:smirk: Really?

I am a Windows Phone champion, I started on the Lumia 720, then switched to the Samsung Ativ S and then jumped onto the Lumia 930. I always felt the phones met all my expectations. I will admit that I too jumped ship to Android in August thanks to a tempting OnePlus 2 invite but I really do miss the Windows experience and have a iPhone for work. However the simply live tiles and calendar structure all worked so well for me, all the information I wanted was always present without the need for jumping into apps.

I think the biggest issue from the iOS and Android camps is that if you haven't used the device and simply say that it doesn't have the apps you use then I would disagree, I never once jumped ship because of apps. XBOX Music, Mix Radio, Spotify sorted out my music needs, Facebook, Tweeter, Instagram all covered as well. I would say the app quality of Android and iOS is extremely bad, very buggy and at least with Windows the interface of all the apps have a consistant experience, use one and you know how to use them all. It's a good platform just the majority focus on quantity of apps rather than the quality of the experience.

Windows Phone runs MUCH better on low end hardware than Android. I don't doubt your experience on an Android phone with snapdragon 200 was poor, however you'd get a far better experience on Windows Phone. Windows Phone don't sell many phones, but the ones that sell are almost all low cost ones, and that is because Windows Phone runs better than Android on a low spec device.

It's also available for £59.99 on PAYG Upgrade, O2 and Vodafone, no top-up required.

Budget winner on paper, without a shadow. 4.7" 720p HD screen , SD card slot, 8MB internal storage, front & back cams, 1Gig Ram, you can`t go wrong. Price is sure to come down as well. Heat.

looks nice for the price

....oh, and replaceable battery!

and 4g...

What a price! Heat from me:-)

This, or a 535?

Opinions please

The 550 comes with Windows 10 baked in. While the processor isn't the greatest for a generic smart phone it is an improvement over the Lumia 535. Also the screen on the 550 is a significant improvement (although now lacks gorilla glass), image quality will certainly look far better on the Lumia 550 over many rivals due to it's high pixel (ppi 315). I have preordered as a Christmas gift. My mum has been on the HTC 8X for a number of years and is due an update.

hmmmm nice small screen size could be a good second phone

Bang for buck, the BLU Win HD LTE for £79.99 from Amazon is a better deal. Dual SIM as well. I should know. I have one. :man:

Not voted either way.

I understand there are many who aren`t happy with the (relatively) few Windows apps available, but I still believe a huge swathe of consumers are more than content with the ever-expanding library. The (slightly) improved market share of the operating system is an indication of this.

Flippin heck, I`m inclined to agree, that is marginally better for the extra tenner methinks. :smiley:

I think the BLU is an attractive offering for a larger handset. However this offer is for a Windows 10 device. So the hardware is designed to run it in it's native form, upgrading to a new version can have it's performance challenges for 3rd Parties such as BLU.

Actually Windows Phone has a declining market share and some big names have left Windows mobile http://www.neowin.net/news/windows-phone-market-share-drops-to-17

This is true, however the market has a place for Windows. My mum who loves her HTC 8X finds using my iPhone confusing because of the small icons and can't easily see what everything is about finds it a complete headache. Windows devices now are very simple to use for those new to smart phones. One thing my mum continues to think is magic is when she takes a picture on her phone it appears on her computer. Simple integration is what Windows does very well.

You're thinking of Android, if you can't install it on the internal memory, just get an SD card and install it on that.

My understanding is that Microsoft were aiming to make it easy with Windows Mobile 10 for app makers to port from Android to Windows, and therefore many more apps will be on its way. A quick search tells me, aint going to happen....

http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/microsoft-windows-10-android-porting-on-hold/

And they are still promising IOS but not quite there yet...

I won't joke that you'll find it hard to fill up your 8mb with decent windows mobile apps, sorry too tempting...

You'll find it hard to fill up your 8mb with decent Windows Mobile apps....

It's not just gamers that have a problem, it is improving, but things like a decent audio book player... For a long time Audible did not even have variable speed (it does now).

It's also available for £59.99 on PAYG Upgrade, O2 and Vodafone, no top-up required.

unlockable?

Windows phones are so lacking in apps even though they've been out for years. The interface is quite snappy and sleek but thats all they have going for them. We sell loads of lumias at my work and they always come back and return it for an android phone.

