The Nokia Lumia 900 review

The Nokia Lumia 900 has the weight of two technology behemoths and Windows Phone fans on its polycarbonate shoulders. Ars sees if the flagship smartphone can do them all proud.

<a href='http://meincmagazine.com/gadgets/reviews/2012/04/the-nokia-lumia-900-review.ars'>Read the whole story</a>

 

[RichardJames13]

I was interested in this phone because its design looks so good but after reading this review and the one on the verge, I don't want one anymore. Why make such a stunning design scratchable?

 

[kragil]

Most people just don't want WINDOWS on their phones. In people minds Windows stands for complexity and trouble and Metro is just foreign.

*How good the software or the hardware are really don't matter.*

It is a mind set/zeitgeist problem that only gigantic/"competition-crushing" marketing campaigns can correct, but against Apple and everybody else(Android OEMs) that is not an option.
Bottom line:
Nokia and MS are 100% DOOMED and no amount of Peter Bright propaganda will change that.

(Market numbers (facts) support what I say. So don't tell me otherwise without any hard proof)

 

[SgtCupCake]

That phone is fugly.

 

[melgross]

The phone just seems like an outdated model. In the review the problems have been minimized, and the better things maximized.

Since when is Skydrive a real substitute for memory? It's not. You'll find out the first time you've no network connection, such as in the subway, on a plane, and other places where signal doesn't make it through.

Someone is losing money on this model. I wouldn't be surprised if that company isn't Microsoft.

But there are just too many shortcomings, and rough edges.

 

[Johnny Tremaine]

"But all parties are pretty mum on the issue of Windows 8."

No, Microsoft has not clearly said that Windows 8 will be available for Win 7.5 phones...that is a big issue, they have hinted that it won't, and anyone who understands the difference between the Win CE kernel and the NT one will say it probably won't happen.

Does the fact the phone is most likely a dead end matter to the readers of this review? I would say heck ya.

Count me in too. I was originally interested in this phone, but all the scuttlebutt I've been reading points to the Lumia being a dead-end device. None of the current lineup will probably see a Windows Phone 8 upgrade. Apparently WP8 brings a kernel change; a total top to bottom re-do of the OS that isn't based on Windows CE, as WP7 is.

And I have a free upgrade on AT&T; I don't want to waste it on a possibly dead end device. Other stuff is waiting in the wings, like the Samsung GSIII this Summer and the iPhone 5.

But the irony is, that if *this* device isn't a huge sales success for them, Nokia and Microsoft won't have the public's attention when they try again later this year/early next year.

Personally, I think the fate of WP7 is one it will share with WebOS; nice, but too little, too late.

 

[SilverSee]

Casey, I think this is the best piece you may have done for Ars yet... I appreciate the thoughtfulness and time you obviously spent with the device, and your criticisms of the OS are well thought out and articulated.

 

[AgentSmith40]

It's an nice attempt at a Smartphone, but it still smacks of being a beta "me too!" product. Not being able to rearrange the App Icons is idiotic, and it's a shame to see that MS are still using the Zune colour palatte, although the colour does go well with Casey's nail polish

 

[Skamandros]

The physical glass of the screen is noticeably not oleophobic, so the Lumia 900's screen holds onto grease and fingerprints like crazy. Fingerprint grease slicks can accumulate to the point that light coming from the screen underneath strobes. The grease buildup gets so rich and plentiful, you could identify a murder suspect from these fingerprint impressions. We forget sometimes oleophobic screens are even a feature on newer phones, but its absence from the Lumia 900 is glaring.

How does a phone like this get a passing grade? Oleophobic screens aren't optional.

And when did you become the CTO of the planet?

You need a CTO to tell you that a cellphone screen shouldn't be strobing?

