Lumia 950/950XL flagships design - like it or not?

[Zachary Boddy]

I am not saying that you are wrong. I've tried WP7 and left because of the poor features and lack of apps. Got on board wp8 and 8.1, and like it in some way until I saw apps not being updated in months, lack of important apps for me. Got myself a Surface 2 tablet, RT version which was a joy to use, only to find out that MS did it again, ditching the OS, leaving me with a nice tablet, and a big hole in my pocket :|. Tried windows 10 on a new 2in1 Lenovo, officially, not TP and got fed up with it. So many things went wrong that I could not stand using it anymore. Tried Windows 10 on my 1520 since 10166 build, only to find out that in the last 512, it was still not working ok, tiles losing Live functionality, 3rdparty photo apps not being able to open photos from my phone, Windows Camera app a total trash app compared to Lumia Camera 5, SMS filter not working correctly, calls not being received etc. I have never said that windows 10 does not have potential to become something cool, but until now MS has not convinced me about this. I cannot simply go and spend another 600-700 EUR on a new WP that will come with an OS that still has issues, big issues, a beta build, because let's face it, windows 10 mobile won't be ready soon. And apps, as much as I've tried, simply I cannot accept using apps that devs forgot about them for months, lacking features, low level design and worse functionality than ios or android versions. Also games, most of the greatest games are on the other platforms: RR3, NFS MW, NFS No Limits, Infinity Blade, Taichi Panda etc. So you cannot say I have not tried to be in the MS ecosystem at all. But I've compared the experience with the experience I've had on Apple's ecosystem: meaning hardware and software: tablet+phone+TV streaming+software and apps, and I cannot say that MS has convinced me to stay. Sorry; Facetime works better than skype, streaming with appletv is flawless, appstore is nothing to be compared, IOS more mature, customer service way better than MS's. 90% of my friends have iphones and ipads, more than half of my work colleagures use iphones. For the rest with android we use Facebook's Messenger audio video calling which on WP is missing, and works as great as facetime. Everything I do works on my idevices, compared to the time when I was using Microsoft/Lumia devices.
In a short way: I've got framed with WP7.5 not being able to update to 8, leaving me with a 4 month old Lumia 900 no one wanted to buy; I've got framed with Surface 2 RT when MS decided to kill this too after many have bought it including me. Then the terrible experience with windows 10 that I've had, so I have all the right to ditch MS myself.

Of course you have the right to ditch Microsoft. So buy an iPhone instead, no one here will judge you (well...they might). Have a lovely day.

 

[mariusmuntean]

Yeap, they might I have already switched from WP, but because I was part of WP community for a long time I am furious that, once I used to be proud of my Lumia phone, ever since 920, then 930, 1020 and 1520 because of many things: 8.1 was working flawlessly, great photos, apps started to come in, social integration was ok. But then things started to go wrong, all ending with Win10. I so remember the time when I was the photo guy because my Lumias were taking the best pictures ever, especially the 1020, in every ocasion. For God sake, on my cousin's wedding this summer I made the photographer look like fool with the photos I've taken with my 1020.I did not matter that there was natural or artificial light, disco light or not, the 1020 was handling flawlessly every time. When you enjoy using something, then after to see that your experience is being thrown out the window because of some stupid cost cutting policies that result in good engineers being ditched from the company, your anger gets out too...

 

[Siguardius]

Camera button and "physical" buttons at the bottom of the screen are a must. What I don't like is a camera sticking out. It makes phone profile ugly.

<edit>
Also unibody phones seem more sturdy. My 925 seems be out of titanium in comparison to 735.

 

[Krystianpants]

Camera button and "physical" buttons at the bottom of the screen are a must. What I don't like is a camera sticking out. It makes phone profile ugly.

<edit>
Also unibody phones seem more sturdy. My 925 seems be out of titanium in comparison to 735.

I dropped my 830 a few times before I got my wallet case. One time I was at a patio face down on table that was wobbly and it slid down into rocks and gravel flat on the screen. There is one small scratch near the navigation button only noticeable at a perfect angle. One time it bounced around and the metal chipped away so easily in some spots. And man those areas just look bad. I could imagine someone dropping it a lot it would look so bad. Whenever it fell on the polycarbonate back side it has survived everything. That panel is perfect as if it was new. The polycarbonate black back panel looks really nice and definitely is strong. Although the green one I have looks pretty bad. It's just so bright. The black one seems more matte too while the green one has a shine to it. It's way too bright for my liking. I feel like a construction worker trying to get the attention of cars hehe.

