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[Sumerllama]

Why I changed to Android

Hello everyone

I've always been a Windows phone fan. My first Windows phone was the Nokia Lumia 625 ,my latest was the Microsoft lumia 640 xl.

I changed to Android because:

- I wanted to try something new.

- I had a Microsoft band 2 that just tore. ( I'm not the only one with this problem ( bad design?) And Microsoft doesn't repair the band because they say it's not under guaranty, while this obvious seems to bee design fault. ( the band 2 doesn't work anymore)

- There are more games on android.

- The app gap (I know we're al bored of that argument, but once you change to Android you will understand)

- My lumia 640 xl screen broke and repairing costs 160 euros(!!!!!!) A new one costs as much.

I'm not saying that I think that Windows phones are bad but especially the repair service isn't great (Microsoft band argument). I really like Windows phones and Microsoft, I have a Surface, Xbox one and Xbox 360. But after what happened with my band I was really upset and wanted something different.

Now I have a Huawei p9 lite (290 Euro), I really like it. After this phone I might come back to Windows phone but only when it becomes better.

Thanks for reading.
Sorry for my bad English.

 

[Chintan Gohel]

Re: Why I changed to Android

I think your regional service centre has a bad way of approaching things - I've seen people on the forum replace their bands 5 times after the strap breaks or due to other issues-As for the screen - again - that's really expensive - I think you should try a local repair shop. Which region are you in?

 

[Sonu K]

It's been almost a month since i jumped from windows. I bought a 'Xiaomi Redmi Note 3'. It is my first android phone. Let me tell you some of my good and bad experiences after leaving windows.
First of all, i had a Lumia 630 DS which had only 512MB RAM. Even though everyone said WP OS don't need much RAM, it was always 'resuming...' and forced me to close apps.
My new android phone (Redmi Note 3) has 16MP camera, 3GB RAM, 32GB internal memory,4000mah battery and snapdragon 650. All for around $178.
Let's see what windows had to offer for that price range. It's Lumia640 XL with 13MP camera, 1GB RAM, 8GB expandable memory, 3000mah battery and Snapdragon 400. and it costs roughly $201..!
Pricing is the biggest problem windows phones always had in India. Every single time they managed to get it wrong. Now that Nokia love is no more, no one gives a damn about windows phone here, other than the windows central reading fans.

Now, about the OS. I thought Live tiles will be the thing i will miss most. But guess what, It's people hub i miss the most. It is so far the best 'contacts' app I've ever seen. Contacts app of android phones will remind you of old feature phones. Just name and number. No social media account connetions, no automatic photo fetching. Second thing i miss is the camera UI. iOS, android camera app UIs are so boring and tasteless. Motorola copied Nokia camera's default camera UI now and has come up with a thing called 'proffesional mode' . LOL! Anyway, that's all i miss. You will learn to live without live tiles.

Now what i love, the REAL MULTITASKING. No more 'Resuming...' dots flying around. No app crashing. So many apps to choose from, Microsoft apps with better functionalities(Even though i will never use MS apps in android because they screwed up Lumia lineup from the beginning.).
I don't have to wait for app launches or updates.

If you are fed up of Microsoft's 'coming soon' drama, select a value for money phone and jump to android. You are going to love it. Also since Nokia is making two android phones behind the curtains, you will like that too. You will never be the awkward guy in the crowd when they talk about some new app.

 

[Sumerllama]

Re: Why I changed to Android

I live in Belgium and there are no Microsoft stores over here.
I asked in on the Microsoft forum and this was the answer:

Thanks for your query and sorry to hear about the troubles you've experienced with your Band.
We ask that you please reach out to our assisted support team over web chat or through the phone for further support options.



http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...n/287406e5-c91b-4d28-b39e-dfe559c0c29c?auth=1

 

[Chintan Gohel]

It's been almost a month since i jumped from windows. I bought a 'Xiaomi Redmi Note 3'. It is my first android phone. Let me tell you some of my good and bad experiences after leaving windows.
First of all, i had a Lumia 630 DS which had only 512MB RAM. Even though everyone said WP OS don't need much RAM, it was always 'resuming...' and forced me to close apps.
My new android phone (Redmi Note 3) has 16MP camera, 3GB RAM, 32GB internal memory,4000mah battery and snapdragon 650. All for around $178.
Let's see what windows had to offer for that price range. It's Lumia640 XL with 13MP camera, 1GB RAM, 8GB expandable memory, 3000mah battery and Snapdragon 400. and it costs roughly $201..!
Pricing is the biggest problem windows phones always had in India. Every single time they managed to get it wrong. Now that Nokia love is no more, no one gives a damn about windows phone here, other than the windows central reading fans.

