Switching from iPhone 6 to Windows Phone...

[link68759]

The other piece of the puzzle is that I use Outlook on my Surface Pro 3 (via Office 365/Exchange) for my tasks and categorization, etc. and I understood that the Windows Phone would support that organization/categorizations of tasks, etc. instead of having to purchase 3rd party apps/software to make it work.

You'll want a third party app for that (I recommend 2day) because while there is a native ability to manage these tasks, it's very simplistic.
In the US, the Lumia 520 is $20 off contract on Amazon. Get it, take it for a test drive.

 

[runamuck83]

Thank you! So, what phone would you recommend? I have heard several of my colleagues say the exact same thing about SharePoint in the Office hub and the ease of it all. I am currently on Verizon, obviously in a contract since my 6 is new. I am not opposed to moving to AT&T (they only show a few phones in the store) and paying the ETF with Verizon by selling my iPhone for much more than the ETF. That would leave me with some money left over. I don't think I need the very best phone just for having it...rather a phone that will be capable of everything I need to do. Ex - we switched to the SP3 and got the i5 rather than i7 because its more than enough power for what we need.

I'd suggest giving the Lumia 635 on ATT off contract a whirl. You can pick it up as a go phone with ATT for around $99.

Or if you want to go even cheaper there's the Lumia 520, but that's really bottom of the barrel haha

 

[winboy]

Definitely switch to WP. You wont regret it, better yet try it for yourself. I love my 1520, best phone ever!

 

[Allen S]

It's not too big for you? It just seems massive and kinda too big to hold up and take phone calls...

 

[aximtreo]

It means we are honest with people. We all hang in limbo until Win 10 comes out and is on a device. We have decent phones but our future is cloudy at best.

So what will you hang in limbo about when Win 10 has been out about a year. You are a windows phone user; say so. Don't just give the bad points in your recommendation to others. Offer both sides; things you like and things you don't. If you are so hung in space, why not give one of the other OS's a try.

I'm not jumping your bones, I'm just asking you to be fair. There are things about the Win world that I don't like and there are things I just love. When asked my opinion, I try to be "honest as you say" and give the good and bad.

Must be tough to go through each day not pleased about anything.

 

[michail71]

WOW; not one WP ****** steps up to the plate. Go with the Windows phone and be safe and happy. Development on the software integration between Surface tablets will only get better. When Windows 10 reaches the market, most all WP 8 devices will be upgradable.

Even better, Win 10 OS is said to be fairly transparent between all devices. That will not be the case with IOS going forward; at least, not to the extent that MS ecosystem will have.

I truly hope the new MS members that have recently joined WC sees these post and realize the mindset that is going on within the MS products now. I would hope this post would be an eye opener to them.

Yes, but those are all future promises. MS, Apple and Google tend to leap frog one another but it feels like MS is always the one trying to catch up.

As of now iOS has better MS product integration, more functional camera and video, supports airprint and airplay (mirrorcast f'ing sucks horribly in comparison), has the best messaging (to other Apple devices), better styled hardware, better support. As far as mapping and navigation go iOS wins as you can use google and the native app. Google services are just about non-existent on the platform. I also can't find any working remote apps for any of my home devices. I say all this being a MS ****** .

I'm holding out for WP10 but the wait for Denim is bad enough.

In the end I think Microsoft's strategy to work everywhere will be a win for them. I just hope they don't neglect their own ecosystem in the process. It should at least be slightly better on their own platform.

 

[etad putta]

I'd suggest giving the Lumia 635 on ATT off contract a whirl. You can pick it up as a go phone with ATT for around $99.

Or if you want to go even cheaper there's the Lumia 520, but that's really bottom of the barrel haha

You're off on your pricing. With a little searching the 635 can be found for as little as 40-60 bucks.

 

[rockstarzzz]

Sorry to burst the bubble guys - especially those who have blatantly knocked down WP over iOS. None of those posts have mentioned anything real to address OP's usage at all.

Let's say OP has a business that needs employees to be:
Always connected on Exchange email - WP does it.
Always connected to their docs and do realtime sync of docs between SP3 and WP - WP does it.
Always be able to share docs without clogging emails by a central OneDrive storage - WP does that.
Be able to use Lync or Skype for business communication or calls - WP does it. (you can even elevate normal voice call to Skype call!)
Sync Notes and share notes amongst themselves - WP does it.
Be always connected for a short term project and make notes, share photos about products/client sites - Create a Room for quick chats right within SMS hub - WP does it.
Sync Business address book that is updated on all WP as well as SP3 - WP does it.
Get 1TB of storage per employee with Office 365 subscription - SP3 and WP does it!

