I *like* Windows Phone 8

[iamtim]

It seems to me that here on WPC there is an abundance of negative threads about Windows Phone 8, its features (or lack thereof), it's benefits (or lack thereof), and its general abilities (or, again, lack thereof).

I like Windows Phone 8. I was on board the week it was released, switched back to iPhone after a couple of months for a really dumb reason, and recently switched back purposefully and willingly. For what I need in a smartphone, it's an exact fit. I need SMS/MMS and the Messaging hub is great. I need corporate email/calendar/contacts syncing (read: Microsoft Exchange Server 2010) and WP8 does that superbly (and I really like the way it not only renders email, but composes as well; the forms are super nice and clean). I need to be able to follow my friends on Facebook and make my own Facebook posts without touching the Facebook website or mobile app (because I absolutely abhor both their website and their mobile apps, they just suck) and the People hub covers that quite elegantly. I need Office (with OneNote and SharePoint connectivity) and the Office hub and OneNote apps are perfect for me. I need to keep with the blogs and news sources I follow, so I have Nextgen Reader (which is a really awesome app if you don't already use it.) Finally, I use some "basic" smartphone apps: camera, alarms, pictures and whatnot, and I find them to be not lacking in any way for my needs.

I think the user interface is great (for all current versions of Windows, I should add, not just Windows Phone). I can change the theme color whenever I want, and I can completely re-arrange how it looks at any time. For me, the home screen works perfectly as my "notification center", as the only thing I want to be notified about are messages, email, phone calls, appointments, and someone mentioning me in, or replying to one of my, Facebook posts. The Photo and People hub Live Tile animations make my home screen look alive, and I often find myself glancing at the screen just to see who has popped up on the People hub, or what picture is being shown on the Picture hub.

I can honestly say that I don't care in the slightest about orientation lock and that I prefer a single, device-wide volume control.

Before anyone scoffs at this post and writes it off as pure fanboyism, I've been a smartphone user for a long time and I've gone through every major smartphone platform: BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Android, iOS, and now Windows Phone. My opinions are not out of loyalty to Microsoft (until Windows 7 I actively opposed Microsoft wherever possible) but out of an intimate knowledge of what works for me and finally finding a smartphone OS that matches my needs.

Who else really likes their Windows Phone? I'd really like to read about other people who find that Windows Phone just works for them. If you want to complain about WP, you've already got most of the other threads in this forum; please leave this one alone.

 

[ozahran]

I love my 920. I too was tempted by going back to android, did it for a couple of weeks and just had to go back. The fluidity and beauty of the is is what got me ever since I had the Samsung Focus. While we don't have all the trendiest apps, that's okay for me. My Lumia does everything I need it to do, and does it exceptionally well.

 

[paulxxwall]

I like my Lumia 920 its by far the sweetest phone I've ever had and wp8 is not bad at all it will become the future!!!

 

[fdruid]

I genuineily like it too, as I like Windows 8 and RT. I think WP8 is a very solid OS and I enjoy using it.
I read your post and I agree with your reasons to like it. But your post sounds kind of as an apology or a defense, as if it was hard to believe that someone actually liked WP8. I believe this is the general opinion, in the current market with a dominating mentality of iPhone and Android fans.

 

[iamtim]

But your post sounds kind of as an apology or a defense

It certainly wasn't meant to be; I have nothing to apologize for. WP8 works for me and that makes me happy.

 

[minus365]

Generally, I like the way MS choose to go lately.
They caught a new breath after stale last decade and been delivering some solid products, Win8, WP8, new Office, SkyDrive, Office365, new Xbox on the way. Their support is one of the best on market, they are connecting whole portfolio.

I'm glad I stayed with them till today and looking forward for future releases. I think we can expect big things from MS.

As for WP8, I love every bit. Few things needs to get sorted here and there, but I expect MS shoul fix them in future updates. WP8 is one of the most,stable mobile OS I tried,ever. UI looks great, clean, modern intuitive.

I was able to setup my company email running on O365 with no problems, everything works fine. I just miss lack of VPN and real,RDC clieny, but I hope we will have it one day.

WP8 4,9 out of 5 for me.

 

[fdruid]

It certainly wasn't meant to be; I have nothing to apologize for. WP8 works for me and that makes me happy.

Well of course, that's why we're here in this page and forum I love it too.

 

[chezm]

I love my Lumia 920, i sold my S3 to get it. I originally had a Samsung Focus running WP7.5 which i admired but when i got destroyed i decided to take the Droid route and see what the big deal was...i came back to Windows with WP8.

WP8 does everything i want from my phone:

• Browsing is super fast
• No lag while texting
• Slick UI that does lag
• Unique experience
• *more* secure
• Has the apps i need
• No lag
• incredible camera

I use my phone to call, text (sms/mms), browse the internets, read news, check FB/Linkedin....thats it. HOWEVER, that does mean i wouldnt appreciate some features i wish carried over from Android like more management tools, more popular apps (not all but some) and more Start screen customization options (customer colors and more tile sizes).

 

[allos autos]

My opinions are not out of loyalty to Microsoft [...] but out of an intimate knowledge of what works for me and finally finding a smartphone OS that matches my needs.

This bit right here put a smile on my face. What many users on this site seem to miss is that different people have different needs and uses out of their mobile computing products. I share your apathy towards orientation lock, individual volume controls, and a separate notification centre. I wouldn't complain if these features made their way into the platform, but I certainly am not going to direct rage towards Microsoft (or Nokia, or Ballmer, or Belfiore, or whoever is the target of vitriol this week) because of their absence. The same thing goes for Windows RT. It suits some people's needs perfectly (I count myself in this category).