 

[RaygunV]

The physical glass of the screen is noticeably not oleophobic, so the Lumia 900's screen holds onto grease and fingerprints like crazy. Fingerprint grease slicks can accumulate to the point that light coming from the screen underneath strobes. The grease buildup gets so rich and plentiful, you could identify a murder suspect from these fingerprint impressions. We forget sometimes oleophobic screens are even a feature on newer phones, but its absence from the Lumia 900 is glaring.

How does a phone like this get a passing grade? Oleophobic screens aren't optional.

And when did you become the CTO of the planet?

You need a CTO to tell you that a cellphone screen shouldn't be strobing?

Take a shower more often and your hands wont be as greasy. Also diet helps.

 

[KevinN206]

It's an nice attempt at a Smartphone, but it still smacks of being a beta "me too!" product. Not being able to rearrange the App Icons is idiotic, and it's a shame to see that MS are still using the Zune colour palatte, although the colour does go well with Casey's nail polish

I am not sure what you mean by not being able to rearrange the app icons, but you can pin and arrange the tiles on the homescreen. The app list is done using jumplist, which I think is very quick. If I want to load Facebook, then I just slide left, click on the letter "a" and then select "f" and then select "facebook". It seems a lot of steps, but I can do each step very quickly, so the total time looking for facebook app is not much. Plus, I also have the facebook app pinned to the homescreen.

On Android and iOS with the pages of screens, I would have to slide left (or right) until I get to the "f" section, and then search around for facebook. And most of the time when the icon is blaring at my face, I still can't find it quickly. On WP7, each step is more well defined. Of course, on both of these OS, you can just add an icon on the main home screen like WP7.

 

[Carewolf]

Odd that it isn't finger-print resistant. The Nokia N9 is the most finger-print resistant phone I have ever seen, I have often make iPhone users jealous by showing them the pristine clean screen that hasn't been wiped in months.

(The Lumia 900 and N9 is almost 100% identical outer hardware, though internally the N9 is faster).

 

[TheTruths]

It's 2012, smartphones are all about their software. I don't like Windows Phone 7, 50% because it's a closed ecosystem like iOS, 30% because of poor app selection (I don't care about numbers that much, check out the Marketplace, the essential apps aren't all there, games are sparse and quote apps and other garbage apps make up most of the selection) and 20% because I think WP7 is a little bit ugly. Don't get me wrong sometimes WP7 can be beautiful, like the unlock screen and the mail app, but it can also so be awful like the installed app screen and many apps that fail to grasp the subtlety of negative space and proper font choices. I wish the reviewer could have named something that WP7 does better than ICS, Android or even Meego Harmattan for that matter, because right now I just don't see any reason to buy into WP7 over Android or iOS.

That being said, the phone does look to be probably the best looking phone created to this date, put iOS or Android on it and Nokia would be making millions instead of managing to lose millions, heck Nokia should be making 2 of these phones, 1 with Android and 1 with WP7, but I guess Nokia works for Microsoft now.

Great phone, don't like the OS.

 

[AgentSmith40]

I am not sure what you mean by not being able to rearrange the app icons, but you can pin and arrange the tiles on the homescreen. The app list is done using jumplist, which I think is very quick. If I want to load Facebook, then I just slide left, click on the letter "a" and then select "f" and then select "facebook". It seems a lot of steps, but I can do each step very quickly, so the total time looking for facebook app is not much. Plus, I also have the facebook app pinned to the homescreen.

I was referring to this bit

"Apps are organized in a second pane to the right of the home screen, where everything you've downloaded and installed is listed alphabetically. The list can't be arranged any other way, meaning if there's an app you use regularly that begins with an unfortunate letter (example: Yelp) and it's not in your top 8 or 16, you'll be doing quite a bit of scrolling to get at it, whether it's on the home screen or in the alphabetized list (though it's worth noting that once you collect enough apps, the OS will add an alphabet of jump buttons to the screen, so you can get to the letter you want quickly)."

Ah, ok, i see my mistake. This bit "and it's not in your top 8 or 16" implies i can Pin the App, but once i get past two screens worth of Icons then i'll either be scrolling for days or using the jump lists..... got it.

