General Question: How many of you have returned your WP8 devices for an Android or Apple product?

AbsoluteZerow

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I figured I'd start a poll to see how many people have actually returned their WP8 devices.
I know there were people on the fence who had never experienced WP in general who decided to give it a try.
Also, I know there are people who knew what WP was all about, and still returned there devices.

I'm just trying to gauge an idea of what the general consensus is on the WP impression.
 

laforr77

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Unfortunately, I did. I had a ton of problems with syncing, live tiles not updating, etc... but the straw that broke the camels back were the two system lockups I experienced in the first 4 days of ownership. I upgraded from an OG Samsung Focus to a Lumia 920 and swapped it out shortly thereafter for an iPhone 5. I like the iPhone, but I'm not in love with it, and I'm keeping an eye on WP for my eventually return to the platform.
 

ImmortalWarrior

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Unfortunately, I did. I had a ton of problems with syncing, live tiles not updating, etc... but the straw that broke the camels back were the two system lockups I experienced in the first 4 days of ownership. I upgraded from an OG Samsung Focus to a Lumia 920 and swapped it out shortly thereafter for an iPhone 5. I like the iPhone, but I'm not in love with it, and I'm keeping an eye on WP for my eventually return to the platform.

Because Androids and iPhones never lock up. Ever.
 

Joelist

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Not buying the lockup story here about WP. Really we need to be on the lookout because we're having a minor issue in forum of iTrolls and Android trolls posting fake reports of issues and such - they typically can be identified as fake by things like low post count or also not correctly describing their phone and its OS.
 

Moocowdeluxe

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The lockup "story" is hardly far-fetched. I've had my Lumia 920 for 4 days now and while it hasn't locked-up, per se, it did suddenly crash and reboot on its own when I using the phone app.

Any OS is susceptible to lockups, especially something like WP8 where they've made a major move to a new kernel. Honestly, I can't remember any particular episodes of my iPhone 4 locking up, but I did experience slow-downs, stutters, and other issues. Sometimes they got bad enough that I rebooted the iPhone to try and resolve them.

Honestly, I'm *considering* returning the Lumia 920 for an Android device, probably the Galaxy Note II. I've resolved to move away from iOS permanently. I've experienced the heat and battery drain issue a couple times now, the lack of Bluetooth HID support is irking me, and the flaky push notifications and poor Facebook app are annoyances, amongst other things. I love the Lumia 920 and there's a lot to like about WP8. But, WP8 is far from perfect and there doesn't seem to be much feedback from Microsoft or Nokia about any of these issues. If MS so much as said "we're looking into Bluetooth HID and MHL support in the near future" and/or Nokia said "we're aware of such-and-such issues with the Lumia 920 and will report back you guys" that'd be enough to assuage my mind.
 

ImmortalWarrior

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Twice in four days is pretty bad, to be honest. iPhones are generally better than that. Android, on the other hand, YMMV.

Generally better isn't absolutely better. I've had my 920 for almost 3 days now and haven't had a single lock up. The worst I had was some down with pairing my bluetooth stereo headphones today.
 

laforr77

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Or I could just be a lurker who doesn't post much. The problem may not be widespread; I'm just explaining MY situation. FWIW, I missed a call on my iPhone because the screen wouldn't slide to unlock.
 

Reid Ponce

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Not buying the lockup story here about WP. Really we need to be on the lookout because we're having a minor issue in forum of iTrolls and Android trolls posting fake reports of issues and such - they typically can be identified as fake by things like low post count or also not correctly describing their phone and its OS.

Or they just bought a WP8 for the first time coming from a different platform and are confused? But go ahead and run with the conspiracy theory.
 

himurastewie

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I'm copying and pasting this from a facebook post I made earlier so if it sounds like I'm talking to someone else, that's why. This is my first hands-on experience with Windows Phone, and I'm still on the fence over it. It may seem fickle and impatient of me because I just got the phone activated 24 hours ago, but I'm not really sure I like enough to go through two years of a contract with it. I'm coming from Android 2.3 running on an HTC Incredible.


I'm torn. I want to like WP8(the phone hardware itself is really well built so good job Nokia) for its speed, simplicity, and overall ease of use but there's something holding me back from really enjoying it. The int
erface itself as I've said before is simple, easy to use, and very customizable. But like a dimwit in a suit, it presents itself in such a way as to feel more sophisticated than it actually is. That's a pretty harsh criticism but there's really only two layers to the OS. There's the "live tile"home screen, and then there's the largely text-based app underneath. It reminds me in a way of an old BIOS system, in that it's entirely text and toggles, and entirely straight to the point. I admire it for that, but at the same time I can't say I've ever felt like I wanted a computer BIOS to be my only end user experience. Granted, the same can mostly be said of iOS and Android and their largely static "rows of icons.. far as the eye can see" but ultimately I don't feel any different using WP8 than I did using Android 2.3 Gingerbread.

