Microsoft Lumia 950 and 950 XL announced: "Windows Phone is back" (The Verge)

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LucidMomentum said:
Yeah that's my main hang up so it's nice to see it's not just me. Now if I could find a decent looking case for this 1520...
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If a device is not popular, then no case manufacturer wants to make a mold for it.

jond76 said:
It's sad to say that I have switched to Android. I stuck with Windows phone system since the beginning, but I got tired with the fledgling 3rd party support, specifically with sports trackers and smart watches.

I'm more than willing to return if Win 10 turns the tide and gains support.
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I'll give credit that each Windows 10 OS iteration has improved upon the previous version.

I think there are a bunch of people out there who feel the same way. If Microsoft can properly integrate its devices and finally create a coherent ecosystem (which there are many skeptics out there because of Microsoft's history), then maybe that's a turning point.
 
jond76 said:
It's sad to say that I have switched to Android. I stuck with Windows phone system since the beginning, but I got tired with the fledgling 3rd party support, specifically with sports trackers and smart watches.

I'm more than willing to return if Win 10 turns the tide and gains support.
Click to expand...

Microsoft Band 2. Love mine.
 
I think I am going to get a 950 at ATT this weekend. My toddler broke my 1520 so I have been using this horrible 520 for two months now. I am ready to get a real phone again.
 
Got an update to Outlook overnight. Looks like they finally integrated linked mailboxes, also the search seems to have been improved.
 
There was a question on the previous page that I can answer now that I'm home: You can't run the Netflix app through continuum.

I was surprised to see some games like Crossy Road show up as playable thru continuum tho.
 
My MS store was cleaned out of the XL.. in fact they seemed annoyed that I asked... obviously a ton of people have asked for it. It is the one at the Mall of America so I bet that gets a ton of traffic...

On a side note my Band 1 that MS refused to fix I brought it and voiced my displeasure with how it was handled.. the guy looked at me.. said well I dont have any Band 1's ... can I trade ya for a Band 2? So they gave me a band 2 on the spot.. no questions asked and took my Band 1 that MS refused to fix. So happy about that.
 
VanMardigan said:
There was a question on the previous page that I can answer now that I'm home: You can't run the Netflix app through continuum.

I was surprised to see some games like Crossy Road show up as playable thru continuum tho.
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That's because all universal apps are continuum-enabled by default, while the wp8.1 apps aren't continuum compatible at all. Crossy Road is already an universal app, that's why it works.

I suspect Netflix is waiting for the upgrade to be released for the rest of the Lumia line, since they already moved to UWP on the desktop Windows Store. Same as Twitter: their w10 app is constantly updated, but the mobile store still downloats to the wp8.1 version of the app that's quite behind.

But the Netflix website is reported to actually work under continuum, so you can use that in the meantime.
 
VanMardigan said:
There was a question on the previous page that I can answer now that I'm home: You can't run the Netflix app through continuum.

I was surprised to see some games like Crossy Road show up as playable thru continuum tho.
Click to expand...

Crossy Road is now a universal app, I'm guessing any uapp will have the ability built in?
 
M3d10n said:
That's because all universal apps are continuum-enabled by default, while the wp8.1 apps aren't continuum compatible at all. Crossy Road is already an universal app, that's why it works.
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You're right. I forgot that, although Netflix updated their desktop app to be a UWP, they haven't updated their mobile app yet.

But the Netflix website is reported to actually work under continuum, so you can use that in the meantime
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I can confirm that this is true, I was able to stream Netflix through the Edge app in Continuum, and even set the video to full screen. So that's pretty cool.
 
Kabuki Quantum Lover said:
I'm of two minds when it comes to Microsoft's W10 phone strategy:

  1. Wowie, I'm getting N900 flashbacks in a good way.
  2. Wowie, no one is going to make Windows Universal apps making the whole thing useless.
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Exactly.

Writing an app that needs to work flawlessly not only on desktop but also on mobile while providing a very similar user experience on both sounds like an absolute nightmare.

I'd rather let Freddy Kruger slash out my eyeballs.
 
Granadier said:
Exactly.

Writing an app that needs to work flawlessly not only on desktop but also on mobile while providing a very similar user experience on both sounds like an absolute nightmare.

I'd rather let Freddy Kruger slash out my eyeballs.
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The framework for handling the different device types is fairly decent.
 
It seems easy enough that small devs are making UWP apps, I don't think it's very difficult. The bigger problem is apathy.
 
I had a chance to try out the 950 yesterday. I was curious after reading the many (mostly negative) reviews. I currently have an original 8x (fantastic phone) and have been considering going Android....