Guys, I agree, Office is slightly better on iOS than WP but OP clearly mentioned they've moved onto SP3 so they would do major work on SP3 when it comes to Office. What they may need is being able to make quick edits on WP on their Excel or PPT - WP does it!
Cortana - she will remind all employees of their appointments, track their flights, remind them to say "You are amazing, boss!" to their employer every time they reach work.

If the employees are free during lunch, they can even make an alliance and play Age of Empires on their SP3 or WP - they so can't on their iPhones.

 

[etad putta]

Sorry to burst the bubble guys - especially those who have blatantly knocked down WP over iOS. None of those posts have mentioned anything real to address OP's usage at all.

Let's say OP has a business that needs employees to be:
Always connected on Exchange email - WP does it.
Always connected to their docs and do realtime sync of docs between SP3 and WP - WP does it.
Always be able to share docs without clogging emails by a central OneDrive storage - WP does that.
Be able to use Lync or Skype for business communication or calls - WP does it. (you can even elevate normal voice call to Skype call!)
Sync Notes and share notes amongst themselves - WP does it.
Be always connected for a short term project and make notes, share photos about products/client sites - Create a Room for quick chats right within SMS hub - WP does it.
Sync Business address book that is updated on all WP as well as SP3 - WP does it.
Get 1TB of storage per employee with Office 365 subscription - SP3 and WP does it!

Guys, I agree, Office is slightly better on iOS than WP but OP clearly mentioned they've moved onto SP3 so they would do major work on SP3 when it comes to Office. What they may need is being able to make quick edits on WP on their Excel or PPT - WP does it!
Cortana - she will remind all employees of their appointments, track their flights, remind them to say "You are amazing, boss!" to their employer every time they reach work.

If the employees are free during lunch, they can even make an alliance and play Age of Empires on their SP3 or WP - they so can't on their iPhones.

All very interesting points. With all these positives one would think many companies would be switching over to windows phones. Is there any way to find out that this is actually happening?

 

[tgp]

Sorry to burst the bubble guys - especially those who have blatantly knocked down WP over iOS. None of those posts have mentioned anything real to address OP's usage at all.

Let's say OP has a business that needs employees to be:
Always connected on Exchange email - WP does it.
Always connected to their docs and do realtime sync of docs between SP3 and WP - WP does it.
Always be able to share docs without clogging emails by a central OneDrive storage - WP does that.
Be able to use Lync or Skype for business communication or calls - WP does it. (you can even elevate normal voice call to Skype call!)
Sync Notes and share notes amongst themselves - WP does it.
Be always connected for a short term project and make notes, share photos about products/client sites - Create a Room for quick chats right within SMS hub - WP does it.
Sync Business address book that is updated on all WP as well as SP3 - WP does it.
Get 1TB of storage per employee with Office 365 subscription - SP3 and WP does it!

Guys, I agree, Office is slightly better on iOS than WP but OP clearly mentioned they've moved onto SP3 so they would do major work on SP3 when it comes to Office. What they may need is being able to make quick edits on WP on their Excel or PPT - WP does it!
Cortana - she will remind all employees of their appointments, track their flights, remind them to say "You are amazing, boss!" to their employer every time they reach work.

If the employees are free during lunch, they can even make an alliance and play Age of Empires on their SP3 or WP - they so can't on their iPhones.

Sure WP does it. But it doesn't do it any better, and in some cases worse. That's not even mentioning what it won't do at all.

 

[Andre-Omari John]

Sure WP does it. But it doesn't do it any better, and in some cases worse. That's not even mentioning what it won't do at all.

And at what cost? It's not like a seamless transition 100% of the time. Yes, WP does it. Sometimes. And during those times you can bet it won't be without some frustration on the users part because the app will be "resuming" for ages if you suspend it for a second, or shut down altogether. (that goes for the phone itself, too)

Don't ever make important notes on OneNote if you only have your phone handy. Rage.

 

[ajb1965]

Mobile Device Management, Corporate Apps/Hubs are all very handy from an IT support and business user perspective IMHO. Office Lens is a great companion to One Note. I use it often, mainly for the whiteboard feature. I can't speak to iPhone, but WP does seem to handle connection to corporate WiFi a little easier over Android, automatically opening the authentication web page etc...

 

[runamuck83]

Mobile Device Management, Corporate Apps/Hubs are all very handy from an IT support and business user perspective IMHO. Office Lens is a great companion to One Note. I use it often, mainly for the whiteboard feature. I can't speak to iPhone, but WP does seem to handle connection to corporate WiFi a little easier over Android, automatically opening the authentication web page etc...

The app management was one of the reasons we chose it as our standard mobile device offering

 

[dicks-webos]

I've been on BlackBerry (Z10) and now have a L930 with Denim. The 930 is a very cool device considering the cost is 50% of an iPhone6. The screen is a beauty with 1080 HD and the camera is very good too. Video with Dolby Surround and 4K too.

