Lumia 950: First Day

[danielheywood]

Today has been my first day owning the Lumia 950 and here are my opinions on the product.

It's a high spec phone with more power than is required of it, as Windows 10 is not a needy operating system, but that's not a bad thing as it future proofs itself for a very long time.

What seems to be easy tasks, such as downloading/installing updates and mediocre tasks like watching a 1080p movie seems to make the device relatively hot in the hand, which is bad for 2 reasons: 1 it drains the battery and 2 its uncomfortable to hold in the hand. The positive? When it's a cold windy day this radiator will be able to keep you warm!

While I was in the system settings, I realised that Windows Mobile has an option for everything, it allows you to customise everything to give you a great user experience, a personal experience, to make the phone your own.

It would be great to uninstall stock applications like Film & Tv and Xbox applications as they do not fit my requirements or needs and is just wasting space for other applications.

I feel like the battery life drains a lot faster than my previous iPhone which I had owned for 3 years, so yes I'm hoping that this phone will last just as long before I upgrade again.

The user experience of the Lumia 950 has been fine, I haven't encounted any of the problems I've seen on the forums, which makes me wonder what are they doing to their Lumias

It would also be nice if were able to change the resolution from 1440 x 2550 to 1080 x 1920, just so we can save battery life (don't get me wrong the QHD is beautiful)

OS Build: 10.0.14393.67

I also need a pair of earphones as the Apple ones do not work properly :'(

 

[RumoredNow]

OS Build: 10.0.14393.67

I also need a pair of earphones as the Apple ones do not work properly :'(

You should give time for the device to "settle in" and finish downloading Updates to system settings and app updates as well. Typically we see a lot of background activity around this after moving from OOBE to first update.

iPhone headsets (official and compatible) have the pins wired different from most others. If you find an "Android version" of your favorite pair they should work great.

 

[danielheywood]

You should give time for the device to "settle in" and finish downloading Updates to system settings and app updates as well. Typically we see a lot of background activity around this after moving from OOBE to first update.

iPhone headsets (official and compatible) have the pins wired different from most others. If you find an "Android version" of your favorite pair they should work great.

Heres a brief description on what I did with the Lumia 950.

I unpinned all the apps on the home screen, which then sent me to the start menu, now my phones home screen is the start menu! Easier to use and has a search function at the top to find the apps quicker. I only need 1 cute picture and that's on the lock screen.

Turned off the glance screen as if I want to see the time, I'd go to the lock screen to check any relative information.

Turned off the vibration on the 3 button menu as I didn't need a response as the menu is very responsive with little input lag.

Battery Saver? 100% Clearly this was a no brainer.

Turned off NFC/Bluetooth as they are a waste of time and only need to be used in very rare situations.

Privacy settings? Well, only kept the relative apps on and everything else off.

Colour profile? Vivid as its a beautiful screen, so why not boast its visuals

I turned backup off as everything on my phone is already on my computer, pictures? Well I'll just back them up manually if I ever feel the need to save them

Find my phone? I'm not stupid enough to lose it (no offense)

Installed VLC as its the only company that I know that do a good job for media/DLNA/music which makes TV & Film/Groove Music obsolete

Installed a 64GB micro sd card for offline videos/music

Also having the black theme will save battery life because white colours requires more power to output

I wish I could uninstall: Xbox, Gadgets, Films & Tv, Groove Music and Contact Support

Lets be honest, Xbox? PC has superior specs, gadgets? Anyway.. Films/Groove is replaced by VLC and if I ever need support I'd do a google search.

Microsoft Edge on the Lumia can be sluggish at times, I wish there were more features to it that could optimise mobile data.

I also have a Mozo case, they are beautiful :$

Cortana actually works, like it really works, probably better than Siri

-

If you could offer any suggestions to what ear pieces that are similar quality or better than the apple earpods, that'd be great!

 

[Kevin Rush]

I'm glad you are setting up the phone the way that you want it. After some time with the phone, I suggest you give some of the great features, such as live tiles, a try.

Regarding Live Tiles, I suggest you only try a few Live Tiles, ones that are truly "live" and thus update you on information for things you care about. Don't be afraid to use big tiles with more information on them. Your list of apps would be just a quick swipe away. Just a suggestion.
Best Wishes.

