[halimaw96]

Hello all! Relatively new to the forums, and I just wanted to share my experiences and opinions on WP8 to help those who are still on the fence. The title is a little misleading as I've played and tinkered with both iOS and Android devices before, but this is the smartphone I've actually owned. Anyway, on with the review!

To start things off: UI

Definitely loving the live tiles on my 920, its definitely a breath of fresh air compared to other UI's I've seen. The tiles are great for showing info, but it does bother me that they only update every thirty minutes. It kind of defeats the purpose, and I guess I realize now why folks would like a notification center. And, as aesthetically pleasing as the tiles are, there's one big thing that I've found: they're hard to organize. Yes, you can customize the sizes as much as you want, but I'd like to see some kind of divider tile that separates different sections of my start screen. Small complaint, but I'd like to see it addressed. Aside from those little issues, the UI is smooth and responsive.

Next: Customization

Middle of the road indeed. I've been trying phones at my store for ages now, and WP8 seems to fit between iOS and Android. I love the three tile sizes, as it really does let you prioritize what's on your screen. I can see this OS being a big hit with Apple users who are afraid of Android's craziness but want a bit more customization. I do wish that third party alternatives could be found on the app store for certain stuff, like a third party keyboard or media player. Custom notifications are also lacking, something I found extremely annoying since that's a feature I could find even on my old feature phone. I don't recommend this OS for anyone who likes to tinker with every single aspect of their phone; this OS definitely has a more iOS like feel than the open-sourcedness of Android. If Microsoft made things just a bit more customizable, they can attract a lot of Android users.

Third: Performance

Like buttah! Animations are smooth, apps run relatively smoothly, and multitasking is just ok for my needs. Definitely need a better way to exit out of apps! Also found that my phone tends to freeze sometimes, something I didn't wanna see from a flagship. Typing this on my 920, it froze twice. Not much to say beyond that.

Lastly: Phone functions

What's a phone without the phone? This is one of my biggest complaints. Basic functions like the phone+contacts take a lot of time to use. Where's the speed dial? The smart dial? My feature phone had these! Yes there's apps for that, but I shouldn't need them for something so basic.

Final Words

I really really like this OS. Great OS for first time smartphone users. I really feel like there's a lot of stuff missing though. When I pit my 920 against my sister's One X, it still seems like WP8 is an infant OS competing with a mature one. Of course, it is new so I hope the coming updates bring Wp8 up to par with Android and iOS. It certainly has potential!

[Slai]

Yes, you can customize the sizes as much as you want, but I'd like to see some kind of divider tile that separates different sections of my start screen. Small complaint, but I'd like to see it addressed.

Like this?

Also found that my phone tends to freeze sometimes, something I didn't wanna see from a flagship. Typing this on my 920, it froze twice.

Hm definitely somethings wrong. If you have a 3g SIMcard in a 4g-enabled phone, that could be an issue, or so my provider tells me. 3g card in a 4g-ready phone though, is no problem obviously. Or it could be some SW thing.

Personally Ive never had it lock up or reset itself.

When I compare the OS to my SGS3, I feel that my SGS3 lack in areas the 920 wins hands down with, and then my SGS3 has things the 920 doesnt. Feels about even, but Id still rather use the 920, as it has more going for it. For me.

[GreenScrew]

@Slai, how do you get the sections? Guessing an app, can you say a few words about it, how easy to use, configure, turn on/off,etc?

[Slai]

You can do that with Paint; just make an image and transfer to your phone, then create a fake contact thats has that as a background image.

Personally I used an app that lets you make tiles with your own photos. I dont recall the name. MyCustomTiles PRO or something, iirc.

Segoe font, btw.

[Byzantium]

I really feel like there's a lot of stuff missing though. When I pit my 920 against my sister's One X, it still seems like WP8 is an infant OS competing with a mature one. Of course, it is new so I hope the coming updates bring Wp8 up to par with Android and iOS. It certainly has potential!

Did you know that Microsoft has been in the smartphone business for 12 years now and for some weird reason their current smartphone OS has less features than Apple and Google who have only been in the business for 4 and 5 years? And that most of the features missing from Windows Phone have been in Windows Mobile for nearly a decade now?

