[L630] New WP user regretting my purchase :(

[Chris Montesinos]

Hello,
New guy here. I bought a lumia 630 with WP 8.1. Ive been an iphone user for the past 5 years. Giving windows phone a shot but im about to return this phone. It's not about the hardware or cortana which to me is a nonsense gimmick like siri is. It's all about the OS to be honest and here's why:
- I cant switch from mic to bluetooth to speakerphone and i just found that out right now. My phone is stuck on headphones mode yet there are none plugged in.
- Because of the above, not being able to switch from one audio source to another, when i want to listen to music on BT, i have to unplug my headphones and close the app. Same goes with a phonecall. I'm walking to my car while talking on the phone and while the phone connects automatically to BT(which iOS does not), i cant switch sources to BT audio/mic.
- Vague control center. Compared to ios and android, this is really awful! You dont have full control and when you want to connect to wifi/BT, it takes you to the settings instead!
- IE is pretty bad. Theres no clear forward button. I mean, that is something basic! It shouldnt be done by swiping or digging around as to how to do it.

I love the live tiles, i love the transparency, i love data sense, i love network+ bc it tells you how many mins youve talked, etc. But those refined options which become HUGE minuses when you dont have them making them hate your phone inability to do basic tasks kills it.
I've had this for 5 days and still lost with some settings. I'm pretty savvy with phones but if there is a way to switch audio source without sometimes soft resetting your phone and ive overlooked, then PLEASE TELL ME. Because i've just about had it

 

[mj0]

We're in the same boat. I also came from an iPhone (5 in my case) and decided to give Windows Phone a shot, so I purchased a Lumia 635 to be my only phone. But the inadequacies in terms of sound drive me nuts as well.

• I start listening to music without headphones. In order to switch to headphones I need to completely quit the music app (be that Xbox music or Mix Radio), plug in my headphones, then start it again. Same applies to switching from any given sound output to any other, for example going from a bluetooth headset to a regular headset, or bluetooth speaker to built-in speaker.
• With headphones plugged in the volume level of the external speaker is linked to the headphones, meaning that I cannot hear my phone ring unless I want to go deaf as soon as I pick it up or want to listen to some music.
• With a bluetooth headset connected there's no notification sound on incoming messages (e.g. SMS or Facebook Messenger).
• There's no headset with volume control that isn't ridiculously expensive (I'm looking at you, Nokia WH-920). I had to purchase the BH-121 bluetooth headset which doesn't really make me go bananas, that thing is way too large to be practical in any way.

What I can do, however, is transfer a call from my bluetooth headset to the internal speaker/mic and vice versa. It even does it automatically, I just gave it a shot: call myself on my landline with the bluetooth headset turned off, then turn on the headset during the call and the phone switches to bluetooth automatically as soon as it detects the Jabra headset and connects to it. So at least this part seems to be working.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

- I cant switch from mic to bluetooth to speakerphone and i just found that out right now. My phone is stuck on headphones mode yet there are none plugged in.

Sorry you got a defective phone. Hope whatever you replace it with isn't also defective.

 

[mj0]

One more thing, regarding the "stuck on headphones mode": I've had that happen to with my wife's Apple EarBuds that were defective. At first the phone didn't detect any headphones even when they were plugged in. Sometimes it did detect them for a few seconds, sometimes minutes. In the end after I gave up and unplugged them the phone was stuck in headphones mode, it seems to be a software issue. I've had to plug in a different pair of headphones and unplug them in order to get the phone back to normal mode.

 

[Ebaneeezor]

I just started music, worked fine, plugged in headphones and it transferred to the headphones without doing anything ..Works in the car perfectly as well and get all my messages while on any BT - notifications as well.not sure what's up with your phones -

 

[mj0]

I just did some more testing and it seems that Nokia isn't the sole culprit here.

When starting music then plugging in the Apple EarBuds headphones nothing happens, music is still playing from the external speaker.
When starting music then plugging in the headphones that came with the Nokia BH-121 everything works as expected.

Ebaneeezor, what phone and what headphones did you test this with?

 

[Aaron Yawn]

I have a question no one seems to be asking. Why would you switch from a hi-end phone to a low end phone and expect positive results. Of course sounds like you got a defective phone, which can happen from time to time. However, the 630 is no iPhone replacement. The Lumia ICON certainly would have been except for dumb Verizon and their terrible business practices. If you want a good WP you should go with 1020, 925, 920 ,or 1520. The 830 is also coming out but it is only a mid-level phone hardware wise. There is no real hi-end phone currently on the horizon for whatever reason. Maybe because MS doesn't feel they can get a foot in on the market with how things are. Last bet would be to get the HTC One Windows Phone version which is a great phone, with exception of missing wireless charging (awesome feature btw) and horrible mega pix rear camera.

