Upgrading from Lumia 930 to Lumia 950: Is it worth it ?!

[BritDad]

I have a 950 running the latest OS update, and it has only once overheated in all the time I have owned it. That was when using it for satnav in a very hot car on a sunny day. After it was switched off for a minute, and the car was ventilated, the phone worked fine for the rest of the journey.
I have never had any problems with wifi, and the battery lasts about 12 hours, which I am happy with. Of course the fast usb C and wireless charging are very convenient.

 

[BritDad]

950 is just about 2 years old already. You might as well wait for the new iphone

It's impossible to buy an iphone with a budget of $350. The Lumia 950 is excellent value for money now.

 

[jason hendry1]

No. It's really simple for me. Forget the 930 feels premium all the way to the slight contours o the screen to the sturdy back colour plastic and the 950 feels very cheap but I have had my lumia 930 3 years now and I have it to my mother 1 year ago. Why would you consider a microsoft device if they are only officially Gina support it for 3 years. Personally I think this is a serious issue and one that's been trending with microsoft over the years. Windows 7 users left in cold when it got rebooted. 8.1 users some got let out in cold too and now they've done it to lumia 930 with windows 10 on it. Microsoft is out of order here.

But the app situation is alot worst than it was I 2015 and when both ebay and PayPal left I did too. Got s7 edge love it. Miss windows is but no phone out there and a lack of the apps I need along with microsoft own ignorence (gestures beta) that was all I could take.

 

[sd4f]

Windows 7 users left in cold when it got rebooted. 8.1 users some got let out in cold too and now they've done it to lumia 930 with windows 10 on it. Microsoft is out of order here.

But the app situation is alot worst than it was I 2015 and when both ebay and PayPal left I did too. Got s7 edge love it. Miss windows is but no phone out there and a lack of the apps I need along with microsoft own ignorence (gestures beta) that was all I could take.

Yea the lack of support of support and reboots are what I think have really hurt the platform. Also, MS taking over Nokia was the beginning of things going really bad. It took until 2016 to see the effects though, when apps were getting pulled everywhere.

It's at a stage now, where I just think that the dire lack of third party support means that they just won't be able to get any traction. Anything that they release will just be plagued with lack of support and will probably mean the mainstream won't adopt it, and eventually the features will be incorporated into android or iOS.

 

[Johnny Tremaine]

I needed a second back up phone (to my main use iPhone 6s+), so I managed to find a deal, getting a not much used Lumia 950 dual sim, display dock, a Mozo Case and two cables.

For reference, I also own a Windows gaming desktop, a Sony Xperia Z4 tablet, and an older Lumia 1020 on 8.1.

And after playing with the 950 for a day, I hate it. I knew the app situation was dire (no Spotify, no eBay) but even the browser, Edge and Microsoft Maps are a stuttery laggy mess.
Unlike my old Lumia 1020, you can't even pin particular Word documents to the Start screen, and that also has a Spotify app, that still works!

I got it cheap, for $185, but I'm flipping it again, at a bargain price, to get this thing off my hands.
How can Windows Phone 8.1 be so good and W10 Mobile be such a giant step back? Just smh.
Yes, it's running the official latest update from May, Creators, as the browser has an ebooks option. The OS is so bad, it actually brought to mind the first generation of Android devices almost a decade ago, and how not great the experience was back then.

 

[SirDubbleB]

