[Quick Impressions] Who Has Gotten The Lumia 950?

[FiJPM]

Ok L950 dual sim replaced my L930 and so far so good been using this now for two weeks.
I am on production software on this, but had insider on L930.
-
Robust piece of equipment ni glitches!
Mozo back cover is a must the OEM is cheapo looking and feeling.

 

[coolibop]

Replaced my Lumia 1020 on 10586 with a dual sim 950 as my daily driver. Only been a couple of days, but I'm very happy with the snappiness of the phone. Would have liked nicer side buttons and back plate (feels a little flimsy as compared to the 1020, could be because of the weight), but only a minor issue. I'm used to w10, so nothing terribly new, although windows hello is a nice new feature.

 

[grayskale]

After dropping my 930 on the floor and causing the screen to bleed black colors on the camera button side with the warranty expired, i had to revert to the 830 (the spare) - by then the 950 was released - i held back from upgrading due to the price and all the feedback about Win10 mobile being buggy etc. So in May 2016 with the price having been discounted a bit, i decided it was time for the 950 - the 830 was a fine phone except for the lags and my reluctance to update it to Win10.

With the current .318 update, the 950 improves on the 930 in many ways (except for the metal polycarbonate casing)- i'm glad i didn't go out and buy the 930 for a second time.
Things i really love:
- Windows Hello iris scanner - works 9 out of 10 times - with and without my glasses, while walking, being still in the dark or bright places.
- Glance - finally on an AMOLED flagship.
- Great camera, needless to mention.
- fast charging (weird thing is it only works if i power up the charger before plugging into the phone).
- Double-tap on bar to lock the phone.
- the weight! - lighter than the 930 and 830.
- Great response and feel of the UI - smooth most of the time.

Now it needs: double-tap to wake!

 

[hack14u]

And double tap to wake is coming with the new firmware. I am reading these posts right now trying to decide on the 640XL vs the ATT 950. It looks like the 950 is just a beast of a phone. I am so mad that my wife gave her mother my 640, thinking I wasn't using it, arrgghhh. Now I need something!

 

[hack14u]

Yes, but HOW does it work? According to AT&T's WiFi calling page, the options should just appear in phone settings, but I see none of that. I do have HD Voice enabled. So, this means AT&T doesn't support WiFi Calling on the 950? Yet?

Amazingly ATT still hasn't implemented it yet for this phone. So far, only the new iPhones, the S6 active and LG G4 are the only ones, but it seems like they are adding phones pretty quickly. They even made a point the other day about how 4 million calls have been placed already just on those devices. Then again, it should tell them how terrible their network really is. I NEED this feature, so sick of a microcell that disconnects all the time.

 

[libra89]

Didn't think that I would be posting here, but here I am.
I posted some of this in another thread, already.

First impressions:
-Not too big, seems like it is barely wider than the 640.
-Too early to say for battery life, but I'm not impressed so far. Will try some tweaks though.
-The camera is really nice.
-It gets kind of hot every now and then.
-I am someone that does not use fingerprint scanners, just because but I had to try this iris scanner. I am impressed that it works well with and without my glasses, especially considering that I don't have a light prescription.
-I kind of miss Instagram Stories, just kind of.

 

[Werentuckl]

Instagram update incoming soon. Simply because its an iOS port. So sooner rather than later, and if.

Never used IG myself though.

-- W

 

[libra89]

Instagram update incoming soon. Simply because its an iOS port. So sooner rather than later, and if.

Never used IG myself though.

-- W

I hope so. I'm mixed about them, but I enjoy IG even though I hardly post. It is probably one of the apps that I open the most on whatever phone I am using.

Interesting that you haven't.

 

[Werentuckl]

Well, I do come across those random IG profiles once in a while on a tumblr or an etsy or a blog or some such thing that you visit. But thats about it.

People like to call me tinfoil hat levels/degrees of paranoid usually. Since I'm averse to Google, Facebook, most social media and the like. Most things that make a living off of my life, selling it right back at me to make their money. There's this little anecdote about Google I like to keep bringing up about how quick their turnaround for data mining is. Exchange a few emails or have a few conversations over GTalk/Hangouts, talking about something specific. Lets say boots. And I'm not even talking about SEO level word dropping to get noticed by their ad placement/analytics system. And very soon, quickly, lo and behold, sometimes in less than an hour, the ads targeting you are suddenly all about boots. Its a realy PITA if you do SEO optimisation for anyone. But thats when I really got put off of google. At least.

And for a very long time I was one of their bigger proponents. But thats how life is. You try and always find a balance between compromises of need, and compromises of evils. Haves and have nots. So I've shuttled over the years across places and platforms. It was MS that was the most unethical in the early 2000s. Then Apple. Facebook. Now Google. And it will be someone else in another few years. So Ive been through various Linux Distros, Hackintoshing, Android, Windows. And for a while now, MS has been, ironically, the most consumer ethical of the big corporations that feed us into our consumer lifestyles. Hope it stays that way for a while now. BUTIMUSTSHUTUPNOWANDSTOPRANTINGALREADYEVERYWHEREANDEVERYPLACE.

So I'm basically very data averse to handing out bits and bytes only to be fed back, as much as I have choices left for it anyways. Sadly. We're not far from the time where that choice is taken away completely from us. All under the guise of more choices and illusions, thats how it always is. Sigh.

Im done with my tinfoil hat.

-- W

 

[JohnStrk]

AT&T (Asurion) replaced my aging off contract L830 for a L950 for a $62 deductible yesterday! Shipped and arrived today. I was going to get the 950 XL for $450 from the MS store but since I was still paying the insurance for my L830 I figured I try and get a replacement. Can't wait to start fresh with WDRT and set up the latest Production build on it. Now I really hope the AT&T DTTW firmware arrives soon!

 

[mattdodwell]

My Lumia 950 is no more :-(.

Not because of the phone because of the user.

I dropped it on its corner and cracked the screen some months ago but kept using it, then I dropped it again last night, this time it hit a flat surface flat on the screen and now it's completely ca-put, at least the screen. I think the phone still works, but the screen just shows weird colored lines and black spots.

Back on my iPhone 5s for the moment until I decide what to do.

 

[Jag423]

I love my Lumia 950 too.
The camera is really good, and I can live without most apps, however under armour just pulled Windows Phone "My fitness pal" which I was using a lot, very annoying.
I really like that the battery can be replaced.

 

[BMT001]

I have had a 950 from the day they released it. Coming from android it was quite a refreshing change. I really wanted a 950 XL more for the size than the specs as I have been using a Note 5 and a Note 3 before that. 10 has come along way since I got it last year. Still not many apps but I am ok with that. But it finally seems faster and not as buggy. I am running the insider fast ring builds and this last update was great. I will be selling this phone in the new future though to make room for the 950 xl I ordered. I would definitely recommend to some people but not every one. I am a business man I use it primarily for that talk, text, one drive, documents, email and the occasional web browsing. for what I use it for its perfect. its easier to navigate since it just like my desktop, laptop and surface. If you are a younger kid that uses 900 apps my dare I say get an android. It will probably suit you better until you become an adult and see how much more fluid and expandable windows 10 mobile is.

 

[Tiiger88]

So....my first impressions was good, but after 10 months, i regret so much that i paid 599€ to get this device. Why you ask? OK...let me tell you.
If you own a Lumia device, you are special person, so special that even the app market don't have almost nothing to offer you. Yes, i was aware about that, i was trying to get used to it, but with such a nice specs, and app market don't have almost anything useful to offer me - it is disappointing. Even if i find app that i need, almost every time it looks outdated and terrible to use. I look android users and see everyday how entertained they are. Ok, lets move on...

Another thing is OS itself. It looks really beautiful, but ONLY a start screen, everything else is boring and sometimes you just don't find what you are looking for (settings). Lets say i open my call log and want to send text message recently called contact, yeah, there is no way, a long press dont give this opportunity and short press starts to call this contact. :/

Another thing is not MS fault, but - facebook messenger and telegram messenger don't have landscape mode. It's so frustrating to write long texts on portrait!
Next disappointing thing is gallery, the picture organizing system is something i don't understand. Sometimes it just doesn't make sense to me.
Also, OS and apps waste display space like hell.
Another thing is camera, the video quality is poor, video stabilization is bad and picture goes out of focus every little time. The picture quality is amazing, but when i need to make quick moves after taking picture, swiping between last pictures, deleting and start over to take new pictures, the camera app goes nuts. It don't understand what i'm doing and it gets very slow on taking new pictures or crash.

Copy paste system is also painful. If i copy some text or link, the system makes copy icon ahead to keyboard. Why i need this icon and there is no way to get it gone, unless you make reboot. The icon makes additional bar, so there is much more display space wasting :/ I try to get example to you.
So if you look this picture you know what i mean. I just need Keyboard, why there is so many bs? I can hide navigation buttons yes, but this is not helpful. Paste button every time i use keyboard? Why, let me make long press to text box and then i can paste what i want.

Now you think why i'm talking this in here? Ok, some of the things i dont like, i made feedback to ms, but the feedback hub is just one messy thing to use. It's just so hard to navigate there....
Last thing is continuum, yes, it is so innovative and cool thing, but....when i'm in continuum i need to pay to get use office software. It is so disappointing.

