Switching platforms? | Thinking of leaving?...comment here!

[Seymour Butzz]

I am back and have interesting news. For the last couple of weeks I have been heavily invested un remaining angry and disappointed with Lumia on 10 with Edge...you know...the pretend browser.
I arrived in Edmonton 2 days ago to visit one of the office locations.
In the hotel I discovered my 950 was drained...what a surprise.
I swapped with my 640 xl and noticed that my screen had burned a bit. So I went to the big mall here and visited the MS store.
They did not have any 640xl phones in stock but gave me another 650 with a case and the pure glass protector and a 64 gb chip...as a replacement...I almost fell over.
So I found myself playing with a 650 again after swearing up and down NEVER again. Stay with me folks...it gets better! I have no idea why but short of being slower and not as good a camera as the 950...this phone is so much more reliable. Typing is far more fluid and things are simply less frustrating. Having said that...it still freezes and remains unresponsive and needs rebooting and the battery is awful. So after speaking with a few techs at the store and discussing our individual MS certs and qualifications...(I find it to be the best lead in to the tough questions)...i ask..."How are these flag ship being recieved by the daily power user". His answer? "They are not as the they are being returned". This time I didn't almost fall over as I was not surprised at all. I was just sad. In the hr that I was there...i kid you not, I saw a 950 and an XL getting returned. The biggest complaint...The OS. I saw A Surface Pro 4 laptop disaster get returned With a dead screen after a week. I recognize that all tech can have issues. But in a store that empty...it was a sad thing to see.
Anyways, I was still quite pleased with what they had done for me regarding my 640. But it was starting to make sense...the ship is sinking.
Not to waste a trip to that massive mall in Edmonton, I decided it was time to pull the trigger and spend some of my corporate IT budget for discovery. I marched quickly to both Samsung and Apple...to discovery many people at each.
I purchased a fully loaded unlocked Apple 6s and then got the fully loaded Samsung Galaxy S7 with a 128 gb chip.
After one day here is what I discovered. Either of these products will literally eat the MS flagships. The apple hardware is no slouch but nothing compared to the 950 and STILL blows it away. Apps...wow! Galaxy S7? The best phone i have ever used. Period!

 

[Seymour Butzz]

I must continue my last post as I mistakenly posted.
This Samsung I the first droid product for me. I know I best phone after a day but I would admit that the driving force that got me to come back to MS phones was Apple. Having said that...Unlock codes for Samsung provided and am fee from carrier.
The phone looks like the price you pay. Unlike the 950's.
Fast Fast and Fast. Camera is not as good but certainly nothing to complain about and it is fast and reliable. I havent had a crash yet and have not had to reset. Apps...yes folks...most MS app for android are equal to and often better...how sad. I will have to give the Galaxy as much of a chance as I have given Lumia on 10 with edge. Somehow I doubt I will have to however. I will obviously continue to play with the few Lumia's I have. But for now I am playing daily driving with a robot.
Sorry Lumia...we were so close.

 

[mikepalma]

Yep.
It's really unbelievable how much better MS apps work on iOS than on 950xl, the "flagship". Thanks Satya for making the switch so much easier. No wonder Kantar shows 1.3% share...

 

[J Dubbs]

After picking up a new Moto X Pure Edition I've started to realize windows was much better than I thought it was. The last android phone I had was running froyo 2.2.2, which was MUCH more basic than the Marshmallow 6.0 on my new $300 android phone, but it was also MUCH more stable. I'm actually pretty disappointed with my new android, and was windows phone shopping for a possible replacement. That's when I noticed you can't easily FIND any NEW windows phones for sale running 8.1 or above And if you want W10M be willing to shell out some big bucks

I'm going to get a really good sim adapter, and switch between my new android, and old windows 10 phone running the latest 10 build whenever one or the other irritates me enough. Heck I'd like to have an iphone to switch around with to see how they all stack up for my needs. I might just try and pick an older model up :wink:

 

[sportex]

windows to android.

Have been with windows mobile for 4 years, previously with htc8x and then the Lumia 930 (great phone by the way). Was given notice by EE (uk) that I was due a upgrade. Nothing out there apart from the Lumia 950 and 950xl which I wasn't too bothered about. So thought a getting a sim only monthly rolling contract. I also started to look around at other mobiles especially android and came across the Nexus 6p, read a lot of websites and peoples reviews and became fascinated by it. So after careful consideration a decided to go for it and personally its the best thing I have done mobile phone wise. Unbelievable phone, fast, slick running marshmallow pure android, monthly updates from Google, no bloat ware Have been using it for 6 days and honestly the o's seems to be miles ahead of windows 10. I enjoyed my time on the windows platform but now I am gonna enjoy this bad boy.

 

[jdballard]

Re: windows to android.

I also started to look around at other mobiles especially android and came across the Nexus 6p, read a lot of websites and peoples reviews and became fascinated by it. So after careful consideration a decided to go for it and personally its the best thing I have done mobile phone wise. Unbelievable phone, fast, slick running marshmallow pure android, monthly updates from Google, no bloat ware Have been using it for 6 days and honestly the o's seems to be miles ahead of windows 10. I enjoyed my time on the windows platform but now I am gonna enjoy this bad boy.

Glad to hear it, because I think I'm going to follow the same path. The 6P battery life is supposed to be fantastic and the idea of pure Android instead of the crapware the manufacturers and carriers put on it puts it over the top.

 

[chmun77]

I prefer Windows Phone over iOS and Android, but for God's sake, get people to build some apps for it. It's really stable, easy to use, infinitely customizable, and it's "different". I'm not one who strives to be "different" all the time, but I'm not a sheep, either.

Sadly, the ONLY way to GET people to build apps for WP is dollars and cents. Looking at the pathetic market share for windows phone now is a big NO for the devs. Even with the bridging available for iOS - UWP, devs may not even feel like spending efforts porting apps over to windows phone. Apparently, lots of average consumers don't really bothers about customization but rather, they want apps which can meet their daily needs.

 

[chmun77]

Re: windows to android.

Have been with windows mobile for 4 years, previously with htc8x and then the Lumia 930 (great phone by the way). Was given notice by EE (uk) that I was due a upgrade. Nothing out there apart from the Lumia 950 and 950xl which I wasn't too bothered about. So thought a getting a sim only monthly rolling contract. I also started to look around at other mobiles especially android and came across the Nexus 6p, read a lot of websites and peoples reviews and became fascinated by it. So after careful consideration a decided to go for it and personally its the best thing I have done mobile phone wise. Unbelievable phone, fast, slick running marshmallow pure android, monthly updates from Google, no bloat ware Have been using it for 6 days and honestly the o's seems to be miles ahead of windows 10. I enjoyed my time on the windows platform but now I am gonna enjoy this bad boy.

Android has come a long way. There are still people calling Android lagdriods etc etc but I doubt they even tried the latest Android at all. I find Android is now running smoothly even the budgeted Xiaomi Note 3. On the other hand, running the latest official build of W10M on my 640XL is making the phone aged! Using the windows store app is just so dreadful experience when I browse through apps on the store. The loading circle is always there and information about apps are taking ages to load.

 

[Seymour Butzz]

Ok...2 days on the Galaxy 7 and feel pretty comfortable already. I will give the Iphone the the CEO when I get back...he is a fan boy, and he did pay for it after all.
I must admit however, that I am saddened beyond understanding with regards to the 15 month adventure on Lumia 10 and Edge.
Being in the enterprise...i cant imagine how any it personal worth the salary they are paid could possibly recommend Lumia. I was thinking today...when did I really start to get frustrated? I think it was when Sway was never going to be made and noticed quickly afterwards that MS was basically abandoning there own product by weaker apps to their loyal base than what was available for IOS and Android. I will leave this post as my final in the topic with this last memory for all that read it...
"almost done upgrading and it will be well worth the wait"
Anyone care to count how many times you fell for that line?
It should have said..."You again"!
"Are you some kind of glutton for punishment"?

