Hi, I recently switched from Windows 10 Mobile to Android (for the very first time¬). I grew frustrated with my Lumia 950. I read a lot of impressive reviews so I decided to buy the Google Pixel. All of the Microsoft apps I use were on Android so it seemed like an easy change. First thing I noticed on day one was that there was a very easy laid out way for iPhone users to change platform but nothing for Window Phone users. With that said, swapping platforms wasn’t bad overall. My first impression was that the Pixel was overall better than my 950. The hardware is more refined. The software is faster; like, extremely fast. I never even thought my 950 was slow until I got the Pixel lol. I don't think I've ever seen a phone this fast in my life! Clearly there's a lot of optimized power under the hood. I'm not really big on apps. I just need a good virtual assistant, stability, Microsoft Office and good file sharing and storage options for emailing. Most Microsoft apps (really, all apps in general) ran as good or better on Android except Cortana. She clearly is limited on Android. Running two apps at the same time in multitask mode is amazing. I like how well Chrome loads pages and its UI a bit more than Microsoft Edge. I can see me even using it on my laptop.
After a few more days with my Pixel I begin to see limitations. The first was notifications. I constantly get notifications, even if I currently have the app open or trigger the function myself (Why am I being notified I took a screenshot?). The flexibility of how to handle notifications is very limited on Android. I can turn off sound and sensitive information or turn off the notification altogether, and that’s it. On W10M I can do that, group notifications and set notification hierarchy. I also don’t get notified if I take a screenshot or if I’m currently in the app. Piggy backing off that, I’m not exactly sure what its called on Android but the options above the notifications are inconsistent. If I click the Bluetooth or Wi-Fi button it toggles them on and off but if I click the Battery or Cellular data button it doesn’t. My next issue with Android 7.1 is the stock virtual keyboard. I found some useable alternatives but not one with all the features of the W10M virtual keyboard has (scroll left, right, up, and down from the main keyboard, auto suggest more than 3 words while typing or swiping). Ironically, Microsoft’s own keyboard on Android is trash. Third, I thought there was some inconsistency with W10M settings but settings on Android 7.1 are all over the place. Sometimes the dots in the corner had more settings and sometimes they didn’t. The settings on the Pixel are a complete disarray of options.
Now here’s where things get ugly. Google Assistant is bad. I like that it can keep context but honestly, I can’t say much else good about it. I tried to like it but it’s weaker compared to Cortana. I know Google Assistant can’t do people-based reminders (e.g. remind me to say something when I call a specific contact) like Cortana but I can live without that. Even after forgiving that it still just doesn’t stack up. It doesn’t read text messages (Side note: What kind of flagship smart phone in the year of our Lord 2017 can't read text messages?) and that’s a huge omission. It doesn’t give feedback affirmation and that’s also a huge omission. The lack of feedback causes me to constantly repeat myself because I have no idea when the mic has begun to record my response. Google Assistant seems to omit punctuation marks unless manually said for no reason. This flaw makes it impossible to use a punctuation word because she thinks you’re adding the punctuation mark instead of the word, e.g. “I’ll see you after my class next period” will be dictated as “I’ll see you after my class next.”. This is annoying. To top this off you also can't write a message to Google assistant.
With this Pixel, I’ve officially tried Android, IOS and W10M and I must say on an OS level I think W10M is more for me than Android. After a week with the Pixel I expected to find a ton of features that would show me that my L950 was behind but that wasn’t the case at all. Of the 3 I think IOS is the worst with Siri missing tons of features amongst other limitations. I think Android is the best but only because of stability. Other than multitasking android so far doesn't do anything my Windows phone didn't already do. Thu it did less a lot of times. It just does it with better apps and much more stability. I expected the difference between Windows phone and Android to be huge but now I see although it's rough around the edges and has little app support the the W10M OS itself is better a lot of times. Windows phone may not be popular but overall I still think it could be the best with some touch ups. I really like having top notch apps and multitasking but I just kept wishing I could pin portions of the apps to my start screen for quicker access like W10M tiles. Android has been a dope experience but I feel like I will be returning my Pixel and putting up with the same headaches I started with because I still think I can get more work done with those headaches on W10M
After a few more days with my Pixel I begin to see limitations. The first was notifications. I constantly get notifications, even if I currently have the app open or trigger the function myself (Why am I being notified I took a screenshot?). The flexibility of how to handle notifications is very limited on Android. I can turn off sound and sensitive information or turn off the notification altogether, and that’s it. On W10M I can do that, group notifications and set notification hierarchy. I also don’t get notified if I take a screenshot or if I’m currently in the app. Piggy backing off that, I’m not exactly sure what its called on Android but the options above the notifications are inconsistent. If I click the Bluetooth or Wi-Fi button it toggles them on and off but if I click the Battery or Cellular data button it doesn’t. My next issue with Android 7.1 is the stock virtual keyboard. I found some useable alternatives but not one with all the features of the W10M virtual keyboard has (scroll left, right, up, and down from the main keyboard, auto suggest more than 3 words while typing or swiping). Ironically, Microsoft’s own keyboard on Android is trash. Third, I thought there was some inconsistency with W10M settings but settings on Android 7.1 are all over the place. Sometimes the dots in the corner had more settings and sometimes they didn’t. The settings on the Pixel are a complete disarray of options.
Now here’s where things get ugly. Google Assistant is bad. I like that it can keep context but honestly, I can’t say much else good about it. I tried to like it but it’s weaker compared to Cortana. I know Google Assistant can’t do people-based reminders (e.g. remind me to say something when I call a specific contact) like Cortana but I can live without that. Even after forgiving that it still just doesn’t stack up. It doesn’t read text messages (Side note: What kind of flagship smart phone in the year of our Lord 2017 can't read text messages?) and that’s a huge omission. It doesn’t give feedback affirmation and that’s also a huge omission. The lack of feedback causes me to constantly repeat myself because I have no idea when the mic has begun to record my response. Google Assistant seems to omit punctuation marks unless manually said for no reason. This flaw makes it impossible to use a punctuation word because she thinks you’re adding the punctuation mark instead of the word, e.g. “I’ll see you after my class next period” will be dictated as “I’ll see you after my class next.”. This is annoying. To top this off you also can't write a message to Google assistant.
With this Pixel, I’ve officially tried Android, IOS and W10M and I must say on an OS level I think W10M is more for me than Android. After a week with the Pixel I expected to find a ton of features that would show me that my L950 was behind but that wasn’t the case at all. Of the 3 I think IOS is the worst with Siri missing tons of features amongst other limitations. I think Android is the best but only because of stability. Other than multitasking android so far doesn't do anything my Windows phone didn't already do. Thu it did less a lot of times. It just does it with better apps and much more stability. I expected the difference between Windows phone and Android to be huge but now I see although it's rough around the edges and has little app support the the W10M OS itself is better a lot of times. Windows phone may not be popular but overall I still think it could be the best with some touch ups. I really like having top notch apps and multitasking but I just kept wishing I could pin portions of the apps to my start screen for quicker access like W10M tiles. Android has been a dope experience but I feel like I will be returning my Pixel and putting up with the same headaches I started with because I still think I can get more work done with those headaches on W10M
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