I realise that comparisons between a late 2015 phone and two late 2017 phones is stretching things a little, but there are still many, many Lumia 950 XL owners here who would welcome a feature here, with these contenders possible ways to 'jump' in terms of life after the Lumia. The IDOL 4 Pro, as the new, currently sold Windows 10 Mobile flagship might have been more appropriate, but I felt the 950 XL's unique selling points gave it a better chance of standing tall in this company.
Continuing what has been a somewhat imaging-centric week on AAWP (that all stops tomorrow), in another in our popular camera phone tutorial series, I'm using a photo sent in by a reader, Jeff Appleton, who amazes with a photo taken on his Lumia 950 in Iceland. Taken in incredibly challenging light conditions.
Having already done some quick low light tests of the regular 5" Google Pixel's camera in comparison to the mighty Lumia 950 range, I now have the chance to do some much more in depth tests, and this time on the exact match, size wise, for my 950 XL - this is the Pixel 2 XL. And I test its camera in all light conditions, from bright sunlight to night time and with my famous 'party' mock-up...
Here's the latest in my growing series of cameraphone 'tutorials', or at least explaining the thought behind various successful phone-shot photos. In this case, a look at the use of positioning, light and PureView zoom to capture amazing detail in a pretty water fountain.
With the world praising the imaging prowess of the new Google Pixel 2 phones, the quesion on everyone's my lips is whether we finally have a computationally-backed phone camera that can dethrone the mighty Lumia 950/XL pair? Using the traditional interactive comparator, I go hands on with the Pixel 2 and explore its err... pixels, specifically in low light, where only the very best camera phones survive.
Now here's a feature that requires a delicate preface if ever there was one. The whole point of AAWP was to write about Windows on phones, and I'm still fully believing in the idea of one OS on all form factors. Yet what if we change 'Windows' to 'Microsoft'? Given the company's lack of comittment in building their own phone hardware, Windows 10 Mobile is withering on the vine and so alternatives for people invested in the Microsoft ecosystem would seem a good bet for research. Now, guess what I've been doing for the last week?(!)
'Microsoft abandons the Lumia 640 range!' was one headline from the last couple of days. 'Windows 10 Mobile finally dead!' was another. They make good headlines for attracting clicks and traffic, but both headlines are highly misleading. I know we've been over this ground a few times in the last month, but just for the record, as a bit of a Friday rant, do grant me some license to repeat myself here...
Now, don't take the title too seriously, there are limitations here - not least that you usually want to preserve your phone's battery and not drain it. But I wanted to document that modern Windows 10 Mobile phones can act as a power source for accessories or anything small that charges via USB. With a special adapter!
As I proved last week, rumours of Windows 10 Mobile's death have been mightily exaggerated. As an OS and with updates provided, for many people we're looking at patches, updates and fixes to both OS and UWP applications for another two years (or 18 months for 'classic' phones) now. Having said all that, it's fair to say that 'retirement' is a good analogy and there are some serious caveats that we should all be aware of going forwards.
I've had so many emails in asking me to comment on Joe Belfiore's stream of tweets over the weekend (and the reaction to it on tech sites) that I felt I had to, at least, update my ever-extending and hopefully still clear Windows 10 chart, showing what's happening to the OS. In summary, there's nothing in Joe's tweets that's new. Nothing to see, back to your homes, etc.(!)