 

[Eldorito]

"But all parties are pretty mum on the issue of Windows 8."

No, Microsoft has not clearly said that Windows 8 will be available for Win 7.5 phones...that is a big issue, they have hinted that it won't, and anyone who understands the difference between the Win CE kernel and the NT one will say it probably won't happen.

Does the fact the phone is most likely a dead end matter to the readers of this review? I would say heck ya.

Count me in too. I was originally interested in this phone, but all the scuttlebutt I've been reading points to the Lumia being a dead-end device. None of the current lineup will probably see a Windows Phone 8 upgrade. Apparently WP8 brings a kernel change; a total top to bottom re-do of the OS that isn't based on Windows CE, as WP7 is.

And I have a free upgrade on AT&T; I don't want to waste it on a possibly dead end device. Other stuff is waiting in the wings, like the Samsung GSIII this Summer and the iPhone 5.

But the irony is, that if *this* device isn't a huge sales success for them, Nokia and Microsoft won't have the public's attention when they try again later this year/early next year.

Personally, I think the fate of WP7 is one it will share with WebOS; nice, but too little, too late.

WP7 has the advantage that HP won't take it out the back and shoot it

It's a little hard to call on the WP8 thing, Microsoft have stated the obvious, they haven't even announced the release date yet, why would they say which devices would upgrade and which won't? They also talked about how updates work on limited hardware and that claiming any phone would get WP8 would probably be blatantly false, it'll get a stripped down version in many cases. It's the problem of having a different structure to Google and Apple, when they announce a new version of the OS they also announce what phones will be updated. Microsoft announced Apollo more than a year out, it's unlikely it's even closed to finished yet. Apple limit what each device can do and Google just stays really quiet on it but generally have provided a pretty crappy level of service (even on the big Android phones, the Galaxy S made it from 2.1 to 2.3. 4.0 came out 16 months after the G S was released but it still didn't get 4.0)

My guess is that it'll run on some phones and not port data over well. WP8 is meant to have much broader hardware support than WP7 so it seems unlikely there'd be any compatibility issues, but that some phones simply won't have sold well enough for the specific vendors and phone companies to other pushing it, so saying "x phone will get it" won't actually be up to Microsoft. I have an LG Quantum, one with a physical keyboard that already has issues, I can't see it getting an update. Lumia 900? If they didn't update it in some manner it'd hurt Microsoft, make it look like another Android, so Microsoft and Nokia will push that through.

 

[distractedSofty]

We also feel the notification system bears mentioning in light of the extensive systems in place on iOS and Android. Android was the first OS of the three with good notification management: from one dropdown menu, you could see everything that was going on on the phone. iOS followed suit last year with the Notification Center, which has really granular options for what you see notifications for, and how you see them. Windows Phone pops notifications on the lock screen for a limited range of events (getting a text message is one of them), and you can swipe across them to dismiss. That's it. It will also display calendar events for the day on the lock screen. It's a useful reminder, but the OS needs to play catchup in other notification measures.

It bears mentioning that Microsoft already has a solution: If you look at the guidance that MS has given developers for Windows Phone and Windows 8, notifications can and should be mirrored by an update to the applications live tile. If the user didn't care enough about your app to pin the tile, they likely don't care about your notifications, either.

 

[YourOldBuddy]

There is no niche for this phone that isn´t filled better by N9, Android and IOS.

 

[wbrewer]

This review was great except I will not be a surprised if , sometime in future , the IE WP7 browser scores the fastest in a "browser war" test. I have read from several sources that web browsing on WP7 is the fastest/smoothest of the bunch so claiming its slow is interesting.