 

[AgentDiaz]

I think what some of the people that don't like the design are trying to do is get the ones that do like the design to understand is that there is nothing "premium" about this phone's design. Internals are up to date, at best. Yes, the 950/XL is different from all of the other phones on the market. The actual design of the phone is, unfortunately, bland. I don't know if I can hold out much longer. Hopefully a 3rd party phone manufacturer (I'm looking at you HTC) will come out of left field with some awesomeness.

 

[Lantean]

I don't think the design is earth-shattering, but I don't find it a deal-breaker either.
I come from a Nokia Lumia 925, so yes, I do value design quite a lot. But with this phone, I've also learned what it's like to touch and use an aluminium phone, and let me tell you - the moment you scratch that aluminium edge, or when it slips from your hand, you'll rue the day you gave up on a case, because it prevented you from looking at your shiny, beautiful phone. If you live in any European country besides the UK, then you KNOW how hard it is to find a good-looking case for a Lumia - if there isn't a first party one for your phone, then you're doomed. I went to both my home country and the one I'm living in now, and I couldn't find a single case for my 925 - not even the official one! And I visited official Nokia stores! So I odered online, but even then, they look terrible and the phone loses all its beauty with them on. But I depend on those terrible things to protect the already-scratched edges of the 925.
And you'll want to use those things because, when you look at the specs on this thing, you know you'll be paying a pretty penny for them. Seriously, the specs look great.
Basically, my point is, why would you want premium-looking-though-fragile materials, if you're gonna end up covering it in either a case or a dbrand style decal? I don't mind having something utilitarian - that feels good on the hand, makes me believe it can survive a fall (maybe even pays homage to the unbreakable status of the trusty 3310), and really kick *** when I need it to actually do something.
So that's where I am right now - the design doesn't get me too excited either, but the specs are distracting to the point of giving me a *****. All and all, I'd still kill for a ZuneHD-inspired phone. Seriously, how hard can it be to build a phone in that chassis?

 

[pallentx]

... I've also learned what it's like to touch and use an aluminium phone, and let me tell you - the moment you scratch that aluminium edge, or when it slips from your hand, you'll rue the day you gave up on a case, because it prevented you from looking at your shiny, beautiful phone. ...

Exactly. I don't get the obsession that it cant be "premium" if its not aluminum or some kind of metal. Metal phones don't hold up nearly as well as polycarbonate. Poly feels nice IMO and looks nice too. I'll take this design over the current S6 any day - though I must admit, the curved screen on the S6 edge is an impressive look.

 

[peachy001]

I love polycarbonate, and although metal looks good when new, it can soon starts to look naff. The Galaxy Edge devices look amazing. But in use, that screen starts to annoy.

 

[DynaDog]

I'm not going to live or die by the physical design. It looks okay, certainly good enough. The most important physical element is the screen and I expect that to be just fine. Happy to have AMOLED back.
It had better be an effing rocket, though. I'm going to definitely handle one before I buy one, but mostly to check out the performance. Like Ricky Bobby, I want to go fast. Taking pictures, opening apps, browsing, OneNote, I expect the new phones to be supersonic. If they don't deliver on performance, I'm going to pass. I hope W10 mobile is ready to rock.

 

[neelagopi]

I hope MS (or some third party) makes a nice and slim case for these phones:
1. preferably with metal or vaprMag or any material compatible with wireless charging
2. not too fat, but good enough to cover camera bump

This will provide:
1. Premium or enhanced look for the phones (for those who craves for one)
2. Protects the phone (always can replace if it breaks)
3. flat rear (to avoid bump)

Probably a very good solution to solve problems/issues the most has with the looks of these phones!

 

[Mark Richey]

You are kidding, right? High end processors, Zeiss cameras, each with 3GB memory and 32GB with expandable. Decent REPLACEBLE batteries, Gorilla glass and ready for "Hello" right out of the box.

If it is any help, there is a lot of yelping and hand-wringing about the new Nexus phones as well. The new Lumia's look thin and have Qi charging WITHOUT a cover.

