Buy at AT&T or MS Store 950??

[Captpt]

I was windows phone user back when Win. 7 was released (Samsung Focus) and the one thing that irritated me was waiting for AT&T to release updates, seemed they were usually the last carrier in the world to do so.. So I'm thinking if the price is the same at the MS Store would this be the way to go taking AT&T clearing and releasing updates out of the game?

 

[Jack Neill]

I wont be getting another carrier phone ever again, I recommend going straight to MS if you can afford full price

 

[John M Beauchemin]

According to the MS rep I spoke to at the store two days ago, you will not be able to buy the 950 at the MS store, only the XL. The 950 will be available exclusively through AT&T he told me.

 

[jswantek]

According to the MS rep I spoke to at the store two days ago, you will not be able to buy the 950 at the MS store, only the XL. The 950 will be available exclusively through AT&T he told me.

If that's the case, I won't be getting one. I really like the 950, and I've been a loyal and happy Windows Phone customer, but having the same complaints as OP, I'll go with a different phone. I was all set to buy the phone direct from Microsoft.

 

[John M Beauchemin]

I'm not sure, yet, myself. If this is indeed the case. I'm already an AT&T customer so it's not like I have to switch or anything... but I think I would prefer an unlocked phone just for the principle, if nothing else. I guess I'll need more details on what exactly AT&T is going to do to these phones. If it's simply a matter of having an AT&T app pre-installed, that wouldn't bother me I suppose.

 

[lbp775]

I actually think MS reps are not certain what plan Microsoft has in store for the 950. If anything, I think the 950 may be a time sensitive exclusive device for ATT. After that, MS may start selling unlocked because why would they have a display model if they can't sell it?

 

[anon(5348220)]

If that's the case, I won't be getting one. I really like the 950, and I've been a loyal and happy Windows Phone customer, but having the same complaints as OP, I'll go with a different phone. I was all set to buy the phone direct from Microsoft.

I don't believe that information is correct. It has previously been reported both phones will be sold unlocked at Microsoft store. Also I noticed 950 is listed on Microsoft store in Canada so I can't imagine they would exclude US from that.

 

[a5cent]

I had high hopes MS would finally divorce themselves entirely from U.S. carriers and exclusives. It's very disappointing that MS still hasn't managed that.

Still, the Lumia 950 will be available almost everywhere in the world as an unlocked device. I can buy one right now, unlocked, and on any carrier of my choice. The fact that U.S. residents can only purchase the L950 through ATT does not make in an ATT exclusive, and anyone calling it an exclusive is factually wrong (looking at you WMPU).

According to ars technica, the L950 will eventually turn up in Microsoft stores, so any distribution restrictions in the U.S. will be temporally limited. It's just not clear for how long. See this for the details:

New Lumias continue Windows Phone?s frustrating carrier situation | Ars Technica

Anyway, to answer your question OP, you should never buy a WM device from a carrier if it can be avoided. If I was in the U.S. I'd switch to a GSM carrier, take out a contract that doesn't charge you for the phone subsidy, and then wait until MS sells the L950 directly.

 

[Dewg]

Anyway, to answer your question OP, you should never buy a WM device from a carrier if it can be avoided. If I was in the U.S. I'd switch to a GSM carrier, take out a contract that doesn't charge you for the phone subsidy, and then wait until MS sells the L950 directly.

I completely agree - and I agree that the L950 is not a total exclusive phone. However, it appears to be time-exclusive - which is the problem I have with it. Even if it's only exclusive for 3 months, that's 25% of the life of a typical phone (new models every 12 months). It also forces people to wait beyond the holiday season - a bummer for those hoping to get the phone as a gift.

 

[a5cent]

I completely agree - and I agree that the L950 is not a total exclusive phone. However, it appears to be time-exclusive - which is the problem I have with it. Even if it's only exclusive for 3 months, that's 25% of the life of a typical phone (new models every 12 months). It also forces people to wait beyond the holiday season - a bummer for those hoping to get the phone as a gift.