So, why i'm still holding on?

Firstly i moved my life to Microsoft, my contacts, i use outlook e-mail and so on.
There is still hope, that everything gets better every update.

PROS:
*Photo quality
*Continuum
*Screen
*Double tap to wake (works 9 out of 10)
*Average time between charges 17,5 h, so battery lasts full day.
*Constant update system.
*Glance screen
*Wireless charging

CONS
*Display space wasting
*IRIS Scanner don't work as good as i expect
*App gap
*Price when i bought it
*Doesn't feel premium

So, when nothing to happens my phone (brake or lost) i'm planning to use it as long as it can make calls, take good pictures and there is new windows phone on market released by MS.

 

[sidtek50]

I've just ordered my 950 from the Microsoft store so i'll be able to tell you how it is next week. I used to own a 720 when it was launched. I can't remember why I left it to be honest, but I did. I tried all kinds of phones but recently got a Lumia 640. It was good but I must have got a dodgy handset because it would squeak in the top right corner which just didn't feel right. I returned it and have ordered the 950. The 950 will become my daily driver whether I love it or hate it. I will be using continuum and the camera mostly - I plan to have a Flickr account dedicated to my 950 snaps. I'll let you know my first impressions next week.

 

[kaktus1389]

I just bought 950 yesterday, because the price dropped dramatically and I could afford it as it will most probably remain supported for longer time than 640 XL because of it's specs.
So far I really like the display, it's totally pixel-less, a lot better than 640 XL even though that display wasn't bad at all. The phone is really fast, it opens apps a lot faster than my 640 XL and it's especially noticeable when using Edge.
Windows Hello works fast, even in complete darkness (I had to do improve recognition for it to work though). Works when I'm wearing glasses too.
Overall, for now only thing that looks a bit iffy for me is the battery life, but most of the day I don't use it heavily so I hope it will survive over the day.

My question however is, do you guys think MS will be giving away free docks? Because I really want to try out Continuum, but extra 100€ in my pocket wouldn't hurt me too.

 

[Tiiger88]

Battery life improves itself over some days. And if you didn't get the dock, when you bought your phone, i'm sure you can't get it free from MS later.

 

[sidtek50]

Had the 950 for just over a day. First impressions are good. Photographs seem great quality but i've not been anywhere special to take fancy photos. Battery life isn't fantastic but it's far too early to say whether it improves once it has settled in. Phone is quite snappy and responsive based on my usage. Continuum is great - i'm surprised how quick it is considering the phone's specs; it's very usable. If the battery life improves a bit (as most phones do after a week or so of charging) I can easily make this phone my daily driver.

 

[elgobuda]

I started with Lumia 620 and went on to 735, then 930 and finally 950. I was really happy with it, as with previous phones. However after a few months, 950 is being used purely for photography. Why? Well, my employer gave me a Samsung Galaxy A3 (2014) and as I was getting frustrated that a lot of 1st party apps were not very smooth, decided to try out Android. The user experience is far more enjoyable on this old budget device, than on 950. First of all those apps that are present on both OSes for some strange reason start up and run much faster on the Samsung. Considering that 950 stands head and shoulders above A3 in terms of specs, the A3 performs better.

I have no problem using Edge for those web services that don't have an app. But even Edge is far from an enjoyable experience.

The other bonus are the other apps. I was persistent with the 950 and used all the apps that I needed and were available, but the experience on 950 is not fluid, smooth or fast despite the nice hardware.

I've done my share of resets, and seriously I think we should be past this stage that a reset solves problems. I am tired of rebuilding the setting after every reset.

Obviously even the consumer Windows phones are not aimed at me. I am very disappointed with 950 and regret getting it. The bottom line is, a 2014 Galaxy A3 provides a better, faster, smoother experience that Lumia 950. Honestly, the experience on the 950 does not justify the amount of money spent.

After the whole Note 7 fiasco, I am looking forward to getting a new Samsung device in the new year, since now Samsung will want to avoid further problems and will hopefully do better Quality Assurance. I will still use 950, but only to take photos as that's the only thing this device is good at doing. Although even that is not without issues, with slow start up times, or complete failure to start when pressing the dedicated button thus missing a photo opportunity (isn't that the reason why there are good cameras on phones, to be able to capture a moment at any time).

 

[infinidim]

I have just come from Lumia 930 to a 950 and it seems to be much better. There are still a few little bugs with the version of Windows 10 Mobile (version 14393.351) but I am thinking that Microsoft will sort these out soon (hopefully). The 930 had got really bad under Windows 10 because of lack of firmware upgrades.

There is still the app gap with Android and IOS but because I use a limited set of apps it's OK for me.

Regards

Infinidim