 

[toukale]

I admire and respect microsoft for their creativity here with the metro design and not a blatant copy of ios. The metro design is nice and easy on the eye but that's where it all stops. I spent about 45 min. with my friend's window mobile 7.5 a few weeks back and the more you use it the more cumbersome and comfusing things get. Maybe being new to the windows mobile world had something to do with it, but that's the problem with the os. Microsoft went out of their way to make the os beautiful and different, but that came with a price and its a steep one. Things are not straight forward, and its a shame because the more you use it the more you feel like the os is holding you back by adding extra steps that are not needed. That's the beauty of ios, I read all the time that some folks here keep saying that Apple has not change the os since its intro and I asked them everytime what could apple do to make it work better. IOS is all about simplicity and ease of use not the other way around there is really no learning curve you just pick it up and you tap on what you need and the os gets out of your way. That's where I felt windows mobile 7.5 came up short because it does not get out of your way.

 

[astarre]

2 minutes to go 100ft?!

 

[drfisheye]

Some comments and possible corrections:

1. There is a tutorial for the Windows Phone. It's an app called Help+How-to, and it's baked in as of Mango. Yes, it should start at launch, or default as one of the front 8 tiles, but it is definitely there.

It's not on my handset. Maybe it's different on phones shipping with Mango or something, but I've never even heard of it.

It comes on all the Mango phones. It was also added to my Samsung Focus with the 8107 update, so Americans with older handsets probably haven't seen it yet.

Microsoft has also made it available as a separate download.

The app is just a browser pointing to the help website.

 

[drfisheye]

I am not sure what you mean by not being able to rearrange the app icons, but you can pin and arrange the tiles on the homescreen. The app list is done using jumplist, which I think is very quick. If I want to load Facebook, then I just slide left, click on the letter "a" and then select "f" and then select "facebook". It seems a lot of steps, but I can do each step very quickly, so the total time looking for facebook app is not much. Plus, I also have the facebook app pinned to the homescreen.

I was referring to this bit

"Apps are organized in a second pane to the right of the home screen, where everything you've downloaded and installed is listed alphabetically. The list can't be arranged any other way, meaning if there's an app you use regularly that begins with an unfortunate letter (example: Yelp) and it's not in your top 8 or 16, you'll be doing quite a bit of scrolling to get at it, whether it's on the home screen or in the alphabetized list (though it's worth noting that once you collect enough apps, the OS will add an alphabet of jump buttons to the screen, so you can get to the letter you want quickly)."

Ah, ok, i see my mistake. This bit "and it's not in your top 8 or 16" implies i can Pin the App, but once i get past two screens worth of Icons then i'll either be scrolling for days or using the jump lists..... got it.

I'm still interested in an actual speed test of browsing through the homescreens of iOS, Android and WP. I wonder if the big, colored tiles are easier to spot than smaller icons 4 at a row. Ars should line up their editors and do some real live tests. (Go Peter!)

 

[sphenodont]

Ah, ok, i see my mistake. This bit "and it's not in your top 8 or 16" implies i can Pin the App, but once i get past two screens worth of Icons then i'll either be scrolling for days or using the jump lists..... got it.

Not quite. You can deliberately page through your live tiles screen-by-screen by dragging it, or just give it a quick flick to send it flying down. (Or a slower flick if you only need to go one or two pages down.) I've got about 40 tiles pinned, and getting to the bottom of the list takes just as much time as swiping the screen to unlock the phone.

 

[drfisheye]

I think Engadget's review got it right: given the price point, the 900 should be considered a mid-range phone. And as a midrange phone it is very, very good. Like the 710 is very good as a lower-end phone.

Of course this means the WP fans need to admit that WP doesn't have a real high-end phone yet and that's no easy thing to admit for a fanboy.

It's like admitting that most ultrabooks aren't as good as the Air. But they also are cheaper so they shouldn't be compared directly.

 

[Saparmurad Niyazov]

I've never understood why consumers who have nothing to do with a corporation, except giving them money for products, are so interested in sales or how well certain products from certain companies fare in the market... Some of these deluded fanboys just need to die.

PS: Who owns the ugly finger nails in the photos? Get rid of that bullshit you put on your nails.

it makes a bit more sense when you realize that companies have paid posters (and writers) that either try to shape opinion, and if that fails they then try to derail threads.

