Microsoft Lumia 550 - Windows 10 Mobile on a budget

When I was back in the UK this Christmas, I was doing some supermarket shopping and happened to stumble upon the Lumia 550 on the shelf advertised for £99. I'd already heard of the device, knowing that it would be debuting with Windows 10 Mobile installed on it alongside the higher specced 950 and 950XL.
I asked to purchase one and was told that it was locked to a network and that they have to remain locked for a year before they will unlock it officially.

I went away and decided that I needed to get one of these somehow to try out the latest iteration of Windows 10 Phone/Mobile/for Mobile. Friend of mine was coming over from Chicago, so I asked to pick me up an unlocked version. Retailed at $139 (USD), and came out at $153 after taxes added.


So now I have one in my hands, and I got the chance to start it up, play around with it and use it as my daily driver for a few days. Here's what happened:

1) The device is packaged well, with just a charger. No earphones, no removable USB cable, nothing. But what would you expect for this price. It's a bargain.


2) For the price, the screen on this phone is excellent. Bright colours, not too bad viewing angles.

3) Despite being a budget phone, the performance of this device is not bad at all, and is 4G LTE.

Those three points had me feeling pleasantly satisfied with myself for investing in such a great value phone. Maybe I'd sell my iPhone, maybe I'd subscribe to Groove Music, maybe  I'd consider an upgrade to a 950 or 950XL at some point....


Then, Windows 10 Mobile happened.

I've loved the concept of Windows Phone and their live tile interface since it came out. I had a Samsung Omnia 7 and thought it was great. It really is awesome. However, since the days of Windows Phone 7, things haven't really moved on in terms of the platform. I mean, how long do you want to fill the app-gap? Its not as noticeable anymore, but it is noticeable.

Also, if you're going to release a new operating system, make sure it's ready for primetime. Windows 10 Mobile is nowhere near ready. It had 38 updates waiting for me right out of the box. And those updates took over an hour to download, install and finish. Then after that, there was an entirely new OS update 10.0.10586.29, which took about 2 hours to download, prepare to install, then install. Not good Microsoft, not good at all.

Anyway, I finally got to using the device and it looks very pretty. But, it isn't always responsive, and then there's the settings app which looks much nicer than the settings of Windows Phone past, and matches the desktop settings app, but, still is confusing for finding some things as basic as changing the timeout time for the screen turning off.

Alongside that, I set the alarm to wake me up in the morning, and it just flat didn't work. Didn't go off at all. The settings were right but it didn't go off. Annoying.

Then I downloaded WhatsApp, and tried to use it with my phone on silent. But, when WhatsApp notifications arrived they still made a noise.

I could go on more about irritations of Windows 10 Mobile, it just doesn't seem to be finished. It feels like beta software.


Another slight annoyance with the device is that it is a fingerprint magnet (I believe the white version wouldn't be so much though).

After everything is said and done, even after one or two days I'm longing for my iPhone 6S Plus again. And I will definitely go back to it, feeling ultra disappointment that Microsoft STILL has not got their act together.

Despite this, if you're in the market for a cheap phone that does the basics just fine, then this wouldn't be a bad device to go for, but comparing it to the 640XL of my friend's, I would suggest you go for that at the moment, because Windows 10 Mobile just isn't ready yet.


UPDATE:
Several other reviews suggested this device has all day battery life. I can confirm that for me this hasn't been the case. With intermittent use such as Facebook, Twitter and a few other apps, the battery was down to 5% before 6pm. Whereas my iPhone which had not been charged since the day before was still at 12%.

Nokia Lumia 1520 Review

Since Microsoft announced the Lumia 1520, and its awesome specs including a beautiful 1080p full-HD screen, I've wanted one.



Not only for the high specs and Windows Phone goodness (not that Windows Phone needs high specs really), but because i've never partaken in the 'phablet' movement (not quite a phone, not quite a tablet).  I can see the appeal of the phablet with the extra screen real-estate and chunkier battery for extended battery life, and so, I decided to pick up one of the Lumia 1520s.