:smirk: Really?

looks nice for the price

Yeah they must lose so much money on phones they just get sent back as defective to be refurbished.

Qualcomm MSM8909 Snapdragon 210. smartwatches use the snapdragon 400! I also had a phone with the 200 last year, horrifying experience. You're better off getting a xaiomi phone for a similar price, I hear the heliosX10 is similar to the snapdragon 801 in performance.

I believe there are a lot more Windows phone appreciators than we think. Come on WinFans , show your support! <3

Errr they were making a joke. There was a typo in the comment saying this phone has 8 MEGABYTE of storage, which is of course too small to install anything! It does of course come with 8 GIGABYTE of storage.

Windows Phone runs MUCH better on low end hardware than Android. I don't doubt your experience on an Android phone with snapdragon 200 was poor, however you'd get a far better experience on Windows Phone. Windows Phone don't sell many phones, but the ones that sell are almost all low cost ones, and that is because Windows Phone runs better than Android on a low spec device.

To say the app quality of iOS is extremely bad is ridiculous! iOS has the best apps because it earns significantly more revenue and only need to support a few devices so no lowest common denominator approach needed. If you are prepared to pay then there are some amazing apps on iOS. For Twitter for example TweetBot is the best app there is and only on iOS. I have had more than my fair share of experience of rough apps on Android, but iOS has lots of fantastic highly polished apps.

I have a Windows phone as my work phone. It's no iPhone but is much better than Android. I'd say it's the simplicity/smoothness of iOS with the price of Android.

You are having a laugh regarding the app status on IOS, how you can say they are buggy and crap and Windows is smooth and perfect is beyond me. I love the Windows OS for it's basic use, but the apps are pathetic, even the ones you can get are all buggy and pathetic. I am about to go back to IOS after having a Windows phone for the last few months.

Windows are great for basic use as they are very nippy for very little money. But the apps either don't work correctly or they do not exist. IOS apps are like a Rolls Royce compared to the Lada apps of a Windows phone.

You sir really do have your Windows blinkers on if you think their apps are better quality than IOS apps. :confused:

but wont get win 10 update

Yeah, I know about the core count, but I think if you prefer windows go for this, if you prefer android at this price point go for a Chinese phone.

Says who? You? Microsoft sell it through their own store and it clearly states in at least two places on the product page that it will be getting Windows 10 when available - link here.

You are having a laugh regarding the app status on IOS, how you can say they are buggy and crap and Windows is smooth and perfect is beyond me. I love the Windows OS for it's basic use, but the apps are pathetic, even the ones you can get are all buggy and pathetic. I am about to go back to IOS after having a Windows phone for the last few months.
Windows are great for basic use as they are very nippy for very little money. But the apps either don't work correctly or they do not exist. IOS apps are like a Rolls Royce compared to the Lada apps of a Windows phone.
You sir really do have your Windows blinkers on if you think their apps are better quality than IOS apps. :confused:[/quote]We can disagree then, Windows apps have consistent user experience between them all. That ecosystem is far more beneficial to a user than anything else. Apps on my iOS crash regularly Tumblr and Reddit being prime examples. The core apple offerings with iOS are great and work a treat. I'm just saying my opinion is that the Windows offerings appear more suited to my needs and a better quality.

if so I'm mistaken sorry for that

Can you get Instagram on this? Only asking as never had windows phone and daughter has bust her iPhone 5 which I'm refusing to fix again!

Yes Instagram is on the Windows platform.

Been using Windows Phone 6.5, to new era with 7, through to 8, on my 3rd handset now, a Lumia 640 that i bought last week, best OS bar none, has all the apps I need and use, however some of the apps arent as good as those on iOS, but has never effected me, but might do to others. People moaning about that though, if enough people adopted Windows Phone then app makers would bother making better versions, so it works two ways.

This is a nice phone, but you cna pick up a 640 for not much more money and its a better phone.

As a general rule, Windows Phone will appeal to refined, mature, less-fussy buyers/users. The IOS platform will box-tick much more for fickle, easily-led, "all-that-glitters-is-gold" wannabees, yet ---and this is important--- it`ll also satisfy many other users too, so please don`t be offended if you have an Apple phone, because you`re probably a sane, well balanced individual. I have an Android, but have used Windows, and like it. :smiley:

Yes there is no best OS. There are better OS for certain types of people, but different people have different requirements and different needs so what is a better OS for one person can be really bad option for someone else and vice versa. The best OS for you does not mean the best OS full stop.

