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

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hwalker84

Member
I had hopes for Windows 10 Mobile. However, that hope faded when I saw Michael Fisher of PocketNow destroy the 950XL.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMNgfEVk8oo

Any validity to this? Apparently a ton of people are agreeing and their are several flaws. If it matters, I really enjoy PocketNow, and Michael Fisher. But dang, they went full out "NOPE" to this device and the OS.

Here is their 950 review as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kEphm7NanU

From my experience with WM10 (Not the 950) these bugs are expected and real.
 
Eesh...Pocketnow eviscerated the 950xl. Love them, good to see GAF checks them out too. I had my eye on the 950xl but not until Windows 10 Mobile bakkes some more in the oven....or surface phone becomes a reality...
 

BeforeU

Oft hope is born when all is forlorn.
I had hopes for Windows 10 Mobile. However, that hope faded when I saw Michael Fisher of PocketNow destroy the 950XL.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMNgfEVk8oo

Any validity to this? Apparently a ton of people are agreeing and their are several flaws. If it matters, I really enjoy PocketNow, and Michael Fisher. But dang, they went full out "NOPE" to this device and the OS.

Here is their 950 review as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kEphm7NanU

Great reviews. all valid criticism and also the goodies.
 
All the points he raises are valid, although I've encountered only some of those bugs on my XL. Huge potential, too many software issues.

Similar situation on Win 10 in general actually, my Surface Book is stunning hardware held back by infuriating glitches.
 

BeforeU

Oft hope is born when all is forlorn.
All the points he raises are valid, although I've encountered only some of those bugs on my XL. Huge potential, too many software issues.

Similar situation on Win 10 in general actually, my Surface Book is stunning hardware held back by infuriating glitches.

All the MS products they released in Oct-Nov, would have been better off if they released it in Q1 2016. But financially it wouldn't have made sense. They wanted to hit the holiday shopping season, and this is what we get.

When Apple releases a product, they work right out of the box. LITERALLY. that is how it should be, specially when you are spending so much money. Sadly other companies don't realise they are loosing consumer trust by release buggy products.
 

aaaaa0

Member
Yup, I can't disagree much with PocketNow.

I bought a 950XL, and it definitely feels like a beta test OS running on an engineering phone.

That said, after installing 10586.36 and doing a factory reset, things are much better.

Edge still likes to misbehave occasionally, the iris scanner is still pretty useless, and there are still some random bugs, but a lot of stuff actually works properly now.

I do expect all this will be fixed in 6 months or so, just in time for the Panos Phone, lol.
 
Yup, I can't disagree much with PocketNow.

I bought a 950XL, and it definitely feels like a beta test OS running on an engineering phone.

That said, after installing 10586.36 and doing a factory reset, things are much better.

Edge still likes to misbehave occasionally, the iris scanner is still pretty useless, and there are still some random bugs, but a lot of stuff actually works properly now.

I do expect all this will be fixed in 6 months or so, just in time for the Panos Phone, lol.
I heard iris scanner works fine as long as you are looking at the front camera, not the screen.
 

CaptainABAB

Member
All the MS products they released in Oct-Nov, would have been better off if they released it in Q1 2016. But financially it wouldn't have made sense. They wanted to hit the holiday shopping season, and this is what we get.

I don't think this was a financial decision...doubt releasing the phones now vs. Q1 would have mattered in terms of $. Is anyone really buying a Lumia 950/950XL due to the holidays?

What probably did happen:
* Promises were made to carriers and vendors and a delay could have scuttled those agreements
* Concern about irreparable harm to the w10 platform due to the negative publicity from a delay (not just consumers but also developers)
 

Voyevoda

Member
I've had my 950 for a week now, and I'm really happy with it.

The phone heated up a bit when installing all the apps at first, and I've had one hard crash/restart, but that's all.

Battery life is good (lasts all day without a problem) and fast charging is very cool and useful. Everything, otherwise, is smooth and efficient. The camera's amazing.

I might have been lucky, but for now, wonderful experience without any noticeable bugs.
 

Radec

Member
I had hopes for Windows 10 Mobile. However, that hope faded when I saw Michael Fisher of PocketNow destroy the 950XL.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMNgfEVk8oo

Any validity to this? Apparently a ton of people are agreeing and their are several flaws. If it matters, I really enjoy PocketNow, and Michael Fisher. But dang, they went full out "NOPE" to this device and the OS.

Here is their 950 review as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kEphm7NanU

From the title.. To the intro.. To the end.
Savage.
 

