poll Windows Phone 8. Like it? Buying it?

[neo1911]

@ .Neo

All the reasons you pointed are my concerns as well. Even iPhone 5 was lacklustre update and I decided to stick with my 4S.

I dislike Bing Search. Does WP8 provide any options of choosing Google as search engine? I skimped through the reviews and did not find any reference.

[scumdogmillionaire]

Definitely upgrading from WP 7.5 to WP8. Kid's Corner alone is worth the upgrade for me and my family.

[epk]

I really like Windows Phone 7 so as of now, I think my next phone will be a WP8 device by Nokia. But I won't be upgrading for at least another year, so...

[+Heartripper Subscriber¹]

I love it, but i'm not buying one since i already have a lumia 800 and it's great :)

[.Neo]

As far as I know, point number 1, to some extent, 2, 3 are resolved. It syncs with iTunes now. And Battery Life is supposed to have gotten better also.

It doesn't sync through iTunes. The Windows Phone Connector simply reads your iTunes library as already the case today.

[Guest]

I really want the Lumia 920 but its on EE here in the UK and the signal sucks where i live. Just had a go on my gf's iphone 5 and the apps are really great. So really torn on what to do. I can upgrade in Jan and its killing me having to wait :cry: I have a Lumia 710 at the moment and its great. But the lack of app support on the 710 is getting annoying now. Then again will it be any better for the WP 8?

[+LogicalApex MVC]

Why the **** would you buy a Windows based phone when you have a Mac? What did you think was going to happen? As for lack of apps for WP8, it's been out for one ****ing day. :|

Right... One should only buy iOS devices if they run Mac OS and Android if they run Linux... Except Windows is the #1 desktop OS and Windows Phone is barely #4 in mobile OSs so the world doesn't seem to follow your flawed logic.

[George P Global Moderator]

BUILD just started and all but already from the little bit they showed at the WP8 segment it's looking like a very good update. There was a big list of new features/APIs that developers can take advantage of for their apps which means we should be in for some very good apps and games in 2013. Plus they're making it pretty easy to port from other platforms or go from Win8 to WP8 and vice versa. The next year should be very interesting.

[Growled Member]

I would have to play with one in person before I would say but based on Windows 8 on my laptop, I would now consider buying a Windows Phone. Probably one for Nokia.

[Wyn6]

With all the under the hood changes in WP the potential here is monstrous. If you watched any of the BUILD Keynotes, in my opinion its easy to see that Windows Phone has the potential to be leaps and bounds more powerful and at the same time more user inclined than any platform out as of right now. Of course, this is all predicated on devs taking advantage of what the new kernel, APIs, game engines, etc. bring.

Combine all of that with the sheer integration with Windows, and Xbox, and MS services and this thing can be massive. That being said, I'll be grabbing me something here in the next couple of weeks (most likely the 810 or 8X).

[Josh_LosAltosHills]

I like WIndowsPhone. Have since day 1. I like the new hardware. The lack of a release date and the lack of major apps 3 years in has me getting an S3 tomorrow. I'll get it off contract so I can see where WP is late next year.

[Dot Matrix]

Sorry iOS and Android users, but the Start Screen on WP8 takes it all. Highly functional, and highly glamorous. Kudos to Microsoft for such a beautiful UI.

[cfew]

I have preordered the lumia 920, and I even got a wireless charger included. Also, this will be my first smartphone, I was planing to go for the 900 first, but decided to wait for wp8 just to be sure i get the full experience.

My main worry is about the app availability, but i must say i feel a bit better after watching some of the anouncments lately concerning the market place.

Just cant wait to get my hands on it.

[techfreak]

I am planning to get it to replace a corporate-issued Blackberry. I am very much into the Microsoft (and Google) ecosystem, and so I look forward deep integration with Exchange, Hotmail and things like Skydrive (all of which are avalaible on Android and iPhone, I know).

Its finally on the att.com web page (but no date or price):

http://www.att.com/shop/wireless/devices/windowsphone.html#fbid=gQVTc_k3GUp

[BajiRav]

I like WIndowsPhone. Have since day 1. I like the new hardware. The lack of a release date and the lack of major apps 3 years in has me getting an S3 tomorrow. I'll get it off contract so I can see where WP is late next year.

lack of major apps, such as?

They pretty much gave all release and pricing info that you need to know a day before your post.

[Subhadip]

WP8 looks awesome. Everything great about WP7.5 just made better with all its drawbacks addressed. I am going for 8X, incredible design.

The "lack of major apps" complaint is overblown. I don't find anything missing and mobile Office / Skydrive, an always-on and deeply integrated Skype and the great first party apps (this time including Nokia Maps!) hold much more weight to me, not to mention an awesome interface which makes iOS and Android look thoroughly obsolete.

Of course, one should look at what apps they need and what they can't live without and make a decision accordingly.

[bogas04]

Tough call really , while 8x looks sexier , is lighter and cheaper than 920 , 920 has better screen , touch , camera. I don't know if it's worth to spend 10k or so for those features... Also I don't really like the gloss they added to 920's body :/

[subcld]

each one has a unique hardware feature. but Lumia 920 is my favorite

i'll decide between 920 and 8x in local store price will be one of major advantages

[Noir Angel]

Sorry iOS and Android users, but the Start Screen on WP8 takes it all. Highly functional, and highly glamorous. Kudos to Microsoft for such a beautiful UI.

Subjective opinion, not objective fact. I for one thinks the WP UI looks vile.

[tsupersonic]

Subjective opinion, not objective fact. I for one thinks the WP UI looks vile.

It's very subjective, everyone has their own personal taste. The iOS home screen UI is extremely useless as it is just a page of static icons. WP is nice, since some of the tiles are live, and can show you quick information at a glance. The only problem is that more developers need to support live tiles. I think Android has the most informational UI as the widgets show the most information and are more detailed than some of the live tiles. The widgets are more flexible in that they can be (re)sized, and you have multiple home screens to display different information per each screen.

[bogas04]

Just in case you didn't see this earlier :

Some of the features are not 920 specific (in fact in above vids only the shaky thingy is specific) , this shows how the WP8 Camera app (with the "lenses") is way ahead any other platform. It seems funny how addition of panorama in iPhone 5 was really a big announcement when compared to these features.

[Dashel]

I'm on the fence actually. I'm off contract soon but thinking I may stick with my WP7 another year and see how things look. In retrospect, I've been pretty unhappy with the amount of updates and simple things that still don't work right. You don't get 'two' do-overs for the reasons LApex and .Neo cite.

A front facing camera is my biggest motivation for a new device, but that will only matter if the Skype integration is a lot tighter.

[AJerman]

I like it, I'd give it a 4/5. I don't like it for me, but I like it still. If I had a second phone, I wouldn't mind having one. And I'd suggest it to people over the iPhone for someone who wants a simple phone. I'm Android all the way though. That said, I think I'd take the 8X over the 920, but it's close.

Tough call really , while 8x looks sexier , is lighter and cheaper than 920 , 920 has better screen , touch , camera. I don't know if it's worth to spend 10k or so for those features... Also I don't really like the gloss they added to 920's body :/

See, that's the thing. The screens are at best a dead even tie, if not in the 8X's favor. The 8X has higher pixel density, and a proven SLCD2 which looks absolutely amazing in devices such as the One X (And the 8X will have far higher pixel density than the One X even). I haven't seen the Lumia's screen in person to compare, but every review I've seen places them on par. I'd be very impressed if Nokia managed to match the beauty of the SLCD2 in the 8X. I'll give you touch for the 920. Working with gloves on is pretty cool, but a bit gimmicky. Not a huge deal to me, but if you lived in Canada or something, maybe it'd be a bigger deal. Unless of course it's actually cold and you're wearing thick gloves, then it still won't work. And the Camera, they both have pros and cons on. The HTC ImageSense chip is in the 8X which makes it a far faster shooter, and quality is supposed to be fantastic. Then again, the 920 has a lot of tweaks added to their camera, and camera has always been one of their specialties, then again, they've had trouble with this specialty in the past.

Overall, the Lumia sounds like it's full of gimmicks to make it seem more desirable, while the 8X sounds like a more solid device overall, albeit with a few less features maybe. Either way, I don't think you could go wrong with either one of them. They are both fantastic.

[yowanvista]

WP8 is superb, fluid and super fast but I'm sticking to Android for the time being. I can't stand not having my favorite apps & games I wouldn't like restrictions or a closed os. I may ultimately switch when the platform really takes off and when developers consider porting their iOS/Android apps onto WP8. Jumping on a half baked os wouldn't be a wise decision, at least for now. :)

[typu]

i was eagerly awaiting the windows phone 8 and windows 8 presentation. on my desktop I have already upgraded to windows 8 pro, just because I like new stuff, and I kinda like it. The metro stuff is pretty much optional on a desktop and hardly any useful but I am not forced to use it.

Now where I really imagined a lot of synergy is the combination of the two. but tbh, there is hardly any. where is the advantage of having win8 and win phone 8? i see none. at least no relevant one.

seriously, the ms ecosystem needs a competitive advantage and that could be tieing the systems together. as long as this is not done in a thoughtful way, i see no reason to switch from my galaxy nexus. android has become more mature and it does just all you wanna do. hardly any limitation whereas windows phone 8 has quite a few.

dont get me wrong, im a big fan of microsoft and what they do but im also objective and realistic. currently, they do not offer anything special. no significant advantage. i hope they keep working hard and fast before they lose traction again.