My last commitment to Windows

[RaRa85]

That's the way the sane parts of the world does things.

If someone can't afford to pay for a phone all at once isn't that why they invented credit cards? Or better yet buy a phone you can afford. There are Windows phones for around $50 when on sales.
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If only it were that simple. Credit cards are what got me here in the first place.(Well technically not managing them correctly). But I also have more important things to drop $500-700 on than phones. You guys are still missing the bigger picture. Our competing rivals are available on a broad range of carriers but Windows Phone isn't. This whole talk of buying phones outright and prepaid plans are sidebars.

 

[pankaj981]

You can buy an unlocked Lumia 930 or the 1520.3 from Amazon and pay it off in 6 months on 0% using the Amazon store card or you can enroll in one of those credit cards which provide 15-18 months on 0% interest. There are plenty of other options, all one has to do is look around. I moved out of T-Mobile just because of them not supporting WPs. I have other priorities in life other than trying to research which ROM to flash on my T-Mobile 925 so that I can get Cyan without losing the AWS bands, all because stupid T-Mobile doesn't want to support its Windows Phones (I also had an 810 which was a great phone until T-Mobile decided to crap on supporting it) I have an unlocked 920 (my wife has an unlocked 5S) which I am now using on Cricket. I pay about $15 less than what I used to pay T-Mobile for 2 lines, what I get? A better network with a better coverage (AT&T). What I lose? Super high speed data on T-Mobile (on Cricket I get about 8 MBPS on LTE but the coverage compensates for it)

 

[RaRa85]

You can buy an unlocked Lumia 930 or the 1520.3 from Amazon and pay it off in 6 months on 0% using the Amazon store card or you can enroll in one of those credit cards which provide 15-18 months on 0% interest. There are plenty of other options, all one has to do is look around. I moved out of T-Mobile just because of them not supporting WPs. I have other priorities in life other than trying to research which ROM to flash on my T-Mobile 925 so that I can get Cyan without losing the AWS bands. I have an unlocked 920 (my wife has an unlocked 5S) which I am now using on Cricket. I pay about $15 less than what I used to pay T-Mobile for 2 lines, what I get? A better network with a better coverage (AT&T). What I lose? Super high speed data on T-Mobile (on Cricket I get about 8 MBPS on LTE but the coverage compensates for it)

I understand that but my main point in writing this thread is this: I want the best of Windows devices available on all major carriers as are other platforms. Everyone is chipping in on work around and other options but I'm trying to get people to see that we shouldn't have do all this maneuvering to get the phones we want on our carriers. I don't have to do that to get the iPhone 6, Galaxy S5, LG G3 or the HTC One. I'm not looking for options to get another Windows Phone. I'm looking for options to come to T-Mobile. And across all major US carriers. ATT does not have this problem as much.

 

[pankaj981]

I understand that but my main point in writing this thread is this: I want the best of Windows devices available on all major carriers as are other platforms. Everyone is chipping in on work around and other options but I'm trying to get people to see that we shouldn't have do all this maneuvering to get the phones we want on our carriers. I don't have to do that to get the iPhone 6, Galaxy S5, LG G3 or the HTC One. I'm not looking for options to get another Windows Phone. I'm looking for options to come to T-Mobile. And across all major US carriers. ATT does not have this problem as much.

Okay fact is, T-Mobile doesn't care about Windows Phones. Secondly carriers are not a barrier unless you pretend that they are. Look at how carriers and phones are sold outside the US in other parts of the world. Most of the people in those countries have to buy the phone outright or on an installment plan if they cannot afford buying it outright. These phones are priced more or less the same as what they are priced here in the US when bought out of contract. One should only use a carrier's network based on the services they provide or their coverage or the pricing, not based on whether they are supporting a particular platform or not. If you mean that carriers price their devices lower when on contract, think about it again. T-Mobile has moved on to the EIP plan which is nothing but an installation plan through them. Downside? It stays locked to their network till you pay off the EIP. When you buy an unlocked phone from the manufacturer itself, you can have financing offers from various sources, advantage? The phone is unlocked, gets faster software updates from the manufacturer and you can switch carriers at your choice. As I have mentioned before, I moved out of T-Mobile just because of them not supporting their WPs and bad coverage outside major cities. Unless you really care about Wi-Fi calling and/or any other features that only T-Mobile or any other carrier provides per se, there is no point in sticking with them just because they don't carry a particular phone (or ecosystem).