Windows Mobile - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[z33dev33l]

Did you know that Microsoft has been in the smartphone business for 12 years now and for some weird reason their current smartphone OS has less features than Apple and Google who have only been in the business for 4 and 5 years? And that most of the features missing from Windows Phone have been in Windows Mobile for nearly a decade now?

Windows Mobile - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

winmo wasn't a smartphone, it was a PDA with phone capabilities. Like android it was feature rich but half of the features hardly work and those that did were painfully unintuitive.

[Byzantium]

winmo wasn't a smartphone, it was a PDA with phone capabilities. Like android it was feature rich but half of the features hardly work and those that did were painfully unintuitive.

Yes but why not re-introduce them? People are all over this entire forums wondering where's the features and I keep telling them that Microsoft had them in previous iterations of their smartphone OS but with Windows Phone they started from scratch while there's 2 big companies who are farther in features yet have less experience with a smartphone OS than Microsoft does.

[z33dev33l]

Can you give me an idea as to what features you're talking about because many require a level of system access that Microsoft doesn't want to give to a regular user because people are generally stupid. Many of them would also enable piracy, deeper system access leading to custom roms and much more. Winmo was never a previous iteration of Windows Phone.

[AngryNil]

Did you know that Microsoft has been in the smartphone business for 12 years now and for some weird reason their current smartphone OS has less features than Apple and Google who have only been in the business for 4 and 5 years? And that most of the features missing from Windows Phone have been in Windows Mobile for nearly a decade now?

FEATURES != EXPERIENCE

FEATURE DUMP == CLUSTER*swear word*

[rockstarzzz]

@Slai, how do you get the sections? Guessing an app, can you say a few words about it, how easy to use, configure, turn on/off,etc?

@Slai, how do you get the sections? Guessing an app, can you say a few words about it, how easy to use, configure, turn on/off,etc?

Check out "new group*" for Windows Phone http://www.windowsphone.com/s?appid=...9-d67ea86f2abe

[Byzantium]

Can you give me an idea as to what features you're talking about because many require a level of system access that Microsoft doesn't want to give to a regular user because people are generally stupid. Many of them would also enable piracy, deeper system access leading to custom roms and much more. Winmo was never a previous iteration of Windows Phone.

You can see what people ask for right here. A lot of these things are legacy features from Windows Mobile, while most of them are things you can find in Android and iOS.

Feature Suggestions: Top (19186 ideas)

[halimaw96]

Not trying to bash the OS here, just giving some opinions. But many people have posted about some missing features.

I know that less customizing means a foolproof experience, but I think I already mentioned some things that many people here complain about too. Take the keyboard for example. Word flow has been okay for the most part, but I still prefer to use a smaller keyboard as this one tends to take up most of the screen.

Never used WinMo so I can't comment, but it sounds like Windows should have integrated more of its features onto WP.

[rockstarzzz]

You can see what people ask for right here. A lot of these things are legacy features from Windows Mobile, while most of them are things you can find in Android and iOS.

Feature Suggestions: Top (19186 ideas)

Makes me wonder if iOS and Android "feature suggestion" threads are filled with getting features that you find only in WP!

[Byzantium]

Makes me wonder if iOS and Android "feature suggestion" threads are filled with getting features that you find only in WP!

Like what? Live tiles and Office integration? Android users already have widgets and lots of third party Office clients. If anything, its WP not meeting general smartphone feature standards, which only hurts the platform as users get a bad taste in their mouths when trying WP.

[rockstarzzz]

Like what? Live tiles and Office integration? Android users already have widgets and lots of third party Office clients. If anything, its WP not meeting general smartphone feature standards, which only hurts the platform as users get a bad taste in their mouths when trying WP.

Live tiles, app integration, panorama layout of pages, cloud back ups, Xbox smartglass, xbox games, sync of office documents between a PC and a phone, Facebook chat integration within the messaging app, Skype integration with the phone, lack of malwares and spywares, dedicated hardware camera button, speed and stability for low end devices that run on 256mb RAM, social newsfeed in the phonebook without any apps,automatic integration of social network contacts with phonebook, kid's corner, lenses like cinemagraph. These are some I could think while hiding from boss at work. May be in my break, I might come up with a few more. Stay tuned!

[J4rrod]

Like what? Live tiles and Office integration? Android users already have widgets and lots of third party Office clients. If anything, its WP not meeting general smartphone feature standards, which only hurts the platform as users get a bad taste in their mouths when trying WP.