Many of the tiles built directly into the OS are really well done, and nicely animated. Things like the photos tile and the people tile show neat info and are well presented but overall kind of useless. They're much more interesting than a gallery app icon, but in the end that's all it is. Now, the tiles themselves can show information like how many unread texts, or emails, or whatever and if they're the full-size tile they'll actually preview text or email or whatever in the tile itself. I think this is Microsoft's justification for not having a notification tray similar to Android's. "All your notifications are in the tiles!" and that's fine, and maybe it's just habit but I find myself missing my notification tray.

I said before that people are really well integrated into the framework of the OS. You can set your facebook account in the accounts section of the settings and it will pull all your friends into your contact list, their photos, their wall posts, etc. That's nice, and it's easy to move back and forth and grab all the info you can and it's all right there without having to use Microsoft's facebook app(there's no app developed directly by Facebook). This also works for other social sites like LinkedIn and maybe a few others. And while that's all neat and useful, as a personal preference, I do like some separation.

One thing I read from another WP convert, who went back to his original OS was that all this integration doesn't do much for privacy. If someone picks up my phone, everything is just right there. They can open my people hub and see everyone I know and all their stuff. Granted they could just open my FB app and do the same thing, but with it so integrated into the system it's harder to set things aside as private.

And there are other things just don't seem well thought out. If I have my alarms turned on, I can't see that they're on unless I'm looking at the lock screen. There's no simple 'clock' tile (HTC has one as part of their specific software package) or a battery level tile. Those things are displayed in the top status bar, but the bar auto-hides itself with no way of changing it that I've found. The little clock is always visible from the home screen but it will disappear in certain apps.

That's a weak excuse for not liking an OS, but simple things like those taken as a whole are often what makes up the bulk of people's user experiences and to have them flat out missing just seems like a big oversight. Developers can create tiles for them, but from what I understand, Microsoft doesn't allow third parties to develop high-level apps that integrate well into the overall OS and have the ability to do real-time updating, for instance.

But I think the thing that's nagging at me the most is Microsoft's (thus far) attitude toward their little baby. I understand the idea that they want to control the user experience in such a way that it is consistent across devices, but them wanting to create their own 'walled garden' ala iOS seems like the wrong move. Android is the most adopted platform in the world and one of the reasons is not locking down choice and options and high-level integration.

I think ultimately WP8 is going to appeal to a lot of people. It doesn't look like the other smartphone systems out there, and it doesn't necessarily function in the same way, though the end result is more or less the same. But only a day in, I feel like I've already explored much of what it has to offer. Resizing, moving, pinning and unpinning tiles is neat for a while and lets you prioritize to a degree, but the depth that it offers is something of an illusion. It reminds me of something my 4 year old nephew would enjoy for a while, then get bored with. It's still a very cool system and at least on the surface is very different but I can't say right now that I could survive two years of it. We'll see in another week or so what I think of it and whether or not I'm going to swap back to Android.
 

bradbamford

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All of your points are valid...
I've switched back and forth between long uses of all of them (Windows Mobile, iOS, Andorid, and Windows Phone).
Each time I switch, I find it frustrating and hard to get used to the new OS again. But then after a while I get used to it and can enjoy it.

Take some time, you'll learn neat little things along the way that you didn't know and you'll have a better understanding of everything.
Next time get another OS and have fun learning it all over again.
Life is boring without change :)

btw: If the status bar is hidden, you can swipe down from the top of the start screen to bring it up (also works in some apps).
Also, a Windows Phone notification screen/tray is coming in the next update or so. Microsoft has publicly stated that they just ran out of time before the WP8 launch window.
 

graigsmith

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i may return my phone tomorrow. initially i had no problems. but as i started using problems started cropping up. once i got it set up the way i wanted, and started using it.

issue, my internet sharing drops all the time, for any computer or device. and then to fix it i have to restart the phone

i had the phone reset on me when i tried to use the voice dial feature. i said call "person's name" and it just flat out reset.

tried a factory reset (settings, about, reset your phone) and that made it worse.. not only did it not fix the internet sharing. but now the mac sync application, crashes every time i plug the phone in.

i love the phone, but i havent been able to resolve these issues. the more i try to fix it the more broke it gets. so i am going back to at&t tomorrow. and probably exchange the phone. i may take my macbook with me to see if it was the phone causing the sync program to crash. maybe, i dont know. but i am getting fed up and i have only had it for a week.
 

graigsmith

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Because Androids and iPhones never lock up. Ever.

i never had my iphone 4 lock up. i have had apps lock up. but never the whole phone.

i have only had my lumia 920 for a week and already experienced a couple of lockups. once i tried shutting it down. and it just froze on the lock screen and i had to hold volume down and power to get it to reset. and then the other time i tried to call someone with the voice call, and it froze up after i spoke the persons name.
 