First, I have to say it didn't strike me as feeling 'cheap' like many reviews claimed. It wasn't premium, certainly, but I didn't dislike it. It felt robust and utilitarian without the tacky feel of the cheaper Lumia's.

I was very impressed with how smooth everything was, the display was *gorgeous* and the frame rate seemed exceptionally high. That was until I tried the maps program, which ran like an absolute dog (???) honestly much worse than my 8x when side by side. Is this normal? It was borderline unusable.

It really left a very sour impression, as getting maps right is such a fundamental thing on a phone, and to me somewhat represents the best of what a platform offers.

It didn't help that I had an app hang during transition too.

So I dunno. Surprising good first impression, hardware was honestly better than expected - but I couldn't help feeling that even after 5 minutes it was wearing off and feeling undercooked. Also $550 feels like $150 too much when the S6 and 6P are $450 with arguably better specs.


Argh... I really wanted this thing to be a no brainer... :/
 
jond76 said:
It's sad to say that I have switched to Android. I stuck with Windows phone system since the beginning, but I got tired with the fledgling 3rd party support, specifically with sports trackers and smart watches.

I'm more than willing to return if Win 10 turns the tide and gains support.
Click to expand...

Yep, tried best to fully dedicate myself to using Windows Phone, and Windows Phone only, but I just ultimately felt that there were too many things that needed to improve. 3rd party is just abysmal, there are little things about the OS (maybe they're fixed in win 10, I'm not entirely sure) that just hurt the overall experience a little too much for me to stomach. Even if I could deal with those small things, or even if they were fixed, I hate the feeling that I'm missing out on a much larger, more advanced selection of apps. If I get a fancy, high end smartphone the last thing I want to feel is that I'm somehow settling.
 
Man, was really looking forward to these but all this is putting me off. I should probably wait another year for the surface phone or whatever comes next but something has gone wrong with my 920 and nobody I speak to can hear me clearly. Not sure I can eke out another 12 months from it :(
 
I've owned a 950 for about two months and I'm kinda looking forward to when I get a different phone. Most likely going with the 6P.

I love Windows Phone so much, the OS is just so damn nice, but I cannot get past the app gap... It's depressing.

Gonna miss expandable storage.
 
lord pie said:
That was until I tried the maps program, which ran like an absolute dog (???) honestly much worse than my 8x when side by side. Is this normal? It was borderline unusable.

It really left a very sour impression, as getting maps right is such a fundamental thing on a phone, and to me somewhat represents the best of what a platform offers.
Click to expand...

Maps works fine for me, probably needed an update from the store. I agree about the price, should've been $100-$150 cheaper, we'll see how quickly the price drops on the secondary market, but Lumias have traditionally held their value better than Samsungs and LG's for example.
 
Question: What is google app/functionality like with the new windows phones? Are there actual apps? Or can you access them in a web browser in a usable way? I'm specifically wondering about inbox and keep.


I'm trying to get switch to using a better reminder system than icloud reminders, and I'm generally thinking about going the Windows phone route when I decide to call it quits on my iPhone 5S sometime this year, so I want to make sure that whatever reminder option I chose will be cross-compatible with my future phone options.
 
7echnicolor said:
I've owned a 950 for about two months and I'm kinda looking forward to when I get a different phone. Most likely going with the 6P.

I love Windows Phone so much, the OS is just so damn nice, but I cannot get past the app gap... It's depressing.

Gonna miss expandable storage.
Click to expand...

Well, some Android phones like the XPeria Z5 have expandable storage.
 
I'm due an upgrade just now and had been thinking of the 950 XL, currently got a Lumia 1020. Vodafone in the UK don't have the XL in their inventory and don't elect to anytime soon. Is there a big difference between the two models other than size?
 
Bits N Pieces said:
I'm due an upgrade just now and had been thinking of the 950 XL, currently got a Lumia 1020. Vodafone in the UK don't have the XL in their inventory and don't elect to anytime soon. Is there a big difference between the two models other than size?
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XL has a snapdragon 810 over the 808 in the 950.
 
Bits N Pieces said:
I'm due an upgrade just now and had been thinking of the 950 XL, currently got a Lumia 1020. Vodafone in the UK don't have the XL in their inventory and don't elect to anytime soon. Is there a big difference between the two models other than size?
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Carphone Warehouse do vodafone tarrifs for the XL

Unlimited mins and texts with 8gb of 4g data for £40 p/m and £59.99 upfront.
 
Got my XL and would just like to say using office continuum is amazing. Connects to Bravia and mouse and keyboard and working so far.
 