Android is just a mess. Widgets are silly and ugly. When I mess with a regular person's Android phone, it's sort of laughable. They only use one or two screen yet all those performance hindering, battery training stock widgets are everywhere. They don't know how to make their phone their's because Android is unintuitive. WP is seamless. Everything is integrated without any effort from your part. Google and iOS have been slowly taking all of MS' ideas, but they will never do it as good as it is on WP. I know that keyboard on your Nexus is garbage and you feel the need to download another one, while WP's keyboard is darn near perfect.

When I download an app, I know MS has already checked it, so I have no fear of it being malware.

And android is JUST NOW becoming a smooth OS with Jelly Bean. 4 versions later. It's just ridiculous. And it's still not as smooth as the infant OS Windows Phone.

If you put the Razr MAXX's battery in a Windows Phone, do you have any idea how long the battery would last? Days.

Thing is, Android has a bunch of stuff few care about while WP has fewer "things" but it has 99% of everyone's needs covered and it does it seamlessly. Great battery life. Great cameras. Unbeatable social integration. 46 of the top 50 apps. Never a freeze up or hang up (while you have to restart yours once a day), top notch security, great keyboard, customization to make your phone yours without being clunky or ugly, app consistency (in that each and every app behave very similar to each other thanks to the universal design language [Metro]), glanceable information, and buttery smooth performance and animations.

Have fun trying out different keyboards and launchers. Maybe you should try one of those WP launchers ;)

[rockstarzzz]

Android is just a mess. Widgets are silly and ugly. When I mess with a regular person's Android phone, it's sort of laughable. They only use one or two screen yet all those performance hindering, battery training stock widgets are everywhere. They don't know how to make their phone their's because Android is unintuitive. WP is seamless. Everything is integrated without any effort from your part. Google and iOS have been slowly taking all of MS' ideas, but they will never do it as good as it is on WP. I know that keyboard on your Nexus is garbage and you feel the need to download another one, while WP's keyboard is darn near perfect.

When I download an app, I know MS has already checked it, so I have no fear of it being malware.

And android is JUST NOW becoming a smooth OS with Jelly Bean. 4 versions later. It's just ridiculous. And it's still not as smooth as the infant OS Windows Phone.

If you put the Razr MAXX's battery in a Windows Phone, do you have any idea how long the battery would last? Days.

Thing is, Android has a bunch of stuff few care about while WP has fewer "things" but it has 99% of everyone's needs covered and it does it seamlessly. Great battery life. Great cameras. Unbeatable social integration. 46 of the top 50 apps. Never a freeze up or hang up (while you have to restart yours once a day), top notch security, great keyboard, customization to make your phone yours without being clunky or ugly, app consistency (in that each and every app behave very similar to each other thanks to the universal design language [Metro]), glanceable information, and buttery smooth performance and animations.

Have fun trying out different keyboards and launchers. Maybe you should try one of those WP launchers ;)

He said the M-word! NOooooooo

[tk-093]

Android is just a mess. Widgets are silly and ugly. When I mess with a regular person's Android phone, it's sort of laughable.

This is a pretty good statement. For the standard consumer out there, they just want a phone that works. I personally have my GS3 all contained to one screen with folders for the stuff I need, but I'm a power user. The plebes just leave their phone pretty much how it is out of the box.

[Dave Blake]

Did you know that Microsoft has been in the smartphone business for 12 years now and for some weird reason their current smartphone OS has less features than Apple and Google who have only been in the business for 4 and 5 years? And that most of the features missing from Windows Phone have been in Windows Mobile for nearly a decade now?

Windows Mobile - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I would like to see your feature count data... You seam to go around making bold statements with no fact to back them up.

[rockstarzzz]

I would like to see your feature count data... You seam yo go around making bold statements with no fact to back them up.

He means Active Sync ;)

[StevesBalls]

When I compare the OS to my SGS3, I feel that my SGS3 lack in areas the 920 wins hands down with, and then my SGS3 has things the 920 doesnt.

Would you mind to list some examples? I'm really interested in what you like/don't like or is missing.

