Goodbye BlackBerry, hello Windows Phone 8

[Royalty]

Better than the iPhone! That's for sure!

[mikesingh]

Thanks! I love everything about it except for the battery life. I'm trying a couple of things to improve it but so far, I've had very little success in making it last more than 12 hours on a single charge.

Hey Anaron! Welcome to Windows Phone :D

I've been a mostly-faithful Windows Phone user since the Windows Mobile 6 days (except for one 6-month fling with the original Sprint HTC EVO :x ) I've owned nothing but HTC Windows Phones and am currently on a Sprint HTC Arrive (known around the world as the '7 Pro', running a flashed 7.8 ROM).

The Arrive has a 1500mAh battery and my Arrive usually lasts a full day for me (from ~9am until ~11pm) with around 30% battery remaining) . While WP8 is a different beast than 7.x, some battery tips are (as mentioned) using Wi-Fi where you can, keeping Battery Saver on (manually kick it on if you feel like it, but live tiles/other notifications will halt while doing so), keep screen brightness low (on the Arrive, it's VERY low compared to other WPs) and sometimes even powercycling the phone can have your phone recalculate battery life to a better percentage (I've tested this on my Arrive, my girlfriend's Lumia 900 and her sister's Lumia 920).

As usual, your results will vary... but I wanted to give you a warm welcome to the group and I hope you enjoy your 8S! I can't wait to see what Sprint releases this summer for their Samsung and HTC WP8 lineup!

[vcfan]

Awesome. I'll definitely keep mine on WiFi at home. (Y)

just noticed youre from Toronto too (Y) ,im from there as well. btw if you need any help with anything related to the phone or OS,just pm me.

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

Hey Anaron! Welcome to Windows Phone :D

I've been a mostly-faithful Windows Phone user since the Windows Mobile 6 days (except for one 6-month fling with the original Sprint HTC EVO :x ) I've owned nothing but HTC Windows Phones and am currently on a Sprint HTC Arrive (known around the world as the '7 Pro', running a flashed 7.8 ROM).

The Arrive has a 1500mAh battery and my Arrive usually lasts a full day for me (from ~9am until ~11pm) with around 30% battery remaining) . While WP8 is a different beast than 7.x, some battery tips are (as mentioned) using Wi-Fi where you can, keeping Battery Saver on (manually kick it on if you feel like it, but live tiles/other notifications will halt while doing so), keep screen brightness low (on the Arrive, it's VERY low compared to other WPs) and sometimes even powercycling the phone can have your phone recalculate battery life to a better percentage (I've tested this on my Arrive, my girlfriend's Lumia 900 and her sister's Lumia 920).

As usual, your results will vary... but I wanted to give you a warm welcome to the group and I hope you enjoy your 8S! I can't wait to see what Sprint releases this summer for their Samsung and HTC WP8 lineup!

Thanks for the warm welcome! :)

I've noticed the battery percentage change after restarting it but so far, it has always been a little worse. That was when my phone had less than 3 charge cycles. I've noticed that the more I use it, the better the battery life. So far it seems to be levelling off and I like the fact that I can get at least a day out of it with somewhat moderate usage (including 1- to 2-hour phone calls).

Nokia seems to be flooding the market with a lot of cheap handsets. I hope HTC makes something a little better than the 8S but cheaper than the 8X. Actually, I think I read a rumour about a mid-range HTC WP8 device coming out this year.

just noticed youre from Toronto too (Y) ,im from there as well. btw if you need any help with anything related to the phone or OS,just pm me.

Parts Unknown eh? :laugh: Thanks for the offer. I see you have the Lumia 920 and ATIV S. Which one do you like more? And why do you have 2 WP8 devices?

[neo158]

Thanks for the warm welcome! :)

I've noticed the battery percentage change after restarting it but so far, it has always been a little worse. That was when my phone had less than 3 charge cycles. I've noticed that the more I use it, the better the battery life. So far it seems to be levelling off and I like the fact that I can get at least a day out of it with somewhat moderate usage (including 1- to 2-hour phone calls).

Nokia seems to be flooding the market with a lot of cheap handsets. I hope HTC makes something a little better than the 8S but cheaper than the 8X. Actually, I think I read a rumour about a mid-range HTC WP8 device coming out this year.

Parts Unknown eh? :laugh: Thanks for the offer. I see you have the Lumia 920 and ATIV S. Which one do you like more? And why do you have 2 WP8 devices?

You'll find that battery life will get better over time as HTC ship phones with batteries that are not calibrated. I have the ATIV S and I love it, I get over a day on a single charge on WiFi, slightly less than that on HSPA+.

Oh and congratulations on buying a Windows Phone. I've been using Windows Phone since 7.0 and have seen some incredible changes in the features of the OS and it can only get better.

[insanelyapple]

Good luck with internal memory for apps, Others cache, and saving pictures to the sd card - these glitches aside, it's a really nice phone.

As for

I haven't tried the 8X yet. I'm curious to see how it compares to the 8S.

8X is a little bit longer and also feels heavier in hand; back plate is also mat as in 8S

[(Account no longer active)]

Your next upgrade should be to Android. Welcome to openness!

