*Sigh* ...unfortunately, I think my perfect Surface Phone will be a Galaxy Note.

[TLRtheory]

Though I did have a HTC TyTn II beforehand, Samsung Focus Flash is really what started it all for me.

Then the Lumia 520, HTC 8s, 525, 1020, 1520, Icon, 820, 830, 535, 640, 1520 (again), 930, 920, 950, YEZZ Billy 4.7, 650, 950XL, Alcatel Idol 4S, gave the 950XL to my wife and went back to the 950. I remember my entire lifespan with Windows Phone vividly. Partially because I still have a lot of those phones.

I've never been bothered by the app gap. No bank app for my Synchrony, US Bank or Chase? That's fine... we have Prism, which allows me to check ALL my banks at once and pay bills in one app. That actually got me to uninstall all the bank apps from my iPhone and whatever Android was the flavor at the time. No YouTube? We have TubeCast, which actually allows me to download, play under the lock screen, continue audio playback even if I switch apps... I get none of that with the official YouTube app.

What is bothering me though... is the complete detachment our first-party's had in the Nadella era of Microsoft. Back in the prime days of 8/8.1, we'd have the app gap as well, but could be comforted in that Microsoft would at least give us decently modern support on their first-party software. Today that isn't the case. We had a complete MS Band app refresh promised that fell through, Continuum updates that would make a world of difference in fighting against the OLED image retention that Windows Phone owners know way too well... also of which has gone undelivered... and of course there's the new Skype which is everything So.cl should've been in a way that can take advantage of Skype's metric ton of users. iPhone got it, Droid got it... Windows Phone? Whole lotta nothin.

On a whim of wondering how the S-Pen works with OneNote, I decided to snatch up a Galaxy Note 3... mostly because it was still a 800 series Snapdragon, and about $92. I've fully Microsoft'ed it out with the office suite, Cortana in place of S-Voice/Google Now, Microsoft Launcher, Bing (which I'm just finding out is actually a full browser supplement instead of just a search app) and all... dare I say I'm not disappointed.

Of course as the mascot for Xbox Mobile, I'm lastingly bothered by investing my achievement hunting and leaderboard climbing to Google Play Games as opposed to XBL, but seeing that Microsoft may be throwing it's supporters under the bus (again), this may be a viable option.

 

[worldspy99]

I would say give the Google Pixel a try before you jump on the Galaxy bandwagon.

 

[Adventurer64]

8 MThs ago I was sporting a Note 4 with all the MS apps for android. All very impressive. I used Bing app the most followed by outlook and probably onenote after. Arrow launcher from the start. When I switched to TMo, I picked up the Idol 4S. I recall being disappointed with some of the W10M MS apps. I've since forgotten about that and generally like w10m much better than android. I'm I late comer to w10m, so maybe I missed out on all the early problems. All in all, my Idol has been less buggy and bloaty than all the androids I've owned since 2009. W10m just works well. I did have some random issues after 1703 update, but those have all gone away. My only issue is that I somehow toasted my battery and have to charge several times a day. When new, it was lasting full day with heavy use.

 

[TLRtheory]

I would say give the Google Pixel a try before you jump on the Galaxy bandwagon.

I've actually kinda already done it. Though my Lumia 950 was the daily driver, I've had a Galaxy S8 here since launch, and the Note 3 arrived a couple days ago... and I don't mean to offend Pixel fans, but that's about the only lineup I'm making a huge effort to ignore.

Had a Nexus 5 and a first gen Pixel, wasn't particularly fond of them because my digital footprint is huge in a manner that cloud storage can't really help with. Tons of games, a massive FLAC collection (which never streams to my satisfaction so local playback is the only option), and I'm constantly shooting... between 50-120 pics per day with lots of 4K shooting peppered in there. I feel like if I'm gonna go with a major hardware restriction like non-expandable storage, that defies the "freedom-oriented" nature of Android, and it's not something I can deal with all that well even if they try to make up for it with cloud storage.

I'll likely pick anything but a Pixel, even moreso now that they've joined team no-headphone jack. Samsung may love slamming me with bloat... but that ain't nothin but root access and a couple minutes ripping Apks out of the system/apps folder. Going back to that Galaxy S8, I absolutely adore that they aren't bull****ting me by using it's low profile (or that industry-disruptingly wonderful screen) as a reason to jip me on expandable storage, wireless charging or a headphone jack.

8 MThs ago I was sporting a Note 4 with all the MS apps for android. All very impressive. I used Bing app the most followed by outlook and probably onenote after. Arrow launcher from the start. When I switched to TMo, I picked up the Idol 4S. I recall being disappointed with some of the W10M MS apps. I've since forgotten about that and generally like w10m much better than android. I'm I late comer to w10m, so maybe I missed out on all the early problems. All in all, my Idol has been less buggy and bloaty than all the androids I've owned since 2009. W10m just works well. I did have some random issues after 1703 update, but those have all gone away. My only issue is that I somehow toasted my battery and have to charge several times a day. When new, it was lasting full day with heavy use.

I agree wholeheartedly. As an OS, I much prefer W10m... and if MS hadn't signed off on it's time of death, I'd still be making my comrades' heads turn as I come to work with a S8, iPhone 7 Plus... then are caught the next day back on a Windows Phone telling them I simply like it better. And the Idol 4S is a beautiful phone... with the best speakers I've ever heard on any mobile phone. If not for the glitchy video recording and super-slow camera, that would've been the phone that made me sell my 950.

Though the S8 is a newer phone, I want to see what the S-Pen has to offer to someone who's invested the last 6 years of my life into OneNote... so I'll try to give the Note 3 a month to bring me back to Android. Who knows, maybe I'll end up right back on my 950 proclaiming that I'll ride this ship 'til it sinks. I already miss my Xbox Mobile games, Skype SMS relay, start screen UI and Tubecast.

 

[Adventurer64]

I believe if the fall update has a different number, 1709 I think, the 2 year support clock will be reset. So, that puts us end of 2019 for support. Unfortunately, I may have to bail long before that because of the battery issue I'm currently having with my Idol. I'm charging twice a day now. I'm at 65% now just 3 hrs into the day. Standby with no apps open is less than 10 hrs.

 

[daveb673]

I have thought about the Galaxy Note series also. As a former HTC TTyn and Tilt2 user, I miss a phone with a stylus. I've also considered the LG G4, Stylus 2 and 3. Did some digging on gsmarena and found there is a Galaxy Note FE (Fan Edition). Looks like a Note 7, which I had seriously considered purchasing. Several listed on Ebay, but too expensive for my taste.
I didn't know sound on the Alcatel Idol was so good. I enjoy the sound my HTC One M8 delivers. (bought it for half price). Even bought a bluetooth keyboard for it. Really don't want to go back to grid icons reminiscent of a PalmOS device.
I tried searching the Apple App Store for Microsoft's Launcher, but didn't find it. Only in the Android store.
If I had the background, I'd try loading Jolla OS on a phone, but the learning curve is more than I want to tackle. Maybe I'll look into the Blackberry Keyone. When my M8 finally quits.