We are our own worst enemies sometimes. let's give a wait at least until Tuesday before we have our collective coronaries.

I will set Cortana to time until the first "I am finished with Windows phone...," "MS fail..." posts. There is so much coming up - pen use, "Windows Hello," Continuum, Holo Lens news, a new Band, Surface Pro 4 possible in 2 form factors. 3 Lumia phones including 2 that do rival at least the innards or many of the latest offerings from other OEM and Windows 10 Mobile on the way.

What the "H" would be a "breakthrough" device exactly? An iPhone clone?

 

[boltman2013]

Won't know until I try one out in person. For instance I was interested in the 640/640XL and went into ATT to try them...did not like the size of the XL and did not like the screen dpi on the 640 compared to my 635.

My judgement was solidified comparing side by side my current Lumia against the new ones.

I will do the same with any new Lumia, common sense. Until then I am satisfied/delighted most of the time with my $40 635 running Windows 10

My initial thoughts are the 950/950XL look fine.... like to see them in action though.

 

[oranje]

Haven't liked the design from the first leaks, no differentiation from the rest of the phones on the market nowadays, all seem to be looking the same... Positioning of the lock button between the volume buttons is strange, don't like it at first impression but guess I'd need to use it to know if it's really more intuitive. Hopefully the look of the phone when handled in real life will look better than the site renders, fingers crossed!

 

[The Chapman]

I was hoping for a surface phone. The dark VaporMg material used on the first RT tablets would have been amazing! Even the silver from the Surface 3. But until I see one in person, I will hold back final judgment.

 

[Dusan Randj]

Haven't liked the design from the first leaks, no differentiation from the rest of the phones on the market nowadays, all seem to be looking the same... Positioning of the lock button between the volume buttons is strange, don't like it at first impression but guess I'd need to use it to know if it's really more intuitive. Hopefully the look of the phone when handled in real life will look better than the site renders, fingers crossed!

Button placement is really minor thing once you get to use it. I've had LG Spirit few monhs ago with same button order, volup,power,voldown, and all that on the back. After a day or two you are used to ut and not a problem anymore,

 

[PrinceM]

The 950 and 950 XL looks very good. They are the reason I most likely will finally make the move from Android to Windows. I think the previous phones looked like toys with it's round shapes and Duplo-colours. Now they look like proper business-phones I could bring to work.

And yes, real phones are made of some sort of plastic. Glass and metal are useless.

 

[abel46]

As you may know, Apple is the king og design (so they say anyway). Microsoft is the king of functionality. Since it not released yet, it will only be guesswork, but my guess is that you can look up the phone with just looking at it. And you can put in the biggest memory card that you can find, while other phones as limited to 128GB, or may not be able to use memory card at all. It will probably take better pictures that most other phones (Except Lumia 1020).
I don't think this will be Microsoft flagship. And I hope they will be priced less than other premium phones.
On the other hand, we don't know if this will be the only phones Microsoft will show next week.

 

[Justin Engel]

Personally I don't understand phone design anyway. Say Apple has a good design, sure maybe they do, but what does it matter? Everyone just buys cases that cover the phone anyway. The only phones that I have seen being used without a cover are HTC phones that have a metal back. Whenever I look at someones phone they have a massive Otter Box case or something bulky that protects their phone.

 

[Krystianpants]

So cool apparently MS has been working with Qualcomm to make their Adreno GPU's DirectX12 compatible.

Good news, Windows Phone gamers! According to Qualcomm, the upcoming iteration of DirectX will provide even better gaming experience on Windows Phone devices. DirectX 12, which was officially revealed the other day, will be released simultaneously for Windows and the Windows Phone mobile platform sometime in late 2015.

Microsoft and Qualcomm have apparently worked together for a long time in order to ensure that the Adreno GPU in the chipsets fully supports the DirectX API collection. DirectX 12 greatly increases the looks of the games you play on WP devices by boosting performance –

 

[Richpl]

The things I liked most about my lumia 930 is the camera and quality video recording mics. These do not seem to have been greatly improved over the old 930. In addition to this the look an feel of the device lives up to a flagship one. The early leaks of the 950 show a lack of character and a lack of metal... too much plastic.