 

[Attic Muse]

So it's been just over a week since I switched from a Lumia 925 to a Nexus 6P. Certainly, a lot of the improvement in speed and performance I got likely would have been there with a 950 XL as well, but I got a nice deal on the 6P and I just couldn't bring myself to invest another several hundred dollars in Windows when the future remains rather uncertain. Making the switch was a lot easier than I expected, and I find the interface quite nice. I was thinking I would greatly miss the tiles, but I've got a pretty clean homescreen layout with a couple of widgets for weather, email, even OneNote. The apps have been pretty fantastic overall, both in terms of some that were missing on Windows (my bank app for example), as well as the ones that are just so much better on Android (like Facebook Messenger). Unfortunately Cortana on Android isn't available outside the US, and I don't really feel like changing my region to try and get it, because I'm tired of trying to adapt myself to fit Microsoft. Google Now has had feature parity in everything I used to ask Cortana, and the voice recognition is both fast and accurate (Cortana usually was accurate, but was unbelievably slow on my 925).

I'm thinking this phone will definitely be able to last me a couple of years, at which point I'll reevaluate Windows mobile and see what Microsoft has done. As I've stated many times in the past on this site, I really like them and what their vision is, and I don't see them giving up anytime soon, but I also don't have complete confidence that they'll make it there just yet.

I will say this though, I've started browsing Android sites and forums, and oh man do I hate all the Apple vs Android ****** wars. At least with Windows Mobile we were like the underdog and complained about both, there it's just constantly "they're copying _______ from us!" and bucket loads of smugness.

 

[AntonGhost]

Lumia 920 - Lumia 925 - Lumia 640 XL and now - s6 edge plus

I don't like camera, yandex and errors on 640 xl

 

[fpena911]

Almost about to give up on my 950 as well.

Now Wifi isn't working, Cortana always tells me its not available when I'm searching for things on the road, and Edge doesn't load a lot of basic mobile pages. What a mess, I really do think no one tests these devices in the real world at Microsoft. Even very basic smartphone functionality is either buggy or intermittent on this device. Really frustrating!

I really love the integration and concept of this phone and Windows 10 - but I also don't want to get frustrated doing simple things that someone with a $10 Android device can do with ease.

So what are used 950s in great shape selling for these days?

 

[mikepalma]

UPDATE:

So the iPhone is extremely impressive. It simply blows away the Lumia in the above areas.

The Camera:
All I can say is Wow! First, it loads instantly and takes photos in a millisecond. Rapid fire, no problem. No crashes or stutters or delays or "Saving Photo". Man, I missed so many photos with Lumia, it's disconcerting. The quality from the naked eye seems as good in daylight and better in low light. I have yet to print side by side but will check that out too. Regardless I won't be missing any shots. The dedicated Lumia camera button is nice, but the Camera functionality is leagues better in the iPhone.

Btw, after day of heavy use battery still at 38%. My 950XL would've been on the charger twice in that same period.

Extremely impressive device (and it's a 6 vs 950XL, so the 6S is likely even better).

Another UPDATE:
So the iPhone 6 Plus and iOS simply outperform w10m and 950xl on every front. I can't believe the years I have wasted with Lumia and predecessors. From battery usage, a smooth UI, easy to use and quality camera, and excellent apps including MS apps that are better in the iPhone than on the 950xl. I am even beginning to like Siri better than Cortana, because it actually works every time, not crashes and non-responses like Cortana.

I'm angry that I wasted money and time on MS devices, buyer beware

 

[libra89]

Another UPDATE:
So the iPhone 6 Plus and iOS simply outperform w10m and 950xl on every front. I can't believe the years I have wasted with Lumia and predecessors. From battery usage, a smooth UI, easy to use and quality camera, and excellent apps including MS apps that are better in the iPhone than on the 950xl. I am even beginning to like Siri better than Cortana, because it actually works every time, not crashes and non-responses like Cortana.

I'm angry that I wasted money and time on MS devices, buyer beware

Wow, it definitely sounds like iOS has been a nice change for you. That's awesome!
You live and you learn, right?

 

[dbdayton]

I too am leaving Windows Mobile.