[neo158]

Good luck with internal memory for apps, Others cache, and saving pictures to the sd card - these glitches aside, it's a really nice phone.

I guess you don't own a Windows Phone or you would know that the others cache is a known issue that Microsoft are fixing and saving pictures to an SD Card is as easy as changing a setting. As for the internal memory for apps there isn't really a lot that end users can do about that except use the Suggestion Box app and suggest allowing apps to be saved to the SD Card.

Your next upgrade should be to Android. Welcome to openness!

Yeah right, going from a smooth as butter Windows Phone to a laggy POS Android Phone :rolleyes: and yes, I do have a Galaxy Nexus so I do know what I'm talking about.

[insanelyapple]

I guess you don't own a Windows Phone or you would know that the others cache is a known issue that Microsoft are fixing and saving pictures to an SD Card is as easy as changing a setting. As for the internal memory for apps there isn't really a lot that end users can do about that except use the Suggestion Box app and suggest allowing apps to be saved to the SD Card.

Same 8S here, with white bottom and i'm just sharing some small disadvantages that i've experienced after 2 months that i'm sure Anaron will encounter soon or later. Also, i know that Others cache is set to be fixed but it's too long for me; and i don't believe that MS will listen to the users in apps on SD card idea by some suggestion platform or any other way.

[Daedroth]

Glad you like it, I also have a HTC Windows Phone 8S. I like mine, but have noticed some niggles which do annoy me.

The issues I've come across are:

- Can't store apps/games on an SD card...HAS to be on the internal memory

- Can't get the 'Portico' without deleting apps to free up 300-400MB of space

- Can't access the Internet through a network proxy that requires network credentials

- Poor app range and poor control over app development

- Xbox Music could be improved

[fusi0n]

Good to hear.. I could see a lot of bushiness moving from BBs to this

[Osiris]

Welcome on board, hope you enjoy your stay

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

You'll find that battery life will get better over time as HTC ship phones with batteries that are not calibrated. I have the ATIV S and I love it, I get over a day on a single charge on WiFi, slightly less than that on HSPA+.

Oh and congratulations on buying a Windows Phone. I've been using Windows Phone since 7.0 and have seen some incredible changes in the features of the OS and it can only get better.

Thanks. It definitely got better over time. I usually get a day and a half out of it (36 hours) before it goes to ~20%. Keeping WiFi on at home really helps.

Your next upgrade should be to Android. Welcome to openness!

I'm happy with WP8 but when the time comes, I'm going to consider the top 4 smartphone operating systems (which will most likely include Android). I have a feeling my next smartphone will be made by Nokia.

Same 8S here, with white bottom and i'm just sharing some small disadvantages that i've experienced after 2 months that i'm sure Anaron will encounter soon or later. Also, i know that Others cache is set to be fixed but it's too long for me; and i don't believe that MS will listen to the users in apps on SD card idea by some suggestion platform or any other way.

The "Other" storage issue is slowly becoming an issue for me. At first, it used up 500 MB and now it's at 1.2 GB. That leaves me with around 300-400 MB of free space. I really hope Microsoft releases an update to fix it.

Glad you like it, I also have a HTC Windows Phone 8S. I like mine, but have noticed some niggles which do annoy me.

The issues I've come across are:

- Can't store apps/games on an SD card...HAS to be on the internal memory

- Can't get the 'Portico' without deleting apps to free up 300-400MB of space

- Can't access the Internet through a network proxy that requires network credentials

- Poor app range and poor control over app development

- Xbox Music could be improved

It'd be great to install apps on an SD card. When did you get your 8S? Mine came with Portico pre-installed. I don't access the Internet through a proxy and I don't use Xbox Music. The app selection is getting better by the day and the only major issue I have is with Pandora's availability. It's limited to the US, Australia, and New Zealand.

Good to hear.. I could see a lot of bushiness moving from BBs to this

Did you mean businesses? :laugh:

[fusi0n]

Did you mean businesses? :laugh:

Yes.. lol didn't have my coffee yet

[neo158]

Thanks. It definitely got better over time. I usually get a day and a half out of it (36 hours) before it goes to ~20%. Keeping WiFi on at home really helps.

WiFi really helps extend battery life, as I type this my ATIV S has been going for over a day and it's still not enabled battery saver. I would recommend letting the phone enable battery saver and only charge it when the phone tells you that it's critically low. I would also let it discharge completely before charging at least once a month as well.

Same 8S here, with white bottom and i'm just sharing some small disadvantages that i've experienced after 2 months that i'm sure Anaron will encounter soon or later. Also, i know that Others cache is set to be fixed but it's too long for me; and i don't believe that MS will listen to the users in apps on SD card idea by some suggestion platform or any other way.

Well removable storage was suggested by the community and look what happened!!!!

[Daedroth]

It'd be great to install apps on an SD card. When did you get your 8S? Mine came with Portico pre-installed. I don't access the Internet through a proxy and I don't use Xbox Music. The app selection is getting better by the day and the only major issue I have is with Pandora's availability. It's limited to the US, Australia, and New Zealand.

I got mine just before Christmas. I only updated to Portico a few weeks ago. As mentioned, the Other storage is a major issue that I'd forgotten about.