• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Who here owns a Windows Phone? how are they?

D

droid_power

Lurker
Microsoft still rules Operating Systems for PC's, but not search engines, news, or mobile devices. So, I'm wondering how windows phones are, if you think they're as good as android or better etc.
 
A friend had a Windows Phone, not sure the brand, was on AT&T 3G but it took literally 15 minutes before i was bored already. the Windows app store has hardly anything worthwhile. sorry, a 41 MP Camera won't sell a Nokia phone because i am not willing to give up 90% of the apps i actually use on my Android phone, which are also available on an iPhone. so if i'm going to use a locked down, uncustomizable OS on a phone, i'd choose another iPhone long before i'd jump ship to Windows.

Windows Phones, can you even put Chrome on them? or would you be stuck with hideous Internet Explorer?
 
Not actually seen or used one for real yet. There's a couple of dummy Nokias on display in the China Unicom store, which is about the closest I've got yet.
 
droid_power said:
So, I'm wondering how windows phones are, if you think they're as good as android or better etc.
Click to expand...

I want to test one out, but no one I know has one. I wont be buying a Windows Phone though. Reviews I've read have not been great.


nickdalzell said:
Windows Phones, can you even put Chrome on them? or would you be stuck with hideous Internet Explorer?
Click to expand...

I checked their app store and there where 2 with the name "Chrome" but neither looked official. One was mostly in Chinese and the other only has 10 ratings.

I remember awhile ago Google was not making Windows Phone apps, but not sure if that's still going on.
 
The phone i played with for 15 minutes was actually given to me--the guy who had it (one of my friends at the local junkyard) was sick of it and was tossing it. i just left it on the table and left after that. it was truly the most boring POS since BlackBerry. He was sporting both an iPhone 4 as a work phone and a Samsung Galaxy S2 GoPhone as a personal phone.

Let's just say 'Walled-Garden' is too good a term for Windows Phone.
 
I think windows are great phones. The only downside it customization. If Nova launcher was in their marketplace I'd consider one.
 
The OS is very well optimised it seems and their app store is definitely lacking. Though I am jealous that they get the Halo: Spartan Assault game.
 
^ agreed - well, except that I'm not so bothered about Halo ;)

The people I've spoken to who have a Windows phone have generally been pretty happy with them.

Just like iOS and Android, I'm sure it has it's strengths and weaknesses and that the importance of these differs depending on the user. For example, I use relatively few apps so the lack of apps would bother me less than most. Similarly, I have never felt the need to root a phone so the fact that's not so easy in Windows (or iOS) wouldn't really worry me.

I guess the reason I haven't tried a Windows phone is an irrational historic dislike of Windows - despite the fact I've been happily using Windows on PCs pretty much daily for nearly 20 years.
 
my husband has one...he used to love it....now he says ..eh..not so much


I believe he had to have it because of his job...working with microsoft or something;)
but he wants...and is ...looking into getting something different
 
I have heard so many stories of it not working out, and more than half of the time, the phone becomes lost due to throwing it across the room, smashing it with an object, throwing it out of a window in a vehicle moving about 60 miles per hour...it actually frightens me of what could go so wrong in them.

I was considering getting one, but Android stole my business long ago. I am still considering getting one for my younger brother, who's been using a non-smartphone for about three years now, and doesn't actually have that 'desire' to own an Android, he 'couldn't care' for what he owns. He listens to a lot of music, watches YouTube and surfs the net, so I am considering that a Windows Phone might be best for him, as I don't believe he'll be customizing it that much, or at all.

I too am wondering, if it is even a good idea to go with one. Perhaps an Android would be better for him.
 
Some people forget the Zune (competing with the iPod) and Windows Mobile (early competition in the smartphone market) were both failures. history is only repeating itself. Microsoft is just not with it this generation.

It's really not about the apps so much. i just like having the option to choose between tons of them if i felt like it. i like knowing the option is there to customize even if i don't do it right away. eventually one might hear about a game or something and realize that 41 MP Camera Nokia Lumia isn't going to have it available. or someday down the line they might wish for something other than Metro. personally, i couldn't deal with even a 41MP camera if i had to be forced to use Bing Maps or the Windows Store where there are less free apps than iOS. iOS has more options than WP lately.

In Android and to a bigger extent, iOS, Halo has been done already. if one has played N.O.V.A series games, they are almost identical story lines and characters as the Halo series. one might debate whether N.O.V.A. is a better game even.
 
nickdalzell said:
Some people forget the Zune (competing with the iPod) and Windows Mobile (early competition in the smartphone market) were both failures. history is only repeating itself. Microsoft is just not with it this generation.

It's really not about the apps so much. i just like having the option to choose between tons of them if i felt like it. i like knowing the option is there to customize even if i don't do it right away. eventually one might hear about a game or something and realize that 41 MP Camera Nokia Lumia isn't going to have it available. or someday down the line they might wish for something other than Metro. personally, i couldn't deal with even a 41MP camera if i had to be forced to use Bing Maps or the Windows Store where there are less free apps than iOS. iOS has more options than WP lately.

In Android and to a bigger extent, iOS, Halo has been done already. if one has played N.O.V.A series games, they are almost identical story lines and characters as the Halo series. one might debate whether N.O.V.A. is a better game even.
Click to expand...

N.O.V.A is a clone though, rarely are clones as good as the originals, not to mention that it doesn't even have the same atmosphere as the Halo universe. Halo is really something else, especially if you've read the novels. It's a good mobile game and that's about it, it's not going to replace Halo for people that are fans of the games. With that said, having Halo on WP isn't enticing enough for me to give it a try anyway but it's still cool that they have the game (I believe its available for W8 PC but I don't have W8).
 
I dunno, I got N.O.V.A. (First game) and I couldn't tell the difference. The character looks almost exactly like Master Chief, and even the aliens you fight are dead ringers for the Covenant, even make similar noises. Chief even has a digital companion in this game. Sure the names might be different but overall, for a FPS it feels like a dead ringer that surprises me that Microsoft didn't sue.
 
BigCiX said:
What's the latest windows phone with a large screen?
Click to expand...

Until the Lumia 1020 hits the shelves, probably the 925. A truly gorgeous piece of kit.... solid in the hand, beautifully screwed together and the UI is wonderfully fluid. Then there's the camera, especially that Zeiss lens..... quality!
 
I still have my old Zune somewhere. I love listening to music, yet since the only 'major' Music Player out there happens to be the iPod, I have been forced to go without one. I should see if my old device still works, it is a shame it was discontinued so soon.
 
starxpilot said:
I still have my old Zune somewhere. I love listening to music, yet since the only 'major' Music Player out there happens to be the iPod, I have been forced to go without one. I should see if my old device still works, it is a shame it was discontinued so soon.
Click to expand...

I never got a chance to see a Zune. Never saw it in any stores let alone anyone actually using one. At the time I always liked the Creative Labs players, and those seemed to be quite popular as well along with the Sony Walkman players. So I don't think was just iPod.
 
mikedt said:
I never got a chance to see a Zune. Never saw it in any stores let alone anyone actually using one. At the time I always liked the Creative Labs players, and those seemed to be quite popular as well along with the Sony Walkman players. So I don't think was just iPod.
Click to expand...
I have not seen a Sony Walkman since 2002. I have also never seen a Creative Labs player, even into today.

My last job had the strongest Apple presence known to me, the manager could probably teach a course on just Apple software on his own.
Ssith said:
eh nope.

google keeps blocking all of MS's youtube apps.
Click to expand...
Well, that escalated quickly.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom