Making the jump from Android to a Windows 10 mobile?

AndyCr15 · 6 Dec 2015 at 18:30

I don't see the appeal of the Windows UI myself. Can Live Tiles be interacted with? I don't think they could last time I used them, so to me they're still not as good as widgets. I feel Windows is too restricted. For me, not being able to change the keyboard for example, did my head in.

Skeeter · 6 Dec 2015 at 18:44

It's a choice though, and some people like it (I do).

I'm totally with you on it being restrictive. If your going to lock people into a design, make it a good one. iOS does this much better than Windows Phone. The keyboard is awful, and your stuck with it, for example.

Tuvoc · 6 Dec 2015 at 18:54

I love Windows phones, I'm on my third one now, recently purchased. Don't find it restrictive, and the keyboard is OK to me. But I have an Android phone as well, which has my work email on it, and that is also excellent. Both are very fine OS and devices, but if someone disagrees, then that is just fine. Each to their own. It is Apple I detest.

OspreyO · 7 Dec 2015 at 00:48

Skeeter said:
WP is only 2 years behind Android. WP now is comparable to Android at the point KitKat and the Nexus 5 were released.

WP is just so slow in catching up. 8.1 solved a lot of the issues I had with 8, but they were things that should have worked from day 1 so it was too little too late.

I see it as like the Bluray/HDDVD thing. Microsoft have nailed their colours to a mast and will persist with it as long as they can, but ultimately I think we will see Lumia devices shifting to using a (likely skinned) version of Android.

For me its a mixed bag. Most of the time I would say WP feels more like 2.1 not kitkat. But Android has never had the speed of WP. I would agree with you on everything else though.

OspreyO · 7 Dec 2015 at 00:52

Installed WP10 on a 520 over the weekend. It was unusable when I tried it a few months back. This time it was a lot better. Couple of issues. Word Flow missing. Battery life was much worse than 8.1. Lots of blank screens, as if something failed to load. While last time it crawled, this time it was usable. But a lot slower (laggy) than 8.1 which is very snappy on the 520.

Granted this is an old low end phone. It was nice to see that WP10 is much improved in a lot areas. I don't think I'd be sticking on a low end phone though. I went back to 8.1.

AndyCr15 · 7 Dec 2015 at 07:50

OspreyO said:
For me its a mixed bag. Most of the time I would say WP feels more like 2.1 not kitkat. But Android has never had the speed of WP. I would agree with you on everything else though.

You understand he was talking about OS timelines, not saying WP is like Kitkat. The fact you say it's like 2.1 when Android was at 4.0 in both OS's timeline is kinda the point. WP is lagging behind.

Skeeter · 7 Dec 2015 at 08:01

OspreyO said:
For me its a mixed bag. Most of the time I would say WP feels more like 2.1 not kitkat. But Android has never had the speed of WP. I would agree with you on everything else though.

The speed and responsiveness of the WP OS on low end hardware is unbeatable. My lowly Lumia 620 ran brilliantly, its just a shame that what it was running was pants

.

AndyCr15 · 7 Dec 2015 at 08:05

I agree. It doesn't take much to allow a smooth Windows experience. At the same time, the original Moto G, which I paid £90 for two years back, was amazingly smooth stock Android experience, on a par with Win Phone in my opinion.

Mr Jones · 7 Dec 2015 at 08:39

There is one thing that MS don't seem to do well, it's revision and keeping progress.

e.g. Music player - Zune Music / Xbox Music / Groove

WP 7.5 - WP8; Music was overhauled and EVERYTHING good about Music/Xbox Music at 7.5 was lost. Album Art sync, all tagged and favourites, lost.

WP8.1 - W10m; By 8.1, they've got it back to how it was-ish at 7.5 for music, but guess what? They've screwed it up again, on top of loosing BT AVRCP 1.4 - which was a godsend when I use my phone as main entertainment in my car, Groove takes years to launch via tapping / Cortana.

I am still happy with my 640XL, but when W10m and its basic music function don't improve this time next year, I will most-likely leave for something less annoying everytime they 'improve' in revision!

Tuvoc · 7 Dec 2015 at 12:56

AndyCr15 said:
I agree. It doesn't take much to allow a smooth Windows experience. At the same time, the original Moto G, which I paid £90 for two years back, was amazingly smooth stock Android experience, on a par with Win Phone in my opinion.

I still have that phone, running fast and smooth on 5.1 Lollipop, with a gorgeous screen, still like new. Amazing phone for the money.

Tuvoc · 7 Dec 2015 at 13:02

Mr Jones said:
I am still happy with my 640XL, but when W10m and its basic music function don't improve this time next year, I will most-likely leave for something less annoying everytime they 'improve' in revision!

I'm generally happy with my 640XL, with the exception that it is a bit laggy at times. Needs a bit more grunt to drive that big screen. The 640 is probably a lot smoother.

Mr Jones · 7 Dec 2015 at 13:30

Tuvoc said:
I'm generally happy with my 640XL, with the exception that it is a bit laggy at times. Needs a bit more grunt to drive that big screen. The 640 is probably a lot smoother.

Are you on W10m? I only noticed it in W10m, but as it's a Preview, I am not discounting an improvement base on their track record of speedy OS interface since 7.5 Mango.

Tuvoc · 7 Dec 2015 at 17:12

Mr Jones said:
Are you on W10m? I only noticed it in W10m, but as it's a Preview, I am not discounting an improvement base on their track record of speedy OS interface since 7.5 Mango.

No, on 8.1