Talk me out of going back to iPhone

[Basiluzzo]

So I bought a L830 the day it came out. I had done my research and was excited to adopt the phone with the better operating system and camera. 14 months later, I still think Win Phone is best, and the lack of apps is a minor annoyance, but not a deal killer for me. So why am I so unhappy?

1. The phone is slow, and getting slower. Web pages and documents take forever to download. It isn't network speed - I can benchmark it on my home wifi next to an iPhone. The "loading" screen is all-too frequent.

2. Battery life is terrible, and getting worse. I can't go a whole day without charging, even if I make no calls.

3. The GPS is TERRIBLE. This is the biggest problem for me. It drops and takes many minutes/miles to recover, during which time I have driven in the wrong direction. Sometimes I have to restart the phone to get it recover, and sometimes it STILL doesn't recover. This is unforgivable in a business phone.

Any advice? Guidance? Or should I put the phone in a drawer and dust off my trusty (if bossy - I hate Apple) iPhone 5?

 

[Hildr]

My experience regarding those points:

1. I had a lot of resuming with 1520 on wm10, but really rarely on wp8.1 with 1520 or 920.
I don't remember having this resuming screen with the 950XL.

2. My colleague with 5s (with original version of the OS, not the last one since it's too old) is always plugged in at work, battery drain seems not really good, a day of normal use like my 950XL. Far away from the 2 days of the wp8.1 lumia 1520.

3. The GPS on my three WP was always quick and accurate here in France. Only the magnetometer had some issues.

I can't give you advice, with the iPhone you will not have the "maybe it's better elsewhere" idea. For me the 950XL solved this, but it's highly subjective.

 

[Mad Cabbie]

What OS are you running? Are you on a TP? Previews are bound to have glitches until a device firmware is released. If on 8.1 have you tried a reset?

You don't really want to go apple do you? You don't sound like a sheep yo me, so why follow the flock? Thats the best thing about WP we are the black sheep! Non-conformists, the odd one out. Don't forget in the past few days we have had a couple of OEM's jump onboard, so maybe, just maybe, things could be looking up.

 

[Mad Cabbie]

Oops

 

[Blackadder_100]

I tried 2 brand new 830's last year and returned both of them due to erratic back button operation, dim/unresponsive Glance and poor viewing angles...plus the GPS issues you describe. My trusty old 720 runs rings round that device, despite its lower-end specs. However, I fancied a slightly bigger phone with a more premium look and now have a 925 which I bought brand new for a good price. This phone is just perfect in every way (running WP8.1) I do wonder if some of the newer models have inferior performance, particularly with regard to GPS. Have no experience of the 950/950XL so cannot comment.

 

[theefman]

The level of speed decrease is something I've never experienced on any WP I've had so I would start with deleting temp files using storage sense, then a hard reset and finally buying a new battery. Before moving on also try reflashing the device with the recovery tool.



PS: please don't consider yourself a "sheep" for using an iphone as has been alluded to, seems its a case of the pot calling the kettle black considering how people here advocate for blindly following Microsoft instead, use what WORKS for you and leave the Microsheep to their own devices....

PPS: I'm current using an 830 (only a few months) and its been working fine, so hopefully you can sort yours out.

 

[cincykid76]

We loved our 830's and never had the problems you're having. Maybe its time to tinker in the settings or do a reset? As far as an opinion goes... I think alot of people, whether they admit it not, are growing tired of waiting for MS to get their act together. It does not make you a "sheep" to want a device to work! Let's face it, IPhones as boring as they may be, just work. And you have apps to spare. Some of the people I converted to WP are leaving for IOs, and I cannot blame them. People are coming to realize that you can have a better MS experience on the rivals platforms than you can in WP itself. I'm on the verge myself. I've promised myself if it's not better or showing life after the "Surface phone" release, I will depart myself. I just cannot keep investing time money and effort into an Os and ecosystem that is not going anywhere or steadily trending downward. Do what's right for you and don't let being a fan cloud your judgement.

 

[ShaneRay]

I had used the 830 for a year and have never had those issues (I moved to android a couple months ago).

If you haven't tried a hard reset, do that. If you're running Win10, try going back to 8.1.

If nothing helps, consider where you want to be. Nothing wrong with iOS or Android at all. It's a question of what works best for you after all things are considered. That said, I can't recommend Windows Phone as a new purchase these days unless that person is a hardcore fan and/or knows what they're getting.

 

[Basiluzzo]

I appreciate the supportive comments - a black sheep is still a sheep! Seriously, I did like being a nonconformist but don't like being the owner of an inferior phone when I depend on the device so heavily. The GPS issue has been a problem since the day I bought the phone so I doubt a reset would solve that, but it might help the slowness and battery problems - performance of neither was ever spectacular but they've gotten worse. I'm on AT&T which took a year to release the proper Denim update, and I'm currently running their install of 8.1. I'm deleting temp files right now and will consider doing the hard reset when I get back from the business trip I'm on. I'll report back. By the way another issue for me is that my husband has an iPhone and hates that we can't FaceTime or iMessage. I can't persuade Skype to do video calls on my phone, and lacking iMessage means I pay extra to AT&T for unlimited messaging.