Best deal for Windows Phone of this spec. I have seen but prefer android myself & think the Huawei Y5 Christmas offer is a better deal in that price range.

Huawei Y5

EE Deals

Actually Windows phone market share has fallen to 1.7% this year. And with the new 950 flagship getting lukewarm reviews you have to wonder if this platform has any future at all.

Just to confirm, if I buy this on EE PAYG am I able to use my 3 sim in it? I went to two different CPW, one told me definitely not, the other one wasn't sure because they'd had issues with three in the past.

Have seen many posts on here that all CPW phones are unlocked,you just have to choose a sim and prepayment but have a search in here for a definitive answer

Links for the BLU please? .. I've never heard of it ..... :-)

Interesting Links these?, hmmmmmmmmmmm:

http://www.neowin.net/news/windows-phone-market-share-drops-to-17

http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/microsoft-windows-10-android-porting-on-hold/

Windows Phones &/or Windows Tablets are cheap!, but .....

Personally speaking I prefer Androids & the like? .. time will tell I guess?, lol.

Might buy this as a spare/work phone, really like Windows phones just a shame Microsoft aren't doing much to get app devs to make their apps compatible.

IMO it is the best OS from a technical point of view, infact the whole Windows platform is, as someone who works in IT and used to hate Windows, it's something that I grew to love as it works 99% of the time and its easy to work on when something does go wrong. So in the technical sense I would say its the best, as the OS structure and architecture is vastly vastly superior to that of Android which is a bloated, disjointed mess.

From a Phone usage perspective of course that changes, well mainly from apps point of view, different people will have different needs and usage. Android might be great for customisability but thats what makes its a bloated mess too and personally speaking thats something i have no interest or time for and I suspect most people too, its something I would have done in my teen years but when you grow older its pointless, you just want something that works great and is easy to use from the box, which Win OS does superb IMO.

Those comments are just as valid for iOS as they are for Windows Phone though. You aren't a fan of Android for the same reasons I'm not, iOS has those same advantages but you also have a much better app selection to go with it. Even Microsoft are creating and updating iOS apps before Windows Phone nowadays.

Yep iOS is very decent technically too, and vastly better than Android too, but I prefer Windows, Win 10 is such a scalable OS with cross platform structure, plus I would never spend £500+ on a phone or give a penny to Apple, cant stand them, but those are personal preferences. :stuck_out_tongue:

And to make matters worse iOS nor Android can be plugged into a screen and become a full operating system

Yep it's so scalable, you have a unified platform across Mobile, Tablet and Desktop PC, and its got some great features for Business use like Surface Hub which works seamlessly with other Win devices, hat would come in handy in the environment I work in, but just a bit expensive at the moment.

Another great thing is how well optimised the OS is, so it runs on low powered devices very well. The whole OS is so under-rated, because everyone just loves lapping up iOS hype.

indeed, i(like vanity and keeping up with the Joneses)phone...

I went from iOS to Windows Phone 7 and as restrictive and end of life WP7 was it was much better than iOS.
Sony Android was as buggy, it was more a beta, Windows Phone 8 was WOW, WM10 beta is great, only issue I have is Edge crashing at times...which seems to be poor data speeds happen. My Nokia 1320 is the first smartphone I have not bored of in 12 months ownership, and that includes a few app shortages, it wont be long now WM10 drops :smile:

Can anyone please confirm the phone is sim and carrier unlocked?

blag friday

I love windows phones, hate android and would only take a free iphone to sell I had a Lumia 800 loved it and only stopped using it cause I dropped it and the screen broke I now have Lumia 535 cant fault it. The way I see it is different courses for different horses

