't necessarily trying to make the absolute top thing out there, they are using this to entice other hardware manufacturers to make Windows 10 for Mobile phones.

Problem is, those manufacturers are currently concentrating on making Android phones, and if they can switch to software buttons, that same Android phone can also use software buttons, and lo and behold! They can make the same phone for Windows and Android, and if the Windows ends up not selling well, they can reflash to Android and not have a lot of lost sales from it. Microsoft is betting that if they can make it easier for other manufacturers to produce (one design for both platforms instead of 2 designs) by making it cheaper on R&D (because you don't need to R&D a second Windows device, just the Android one), then it will entice more to make Windows phones, and get more out there.

It's the same thing Microsoft is doing with Project Astoria and Project Islandwood. Making it easier (and cheaper) to get their apps on Windows 10 for Mobile, and making it easier (and cheaper) to produce Windows phones, the combination will be certain to make a splash.

Yeah, maybe it's drab. The Acer flagship that has Continuum didn't look too bad, and a lot of other manufacturer's are lining up and getting ready to announce. THAT is the whole point of it. If Microsoft made it look better than every other phone out there, the other manufacturers probably wouldn't bother with stepping up to the plate. We need those other manufacturers.

 

[aXross]

Personally I'm fine with on-screen buttons as long as they're implemented right and if they don't make the overall looks at the front average looking.

The problem is that 950 and 950 XL implementation makes the front of the device leaves that large bezel chin that is basically unused space. They could improve the looks if they manage to make it bit slimmer, thus having larger screen and bit smaller body size because of smaller bezels. That alone improves a lot.

I can't blame though, many of us spoiled having capacitive buttons that make use of the space at the bottom and taking advantage every pixel on the screen for actual content. Not a bad reasoning really, its just Microsoft happens to implement the not-so-good things.

Here I have a mockup how can current design of 950 and 950 XL can be improved by tweaking some things like reducing the bezel and changing the speaker design at the back.

 

[fx747]

Let's get an understanding of where the software buttons come from.

[...]

I understand the idea. I'd even go further - let the user choose the OS he wants, like in PC.
Buy a device with preinstalled OS then do whatever you like - change to Android, return to Windows, and so on. Maybe that's the way manufacturers should go.

But I still think that software controls look cheap or at least should not go with flagships.

IMHO the user experience with software controls is really, really bad - at least with WP8.2, never used it on Android.
I had L730 and sold it after two months only due to this feature - I really couldn't get used to it. I felt a great relief when switched to L830 with controls always in place. Even the lack of camera button in L730 was not as frustrating as those evil software controls.