Hello guys,
Thank you so much for your different and detailed feedbacks, I now got a full picture of what's like to use Windows 10 Mobile, either on a Lumia 950 or its older brother the L950 XL. I can add my own experience as well, since I've got a Lumia 950 for a whole day.. Oh boy, what a hot mess !!!! Where to start ??
I felt it was going to be a disaster from the moment I set up my account settings, the WIFI wouldn't connect properly even if my password was correct. I had to restart it 3 times before getting it to work. When I succeeded.. The phone couldn't restore my settings from my Lumia 930.. What a way to start. I went with the default apps to speed the process, run some updates, got the creators on point. I opened the store, took forever to load.. installed the tubecast APP, just to check the connectivity on this hot potato, turned out it couldn't playback FullHD videos.. My L820 does LOL !!! Nothing is smooth on the OS, I get 'Loading' even when I'm on the phone settings, COME ON !!!! The store lacks a lot of apps, it's a big stepback from its state on WP 8.1.. About the premium feel, it's a light phone with a midrange design language.. Nothing compares the Lumia 930's metallic chassis. I returned it the next morning and called for a brand new Lumia 930 (White)... At least, I knew what I was going into.
To sum things up, the few things I liked are: The UI of W10M, looks more esthetic than WP8.1, Windows Hello and the low light camera performance, even though there was kinda of a yellow tint on my night shots. The things I didn't like: A device with 3gb or RAM, and hexacore snapdragon CPU wouldn't be running this slow and sluggish, with a lot of buffering.. My L820 (Denim Update) is snappier, the lack of premium feel, the device gets hot even on standby, wifi connectivity problems, app gap on the store and of course battery drain, it went from 100 to 10% in less than 4hours..
Bottom line: I wouldn't recommend a Lumia 950 to anyone not even my cat (if I had one LOL).
About other current options, I would definitly try a Lumia 950XL or a HTP elite X3 but the screen size is too big for me, a perfect fit for me would be a 5inch screen with the HP's specs and the L950XL camera, it would be a great form factor packing a lot of power under the hood.. But let's hope for a better specs sheet for the Surface phone, if there is one HAHA.
As for now, I'm a happy Lumia 930 owner again, I restored all my settings: apps, preferences, screen layout.. Whatsapp conversations and every other content. It felt like my broken phone has risen from the ashes. The UX is what I like the most about it, very snappy, the camera performance with the living images which are much easier to find than in W10M and the screen is so vivid, the contrast ratio is flawless, a FullHD screen with a high pixel density 441ppi, it looks sharper compared the L950 I tried... The UI is also beautiful and very pure and the use of space is just incredible.. Everything a WP fan would hope for..
My final thoughts for my future purchase; I would definitely wait for MS's new hardware and let's hope for the best, but if it's another disappointement I'm leaving the platform for good, maybe pickup a Nokia 8 or 9 running Android.. The future will tell!

 

[Boris NevermorE]

Oh damn, you must got a faulty one, or dunno. In everything you described it, i haven't experience things like that on my Lumia 950. It runs perfectly.
But to not confuse you, let me tell you my experience compared to yours.

- Set Up The Account
Well, I did set up my account right away, in a few seconds (well, ok it was a minute or two), no problem whatsoever. My contacts start to sync the moment I got it connected on my wi-fi.

- Connectivity
I connect it on my wi-fi network and on my mobile internet in the first attempt. 1-2 seconds and bam, you're connected.

- Restoring Settings
Settings on WP8.1 and W10Mobile are totally different. It's a different OS, dunno how you expected to be restored from WP8.1 to W10Mobile?

- Store Opening
If at that time your apps were updating in the background, of course the store will take a time to load. Otherwise it opens in a second, at least on my Lumia 950 opens in a second, unless there is some problem on the Microsoft side.

- Not Playing 1080p Videos
Have you tried other 3rd party Youtube clients? When i was on WP8.1 I use to use Tubecast, cuz it had design that i liked, but somehow it didn't work that well on W10Mobile as it worked on WP8.1. Then i download MyTube, oh boy, what a difference. It can play everything, try it.

- Loading...
Technically apps created for WP8.1 can work on Windows 10 Mobile but they won't work that nice as they work on WP8.1 mainly if they are created in Silverlight and not on UWP. Silverlight apps tend to have that Loading thing. UWP apps created especially for W10Mobile works perfectly on my phone, no loading, nothing.

- OS Running
Yeah, there are some hiccups here and there with the new OS, but those are minor, more than 95% of the OS works as it should be. 3GB of RAM is not a measure for sluggish performance of the OS. There are Android phones with 4 and more GB of RAM and you can still see sluggish work of the OS.

- OS Update
You said even after upgrade it to Creators update, the OS still works bad. Have you tried to hard (factory) reset the device after that? I did mine, and it works like a champ. A friend of mine did update his Lumia 640XL to Creators update and the OS was working very bad. Once we hard reset it, now it works flawlessly.

- The Phone Design
Well, it's not the prettiest, but you have lots of cases to change that. It doesn't look premium like 930, but I personally don't give a damn how the phone works. It's not my show-off item, it's my productivity tool. If it works for me, i don't care how it looks.

- The Screen
A 1080p AMOLED screen with a pixel density of 441ppi can't look or be sharper than more advanced AMOLED panel with 2K display and pixel density of 564ppi, let's not exaggerate here.

Bottom line, dunno if you got new Lumia 950 or second hand or refurbished, but something is wrong with that device (hardware wise). I have my Lumia 950 since November 2016, and i love every bit of it, It works like a champion, the way i like it. I read so many people have various problems with their Lumias 950/950XL, but will you believe me if i told you that on my Lumia 950 I haven't occur any of those problems? Dunno, maybe i just got lucky and got a perfectly manufactured one, lol.
Look bro, I am not opposing your opinion, obviously you made your mind. But to be honest, a day or two with a new device is not enough to judge the performance od the one. I am just stating here my points of view about this device. Is by far the best device i ever held (yes i got an iPhone and high end Androids too), but this one works best for me.

Hope you won't understand me wrong
Cheers

 

[Drael646464]

at the moment I guess you shouldn't. MS has just ended support for Skype on W10M. You never know what else may follow

No, they ended messaging via skype (using skype instead of messenger), skype is all good on win10m. UWP is not going away, its the future of the whole windows platform.

 

[Drael646464]

Oh damn, you must got a faulty one, or dunno. In everything you described it, i haven't experience things like that on my Lumia 950. It runs perfectly.
But to not confuse you, let me tell you my experience compared to yours.

- Set Up The Account
Well, I did set up my account right away, in a few seconds (well, ok it was a minute or two), no problem whatsoever. My contacts start to sync the moment I got it connected on my wi-fi.

- Connectivity
I connect it on my wi-fi network and on my mobile internet in the first attempt. 1-2 seconds and bam, you're connected.

- Restoring Settings
Settings on WP8.1 and W10Mobile are totally different. It's a different OS, dunno how you expected to be restored from WP8.1 to W10Mobile?

- Store Opening
If at that time your apps were updating in the background, of course the store will take a time to load. Otherwise it opens in a second, at least on my Lumia 950 opens in a second, unless there is some problem on the Microsoft side.

- Not Playing 1080p Videos
Have you tried other 3rd party Youtube clients? When i was on WP8.1 I use to use Tubecast, cuz it had design that i liked, but somehow it didn't work that well on W10Mobile as it worked on WP8.1. Then i download MyTube, oh boy, what a difference. It can play everything, try it.

- Loading...
Technically apps created for WP8.1 can work on Windows 10 Mobile but they won't work that nice as they work on WP8.1 mainly if they are created in Silverlight and not on UWP. Silverlight apps tend to have that Loading thing. UWP apps created especially for W10Mobile works perfectly on my phone, no loading, nothing.

- OS Running
Yeah, there are some hiccups here and there with the new OS, but those are minor, more than 95% of the OS works as it should be. 3GB of RAM is not a measure for sluggish performance of the OS. There are Android phones with 4 and more GB of RAM and you can still see sluggish work of the OS.

- OS Update
You said even after upgrade it to Creators update, the OS still works bad. Have you tried to hard (factory) reset the device after that? I did mine, and it works like a champ. A friend of mine did update his Lumia 640XL to Creators update and the OS was working very bad. Once we hard reset it, now it works flawlessly.

- The Phone Design
Well, it's not the prettiest, but you have lots of cases to change that. It doesn't look premium like 930, but I personally don't give a damn how the phone works. It's not my show-off item, it's my productivity tool. If it works for me, i don't care how it looks.

- The Screen
A 1080p AMOLED screen with a pixel density of 441ppi can't look or be sharper than more advanced AMOLED panel with 2K display and pixel density of 564ppi, let's not exaggerate here.

Bottom line, dunno if you got new Lumia 950 or second hand or refurbished, but something is wrong with that device (hardware wise). I have my Lumia 950 since November 2016, and i love every bit of it, It works like a champion, the way i like it. I read so many people have various problems with their Lumias 950/950XL, but will you believe me if i told you that on my Lumia 950 I haven't occur any of those problems? Dunno, maybe i just got lucky and got a perfectly manufactured one, lol.
Look bro, I am not opposing your opinion, obviously you made your mind. But to be honest, a day or two with a new device is not enough to judge the performance od the one. I am just stating here my points of view about this device. Is by far the best device i ever held (yes i got an iPhone and high end Androids too), but this one works best for me.

Hope you won't understand me wrong
Cheers

Mine's refurbished and didn't have any of those issues once fully updated. It did run a bit sluggish on the factory build and some issues. but not at all now, its snappy. Beautiful, fluid and enjoyable phone experience for sure on current insiders preview with features you can only currently get on windows phone, like inline text replies, voice messaging, live tiles, PC interopability etc.

If that was my phone, because it sounds like it has software issues, I'd factory re-set, fully update to insiders preview current AND then set up apps etc...Because the software sounds like its nerfed.

It actually sounds like a factory build/non-updated phone based on all the battery issues and loading/connectivity problems. Despite him saying he creators updated it, it really sounds like it wasn't. Definitely nerfed software somehow!