Nonetheless, there still are sad, lonely people who seek to belong to a group. And in a consumerist society, consumer products are in the forefront of nearly everything we do and see so they are natural objects around which groups can be created and defended.

 

[sysbcl]

While I enjoyed playing with a Windows phone, this device that is going to save them is... single core? 512mb memory? 800x480 resolution?

No thanks.

 

[geoken]

We also feel the notification system bears mentioning in light of the extensive systems in place on iOS and Android. Android was the first OS of the three with good notification management: from one dropdown menu, you could see everything that was going on on the phone. iOS followed suit last year with the Notification Center, which has really granular options for what you see notifications for, and how you see them. Windows Phone pops notifications on the lock screen for a limited range of events (getting a text message is one of them), and you can swipe across them to dismiss. That's it. It will also display calendar events for the day on the lock screen. It's a useful reminder, but the OS needs to play catchup in other notification measures.

It bears mentioning that Microsoft already has a solution: If you look at the guidance that MS has given developers for Windows Phone and Windows 8, notifications can and should be mirrored by an update to the applications live tile. If the user didn't care enough about your app to pin the tile, they likely don't care about your notifications, either.

That's a poor solution for two reasons.

First, I currently have 9 rows of live tiles. I feel adding more will cause clutter to the point where the benefit of having quick access to a small subset of apps is mitigated. I care about getting notifications from Tango but I don't use the app enough to warrant having it on my main screen.

Secondly, even with the tile being on my home screen it's still inferior to iOS and Android. On those two OS's I can view notifications without quitting the app I'm using. In WP7 I need to leave the app, go to the home screen, open my email app, then get pissed off because the email was some random e-flyer and not the important message I'm waiting for. In Android and iOS I simply pull down the notification areas, see it was an email from NewEgg, then decide to ignore it and continue on with almost no interruption to my workflow (Android actually goes one step further by not even requiring me to interact with the notification area at all).

 

[Deleted member 14629]

Of course this means the WP fans need to admit that WP doesn't have a real high-end phone yet and that's no easy thing to admit for a fanboy.

No, that's totally reasonable. Also, it fits in with Microsoft's desire to open up more of the bottom. Granted, the 710 and 610 are more aimed at that, but making the 900 less expensive than high-end phones definitely doesn't hurt.

While I enjoyed playing with a Windows phone, this device that is going to save them is... single core? 800x480 resolution?

...both of which are defined by Windows Phone itself. Neither of those can change until we move to WP8 this fall. That is in no way Nokia's fault. That said, actually put your hands on one. It's snappy, looks good, and is not obviously hampered by either of those specs. I agree it will be nice when we have the choice for multiple cores and different screen resolutions, but the phone taken as a whole performs quite well. Hell, essentially every review out there says something along the lines of "Even though the specs are not top-line, we never felt the phone performed poorly".

 

[sysbcl]

...both of which are defined by Windows Phone itself. Neither of those can change until we move to WP8 this fall. That is in no way Nokia's fault.

Totally understood, and I would love to play with one... I just feel that the specs limit expansion and utility. So this is almost guaranteeing when 8 comes out you will need to buy a new phone. At least with Android you have the APPEARANCE of being able to upgrade in the future.

 

[Deleted member 14629]

We also feel the notification system bears mentioning in light of the extensive systems in place on iOS and Android. Android was the first OS of the three with good notification management: from one dropdown menu, you could see everything that was going on on the phone. iOS followed suit last year with the Notification Center, which has really granular options for what you see notifications for, and how you see them. Windows Phone pops notifications on the lock screen for a limited range of events (getting a text message is one of them), and you can swipe across them to dismiss. That's it. It will also display calendar events for the day on the lock screen. It's a useful reminder, but the OS needs to play catchup in other notification measures.