Pejo

Gold Member
I'm anxiously watching experiences and app support with these phones. After being about 6 months back in with Android after being a Windows Phone 8.1 user for a while, I really miss the OS.

I remember the big news that MS was releasing translation apps to devs so they could get their Android/iOS stuff working easily in Windows Phone 10, has that helped at all? What's the big picture on the apps these days? Still missing a lot of the basic stuff, or has it expanded significantly?
 

hwalker84

Member
From the title.. To the intro.. To the end.
Savage.

It pains me to see this. How could something be released in this state to consumers? We're a different crowd in this forum. We are diehards. If your mom or pop grabbed a 950 from AT&T and had these issues Windows Mobile is dead to hear and everyone in her circle that hears this.
Still waiting for a price drop on the 950XL :)
 
I remember the big news that MS was releasing translation apps to devs so they could get their Android/iOS stuff working easily in Windows Phone 10, has that helped at all? What's the big picture on the apps these days? Still missing a lot of the basic stuff, or has it expanded significantly?

I'm under the impression that Microsoft may have cancelled the Android > W10 stuff.
 

Krakatoa

Member
In the review I notices he mentions an issue with launching the outlook app. In that's its slow. I checked mine after the review and I never see the outlook loading windows. It always jumps straight into the email. Maybe it’s an old bug? Also I have yet to be hit by the notification bug.

On the apps front. I have been tweeting companies about releasing universal apps. The responses so far have been good. With the exception to chase. Who outright said they had no plans at this moment.
 

Krakatoa

Member
I'm under the impression that Microsoft may have cancelled the Android > W10 stuff.

Yes the latest update for windows 10 removed this support :( Due to performance issues. I believe it was because it takes you out of the windows eco system, and developers would never feel the need to make windows 10 apps, if the android apps worked.
 
Yes the latest update for windows 10 removed this support :( Due to performance issues. I believe it was because it takes you out of the windows eco system, and developers would never feel the need to make windows 10 apps, if the android apps worked.
No, the app would still be in the Windows ecosystem but the app would essentially be the Android app with Windows emulating. So developers would still need to submit to the Windows store or the user sideloads the app to get it to work on Windows.

The emulator software in Windows Mobile though was sucking up battery so it was removed.

There's still an iOS version where developer tools are used to convert code rather than emulate.
 
In the review I notices he mentions an issue with launching the outlook app. In that's its slow. I checked mine after the review and I never see the outlook loading windows. It always jumps straight into the email. Maybe it’s an old bug? Also I have yet to be hit by the notification bug.

On the apps front. I have been tweeting companies about releasing universal apps. The responses so far have been good. With the exception to chase. Who outright said they had no plans at this moment.


I mean he can only report on his own experience, if you haven't gotten the bugs then good for you, buy it's pretty awful for a lot of people, heck the fact that he could reproduce a ton of his bugs for a staged video is a pretty big testimate to how bad they can be.
 

M3d10n

Member
I had hopes for Windows 10 Mobile. However, that hope faded when I saw Michael Fisher of PocketNow destroy the 950XL.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMNgfEVk8oo

Any validity to this? Apparently a ton of people are agreeing and their are several flaws. If it matters, I really enjoy PocketNow, and Michael Fisher. But dang, they went full out "NOPE" to this device and the OS.

Here is their 950 review as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kEphm7NanU

I'm running the preview on a 640... Windows 10 mobile definitely needs some more time in the oven. While it is true that iOS and Android have been getting buggier first releases of major versions lately, Microsoft doesn't have the marketshare to afford this.

I hope they delay the upgrade for the rest of the Lumia line until Redstone, at least, as to not burn the few users they have left.

No, the app would still be in the Windows ecosystem but the app would essentially be the Android app with Windows emulating. So developers would still need to submit to the Windows store or the user sideloads the app to get it to work on Windows.

The emulator software in Windows Mobile though was sucking up battery so it was removed.

There's still an iOS version where developer tools are used to convert code rather than emulate.

What they removed was the ability to run APKs directly, which would never have a 100% experience and would eat away battery and RAM by needing a basic Android runtime to be running all the time. The tools to port Android apps are still under work, just like the tools to port iOS apps (which are further ahead).

Thing is, the tools for cross-compiling iOS apps lessen the demand for Android porting tools, since most apps have iOS versions and the iOS APIs map better to the Windows APIs than Android's.
 

Krakatoa

Member
No, the app would still be in the Windows ecosystem but the app would essentially be the Android app with Windows emulating. So developers would still need to submit to the Windows store or the user sideloads the app to get it to work on Windows.