 

[dov1978]

I got a 950 and it had a lot of issues. Random reboots, screen would freeze during calls and I couldn't end them, calls would drop, I'd never get notifications, it was hot..a lot. I really liked it otherwise and it was a great size. I dropped it a week later though and shattered the screen. I replaced it with an iPhone 7 Plus but a few months later I got the itch for a Windows phone again so picked up a good as new 950xl and it's been flawless (mostly) with a few dodgy Insider Builds along the way but that's expected. I'm glad I tried again as it shows that there are good eggs and bad eggs with the 95x phones and not all good or bad. From what I can gather from this site is that a lot of the issues stem from bad batteries? So easy enough to at least try a self fix or the dreaded "hard reset".
The only way I can describe my 950xl to anyone is that I can't live with it and can't live without it. When it's my daily driver, things about it really bug me and get me looking for another Android or iPhone but when I do get one of those and relegate the Lumia to my work phone I make excuses to use it again and pick it up more and more til I sell on the iPhone or Android and begin the cycle again. It's a strange relationship...and an expensive one

 

[Boris NevermorE]

Lol dov1978, you're stuck bro,
Dunno, my Lumia 950 works perfectly (knock on wood), no issues whatsoever. No freezing, No call drops, No overheating, etc. I guess this phone was made for someone special and somehow went into sales and i got it, lol I can't explain it otherwise.
About your strange relationship with windows phones, i can say, Once you got into live tiles, you will always come back to them, you'll start hating static icons on iPhone and Android.

 

[Boris NevermorE]

Lol dov1978, you're stuck bro,
Dunno, my Lumia 950 works perfectly (knock on wood), no issues whatsoever. No freezing, No call drops, No overheating, etc. I guess this phone was made for someone special and somehow went into sales and i got it, lol I can't explain it otherwise.
About your strange relationship with windows phones, i can say, Once you got into live tiles, you will always come back to them, you'll start hating static icons on iPhone and Android.

 

[HerronScott]

sd4f I just upgraded from a L920 to a L950, picked up a brand new one quite cheaply.
After 4 and a half years of the L920, I can still say that's the best phone I've ever had!

So I'm about to do the same. I've had a 920 for about the same amount of time (through work) and found out they could upgrade me to a 950 for $29.99 (only issue is it's only available in white from AT&T now!).

One question, did you restore your backup/settings from your 920 and how did that go?

Scott

 

[chefdave@chefdave.com]

Since my Icon on wp10 got totally bricked by MS update recently, I'm left with my trusty Icon on 8.1, which isn't a bad thing, but I really miss 10. I found a 950xl on Ebay, it should be here Tuesday. For a hot minute I thought about the new HTC, but painfully remembered they don't really update their phones. So I choose to remain with WP. Hoping this will tie me over till the next big MS phone comes along. I've been reading this forum lately and hope I get a good one! I was smart enuf to get the square trade warranty. I'm even going to give Mint sim a chance, I've been a Verizon customer for a very long time, hoping I'll be happy with Mint

 

[SirDubbleB]

@Boris NevermorE
Hello man, we're here to share experiences.. I shared mine and you did the same and I'm glad you did. Maybe I got a faulty one but I'm not sure. I bought it brand new from a retailer with a one year MS store warranty for a good deal 170$, at the MS Store here in Morocco the single sim version costs around 300 USD. Maybe there was something with the hardware, I didn't soft or hard reset the device but tbh I was pissed because none of these problems happened when I fist bought my L930, everything was buttery smooth.. And it was running WP 8.1 Cyan. When I got the last one a couple of days ago, it was the very same experience, I run a few updates and got it to the 'Lumia Denim' firmware and I restored everything even my screen layout, start screen and lockscreen wallpapers.. You are right abt the restore settings on W10M, you can't get your apps since it's not the same version of Windows. But I don't see why my contacts took an eternity to sync. To get back to the problems I stated on my full impressions, maybe you were blessed with a gem, a Lumia 950 problems free, or it's a problem of variants. Mine is an african variant (Morocco).. What is yours?
But to backup what I said, I've read many threads reporting the same problems and it goes beyong to call drops. You are a lucky man bro hahaha...
@Drael646464
Dude, I ran every single update out there.. gone through 3 updates until I reached the Creators one and I kept checking till no more updates were available. So it is the CU, I am sure abt it. It could be a faulty hardware, but I said earlier, the problems I encountered were listed by other people as well. So I don't think all of us got a faulty hardware/software L950. About MS dropping skype, have a look at this tweet:



I have a question for you guys, is the anniversary update stable enough to use it on everyday basis? I want to upgrade from Denim to W10M anniversary update. And if things went wrong, can I roll back from W10M to WP 8.1 using the Lumia Recovery Tool ?
Thank you so much guys for your generous feedbacks!!!

