Android > WP

[dragon2611]

Currently have a Nexus 5 that I'm thinking of replacing but I can't decide if I want to get another android handset or go windows phone this time round.

 

Last time I used windows phone it was a lumia 710 (WP7) and whilst it was OK the app selection was pretty poor and it felt a bit like it wasn't totally ready.

 

However I'm led to believe windows phone 8.1 is a massive improvement over 7 and most of the things that were previsouly missing are now there, also most of the major apps are there (E.g whatsapp, facebook.etc)

 

I was looking at either a Lumia 930 or a 735, whilst the 735 is a lower end device it's also a bit smaller than the 930 and I like the idea of having a microSD slot given 64GB microSD cards are readily available cheaply.

 

Any reccomendations from people here?

 

I usually use my phone for the following

 

Email (Activesync)

Facebook

Whatsapp

Twitter (occasionally)

Rdio (It's a subscirption music service, tend to have it playing in the car via the bluetooth to the car's audio system)

Navigation

 

As well as calls/sms

 

 

[Ironman273]

Email shouldn't be a problem

Facebook is available and I like the integration into my contacts

Whatsapp has an official app

Twitter has an official app

Rdio has an official app

Navigation - I use either Here Drive or Waze.  Both are great.

[dragon2611]

Indeed the activesync is Microsoft exchange (office365) so you'd hope that a Microsoft developed OS would play nice with their email server, be rather worried if they couldn't get that right.

[Aletheia]

If you don't care about the selfie camera and flash for rear camera, then consider one of the cheapest Windows Phone 8.1 - Lumia 635. I am using it now instead of HTC 8X, and I love it. I bought it for $39.99 and I must day, it is a great phone! And it has microSD card slot for expansion. You could check out the reviews in Amazon. It is AT&T GoPhone:

 

http://www.amazon.com/AT-Nokia-Lumia-635-Contract/dp/B00LBFFSNM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420332174&sr=8-1&keywords=lumia+635

 

Although it comes only with 512MB RAM, because it is a quad core, for many apps, it functions much better than my HTC 8X (1GB RAM, dual core).

[Thomas the Tank Engine]

It is AT&T GoPhone.

He's in the UK.

[MDboyz]

Best place to get more helps and advices on WP is www.wpcentral.com ...

[BBinder]

Lumia 830

[Ironman273]

Indeed the activesync is Microsoft exchange (office365) so you'd hope that a Microsoft developed OS would play nice with their email server, be rather worried if they couldn't get that right.

The big reason I love my WP is how great the email and calendar are for work.  I'm also not a huge mobile gamer and don't jump into all new apps released.  WP works great for my particular needs but my son has a OnePlus One and I can see the appeal of Android to some users, just not me.  Had a 920, had a 930 for a bit and now have an 830.

[dragon2611]

Lumia 830

 

Whilst It looks like a great phone I'll be buying it through the carrier and sadly they don't stock that one at the moment

[Anibal P]

I tried one, frustrated the daylights out of me, it's great if all you want is a simple device and don't multitask or care about YouTube since MS won't follow the rules, my teenager son needed better so we passed, handset still sitting in a drawer unused 

[Rippleman]

You mention facebook, and if you use their messenger app, I must tell you it is missing a key critical feature... there is no voice calling on it.

[HawkMan]

I tried one, frustrated the daylights out of me, it's great if all you want is a simple device and don't multitask or care about YouTube since MS won't follow the rules, my teenager son needed better so we passed, handset still sitting in a drawer unused 

WP Multi tasks just fie, I'd argue better than Android, as on WP I'm able to take a photo without Runkeeper or Endomondo dying and losing the track data when I take the photo, which android really liked doing. As for youtube, the mobile site works just fine, and there are a multitude of third party apps that work just fine, as for MS not following the rules, um they're doing the best they can, but since google won't release the necessary API's for MS to follow the arbitrary rules google layed down for them, it's a bit hard, only google has the necessary API access to make apps that are fully compliant. 

You mention facebook, and if you use their messenger app, I must tell you it is missing a key critical feature... there is no voice calling on it.

 

You mean anyone actually uses that...

[JonnyLH]

Thought this was an Android is greater than WP thread by your title

 

Other than twitter, all the apps you've mentioned are actively updated and are fully featured clients on WP, bar a few things on FB Messenger.

 

I have a 930, and it's a really nice phone. Don't get me wrong, I love glance view and I do slightly miss it on the 930, but I'd take a Snapdragon 800, and 1080p screen with a better camera over it. Obviously, there's just the price difference between the two.

[Anibal P]

WP Multi tasks just fie, I'd argue better than Android, as on WP I'm able to take a photo without Runkeeper or Endomondo dying and losing the track data when I take the photo, which android really liked doing. As for youtube, the mobile site works just fine, and there are a multitude of third party apps that work just fine, as for MS not following the rules, um they're doing the best they can, but since google won't release the necessary API's for MS to follow the arbitrary rules google layed down for them, it's a bit hard, only google has the necessary API access to make apps that are fully compliant. 

 

You mean anyone actually uses that...

 

You must be doing something wrong then, can multitask just fine in Android and not have apps close out, heck I copy and paste between apps all the time  

[eddman]

don't multitask or care about YouTube since MS won't follow the rules

AFAIK, the OS itself is capable of multi-tasking. The problem is with some developers not coding their apps properly.

 

There are a few great youtube apps on WP already; one the most popular ones is metrotue (and yes, it is free. The trial is fully featured and unlimited if one reads the description).

 

@OP

 

(Based on my experience on my friends' 820)

 

Email (Activesync):  Yes

Facebook:                Yes, but the FB messenger lacks two things, voice calls and cannot send already recorded videos (video messaging works.)

Whatsapp:                Present

Twitter:                     Present but for some reason they don't update the app regularly.

Rdio                         Present, but it's rather new and needs some work.

Navigation:              Bing maps, Here maps. No official google maps, but there are a few good third-party alternatives, like gMaps. Other apps are present too, like CoPilot, MapQuest, Garmin, etc. http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/top-free-apps/navigation/navigation

[jakem1]

WP Multi tasks just fie, I'd argue better than Android, as on WP I'm able to take a photo without Runkeeper or Endomondo dying and losing the track data when I take the photo, which android really liked doing. As for youtube, the mobile site works just fine, and there are a multitude of third party apps that work just fine, as for MS not following the rules, um they're doing the best they can, but since google won't release the necessary API's for MS to follow the arbitrary rules google layed down for them, it's a bit hard, only google has the necessary API access to make apps that are fully compliant. 

 

You mean anyone actually uses that...

 

Better than fine.  The YouTube apps on WP are better than the official app from Google and there are enough of them to satisfy any need.

 

OP, I have a Lumia 930 and it's a great phone.  I upgraded from a 920 and wasn't sure if it would be a worthwhile upgrade but I've been pleasantly surprised.  It's got a great screen, never slows down and the battery will get you through a day easily.  Having said that, if you want to try WP to be certain that it suits you you might want to consider buying a cheaper model unlocked.  You could try it out for a few weeks and then sell it on before committing to a more expensive phone.

[REM2000]

i have a Nokia 925 on 8.1 and when multitasking i see the resuming a lot, going from browser to Facebook, from Fitbit to Viber all the apps seem to keep displaying resuming.

 

On my Android Moto G and iPhone 6 i don't see any resuming, they simply switch, the only thing i see on those devices is when multitasking the browser the tabs will sometimes reload.

[adrynalyne]

WP Multi tasks just fie, I'd argue better than Android, as on WP I'm able to take a photo without Runkeeper or Endomondo dying and losing the track data when I take the photo, which android really liked doing. As for youtube, the mobile site works just fine, and there are a multitude of third party apps that work just fine, as for MS not following the rules, um they're doing the best they can, but since google won't release the necessary API's for MS to follow the arbitrary rules google layed down for them, it's a bit hard, only google has the necessary API access to make apps that are fully compliant. 

 

You mean anyone actually uses that...

The issue with Runkeeper and or Endomondo is a shortcoming of how it was developed, not android itself.

[BajiRav]

I tried one, frustrated the daylights out of me, it's great if all you want is a simple device and don't multitask or care about YouTube since MS won't follow the rules, my teenager son needed better so we passed, handset still sitting in a drawer unused

Seriously? The whole WP-YouTube fiasco is well documented, can't believe people still buying this bs from Google.

 

 

i have a Nokia 925 on 8.1 and when multitasking i see the resuming a lot, going from browser to Facebook, from Fitbit to Viber all the apps seem to keep displaying resuming.

 

On my Android Moto G and iPhone 6 i don't see any resuming, they simply switch, the only thing i see on those devices is when multitasking the browser the tabs will sometimes reload.

WP shows you resuming and iOS shows you static screenshot. Not saying WP is perfect but it isn't any worse than iOS/Android.

