[Quick Impressions] Who Has Gotten The Lumia 950?

[anon(5354555)]

I would say that there are issues with the OS and apps of course. In the past two days of playing non-stop with my setup on the 950, I have been receiving a ton of app updates including the core apps like Outlook, Store, Calendar, and Office to name a few. It seems they are busy updating apps as fast as they can. I have good battery life now that the updates seemed to have slowed down. Wireless charging is much faster than my old 920. The only thing remaining as an irritant is that I have two apps that won't update and throw unknown errors: Lumia Help+Tips and Advanced info. I wonder if ATT broke those with their software installs.

 

[Achike Da]

I would try it yourself before you make any statements, I have tried it and the window hello did not need to be in front of my face to unlock.
It's quite simple, buy one if you are not happy, exercise your consumer rights and return it. Then come on the forms and talk facts and not what you have read in some other post or what you think or feel something is.

My point exactly. A coupla people here are making comments without actually owning and using it. I remember when the 1st iPhone 5 were received, because they were much slimmer and lighter than the iPhone 4S, the web was filled with how 'flimsy' the quality was. Same feeling with this L950. Also, its removable back (which gives the illusion of flimsiness) is almost the same comment that has been received from any removable backed Samsung flagship released over the years. Single bodied (non-removable back) phones always seem more solid. Also, current feedback on the ipad pro that's just released shows tons of people are having their devices freeze after charging. it's so bad that Apple customer service recommends doing a hard/soft reset which still doesn't fix it. My point? newly released devices will display software glitches and omissions especially in the hands of the very 1st few who buy it. (except it's an analog microwave ). Now back to the star of the moment, the L950. It's a great phone. finally a slim light phone we've been asking for with removable back .. And as for windows hello (iris scanner), run the setup several times (5 times maybe), it improves recognition each time. Hope this helps folks ;-)

 

[KimRM]

I've never owned a Windows phone before but I'm really interested in this phone... Or I was.


Is it normal for Microsoft to release phones so broken? I'm kind of in shock how they could sell this to the general public....

I don't think it's "broken" like the impression you get from some people on this forum. If you haven't tried the device for your-self yet you shouldn't be in shock over anything. Just try it out and then make your own mind. The majority of people that have bought this phone are happy with it.

 

[Great deal]

In the grand scheme of things these issues are to be expected. Its a brand new OS tied to Windows 10. The goal is to make it easy for developers to make an app once and port everywhere. MS have the Surface line, the phones will come, they HAD to release something and these are the devices ready for shipping before xmas. Its also a testbed for the new OS. Imagine the failure of Surface branded phones with a buggy OS. You guys are the brave souls biting the bullet, also eating the expected pain. For those not expecting any pain in this transitional period then its difficult to not say its your own fault for not seeing the bigger picture. Patience (I lack it sometimes) is needed for W10 as its very early days still, I luved getting the lates and greates, having a 920 and 1020 since release date and using W10 on them has taught me patience. I cant wait for Microsofts own devices released on a stable OS.

 

[Shane_B]

I don't think it's "broken" like the impression you get from some people on this forum. If you haven't tried the device for your-self yet you shouldn't be in shock over anything. Just try it out and then make your own mind. The majority of people that have bought this phone are happy with it.

Well I'll be watching this forum like a hawk today. It's down to this phone and the LG v10 for me. Going to the store after work to take the plunge on something.

 

[Achike Da]

I've had mine for two days. My only complaint is no tap to wake, maybe it'll come in an update? Camera, UI, battery life, everything else is very good. I'm very happy!

I submitted that (no double tap to wake) as a complaint in the feedback app/section. Please do the same, the more we complain about it, the higher the possibility someone will take note and do something at MSFT

 

[Achike Da]

I love saying "I told you so". Nobody believed me when I insisted these are NOT flagships.

They are flagships & worthy of their 'day in court'!. I remember when the 1st iPhone 5 were received, because they were much slimmer and lighter than the iPhone 4S, the web was filled with how 'flimsy' the quality was. Same feeling with this L950. Also, its removable back (which gives the illusion of flimsiness) is almost the same comment that has been received from any removable backed Samsung flagship released over the years. Single bodied (non-removable back) phones always seem more solid. Also, current feedback on the ipad pro that's just released shows tons of people are having their devices freeze after charging. it's so bad that Apple customer service recommends doing a hard/soft reset which still doesn't fix it. My point? newly released devices will display software glitches and omissions especially in the hands of the very 1st few who buy it. (except it's an analog microwave ). Now back to the star of the moment, the L950. It's a great phone. finally a slim light phone we've been asking for with removable back .. And as for windows hello (iris scanner), run the setup several times (5 times maybe), it improves recognition each time. Hope this helps folks ;-)

 

[KimRM]

- Hello is embarrassingly flawed. Should have been disabled and unavailable until it was done. The feature is always on even when in lock mode on my charger. So when laying in bed with it on a stand facing me, it keeps blooping and beeping, asking me to "move closer". It also drains the battery FAST. I've already disabled it

Should have been a quick toggle to turn it off then maybe. If you have it facing your face I can't see it as a flaw if it keeps trying to recognize you, when it's just doing its job Damned if it don't, damned if it do.

