Should I Upgrade Lumia 640 to Win 10

daveplaysbass

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I have a new Lumia 640 coming. It's a new in box AT&T go phone. I am on AT&T presently with a Lumia 635, which I like better than my Android tablet or work iPhone 5S.

I read bad stuff about Win 10 but most of it seems older. How stable is it now? I assume if I don't like it a factory restore goes back to Win 8.1, yes? Any special tips or tricks? Thanks.
 

jeffchapik

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My family has 3 640's, all running W10M. It's not perfect. There are still little issues here and there. But I would be never go back to 8.1. There's just too much new functionality that I'd be unwilling to give up.

No real major problems. It's definitely stable enough for a daily driver.
 

daveplaysbass

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Cool thanks. I have been doing some reading and I have some questions. Given the phone is in the mail, I can post questions before I have a problem :).

1) Should I unlock my phone from AT&T and do the install from Microsoft? I am not sure I fully understand the difference at this point but it sounds like my phone will be defaulted as a locked AT&T phone which may limit what I can do from MS. I can unlock the phone but I will still be on the AT&T network.

2) It sounds like Windows Insider was pre release of Win 10. Given that it has been out a while, I assume this is pointless to consider at this point?

3) Do I need to install the Windows 10 Mobile Upgrade Advisor to get things going?
 
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libra89

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Cool thanks. I have been doing some reading and I have some questions. Given the phone is in the mail, I can post questions before I have a problem :).

1) Should I unlock my phone from AT&T and do the install from Microsoft? I am not sure I fully understand the difference at this point but it sounds like my phone will be defaulted as a locked AT&T phone which may limit what I can do from MS. I can unlock the phone but I will still be on the AT&T network.

2) It sounds like Windows Insider was pre release of Win 10. Given that it has been out a while, I assume this is pointless to consider at this point?

3) Do I need to install the Windows 10 Mobile Upgrade Advisor to get things going?

1. Since you are already on AT&T, you don't have to unlock it but if you wish to sell it someday and/or give it away to someone who uses another carrier (i.e. T-Mobile), it would be better to unlock it. It being carrier/SIM unlocked or not will not limit anything. Once you get the update, Microsoft controls all software updates.

2. Insiders get builds before they are rolled out monthly. I would suggest trying it out to see how it how it goes for you before considering Insider.

3. Yep! Just get it from the Store, run it and go to phone update to download and install it.

I don't know what is factory restore, but hard reset, performed after the upgrade, will not downgrade from your latest WM10 version.

They mean the same thing :)
 

jeffchapik

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If you want to return to 8.1, you'll have to download and run the Windows Device Recovery Tool (WDRT) on a PC with your phone attached via USB. After upgrading to W10M, a factory reset will only give you a clean version of W10M again.
 

Ntei

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The only real advantage wp8.1 have over w10m in my opinion is speed.
My 640 runs w10m as well as it ran wp8.1.
 

daveplaysbass

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The only real advantage wp8.1 have over w10m in my opinion is speed.
My 640 runs w10m as well as it ran wp8.1.

Thanks everyone for the replies.

Interesting to say 8.1 runs faster? I have a 635 that per the settings screen says it only has 512mb of ram. It runs is slow to open apps. The 640 is 1gb so i hope to be able to open the camera in less than 10 seconds. Is 10 that much slower?
 

libra89

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Thanks everyone for the replies.

Interesting to say 8.1 runs faster? I have a 635 that per the settings screen says it only has 512mb of ram. It runs is slow to open apps. The 640 is 1gb so i hope to be able to open the camera in less than 10 seconds. Is 10 that much slower?
I agree with @Ntei , it does. The camera software experience is improving on W10M, compared to what it was. Depending on the apps you care about, some might only be available on W10M, and that goes for improved versions too.

8.1 is faster but I recommend that you try out W10M first. Also it would help if you shared some apps that you would like to use or care about and we can tell you the condition of them.
 

daveplaysbass

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My main use is Explorer Browser, Camera, I Heart Radio App, Navigation (Here Drive), Email, My Fitness Pal, a GPS walking app, and of course phone and text.
 

libra89

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Thanks for that!

HERE Drive is not available on W10M so you would have to use a substitute, Microsoft Maps is the new built in app for Maps. The Camera app is comparable to how it was on 8.1. Internet Explorer has been replaced with Edge, which is pretty good. Iheartradio is an app I haven't tried in a while but it works just fine when I tried it last. MyFitnessPal has ended support for Windows phone, check out this article about it: MyFitnessPal ends support of its Windows Phone app | Windows Central
There are alternatives though: Start the New Year's right with these calories counting apps for Windows phone | Windows Central

As for the GPS walking app, I have no idea about those sorry.
 

Ntei

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Also when (if) you upgrade some turn off the automated app upgrades cause some 8.1 apps (my experience is with Lumia camera, I do not know if there are more) might get blocked with upgrades.
 

daveplaysbass

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Back to the unlock question, is it best to unlock a phone and be able to get updates directly from Windows? I read about the lag that some cell phone companies have on getting the Windows mobile updates rolled out. On the other hand is there advantage to the carrier doing the updates for support and specific network performance?
 

libra89

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Back to the unlock question, is it best to unlock a phone and be able to get updates directly from Windows? I read about the lag that some cell phone companies have on getting the Windows mobile updates rolled out. On the other hand is there advantage to the carrier doing the updates for support and specific network performance?
When you unlock a carrier phone, you are just unlocking the SIM tray. Since it is a carrier phone, the carrier is still in control of firmware updates for Windows 10 Mobile.

AT&T is still in control of the firmware regardless but Microsoft is in control of software updates so you should get them the same time as everyone else.

Firmware updates handle network and radio related things for the phone itself.

The only way to get firmware and software updates directly from Microsoft is to buy a factory unlocked phone.
 

daveplaysbass

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When you unlock a carrier phone, you are just unlocking the SIM tray. Since it is a carrier phone, the carrier is still in control of firmware updates for Windows 10 Mobile.

AT&T is still in control of the firmware regardless but Microsoft is in control of software updates so you should get them the same time as everyone else.

Firmware updates handle network and radio related things for the phone itself.

The only way to get firmware and software updates directly from Microsoft is to buy a factory unlocked phone.

So that would mean that if I unlock the phone, I can get Windows 10 Mobile updates from MS directly. Which I think could be better than hoping AT&T continues to support WM10.
 

libra89

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So that would mean that if I unlock the phone, I can get Windows 10 Mobile updates from MS directly. Which I think could be better than hoping AT&T continues to support WM10.
You would still get W10M software updates after doing the initial update to that regardless of if you unlock or not.
 

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