[webdev511]

Currently have a Nexus 5 that I'm thinking of replacing but I can't decide if I want to get another android handset or go windows phone this time round.

 

Last time I used windows phone it was a lumia 710 (WP7) and whilst it was OK the app selection was pretty poor and it felt a bit like it wasn't totally ready.

 

However I'm led to believe windows phone 8.1 is a massive improvement over 7 and most of the things that were previsouly missing are now there, also most of the major apps are there (E.g whatsapp, facebook.etc)

 

I was looking at either a Lumia 930 or a 735, whilst the 735 is a lower end device it's also a bit smaller than the 930 and I like the idea of having a microSD slot given 64GB microSD cards are readily available cheaply.

 

Any reccomendations from people here?

 

I usually use my phone for the following

 

Email (Activesync)

Facebook

Whatsapp

Twitter (occasionally)

Rdio (It's a subscirption music service, tend to have it playing in the car via the bluetooth to the car's audio system)

Navigation

 

As well as calls/sms

Email: Outlook works with Active Sync and IMAP

Facebook: Native App & accessible via share function within most apps.

What's App: Pretty sure there is a 1st party app for WP8, but I don't use it myself

Twitter: Native App & accessible via share function in most apps

Rdio: Native App

Navigation: Here Drive for turn by turn & Here Maps is best on Lumia (you get all the maps you want) is available on non-Lumia devices but with less maps. tons more name brand nav/map

 

I'm on Verizon so I've had the Lumia 822 (which has a micro SD slot) & currently use a Lumia Icon. The micro SDXC is nice to have, but I've never run out of space on the Icon. Main reason is that I have a Fiio X3 as a portable music player.

 

Unlike the iPhone, Microsoft gives you plenty of cloud storage. 15GB to start and another 3GB when you setup your camera roll to sync with OneDrive.

 

Very nice devices, slick OS, but does still suffer from companies & developers completely skipping it as a platform for their apps. Coding an iOS app needs to be done in Objective C, Android Apps in Java neither of which can be called easy programing languages. Windows 8.1 & Windows Phone 8.1 universal apps can be coded in C# & XAML (also not easy) or HTML/CSS/JavaScript (far easier than any of the "C" like languages) but I can see why devs skip writing apps for it because HTML/CSS/JavaScript is so much harder than the "C" languages

[Rippleman]

You mean anyone actually uses that...

 

hundreds of millions of people... its awesome and is extremly user freindly. I use it over viber/skype (although skype offers live video) when people don't have facetime.

 

You didn't fall for the viral scare did you?

[HawkMan]

The issue with Runkeeper and or Endomondo is a shortcoming of how it was developed, not android itself.

 

And in any case WP is no worse at multi tasking than Android or arguably better since it avoids this flaw.

[HawkMan]

hundreds of millions of people... its awesome and is extremly user freindly. I use it over viber/skype (although skype offers live video) when people don't have facetime.

 

You didn't fall for the viral scare did you?

 

What viral scare ? I've never seen or heard of anyone actually using FB voice chat, I haven't even seen anyone using it as an argument, except in two posts on this forum, and I believe the other one was you copy pasting the same argument as this time once before. 

[Rippleman]

What viral scare ? I've never seen or heard of anyone actually using FB voice chat, I haven't even seen anyone using it as an argument, except in two posts on this forum, and I believe the other one was you copy pasting the same argument as this time once before. 

 

the was no copy and past, and there was no argument for the use if it. It was a point out in case he uses it. The only reason I use it really is because In large parts of Asia, the carriers have free Facebook on cellular and this includes the app and messenger. So even without a plan or load or even a $0 balance, you can still call all your friends while only needing the app and a data signal. This is extremely big thing since a lot of people there do not have extra money for a calling plan and/or data plan. I also use it for friends in Puerto  Rico and Mexico since its just handy as heck.

[dragon2611]

You mention facebook, and if you use their messenger app, I must tell you it is missing a key critical feature... there is no voice calling on it.

 

I use it but only for messaging, I think I once received a call on it and was very dissapointed with the audio quality extemely overcompressed needlessly as both parties were on Wi-Fi at the time.

 

 

Are there any subscription music service apps that are better at recovering from loss of connection?

Originally switched from Spotiify to Rdio because I was using it with my chromecast but I don't do that very often, one of hte annoying things about Rdio is if your streaming something over 3G and lose the signal it sometimes decides it's not going to bother getting the stream back once it's reconnected.  It's a mobile app it should be coded to deal with a spotty internet connection.