Thinking of switching, questions about Focus Flash

[porpherion]

So, I'm not happy with some of Sprint's "restructuring" and future plans that are currently coming to light. Not to mention the crappy service in my area. So I'm in an eft-free cancellation period right now, and thinking of jumping ship to AT&T and moving from android to WP7. Having no experience with it, I was wondering if anyone who may have made the same move can give me some insight into the differences in the two OSes. Also, I see this phone is free at the moment, so is it decent enough to consider getting? Thank you in advance for any responses.

 

[Eirenarch]

The main downsides is that the phone has worse (5MP) camera and less (8GB) memory than what are considered high-end phones. The screen is also smaller but this is a matter of preference not of how high-end the device is. Everything else about this phone is on par with the best Windows Phones out there. It has beautiful Super AMOLED screen and 1.4GHz hardware shared by almost all 2nd gen devices so the phone is not slower than any other WP out there in the moment.

I am a bit annoyed by the soft hardware buttons and sometimes press them unintentionally but this is an issue with all WP devices with soft buttons.

I cannot compare with Android because I have not used it. However I find WP to be much more beautiful and consistent OS. You may want to check if the applications you consider important for you are available for WP.

 

[porpherion]

Thank you for the response. I'm not too worried about apps, the only app I consistently keep on my phone is Tapatalk which I was told has a WP7 version. I'm mainly wanting to switch for the ease of use it will give me for work. I'm in IT and a coworker of mine uses WP7 which seems to have a much more user friendly way to connect to our Exchange server, which would make sense with them both being Microsoft. I'm currently looking into the ability to remote into servers from my phone.

 

[tpbklake]

So, I'm not happy with some of Sprint's "restructuring" and future plans that are currently coming to light. Not to mention the crappy service in my area. So I'm in an eft-free cancellation period right now, and thinking of jumping ship to AT&T and moving from android to WP7. Having no experience with it, I was wondering if anyone who may have made the same move can give me some insight into the differences in the two OSes. Also, I see this phone is free at the moment, so is it decent enough to consider getting? Thank you in advance for any responses.

My previous 2 phones were HTC Androids, first the HTC Aria with a 3.2 inch screen and the second is a HTC Incredible S with a 4 inch screen and 8MP camera. The Focus Flash's 3.7 inch screen falls in between, but has a faster processor than the IncS did.

I paid $450 for the IncS last summer and only paid $200 for the Focus Flash last month. I bought the Focus Flash because I wanted to try WP7 Mango and it has now become my daily driver. I really like the simply UI and one handed operation to wake and unlock the phone and the BT support simply works straight out of the box without any issues. On Android I finally ended up buying a BT voice command app.

All in all I am very pleased with the Focus Flash and WP7.

 

[freestaterocker]

Here are some of the key differences between Android and WP7:

1. Notifications
In Android, your toast notifications collect in a centralized location so you can view them whenever you want. In WP7, if you miss a toast (pop up) notification you can't view it anywhere. Instead, the live tiles on the home screen display this information. (ie messaging tiles displays number of new texts, etc) Some tiles will flip to give you updated information. You can pin any app you want to your home screen to make a live tile for it, and swipe to the right from your home screen for an alphabetical, searchable list of all your apps.

2. Google Services
Microsoft's built in search engine is Bing. If you want to google search, you will need to use the web browser, which is IE9, or a third party app. Apps exist for some google services, like Gtalk and Google Voice, but you may find their functionality somewhat limited. Browser-wise, Chrome and Firefox aren't currently available. Google Calendars and Gmail contacts automatically sync with your Gmail account from the moment you add it to your phone, and Gmail is seamlessly integrated, and live-tile and push-supported. (MS Exchange support is also seamless)

3. App Selection/Functionality
As you are aware, WP7 has fewer available apps than Android. Notable apps currently missing include Pandora and Skype, among others. Spotify is present, however. MS is committed to bringing the top 25 apps to WP7, and is going to great lengths to assist developers, including free devices and development software, as well as assistance learning to use dev tools. A Skype app is coming within a couple months, and full integration with the OS is coming with the Apollo OS update in Q4 2012, just in time for the end of the world. In terms of functionality, the apps you're used to on other platforms look different: in order to promote a consistent user-experience, WP7 apps utilize WP7 "Metro" interface and gestures, and the options and other feature will be in the same place as on other apps and the native programs. (ie: in-app search button will almost always be in the middle of the bottom of the screen) Also a couple apps are missing functions present in other versions.

