Who has switched WP => Android and is enjoying it?

[BevOh13]

Been with WP since Lumia 800 was released. Then had a 1020 and currently a 950XL.

I love the WP UI and have dealt with the app gap. Being 25 people always are dumbfounded when they find out I don't have Snapchat but thats the least of my worries.

Spotify - Constantly buggy, refusing to load have to soft reset to fix. I find this happens with some other apps too.

ING Direct pulled support for their banking app. Bookmarking their mobile site works but isn't ideal.

Facebook and Messenger are still buggy and slow compared to iOS and Android. No real complaints about Instagram though.

Zonos works okay for my Sonos but still can be a little hit and miss.

Sometimes when the phone receives a notification it will freeze and get stuck vibrating and making a continuous buzzing from the stalled notification. Again soft reset.

Everything else is more or less fine, well what I can think of anyway. Besides, this is nothing compared to the other issues we have faced over the years but I'm just starting to get a little fed up as in the last month:

- Camera won't focus (pretty much unusable now). In and out of focus constantly, seems hardware related but I don't know.

- Maps navigation stopped working (No GPS Signal), Other nab apps still working.

- Cracked my screen today (first I've cracked since iPhone 3 )

Was going to wait to see if any kind of surface phone actually came to fruition but now I've just seen we could have a Nokia 8 coming that looks interesting and I'm pretty fed up at this point anyway. 6 years of bug squatting and juggling hot potatoes has taken a toll.

So my question is, what Android devices have people been happy with after switching from WP? Particularly from the 950XL.

Is there anything I might miss that I haven't thought about? Does Android allow you to integrate with OneDrive at all so I can avoid transferring everything? All my contacts are associated with gmail so that is fine.

Any word on when Nokia 8 will be announced? Haven't found a whole lot.

Sorry for the long post but looking forward to hearing people opinions.

Cheers
Bev

 

[ajb1965]

Hi an Welcome to Android Central! There are many former and current WP users here, myself included. I've been primarily on Android for the last 18 months. Onedrive works very well on Android. It can be set up to automatically back up your photos etc just like it does on WP. Actually, all of the MS mobile apps work very well on Android in my experience. Onedrive and Office Lens are some of the first apps I install on all my devices.

There are dozens of currently available Android phones that will offer you a great experience. Big names like Samsung, Motorola, and LG are well liked here, as well as some of the up and comers like Huaweii, OnePlus, and ZTE. Some Android contemporaries of the 950XL that come to mind are the LG G6 or V20, Samsung S8 or S8+ (soon to be released), Huaweii Mate 9 to name just a few (those all sort 5.7 or better screens).

The one thing I missed from WP was People Hub. I haven't found any Android alternative to that feature that could consolidate multiple feeds into one quick view down to the individual contact level. I got over it fairly quick though.

If the stock interface of whatever phone you choose is not to your liking, there are several very good Launcher Apps that allow you to customize just about every detail of your phone, and even alter some behaviors.

Browse our forums and ask questions. There are hundreds of helpful folks around here who will gladly answer any questions you have about specific hardware or software.

Enjoy!

 

[Morty2264]

Welcome to the forums and good on you for doing your research and thinking about switching! It's not always an easy decision but for sure, we'll try and answer your questions!

Though I've never had a WP phone - unfortunately, as I've been intrigued by them for years - I did do a bit of research on them over time when I'd been thinking about jumping platforms. I really like the integration of WP and the live tiles, and as the user above me stated, the People Hub is really cool. However, there are Windows-like apps for Android - you can put tiles on your phone and customize their length, width, colour, etc. I used it on my LG G3 and loved it!

As far as switching to Android in particular, your app experience will be elevated and you won't have the buggy issues you are dealing with now with apps like, say, Facebook and Messenger. Google Play has an extensive selection so I'm sure you'll be able to find the apps you have now, or at least their equivalent.

With regards to synching and transferring your information, it's great that you have a Google account; and as far as Cloud, I'm not an expert there but I'm sure you can backup your files by searching here or on Google; and you can potentially Bluetooth over your contacts, pictures, etc from your Windows Phone to your new Android phone.

Lastly, do you have any idea on what kind of Android phone you'd like to purchase? What kind of user are you - are you a power user, one who loves a big battery, and/or one who loves to play games/watch videos on your device? There are a lot of options to choose from, but based on your individual preferences and user behaviour we can certainly point a few phones out to you! Oh, also, what carrier are you with, or are you thinking​about buying your device unlocked?

 

[BevOh13]

Onedrive works very well on Android. It can be set up to automatically back up your photos etc just like it does on WP.

Amazing! This is one of the main things I was worried about this is great to hear.

The one thing I missed from WP was People Hub. I haven't found any Android alternative to that feature that could consolidate multiple feeds into one quick view down to the individual contact level. I got over it fairly quick though.

I don't think I use the People Hub all that much so I can probably deal with this.

If the stock interface of whatever phone you choose is not to your liking, there are several very good Launcher Apps that allow you to customize just about every detail of your phone, and even alter some behaviors.

Browse our forums and ask questions. There are hundreds of helpful folks around here who will gladly answer any questions you have about specific hardware or software.

I have heard there are even some WP-like Launcher apps around too which is encouraging. I spent a a lot of time messing around with empty tiles etc. on my current device to get it set up exactly how I wanted it so it's good to know that the customization is still there on Android without having to root your device or anything.

Will definitely have a look around thanks!

As far as switching to Android in particular, your app experience will be elevated and you won't have the buggy issues you are dealing with now with apps like, say, Facebook and Messenger. Google Play has an extensive selection so I'm sure you'll be able to find the apps you have now, or at least their equivalent.

With regards to synching and transferring your information, it's great that you have a Google account; and as far as Cloud, I'm not an expert there but I'm sure you can backup your files by searching here or on Google; and you can potentially Bluetooth over your contacts, pictures, etc from your Windows Phone to your new Android phone.

I'm not terribly worried about this now as I've been informed that you can integrate backups etc with OneDrive and all of my contacts are on my Google account so that shouldn't be an issue.

Lastly, do you have any idea on what kind of Android phone you'd like to purchase? What kind of user are you - are you a power user, one who loves a big battery, and/or one who loves to play games/watch videos on your device? There are a lot of options to choose from, but based on your individual preferences and user behaviour we can certainly point a few phones out to you! Oh, also, what carrier are you with, or are you thinking​about buying your device unlocked?

I haven't looked too deep yet but I was thinking I'd be best waiting for the Nokia 8 or Samsung S8 Edge. I use my phone mainly for Internet Browsing, Instagram, Spotify in my car, GPS, Facebook/Messenger, Youtube and occasionally Reddit. Pretty simple but currently I churn through battery on my 950XL pretty quickly which is why I love how fast it charges. Usually I can get through a full day but for instance I went to the Grand Prix the other day and between taking pictures (or trying too), internet browsing etc. my phone was dead before I even left the event. I've pretty much always bought flagship high end devices or something close to.

I am with Optus in Australia and I may try to stick it out until my contract is up later this year. They will usually let you upgrade a bit earlier anyway. Cant remember exactly how long I have left at the moment but will have to check up on that. Buying outright is not out of the question but I usually try to avoid it if I can.

Thank you guys for your helpful replies!