Thoughts on Apple iPhone from a WP User...

[brdl04]

I own an iPhone 5S. I also own a Lumia Icon.

I love this time of year when the holiday season begins to form and Apple releases their holiday lineup of devices and the media, social networks, and blogs swirl with rumors and what if's about Apples next big thing.

Obviously Apple has moved the mobile industry in a completely different direction over the last 7 years and with that comes two observations:

1. When you have the marketshare/mindshare of Apple, you can make money selling products that are not proven to be good or successful (ex. Apple Watch). Regardless on your thoughts on this matter, they will sell and make money hand over fist. It may not even be a good device, but because they sell other good/great products people will assume the Apple watch is good or must have.

But:

2. Apple has become stagnant on the iPhone front either because they don't have to innovate due to outrageous success or because on the hardware front, the mobile market is stagnating.

I picked up a Lumia Icon two weeks ago. I was tempted to puchase the iPhone 6 due to most of my family being on the platform, lots of iTunes purchases and just the ease of use. But looking at the pricing and just the incremental update from the 5S it makes no sense to buy this device. Spending $$ on a 750p screen, 1gb of ram and literally nothing else doesn't constitute an upgrade. Now I know you have the people out there saying it has: NFC, Touch ID, Better Screen, Better LTE, Better Wifi, better camera, what more do you want!?!

I will tell you and why I went with Lumia:

A 5in screen size with 1080P.
An amazing camera that is as good if not better than iPhone
Touch screen with gloves!!! Pretty innovative and helpful in my opinion
Can see the screen in direct sunlight. Pretty innovative and helpful in my opinion
Wireless charging. Pretty innovative and helpful in my opinion
2gb of Ram: Not innovative but great its there for futre updates

And there are other things I cannot think of, but long story short:

Apple makes great products. They make greatly made products. I would recommend the iPhone 6 to anyone and have my family members who only want iPhone. But they make boring products. They make products that don't push the mobile platform forward, they keep the base happy and not rock the boat.

Nokia has always pushed the envelope forward when it comes to hardware and remained stagnant in software (Meego Excluding). With Microsoft at the helm, my hope is they keep the Nokia hardware mentality alive and innovate on software now. Microsoft doesn't have to be the winner in the mobile space, but it will if innovation and dedication to great products remain at the forefront of their minds.

​

 

[realwarder]

Being stagnant on the iPhone is why I moved. Since leaving I think they moved the bar a lot, but I find Windows Phones advancing more rapidly which is fun to be on a journey with.

Things that would be hard to loose are:
- Wireless charging is great. Every phone needs it.
- Nokia Pureview cameras are the best and since my phone goes everywhere, having a great camera is more important to me than having that latest game I likely will never play
- Super sensitive touch (my wife actually finds this the best as she browses with nails!)
- Daylight readable display (love that I can read my phone when friends squint at their iPhone!)
- Glance

 

[Bodeanicus]

With all respect due to Nokia, who was a great company who was just too slow to see the paradigm shift caused by the iPhone, Microsoft is going to screw it up. It's blatantly obvious Microsoft's corporate culture is incredibly arrogant, and sheltered. After 4 years, they're just now putting features like a notification center and separate volume controls into their OS. Think about that. Those are features that were in Android and iOS from day one. They're things that are blatantly obvious needed features. It's like whoever designed the current Windows Phone OS had never used a smart phone before, had never even used, or looked at an iPhone or Android. Look at the Settings menu in WPOS. Who OK'd it? There's no rhyme or reason to the organization. Alphabetization has been going on since before the printed word, and it doesn't occur to them it might be a good idea there? They used in the contact list, and the apps list. Why not there.

I digress. Back to Nokia. The latest offerings (630/5, 730/5, 830) shows Microsoft is clueless in this respect, as well. The 830, which basically has the same specs as a Moto G, is priced TWICE as expensive as the Moto G. Does it sound smart to you that a company with less than 3% global market share is charging twice as much as their main competitor? Microsoft's hubris at failing to admit that they are not Apple, and cannot charge Apple prices has led to the failure of Windows Phone, and the Surface, too.

I like my Windows Phone. I'd like it more if Verizon would release Cyan/8.1. But I also realize that Windows Phone is a dead. It's just too little, too late. I'll keep my phone until it dies, but I won't be buying another one. As much as I hate Google for their strong arming and invasive policies, I'll be an Android. And I really wish I didn't have to.

 

[denniski]

i upgraded to lumia 930 about 3 weeks ago, i could have waited for the iphone 6 and jumped ship but having seen all the leaks (the phone and supposed ios8 features) i decided to stick with windows phone. Now that the iphone 6/6+ and ios8, i still feel the same way and still believe windows phone is much better. Hopefully MS can make a better smartwatch though

 

[brdl04]

With all respect due to Nokia, who was a great company who was just too slow to see the paradigm shift caused by the iPhone, Microsoft is going to screw it up. It's blatantly obvious Microsoft's corporate culture is incredibly arrogant, and sheltered. After 4 years, they're just now putting features like a notification center and separate volume controls into their OS. Think about that. Those are features that were in Android and iOS from day one. They're things that are blatantly obvious needed features. It's like whoever designed the current Windows Phone OS had never used a smart phone before, had never even used, or looked at an iPhone or Android. Look at the Settings menu in WPOS. Who OK'd it? There's no rhyme or reason to the organization. Alphabetization has been going on since before the printed word, and it doesn't occur to them it might be a good idea there? They used in the contact list, and the apps list. Why not there.

I digress. Back to Nokia. The latest offerings (630/5, 730/5, 830) shows Microsoft is clueless in this respect, as well. The 830, which basically has the same specs as a Moto G, is priced TWICE as expensive as the Moto G. Does it sound smart to you that a company with less than 3% global market share is charging twice as much as their main competitor? Microsoft's hubris at failing to admit that they are not Apple, and cannot charge Apple prices has led to the failure of Windows Phone, and the Surface, too.

I like my Windows Phone. I'd like it more if Verizon would release Cyan/8.1. But I also realize that Windows Phone is a dead. It's just too little, too late. I'll keep my phone until it dies, but I won't be buying another one. As much as I hate Google for their strong arming and invasive policies, I'll be an Android. And I really wish I didn't have to.

I agree with your premise, but you my friend seem to be "Mr. Johnny Raincloud". By "dead" do you mean not going to be #1? Because you can make money on services and still have a handset business (ex. Blackberry). Windows will surely be around a long time, and a phone with it.

 

[Rodrigo Pereira Teixeira]

BORING! Exactly! My wife uses iOS and everytime I get her phone my thoughts are:

1) This is a good looking phone
2) This is a good looking iOS
3) God, what else does it does?
4) I'm bored. Where is my Lumia?

 

[Ebuka Allison]

With all respect due to Nokia, who was a great company who was just too slow to see the paradigm shift caused by the iPhone, Microsoft is going to screw it up. It's blatantly obvious Microsoft's corporate culture is incredibly arrogant, and sheltered. After 4 years, they're just now putting features like a notification center and separate volume controls into their OS. Think about that. Those are features that were in Android and iOS from day one. They're things that are blatantly obvious needed features. It's like whoever designed the current Windows Phone OS had never used a smart phone before, had never even used, or looked at an iPhone or Android. Look at the Settings menu in WPOS. Who OK'd it? There's no rhyme or reason to the organization. Alphabetization has been going on since before the printed word, and it doesn't occur to them it might be a good idea there? They used in the contact list, and the apps list. Why not there.

I digress. Back to Nokia. The latest offerings (630/5, 730/5, 830) shows Microsoft is clueless in this respect, as well. The 830, which basically has the same specs as a Moto G, is priced TWICE as expensive as the Moto G. Does it sound smart to you that a company with less than 3% global market share is charging twice as much as their main competitor? Microsoft's hubris at failing to admit that they are not Apple, and cannot charge Apple prices has led to the failure of Windows Phone, and the Surface, too.

I like my Windows Phone. I'd like it more if Verizon would release Cyan/8.1. But I also realize that Windows Phone is a dead. It's just too little, too late. I'll keep my phone until it dies, but I won't be buying another one. As much as I hate Google for their strong arming and invasive policies, I'll be an Android. And I really wish I didn't have to.

Notification Centre came in ios5. IOS 8 brings extensibility which has been in WO since day one. There was also no way to dismiss all notifications prior to iOS 8

 

[pjs37]

I think Microsoft's biggest problem is they seem to be changing directions too often. It seemed at first they wanted to compete with the iPhone with their alliance with Nokia that seemed a possible goal they could achieve. But it ended up being a fincial strain and they switched gears and went after emerging markets but again they were too slow and waited too long to allow their Windows Phone license to be free which would have let them jumpstart past Android who at the time wasn't being as competitive in that space.

I feel like they are constantly chasing a moving goal. And honestly? I have no idea what else they could possibly do.

The OS is very compelling taken on its own. But it isn't on its own it has to compete with Apple and Google and their massive presence in the app world (If you go into a store and there is a sign for an App 99% chance its on iOS and 95% chance its on Android and 5% chance its on Windows Phone. Yes I made that up but it sure feels like it) and despite the money and support MS throws at developers they just aren't coming to the platform and its a crying shame really becuase with that I feel people would actually give it a shot. But it is a cart and horse thing really.

