So, do you think any of the new phones are a genuine "upgrade"?

[Pronk]

Well all know WP7 runs well on hardware that isn't necessarily screaming fast, and a lot of the new mango-era phones are more or less the same spec as the original phones give or take a small bump in megapixels/lens quality and some handsets having FFCs.

Now, I'm up for a new phone in a few months, and I really like the 800 and the Focus S and I'm even warming to the Titan. But I look at my current handset (a Mozart with extended battery) and I seriously can't justify the cost of an upgrade to myself. I already have a phone with a fairly decent 8MP camera, 2 day battery life, all the most interesting Nokia apps are being made available anyway for free, Mango is Mango whether it's on a brand new phone or the oldest one made, and a bump of 0.5 GHz in processor speed on a platform that runs really fast on a 1 GHz processor already is not that big a pull. So I'd really be getting a new phone for the sake of new hardware and a better screen - and even then, the screen on my current phone isn't bad by any stretch. Literally the ONLY pull at the moment is the Nokia deal to get EA games, and they're not even out yet.

I thought when the new Mango handsets arrived, it'd be more or less a guarantee I'd want to upgrade. But now, I dunno. I'm not disappointed as such as I like what I see and if I was buying my *first* WP7 phone I'd be spoilt for choice - but I'm not, so I end up thinking "I'd like that...but it's not enough of a bump up to justify it". Anyone else feel the same?

 

[TheWeeBear]

I feel exactly the same, the Nokia Lumia's offer me no benefit over my current Omnia 7. Will probably end up getting a SIM free Titan soon (At great expense) if i like the screen OK on scrutinisation.

(3 just have the Lumia 800, no Titans)

 

[Bballbenb]

Yea I agree, i would think the 2nd gen Nokia handsets would be very nice. Also if LTE starts getting into WP7 that would be pretty cool.

 

[welsbloke]

I believe Lumia is an upgrade with regards to a style as for features no and I am really struggling to understand how they could not found the time to introduce NFC and front facing cameras.

 

[red grenadine]

Nope, not from a Focus

 

[theefman]

Depends on your needs, if your current phone is doing everything you want any upgrade would be hard to justify. If you have no interest in NFC, FFC's, or a better GPU for gaming having all those features would hardly justify an upgrade. Thats why the Titan and Focus devices dont interest me, none of the hardware improvements will be any use to me. When Nokia hits the US with either the 800 or something else I will be looking to upgrade from my DVP. Its been a good device but the poor battery and camera are areas addressed by the Nokia 800 so I would consider that a worthwhile upgrade till the next gen of hardware. I also think we wont see anything really worthwhile in the hardware area till WP8 so personally this round of devices is not really my target for an upgrade.

 

[Pronk]

Glad it's not just me!

I'm starting to think MS might have missed a trick here - if they'd bumped the chassis specs up even a little we might be looking at much more tempting phones right now. As it is, I'm thinking even if I bit the bullet and went for a new style and some incremental increases with the 800/Focus S, when Apollo rolls around is that jump up going to make my "new" phone suddenly dated because the NoDo to Mango jump wasn't that big?

 

[aubreyq]

FFCs are definitely an upgrade. Not sure about anything else at this point.

 

[1jaxstate1]

I've been thinking about holding on to my Focus. The Titan's screen size knocks me off my feet, but that's all I would be gaining. I dont do video chat much. IDK, I'll have to go look once they are in AT&T stores.

 

[Coffee]

There aren't any huge upgrades, no. If you are dying for a FF camera, sure. Or just want a new look like the 800. But my Focus is great as-is, and while I really do want a new phone, I don't need one.

 

[aubreyq]

I like my Focus more and more everyday, especially after Mango. I recently started downloading podcasts to it, and am thinking about throwing in a microSD card, even if it means wiping everything and reinstalling my apps, which aren't many to begin with.

I think next fall we'll have a pretty solid selection of new phones to really drool over ;-)

 

[Coffee]

I wiped my phone last week, was afraid it would take a long time to process but it was only a few minutes, and all my OS updates stayed in place. Plus i found I only re-installed about 10% of the apps I had on it before. Not a bad experience.

 

[theefman]

Glad it's not just me!