 

[mj0]

I have a question no one seems to be asking. Why would you switch from a hi-end phone to a low end phone and expect positive results.

That's an interesting question indeed. Maybe it's because the new iPhones are too large? At least that's what drove me to Windows Phone and the Lumia 635, I'm not going to touch the iPhone 6 (or 6+) with a 10ft pole since I'd already consindered the iPhone 5 to be too large to use comfortably with one hand or carry around in my pockets. The main problem here is that all so-called high end phones are large though, no matter who's making them. Galaxy S5, LG G3, Lumia 930, iPhone 6, they're all the same size.

 

[Poirots Progeny]

Agree with what Aaron Yawn said. Also note that both ios and android are feature rich (android far more so) and wp isn't there yet with a lot of things. WP is improving with each update but it is playing catch up. Coming from a high end system and then purchasing a low end device with low memory, well the experience won't be good. I believe Verizon is finished with the icon, so your best bet is the 1520 or maybe chance it with a mid range device - though the specs are very similar bar the ram and camera tech. The core experience and feature set is the same, though you'll experience less loading and resuming screens on a device with 1gb ram. Good luck with your next choice!

 

[mj0]

The sound issues he's experiencing have nothing to do with the fact that it's a low end device whatsoever.
The fact that Internet Explorer isn't the best browser out there has nothing to do with the fact that it's a low end device whatsoever.
The fact that Action Center is limited compared to Android/iOS has nothing to do with the fact that it's a low end device whatsoever.

I feel like I'm no repeat

 

[harihar akhil]

I have a question no one seems to be asking. Why would you switch from a hi-end phone to a low end phone and expect positive results. Of course sounds like you got a defective phone, which can happen from time to time. However, the 630 is no iPhone replacement. The Lumia ICON certainly would have been except for dumb Verizon and their terrible business practices. If you want a good WP you should go with 1020, 925, 920 ,or 1520. The 830 is also coming out but it is only a mid-level phone hardware wise. There is no real hi-end phone currently on the horizon for whatever reason. Maybe because MS doesn't feel they can get a foot in on the market with how things are. Last bet would be to get the HTC One Windows Phone version which is a great phone, with exception of missing wireless charging (awesome feature btw) and horrible mega pix rear camera.

Its not that how people could replace high end phone with a budget smart phone.As they said they want to give wp a shot so they would definitely try a low end device and may get a high end phone later.I replaced my galaxy y for Lumia 520.Apart from hardware my older galaxy y performs better than my Lumia 520(music equalizer and playback via USB to my car and home theatre system) There are also many missing features and bugs in Lumia 520 oh to list them (end of my thinking capacity).

 

[Freeze Tluangtea Chhaks]

IE do not have such a back or forward button, it is all done by swiping. Swiping to the right = Back, Swiping to the left = Forward.

 

[macgyverated]

It must be something with either the 630 phones, or you guys are trying to use Apple ear buds on your Windows Phones, which has known issues.
I've had the Lumia 920 and 1020, and even a 520 Go Phone, and not had the issues you guys report, even using cheap $5 ear buds.
I have an Oontz Bluetooth portable speaker, a Blaupunkt Toronto Bluetooth car stereo receiver in my Jeep, and an Amphony Bluetooth receiver/amplifier that power my Polk speakers on the back patio. All my Windows Phone play nice with these devices without issue. I can listen to music on all. I can send or receive calls and message alerts in the car or on the Oontz portable speaker.

I work in IT professionally. I have an office full of Windows Phone users, and they are by far the best phones we've used. Our company trucks also have Ford Sync, and the phones play nice with those as well.

One other thing with Bluetooth... If you are having trouble with connection to a specific device, select the checkbox under Bluetooth "advanced" options that says "Use an alternate Bluetooth audio connection for Speech.

And like Aaron said, you'd be better off buying a used Lumia 920 than a new 630. The 830 will be an upper mid-level phone. The specs are actually quite nice, and it is important to remember that the Windows Phone OS does not need the same level of hardware horsepower as iOS and Android do. My 2 year old Lumia 920 still bests the iPhone 5s in most tasks when it comes to speed and fluidity.