The emulator software in Windows Mobile though was sucking up battery so it was removed.

There's still an iOS version where developer tools are used to convert code rather than emulate.

Thanks for the clearing this up. That makes more sense.
 

Milton

Banned
I sold my 640 when I discovered you can't use a browser with an ad blocker on Windows phones. That was just the icing on the cake, a cake made with essence of stale app ecosystem.
 

VanMardigan

has calmed down a bit.
If your mom or pop grabbed a 950 from AT&T and had these issues Windows Mobile is dead to hear and everyone in her circle that hears this.
Still waiting for a price drop on the 950XL :)

My mom has a 950, and it runs fine after the last update. Then again, she is not shooting 4k video or downloading a ton of apps or otherwise pushing the phone. I have the 950, I push it hard, and I've seen some bugs, but no dealbreakers. MS needs to iterate fast, but the video makes it seem that the devices are unusable in their current state, and that's not been my experience at all. It's a good thing the video was made and Michael Fisher is a fair reviewer, so I have no problem with the overall tone.
 

wachie

Member
Holy shit was that review, a total murder of this phone.

My top 3 used apps are Outlook, Camera and browser so I was kind of looking forward to this phone, well not anymore. Hopefully the major kinks will be ironed out by the time the Surface phone debuts.
 

Pejo

Gold Member
I'm under the impression that Microsoft may have cancelled the Android > W10 stuff.

Yes the latest update for windows 10 removed this support :( Due to performance issues. I believe it was because it takes you out of the windows eco system, and developers would never feel the need to make windows 10 apps, if the android apps worked.

No, the app would still be in the Windows ecosystem but the app would essentially be the Android app with Windows emulating. So developers would still need to submit to the Windows store or the user sideloads the app to get it to work on Windows.

The emulator software in Windows Mobile though was sucking up battery so it was removed.

There's still an iOS version where developer tools are used to convert code rather than emulate.

What they removed was the ability to run APKs directly, which would never have a 100% experience and would eat away battery and RAM by needing a basic Android runtime to be running all the time. The tools to port Android apps are still under work, just like the tools to port iOS apps (which are further ahead).

Thing is, the tools for cross-compiling iOS apps lessen the demand for Android porting tools, since most apps have iOS versions and the iOS APIs map better to the Windows APIs than Android's.

Thanks all of you for clearing this up. Sounds like it wasn't the killer feature I was hoping it would be to begin with. I am happy to read that they're still moving forward with the OS porting tools however, whenever that gets finished.
 
Still can't get over that they threw out the good email renderer from 8.1 to use the shitass Word rendering from full Office Outlook. It's not even necessary on mobile at all. It's worse than IE5!
 

M3d10n

Member
Thanks all of you for clearing this up. Sounds like it wasn't the killer feature I was hoping it would be to begin with. I am happy to read that they're still moving forward with the OS porting tools however, whenever that gets finished.

The pre-release version of the iOS bridge is already available (on GitHub, no less). The Candy Crush games on the Windows Store actually use them. You still need to sign up the get access to the Android and win32 bridge.
 

U2NUMB

Member
Used to be a windows phone user... loved it for what it was but eventually went to android. I am so tired of the garbage on Android phones that the 950 xl is looking good to me even if it needs a few things ironed out. I may be coming home....

My question to those that might know.. any chance AT&T will have the XL soon? Looks like they only have the 950 right now.
 
Used to be a windows phone user... loved it for what it was but eventually went to android. I am so tired of the garbage on Android phones that the 950 xl is looking good to me even if it needs a few things ironed out. I may be coming home....

My question to those that might know.. any chance AT&T will have the XL soon? Looks like they only have the 950 right now.
No word on the XL yet.

I'm in the same boat as you, missing live tiles and other things that make WP great. I'm just waiting on a reason to come home and MS hasn't provided me one yet.
 

U2NUMB

Member
No word on the XL yet.

I'm in the same boat as you, missing live tiles and other things that make WP great. I'm just waiting on a reason to come home and MS hasn't provided me one yet.

I may just bite the bullet and pay for one. If it came to AT&T I could get my work to pay for it but when I messed with one at my local MS store I just fell in love all over again. The app gap crap means nothing to me as I use it for work and the basics are all there.. and Xbox Games which I obviously hope they keep supporting.

I find that 99.9% of apps on Android are garbage anyways or at least not something I am interested in... I feel my wallet burning damn it!
 

VanMardigan

has calmed down a bit.
Why not get the 950? Unless you want a phablet, the 950 is a good alternative. Single sim, visual voicemail, same camera and screen resolution as the XL, and the OS seems to run just as well on either chipset.
 

