It seems WP is getting more converts/press

[baseballbert]

... the analysts are painting bleak pictures. Any numbers people on the board who can break that down?

Mangos taste better than apples!

 

[baseballbert]

I've seen a ton of pro WP articles lately, so it doesn't make sense.

Mangos taste better than apples!

 

[cedarlog]

... the analysts are painting bleak pictures. Any numbers people on the board who can break that down?

Mangos taste better than apples!

Nokia Lumia 800 outselling all Android phones on Vodafone UK, KPN Netherlands online stores

Nokia Lumia 800 outselling all Android phones on Vodafone UK, KPN Netherlands online stores | WMPoweruser

 

[jeremyshaw]

Even Engadget is covering WP7 a lot more each week than they were vs the previous year, the bleeding (though now hurt) iPhone fanbois they are.

 

[Pronk]

In three words: bad news sells. Happens everywhere too - analysts slate Apple every single quarter for not earning as much as their astronomical predictions, and even with billions made in clear profit they still class it as a failure to force down share prices as a result.

I think a lot has to do with share price and analysts trying to make reality fit their guesses rather than product quality.

 

[podsnap]

I've noticed a real 'tick box' attitude in reviews of late.

So WP7 tends to get slated because 'Dual-core: Nope, Front Facing Camera: Nope therefore it must be worse than this Android phone'.

Rather than go by the actual user experience.

So for example, I don't think I'd even notice if WP7 had dual-core. As far as I'm aware my Omnia 7 is super slick and doesn't slow down in anything. But it would get ignored simply because it doesn't have dual-core.

Front facing cameras are the same, it's a feature that a tiny percentage of users actually use and yet it's suddenly become a reason to dismiss a phone that doesn't have one.

 

[Pronk]

There's also the problem that a lot of tech writers come from the kitchen sink school of thought - that more is best, and something that's awkward to use is a challenge to be taken on rather than an example of poor design.

Show them a phone that does everything 95% of users will ever need and does it elegantly and well but that isn't jam packed with bleeding edge tech, and it'll get lukewarm reviews at best. Show them a phone that's brimming with gadgetry and things that only 5% of users will ever make full use of, topped off with an OS that gets upgraded and changed every other week that requires constant tweaking to keep running well, and it'll get rave reviews.

 

[aubreyq]

The analyst group that poo-pooed the sales of the Lumia is a little-known group. We all know this will take time. Microsoft and Nokia are not going to flat out give up or anything. All in time.

 

[Pronk]

Here's an absolute classic example of what I mean:

Galaxy Nexus HSPA+ review -- Engadget

In summary, what I took from the review:
Mediocre camera at a mediocre (for a flagship device) 5MP
Software bugs (light sensor, volume issues)
Cheap look and feel for an expensive high-end device
No removable storage (unusual for Android)
You have to manually activate hardware accelerated 2D graphics to get better performance (!)
Learning curve to the OS for both previous Android users and first-time users
"it still feels geared towards people like us: the nerdy, tech-savvy, geeky and power-hungry set"

The one out-and-out selling point is the massive screen (and even that is non-Gorilla Glass).

Verdict? Possibly the best phone of all time!

How? How??? How can that conclusion come from a phone with all the issues listed above? Answer: because geeks review stuff for themselves, and give high scores to devices that make them geek out. The average person in the street, when they get sold a Galaxy Nexus, won't care about the power underneath. They'll care that they get an average, plasticy cameraphone with a screen that isn't as tough as some others and an unintuitive OS that they spent a fortune on.

I think tech sites should start hiring their writers' parents as secondary reviewers. Then I think we'd see quite a shift in reviews...