 

[RaRa85]

Okay fact is, T-Mobile doesn't care about Windows Phones. Secondly carriers are not a barrier unless you pretend that they are. Look at how carriers and phones are sold outside the US in other parts of the world. Most of the people in those countries have to buy the phone outright or on an installment plan if they cannot afford buying it outright. These phones are priced more or less the same as what they are priced here in the US when bought out of contract. One should only use a carrier's network based on the services they provide or their coverage or the pricing, not based on whether they are supporting a particular platform or not. If you mean that carriers price their devices lower when on contract, think about it again. T-Mobile has moved on to the EIP plan which is nothing but an installation plan through them. Downside? It stays locked to their network till you pay off the EIP. When you buy an unlocked phone from the manufacturer itself, you can have financing offers from various sources, advantage? The phone is unlocked, gets faster software updates from the manufacturer and you can switch carriers at your choice. As I have mentioned before, I moved out of T-Mobile just because of them not supporting their WPs and bad coverage outside major cities. Unless you really care about Wi-Fi calling and/or any other features that only T-Mobile or any other carrier provides per se, there is no point in sticking with them just because they don't carry a particular phone (or ecosystem).

Thanks.

 

[anon(5335877)]

Personally, I prefer to get unbranded, unlocked, phones and F the carriers. Sure I have to save up to purchase the phone, as you can't do payment plans this way. But personally, I think it is worth it.

Now if Microsoft would make a phone that was compatible with ALL the carriers, that would be sweet. One that would use the SIM/carrier to determine which radio frequencies to literally turn on. Find a way to turn off the other frequencies if they aren't compatible so save power. Make that an unbranded, unlocked phone, mid to high end phone, with no carrier exclusivity, they might be surprised at how many people would buy it. Because face it, I think we all hate our carrier in some way or another.

That won't exactly work in the US, Verizon and Sprint won't activate devices that aren't sold by them (meaning devices that aren't Verizon or Sprint branded, doesn't matter if it's compatible or not, they don't care). That leaves AT&T and T-Mobile. For the rest of the world, don't they already have unlocked country variants?

 

[anon(5335877)]

One should only use a carrier's network based on the services they provide or their coverage or the pricing, not based on whether they are supporting a particular platform or not.

there is no point in sticking with them just because they don't carry a particular phone (or ecosystem).

Don't these statements contradict each other?

 

[Karthik Naik]

i think the contract system is pathetic even if phones are dirt cheap in comparison you are at the mercy of the operator and have a locked phone with slow/lack of updates and even lesser choice of phones
there are contract systems in india but very few take them
they do however give factory unlocked handsets with free mobile data,calls everything for 2 years(unlimited) @ $50 per month and updates are your regular phone updates no operator bloatware or personalised updates

 

[HoosierDaddy]

T-Mobile shouldn't care about Windows Phones. No Carrier should. For OUR benefit carriers should care about selling a service. But some of us in the US and a few other places actually encourage them to have these unholy relationships with phone makers. I get dry mouth reading the calls for this carrier or that carrier to get this phone or that phone because my jaw literally drops. Bundling a phone with the service lets them hide the cost of the phone (guess why they want to do that?) and keep many people paying for said phone forever. It lets them put people on hamster wheels of getting a "free" upgrade (LoL) on THEIR schedule rather than what benefits the customer. Bundling phones with the service give them the leverage to armtwist manufacturers into exclusive deals which allows the carrier to demand more for that device than if there was competition. All of that is to the detriment of the phone user and the phone makers.