I had a 925, which I loved. I was eager to buy the 950XL and I did. But W10M has been a mess. Things don't work, or they would crash. Cortana for me is completely inoperable. Groove music doesn't play "albums" or in order of the songs on the album from local files. Most of the "live tiles" are not live, but seem to be asleep, and take awhile to load when the phone awakes, rendering the live tiles not so live.

I picked up a Nexus 6P unlocked, refurbished on ebay for a decent price. I wanted a phone that I knew as going to be updated and not quickly abandoned for a newer model, which I understand Android OEM's are notorious for doing (I had one before my 925 that was abandoned like a week after it's release) So far it's working great, but I've just got it. Getting used to the UI has taken some work, but for me scrolling sideways to get to apps, is no different then scrolling down to get to apps as I did on Windows. I have notifications for email with a bar on the screen (pre-unlocked screen, not sure what you call that) that works a lot like the old live tile for me when I need to see if an email is important or not.

The apps do make the phone and the UI. I'm really surprised at the difference in number and quality of shared apps on Android over Windows. The Outlook app on Android is SOOOO much better then it is on Windows....and that to me tells me all I need to know about the future of Windows Mobile. It's dead. Even Microsoft is mailing it in on W10M

I thought I'd update as well.

I've had my Nexus 6P for 3 weeks now, and all I can say is that it blows W10 completely out of the water.
1) APPS: First of all the apps DO matter. I have so many more to chose from, and they work! For instance one of my issues with W10 was "Groove". I have a lot of music already owned and downloaded on my 950xl if I wanted to play an album, Groove would shuffle the album out of order. If I wanted to play all the music of one artist, it would sometimes just stall and not play the next song. I have NOT had that issue at all on my Nexus 6P using an app called "Shuttle". Outlook works so much better on Andriod it's a shame. All the Microsoft apps besides Cortana, seem better on Android. Twitter is a complete different experience. The list goes on and on. My favorite to have back is a fully functional MLB at Bat.
2) Google Now. Cortana for me on W10 on my 950xl crashed...every time I opened it. I rarely got a question out to her. When I did, it would say she was unavailable. On my Nexus, I've found that Google Now gives me very accurate answers to my questions, and many times it's audio. Cortana, on Andriod seems to just bing search bot, and it crashes on Andriod a lot (not as much as I had on W10, but still too frequently) , as well as hijacks the mic with the separate mic app button installed. I was disappointed in that.
3) Calendar: This one wasn't too bad for me, but it's one area where it takes some work if you want to use both MS calendar and Google's default. I've gone to using just Google's default calendar exclusively with Outlook, which isn't the best set up.
4A) Customization. There are a lot of options on how to set up your phone, with different launchers and different start screens, and layouts, etc. A bit overwhelming as I've wanted to try and tinker with many of them. I've found the basic Android M on the Nexus to be easy to learn
4B) Choices and options: Take for example something as simple as a keyboard. I was disappointed in the accuracy of the suggestions of the Google Keyboard. But like so much of the Android experience if there is something you don't like, there are dozen's of alternatives to try. I'm currently using Swiftkey, and it seems to work much better with One Note (my most used app)

Negatives: The size of the Nexus 6P is exactly the same as the 950xl, but the metal while making it seem better built then the flimsy 950xl, also makes it slicker, and a little harder to handle.
Battery: Ok, this is more of a neutral. It's fine when the location service is turned to normal, but the setting "high accuracy" sucks battery. I mean a matter of a few hours. It will ask you to turn on the high accuracy setting every time you use anything related to your location or a map. So to get a good battery life, you have have less accurate location and deal with pop up setting requests.

I'm having a better "Microsoft" experience on my Android then I ever did on my 950xl w/ W10M. The MS apps are shockingly better as a whole. Comparing them you can tell that even Microsoft has abandoned it's W10M platform. But now, I'm actually using more of the Google services (calendar, and Google Now) over the Microsoft services

 

[psyhound]

