It's a fair cop. With a dozen Lumias spread around the AAWP office, we can afford to have phones on every possible OS variant/ring/branch. But what if you only have the one Windows-running phone? What should it be running? As you might expect, it depends on your preferences and situation, but I've tried to break down the relevant factors for you below...
So I've put forward the case for Windows 10 Mobile in video form, plus I've shown that W10M is still relevant in 2017. But - like any intelligent person - you'll have been looking around at other smartphone platforms, eyeing up shiny new phones. It's only natural. Which is why I wanted to set down my thoughts on how the three* main platforms compare - which way should you jump?
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 sunflower shot early in the morning down in the West Country, with the petals literally and metaphorically reflecting the sun itself(!)
The very idea seems ridiculous to the world at large in late 2017. Who on earth would buy or hang onto a smartphone running Windows anymore? Yet, despite obvious market share metrics in a world where iOS and Android dominate new phone sales, there are still major USPs that appeal to me - and which I document below in video form...
Back in the day on Windows Phone, HERE Transit was part of the built-in apps suite and effectively did route planning around urban public transport systems. In theory, the same is available in Windows 10 Maps, but there are some functionality holes, one of which just got filled. You can now plan from transit stops and stations directly, in a version of Maps that has just hit (or is about to hit*) your Windows 10 Mobile smartphone. Here's how it works.
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, something slightly different in that it was shot by an AAWP reader, not me. The result is spectacular though.
I've done numerous head to head comparisons between the Lumia 950 XL and other top end smartphones, but every now and then I get the chance to do one between phones in the same ecosystem. In this case, of course, answering the question of which is 'better', the 22 month old 950 XL or the brand new Alcatel IDOL 4 Pro?
Regular contributor Gilbert Schwaab has followed up his review of GeoMeterPro 10 UWP with a real world feature on using it in anger, out on holiday in picturesque Switzerland. Who says killer applications don't exist on Windows 10? Here spanning phone and laptop.
For all my protestations that Windows 10 Mobile still has relevance in the mobile world of 2017 - and it does, albeit not across the board, with genuine USPs - and despite some more unique selling points for some of the hardware (Lumia 950 imaging, Elite x3 durability, IDOL 4 Pro speakers), it has to be acknowledged that there's an element of 'Not Quite As Good' across the board in terms of the actual interface with real world users. Let me explain...
In advance of part 2 of my Alcatel IDOL 4 Pro review, covering its imaging, here's a taster, with a quick head to head against the champion Lumia 950 XL. You can guess the outcome, of course, but the much newer device acquits itself well enough, given the lack of imaging smarts - the IDOL 4 Pro's main focus is on media, and I'll come to that in a future review part.