The only thing wrong with Windows phone OS is the lack of apps, I have an iPhone 6s and I know everything there is to know about all the flagships when it comes to phones, tablets, desktops etc. Windows OS is extremely snappy, like ridiculously good for the specs they run on. It's not all about specs, look at the S6, it's a OCTO-CORE phone (8 cores to run information) and a bunch of other insane stacked specs, and it runs almost evenly and sometimes worse then the iPhone 6s which has 2 cores and less then half the specs. That's optimisation for you and quality over quantity. Budget android phones are full of rubbish, they'll give you endless problems, terrible syncing options etc literally better off with a Nokia 3000. Windows budget phones are clean, no bloat ware to be forced to stare at every day you use your phone, seamlessly sync with your Windows computer or Mac. I'm telling you now, if you aren't a power user, don't care to much about the camera as long as it does its job and aren't a app enthusiast. Windows is the way to go. There's a few things they need to fix but with updates (which are also great) they'll all be sorted and with time comes more supported apps. There aren't any budget iPhones really, they are power user phones and any android phone even worth considering like a Galaxy, Note or Nexus for example are also power houses and cost a lot more. Moto do some okay budget phones, but I'd avoid personally. Hope I helped someone with that para hahaha

So do I bet,my c I out, of not. Huh

Wish I got an o2 or vodafone sim card here, upgrade from EE is 20 quid dearer.

Tolls who have never used Windows mobile are arguing that android/ios is better.

It says in stock on their site. Is it still preorder? Also note that this handset is NOT continuum capable...

Same here, I'm a big fan of Windows Phone 8.1 but not tried 10 yet but my 950XL is on order and cost less than £500 and eligible for a free docking station. I have a Galaxy 5S for work and owned a few iPhones, the wife still has an iPhone 5s but out of all of these my favourite is my Lumia 930. I guess I'm odd as I also think my Surface 3 is the best moderately priced tablet ever, funny how often the wife asks to borrow it as her latest gen mini iPad can't display the web page she wants but she is an apple sheep.

Also Microsoft are working on 2 programs which are supposed to make porting iphone and android apps over to Windows Phone very easy. They have had delays but looks like they will be out soon, hopefully this will help the app gap

Aside from more apps, I don't see the attraction of IOS or Android, I'll take live tiles which give me the info I need without even having to do anything over the dead icons of the other two any day. It's a shame the market share for Windows devices is so low, maybe if they had been ready with the first Windows devices a year or two earlier, things would be different, but hey. Horses for course and all that, I just prefer Windows phones, especially W10M, which is a nice improvement too.

might get this for my daughter, was going to give her my lumia 640 as ive just got the 950. Lumia fan here and trying to convert the family away from iphones. havent managed to convince the eldest daughter but she has the iphone 6 as do most of her mates so i think im not going to win with her. if its out soon i'll get this for my daughter and sell the 640

Finally something to beat the 520?

This HAS (eg. BLU Win HD 5" 4G Dual SIM-Free Smartphone) dropped in price!, its now the best part of £60 on Amazon at £59.99.

BLU Win HD 5" 4G Dual SIM-Free Smartphone
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2/280-8228743-9492842?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=BLU+Win+HD+LTE

It`s now £59.99 plus £10 top-up. Bargain.

http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/buy/microsoft-lumia-550-eepep-web10?awc=2264_1449945001_08105034aa74700666dd5bda5c5e5920&cid=Affiliate_Editorial+Content_154750

DO NOT BUY a new LUMIA phone:
Updating it is a nightmare and may need a hard reset to do so.
Hotspot is NOT fixed in my brand new 550, nor it seems on many other LUMIA windows 10 phone. It hangs if I try to make it work second time without a reboot, and then the phone needs a reboot to make it work once.
With Edge, I tried typing into the microsoft answers website and it took more than a second to display each and every letter. I had to wait ages for it to catch up before I could submit.
Sometimes Edge thinks I am not in a txt box typing and when I press backspace on keypad, it asks me if I want to leave the page. In the same txt box, it takes forever to bring up the keyboard in the first place.
I press the power button to put the display back to the clock but this does not lock the screen, so when put back into the pocket, I can inadvertently open up all sorts of things.

I am hoping CP WH will take this piece of buggy junk back tomorrow and give me a full refund. Then I will spend a bit more on a moto g or an LG spirit 4G. Then finally put my 520 to bed.

BTW CP WH have dropped the price of this phone I think. Probably because it is such a POC, and that's not an acronym for Proof Of Concept, unless the Proof Of Concept was how to make a buggy Piece Of Crap.

While I agree, it's not perfect, your experience of W10M is not typical. Maybe your unit is faulty.