I'm starting to think MS might have missed a trick here - if they'd bumped the chassis specs up even a little we might be looking at much more tempting phones right now. As it is, I'm thinking even if I bit the bullet and went for a new style and some incremental increases with the 800/Focus S, when Apollo rolls around is that jump up going to make my "new" phone suddenly dated because the NoDo to Mango jump wasn't that big?

I see it a bit differently regarding MS increasing the base specs. I think the fact that people dont feel the need to upgrade speaks to the quality of the OS and how its been optimised to work with the hardware. Our phones are already fast, stable so the slight increase in speed of the newer devices isnt seen as vital. Games still run well on 1st gen hardware so the improved GPU also isnt seen a worth upgrading for (at least at the moment, maybe this will change). Newer devices are now touting "4G" but I doubt the speed increase is that drastic to be reason enough to upgrade for many, but admittedly it will be for some. Cameras generally have been disappointing across the board, with the exception of the Samsungs, but people seem to have low expectations so the improvements we've seen are also less of an attraction.

The only real upgrade-worthy feature IMO would be in the presence of FFC's on newer device and gyroscopes, but the latter would be taken care of by the Motion Sensor API http://www.windowscentral.com/motion-sensor-gyroscopes-and-more-mix11 so that just leaves the FFC as the real reason to upgrade and since that is not a feature everybody feels they need they will generally be happy with their current device. The only other area that could have been a big differentiator would have been storage space but that's down to the OEM's and they have universally decided not to do anything in that area and just provide just about the bare minimum, and even there again for some that is more than enough.

Overall, I think its really the fact that we have good devices that work well that makes the current crop less attractive to upgrade to, but new users will probably feel they are worthy upgrades.

 

[Umm Yeah]

It's all a matter of perspective. As I am still stuck using a BlackBerry, the new WP7 handsets would DEFINITELY be an upgrade for me!

 

[cckgz4]

I'm right there with theefman. I feel like an iOS user, as in I feel like if I choose to, I could own a device that might possibly last me for two or more updates. I don't feel this hardware is meant to get the current users but moreso new users, and I think if people were due for an upgrade, it wouldn't be a waste. Personally, none of the phones really call to me being that they are missing a feature or two that I'm looking for, but I wouldn't mind getting one.

 

[p.jgordon]

The way I see it is, MS is playing strategic here. The smartphone market is constantly evolving and making a wrong move could cost them.

MS is basically trying to expand their consumer base, not necessarily by trying to convert other smartphone users but mostly by trying to capture as many of the new ones as possible.

It makes perfect sense this way. Why spend massive amounts of marketing budget, product development and time, to upgrade just that 1% of market share? In the next couple of years when WP gains some traction and grabs a strong market share, then they will start developing true upgrades.

To make things simple,

All things being equal (marketing budget) which makes more sense? Upgrade 1%, or Upgrade 10%?

 

[jdevenberg]

I don't think they are. At this point, I would not be willing to lock in for two years on a phone that doesn't have LTE. Beginning of this year, sure. There were almost no LTE markets and you could be pretty sure that for at least 12-14 months of your contract, LTE would be no where near you. But now, if you lock into a two year contract, odds are you will spend at least half of that contract wishing you had an LTE device. So to me, its worthing holding out another 4 or so months to see if LTE is on the horizon for Tango or if they are really making us wait for Apollo (big mistake IMO).

 

[desmonium]

I don't think they are. At this point, I would not be willing to lock in for two years on a phone that doesn't have LTE. Beginning of this year, sure. There were almost no LTE markets and you could be pretty sure that for at least 12-14 months of your contract, LTE would be no where near you. But now, if you lock into a two year contract, odds are you will spend at least half of that contract wishing you had an LTE device. So to me, its worthing holding out another 4 or so months to see if LTE is on the horizon for Tango or if they are really making us wait for Apollo (big mistake IMO).

Yup. Agreed.

That's why I am thinking just getting a used Focus from ebay instead of wasting my upgrade to semi-upgrade like Focus S. I think one year from now WP(8) will have much more potential and will be on level ground with iOS or Android, in terms of the completeness of the features and the ecosystem.

Now with WPCentral's review on Lumia 800 and how poorly the capacitive touch buttons are designed, I am considering cancelling my preorder and get an iPhone 4S instead for the next year... Sigh, patience...patience..