Hardware wise flagship phones are great in markets like the US but sales have been low in the US and I doubt they make that much off of it so instead we are left flailing in the wind in the US. Outside the US low cost phones dominate so that is what they go after but Android makers are quickly cutting that avenue off fast. I think MS/Nokia has been quicker to respond but they are losing to what people are already used to and what is popular and that is a very hard thing to break through. Android had the advantage of being marketable to people who couldn't afford or even get iphones for their carrier and markets the iPhone didn't serve. MS may have simply just missed their Window when they dumped WM6 and waited too long to launch WP7.

 

[S640]

I have to admit I get discouraged, as much as I like WP, by Microsoft's seeming unwillingness to commit to truly changing what they're doing. In my case I've got a Lumia 925 and am ready to upgrade. At this point the only phone that I see that's even a realistic upgrade is a 930, but that means I'd have to buy it from a third party (not a big deal) and also I won't be able to use LTE in the USA (that sucks.) Alternately I could "upgrade" to an 830 but then I'm waiting for a phone announced weeks ago with little availability information and no real timeline, coupled with the fact that it's really not much/any better than my 925 in most cases and since it lacks a Snapdragon 8xx processor I already know it won't be getting certain new features.

It just seems that unless I want a low end phone Microsoft is giving me the option of 1) buying a 930 from a third party and giving up LTE, or 2) waiting an indeterminate amount of time for an 830 that's really not much of an upgrade at all and also knowing I'll never be able to use certain new features already announced, or 3) keep waiting and hope they announce something else and hope it makes it to market before too long and hope it's not a carrier exclusive that I can't use. At least with the iPhone I know what I'm getting, I know it'll get updates on a somewhat regular schedule, I know when I can get it, and I know it'll work with whichever carrier I want to use.

 

[pjs37]

Normally I don't get too caught up with specs but in this case the choice of processor directly affects the features that they have announced for WP whcih seems counterintuitive to me. I have to admit the hardware front is the biggest discouraging factor to me at the moment.

 

[brdl04]

Im going to throw something out there: Carriers have a stranglehold on competition even with OS and hardware in the US.

If MS, GOOG, and Apple all sold their devices on every carrier and sent updates direct, would things be different for MS?

 

[jlzimmerman]

I really love Apple's hardware. It's their software that falls short. The UI is just, god, boring. It's been the same interface for years. To amplify the problem, you can't change squat. Seriously, if iOS didn't have the app ecosystem it has there would be NOTHING going for it.

There are some things that they really could have done to easily push past competitors with the iPhone 6, but they didn't. An 8Mp camera? REALLY? Then the hipster tech "journalists" say the pictures are the best (see: Ultimate photo shoot on the Verge) when clearly aren't on par with the PureView Imagery.

 

[Ebaneeezor]

For years I struggled with the "best" platform from a consumer perspective - which left only two obvious choices. So I played along, with the typical sheep herds. I enjoyed IOS and Android, but neither satisfied me - something always seemed disconnected to me. (I had a brief courtship with a 920 that I loved, but eventually returned it due to peer pressures ( dumb )). But That was just it, the me part - IMO, Android and IOS miss the most important part of an experience - me. They throw a million apps at you and say "Are you not entertained?" and forget that it was me that bought it (the reason for the Apple/Android success) - A beautifully designed app does not mean its the best, its functionality, within my world that does. So over the past two weeks, I started to really pay attention to how I use my iPhone 5C, and noticed that I use it as intended, as a phone. (Although I have tons of apps installed, I use it as a phone. Sure it was nice to check in on "insert app name here" - but did I "need" to? The mobile market has done a great job at utilizing the fear of loss sales tactic and keeping up with the jones' to generate billions.) Which led to my next thoughts - why am I sending lots of my money to high end phones that offer nothing of benefit to me to justify the cost? the answer - is nothing - I think I just got lost in the app fad and the superiority complex of high end phones, when no one truly cared what phone I had - the jokes were just entertainment fodder (something to talk about). For me it really came down to first getting out of the comparison game, and factoring in what I needed, after all it is my money and my experience. Besides, Im really not a fan of having my face in my phone 24/7 anyway, im more into real conversation/interaction. So, I took 850$ and gave 150$ to Nokia/MS for a 635 and kept 700$ for myself, not a bad deal imo . It really only took a change of perception/mentality to break the Apple umbilical cord from my wallet and be sensible - its a phone first. Practicality, efficiency, and inexpensive wins the day for me - and I also get to clear up the honey do list faster by not staring into time killing apps that serve zero purpose Only one life to live, im not spending any more time then I need to staring at my phone. For me, iPhone 6 is a pass - IMO, to expensive and boring - I simply cannot justify the expense. 635 has GPS voice nav, games, text, email, web, news, and more then enough for me. MS has done really good. that's my 2cents worth

 

[theefman]

I think Microsoft's biggest problem is they seem to be changing directions too often. It seemed at first they wanted to compete with the iPhone with their alliance with Nokia that seemed a possible goal they could achieve. But it ended up being a fincial strain and they switched gears and went after emerging markets but again they were too slow and waited too long to allow their Windows Phone license to be free which would have let them jumpstart past Android who at the time wasn't being as competitive in that space.

I feel like they are constantly chasing a moving goal.

This is the hallmark of a company that has no vision. They dithered on WP7, dithered on Windows 8, dithered on WP8 and now they say they are about "mobile first, cloud first" and from the CEO himself, WP marketshare doesnt matter and they are going where the users, meaning they are now actively supporting the competition to their own platform.

Ultimately, they have demonstrated over and over that they have no clear vision on what they want WP to be to their company so they focus anywhere and everywhere but not on WP and that will result in WP being at best, a niche and worst case, cancelled altogether at some point in the future.

So just enjoy your phones while you can, Microsoft doesnt seem to care and if they dont, its hard to argue the case for anyone else to.

 

[ReprobusR]

The line-ups across most of North America were huge, where I live one mall had over 30,000 people, insane for the lame iPhone 6.

 

[WDavis4692]

Everyone saying WP is dead is quite frankly a colossal buffoon. It isn't dead until it's truly dead. Dying and dead are not the same thing.

Anyhoo, I'd have to COMPLETELY DISAGREE. Every month I see MORE AND MORE wp devices in public.

Just because you think something is dead to you, doesn't mean it's dead to the world.

 

[Dare2Blink]

Notification center and separate volume controls have been out for windows phone for about 6 months... You must be high or just have really bad memory if you think the iphone had notification center since day one? Are you kidding? Minor things like the setting are already known to be fixed by next month and you are complaining... ridiculous. Microsoft might have been slow in the past but it is obvious that this year they have increased their pace tremendously. I mean in the last few months I got 2 or 3 awesome updates with a new one coming soon with awesome camera features that leave the competition in the dust.

The 830 is obviously a better phone than the moto g and only a noob only values their phone by reading a speck list. Even without mentioning the much better camera on the 830, the build quality is worlds apart, the screen will be better (even if they have the same resolution), it has wireless charging and obviously windows phone will run better on it than android on the moto g. To call 300 and something dollars apple price is just stupid.

I know it sucks right now but i'm convinced that by the end of the year the true high end lumias will be released and you will have something to be excited about. Can't you get an unlocked 1520? Trust me its an amazing phone and you will quickly adapt to the screen size and not want to go back to anything smaller.

 

[Jose_Rey]

I had an S4 mini and performance (web, xm, etc) was better on the Lumia 520. Like all Android phones, it just lags and lags. It stuttered through everything from Web to XM App(for some odd reason this made that phone reboot while streaming and playing through Bluetooth). I think it may have been faster at opening apps though(s4). If you like Android, go for it. But if there is one thing the HTC ONE shows is that WP is more efficient on doing things.

 

[jojoe42]

I have to say, some of the new features I am slightly jealous of (240fps/720p, 120fps/1080p slow-motion video, custom keyboards), but otherwise, I came from iOS because I got bored. So here are my thoughts on the iPhone 6/iOS 8 from a WP user perspective....who has come from iOS

- Well hooray finally OIS in the plus model
- Still 8MP.....lol
- That design is absolutely gorgeous
- Hey look! The interface looks just the same as it did 7 years ago!!!
- Bigger screen....lots of innovation going on there....dat bezel
- Burst HDR selfies.....*jealous*
- Wow widgets in the notification centre? Have fun scrolling through them all, one by one
- Well, at least Apple bothered to optimise apps on the Plus model for the extra screen estate....except for the main Springboard.....seriously did they just "innovate" another row of icons?

 

[dpaynewp]

Just updated my wife's iPhone to ios8 (I use a L1020). Yes some decent features, but nothing that I can find that warrants the hype.

For me one of the best and overlooked features built into Windows phone is the fantastic implementation of predictive text.

The new predictive text in ios8 is the very worst I have used across any of the platforms, it is absolutely terrible.

Sorry Apple - guess I'm not one of the sheep