Carriers should build infrastructure and sell the use of same. Phone makers will make phones that work on those infrastructures. Phone users will buy whatever phone they want. from competing retailers at lower prices. That's how it works in the sane world.

 

[pankaj981]

Don't these statements contradict each other?

Well my primary reason was coverage, secondary was bad support (I had an 810 and Cyan is already delayed for the 925)

 

[putuyoga]

Still love Windows Phone. I don't know why, because it's simplicity amaze me everyday

 

[RaRa85]

Still love Windows Phone. I don't know why, because it's simplicity amaze me everyday

I do too or I wouldn't have stuck around for four years through all the growing pains of the platform while dealing with the consistent and ongoing limited availability of high end Windows Phones across the major carriers. Fact is a lot of the replies have been about their view on the US carrier system. That's fine. I get it. It's not a perfect system but the majority of the US population will have a phone supported by Verizon, ATT, T-Mobile, and Sprint. Sure there are other companies like Cricket and Virgin Mobile that have come along but the major carriers are what most people rely on(and don't have a problem with) here. I will continue my relationship with T-Mobile and I enjoy great, affordable service with them. It works for me. Whatever works for you is fine. Like I said even though the phone I really want(Xperia Z3) will be available before even a mention of the next flagship for Windows, I will not budge until Microsoft confirms that it will or will not be available for T-Mobile. That doesn't mean I will stop loving the platform.

 

[mhans311]

I do too or I wouldn't have stuck around for four years through all the growing pains of the platform while dealing with the consistent and ongoing limited availability of high end Windows Phones across the major carriers. Fact is a lot of the replies have been about their view on the US carrier system. That's fine. I get it. It's not a perfect system but the majority of the US population will have a phone supported by Verizon, ATT, T-Mobile, and Sprint. Sure there are other companies like Cricket and Virgin Mobile that have come along but the major carriers are what most people rely on(and don't have a problem with) here. I will continue my relationship with T-Mobile and I enjoy great, affordable service with them. It works for me. Whatever works for you is fine. Like I said even though the phone I really want(Xperia Z3) will be available before even a mention of the next flagship for Windows, I will not budge until Microsoft confirms that it will or will not be available for T-Mobile. That doesn't mean I will stop loving the platform.

I'm not really sure what you want everyone to say. You are correct. There are no flagship phones available across all 4 carriers. None of us is going to change that. So what's the use in continuing to complain about it? However some people are trying to give some more productive suggestions of how we can get/use flagship phones in a cost effective way.

 

[Jorge Holguin]

A little about me
Let me preface my views by saying that I'm a T-Mobile customer first since January 2007 before anything else. So my journey with Windows Phone started with the HTC HD2. The excellent mod community allowed many possibilities such as dual booting of Android and the newly introduced Windows Phone 7. From the first time I saw the hilarious ad campaign "The phone to save us from our phones." I was in love. Windows Phone was different and the tile interface fit my style perfectly. I am one of the early adopters of Windows Phone and my first device was the HTC Radar which was a great device hampered by a very limited storage at only 8gb.

What happened next
I was very happy with Windows Phone 7 even with its many limitations.(copy and paste anyone) But it didn't really matter at all. The phone did pretty much what I wanted it to do and the user experience was very pleasing for the most part. I quickly became a part of the WPCentral community with the app and website. Then the Nokia partnership with Microsoft was announced bringing with the Nokia Lumia 800. I couldn't wait for the US version to be announced. And then it was....for ATT only? I didn't know it then but this would be the first of many times I would be let down by carrier exclusives from not only Nokia but HTC and Samsung as well. It seemed like every phone I wanted was on ATT and that's where I looked to get my Samsung Focus, HTC Titan, Nokia Lumia 920, and now owned Nokia Lumia 1020(all unlocked for T-Mobile). The only two phones I really liked on my carrier were the HTC 8X(very gorgeous handset) and the Nokia Lumia 925(arguably the best looking Windows Phone and phone period) which were both contenders for my daily drivers but not enough to make my officially upgrade with T-Mobile for two years.(the 8X came out before the new Uncarrier plans and I owned the Lumia 920 with 32gb of storage and wireless charging when the Lumia 925 came along). This is my main problem with Windows Phone as a whole: availability of your best devices across a broad range of carriers. At launch only the HTC 8X made it to three carriers.

