ONE thing that I need from phone - with Windows gone, who can do it?

[pidjones]

I use my phone for ---- a phone! Yes, I talk on it! That is its prime function for me. That said, I need it to voice dial with a Bluetooth headset WITHOUT using data. My Lumia 640 has been great doing this. I like the ability to have texts read to me, but the voice-dialing is super important, because I can't pull out a phone and call when I'm cruising on my motorcycle. The Lumia allowed me to tap the phone button on my headset and say "call Judy, home" and it dials her. Having the ability to receive email has been great, too. I'll hold on to the Lumia for as long as it is functional, I guess - it's been just about perfect for me. BUT! What can I look to next? Android didn't work on the Rugby Pro Android 4.2 work phone I had. Must connect to mother Google for the voice recognition, even to call numbers. Even my Rugby 2 flip could call any contact on it by voice! (And, I will hang on to it just-in-case.) I hear iThings are even more dependent on Mother Apple to keep tabs on you.

So, is there anything out there to meet this need? Google and Apple might be making a smart move to include this in their OS, as it may be mandated one day for cars. But right now holographic projection of rock stars seems to be attracting the developers interests more.

 

[pidjones]

Bought a refurbed POSH Kick Pro L520 with Android Marshmallow. Turns out it CAN do offline voice dial, so I've transferred the SIM to it and will see how it goes. Obviously inferior quality to the Lumia, but good enough to test for $35. Seems to have much less battery life, and the camera is far inferior to the 640. Might cary the 640 to use just for the camera.

 

[beman39]

there is a plethora of online places to buy a cheap but functioning windows phone, that being said, you could even find a great working L950 phone for under $200 that would fulfill all your needs and is a solid upgrade from your 640 and it won't break your wallet... windows phone isn't going to just stop working and updates will keep being pushed out till 2019 so its not going anywhere for awhile... I just got an X3 not too long ago and I luv it to pieces and will continue using it long after everyone jumps ship and I will be only the few who haven't switch over like the rest of the sheep :wink:

 

[pidjones]

I prefer the Windows phone, and the 640 is plenty powerful for me. My bank, security company, insurance providers, etc. however do not support the Windows mobile with their "apps". Cortana has been great! One of the things that really made life with the 640 very nice. Android, until 6.0, just couldn't do some of the basic offline functions that any phone should handle easily. Luckily someone at Google got tired of programming more gaming APIs into Android, and actually helped make it a functioning phone. My 640 is now the back-up phone instead of my old Rugby 2 flip (offline voice dial built into the OS). The el-cheapo POSH (hopefully not an acronym) has poor battery life, sub-par camera, and obviously inferior quality, but it works and runs those access "apps" that were never provided for the Windows phone/mobile platforms.