[StevesBalls]

Android is just a mess. Widgets are silly and ugly. When I mess with a regular person's Android phone, it's sort of laughable. They only use one or two screen yet all those performance hindering, battery training stock widgets are everywhere. They don't know how to make their phone their's because Android is unintuitive. WP is seamless. Everything is integrated without any effort from your part. Google and iOS have been slowly taking all of MS' ideas, but they will never do it as good as it is on WP. I know that keyboard on your Nexus is garbage and you feel the need to download another one, while WP's keyboard is darn near perfect.

WP can be a mess too, you only need to look at my mom's phone to realize that. It's all up to the user.

As for the keyboard - the WP keyboard is pretty good but what if it does not support your language or you want to use Swype? On Android you can find one that suits your needs. On WP you are out of luck. Can you guess which option is better?

And android is JUST NOW becoming a smooth OS with Jelly Bean. 4 versions later. It's just ridiculous. And it's still not as smooth as the infant OS Windows Phone.

Android first build up the feature set and is now working on the smoothness. WP first took care of the smoothness and is now building up the feature set. They both approach the same goal, but from different ends.

If you put the Razr MAXX's battery in a Windows Phone, do you have any idea how long the battery would last? Days.

This is a myth, the WP battery efficiency is no greater than Android (and lower than iOS).

Thing is, Android has a bunch of stuff few care about while WP has fewer "things" but it has 99% of everyone's needs covered and it does it seamlessly. Great battery life. Great cameras. Unbeatable social integration. 46 of the top 50 apps. Never a freeze up or hang up (while you have to restart yours once a day), top notch security, great keyboard, customization to make your phone yours without being clunky or ugly, app consistency (in that each and every app behave very similar to each other thanks to the universal design language [Metro]), glanceable information, and buttery smooth performance and animations.

46 of the top 50 apps is BS, for hang ups, camera and battery problems you can look up these forums. Please stop drinking the kool-aid.

[thekonger]

WP can be a mess too, you only need to look at my mom's phone to realize that. It's all up to the user.

As for the keyboard - the WP keyboard is pretty good but what if it does not support your language or you want to use Swype? On Android you can find one that suits your needs. On WP you are out of luck. Can you guess which option is better?



Android first build up the feature set and is now working on the smoothness. WP first took care of the smoothness and is now building up the feature set. They both approach the same goal, but from different ends.



This is a myth, the WP battery efficiency is no greater than Android (and lower than iOS).



46 of the top 50 apps is BS, for hang ups, camera and battery problems you can look up these forums. Please stop drinking the kool-aid.

Steve and Byzantium, you're still here whining? Just trade your WP8 phones in for something that works better for you two. To many of us, despite what you guys say about missing features or problems, we find WP8 superior and more functional for our needs over Android or iOS. If you don't, just go to a new OS.

I don't understand why people accept something they don't like yet do nothing but whine and complain about every little issue. It must be miserable to walk in your shoes.

[StevesBalls]

Steve and Byzantium, you're still here whining? Just trade your WP8 phones in for something that works better for you two. To many of us, despite what you guys say about missing features or problems, we find WP8 superior and more functional for our needs over Android or iOS. If you don't, just go to a new OS.

I don't understand why people accept something they don't like yet do nothing but whine and complain about every little issue. It must be miserable to walk in your shoes.

I am sorry if I annoyed you, I just wanted to comment on some of the misleading things that you said. No offense meant.

[Slai]

Would you mind to list some examples? I'm really interested in what you like/don't like or is missing.

Sure (doing this slightly rushed, so might forget some things, keep that in mind):

What my SGS3 lacks that my 920 has:

The gallery sync with skydrive/facebook
The way groups/contacts work with twitter/facebook on the live tiles as well as in the contactsmenu
The UI of the phone in general feels a lot more coherent, as well as the homescreen being easier to operate with a heavier workload
Wireless charging out of the box
The Me-tile
PhotoBeamer


What my 920 lacks that my SGS3 has:

Easy access to wifi/mobiledata/BT/NFC/etc toggles
Ability to select any MP3 as a ringtone directly on your phone
Ability to set custom sounds for notifications/alarms
Ability to lock screen during video playback to avoid the hazard of accidentally hitting the touchscreen/touchbuttons


Thats all I got, really, but theres obviously more in both coloumns that I havent thought of that might come to mind later on :) .

Was that something like what you wanted?