Kudos for the reflective and much-welcomed post.

It certainly wasn't meant to be; I have nothing to apologize for. WP8 works for me and that makes me happy.

I think fdruid meant apology in the classical sense; that is, a reasoned defense of a belief (cf. Plato's Apology). There's no negative connotations attached to this sense. It's just a descriptive term.


Oh, also, I agree with all of your reasons for liking Windows Phone. I almost had to check if I had sleep-authored the post. ;-)

 

[gsquared]

There just haters Tim. Don't pay them any attention.

 

[Smyrna5]

I love my Lumia 920, i sold my S3 to get it. I originally had a Samsung Focus running WP7.5 which i admired but when i got destroyed i decided to take the Droid route and see what the big deal was...i came back to Windows with WP8.

WP8 does everything i want from my phone:

• Browsing is super fast
• No lag while texting
• Slick UI that does lag
• Unique experience
• *more* secure
• Has the apps i need
• No lag
• incredible camera

I use my phone to call, text (sms/mms), browse the internets, read news, check FB/Linkedin....thats it. HOWEVER, that does mean i wouldnt appreciate some features i wish carried over from Android like more management tools, more popular apps (not all but some) and more Start screen customization options (customer colors and more tile sizes).

I'll pretty much second what chezm said. I was on my way to buy a cheap Android phone when I looked at the Nokia 521. The better hardware, over what came with a cheap Android, won me over. It does everything I want my phone to do, and I have been pleasantly surprised at how well WIn8 does what it does. Most of my family have Androids by the way.

 

[iamtim]

I was on my way to buy a cheap Android phone when I looked at the Nokia 521.

I had the 520 (AT&T's version) for a couple of weeks; it's a REALLY impressive device for how little it costs. My *only* complaint was that the back cover was a little creaky. I was super impressed with that phone.

 

[frodeaa]

I have a Lumia 620 and I really, really like it. You could even say I love it. I didn't have a smartphone until about 2 years ago and it has been a huge positive change for me. I think my absolutely favourite feature is the calendar and the fact that it's tied to my Windows Live Calendar (or whatever it's called now). I know when I have appointments and reminders coming up now. I also have a shared calendar with my wife (she has a 710) and we actively use it for family outings or appointments for our kid and stuff like that. It's very, very handy. My company finally upgraded to ActiveSync which means I now get my company calendar integrated as well.

This is my second smartphone, my previous one being the LG Optimus Quantum, which I wasn't as happy with. I liked WP7 but the device itself was heavy and fat (it has a slideout keyboard), but it was cheap when I bought it and it did it's job nicely. I'm much more satisfied with my Lumia 620 after 6 months than I was with my LG. It seems to be the perfect size for me, and WP8 is a notch better than WP7.

There are some small niggling things I'd like to see fixed, but I'd be hard pressed to find anything that really bothers me. Sure the other storage issue is annoying (other is 2.4GB on my device right now) but it should be fixed in GDR2. I occasionally have some lag/stutters, especially lately, but it doesn't bother me (I have a low/mid range device after all).

I'm also a developer by trade and the Windows Phone dev tools are the best mobile tools around, hands down. I've released one game that I kinda played around with on my spare time and I've been thinking about doing more apps/games just for fun. Visual Studio and C# just blows everything else out of the water, and Nokia is doing a really good job of encouraging developing apps with their DVLUP challenge/reward site.

 

[iamtim]

Nokia is doing a really good job of encouraging developing apps with their DVLUP challenge/reward site.

I'm a developer as well and looking to get into WP development. What is this DVLUP site you speak of?

 

[Cindy_H]

I love my 928. I couldn't care less about so called missing basic apps and features. My phone does everything I need it to, and does it smoothly and elegantly.

 

[RustyU]

There is already a thread for what you like about WP8: http://forums.windowscentral.com/showthread.php?t=210715

 

[DalekSnare]

2 years ago I went from a retina iPhone 4 to a hideous PenTile WVGA inch-thick Samsung focus with 30k apps, and it was so worth it. I finally upgraded to a Lumia 920 this month and for the first time in 2 years I don't have a hardware downgrade from my old iPhone. And WP is better than ever, so I'm pretty happy right now. Audible needs to stop losing my place and Bluetooth needs to stop catastrophically failing in the car, but other than that it's great. I love the unified volume control, and notification centers are just band-aids for icon-based OSes.

 

[captainqtp]

I really want a stylus with active digitizer, larger screen sizes, and physical keyboard support with slider style and/or BBbold style.

 

[metalchick719]

I absolutely love WP8. I even tested myself back in late April by removing my SIM from my Lumia 810 and putting it into my iPhone 4. I wanted to see how it would feel to go back to the iPhone for the helluva it. I couldn't last even 10 minutes. I took my SIM out of the iPhone and put it back into the 810. Not using a WP for that short a time was just making me sad, lol.

 

[CSJr1]

I *like* my Windows Phone 8. Many of your reasons are the same as mine. (except Facebook, I don't do facebook) I recently have been forced to use my corporate Note II as my daily driver because my L920 screen was damaged. I miss my L920 so much that I frequent this site with the Note II. (This must lead to some really confusing web trends) The biggest thing I miss is the fluidity of WP8, my L920 is charging right now as I take a deep breath to replace the screen that just came today.

Nervousness and excitement doesn't really explain it!