Keep coming back to WP

[Ronnie-]

I posted in the what's your phones thread that I had bought an off contract no flagship Lumia phone for my straight talk account that I keep in addition to my Verizon account.


I got the Lumia 1320, a device by current smartphone standards that is decidedly mid tier.

However I find myself once again impressed by the OS itself. It's just so smooth. The features are on par with the competition and Cortana is honestly better than the offerings from google and apple.

Apps still keep me occasionally going back but that gap has lessened. Alot lately for my uses.

That said, some main apps seem secondary compared to their competitors versions.


So as of now I'm carrying the 1320 and either the s5 or the g3. I find myself using the Lumia a little more daily.

 

[Poke]

Yeah I miss mine just waiting until my contract is over with Sprint so I can go to a carrier that has more options. I like Android as well which is what I currently use but when the time comes I might look and see what WP has out at the time. They for sure have a lot more to choose from for sure when I was using them so I just will have to wait it out..

 

[Peter Parker]

Perhaps I am influenced by my recent negative experience with the technical preview but I have pretty much given up on WP> I got an inexpensive ($30) phone just to learn about it. I knew there would be issues with a cheap phone but I was willing to put up with it. I was actually pleased by the phone and by the OD but turned off by problems getting support from Microsoft (and media indifference) and the lack of apps.

I use it as a music and podcast player to extend the life of my other phone. BUt still it is frustrating. I do n think I can recommend the OS to anyone because of that situation.

 

[Ronnie-]

I was put off by the technical preview of windows 10 itself, but once I got the official release, I am sold. I think that the difference on the phones will likely be just as great.

 

[lparsons21]

I miss my HTC One M8 Windows phone in many ways. But the lack of some specific financial apps and the lack of good integration with my Buicks made me switch back to iOS. I keep tossing around the idea of getting one of the Lumia 735s or the little LG one from Verizon or even getting another M8 off of Ebay. With the current plan I'm on the monthly would increase by $20 for the line access which isn't a show stopper. I just don't know if I'd use it enough.

AT&T has a better Lumia (1535??) but I won't switch to AT&T as their coverage here, especially from inside my house just isn't good enough.

Damn!! Boys and their toys huh??

 

[lparsons21]

Doing some research and reading here and there and I have to say the Windows Phone market is a mess!!

Went to the ATT store and looked at the Lumia 640XL. For $249 retail that is one very sweet WP! 5" screen, bright colors, great camera, just lots of reasons why it is such a great phone. Reviews are very good too. I have recently checked on ATT's local coverage and they have improved it, my buddy tried his at my house and it worked fine.

Went to the Verizon store. 1st off the sales droid started the "you don't really want a Windows Phone" crap just as they've always done. And after looking at the Lumia 635 and LG Lancet they had, I would agree. Those are small phones but pretty cheap. I think the Lancet is $120 or so. They also sell the HTC One M8 Wndows phone but don't carry it in the local store.

Overall that shows the Windows Phone market in a nutshell. No one is pushing them at all. Even though ATT has the great little mid-priced 640XL it is on display at the very back of the store next to a Blackberry. Verizon had both the LG and Lumia on display but widely seperated and both were stuck next to the bigger Android phones. It is a damned shame that MS hasn't really worked with the developer community well enough to get more of the common apps that are so available on Android and iOS and hasn't really done much to advertise their phones. It sure doesn't help that they are using carrier specific models either!

Going forward with all the carriers either moved away from contract/subsidized phones or in the process of doing so, I hope that the carrier specific models go the way of the dodo bird. And while I'm wishing and hoping, I hope that MS and the Android mfgs take control of updating the software as Apple does. MS has said they are going to, the Android community is mum!

 

[Peter Parker]

I was put off by the technical preview of windows 10 itself, but once I got the official release, I am sold. I think that the difference on the phones will likely be just as great.

I was not awre that there was such a thing as an official release even now. I am surprised you had it back then.

 

[meStevo]

Think I'm going to make the jump to a W10 device with the next round of flagship-class hardware. Preferably a 5.5-6" phone.

 

[Ronnie-]

I was not awre that there was such a thing as an official release even now. I am surprised you had it back then.

I was referring at the time to PC windows 10 and how I did not like the preview of it initially but did like the official release.

 

[Ronnie-]

Think I'm going to make the jump to a W10 device with the next round of flagship-class hardware. Preferably a 5.5-6" phone.

The OS itself is sound, and fluid. App support is dropping rather than growing however. For many that have dropped or are missing there are built in alternatives within the OS itself, or third party apps with varying degrees of polish.

Mostly what I found that was missing was stuff I did not use all that much anyway, but peoples usage habits are different.

 

[meStevo]

Yeah, UWP will make or break their ecosystem, im optimistic.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[Ronnie-]

Yeah, UWP will make or break their ecosystem, im optimistic.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

I certainly hope it makes it more robust.

 

[harshness]

The OS itself is sound, and fluid.

Be that as it may, Microsoft announced this past Wednesday that Windows Phone for the general public is done.

http://news.microsoft.com/2016/05/2...re-business/#sm.0000w8k0nf18f5cu2r8xcapxnofi3

This comes on the heels of Gartner's announcement on May 19th that Windows Phone had a 0.7% market share in Q1 2016.

http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/3323017