I’ve been a Windows Phone user for a good few years now, It all started off with a Dell Venue Pro, then a Nokia Lumia 800, then an HTC Titan, then my current favourite the HTC 8X, then briefly an HTC 8S and then most recently a Nokia Lumia 920. But I’ve always kept my Android phone to hand just in case. Like a security blanket, ready to comfort me when things get rough.
I’ve been using my HTC 8X as my main phone recently and carrying my Galaxy Note II as my mini tablet for web and media during the day. Something has been bugging me though. Could someone really use just a Windows Phone device and nothing else? I don’t mean it in a mickey taking way either, I mean it in a “can I once and for all ditch my backup Android device?” kind of way.
So what I plan to do is to ditch Android entirely, so no tablets, phablet, phones or Gamepads. I’m not sure how long I’ll last, in the past I’ve always come up with some excuse to go back to Android. It’s normally to do with publishing stuff here or keeping up with my RSS. I feel I now have a decent range of apps ready to cope.
In about the next week I have a Nokia Lumia 620 making its way to me and I already have the HTC 8X. I plan to use nothing else apart from them and my secret weapon.
I’m lucky enough to have a Microsoft Surface RT tablet so any major work that needs doing I’ll use my Surface RT. So with my two Windows Phone 8 devices and my Surface I’ll set about answering my question.
One thing I want to get out of my time using solely Windows Phone is to dispel any rumours about the lack of apps in the Windows Phone Store. I really am sick of hearing EVERY Windows Phone 8 phone review ending in a “if only it ran Android” or “there aren’t enough apps”.
So keep your eyes peeled we should have a Nokia Lumia 620 review coming soon along with further tales about my Windows Phone adventure.
Good luck with your experiment James. Personally I’ve never had anything other than a Windows smartphone (originally Windows Mobile and now Windows Phone) and when I’ve had to use Android’s at work have felt uncomfortable with them. (I also replaced my Android tablet with a Surface as soon as it became available as the Android had become nothing more than an expensive digital photo frame). I’m looking forward to the 620 review too as I know someone interested in this size/spec phone.
Cheers for the good wishes, it won’t be too much of a struggle. Unlike if some of the others on the team had to do this. The 620 initial impressions should be posted early next week.
If it ran Sky Go then I would be interested, but alas it does not and does not look like doing so for a while. As one of my biggest monthly bills to Sky, to lose that portable feature I can not justify.
Also I am entwined in Google for personal and now work Gmail, so that makes sense also.
Which is a shame as I am massive Nokia fan from my 1st days of mobile phoning. I will not put ‘if only Nokia created Android devices’ but instead will put ‘if only Google and Sky produced Windows apps’ 🙂
Haha I like that “I will not put ‘if only Nokia created Android devices’ “
The trap a lot of people get into is “it doesn’t have enough apps”. People need to be more subjective – does it have the apps for you?
I have switched to Windows Phone now from Android (love my 8X), and there are things missing, which I hope will come along, but I can live without for now (maybe forever!).
There are some glaring holes in the Marketplace at the moment though:
– Spotify (its coming they promise)
– iPlayer (never going to happen on the current WP api according to the BBC)
– Google+ (there’s a 3rd party app for virtually all Google’s other services, even Google Music, & Gmail works fine too)
– Banking apps
The lack of iPlayer alone will be a deal breaker for many – indeed the absence of TV services in general. Netflix seems to be the lone video service, and that will need to change.
You are quite right mate. People should only worry about what apps they need. Out of the ones you mention I’d only need Google+ let the fun commence.
Hullomail was one that i personally missed, in fact there are no Visual voicemail apps on WP8 at the moment, but you can solve Hullomail by forwarding to email, which is the same solution I’ve used for Google+.