 

[danielheywood]

I'm glad you are setting up the phone the way that you want it. After some time with the phone, I suggest you give some of the great features, such as live tiles, a try.

Regarding Live Tiles, I suggest you only try a few Live Tiles, ones that are truly "live" and thus update you on information for things you care about. Don't be afraid to use big tiles with more information on them. Your list of apps would be just a quick swipe away. Just a suggestion.
Best Wishes.

This was one of the initial reasons as to why I wanted a Windows mobile, as it was so simple, yet no one had done it. Makes you think how innovative Microsoft are and there potential to improve later on. I am in the process of trying to create a theme that suits me, but in the mean time just having the start menu as the home screen makes sense to me.

I found suitable earphones!!

 

[Ariel Takom]

Hi! Like you, I'm a proud owner of a Lumia 950, which I've been using for about 2 weeks now (won the phone from a giveaway in this very site! )

Just like you, I did face this battery problem during the first few days. My suggestion is to update the phone's software and firmware (based on the info you gave above, you've updated the phone to the latest RTM build available, but I'm not sure if you've updated the phone's firmware. This is indicated by an update named 'MICROSOFTDMG' or something under the update tab in settings).

Also, another way to massively save battery life is to change the frequency of syncing your e-mails, if you've set them up. Change it from 'as items arrive' to either 'based on my usage', or better, sync every 30 minutes or an hour, depending on how important it is for you to receive and reply e-mails immediately. For me, I set my work/student e-mail to sync every hour, while my personal syncs every 2 hours.

If you have any other questions regarding how to save battery life, aside from whatever you did above, feel free to ask! Cheers

 

[vezycash]

won the phone from a giveaway in this very site! )

Maximum envy

 

[ttsoldier]

This was one of the initial reasons as to why I wanted a Windows mobile, as it was so simple, yet no one had done it. Makes you think how innovative Microsoft are and there potential to improve later on. I am in the process of trying to create a theme that suits me, but in the mean time just having the start menu as the home screen makes sense to me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSLDfKUpRjE

I found suitable earphones!!

I use apple headphones on my 640 and it works fine. not sure if there is a big difference with the 950.

 

[Ariel Takom]

Maximum envy

Just my luck, I guess. After calculating the number of entries I had against the total number of entries, and convert it to percentage probabilty, my chances of winning the phone was around 0.03%.

0.03% chance to win, and I did.

Still can't believe my luck

 

[Chintan Gohel]

Just my luck, I guess. After calculating the number of entries I had against the total number of entries, and convert it to percentage probabilty, my chances of winning the phone was around 0.03%.

0.03% chance to win, and I did.

Still can't believe my luck

someone had to win it, and you were the random lucky person who did. :smile:

 

[Chintan Gohel]

Heres a brief description on what I did with the Lumia 950.

I unpinned all the apps on the home screen, which then sent me to the start menu, now my phones home screen is the start menu! Easier to use and has a search function at the top to find the apps quicker. I only need 1 cute picture and that's on the lock screen.

Turned off the glance screen as if I want to see the time, I'd go to the lock screen to check any relative information.

Turned off the vibration on the 3 button menu as I didn't need a response as the menu is very responsive with little input lag.

Battery Saver? 100% Clearly this was a no brainer.

Turned off NFC/Bluetooth as they are a waste of time and only need to be used in very rare situations.

Privacy settings? Well, only kept the relative apps on and everything else off.

Colour profile? Vivid as its a beautiful screen, so why not boast its visuals

I turned backup off as everything on my phone is already on my computer, pictures? Well I'll just back them up manually if I ever feel the need to save them

Find my phone? I'm not stupid enough to lose it (no offense) You don't need to be that to lose the phone - it can easily be stolen by someone (it happened to me)

Installed VLC as its the only company that I know that do a good job for media/DLNA/music which makes TV & Film/Groove Music obsolete

Installed a 64GB micro sd card for offline videos/music

Also having the black theme will save battery life because white colours requires more power to output

I wish I could uninstall: Xbox, Gadgets, Films & Tv, Groove Music and Contact Support - these don't take a lot of space really - you have 32 + 64GB, what's a few MB going to do?

Lets be honest, Xbox? PC has superior specs, gadgets? Anyway.. Films/Groove is replaced by VLC and if I ever need support I'd do a google search.