 

[heickelrrx]

You may still need to learn about it's. Usage. I'm used to Symbian berfore phone 7 need about 3 weeks to adept and quickly adept with phone 8

Well I'm also regret my purchase. Really why I brought 625 when I'm able to get 925 by wait for 1 more month.

This suck

 

[Ebaneeezor]

I just did some more testing and it seems that Nokia isn't the sole culprit here.

When starting music then plugging in the Apple EarBuds headphones nothing happens, music is still playing from the external speaker.
When starting music then plugging in the headphones that came with the Nokia BH-121 everything works as expected.

Ebaneeezor, what phone and what headphones did you test this with?

Lumia 635 and some altec lansing earbuds, nothing fancy

 

[JNaDa]

The sound issues he's experiencing have nothing to do with the fact that it's a low end device whatsoever.
The fact that Internet Explorer isn't the best browser out there has nothing to do with the fact that it's a low end device whatsoever.
The fact that Action Center is limited compared to Android/iOS has nothing to do with the fact that it's a low end device whatsoever.

I feel like I'm no repeat

The sound issues he's experiencing...
Nope - that's a defective device.

The fact that Internet Explorer isn't the best browser...
Nope - but neither is Safari (I used Chrome while I was an iPhone user). I'd take IE over Safari, but the fact that he doesn't like IE and that I don't like Safari is personal preference. There are other browsers available on both phones.

The fact that Action Center is limited compared to...
Nope - but BT turns on/off from the notification center for me (Lumia 928). So either he has a defective phone (once again) or it's just different for the lower end 630. WiFi only turns on and then takes you to the settings if you tap it again. The notification center isn't quite as busy as other OS's because it leaves a lot more room for.... notifications. WP prides itself on your being able to see your desired updates (social or otherwise) with a quick tap/swipe/glance.

 

[Chris Montesinos]

Oh no guys dont get me wrong. At the end of the night i did indeed fixed the issue by doing 3 soft resets. Had it been hardwarr, it would stay in headphone mode only.
I just want better control for audio sources. And not having that is making me go crazy.
Sometimes, you have headphones and talking to a person on them somewhat privately and want to switch audio sources but its that small annoyance is huge FOR ME because i'm always on the go. Also, the forward button shpuld be there. If this phone is ***** proof then i shouldnt have to look on the internet to use the forward command on IE.
And to the other question, I switch to WP just to not regret it entirely if it turned out to be bad. The phone is VERY responsive. As I said before i love the way it works making iOS look like a joke. Some apps i miss like ootunes or tunein that cache radio stations. WP has tunein but not as feature rich as the ios version, rstp sound player, etc but i can live without all that. I went to the store looking for an android galaxy S but when i held it, it felt like i was holding an empty plastic bottle. When i held the lumias, they felt like a proper phone. But i wasnt going to burn $500+ nor be tied up in a 2yr contract so instead of the 530, i went with the 600 series.

 

[Chris_Kez]

Sounds like you have a defective device, bad hardware. I've not had any issues with calls or music going from headphone, to speaker, BT.
Not sure exactly what you're looking to do in Action Center.
If you can swipe forward/back, I'm not sure what the issue is with IE. Are you upset that wasn't immediately "discoverable"? Well, you've discovered it. From here on out does it matter if you swipe or if you tap a button? Personally I find it easier to be able to swipe on any part of the screen rather than having to tap a small arrow.

 

[Chris Montesinos]

For new users, it shouldnt be that hard to do basic yet overlooked things and get on the internet to try and do it. Something that doesnt happen with apple. Im a designer/architect and i know to design functional and never overlook even the most simplistic thing.
Thats design 101. All it takes is getting rid of the 3 dots and add a forward arrow instead. Swipe up to get the other setting and that'll make IE more bearable.

 

[Chris_Kez]

I just want better control for audio sources. And not having that is making me go crazy.....
Also, the forward button shpuld be there. If this phone is ***** proof then i shouldnt have to look on the internet to use the forward command on IE.

Not sure what you're trying to do in regards to "switch audio sources". So you want to be connected to bluetooth or to a headset and be able to switch the audio output back and forth across external speaker, BT and headset? Interesting. I didn't know you could do that on iOS.

In regards to discoverability, no phone is perfect. Lots of people had no idea how to find Spotlight search when they went to iOS 7. How would you ever know to swipe down? Or how about triple-clicking the Home button in earlier versions of iOS to access Orientation Lock? Or double-clicking to bring up multi-tasking window? Or swiping up in multi-task to kill processes? Or really anything in any OS that requires a quick double-tap or a long-press? None of these things are obvious and apparent.