One poster mentioned Office Lens with OneNote and Office, that is indeed perfect. I have all my documents in OneDrive and can open all of them on my phone. Business value is higher than BB imho.

The OS is easy to use, not sure there will be a lot of changes with 10 re. UX. I value the fact that the OS manages to surface a lot of information without the need to open apps or a notification window. I've changed my usages to scan the main pages and quickly look through the tiles. E.g. email tells you how many new emails, the news tile the latest news, Windows Central how many new articles, etc.

You can't go wrong with a 930 with Denim imho. Very good value for money, incl. free upgrade to 10.

 

[spazzmeister]

Still seems like the consensus is wait for Windows 10. Don't rush into it. Your iPhone is more than able to handle your business needs for now. Once Windows elevates itself above the other OS's then you can switch.

 

[dpaynewp]

And at what cost? It's not like a seamless transition 100% of the time. Yes, WP does it. Sometimes. And during those times you can bet it won't be without some frustration on the users part because the app will be "resuming" for ages if you suspend it for a second, or shut down altogether. (that goes for the phone itself, too)

Don't ever make important notes on OneNote if you only have your phone handy. Rage.

I don't know of any os that is 100% seamless across a large range of devices or is without any frustration - do you?

However I can tell you that in the year or so since we moved to windows phone my experience has been the exact opposite of yours - rarely ever have any resuming of more than a second or two, and have never had the phone shut down unexpectedly.

Also I use it for work every day and have no problem with accessing my documents or OneNote.

 

[mariusmuntean]

Just test and see if wp fits your needs

 

[rockstarzzz]

All very interesting points. With all these positives one would think many companies would be switching over to windows phones. Is there any way to find out that this is actually happening?

The simple reason is costs involved for the transition. Nothing else. Windows Phone 8.1 is equally if not more enterprise ready as iPhone is. But it is the user experience that counts. With SP3 already in the company, WP8.1 is a natural choice for seamless user experience for all the employees. Clearly for the OP transition costs either aren't too high or not too much of a bother. Also, transitioning infrastructures may cost things but not mobile handsets. Lumia 1320 as mentioned by someone else are the best fit for such a company as OP describes.

Sure WP does it. But it doesn't do it any better, and in some cases worse. That's not even mentioning what it won't do at all.

It doesn't do any better? So you are telling me iMessage is better than what Rooms chat does between employees? You are telling me OneNote sync is better handled and experienced between iPhone and SP3 than SP3 and Lumia 1320? I can disagree totally.

I would love to hear what it won't do but iPhone will do with respect to OP's business needs - genuinely.

edit: BTW, OP I totally forgot to mention how the bookmarks and passwords on IE will sync seamlessly between a Windows Phone and SP3. I am 100% sure iPhone and SP3 isn't as seamless sync as IE on WP and Windows. Imagine a scenario when the employees research something in office on their SP3, bookmark it. Then go away on a meeting in a different town, forget their SP3 in office and still have those important research pages bookmarked on their Lumia 1320. These small things make up a brilliant user experience.

A good IT user experience at work seriously makes work less of work, more of joy. Personal experience.

 

[tgp]

It doesn't do any better? So you are telling me iMessage is better than what Rooms chat does between employees? You are telling me OneNote sync is better handled and experienced between iPhone and SP3 than SP3 and Lumia 1320? I can disagree totally.

You manufactured scenarios that he didn't mention using. What he mentioned, SharePoint and Office 365, is every bit as good on iPhone, arguably even better. Few people will say that Microsoft's iOS apps aren't better than WP's equivalents.

Here's an example of a Microsoft service that is great on Android (I don't know if it's on iPhone because I don't currently have one) but is non existent on Windows Phone: an app called "Microsoft account" takes the code out of 2 factor authentication. Instead of checking your Authenticator app for the code and typing it in, you tap the "Approve" button on the app, and boom you're in. In fact, if the app isn't open you don't even need to open it. A notification pops up in the notification bar and you simply Accept. No muss, no fuss, no need to type a code, which may be expired by the time you get it entered.

I will admit that I haven't had an iPhone for about a year, so I'm not quite up to date. I do use WP and Android side by side, so I know the differences in Microsoft's services on those 2 platforms. I also know that the iPhone's experience in the Microsoft ecosystem at least matches, and often supersedes, Android's. I also know that not too long ago Microsoft released new Office apps for iOS that has other users drooling.

 

[CSJr1]

Windows OS has something iOS will never have to offer. (well untill Apple invents it first). That is something called universal apps. If you are running SP3, then WP is the way to go. Employees can appreciate the get once use everywhere app. 1320 or 830 are mid range devices to look at.

There is no need to delay to W10 unless you are looking for a high end device as all current Lumias will get W10. DailyTech - Microsoft: All* Lumias Will Get Windows 10; Adds Real-Time Battery Live Tile