It bears mentioning that Microsoft already has a solution: If you look at the guidance that MS has given developers for Windows Phone and Windows 8, notifications can and should be mirrored by an update to the applications live tile. If the user didn't care enough about your app to pin the tile, they likely don't care about your notifications, either.

That's a poor solution for two reasons.

First, I currently have 9 rows of live tiles. I feel adding more will cause clutter to the point where the benefit of having quick access to a small subset of apps is mitigated. I care about getting notifications from Tango but I don't use the app enough to warrant having it on my main screen.

Secondly, even with the tile being on my home screen it's still inferior to iOS and Android. On those two OS's I can view notifications without quitting the app I'm using. In WP7 I need to leave the app, go to the home screen, open my email app, then get pissed off because the email was some random e-flyer and not the important message I'm waiting for. In Android and iOS I simply pull down the notification areas, see it was an email from NewEgg, then decide to ignore it and continue on with almost no interruption to my workflow (Android actually goes one step further by not even requiring me to interact with the notification area at all).

Not exactly, if you're working on something, just press the toast notification, it will open the proper app for you, you do what you need to do, and then you press the back button to get to the app you were at. How is that difficult?

 

[K1LLTACULAR]

Just wanted to stop by and probably restate this point by emphasizing that oleophobic screens are merely coated and said coating normally wears off within a few months, depending on several factors.

 

[migz7]

I think Engadget's review got it right: given the price point, the 900 should be considered a mid-range phone. And as a midrange phone it is very, very good. Like the 710 is very good as a lower-end phone.

Of course this means the WP fans need to admit that WP doesn't have a real high-end phone yet and that's no easy thing to admit for a fanboy.

It's like admitting that most ultrabooks aren't as good as the Air. But they also are cheaper so they shouldn't be compared directly.

Exactly! Right now the 900 is being crucified for having interior parts that don't live up to its sexy exterior. But for $100 (free if your new to AT&T) it's a great buy. I would love to see this phone compared to the other Android phones available for $100 on contract.

 

[Deleted member 14629]

...both of which are defined by Windows Phone itself. Neither of those can change until we move to WP8 this fall. That is in no way Nokia's fault.

Totally understood, and I would love to play with one... I just feel that the specs limit expansion and utility. So this is almost guaranteeing when 8 comes out you will need to buy a new phone. At least with Android you have the APPEARANCE of being able to upgrade in the future.

Heh, appearance. In all seriousness, all Windows Phones got the Mango update, and Tango likely will come to all of them as well. That is not something that can be said for Android. For all their theoretical flexibility, Android phones regularly have the worst official upgrade paths out of any smartphone. Sure, you can go unofficial (and their are some killer builds out there), but that can be said for Windows Phone too.

Microsoft has been cagey about the upgrade path to WP8, likely because they originally wanted to upgrade all phones, but have realized they can't actually do that. I fully expect that MS will try to support an upgrade path for as many phones as possible, but I expect that all first-gen phones won't get the upgrade. (And, of course, I'm sure the community will play their part for phones that don't officially get the update)

 

[geoken]

We also feel the notification system bears mentioning in light of the extensive systems in place on iOS and Android. Android was the first OS of the three with good notification management: from one dropdown menu, you could see everything that was going on on the phone. iOS followed suit last year with the Notification Center, which has really granular options for what you see notifications for, and how you see them. Windows Phone pops notifications on the lock screen for a limited range of events (getting a text message is one of them), and you can swipe across them to dismiss. That's it. It will also display calendar events for the day on the lock screen. It's a useful reminder, but the OS needs to play catchup in other notification measures.

It bears mentioning that Microsoft already has a solution: If you look at the guidance that MS has given developers for Windows Phone and Windows 8, notifications can and should be mirrored by an update to the applications live tile. If the user didn't care enough about your app to pin the tile, they likely don't care about your notifications, either.

Emails don't provide a toast notification. If they did it would help because I would not only be notified, but the toast would presumably give me details about the notification which would allow me to decide whether or not to ignore it.