4. 3rd Party Keyboards
If you like Swype, you're out of luck. Good news is, WP7s native keyboard is fast, accurate, and has top-of-the-food-chain prediction/correction. Even the most committed Apple and Android fanboys admit we have them beat here!

5. Multitasking
WP7 supports a "quick resume" model, similar to iPhone, rather than true multitasking. A few apps, like music players, will run in the background, but most will "pause" when you leave them. Holding the hardware back button will bring up card views of your recently paused apps, and you can pick up where you left off. The plus side to this is conservation of resources. This means your phone won't suddenly lag, and you won't need to use an "app-killer" to save your battery. WP7 will automatically kill background tasks as needed if you're running low.

(note: I copy/pasted this from an email I sent to a friend of mine thinking of making the jump to WP7 so some of the info here might not concern you.)

 

[porpherion]

Here are some of the key differences between Android and WP7:

1. Notifications
In Android, your toast notifications collect in a centralized location so you can view them whenever you want. In WP7, if you miss a toast (pop up) notification you can't view it anywhere. Instead, the live tiles on the home screen display this information. (ie messaging tiles displays number of new texts, etc) Some tiles will flip to give you updated information. You can pin any app you want to your home screen to make a live tile for it, and swipe to the right from your home screen for an alphabetical, searchable list of all your apps.

2. Google Services
Microsoft's built in search engine is Bing. If you want to google search, you will need to use the web browser, which is IE9, or a third party app. Apps exist for some google services, like Gtalk and Google Voice, but you may find their functionality somewhat limited. Browser-wise, Chrome and Firefox aren't currently available. Google Calendars and Gmail contacts automatically sync with your Gmail account from the moment you add it to your phone, and Gmail is seamlessly integrated, and live-tile and push-supported. (MS Exchange support is also seamless)

3. App Selection/Functionality
As you are aware, WP7 has fewer available apps than Android. Notable apps currently missing include Pandora and Skype, among others. Spotify is present, however. MS is committed to bringing the top 25 apps to WP7, and is going to great lengths to assist developers, including free devices and development software, as well as assistance learning to use dev tools. A Skype app is coming within a couple months, and full integration with the OS is coming with the Apollo OS update in Q4 2012, just in time for the end of the world. In terms of functionality, the apps you're used to on other platforms look different: in order to promote a consistent user-experience, WP7 apps utilize WP7 "Metro" interface and gestures, and the options and other feature will be in the same place as on other apps and the native programs. (ie: in-app search button will almost always be in the middle of the bottom of the screen) Also a couple apps are missing functions present in other versions.

4. 3rd Party Keyboards
If you like Swype, you're out of luck. Good news is, WP7s native keyboard is fast, accurate, and has top-of-the-food-chain prediction/correction. Even the most committed Apple and Android fanboys admit we have them beat here!

5. Multitasking
WP7 supports a "quick resume" model, similar to iPhone, rather than true multitasking. A few apps, like music players, will run in the background, but most will "pause" when you leave them. Holding the hardware back button will bring up card views of your recently paused apps, and you can pick up where you left off. The plus side to this is conservation of resources. This means your phone won't suddenly lag, and you won't need to use an "app-killer" to save your battery. WP7 will automatically kill background tasks as needed if you're running low.

(note: I copy/pasted this from an email I sent to a friend of mine thinking of making the jump to WP7 so some of the info here might not concern you.)

Thank you for that comprehensive comparison, it's exactly what I was looking for. After a few phone calls and conversations with people I know and these responses, I do believe I'm going to jump ship. Thank you all for helping me with the decision.