Now, about the OS. I thought Live tiles will be the thing i will miss most. But guess what, It's people hub i miss the most. It is so far the best 'contacts' app I've ever seen. Contacts app of android phones will remind you of old feature phones. Just name and number. No social media account connetions, no automatic photo fetching. Second thing i miss is the camera UI. iOS, android camera app UIs are so boring and tasteless. Motorola copied Nokia camera's default camera UI now and has come up with a thing called 'proffesional mode' . LOL! Anyway, that's all i miss. You will learn to live without live tiles.

Now what i love, the REAL MULTITASKING. No more 'Resuming...' dots flying around. No app crashing. So many apps to choose from, Microsoft apps with better functionalities(Even though i will never use MS apps in android because they screwed up Lumia lineup from the beginning.).
I don't have to wait for app launches or updates.



If you are fed up of Microsoft's 'coming soon' drama, select a value for money phone and jump to android. You are going to love it. Also since Nokia is making two android phones behind the curtains, you will like that too. You will never be the awkward guy in the crowd when they talk about some new app.

the question is - are those Xiaomi phones really good for quality? After sales service? Or potential for updates? And how do they manufacture at such low prices?

 

[Chintan Gohel]

Re: Why I changed to Android

I live in Belgium and there are no Microsoft stores over here.
I asked in on the Microsoft forum and this was the answer:

Thanks for your query and sorry to hear about the troubles you've experienced with your Band.
We ask that you please reach out to our assisted support team over web chat or through the phone for further support options.



http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...n/287406e5-c91b-4d28-b39e-dfe559c0c29c?auth=1

even if there aren't any microsoft stores around, surely there must be some shops or centres repairing phones? Over here we have whole streets filled with phone/laptop/electronics repair shops

 

[xandros9]

Re: Why I changed to Android

Have fun and goodbye! We'll still be here. Feel free to stick around even if you don't use Windows anymore.

 

[chmun77]

the question is - are those Xiaomi phones really good for quality? After sales service? Or potential for updates? And how do they manufacture at such low prices?

Yes. Using Xiaomi Note 3 and it works beautifully. MIUI updates are pushed quite frequently. As for Android core updates, well that will depends on Xiaomi, just like another OEMs out there. So if you want latest Android, go for Nexus.

How they manufacture at such low prices? Do you know lots of OEMs phone makers are actually marking up their prices - Samsung, Apple, or even Microsoft. Phone hardware are cheap nowadays. Why do you think we are having 6GB of ram nowadays? I think Note 3 is really value for money. Metal build, decent camera, smooth user experiences. Most importantly, it is running on Android and has vast variety of apps available, unlike on windows phone.

Can't answer about the after sales service because so far the phone is working well for me and I hope I will not need to visit them (touchwood). I think it's all pure luck when comes to after sales services in different regions. Others said that Samsung has the worse after sales services, but I find it is not that bad after visiting once.

 

[Chintan Gohel]

Yes. Using Xiaomi Note 3 and it works beautifully. MIUI updates are pushed quite frequently. As for Android core updates, well that will depends on Xiaomi, just like another OEMs out there. So if you want latest Android, go for Nexus.

How they manufacture at such low prices? Do you know lots of OEMs phone makers are actually marking up their prices - Samsung, Apple, or even Microsoft. Phone hardware are cheap nowadays. Why do you think we are having 6GB of ram nowadays? I think Note 3 is really value for money. Metal build, decent camera, smooth user experiences. Most importantly, it is running on Android and has vast variety of apps available, unlike on windows phone.

Can't answer about the after sales service because so far the phone is working well for me and I hope I will not need to visit them (touchwood). I think it's all pure luck when comes to after sales services in different regions. Others said that Samsung has the worse after sales services, but I find it is not that bad after visiting once.

hardware is getting cheaper but have we thought why? The rare earth metals used in the manufacture have a finite supply and some of that comes from regions with conflicts. Environmental effects - do mining companies deal with properly or cut corners? Factory safety and adequate worker compensation - is that strictly followed?

What's the difference between chips made on the road side and in a restaurant? The road side chips could be made in unhygienic conditions, using overused oil, suspect potatoes etc. You might not get sick the first time or the next but eventually something will happen (I'm speaking from experience as I got jaundice from a roadside chips seller)

 

[kaktus1389]

I am curious if all these people complaining about how unstable windows 10 mobile is have ever tried to preform a hard reset, especially after upgrading their devices from 8/8.1 to 10.