Stinkles

Clothed, sober, cooperative
My plan is to use my 950xl as a kind of absurdly mobile laptop with a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard along with my Microsoft branded wifi hdmi adapter- does anyone know if that's a realistic scenario compatibility wise? Just word and outlook, maybe browsing. Possibly even Netflix.
 

U2NUMB

Member
Why not get the 950? Unless you want a phablet, the 950 is a good alternative. Single sim, visual voicemail, same camera and screen resolution as the XL, and the OS seems to run just as well on either chipset.

I am used to the OnePlus and Note Edge which both clock in the XL size... But I may head to a store to get my hands on the 950 to see if I would be ok with that size. Good suggestion..
 

VanMardigan

has calmed down a bit.
If are on at&t, it's definitely worth the look. Visual voicemail and HD Voice are good perks, not sure if those are available on the unlocked versions.
 
My plan is to use my 950xl as a kind of absurdly mobile laptop with a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard along with my Microsoft branded wifi hdmi adapter- does anyone know if that's a realistic scenario compatibility wise? Just word and outlook, maybe browsing. Possibly even Netflix.

I think it does, but I don't know if netflix runs in continuum. The browser and office apps do though.

Also note that from next year (I think a few months in), office 365 sub will be required to use the office apps in continuum mode. Like you'll still have free access in phone mode, but will require the sub to use it when docked. Its kind of an odd policy decision but whatever.
 

kharma45

Member
I think it does, but I don't know if netflix runs in continuum. The browser and office apps do though.

Also note that from next year (I think a few months in), office 365 sub will be required to use the office apps in continuum mode. Like you'll still have free access in phone mode, but will require the sub to use it when docked. Its kind of an odd policy decision but whatever.

It's an absolutely stupid decision. You've paid for the phone and because you connect to an external display you can't use some of the in-built apps. It's an utterly moronic decision.
 

U2NUMB

Member
I'm 99.99% certain those will NOT work at a Microsoft store as the card specifically is for the "Windows" online store.

That was my gut feeling as well... trying to find a way to convert Best Buy gift cards to work at a microsoft store .. :)

Thanks for your input... I believe you are right
 

VanMardigan

has calmed down a bit.
Yeah, the userbase is small enough where they should let that slide and in fact use it as an incentive to buy the phones.
 

Jeels

Member
Man, if the app situation improves I think I'd be in on a Windows phone. Love my surface and the integration would be great.

It'll be hard letting go of the Sony phones I go for every couple of years but it looks like Nokia has got Sony beat on the camera front. :x
 

Azih

Member
The rumour mill seems to be pretty convinced that the Lumia line is going to be phased out in favour of Surface based on comments from a MS exec.
http://www.engadget.com/2015/12/29/microsoft-lumia-950-solid-breakthrough-hardware/

So basically the message from MS on Phones is now:

Windows Phone 7 is really great but oh wait stop everything you gotta get Windows Phone 8 instead which is really the bes... oh wait Windows Phone 8.1 changes it all up and we're really pushing Nokia Lumias as... Ah damn hold on about a year and a half while we buy Nokia's phone business and put everything on pause while we absorb the division and change the branding and marketing.. ok now Microsoft Lumia is how we're... Dammit forget 8.1 now it's going to be Windows 10 Mobile... and stuff Lumia's you really want to wait for Surface Phones!

So when they work out the kinks in Windows 10 Mobile and they launch Surface Phones, THEN maybe they'll get a foot in the door rather then trying to keep their toe from slipping out. I'm real glad MS has tons of revenue from other places to finance this because it's this exact process that killed RIM and Nokia's attempts at an OS alternative to Android/iOS. Mobile OSes are apparently really hard.
 

clav

Member
Honest question for you all: as a guy who has and is happy with a 1520, would it be worth upgrading to the 950xl?

No considering the state of Windows 10 as of right now. This will probably all change next year.

Install Windows 10 on your 1520 and see. If you like it, then OK.

I think the whole One Microsoft vision is an ongoing work in progress. Xbox One doesn't run all the apps on PC. Windows Phone 10 is in a buggy mess. Windows 10 has some odd quirks.
 
No considering the state of Windows 10 as of right now. This will probably all change next year.

Install Windows 10 on your 1520 and see. If you like it, then OK.

I think the whole One Microsoft vision is an ongoing work in progress. Xbox One doesn't run all the apps on PC. Windows Phone 10 is in a buggy mess. Windows 10 has some odd quirks.

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...
 

jond76

Banned
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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