 

[Achike Da]

I would say that there are issues with the OS and apps of course. In the past two days of playing non-stop with my setup on the 950, I have been receiving a ton of app updates including the core apps like Outlook, Store, Calendar, and Office to name a few. It seems they are busy updating apps as fast as they can. I have good battery life now that the updates seemed to have slowed down. Wireless charging is much faster than my old 920. The only thing remaining as an irritant is that I have two apps that won't update and throw unknown errors: Lumia Help+Tips and Advanced info. I wonder if ATT broke those with their software installs.

a coupla of us are also getting those two errors. I guess it'll be fixed soon since it's pretty prevalent

 

[Jazmac]

Have you ever experienced front facing stereo speakers on a phone? I didn't think it was that big of a deal, until I listened to them. I don't consume a ton of media on my phone, youtube videos and what not, but man I didn't know what I was missing until I heard them on my M8. After you use a device with awesome speakers that actually sound really good, you won't want to go back to anything else. My girlfriend would listen to music all the time and I had to walk into the room she was in to see what speakers she was playing it on, they sounded that good. Loud and clear with no distortion. I'm really not looking forward to going backward to a rear facing mono speaker :eck:

I have both the HTC One M8 running Win10M and one running android. So, yep. If there is a need to share sound with others, I have devices for that. But again, even with those devices, I use my Jaybirds with Groove 99 percent of the time and talk about a beautiful experience. Oh man! But man, that's nice to have like having a phone that can change web pages by blinking (dumb feature) but a necessity? Not really. No different for me than having unlimited data on my phone. I found that that is a nice to have too but absolutely unnecessary.

 

[MikeSo]

Well I'll be watching this forum like a hawk today. It's down to this phone and the LG v10 for me. Going to the store after work to take the plunge on something.

The V10 seems very cool. I'm tempted to look at it myself, I had never heard of it before this thread but I've been reading a bunch about it since yesterday and it seems like a great phone with tons of features.

However, it seems like the 950XL would be a better comparison to the V10, both in price and size. It costs $100 more than the 950, even though it has the same Snapdragon 808, for example. I don't think the two are direct competitors.

 

[Spicymikey]

After a few more hours of use with it I can see the HELLO flaw is a little more complicated then I described. Definitely something wrong but more intermittent of a problem. They do call it "Beta" to be fair, but, it definitely seems to get hung and when it does it drains the battery fast. I also have a standing charger in my office and I saw it ask me to "Move Closer" once already this morning, but it hasn't done it since.

MSFT really needs to lay low and keep advertising to a minimum until this is REALLY done. Right now, it should be for enthusiasts only

 

[Spicymikey]

Should have been a quick toggle to turn it off then maybe. If you have it facing your face I can't see it as a flaw if it keeps trying to recognize you, when it's just doing its job Damned if it don't, damned if it do.

I think it needs to be smarter and only try and identify you when it senses the kind of gesture associated with this type of thing. At very least, it shouldn't be scanning for me if the phone is sitting still on a desk. At least I think so

 

[derek533]

You guys and your LG V10 talk are seriously making me consider that over a GN5. Don't get me wrong, I've been around since W7 and love, LOVE WP but have been considering having an affair with an Android phone and sitting out this generation. The 950/950XL appear to be great phones, but darn if that LG v10's camera doesn't look completely awesome along with the build quality and rubberized back.

My 1520's screen is doing that freak out thing and the only thing I can do to stop it is kind of bend the phone back and forth a little. Plus, the battery I think is starting to deteriorate as I don't get near as long as I used to on a single charge. The last update really borked it for me and the nagging little issues (hello super bright blind you at night buttons) are just wearing on me. I dunno though, I love the size of my 1520 and anything less is going to feel small.

 

[Chrishan Fernando]

I was going to do a review, but now I'm not. Don't wake me up.

Thank you Dan it was awesome

 

[eeewing]

Where did you see that the 6S costs more ? I think you are mixing sales price with cost.
The BOM of the 6S is 245$. For instance, another flagship like the Samsung S6 is ... 278$, significantly costlier.

The iPhone 6S costs an end-user more money than the Lumia 950...not once did I mention or imply teardown costs. In fact, teardown costs for the Lumia 950 haven't been published yet...so I'm not sure why they'd even come into play here? My comment was intended to convey that since people pay more money for an iPhone than a Lumia, the latter's body materials should seem more acceptable to high-end smartphone buyers than if the phone were $200 more expensive. Apologies if my first post wasn't clear on that point.

 

[jdballard]

Hello is embarrassingly flawed. Should have been disabled and unavailable until it was done. The feature is always on even when in lock mode on my charger. So when laying in bed with it on a stand facing me, it keeps blooping and beeping, asking me to "move closer". It also drains the battery FAST. I've already disabled it

Interesting, as Daniel's review of it says that it seems to have negligible impact. Not discounting that it's what's causing your battery drain, but obviously two vastly different takes/experiences with it. Hello is still technically in beta, though, so hopefully it will improve.

Thanks for sharing your initial impressions of the device!

 

[Camilo Hoffmann Kuschel]

I've given up on Lumias for the time being. Bought an iPhone 6S instead and, although iOS is pretty boring, the built quality and overall experience are really good.
I'll be waiting for Panos to do his magic as well.
I'm keeping my gorgeous yellow 920 until I die though. LOL.

 

[jdballard]

The majority of people that have bought this phone are happy with it.

How do you know the majority of the people that have bought it are happy with it? Do you know how many have even been sold and/or activated? And have you talked to every owner to find out if they're happy? It could be that 99.5% of the users are happy with it or it could be that .5% of users are happy with it. No way to really know for sure. I'd venture it's the other way around, but that's just a guess. It could just be that the unhappy people are more vocal.

 

[jdballard]

MSFT really needs to lay low and keep advertising to a minimum until this is REALLY done. Right now, it should be for enthusiasts only

The 950 and 950XL phones are really meant for enthusiasts - not just Hello. MS has no expectations of this phone doing anything to turn the tide for Windows Phone sales. From Redmond Mag, via Paul Thurrott:

“We launched a [Lumia] 950 and a 950 XL,” Hood [Microsoft CFO Amy Hood] said, referring to Microsoft’s new Windows 10 Mobile flagships that cost $550 and $650, respectively. “They’re premium products, at the premium end of the market, made for Windows fans."
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