While the good ol' folks at ATT enjoyed the HTC Titan, HTC Titan 2, Samsung Focus, Samsung Focus 2, Nokia Lumia 900.920.1020, and 1520 us T-Mobile customers got the HTC Radar, Nokia Lumia 710, Nokia Lumia 520, Lumia 810(another decent phone but I owned the superior Lumia 920 then) and Lumia 630. And why the need to limit the 925 to 16gb with no storage expansion? I'm happy for Verizon as of late landing the coveted Nokia Lumia Icon(but with no storage expansion while the 1520 does) and HTC One for Windows. The HTC One for Windows has been announced to come to ATT and T-Mobile as well which is promising but why wait. Why does Windows Phone continue to hamper and stale sales with carrier exclusives? Is it really carrier choice? Why is the HTC One for Windows being supported by the big three but other successful phones weren't? And why the need by Nokia to release basically the same phone(920.928. and 925) with different features and different release dates? I don't know the answers to these questions but what I do know is that I can go to T-Mobile tomorrow and get the iPhone 6 and 6 plus, LG G3, HTC One(Android), and Samsung Galaxy S5 and many other of the competitors. That's a huge problem for me and with the recent announcement of the Lumia 730 and 830, this trend seems to be continuing and I was a little upset at first to find out that the beloved Lumia 1020 could be left behind so quickly. After rethinking things though, I realize that I really don't need all the new camera tricks that come with the Denim update(but they are cool). The Lumia 1020 is just that good.

My last commitment to Windows
As you can see I have been waiting for a long time for a true flagship for Windows Phone to come to my carrier. I would have easily just switched to ATT but as of right now I'm repairing my credit and switching to them or Verizon would mean paying $200-300 just to get started on one of their plans. This does not include getting a phone or a plan. With all things considered, you can see why I prefer to stay with T-Mobile(I have a great history and never missed a payment with them). And I do not intend to continue buying phones unlocked or from eBay because it starts to add up trying to keep up. I really just want a no compromise phone with options(decent processor, great camera and SD expansion)that I can really enjoy for a long time. In most respects, I already have that with the Lumia 1020 but I already see how it will be behind these newer phone in the internal hardware department. The battery life is hit and miss at best though and all these hi-res pictures and video take up a lot of space even though I average over 7gb of free storage at any given time. Most importantly I want a phone that is supported by T-Mobile. I have found all that in the Sony Xperia Z3(at least from the reviews of the Xperia Z2 and PhoneArena's early review) coming to T-Mobile probably before the HTC One for Windows(which I was thinking about waiting for) is launched. Coming from the Lumia 1020 I at least need a phone with 20mp and a sweet sensor to meet my mobile needs. But in using my Lumia 1020 as of late I have decided to wait until Microsoft's next announcement for its high end phone. If this phone is launched on my carrier I will upgrade to it. If not, the Z3 will most certainly be my next phone. I really like what Sony is doing and I've played enough with the Z2(and my wife's Galaxy S5) to see that Android's interface isn't that bad but I'm really not ready to leave Windows Phone behind. And the awesome pictures produced by my Lumia 1020 satisfy every "shiny, new phone" itch. My future as a Windows Phone owner lies in Microsoft's hands. It's really that simple for me as I've been patient enough. What will it be Microsoft? The Lumia 1030 or the Sony Xperia Z3?

