This really is a great phone. Love the performance, no matter what I do or try, everything is smooth and quick. Yes, there are some software issues, but mainly with apps themselfs. Whatsapp seems to crash sometimes (not different from windows 8.1), facebook wont show me notifications most of the time (didnt show on 8.1 either) and my screen sometimes freezes when I use the notification screen to change screen brightness. In the ideal world, things like these shouldnt happen and I'm hoping for updates, but really: it's not like android or ios are flawless.
App gap is something I hardly notice. Don't use my phone for silly smartphone games (thats where my PS4 and Xbox One are for right) and apparently I'm already too old for snapchat, instagram and whatever the cool kids are using right now. I stick to some basic messaging, news, weather and social media apps. And they are all there.
I totally agree that the phone could have used a more premium design, but in the end most people are hiding their premium iphones in plastic, fake leather of sillicon cases. So you wont see the design AND don't get to use wireless charging. So I rather have a plastic back and wireless charging right out of the box. Oh, and also removable battery and micro SD slot. Take that. Buttons could have been better tho. Bit sharp and wobbly. I got used to it, but they were almost the dealbreaker when I just got this phone. However, I kind of like the placement of the buttons. People seem to complain when things are different from mainstream, but also when it's too much like the mainstream. Fact is, with a phone of this size, the buttons are perfectly under my fingers. If you're pressing the wrong buttons, it's really your own doing because the buttons are seperate and, like I've said kind of sharp so you'll feel the other buttons. It's like blind typing on a keyboard, really, you'll know what you've pressed on the keyboards you know and need to get used a day or two when you get a new one.
Have been fooling around with Continuum when my dock arrived. It really has potentiol, but its simply not there yet. While switching between apps on the phone is smooth, there's a bit of lag on Continuum, which makes is kinda a hassle to multitask. And that's why you are on the big screen, right? Also, Edge is not that great on Continuum. Slow, scrolling is never smooth and the phone seems to be having difficulties with desktop websites, advertisements etc. So it could use some improvement. Multitasking would be great (in a windows 8 kind of way with two apps side by side would do), better Edge-experience is needed. Still, having full Office on your phone and switching back and forth between the phone screen and big screen is kind of amazing.
Windows Hello is good. Not sure if it's beter than finger print.
Battery life is good. I use Windows Hello, Hey Cortana, bluetooth is always on for my Microsoft Band 2, Glance is always on and still I get trough to the day. Can always be better, ofcourse.
Best things of Lumia 950 XL are still in my opinion wireless charging and glance. Glance seems to be underrated, even by the competition, but it's so great to just glance and your phone and see if you have any messages.
Some stupid things: No double tap to wake (really MS? Why would you remove such a great feature), no high sensitivity screen (although I was never able to type on my Lumia 925 with gloves on), sometimes randomly reboots, sometimes randomly disconnects with my Band, screen brightness is not optimal when set on automatic (even on 100%. Disable automatic and it almost burns out your eyes), take a while before you can edit a photo (because the device is optimizing the picture).
App gap is something I hardly notice. Don't use my phone for silly smartphone games (thats where my PS4 and Xbox One are for right) and apparently I'm already too old for snapchat, instagram and whatever the cool kids are using right now. I stick to some basic messaging, news, weather and social media apps. And they are all there.
I totally agree that the phone could have used a more premium design, but in the end most people are hiding their premium iphones in plastic, fake leather of sillicon cases. So you wont see the design AND don't get to use wireless charging. So I rather have a plastic back and wireless charging right out of the box. Oh, and also removable battery and micro SD slot. Take that. Buttons could have been better tho. Bit sharp and wobbly. I got used to it, but they were almost the dealbreaker when I just got this phone. However, I kind of like the placement of the buttons. People seem to complain when things are different from mainstream, but also when it's too much like the mainstream. Fact is, with a phone of this size, the buttons are perfectly under my fingers. If you're pressing the wrong buttons, it's really your own doing because the buttons are seperate and, like I've said kind of sharp so you'll feel the other buttons. It's like blind typing on a keyboard, really, you'll know what you've pressed on the keyboards you know and need to get used a day or two when you get a new one.
Have been fooling around with Continuum when my dock arrived. It really has potentiol, but its simply not there yet. While switching between apps on the phone is smooth, there's a bit of lag on Continuum, which makes is kinda a hassle to multitask. And that's why you are on the big screen, right? Also, Edge is not that great on Continuum. Slow, scrolling is never smooth and the phone seems to be having difficulties with desktop websites, advertisements etc. So it could use some improvement. Multitasking would be great (in a windows 8 kind of way with two apps side by side would do), better Edge-experience is needed. Still, having full Office on your phone and switching back and forth between the phone screen and big screen is kind of amazing.
Windows Hello is good. Not sure if it's beter than finger print.
Battery life is good. I use Windows Hello, Hey Cortana, bluetooth is always on for my Microsoft Band 2, Glance is always on and still I get trough to the day. Can always be better, ofcourse.
Best things of Lumia 950 XL are still in my opinion wireless charging and glance. Glance seems to be underrated, even by the competition, but it's so great to just glance and your phone and see if you have any messages.
Some stupid things: No double tap to wake (really MS? Why would you remove such a great feature), no high sensitivity screen (although I was never able to type on my Lumia 925 with gloves on), sometimes randomly reboots, sometimes randomly disconnects with my Band, screen brightness is not optimal when set on automatic (even on 100%. Disable automatic and it almost burns out your eyes), take a while before you can edit a photo (because the device is optimizing the picture).
Sorface Phone (or whatever newer Lumia) is 9 months away (speculating).
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