Returning my Lumia 950

[sundawg#WP]

After reading Dan's review of the 950, I felt a little apprehensive about ordering one. I'm definitely a Windows fan, but not enough of one to own a bunch of Lumia variants just to have them. However, my daily driver is one of those 1520's with the bad touch screen issues. I have been looking to replace it for some time and had my eye on the 950 since it was made public, so I went for it. I bought an unlocked one directly from MS.

Based on all of the comments about the lack of good design, I was expecting the worst. But I rather liked the simplicity and really liked the design. Even the camera washer was not bad in person.

I've been using my 920 with Windows 10 for as long as it's been available, so I was aware of the UI changes. In fact there is a lot I really like in 10 over 8.1. I'm ok with the OS being a little unfinished as I'm expecting things to get fixed in the coming months.

All of the apps I used worked except for one that required facebook connectivity. I could blame Edge (and I'd love to, because I will not use it on desktop), but people complained about a few apps needing facebook connectivity having issues. But it appears that some recent app updates to some of those have resolved the issue (one being Candy Crush - connected and synchronized fine for me on the 950).

So what is my reason for returning? The difference from my 1520 (even with the crappy screen) is simply not worth $550 to me. I also realized after using it, I think I'd prefer the XL size after all. So I'll wait 3-6 months and hopefully the price will come down a bit and the OS and apps will be just that much better.

 

[Joe920]

Even the camera washer was not bad in person.

That's the best description of the camera ring that I've seen. I'm still on the fence whether I'm keeping my 950XL, also coming from a 1520. It's the hardware/firmware issues of the XL that concern me the most. Bluetooth issues, call quality issues, battery life issues, heating issues while on the charger, and the lack of visual voicemail (not available on dual SIM WP devices).

 

[gemini5150]

I feel the same way. The good is good,but becomes marred by by little flaws...

 

[rambo47]

My biggest concern about the 950 is the insanely poor battery life. I'd love one as a secondary phone, and I enjoyed WP when I had a Lumia Icon. I've since gone iPhone but I'm not in love with iOS, even as a Mac user. Verizon has me limited to the Lumia 735 if I want a Windows phone, which isn't the worst idea. But I'd love a 950 on Verizon if they got some of the issues sorted out.

 

[MikeJezZ]

My only concern is the crapp OLED. I like to keep my phones for years, which OLED makes it hard to.

 

[sundawg#WP]

I'm hearing mixed reviews on the battery - which I don't believe are hardware related. And since the 950 has Qi, quick charge 2 and removable battery, I could look past that for a bit. My short experience was while gigs of data were being downloaded for app updates and offline maps, so I expected my battery life to be shortened with all that going on.

I was surprised how warm the unit got while I was setting up the phone. One of the reasons I went for the 950 over the 950 XL was I heard of the overheating problems of the Snapdragon 810 on the XL.

I can't say anything about the Bluetooth or call quality as I never got that far before I realized I should return it before I drop it or something dumb like that.

If I was still using my 920 as a daily driver and didn't have the 1520, my decision to return the 950 probably would have been different.

 

[BaritoneGuy]

My biggest concern about the 950 is the insanely poor battery life. I'd love one as a secondary phone, and I enjoyed WP when I had a Lumia Icon. I've since gone iPhone but I'm not in love with iOS, even as a Mac user. Verizon has me limited to the Lumia 735 if I want a Windows phone, which isn't the worst idea. But I'd love a 950 on Verizon if they got some of the issues sorted out.

I am not seeing poor battery life at all. After the 2-3 days the device settled in and battery life is near what my 1520 was.