TaliZorah

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I love when people complain about WP security as if there is no lock feature on the phone "Somebody could just pick up the phone and find out everything about you and your friends!"

Ummm thats true with EVERY smartphone... unless you, ya'know... LOCK IT WITH A PASSWORD!

I mean if you are THAT worried about it you would think that you would have noticed this is possible just like android and iOS. It's no more or less accessable to strangers than any other OS. I don't get this.
 

ImmortalWarrior

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OP, it sounds like you are trying to find stuff to "tinker" with on WP and feeling dissatisfied with it not eating up time. That's the beauty of it. You don't need to spend hours hours looking for stuff to "explore" about your phone. It takes only a short time to figure it out then you just use it. It is counter intuitive if you have to spend tons if time finding hidden features.

Try just using your WP for life, not for wasting time.
 

baseballbert

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I had the 920 and returned it for an iphone 5. LOVE WP8, and I think it has a ton of potential. The phones are the best generation yet.

I've had an iPhone since the 3G on up. Also had the Focus and Lumia 900, so I'm very familiar with WP. Things that got me were:
The battery
Phone overheating really badly
There are a ton of apps, but WP feels somewhat confined because there is a more limited selection. The apps it does have seem to be 2nd rate efforts by the devs. MLB AtBat is one of them. Pales in comparison to the iOS versions. Facebook too, poor app. I know it's baked in, but the functionality just isn't there. I also use Square a ton for my business and I need a credit card reader app.
Syncing playlists was a pain
Podcasts are still a wreck as well.

The other thing, while not confirmed, was a report that ms is being coy as to whether or not the current phones would be wp9 compatible. That bothers me for the fact that would be the best way to build more goodwilld after the 7.5 to 7.8 only upgrade.

There are some huge things on the way for WP, at this point it just needs a little more seasoning. 12-18 mos and the playing field will be completely different and I'm looking forward to seeing what unfolds.
 

lordofthereef

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Because Androids and iPhones never lock up. Ever.

I got my 920 on launch day. I have had 5 lockups and one random reboot since then. I got my iPhone 4S on launch day. I can;t recall it ever locking up, but I have had it act slowly, which a manual reboot fixed. I would say that six times over the thirteen months I have had it is a far better track record than six times over the seven days I have had the Lumia. That said I am sticking with it as I love almost everything else about it. Might swap the phone out and see if that helps things; I also have light leak and noticed dust under the front camera lens just today.
 

TaliZorah

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I had the 920 and returned it for an iphone 5. LOVE WP8, and I think it has a ton of potential. The phones are the best generation yet.

I've had an iPhone since the 3G on up. Also had the Focus and Lumia 900, so I'm very familiar with WP. Things that got me were:
The battery
Phone overheating really badly
There are a ton of apps, but WP feels somewhat confined because there is a more limited selection. The apps it does have seem to be 2nd rate efforts by the devs. MLB AtBat is one of them. Pales in comparison to the iOS versions. Facebook too, poor app. I know it's baked in, but the functionality just isn't there. I also use Square a ton for my business and I need a credit card reader app.
Syncing playlists was a pain
Podcasts are still a wreck as well.

The other thing, while not confirmed, was a report that ms is being coy as to whether or not the current phones would be wp9 compatible. That bothers me for the fact that would be the best way to build more goodwilld after the 7.5 to 7.8 only upgrade.

There are some huge things on the way for WP, at this point it just needs a little more seasoning. 12-18 mos and the playing field will be completely different and I'm looking forward to seeing what unfolds.


MLB At Bat worked fine on my WP7.

Im selling my iP5 now that I got my 822. Apps are really the only thing I will miss with iPhone. Everything else WP does better (for me)
 

smithcalvind

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IPhone user since day one. Bought lumia 900 several months ago, love the phone hated the camera. Went back to iPhone 4s. Now I have 920. Absolutely in love with this phone. WP just makes sense and ios started become extremely dated. This is new fresh and innovative. Not perfect but nethier is ios and certainly not android. As far as apps go I have every app I used on my iPhone except shopkick. I have 50,560 points. But I'm sure it's coming. BTW I'm still a huge apple fan. I have MacBook air, 3 apple TVs and an iPad 3. I just think wp8 is a great os and the 920 an amazing phone
 
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