If there is a method to get toast notifications for emails I'd be glad to know how I could enable them, it would alleviate a big annoyance I have with the platform.



That's a poor solution for two reasons.

First, I currently have 9 rows of live tiles. I feel adding more will cause clutter to the point where the benefit of having quick access to a small subset of apps is mitigated. I care about getting notifications from Tango but I don't use the app enough to warrant having it on my main screen.

Secondly, even with the tile being on my home screen it's still inferior to iOS and Android. On those two OS's I can view notifications without quitting the app I'm using. In WP7 I need to leave the app, go to the home screen, open my email app, then get pissed off because the email was some random e-flyer and not the important message I'm waiting for. In Android and iOS I simply pull down the notification areas, see it was an email from NewEgg, then decide to ignore it and continue on with almost no interruption to my workflow (Android actually goes one step further by not even requiring me to interact with the notification area at all).

Not exactly, if you're working on something, just press the toast notification, it will open the proper app for you, you do what you need to do, and then you press the back button to get to the app you were at. How is that difficult?

Emails don't provide a toast notification. If they did it would help because I would not only be notified, but the toast would presumably give me details about the notification which would allow me to decide whether or not to ignore it.

If there is a method to get toast notifications for emails I'd be glad to know how I could enable them, it would alleviate a big annoyance I have with the platform.

 

[heartburnkid]

While I enjoyed playing with a Windows phone, this device that is going to save them is... single core? 800x480 resolution?

...both of which are defined by Windows Phone itself.

Then Windows Phone is not ready for prime time. Seriously, my phone has a similar processor, same memory, same screen res, and I got it off of Amazon for $50 a year and a half ago. We have quad-core devices dropping this year, FFS; if WP7 can't even handle dual-core, that is a major shortcoming.

 

[sysbcl]

...both of which are defined by Windows Phone itself. Neither of those can change until we move to WP8 this fall. That is in no way Nokia's fault.

Totally understood, and I would love to play with one... I just feel that the specs limit expansion and utility. So this is almost guaranteeing when 8 comes out you will need to buy a new phone. At least with Android you have the APPEARANCE of being able to upgrade in the future.

Heh, appearance. In all seriousness, all Windows Phones got the Mango update, and Tango likely will come to all of them as well. That is not something that can be said for Android. For all their theoretical flexibility, Android phones regularly have the worst official upgrade paths out of any smartphone. Sure, you can go unofficial (and their are some killer builds out there), but that can be said for Windows Phone too.

Microsoft has been cagey about the upgrade path to WP8, likely because they originally wanted to upgrade all phones, but have realized they can't actually do that. I fully expect that MS will try to support an upgrade path for as many phones as possible, but I expect that all first-gen phones won't get the upgrade. (And, of course, I'm sure the community will play their part for phones that don't officially get the update)

No arguments on any of this... I just need better specs to do everything I do on my Android on a Windows phone if it will ever be in consideration for me. Higher resolution for extensive surfing & Kindle reading, faster processor and more memory for gaming and hooking up phone to external display to use Office applications, etc.

Of course maybe that just means I am not their audience, at least for now.

EDIT: $450 off contract price for the Lumia... That's pretty steep. Around $150 (impossible I know) I'd pick one up to play with. I'll keep my eye on eBay...

EDIT 2: HTC One X import on the way... Quad core and six minutes of battery life here I come!

 

[geoken]

While I enjoyed playing with a Windows phone, this device that is going to save them is... single core? 800x480 resolution?

...both of which are defined by Windows Phone itself.

Then Windows Phone is not ready for prime time. Seriously, my phone has a similar processor, same memory, same screen res, and I got it off of Amazon for $50 2 years ago. We have quad-core devices dropping this year, FFS; if WP7 can't even handle dual-core, that is a major shortcoming.