Well guys, I got my HUAWEI P9 lite yesterday and it is bloody awesome!!!
I love the design, EMUI is so fast and just beautiful... Battery life is insane (3000 mAh is showing what it is made of)...
And yeah, if anyone tells me once again that there is no app gap between Android and Windows, I'm gonna invent the machine that will allow me to slap the hell out of them over the bloody internet!
Yes, there are most of the apps available on Windows store that are present on Google play, but they are ages behind! I haven't touched an Android device for almost three years and I just wasn't aware how much its apps developed over the time.
So yeah... I really like Windows, but dear Microsoft, get your $#!+ together and get the developers to work on those freaking apps!!! You're constantly throwing money down the drain, so why don't you just give that cash to developers to gain their attention?
All apps on Windows are slower, lacking some or even most of the features and they are doing almost absolutely nothing to take care of that! Yeah, we got new Viber that only looks like good app, and Messenger beta that works once every fourth year, but if you think that's enough, then you can go F yourselves, Microsoft.

And just to clarify, I am actually pissed off because I just can't wrap my head around the fact that I was not aware what I was missing!

 

[mikepalma]

Another UPDATE:
So the iPhone 6 Plus and iOS simply outperform w10m and 950xl on every front. I can't believe the years I have wasted with Lumia and predecessors. From battery usage, a smooth UI, easy to use and quality camera, and excellent apps including MS apps that are better in the iPhone than on the 950xl. I am even beginning to like Siri better than Cortana, because it actually works every time, not crashes and non-responses like Cortana.

I'm angry that I wasted money and time on MS devices, buyer beware

Also it's interesting after getting an iPhone,I have so much time just using the phone itself,as opposed to constantly looking for fixes and workarounds and new builds, hoping for a feature that has been around for years on other OS. Damn MS and Lumia really are a joke when you have this perspective.

 

[CountStyrofoam]

My WP / Lumia 950 Death Rattle

I have been a loyal fan and patient user of the WIndows Phone platform since I got my first smartphone in 2011. T-Mobile's HTC HD7 was one of my first adult purchases and I loved it. It did everything I wanted it to do including turning up the nose of every iPhone user. Next came the HTC 8X and the love affair was still going strong. The platform was solid. It did all I wanted. T-Mobile stopped showing us love and I went to Verizon where I got the best phone I ever owned - The Nokia Lumia Icon. This is where the trouble started. Windows 10 came out and I have never loved my OS more. There were things to get excited about. My computer was an actual joy to use. W10m previews started my doubtings. After my trying preview installations, my curiousity was satiated and I stuck to releases. "I'll take it when it is ready" is what I said.

I decided to give it one last shot. I switched carriers to AT&T and jumped on board with the Lumia 950. I wanted this to work. I still want this to work.

I'm tired of holding out. I am tired of making excuses. I am tired of the phone crashing when attaching a photo. I'm done with lagging text message. I miss the way Cortana used to work.

I would say that the current build of WP10 is a B effort and I can;t accept that anymore. After this Anniversary Update, if it is anything less than a A-Game, I am almost positive that I will leave the platform behind.

I'm worried that if I switch to an iPhone, the compatibility with my PC will be an issue. I know it has Groove and OneDrive, but are there any power-W10 / iPhone users out there? What're your experiences like?

Anyone care to comment on their feelings with the platform?

 

[mark McWilliams]

Re: My WP / Lumia 950 Death Rattle

I too love the windows platform and have for along time. I mean my Lumia 950 is great and the bugs aren't all that bad anymore,but I feel like it's just lacking something right now. So Friday when I get my check I'm getting a nexus 6p and I've never had a Android before but my wife has the same phone. I'll be keeping my 950 close I take lots of pictures so I'll need the camera. I hope the platform can get back to the way 8.1 was

 

[Bobvfr]

Re: My WP / Lumia 950 Death Rattle

Have to ask, what build are you on?

I started on a HTC HD2 and have had several WP's under my charge (My family), ended up with a 1520, 930 and 830 in the house, I know my XL (Replaced my 1520) isn't a 950 but I have to say it's the best WP I have owned and having seen how good it is I am probably going to upgrade my wife's 830 to 950.

I wouldn't say I am a power user, but when set up properly and if you didn't get one of the early duff ones it seems the 950 and XL are very decent phones, and with Redstone due out in a month or so, it may well be worth considering doing a bit more work on your 950 and Windows 10 (I think it's great).

Just my own thoughts of course.