Windows Phone 8.1 Review
by Anand Lal Shimpi on April 14, 2014 10:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Microsoft
- Mobile
- windows phone
- Windows Phone 8.1
Final Words
Windows Phone 8.1 is a much needed and well thought out upgrade to the WP platform. Action Center is extremely well executed. The new keyboard brings the most polished implementation of shape writing to Windows Phone. IE11 is faster and more compatible than IE10. And Cortana offers hope in the way of eventually turning Windows Phone into even more of a personal digital assistant. The upgrades are solid.
In terms of high level features, Windows Phone 8.1 brings the platform up to near parity with Android and iOS. If what you’re doing is calendar, basic camera work, email, SMS, web browsing, Facebook and Twitter you can have a good experience on all three platforms. In fact, there’s an attention to detail that Microsoft exhibits in Windows Phone 8.1 that at times rivals that of Apple. I suspect this is why Windows Phone users, although a small portion of the market, are generally satisfied with their platform.
With Windows Phone however, Microsoft finds itself in a very frustrating position. It lacks the marketshare necessary to make Windows Phone a primary target for developers. Apps are more likely to launch first on Android and/or iOS. Part of the problem is one of marketshare, the other part is one of philosophy. For the past 3.5 years Microsoft needed to rev Windows Phone more frequently than Android or iOS, and it needed to be on the forefront of hardware adoption as well. For whatever reason, Microsoft did neither. Windows Phone saw, at best, as many major OS updates as Android/iOS, and at worst trailed the two in terms of minor updates. I’d argue that both Android and iOS changed more since Windows Phone’s introduction than WP itself, which shouldn’t be the case as both of those platforms are far older (and thus should be more mature/changing less substantially). On the hardware side, it’s important to note that no one ever wins by consciously choosing slower hardware. Building efficient software is one thing, but failing to use the latest hardware isn’t doing anyone any favors.
Last year saw Microsoft accelerate its software release cadence, and by the end of the year was on parity with Android in terms of high end Qualcomm silicon support. These two trends must continue through 2014 and beyond for Windows Phone to continue to grow. The UI needs regular updates/tweaks to keep it fresh but also keep it evolving towards perfection. With faster hardware on the horizon, Windows Phone can no longer be the last to support the latest platforms. I can’t say I have a ton of faith that Windows Phone will become the launch platform of choice for new silicon, but I do hope the lag between what is offered on Android and WP will narrow to at most a couple of quarters.
Microsoft has a huge opportunity in its universal app strategy. Being able to run the same app on smartphone, tablet, notebook and desktop is a sort of holy grail for the next stage in the computing evolution. I honestly see the biggest strength there in gaming, but for that to work out Microsoft not only needs to push its mobile hardware more than anyone else but it also needs to treat Xbox as a platform and not as a console.
So what about Windows Phone 8.1 today? The hardware is decent and the software just saw a solid upgrade. Going back to the platform after a significant hiatus I’m quickly reminded of why it is a reasonable third choice. I’m still not a fan of the overuse of text as a navigational element, but between Action Center and aggressive use of the start screen you should be able to avoid a lot of that. Personally I'd still prefer Android or iOS. The Google services experience is understandably better under Android and unless you're using Skype exclusively, messaging is better under Android and iOS. Then there's the third party app story. The Windows Phone Store is healthier today than it was four years ago, but if you want the latest and greatest apps as they hit the market you'll want to be on Android or iOS. (Can I also add that only having three brightness settings and a ton of devices that won't let you force the display on makes testing these things a nightmare?)
I believe Windows Phone’s biggest strength continues to be as an entry level smartphone platform. If you don’t need the flexibility and bleeding edge feature/app set that Android offers, and you don’t want to invest as much financially into moving to iOS, Windows Phone offers a unique middle ground between the two platforms. With the majority of growth in the smartphone space over the coming years moving to the entry level and mainstream segments, that’s Windows Phone’s real opportunity. What’s needed is the Moto G equivalent in the Windows Phone space. The high end Nokia devices are interesting from a camera perspective, but I suspect the real chance to win is if Nokia can point its camera excellence at a more mainstream price point.
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Imaginer - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - link
It is gravy that the start tiles can have a user defined background that shows instead of a flat color, and thus when stepping back and looking at the Start screen, it indeed looks like looking through a window.(I see what you did there Microsoft).
But... having a background instead of a flat color, makes things very busy for me when I need to quickly spot my touch areas for pressing (because I am for sure do not have that tactile feeling to zero my fingers in on). I rather stick with the single color and white text and logo contrasts.
Snipeye - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - link
Would like more details about the changes with the Music+Video. A major pain I'm dealing with is my old Zune120 died so I picked up a prepaid 520 as a replacement (with a 64GB microSD). To sync DRM songs from the Zune software, I have to install the Window Phone App on my computer (Win7) and enable Wi-Fi. The DRM doesn't transfer over when you sync music. Instead, the DRM is re-downloaded via WiFi by the phone when you have Wi-Fi or data service enabled. A very convoluted and hassling process; not clean compared to how my Zune120 synced to the Zune software.stimudent - Wednesday, April 16, 2014 - link
Only one person at work has a Windows phone. He's the only person I know with a Windows phone. It seems nice enough, but it doesn't seem that anyone is interested in it. Everyone else is way more interested in the other choices out there. It doesn't look like Microsoft Windows is being taken seriously in the smartphone market.BMNify - Wednesday, April 16, 2014 - link
Decent review for a person who was using windows phone after 3 years for just 2 weeks but you missed many things Anand, please refer Daniel Rubino's review for a more detailed review: http://www.wpcentral.com/windows-phone-81-reviewHopefully we will get much more detailed reviews in future for windows phones like Lumia Icon/930/1520.
BMNify - Wednesday, April 16, 2014 - link
Microsoft has already started accepting universal apps and they have even launched universal apps in windows phone store with apps like shazam and xbox games like:Hexic
MS Solitaire Collection
MS Mahjong
MS Minesweeper
Wordament
Halo: Spartan Assult
Skulls of the Shogun
So, just need to purchase once and then can play the game on Desktop, Laptop, Tablet and Phone :)
SirPerro - Wednesday, April 16, 2014 - link
So, summing up, Windows 8.1 is finally close (but not equal) to what Android and iOS offered last year, and both are going to be updated within a month or two? Well done Microsoft. Playing catch-up forever.Combine that with the fact that most apps (Apart from the ubiquitous whatsapp, instagram etc...) are not in windows phone, and most devs don't even care about it and you have a nice OS I'll never use in the short term.
Not to say that loads of chinese android phones are rushing to flood the market with entry level devices with kitkat in the following months, and that should be a much better option than an entry level lumia, so how about that for the main advantage of WP being entry level devices?
And I don't even want to comment about Nokia releasing entry level android devices now. That shows the power of WP as entry level OS at its best.
Lets be frank. WP is alive because microsoft is spending zillions on it, and most of the buyers are just unaware of the real options they have (I don't know a single person owning a WP which knew what he/she was buying)
hangfirew8 - Wednesday, April 16, 2014 - link
Yes, Microsoft is buying marketshare and playing catch-up, but that doesn't mean they are doomed to failure. The market has seen superior technology fail time and again against the mediocre. Existence of just one killer feature- like the amazing Lumia cameras- along with general competence in everything else, combined with good pricing (even if it is MS-subsidized), could see major market share falling to MS. The current Android/Apple duopoly is especially vulnerable in the low-end where currently free or near-free feature phones still rule. Once data plans come down more in price we may see feature phones basically disappear in favor of low-end smart phones, and this is their chance to grab up a big chunk of that market. As many of those buyers mature or grow wealthier, consumers may continue buying the same type of phone in the up-market.Max(IT) - Saturday, April 19, 2014 - link
Are you really comparing crappy cheap droids with any Lumia ? You clearly don't have a clue about what are you speaking about ....hangfirew8 - Tuesday, April 22, 2014 - link
No, I am not. My post was about price points and buying marketshare. Perhaps you meant to reply to someone else's post?HardwareDufus - Wednesday, April 16, 2014 - link
Anand,you missed two of the bigger features 8.1 offers.
VPN support and DUAL SIM. For those of us that use our phones for work, these are welcome additions (of course, Nokia needs to reléase a high end device (not 635) that supports DSDA).
Downloading the 8.1 DevPrev now... and will test VPN support immediately.