But are nebulous specs more important than the tangible experience? The nebulous specs of the Galaxy Nexus I owned for a couple of weeks are apparently superior to my lowly Lumia 710 and the Focus I owned before the GNex. Despite this, the Galaxy Nexus' soft keyboard was not able to keep up with my typing speed, the keyboard would constantly lag several keystrokes behind. Should the fact that the Galaxy Nexus was running a superior dual core processor somehow make me ignore that it was noticably slower at something as fundemantal as typing?

 

[heartburnkid]

While I enjoyed playing with a Windows phone, this device that is going to save them is... single core? 800x480 resolution?

...both of which are defined by Windows Phone itself.

Then Windows Phone is not ready for prime time. Seriously, my phone has a similar processor, same memory, same screen res, and I got it off of Amazon for $50 2 years ago. We have quad-core devices dropping this year, FFS; if WP7 can't even handle dual-core, that is a major shortcoming.

But are nebulous specs more important than the tangible experience? The nebulous specs of the Galaxy Nexus I owned for a couple of weeks are apparently superior to my lowly Lumia 710 and the Focus I owned before the GNex. Despite this, the Galaxy Nexus' soft keyboard was not able to keep up with my typing speed, the keyboard would constantly lag several keystrokes behind. Should the fact that the Galaxy Nexus was running a superior dual core processor somehow make me ignore that it was noticably slower at something as fundemantal as typing?

Not at all, but I don't think your experience was typical. I've never heard anybody else make that complaint about the GNex. Heck, I've had no problem typing on aforementioned 2010 single-core phone (though I prefer a hard keyboard, I've had no issues with the soft one when I've used it).

In general, unless the software is extremely FUBAR, better specs will make for a better experience. And if the software is FUBAR, you can use different software. If the specs are inadequate, there's not much you can do.

 

[Deleted member 14629]

Emails don't provide a toast notification. If they did it would help because I would not only be notified, but the toast would presumably give me details about the notification which would allow me to decide whether or not to ignore it.

If there is a method to get toast notifications for emails I'd be glad to know how I could enable them, it would alleviate a big annoyance I have with the platform.

Ah, I understand. That was an explicit design decision by Microsoft, under the premise that receiving email should not be an interrupt-driven task (which, if you look at the research about how to most effectively manage email, they're right). I get why you would want that, but they do have very good reasons not to do that.

 

[heartburnkid]

Emails don't provide a toast notification. If they did it would help because I would not only be notified, but the toast would presumably give me details about the notification which would allow me to decide whether or not to ignore it.

If there is a method to get toast notifications for emails I'd be glad to know how I could enable them, it would alleviate a big annoyance I have with the platform.

Ah, I understand. That was an explicit design decision by Microsoft, under the premise that receiving email should not be an interrupt-driven task (which, if you look at the research about how to most effectively manage email, they're right). I get why you would want that, but they do have very good reasons not to do that.

And there's the problem both Microsoft and Apple have; you have to do things their way. This would be a great place to have an option; allow the user to turn on notifications if their workflow calls for it. But MS has decided that email should not be an interrupt-driven task, and if you think differently, tough titties.

 

[pw38]

Some comments and possible corrections:

1. There is a tutorial for the Windows Phone. It's an app called Help+How-to, and it's baked in as of Mango. Yes, it should start at launch, or default as one of the front 8 tiles, but it is definitely there.

It's not on my handset. Maybe it's different on phones shipping with Mango or something, but I've never even heard of it.

It comes on all the Mango phones. It was also added to my Samsung Focus with the 8107 update, so Americans with older handsets probably haven't seen it yet.

Microsoft has also made it available as a separate download.

The app is just a browser pointing to the help website.

I don't know if we're talking about something different but the Help + How To on my app list is all self contained. It doesn't open up the browser at all unlike an app like Facebook (which I just keep a pinned browser page on my home screen). It was also on my older Focus post Mango so I'm not sure what's happening with people who say it's not on their phone. It was already on my newer Focus S of course. I agree it should auto start when you first activate the phone because it really is helpful for those who don't get the features as fast as some others.