Let’s have a very honest beginning.
I have been an ardent supporter/fan of Windows Mobile Standard/Professional/Phone/10
Mobile/whatever they used to or will it call next. It all started when I bought
my first smartphone, the HP iPAQ Voice Messenger and followed it with an Asus
P527. Running on Windows Mobile 6 (and 6.1 later), these were not mere phones,
they were the true definition of Smartphones, or PDA’s as people called them
those days. People all around were using feature phones and using the plastic
stylus on the resistive touch screen on my P527 made me feel elite.
Along came the IPhone and Android
and ruined it for me. It was getting ever so difficult to stick to Windows Mobile,
people were now using fingers to use their phone (they could use a touch screen
phone with just one hand, that was so freaking amazing) and the charm of
Windows Mobile was diminishing be the day. I, like many out there, prayed day and
night that Microsoft updates its offering and comes out with something at least
on par, if not above the said rivals. But alas, some dreams take too much time
to materialise, and when they do, the moment has gone.
I too jumped ship (too much
honesty, eh) and got a HTC Wildfire (primarily because affording an IPhone was
too difficult for a college student). I had always admired the attention to
details, beautiful designs and superb build qualities that HTC was (and is, look
at HTC’s One M8 and M9 guys) famous for, and had always wanted to own one. I
was impressed with android, but more so with HTC Sense. But in the back of my
head still hoped that Microsoft one day comes up with something that can
finally compete.
Well, better late than never, and
Microsoft launched Windows Phone. The dream had been realised and I got a Nokia
Lumia 510 as soon as I could. Now, we here in India have always had this
affinity towards Nokia, their phones were as strong as bricks, had battery life
of days, and could actually be used as an alternate to Kevlar (I’m not joking,
there’s news where Nokias have saved lives by stopping bullets). The Lumia 510
was all of that, and had the new Windows Phone operating system. As soon as
Microsoft started rolling out Windows Phone 8, I knew I had to upgrade and got
a Nokia Lumia 520. By the time I finished college, I was using a Nokia Lumia
630 with Windows Phone 8.1 (my honesty kicks in again, I was also using various
Android smartphones during the same time as secondary, and sometimes primary
devices).
Yes the market share was low, yes
some applications were and are not available on the platform (I will hardly
ever use Snapchat anyway, even WhatsApp is an overkill for me), and yes
Microsoft had scrapped the old and started from scratch not once but twice, but
the platform always fascinated me, and it still does. Having used various
Android devices ranging from offerings by HTC, Samsung, LG and Motorola, I can
safely say that none of them feel the same after a few months of use and tend
to slow down to a level where they are practically unusable (Motorola’s Moto G series
was the best at resisting this as per me). No Windows Phone/Mobile has ever
given me that headache. Again, I have no comments on IPhone because I still
cannot afford one, sorry!
Having used so many low to mid
end devices, I really wanted a flagship now, and that was to be the absolutely
gorgeous Nokia Lumia 1520. Though the phablet may look like a tad bit too large
to some, I’m a bit of a considerable size myself and it felt made for me. I
ordered one online (thank you Flipkart) as soon as I joined a job and could
afford one (It was still retailing at 40K after a year of launch). It came
loaded with Windows Phone 8.1 and felt very familiar, although stunning and
fast in every way. The beautiful screen and the amazing camera on the phone are
still the envy of my friends, and yes, they use IPhones too.
I have also been a Windows
Insider since the program started, and had loaded the PC Builds on the spare
Lenovo laptop my college provided. I tried the Windows Mobile Insider Builds on
my old Lumia 630 until I found one to finally flash my daily driver with. That
was to be the Build 10581 and subsequently 10586.11 (which many consider to be
the RTM Build). The experience of using Windows 10 Mobile on the Nokia Lumia
1520 is an absolute delight, and hence kept aside for a separate post soon
(hopefully after flashing the next, and maybe final, build).
Windows 10 Mobile’s final (or
first of many) build seems to be just around the corner and I am super exited.
When I learned about the Microsoft Lumia 950XL, I felt like I had finally found
a successor worthy of an upgrade from my Lumia 1520, especially considering the
fact that Windows Hello and Continuum would not be available on the Lumia 1520
as they require new hardware. As I was making the decision to purchase it, I
stumbled across rumours of a Surface Phone. That’s when I decided to not go in
for a purchase right now and wait till next year. The rumoured Surface Phone
has amazing specifications (rumoured again), but if true, it would most definitely
be my next phone. Keeping fingers crossed.
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