 

[Andrew Fratkin]

I've owned my 830 since it was released in Nov, 2014 and here are my thoughts.

1. This phone is going to be slower and less responsive than most due to the low end processor and 1GB of RAM. Whenever I pickup my wife's 1520 I'm always surprised how much snappier hers phone is and I never see the resume screen on her's either. Having said that, I never consider my 830 slow and I realized when I purchased this phone I was getting a mid-range model.

2. Something is wrong here, I can go two days without charging with moderate phone use even though the phone well over a year old. Open the Battery Saver app and see what's using so much battery.

3. Again, I have no problems with the GPS. I assume you're using HERE Maps, have you downloaded the maps for the regions you travel the most?

4. Your saying Skype doesn't work on your phone, does the app not load or once it loads you can't connect? If it loads and you can't connect there is probably a network problem. The only time I have problems using Skype is at my mom's who has a crappy WiFi router.

Like most have said, maybe restoring the phone using WDRT will be the ultimate fix.

 

[Maccabeus]

Talk me out of going back to iPhone

That's easy: iTunes.

Running an L830 since release. Not having those problems. The tips already given sound like good advice to try.

 

[oviedofreak82]

My suggestion: Try a Lumia 640 or 640 XL. My wife and I have both phones respectively. Since both phones run the same chipset and RAM as the 830, both our phones run great. My wife's 640 gets about a day on hard usage and a day and a half on medium. My XL gets two full days on medium and two and a half on light. GPS works perfectly without missing a beat giving both of us turn-by-turn directions with no lag. Web pages load fast and no resuming screens with neither phone. We are both on 8.1 denim update 2. As was said earlier, you have to use what works for you.

My dad for example, loves Windows but couldn't use a Windows Phone for more than two hours without reaching for his iPhone. The reason? He says that the iPhone "just works." It loads web pages quickly, has every app he needs and more that look and work great with regular updates and support from developers, great camera and doesn't feel bulky in the hands (he just upgraded to an iPhone 6S plus).

I for one, am not a big fan of Apple's business strategy of keeping you within its ecosystem, being closed off to the world and making you feel like you're missing out if you don't upgrade to the latest and greatest. Not to mention, for me at least, how restrictive iTunes is. At any rate, I wish you the best with whatever device you use and hope you find happiness with said device.

 

[donkiluminate]

So I recently jumped ship to an iPhone and if you can get by without the apps or have a specific need(I switched work locations and need wifi calling to due reception issues) then I wouldn't do it.

I actually find iOS to be oppressive and claustrophobic. Just simple things like having to use itunes to load music, or not even being able to place app icons wherever you aren't just kind of get to me.

Like someone said try looking into a 640(XL)

 

[xandros9]

I really don't think changing models will make a difference. (might as well go with another 830 - especially since the 640 and 640 XL have the same internals)

FWIW my 830 didn't have any of those issues when I owned one last year. If you're considering trying another device, I'd erase the phone and try starting again fresh.

Of course, you're welcome to break out the iPhone as a band-aid. I carried two devices back in the day.

and if the 830's quirkiness cannot be cured, no point sticking with that unit.

 

[jodeltje]

I had the exact issues you have;
unusable GPS (constantly switching driving direction and other bull****),
slow device,
QI charging never reached 100% just keeps reconnecting at 99% all. the. time. (when in bed, unacceptable, charging sound every coulple of seconds),
The screen flickering, brightness going up and down, fonts that were drawn incorrectly everywhere.

It was horrible, but I exchanges the unit, and have 0 problems so far. Really surprised! All my problems were fixed by exchanging the unit.

So that would be step 1, exchange the unit, decide then.

 

[Old_Mil]

I just got an iPhone 6s Plus to carry for work simply because there are too many work specific apps missing on Windows phone. If there were two more I could probably deal with it but for right now I need the iOS device. This thing is inferior to my 830 in every respect. Moving files on and off the device with iTunes is cumbersome. There is no sd expansion slot. The overall look and feel of iOS is far inferior to Windows phone. In fact I dislike it enough that I am considering pulling the sim and putting it in my 830 and just using the iPhone like an iPod..

 

[Sebastian Palombi]

I am using an 830 that's a few months old and haven't experienced any issues however its still fairly new. I guess you could always buy a replacement battery if you have a few dollars lying around amd can find one but I don't know about the other issues. The gps for me works great and as of yet I haven't experienced any drop in phone speed at all, even after installing Windows 10 Mobile TP the phone is still very snapping. As for the iPhone, if that's what works for you then go for it I suppose.