Heretic said:
My display dock came in the mail today. Can't wait to use it! The thing is small and heavy haha
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I'm getting a display dock "anyway" - turns out I simply don't need it. Even when I travel I can simply pocket my Microsoft WiDi adapter. Almost every hotel has a TV with HDMI in now.
 
aaaaa0 said:
How is the lag when using Miracast/WiDi vs the dock?
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I didn't notice any at all, but I haven't tried the dock. And it's hard to gauge comparative lag because the desktop apps are totally different. But basically for Office - it was just like using regular Office...
 
I love my Icon- hardware is great and Windows 10 runs awesome on it- but I'm also in the camp of 3rd party support isn't great, unfortunately. This is sad because:

1) Snapchat. Seriously. I can do my banking through the web, I can do Fairshare on my tablet, I can use bus schedules online. But I can't Snapchat my brother. :(
2) I *do* actually want my banking apps.

What's okay about this situation for now is that the 950/XL aren't on Verizon, so I'm okay sticking with my Droid/Icon combo for now.

If this Surface Phone is real and shows up next year (on Verizon), I may damn well be tempted. Loved the SP1, love my Surface Book, bought my folks a Surface Pro 3 for Christmas, love my Band 1/Band 2, MS is making great hardware strides recently.

(I'd also love to try Continuum, I'm a sucker for new tech.)
 
Stinkles said:
Got my XL and would just like to say using office continuum is amazing. Connects to Bravia and mouse and keyboard and working so far.
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If you could tell MS to get the MS Store @ the Mall of America a ton of XL phones... they tell me the demand is crazy and have no answers for people who come in.

Keep coming with your impressions.. !! It hurts to hear but so excited to get back into WP.
 
I figured out how to turn of Birthdays, which is something I spend about three hours figuring out every time I get ANY new phone.

Like literally dozens of birthday 'alerts' per day, every new phone.
 
Anton Sugar said:
Please share this arcane knowledge. Have mercy.
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Not making this up and you CAN do it on your phone, but easiest thing to do is got to hotmail.com, click calendar, and remove Birthday Calendar in the settings menu. Then it never happens again on any device.
 
Stinkles said:
Not making this up and you CAN do it on your phone, but easiest thing to do is got to hotmail.com, click calendar, and remove Birthday Calendar in the settings menu. Then it never happens again on any device.
Click to expand...

In windows 10, just open the hamburger menu and uncheck the birthday calendar.
 
Hi GAF,

I recently picked up the unlocked 950xl about a week ago. Battery life is decent, at least better than my 920 for sure. To achieve this, I close down one of the biggest drains for me the edge browser tasks in the background by holding down the back button and closing as desired. This can help battery life improve from my experience with other apps and etc. Idk if the windows suspending programs not in use in the background is working of perfectly as of yet like it did with my 920.

Current issues I am having with my 950xl are as follows..

-random outlook/mail app closings right after I open an email or just the app
-calendar random closings
-some other apps like amazon and a few others have random closings as well.
-bluetooth connectivity quirks with the original MS Band. Syncing my data to see my results and data works. It could just be a weird power saving issue.

With each new firmware update the phone is getting better and better.

OS Build: 10.0.10586.29
Firmware: 01078.00027.15506
Hardware Rev. #: 4.0.3.1
 
They pushed out .63 last night to my 950xl, wow, this is a big improvement! Much less lag.

Now if only they would push out the 15506 firmware, things would be in pretty good shape.
 
Cross-posting from the WP thread:

Continuum is kinda blowing me away. Posting this using continuum, projected to my Xbox One with Groove, Word, Facebook all running from my phone.
 
SCHUEY F1 said:
Cross-posting from the WP thread:

Continuum is kinda blowing me away. Posting this using continuum, projected to my Xbox One with Groove, Word, Facebook all running from my phone.
Click to expand...
So all wireless? Does this work better than the previous "project my screen" feature?
 
camajise said:
So all wireless? Does this work better than the previous "project my screen" feature?
Click to expand...

Yup, all wireless. I'm sure results will vary at times, but seemed to work quite well to me. Need to try the Microsoft wireless adapter. That device was sometimes hit and miss for me when I would project my Surface.
 
SCHUEY F1 said:
Cross-posting from the WP thread:

Continuum is kinda blowing me away. Posting this using continuum, projected to my Xbox One with Groove, Word, Facebook all running from my phone.
Click to expand...
How's the delay?

Is it possible to use that setup regularly, or there's a noticeable delay compared to plugging in from a cable?
 
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