 

[Boris NevermorE]

SirDubbleB Guess i got lucky with my phone. When i tell other owners that i don't have any of those problems with their 950's, half of them doesn't believe me, the other half think i am lying, lol. But when i give them my 950 and they see with their own eyes, it's a different story after, lol
Anyway, my unit is international sim-unlocked unit that can be used world wide. It is manufactured on 20th of July 2016 in Vietnam (RM-1104_15250). I'm in Macedonia, south-east of Europe. The phone is bought in Sofia, Bulgaria, but doesn't matter that since Serbia, Macedonia, Bulgaria and Greece are the same market.
Thank you for understanding my post about my experience with my 950 compared to yours. I knew you gonna take it well. Hope you find a phone that will works best for you and do notify us here what will be your next purchase.
Cheers bro!

 

[sd4f]

So I'm about to do the same. I've had a 920 for about the same amount of time (through work) and found out they could upgrade me to a 950 for $29.99 (only issue is it's only available in white from AT&T now!).

One question, did you restore your backup/settings from your 920 and how did that go?

Scott

For the most part, it's ok. I've had issues with SMS and MMS not syncing across, I've got a hole from about February 2016-February 2017 which are all missing, while it appears everything before and after that is there. The missing texts are all still on my old phone. Resyncing it across doesn't solve it.

Next, the boot from backup doesn't really do that much. All the apps will need to be downloaded from the store anyway, it just automates it. I never noticed any saved data carry across in any of the apps either. It did bring across the start screen. After a few resets, I decided to just start fresh. Contacts sync across without much trouble, you can check the 'library' in the store to see what apps you have and are still available.

One thing I'd recommend is, if you get the phone, don't setup an account until the phone has been updated with the latest OS updates. So boot it up, skip signing in, just get it to do os updates. When that's finished, do a hard reset so that you boot fresh into the new version.

With your old phone, force a backup (if it fails you'll have to go into onedrive, delete old backups) and when that's finished switch it off. Once it's off, that's when you should start setting up the new phone. Hopefully this mitigates against any wonky syncing, because it appears to me that WP8 and W10M don't use the exact same systems. Probably best thing is to set aside some quiet time, pull out the sim to not get any new calls or texts come across.

Apart from that, W10M is nice, but even with the creators update, it's still buggier than WP8. I'm having a few issues with some apps crashing, screen rotation wrecks a few things when you lock the phone, and I've got a software issue with the proximity sensor where if I lower the phone from my ear, the screen won't turn on. Appears to happen with a bit of software use, gets solved with a reboot. Battery life is worse, which is really annoying when the battery is 50% larger than the L920's.

What's really good are the following;

• Edge is a lot better browser, which is important, considering a lack of apps
• screen is nice looking
• camera is superb, and faster
• a lot of apps are improved and have more features
• it's still that familiar WP UI
• vibrator is much stronger, phone is louder in calls and speaker than L920 (those were all a bit too weak on the L920)

 

[HerronScott]

For the most part, it's ok. I've had issues with SMS and MMS not syncing across, I've got a hole from about February 2016-February 2017 which are all missing, while it appears everything before and after that is there. The missing texts are all still on my old phone. Resyncing it across doesn't solve it.

Thank you for the advice and information!

Scott

 

[S P Heath]

I had a 930 for 18 months and i loved it. The build quality was beautiful and it was different to everybody else's Apple/android devices. I smashed it and was gutted! Reluctantly went to the 950 In October 2016. I thought the device looked plain and boring for a flag ship device. I replaced the rear cover for individuality. Having said that, the 950 is far superior and with insider builds it does everything i want and more. The battery life could be better but it charges super fast. Over 50% in less than 30 minutes!! Samsung and other devices are talking about now having HDR on their cameras, whoopie doo, my device has had HDR for about the last 7 months. I don't want what everyone else has and if Microsoft continues it's support with these devices i will continue to buy them. My final advice is, go for it! Buy yourself a 950 and enjoy

 

[SirDubbleB]

@Boris NevermorE
Thanks for your reply man and of course I took it well, we were sharing experiences.. That's what the whole idea is about. I wish I had your Lumia 950 hahaha. Actually for now I made a choice, I bought a new Lumia 930 White.. And I am very satisfied. For my next purchase, I hope it will a surface phone.. I still love the look and feel of Windows. So I'm asking you, if I upgraded my L930 to Windows 10 mobile, is it possible to roll it back to 8.1 ? In case, I don't like the experience on W10M? Thank you.
@S P Heath
Thank you for your feedback, actually I already switched back to another Lumia 930. Unfortunatley, My experience with the L950 wasn't that great.. When you had a L930, did you upgrade it to Windows 10 mobile? If yes, how was your overall experience ? Better or worse than WP 8.1 ? Thank you.