 

[chmun77]

hardware is getting cheaper but have we thought why? The rare earth metals used in the manufacture have a finite supply and some of that comes from regions with conflicts. Environmental effects - do mining companies deal with properly or cut corners? Factory safety and adequate worker compensation - is that strictly followed?

What's the difference between chips made on the road side and in a restaurant? The road side chips could be made in unhygienic conditions, using overused oil, suspect potatoes etc. You might not get sick the first time or the next but eventually something will happen (I'm speaking from experience as I got jaundice from a roadside chips seller)

Wow... seems like we have a environmentalist here.....

I'm not sure if there are any environmental effects directly linked to cheaper hardware, but for sure, manufacturing mobile phones nowadays are so much cost effective as compared to the old times. Furthermore, phone bodies are now made from recycled materials collected from all over the world.

The world is doom anyway and people are being killed for nothing without having any chips, regardless we are mining or not. We are the parasites on this Earth, and like it or not, a "reboot" of this world is on its way. Everyone has to die evetually. So, stop worrying too much and enjoy the technologies we have today. For a start, pick up a Xiaomi Note 3 and you will see it is a much better world outside windows phones.

 

[libra89]

I can't win.
I got the HTC One A9 today and the size and color is great but always having to put in a pin/pattern to decrypt it and then do the same for the lockscreen seems really annoying when/if I turn off my phone. I'm seeing people say that you can unlock the bootloader but I'm so not doing that. Luckily I don't turn off my phone much, but that's all I can say for now.

This week just started, I'll see how long this annoys me, if it does.

 

[ioioos]

Well, much as it pains me, after months of deliberation, I bit the bullet and shifted to android.

I had played with a cheap Wiley Fox handset for a week and few months ago, but the camera was not as good as my 930, so I switched back (actually, I ran back as I missed my live tiles so much).

But over the last couple of months, the performance issues and app gap on Win 10 seemed to be getting worse. The social media apps seemed to have a lag or problem every day and I started to get random things, like pressing a mail tile would swipe me right to the apps page.

Last week I punted on the Sony Z5 Compact, as its current on a deal down from ?499 to ?299 at CPW. I prefer the smaller handset and the camera is killer. After getting over the initial shock (I still prefer Win 8 interface) of going to android, once I customised it with cool launcher I am loving it.

Simply wow, the quality of the hardware, the apps, the speed, the volume of accessories, fingerprint built into the power button, everything is working flawlessly. I've had a bit of an app binge, but I'm sure that will calm down. Nice that I can remove permissions on an app by app basis too now.

Everything MS is working fine on there. I did a test with onedrive, taking pics and video on both the Z5 and my 930 and the Z5 was far quicker at populating and organising the files in the cloud, and synced back to my home PC. Much quicker at editing stuff in there too. I guess its true that the MS stuff in getting far more attention on android than on Win.

My only gripe so far in Outlook. It works fine, but I much prefer the layout and mailbox options under a windows phone.

I'm still going to follow the MS progression, and I'd switch back if they get it right, but I'm not going to do it until they have actually delivered it. Now that I have it (android pay, paying by fingerprint, banking, TV controls, Here maps, snapchat, super quick std apps etc) I don't think I can move to anything that doesn't have it all.

I fully agree with the MS onecore strategy, but I fear they dropped the ball on supporting the existing mobile users (12% here in the UK, now dropping like a brick) and getting people to move back will be a very hard task indeed. And I'm guessing, by the attention MS have given to their apps on Android, they know that too.

I'm going to migrate my Wife and children off widows phone this weekend. The only downside is they'll have me Pok?mon chasing.

 

[the pashmeister]

Sorry folks, but I haven't got the time to wade through the 117 pages of replies to this thread, but I would like to share my experience and worries about the future of my phone.
After using a bog standard Nokia mobile phone for many years I ventured into the new realm of smartphone by buying a Google G1 that ran a new-fangled operating system called Android It was ok, after all the OS was still in its infancy. I didn't want to be one of the "sheep" that falled Apple products everywhere, and also the price saving against the Iphone was huge. I then purchased an HTC Desire. The OS had now progressed massively and was threatening Apple's monopoly.
I persuaded my wife to buy an Android phone, but it was far too complicated at the time with too many options for her. She didn't like it and never used it to its full potential.
I too became fed up with the complexity and unreliability of Andoid at the time, so I moved over to a new mobile phone OS that was being offered by computer giant Microsoft. I understood that there would be an "app gap" for sometime, but I had an Xbox and a Windows PC, so I thought I'd go the whole hog and throw my hat in with Microsoft. The OS was a revelation. So easy to use and extremely reliable. I urged everybody I knew to buy in to the Microsoft way. Yes, OK there aren't as many apps as Andoid and IOS, but they'll come. My wife bought a Windows phone and loves it, using most of its functions.
However, she is now talking about changing to Android. The app gap isn't getting better. It's getting worse. Every day I see reports that developers are no longer supporting Windows mobile apps - Paypal and Amazon are 2. Skygo is never going to happen. Sonos and Bose systems barely work with Windows phones. I'm being advised to use the mobile website instead. I don't want to. I want to use an app.
Unfortunately I still have about 12 months left on my contract with my lovely Microsoft 950, but I think i will be moving back to Android when this expires.