Microsoft Edge on the Lumia can be sluggish at times, I wish there were more features to it that could optimise mobile data. - try using alternative browsers like UC browser - greater data savings there - it even has the option to disable images

I also have a Mozo case, they are beautiful :$

Cortana actually works, like it really works, probably better than Siri

-

If you could offer any suggestions to what ear pieces that are similar quality or better than the apple earpods, that'd be great!

for battery: A few things you can try out:

1. Check settings >system > battery > which apps are using the most energy?
2. Again, in battery section, which apps can run in the background? Can you disable those you don't need? Keep messaging enabled to run in background
3. In mail app, how often do you have mails to sync? Generally the longer the time period, the less the battery usage
4. What about brightness settings? Is it on high or auto? Auto is better than a fixed setting
5. When you use some apps that are not data heavy like whatsapp or mail, you can use a lower network speed like 2G. It's what I do usually. I only use LTE when I have to use 6tag
6. If you're using edge for basic browsing, you could try using UC browser. Not only does it use less data but you can also disable images which means you save even more on data. The less data your phone has to receive, the less the energy used
7. In settings > privacy - check each of those settings to see which apps can use what. For example I can't understand why Word would need to access location info so I disabled that. There might be apps using services that they are not meant to use
8. Finally, keep wifi/cellular off when you don't need to have them on. The toggles in action centre are pretty fast so it doesn't take much time in switching internet on/off
9. Disable auto update of apps, you only update when you are ready and not when you are in need of critical things
10. For insider rings – reduce the amount of telemetry and feedback that you send – this can have a big impact
11. If you have Cortana tile pinned to start screen, remove it

Hope this helps you

 

[Bobvfr]

Sorry to hear you didn't win Chintan.

 

[Jakoh]

iPhone headsets (official and compatible) have the pins wired different from most others. If you find an "Android version" of your favorite pair they should work great.

Is this still a true statement?
I thought everyone had jumped on the Apple bus. Including Nokia post N9.

 

[RumoredNow]

Is this still a true statement?
I thought everyone had jumped on the Apple bus. Including Nokia post N9.

I have a hard time remembering the specifics of how the wiring to the pins goes, but Apple transposes two connections from the standard the rest of the world uses in the 4 pin setup.

 

[danielheywood]

Hi! Like you, I'm a proud owner of a Lumia 950, which I've been using for about 2 weeks now (won the phone from a giveaway in this very site! )

Just like you, I did face this battery problem during the first few days. My suggestion is to update the phone's software and firmware (based on the info you gave above, you've updated the phone to the latest RTM build available, but I'm not sure if you've updated the phone's firmware. This is indicated by an update named 'MICROSOFTDMG' or something under the update tab in settings).

Also, another way to massively save battery life is to change the frequency of syncing your e-mails, if you've set them up. Change it from 'as items arrive' to either 'based on my usage', or better, sync every 30 minutes or an hour, depending on how important it is for you to receive and reply e-mails immediately. For me, I set my work/student e-mail to sync every hour, while my personal syncs every 2 hours.

If you have any other questions regarding how to save battery life, aside from whatever you did above, feel free to ask! Cheers

I went to the email settings and changed it to "Daily", now I assume it checks it once a day?

I use apple headphones on my 640 and it works fine. not sure if there is a big difference with the 950.

I tried the apple headphones or formally know as "ear buds" and the sound quality was extremely low, it felt like being in a really loud room and you could barely hear them.

for battery: A few things you can try out:

1. Check settings >system > battery > which apps are using the most energy?
2. Again, in battery section, which apps can run in the background? Can you disable those you don't need? Keep messaging enabled to run in background
3. In mail app, how often do you have mails to sync? Generally the longer the time period, the less the battery usage
4. What about brightness settings? Is it on high or auto? Auto is better than a fixed setting
5. When you use some apps that are not data heavy like whatsapp or mail, you can use a lower network speed like 2G. It's what I do usually. I only use LTE when I have to use 6tag
6. If you're using edge for basic browsing, you could try using UC browser. Not only does it use less data but you can also disable images which means you save even more on data. The less data your phone has to receive, the less the energy used
7. In settings > privacy - check each of those settings to see which apps can use what. For example I can't understand why Word would need to access location info so I disabled that. There might be apps using services that they are not meant to use
8. Finally, keep wifi/cellular off when you don't need to have them on. The toggles in action centre are pretty fast so it doesn't take much time in switching internet on/off
9. Disable auto update of apps, you only update when you are ready and not when you are in need of critical things
10. For insider rings ? reduce the amount of telemetry and feedback that you send ? this can have a big impact
11. If you have Cortana tile pinned to start screen, remove it

