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Thread: How do we not have a Windows phone thread yet? Oh, yeah, because only like two people have them.

  1. #1
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    How do we not have a Windows phone thread yet? Oh, yeah, because only like two people have them.

    Lumia 950, hour six.

    I picked up my 950 on the way home from San Jose today. Initial reactions are a bit mixed. I really loved the weight and feel of the 920, and the 950 does not mimic it in any way. It's much lighter, way more plasticky. On the upside (meh, maybe), a big part of the reason is that the back is removable and so is the battery. It's essentially unremarkable, really, which I don't mind one bit. I don't like flashy electronics.

    I've been using "Insider" Windows 10 on my 920 for a while, so the 950 experience doesn't feel special. I will say the little polish added between RCs and production are nice - things that seemed a little ragged (mail setup comes to mind) are back to the WP8 level of excellence. Everything is fast, easy to read, and laid out in a sensible way. The backup/restore process was painless and much faster than the iTunes process... WP does not image the flash, it just backs up settings so there is a ton of data that doesn't need to get sent around. Made moving phones quite nice.

    I haven't played with it much... I mean, I don't play with phones much. I've sent a ton of emails and done some web surfing, but that's it so far. I'm probably not a good candidate to espouse the virtues of a new product. But, I like what 10 promises when supported by not three year old hardware, and I am looking forward to the new camera.

    TL;DR: Is the 950 going to change my life? No. Am I happy I went for it? Very.

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    Although historically opposed to cell phone accessories, I might go for one of these:

    http://www.windowscentral.com/pre-or...-cases-go-live

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    Keep it up. I think I can probably live without most of the Android apps. The big question is Google Maps, but I think you can use that from within Edge, right? As for Chrome, just transfer all the info across I guess.

    And those leather rear covers look effing sick. As in, far better than the LG ones.

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    That Verge "review" is typically laughable tech blogger BS. Why does it slag off the camera when Ars (amongst others) says it's great?

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    Verge thinks all cameras aside from iPhones are terrible. Part of the reason is that iPhones are typically best at just leaving everything in automatic and getting a good image, vs a lot of cameras that needed some amount of settings adjustment to great pictures.
    Get that weak shit off my track

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    I was very happy with the camera on the 920, it's every bit as good as my gf's 5S was. Her 6 is probably better, but it's also three years newer. I haven't take a single shot with the new one, but every reference to the old PureView camera was positive, so I see no reason this one wouldn't be good as well. Unfortunately, I am a shitty photographer - I don't think any technology can save me.

    I have used Google Maps in Edge and it's ok. Just OK. It is nowhere near as useful or easy to use as the iPhone/Android app. I would not attempt to use it while driving. I can't speak for elsewhere, but domestically Bing Maps has never let me down and I use it frequently. It may not be as good overseas. I do notice that Here Maps (Nokia's product) is not included on the new Lumia - I never used it, so no big loss. I have read that Here is *the shit* overseas, and it's just the US product that sucks so there may be something there.

    The only apps I have installed on my phone are for my two banks, Domino's pizza, Fandango, and Amazon. Whoops, and Uber. I use Uber frequently, the others I almost never use. I did notice while running updates last night that Netflix is now native, so that's positive. Maybe the Windows 10 core will ease app development. And, there is the Android binary compatibility to look at.

    I have noticed that the iris detection is not present on this phone. The printed instructions call it out, but it's not physically there. Weird. Also, while uninstalling all the bullshit AT&T stuff I noticed that there is a wide-open Developer control panel entry where you can readily enable side-loading... Nice to see that shift towards Android and away from iOS.

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    Still have not taken a single solitary picture.

    But battery life is superb. Admittedly, my old 920 was suffering a bit and the battery would only last about 12-14 hours versus the solid 20 hours I used to get, but the 950 had been at 76%-80% at the 12 hour mark reliably given totally normal (for me) usage. I am not sure how that translates to people streaming Netflix 24x7 or sending a couple texts a day, but my usage pattern hasn't changed and I've won mountains of battery.

    The "j mouse" is fanfuckingtastic even if it's not on the J - I don't like typos in emails even if they are sent from a smartphone, and the pointer makes editing so much easier. A+ on that.

    It appears some things in the Windows 10 Insider build on my 920 weren't working or just weren't included, as the Outlook client does some neat stuff with swipes and gestures that I could not previously do. My only annoyance here is that you can't reassign gestures - you can swipe to delete, but I never delete emails. I would much rather be able to swipe to reply - that would save me time. I hope that type of customization is forthcoming. I should probably tell someone who can do something about it.

    I was initially opposed to the soft navigations buttons at the bottom but have come to like them. It's clearly a cost-saving measure, but it doesn't hurt me like I thought it was going to, so whatevers.

    Adding Windows 10 search to the apps list and control panels is brilliant, praise baby Jesus they did that.

    And, finally, although I'm still miffed about the apparent quality of the materials, the form factor is to my hand perfection. Just right amount of round and square. It is literally the perfect phone in my hand.

    At some point in the near future I am going to look into the USB C dock or something - I am very eager to try that out. The Atrix used to appeal to me on that level, but it never quite worked out. Native Office changes the deal significantly!

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    27 hours, 20% remaining. Eight hours of that was spent idle, but connected to bluetooth nonstop. Rad.

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    That's cool. Decided to stick with my Oneplus One for now. I can always get another phone later next year.

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    I am still eyeballing that device to replace my personal cell. Since us Muricans don't get dual-SIM phones as, like, a matter of law or something I have two phones. The Windows device is perfect for work as the email client is superior, but I'm currently using a 5S for my personal... we use a lot of iPhones at work and I like keeping in touch with what the lusers are doing. But, I've just about had enough the complete bullshit that is iPhone, and after you turned me onto the Oneplus I keep thinking about acquiring one. The way things are, I think I would be out of pocket only a few bucks by selling the 5S!

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