I understand what you're saying, but like I said, if the phone can be bought almost anywhere else in the world right now, then it's not an exclusive. Not even a timed exclusive. The U.S. is just unlucky to have but a single sales channel.

However! If you really want an unlocked L950 directly from MS, you can import the device today and be done with it.

 

[Dewg]

Sucks to be us... and, Sucks to be U.S.

 

[Dewg]

However! If you really want an unlocked L950 directly from MS, you can import the device today and be done with it.

Sweet!! Please post a link for all of us in the US to order it - we'll bypass AT&T and get our own unlocked phone day-one!

 

[a5cent]

Re: Buy at AT&T or MS Store 950??

^ I live in Switzerland, the country with the highest average living expenses in the world. Everything is a lot more expensive here. So, while I can give you a viable option, ordering from the online retailers I'm comfortable recommending won't get you anything resembling average U.S. prices.

If I were in the U.S. I'd be looking to order from China or Hong Kong.

FWIW (as a proof of concept) you can take a look at the link I provided in this thread:

http://forums.windowscentral.com/microsoft-lumia-950/388871-will-unlocked-dual-sim-950-work-t.html

 

[HoosierDaddy]

If I was in the U.S. I'd switch to a GSM carrier, take out a contract that doesn't charge you for the phone subsidy, and then wait until MS sells the L950 directly.

And if they take too long (or forever) another option might be to buy gray market from some place like B&H. I got my new 1520.3 from them for high four hundreds and they gave their own one year warranty since Nokia/Microsoft wouldn't warranty a foreign market model in the US.

I'm getting a 650XL so am glad MS decided they could sell more 950XLs directly than thru any one carrier.

 

[Guzzler3]

Remember, all the "exclusive" phones eventually end up for general availability. They are only "exclusive" for a limited time.

Personally I will wait for the 950 to become available from the Microsoft store.

 

[ssapre]

According to the MS rep I spoke to at the store two days ago, you will not be able to buy the 950 at the MS store, only the XL. The 950 will be available exclusively through AT&T he told me.

May be in the start they wont sell in the store but online.... just possibility.

 

[a5cent]

And if they take too long (or forever) another option might be to buy gray market from some place like B&H.

Good point. Ars Technica did mention however, that ATT will not be the sole U.S. distributor of the L950. It will eventually be sold in MS stores too, but they didn't say when. So, based on that info, it could possibly take too long, but shouldn't take forever.

 

[Captpt]

Well I put my Note 4 up on ebay this week and using a Lumia 640XL I grabbed off Craigs until the 950/950XL gets released, originally I was pretty locked in on the 950 but now leaning hard towards dishing out a extra $100 for the XL, especially hearing what sounds like AT&T is going to be the exclusive 950 seller, UGH!!! I'm with AT&T but haven't purchased a phone from them in 3 years, I have the family share plan w/5 Smartphones and no way am I buying into they're "Next" scam. This 950 debacle is starting to remind me of when AT&T had the iPhone exclusive, look how the iPhone exploded once AT&T lost they're exclusivity here in the US.. Why in god's name isn't MS kissing some serious Verizon butt to get the 950/950XL released there also, I'm baffled..

 

[poit57]

I purchased an international dual SIM version of the 640 XL last month. As an AT&T customer, the only carrier feature that doesn't work for me is visual voicemail. This is the first factory unlocked phone I've used with AT&T so I don't know if that is normal behavior.

As of yesterday, the US Microsoft Store had a listing for both an unlocked 950 and an AT&T version of the 950, and from what I can tell, they had the same exact specs. My guess is that all carrier-specific features would be enabled in the software of the AT&T version whereas some features may not be supported for the unlocked version.

 

[Guzzler3]

As an AT&T customer, the only carrier feature that doesn't work for me is visual voicemail. This is the first factory unlocked phone I've used with AT&T so I don't know if that is normal behavior.

I had to help someone with this same issue. You have to call AT&T and get them to turn on visual voicemail on their side. I never did find out if it was associated with the device IMEI number or just on the account in general. Also, at the time, there was an extra charge for that, depending on your account/contract.