Hope this helps you

My most used app is Microsoft Edge, so UC browser might be a possibility if it enables me to improve the data, however its frustrating for me as I do not like wasting resources, so having a new browser would make Microsoft Edge obsolete >_<

With all phones I own, I usually have the brightness to 0% and will increase brightness if required

I think I might be able to remove VLC as File Explorer reads my SD card to allow me to listen to music/videos from Groove/Films & TV. Thankfully my NAS has a webpage that I can browse on Microsoft Edge that lets me watch all my movies, it's a little more inconvenient, but I'm maximizing on all the applications that I cannot uninstall.

Since my last post I've installed Terraria (Great game, I wonder if Bluetooth controller support works), Plants vs Zombies, Remote Desktop, Doodle Jump and Universal Emulator (POKEMON YELLOW!!!!).

I've been using the camera a lot, my god it takes beautiful pictures, my only problem is that when I send a picture on Skype, and look at it, I have to click the back button, forcing me to reopen Skype and having the picture app open?! Why doesn't it close the picture app and send me back to Skype...

When closing apps by holding down the back button, I wish we could swipe the apps up to close them, as trying to click the X sometimes forces me onto that app and can become frustrating at times.

Now brings my attention to the Display Dock, my god this thing is amazing as I've utilised every port to make it the best dock ever!!! See diagram below.

Yes, the keyboard/mouse work on my PC and on continuum, allowing me to switch between the two. An example? When I want to watch a movie in bed, I can use my phone to watch movies on the big screen allowing me to save power and making my experience a whole lot sweeter.

Impressed!

 

[Jakoh]

I have a hard time remembering the specifics of how the wiring to the pins goes, but Apple transposes two connections from the standard the rest of the world uses in the 4 pin setup.

Here it is below...but everyone follows the one on the right now.
i digressed from the issue i been facing too, the 4 contact jack has not been working for me either on the 950. I plug it in and it is detected and immediately it is undetected. I thought it was just me. but seems like there are other people out there.
View attachment 130416

 

[ttsoldier]

View attachment 130403

Do you have a separate monitor for the PC? or is the TV screen used on the PC.

Also. You can close apps by swiping DOWN on them in task view. You don't have to press the X. {You're welcome }

 

[danielheywood]

Do you have a separate monitor for the PC? or is the TV screen used on the PC.

Also. You can close apps by swiping DOWN on them in task view. You don't have to press the X. {You're welcome }

You sir are a legend!

Yes, I have 3 monitors on my desktop and a tv infront of my bed, the tv connects to the HDMI switch that connects to my pc and dock. So when I want to use the tv with my PC I change the switch to HDMI 1 and when I want to use my phone, I switch it to HDMI 2.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=a9_a...ag=hawk-future-21&ascsubtag=UUwpUvbUpU3562509

Taken with the Lumia 950

 

[Sprint51]

I use and recommend MeeAudio AF 18 Bluetooth ear buds. They sound good, are comfortable and work well with my Lumia 830.

 

[Ariel Takom]

I went to the email settings and changed it to "Daily", now I assume it checks it once a day?

Yup! It should work that way. Also, if you ever press the sync now button when you open the mail app, then the timing of your email sync would be updated.

For example, say at 8.00AM sharp, you set your email to check every 2 hours. It means that Outlook will sync your incoming mails, if any, at 10.00AM, 12PM, 2PM, 4PM, and so on.

If however, at lets say at 11AM, you manually synced (or as I would call it, force sync) your emails, then instead of syncing your emails at 10.00AM, 12PM, 2PM, 4PM, etc., your emails would now be synced every 2 hours after 11AM, which would be at 1PM, 3PM, 5PM, 7PM, and so on.

This is true for me. Your mileage may vary.

Also, was wondering. How's your 950's battery life? My dual-sim variant would last more than 17 hours per day of my typical regular use, with 5-6 hours of actual use, and the others at idle. It would last about 13 hours ++ if using mobile/cellular data though :/