So. First things first. This phone is a work of art; its absolutely beautiful. I got the white version with 32Gb memory, and I even added a 32Gb SD card to the equation as I figured I'd want plenty space for HD video on that stunning screen.

Despite the size of the 6" screen imposing it's presence on the phone, the phone itself is very slim and svelte, and certainly not too heavy.  I have quite big hands, and I can just about operate the phone with one hand, but realistically I used two hands more often than not. That said, typing on this phone is a joy and browsing the web on the awesome screen is fantastic.

I won't do a review of Windows Phone, but I will mention that even though the operating system is great in my opinion, they haven't really optimised it to take advantage of the phablet form factor. The OS is essentially just an enlarged version. But it still feels very slick like all other Windows Phone devices.  (I had the Windows Phone 8.1 preview installed too)

Speaker quality on the device is excellent, with speakers positioned well on the back at the top and bottom. Equally call quality was great, despite feeling a little weird with holding the device to my ear.

Camera bump

The camera. Ohhhh the camera. It's 20Mp, and is really really really really good. I recommend getting the Nokia Camera app (formally Pro Cam) for free from the store to customise the camera's picture output like a boss.  The camera just protrudes a little from the back of the phone, but not much, and it doesn't affect handling the device at all.  It takes stunning pictures, and you'll wonder how you lived without it.

this is a slim phone

This phone supports Qi Wireless Charging, and with the larger 3400mah battery, it take a while to fully charge (around 5 hours), but then the battery life for usage on this device was phenomenal. With heavy use of installing apps, browsing the web, listening to music, watching videos locally and on youTube, after a full day, battery was only down to 40% and that was pretty heavy usage. I bet you wouldn't need to charge every day if just light use.

Conclusions:
This is a beautiful phone. I love it...   But... for me, I just can't get used to the phablet form factor.  If I were to become more accepting of phablets, this is the one I would go for in a heartbeat.

Apple, back in the game...

So WWDC has been and gone, with some interesting insights into what is coming in the near future from Apple; at least from a software perspective!

I was actually expecting to see some hardware announcements there, whether an iWatch or a refreshed iMac or Macbook, or whatever. Just expected to see something.

I was disappointed.

But then after looking at what's coming in OS X 10.10 "Yosemite", and iOS8 I quietly forgot about my absent-hardware-invoked sadness.


First up, OS X "Yosemite". A new simplified, more iOS-esque flat design. Gone are the drop shadows and reflections and rounded window corners. In are a flat aesthetic, gradient-less colours, revised cartoony icons as well as a nice feature which allows the user to go for a dark background to the finder bar.
Also present is a new Spotlight search which appears centre stage when activated. A rejigged notification centre which allows more customisation and reorganisation by the user to see the most relevant content at a glance.  I'm currently awaiting the link to the beta of this... Hope it comes soon!

iOS 8, has a stack full of new features and refinements which take it to the next level, and in some minds a step way ahead of Android. Notifications can be handled from the notification itself e.g.  users can respond to messages right there in the notification. Notification centre itself has be improved much like Yosemite to allow 3rd party functions as well as user customisation. iMessage now acts much like WhatsApp with media and location data incorporated. Users can make use of 'Continuity' which allows them to work on the iOS device, then 'handoff' the workflow to a Mac to resume the work; This also works with users being able to field calls and messages from their Macs as well. There's also iCloud Drive, like Dropbox, there's improvements to Siri with music recognition powered by Shazam, Health apps, as well as an improvement to Spotlight... Many features and enhancements.

As well as all this, Apple also announced 'Swift', a new programming language for Mac and iOS.  The image below shows the main highlights, but this probably needs a post of it's own at some point!

So I'm not disappointed, I'm excited by these new pieces of software and can't wait to get my hands on them.  Given the improvements to iOS, I might even be convinced to go for a new iPhone too (when they finally announce/release it... ;) )

Why I want a Windows Phone

When Windows Phone 7 initially came out in 2010, I was intrigued and loved the fresh take that Microsoft had on the mobile user interface.  Live tiles: awesome.  I got myself a Samsung Omnia 7, with a great 4-inch screen in a great form factor.

I enjoyed using it a lot, and I became something of an advocate for the platform.  So much so that when I had the chance to get a new Nokia Lumia 800 on first arriving in Singapore; I did just that.

I used, I enjoyed, I advocated... But slowly, I started to become disillusioned with Microsoft and Nokia on account of the lack of my favourite apps being ported to the platform.  Soooo I switched back to iPhone, and after realising iPhone screens are like postage stamps, I invested in a Nexus 5.  Don't get me wrong, Android 4.4 Kit-Kat is a great operating system, I like it a lot; the widgets especially. Google Now is also a great feature and I found myself talking to my Nexus 5 more than any other device before (without feeling weird).

So my main disgruntlement with my Nexus 5 is the battery life. It's really really bad. And Google have been promising a software based fix with 4.4.3. I hope it comes soon. And I won't be getting rid of my Nexus 5 only on account of the battery issues.

However. I've missed Windows Phone. And I've seen it develop into a solid mobile OS, and steadily gain a little market share and resign Blackberry to the bin.  Most major apps are now available for the platform, and they're being executed with high quality (in-keeping with the elegant OS UI).

On top of that, Nokia have slowly been refining their hardware year on year (I almost bought a Lumia 925).  Their most recent announcement of the Lumia 635 and 930 (global version of the Icon) in particular left me salivating.  A beautiful form, screen, and with it, a more customisable modern version of the Windows Phone operating system with smart features such as Wi-Fi Sense and the long needed Action Centre for quick access to settings and notifications.  The most encouraging thing here is that Microsoft appears to be listening to the consumer.

Google Now is good.  Siri is ok.  Cortana, appears to be a step above both of them, and even in it's current beta stage, is encouraging to me and presents what a digital assistant should be like.

So, enough ramble, the conclusion here is that I want a Lumia 930 in June. Heck, I'd even settle for a Lumia 635 as it looks like a great budget device!

When I get one, I'll post a review right on here, so please keep checking back!

Would love to hear your comments/experiences with Windows Phone/Android/iOS in the comments section below...

Being Chatted Up

Apparently WhatsApp, of cross platform messaging fame, has set a new PB for messages sent and received in a day.  27 billion messages handled, that's a big jump from the stats given for April.  Boom.  Well done WhatsApp.

I use WhatsApp, and I also use Line and WeChat and Facebook Messenger and Tango and Google Hangouts and Skype.  Seems the only ones I haven't bothered with Viber and KakaoTalk, although I've been told they're not bad.

I use all these different apps depending on who I'm speaking to.  For example, I use WhatsApp with a few friends but also some people that I know professionally, I use Line exclusively with my wife as she likes their 'stickers', I use WeChat to keep in touch with some Chinese friends, Facebook Messenger mainly for friends, Tango for video calling with my wife when she's away travelling and Hangouts for talking to my Mum back home as she's just got an Android phone and realised she can talk to me at any time with it.

You might think,'you know you can do everything you need with just one'.  You'd be right, I could just pick one.  But my friends, colleagues and family are spread out across all these services.  This means that I've got to have a little folder of apps on my Galaxy Nexus just for all these chat apps.  And I'm ok with that, it works for me, I don't need a one-size-fits-all.

I have a feeling though that once WhatsApp starts asking me to pay for the service, I might be reluctant.  The reason being that I don't have to depend on the app because others do a good job too.  Once my free time with them runs out I can just ask regulars on that one to switch to Line or Tango or Hangouts or whatever.  Simple.

I do however, occasionally use SMS still.  So it's not totally dead for me.  I get some free with my mobile contract as well so I feel obliged to use them. But I still wonder what's next for these apps?  Video calling and messaging never really took off, everyone has already jumped on the 'stickers' bandwagon, so what could come next?  Perhaps more seamless sharing of media and news stories and other content?  Bringing some more of the apps to the desktop like Hangouts?  We'll see.