 

[berny_533]

Re: Microsoft STOP PLEASE These Mobile builds as of 14385 are getting WORSE OMG

MS quality of insider builds has dropped significantly that I am planning to switch to iOS ecosystem as well the quality of what is being released to the public is terrible. yes we expect a few quirks and hiccups along the way but this is unacceptable. In the early days of WM10 beta preview when MS did not recommend you use it on a daily driver the quality was way better than what is being released in recent times and I losted two devices to the early windows 10 testing both my phone and pc overheated and died and I was willing to replace and remain in the ecosystem but with the latest streams of builds. I am just about ready to jump ship and move on

 

[Maurizio Troso]

Re: Microsoft STOP PLEASE These Mobile builds as of 14385 are getting WORSE OMG

MS quality of insider builds has dropped significantly that I am planning to switch to iOS ecosystem as well the quality of what is being released to the public is terrible. yes we expect a few quirks and hiccups along the way but this is unacceptable. In the early days of WM10 beta preview when MS did not recommend you use it on a daily driver the quality was way better than what is being released in recent times and I losted two devices to the early windows 10 testing both my phone and pc overheated and died and I was willing to replace and remain in the ecosystem but with the latest streams of builds. I am just about ready to jump ship and move on

Instead blaming, why not using official stabel release?

 

[ritojr]

Well, Im finally in the process of biting the bullet and leaving the microsoft ecosystem. Started with the 920, then 925, M8, 640, and now on the 640xl. Bought a 2-1, had the microsfot band 1 (well 3 of those due to issues) and the band 2 (3 of those as well) and I am officially fed up. Just sold a brand new brand 2 i received as a replacement, my 640 is going onto ebay as we speak. I bought a kindle fire on prime day for $33 and hacked it to run the google play store so bye bye windows 2-1. And i am heading to best buy after work to buy a zte zmax 2 for $60 unlocked and I am going to give it a go on android (but still keep my 640xl and try and see about switching back and forth).

Unfortunately I can no longer deal with the app gap. I always said I didnt care, and always told myself it would get better but let's face it, its not. If anything the few that even supported windows phones are now dropping their support (Amazon). I'm tired of my social media apps never working, I am tired of not being able to deposit a check.

So I am telling myself I will use my 640xl daily and just use the android on days I know I may be heavier into apps or something but lets face it, I will probably just completely switch and save the 640xl as a backup. Perhaps windows 10 and universal apps will eventually work, but Ill watch from the sidelines and come back if they ever figure it out

 

[kokola]

hardware is getting cheaper but have we thought why? The rare earth metals used in the manufacture have a finite supply and some of that comes from regions with conflicts. Environmental effects - do mining companies deal with properly or cut corners? Factory safety and adequate worker compensation - is that strictly followed?

What's the difference between chips made on the road side and in a restaurant? The road side chips could be made in unhygienic conditions, using overused oil, suspect potatoes etc. You might not get sick the first time or the next but eventually something will happen (I'm speaking from experience as I got jaundice from a roadside chips seller)

Are you saying parts used by Xiaomi ( Snapdragon processor, Sony camera...etc) are not the same with other OEM?

Xiaomi is able to sell cheaper because of their sales strategies (razor thin profit margin, no physical store and so on)

 

[zephyrpawan]

No uber partner app on w10m. Had to unwillingly switch to android.

TL;DR : Avid Windows phone fan, wanted to drive uber, no uber partner app, bought android phone, now considering switch.

I have never ever used android or iphone and don't even want to. I recently got a new car and wanted to drive uber to make some money, so i signed up but the uber app for drivers is not available in windows store. Now i have to buy an extra phone off ebay (HTC One) just to drive uber. Earlier I was able to sideload android apps on w10 mobile technical preview, that doesn't work anymore. Considering platform switch as I am tired of swapping sims and android works just fine. Sorry for the rant, as a long time windows/nokia user, I needed to vent my frustration!

 

[thron]

Re: No uber partner app on w10m. Had to unwillingly switch to android.

It'll fall on deaf ears.
If you want your frustration to be heard anywhere it can make a difference, let Uber know directly.