# Windows Phones?



## chilango (Nov 28, 2013)

Starting to think about my next phone now. Its got to be at the budget end.

I pay £10 pcm at the mo' for a Galaxy Ace 1, which tbh I hate. Crap display, no memory for apps, full of pre-installed rubbish that I don't want. Sluggish to use. Doesn't feel "nice" in my hand.

Its kinda put me off bottom end Android phones.

Its unlikely I'll be prepared to go up to £20 odd to get an iPhone (though as i do most of stuff on an iPad it does appeal), but I can get a Nokia 520 running windows for £8.50. 

I'm running a windows 8 "skin" on the Ace at the mo' to get a feel for the look/interface and quite like it so far.  

Will me user experience be any better on this than the Galaxy Ace? I don't need reams of apps, just the standard (FB, twitter, dropbox, instagram, flipboard, gmail, tapatalk, and some sort of satnav). a reasonable camera would be bonus, but not a dealbreaker.

Or are there significantly better Android phones available at the bottom end now?


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## TitanSound (Nov 28, 2013)

I like the windows OS. Clean, simple and a front screen that can be as minimal or as busy as you prefer. Only thing it does lack is a decent Gmail app but the built in e-mail client seems to handle things well. Once conversations get huge it can be a bit sluggish but otherwise OK.


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## editor (Nov 28, 2013)

You won't get better value than the Moto G phone. It's a fantastic deal.


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## yield (Nov 28, 2013)

editor said:


> You won't get better value than the Moto G phone. It's a fantastic deal.


£100 from Tesco. It's only a 4 or 5 quid to unlock.
http://www.tesco.com/direct/tesco-mobile-motorola-moto-g-8gb-black/454-8906.prd?
Use TDX-7DXM for a further £10 off
via hotukdeals.com
http://www.tesco.com/direct/tesco-mobile-motorola-moto-g-8gb-black/454-8906.prd?


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## chilango (Nov 28, 2013)

editor said:


> You won't get better value than the Moto G phone. It's a fantastic deal.



Why?

I read the thread on it, but can't see what would make it leap out at me compared to (say) the Nokia 520? 

I must be missing something, but what?


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## yield (Nov 28, 2013)

chilango said:


> Why?
> 
> I read the thread on it, but can't see what would make it leap out at me compared to (say) the Nokia 520?
> 
> I must be missing something, but what?


http://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=5322&idPhone2=5831
Twice the ram. Faster processor. Better screen.


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## chilango (Nov 28, 2013)

yield said:


> http://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=5322&idPhone2=5831
> Twice the ram. Faster processor. Better screen.



Ta.


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## chilango (Nov 28, 2013)

So is the Moto G on contract anywhere yet?


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## chilango (Nov 28, 2013)

yield said:


> http://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=5322&idPhone2=5831
> Twice the ram. Faster processor. Better screen.



Twice the price on pay monthly though afaics.


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## chilango (Nov 28, 2013)

This article seems relevant and tips me towards the 520.

http://www.noknok.tv/2013/11/27/nokia-lumia-520-vs-motorola-moto-g-best-budget-smartphone/


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## yield (Nov 28, 2013)

chilango said:


> Twice the price on pay monthly though afaics.


No possbility of buying the phone, unlocking it and using a sim only contract?

Windows phone is a decent OS. I think your main problem with the 520 will be that some apps require 1gb ram. 

Depends what you want the phone for?


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## chilango (Nov 28, 2013)

yield said:


> No possbility of buying the phone, unlocking it and using a sim only contract?
> 
> Windows phone is a decent OS. I think your main problem with the 520 will be that some apps require 1gb ram.
> 
> Depends what you want the phone for?



Which apps need 1gb?

I could buy the Moto, but even then with a sim only it'd work out more expensive, and I may run into the storage issues that I have with the samsung.

I'm also yet to be completely own over by android. Which is a surprise as I'm heavily googlified in most stuff.


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## yield (Nov 28, 2013)

chilango said:


> Which apps need 1gb?
> 
> I could buy the Moto, but even then with a sim only it'd work out more expensive, and I may run into the storage issues that I have with the samsung.
> 
> I'm also yet to be completely own over by android. Which is a surprise as I'm heavily googlified in most stuff.


Wait for the 525? As you need expandable storage

Nokia announces the affordable Lumia 525, 1GB RAM opens up more apps


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## chilango (Nov 29, 2013)

Cheers for that.

I don't do games on the phone, so does it matter?

Afaics the only things I want to do that might be a struggle for a low end phone are photo editing and I'd rawly like to be able to use it as a handheld (backup) GPS in the hills.


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## Bob_the_lost (Nov 29, 2013)

chilango said:


> This article seems relevant and tips me towards the 520.
> 
> http://www.noknok.tv/2013/11/27/nokia-lumia-520-vs-motorola-moto-g-best-budget-smartphone/


That is the most one sided and partisan review I've ever seen. Embarasingly so.

The lumias are very well built devices but it gets its arse kicked by the moto g.


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## chilango (Nov 29, 2013)

Bob_the_lost said:


> That is the most one sided and partisan review I've ever seen. Embarasingly so.
> 
> The lumias are very well built devices but it gets its arse kicked by the moto g.



Yes, the Moto looks like a better phone. But, my question remains, is it better for ME?

It looks like being double the cost of the Lumia (I've not got my heart set on the Lumia at all...just looking for a budget phone that does what I want) but does it have enough tangible benefits for a user like me?

Price wise it's looking like (with call/text/data plan that suits)



Lumia (or possibly bottom end Android) £7.50 pm


Moto (or similar "better" Andriod) £15 pm


Old iPhone £22 pm


Nice, shiny, new phone £30 odd


At the moment I just can't see what the £15 a month range of phones REALLY offer to justify the extra cash over a £7.50 Lumia.

...but they must offer something, so do I need/want it?


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## Bob_the_lost (Nov 30, 2013)

The lumia is an acceptable phone. If you don't need much in the way of features or games it's probably good enough. The moto G will be faster and remain faster/fast enough as time goes on whilst the Lumia will be slower and will struggle in a year or two with some apps. The Moto G has a nicer, bigger, screen which is better for surfing the web on or reading on. Then there's android vs windows, if you don't mind then it doesn't matter.


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## c01642 (Dec 5, 2013)

androids a hog of an OS compared to windows so don't worry about the spec comparison.


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## Tankus (Feb 12, 2019)

Had a new mini pc with win10 64 bit pro,  and after getting all the updates in place, spent a good 20 min figuring out how to get rid of the feckin candy crush active tiles which kept on coming back after being deleted multiple times. They didn't appear in the apps . It was like a virus, 5 of them..

"Enable the disable in the power shell in sys config"

Wha!! !

Anyways .. got there in the end..... Then Ms started plugging its desktop availability being shared on an android phone..so.. OK .. got the MS Windows android overlay with Cortana..... With the Honor android overlay giving all sorts of dire warnings about battery consumption, app failure and other life changing relationships with my phone  .. But I have to say .. After a play around personalising .. I rather like it .

I guess now you can have both


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