Wow is like you living my own experience. I've been using my Lumias 925 for the last two years but before you give up let me give you some glimpse of hopes. First hopefully the rumors about the 1525 are true. Second: we don't know yet which of the new Lumias are coming to T-Mobile. And last: I couldn't wait any longer and got a factory unlock, black, 32gb 1520 [used] in $318. It works just as my Lumias 925; LTE, 4G. If you ever interested in any device make sure it support T-Mobile LTE & 4G band.
LTE network bands: 1, 3, 7, 8, 20
LTE max data speed DL: 150 Mbps
LTE max data speed UL: 50 Mbps
WCDMA network: 850 MHz, 900 MHz, 1900 MHz, 2100 MHz
WCDMA max data speed DL: HSDPA - 42.2 Mbps
WCDMA max data speed UL: HSUPA - 5.76 Mbps
GSM network: 850 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 1900 MHz
GSM max data speed DL: EGPRS 236.8 kbps
GSM max data speed UL: EGPRS 236.8 kbps

 

[RaRa85]

I'm not really sure what you want everyone to say. You are correct. There are no flagship phones available across all 4 carriers. None of us is going to change that. So what's the use in continuing to complain about it? However some people are trying to give some more productive suggestions of how we can get/use flagship phones in a cost effective way.

Lol on the contrary, I did not start this thread as an intention to make a complaint about the landscape of high end Windows Phones on multiple carriers. I wrote this thread to shed light on it from a T-Mobile customer's perspective and express my disappointment in hopes that Microsoft would change the history of this going forward. We can't do anything about this situation in the US but I believe Microsoft can. This is a heartfelt thread expressing my reluctance(hence "my last commitment") to just up and leave despite the challenges that have existed for consumers to get a product that should be easily available as are the rivaling platforms. I really want Windows Phone to be on the same level as its competitors: available everywhere anytime.

 

[AngrySprintUser]

Isn't T-Mobile getting the One M8?

Also if you think T-Mobile is bad....................

 

[RaRa85]

Isn't T-Mobile getting the One M8?

Also if you think T-Mobile is bad....................

Yes we are getting the One M8 which I'm still on the fence about but judging from your username....I can't really talk.lol But I really feel for you guys too. I want you guys to get some love too. Maybe Microsoft should hire me. I'd work my tail off to get high end, midrange and low end Windows phones everywhere and made sure they had actual users of the platform in retail stores so new customers wouldn't be fed all this garbage about Windows Phone and immediately steered towards the popular choices. I know its gotta be harder than that in reality though. Wishful thinking... Hang in there Sprint guy.

 

[jdballard]

I completely understand your frustration. T-Mobile is the bottom of the barrel with Windows Phones.

I'd have to say that Sprint is the bottom of the barrel for Windows Phones.

Your points about TMO, though, are sad and frustrating. I do wonder if MS will ever gain any traction in the US in phones.

 

[AngrySprintUser]

I'd have to say that Sprint is the bottom of the barrel for Windows Phones.

Your points about TMO, though, are sad and frustrating. I do wonder if MS will ever gain any traction in the US in phones.

It's really really bad over at Sprint. Not only do they offer 2 year old phones, but one of them has already been taken off the shelves, so it's actually one. Plus last time I went into the flagship store out here in Seattle, I didn't even see the Ativ S Neo on display. Nobody at Sprint knows anything about future windows phones and honestly they could care less because they will openly express their hatred for them.

I'm due for an upgrade, and with no new Windows Phones in sight.................... I dunno...................

 

[Jonny702]

Yeah I feel that North America kinda gets shafted on windows phone options. I'm in Canada and it's actually worse up here. I have a 920, I want to upgrade, but literally the only thing available is the 1020, which is well over a year old, or the 635 which is a low end phone without the features I want. It's really kind of sad that we don't get any variation of the 930 up here, and Microsoft/ Nokia just lies when you ask them if the phone will be available here. The sad part is, as much as I adore Windows Phone, if I can't get a flagship phone by the time I need to upgrade, I will be forced to move to another platform.
I hope Microsoft reads these posts and if they do;

Microsoft I want to be your customer, help me remain as your customer. It's all in your hands