still worth getting a windows phone?

  • Thread starter Thread starter emu
  • Start date Start date

emu

emu

emu

Associate
Joined
30 Jun 2005
Posts
593
hi
having tried android and ios i am now looking at trying a windows phone

i know some of the older phones wont be getting the new update but are they still usable?

how do they compare to ios and android?

part of me wants something that i cant actually tinker with and just leave it as is
 
Always wondered why anyone would go for windows phone. I went for WM 6.1 pro (with the Xperia X1 before now moving to Android on the Galaxy Note) as it was possible to strip it down to bare minimum and rebuild a completely custom frontend (very technical/geeky), Android is a far better experience if you want a consumer OS.
 
Rroff said:
Always wondered why anyone would go for windows phone. I went for WM 6.1 pro (with the Xperia X1 before now moving to Android on the Galaxy Note) as it was possible to strip it down to bare minimum and rebuild a completely custom frontend (very technical/geeky), Android is a far better experience if you want a consumer OS.
Click to expand...

All down to personal opinion.

If you're not looking at spending much then the Lumia 710 is a good choice. If you can get the 800 it is much nicer however.

If you can wait I think it'd be worth it.
 
Rroff said:
...Android is a far better experience if you want a consumer OS.
Click to expand...

Seriously what? If consumers were knowledgeable enough to choose they would pick the system that has the same UI irrespective of device (iOS & WP), has phones at multiple price points (WP & Android) and a large app selection (iOS & Android). They don't care about that level of customisation. The new start screen in WP7.8/WP8 would be ideal.

Operators like Android because they can customise it/control updates. So they push it. WP + an Android/iOS like app selection would be invincible IMO. Shame that's looking increasingly impossible to attain.

To the OP:

Windows Phone is a seriously nice OS (with a few minor niggles here and there). It's the only one that puts communication as its focus instead of being pretty much an app-peddling system. Problem is WP8 will break app compatibility (WP8 apps can't run on WP7 but WP7 apps can run on WP8). The app selection isn't great either and that's what sells smartphones. At the moment there just doesn't seem to be a future for the platform unless WP8 brings about a HUGE shift.
 
Rroff said:
Always wondered why anyone would go for windows phone. I went for WM 6.1 pro (with the Xperia X1 before now moving to Android on the Galaxy Note) as it was possible to strip it down to bare minimum and rebuild a completely custom frontend (very technical/geeky), Android is a far better experience if you want a consumer OS.
Click to expand...


If you are talking in real terms of a Consumer Experience, Droid is utterly horrific.

to the OP.

The Lumias have dropped in price, second hand even more, I use the 800, love it and fav phone in a VERY long time, love the Windows OS, and will like it more when the 7.8 update comes for it, but as above, be aware that now Devs KNOW that New Apps wont run on the current gen of hardware, they are not going to be many new apps be made available, so check the marketplace to see what their is before commiting.
 
Last edited:
emu said:
hi

not looking to spend much on a handset so was looking at something like the lumia
Click to expand...

How much would you look to be spending exactly, if your in the price range of the lumia 710 I think you should go for it. The new line of WP8 seem like they will be aiming at the higher end with the s4 chip being the new standard. If you can afford to spend a bit more I would recommend waiting, the difference between the current gen wp7.5 phones and the wp8 phones will be huge, a huge step up in every matter.
 
Rroff said:
Always wondered why anyone would go for windows phone. I went for WM 6.1 pro (with the Xperia X1 before now moving to Android on the Galaxy Note) as it was possible to strip it down to bare minimum and rebuild a completely custom frontend (very technical/geeky), Android is a far better experience if you want a consumer OS.
Click to expand...

Android is the new version of WM basically, for those that want to tinker. If you want just an working OS then all three are fine and WP and iOS are generally smoother.

App wise there are still over 100,000 apps and almost all the big apps are available, with alternatives for all the other big apps (and plenty of WP only big apps...)

If you're just looking for something to not tinker with and don't necessarily have the money for a new WP8 device (£400-£600 for the higher end ones probably) then something like the Lumia 800 is certainly a good bet.
 
Rroff said:
Always wondered why anyone would go for windows phone. I went for WM 6.1 pro (with the Xperia X1 before now moving to Android on the Galaxy Note) as it was possible to strip it down to bare minimum and rebuild a completely custom frontend (very technical/geeky), Android is a far better experience if you want a consumer OS.
Click to expand...

Wm6 is vastly different to WP,

I would do one of two things, wait for wp8, or if you absolutely needed a phone now. Get the cheapest wp7.5 you can, even if it's second hand.
 
arrived yesterday morning and have had a good play with it now

things i like

the interface and speed of the phone are brilliant
i think thesize is just about right
love the live tiles
office integration is brilliant
liking skydrive
picked up and imported all my contacts and stuff from my gmail,facebook and hotmail account
music player interface is very nice
removable battery


things i dont like

cant find certain apps that were free on android
do i have to keep pressing the back button to exit apps?
havent seen a notification light yet
why no seperate volume controls?
have pinned settings to the main screen but would like a swipe down menu with settings on
8gb storage is a bit measly

overall im very pleased though

the tinkerer side of me got the better of me last night and i headed over to xda

i notice you can install a custom rom

has anybody done this?

whats the benefits over stock?

can you revert back to stock easily?

the slickness and speed of the os reminds me a bit of my wifes iphone 4

its nice not having to wait for the phone to catch up
 
things i dont like

cant find certain apps that were free on android = Are you searching, as the actual name search on the marketplace rarly works for me, perhaps give a list, if theirs isnt the same one I have found better alternatives.
do i have to keep pressing the back button to exit apps? No, just hit the middle "Windows" icon button to exit to the main screen.
havent seen a notification light yet = DOnt own a 710 sorry
why no seperate volume controls? = Biggest complaint for me, I suspect, im only guessing, that some poeple at WP Development, are really really stupid.
have pinned settings to the main screen but would like a swipe down menu with settings on = Not sure what you mean by this to be honest.
8gb storage is a bit measly = on a £100 phone?
 
Lumia 710 doesn't have a notification light. Only toast notifications (temporary messages that pop up) and Live Tiles. So that swipe down menu doesn't exist either (well, you kinda have to swipe just to see the battery & signal strength).
 
cu3ed said:
why no seperate volume controls? = Biggest complaint for me, I suspect, im only guessing, that some poeple at WP Development, are really really stupid.
Click to expand...

I suspect that it is due to having to cater to the lowest common denominator (i.e. stupid users). I've seen no end of complaints from users who get confused over Androids multiple volume levels, so Microsoft probably tried to simplify things to only use 1 volume setting. Unfortunately this means that they succeed in annoying any user with more than 3 brain cells :/
 
Windows Phone multitasking is like the multitasking in iOS rather than Android, except you can't manually close applications. The OS does the work - closing applications when the system runs low on RAM to make sure performance doesn't miss a beat.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom