Anyone else waiting for a better WP7 device on Verizon?

[boe]

I really like WP7 a lot.   A few people I know have the Focus.   It works great with Exchange, office documents, pretty much all I care about besides being able to get signal when I call the Focus has.

The Trophy is an interesting phone but I really would prefer a higher end phone if I'm going to carry it for 2 years.   It certainly is slimmer than the Arrive and that is an important feature to me.   Rumors have it with the Mango release we'll see some new WP7 hardware.

I'd actually be willing to switch today if Verizon had gotten the Focus although it isn't quite as high end as I'd like to go.

• I want a 4.3" or 4.5" screen - super amoled plus like the Galaxy S II has would be sweet.

• I want 1650 mah battery like the Galaxy S II has or 1730 mah like the EVO 3D.

• I want 4G service like most recent smartphones have.

• I want BT 3.0 like most recent phones have.

I know WP7 runs well on the old snapdragon processor but I've been building computers for 20 years and you can never have a processor that is too fast (otherwise I wouldn't have to have replaced my first computer).    So a step up in the processor would be welcome although the size of the screen and the battery are my biggest concerns.

I just hope when the new hardware is announced, Verizon won't take so long to supply it to their customers like they did with the Trophy (which other than the worldphone part was released to the rest of the world about 9 months ago).

[chinch]

your entitled to your own opinion of liking apple but you're pretty misinformed about things including HTC.

the htc imagio/tp2 were good quality harware with dreadful SOFTWARE including the HTC sensless UI overlay which sucked up more RAM if you didn't disable it.

htc trophy is excellent quality, above iphone 1-3 and equal to 4

hardware wise the htc HD2 (released around the same time) was phenemonal for it's time (2+ years old now, later became th3e HD7 and HD7s and some android varieties) and the new HTC Titan (which i use) is superior in every way to any iPhone ever made so at least go and see it and hold it before you buy another apple product. if for any other reason to be more informed than you are. Take the aluminum shell off of the body/screen of the Titan to appreciate it's workmanship & attention to detail. Of course your phone will have a 1.2" smaller screen also.

[ChicagoVZUser]

Regarding the Titan, it seems amost too big. It sounds like you like it. 

They just opened a ginormous AT&T store near my house and I want to go take a look. I'm not unahppy with the Trophy, but like most people, I'm looking for more choices.  Too bad Verizon is so far behind.

[chinch]

feels lighter than the trophy in hand (as per 3-4 trophy users doing a direct comparison). 0.7 ounces heavier but better weight distribution, thinner (0.39" vs 0.47") and slightly larger but not much. Barely larger than the Focus or older HD2/7 and smaller than bulky droid moto phones with the uneven weight and flashump..

Trophy is a great phone but Verizon is out of touch. Trophy was released Oct 2010 overseas and verizon customers DESERVE other options and mango devices with front-facing cameras. Larger screen WP7 devices obviously) as well as smaller ones i.e. like nokia lumia 800 or htc radar even.

I feel sorry for those stuck on, locked in or unable (due to horrible coverage elsewhere) to leave verizon.

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ChicagoVZUser wrote:

Regarding the Titan, it seems amost too big. It sounds like you like it. 

They just opened a ginormous AT&T store near my house and I want to go take a look. I'm not unahppy with the Trophy, but like most people, I'm looking for more choices.  Too bad Verizon is so far behind.

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[KathiMR]

Well, I wouldn't call it good hardware to have the backlight switch get so it had to be pushed multiple times to get it to come on after 8-9 mo & it got worse.

Not sure if the problem with it randomly switching from portrait to landscape & back was hardware or software, but that was really maddening. I think that cropped up after about 14 mo, give or take.

I actually liked the HTC interface generally much better than what I have on the Fathom..

I'm not the kind of person to get a new phone every year or more often. I read some of the comments about people already being on their 3rd android phone & I'm thinking, I don't know if they are just jumping on the newest thing or if they malfunctioned, but when I purchased the TP2 I was expecting to keep it for awhile--maybe 3 yrs or so.  I paid extra for that phone with the keyboard.  If I had known that it woudln't hold up, I probably would have gone for a cheaper phone. I think the Samsung Omnia 2 was less expensive or maybe even free when I got my phone.

of course I also didn't expect Win 6,5 to become outdated so soon, both because of Win Phone 7 coming out & also our co switching to web based aps & starting to supporting iPad & iPhone.

I was reading reviews at the time I was looking to replace the phone & by then the TP2 had been discontinued. I did find out at the last min that I could have gotten an Imagio but I wanted a physical keyboard.  As I recall, there were a bunch of others who had problems with the TP2.

For me, I like the nice features, but I want a reliable smart phone that is easy to use.  After my experiences with both HTC & LG win mob smart phones, I don't want to try any more of them.  I don't like spending so much time with tech support & I spent many hours dealing with issues with the phones.  Hours I could have been doing something else.

I feel ripped off by having paid for a top of the line phone that was nice & had cool features, but it had that horrible day light savings time problem that I never did get any straight answers about why & no sense that it should be fixed so that customers who paid for a smart phone would have pda functions work properly.

I think both the TP2 & the Fathom have about the same amount of built in memory. It was enough for what I was doing since I got an 8 gb card & used that for most everything that I could.

So now, I want a smart phone that is reliable & works well. It would be nice to actually browse the web & other things that iPhones seem to do ok, but that the win mobile phones were too slow to really do  much of that. & now there are several aps that I might be interested in getting & the aps I might be interested in seem to all be for either iPhone or Android. I have no desire either to stay with Windows.

[chinch]

smartphones of 2 years ago don't last 2 years. as such the TP2 (shipped spring 2009) can't be held against HTC, especially when Verizon crippled it with RAM requirements, etc. VZW gimped the imagio (vzw exclusively 11/2009 launch) worse to save a few pennies.

new smartphones with the right software like WP7 (and hw mimimum standards) for example have a longer shelf life. 

Premier Droid phones of 2 years ago like Moto Droid are laughable now 2 years later.

[hopmedic]

Personally, I love the Trophy, though I do wish VZW would get better hardware.  I'm loooking for them to carry the Lumia 900, but we'll see... 

When it comes to recommending the phone to friends, I of course try to sell them on Windows Phone, but in the end, we all have different tastes, and at this point it really does come down to taste.  iPhone or Windows Phone, to me, are on a level playing field.  If you like animations go with iPhone.  If you like clean design, glance and go, go with Windows Phone.  But at all costs, do not go Android. 

I have been telling friends for six months or more, "Beware of your Android - it will bite you."  Now it's all coming to a head in the media.  Android is just plain insecure.

http://fxn.ws/vx9fIT

http://tgr.ph/voxTQ1

http://bit.ly/vWA7zz

http://bit.ly/u08stA

http://on.msnbc.com/ujR4Zk

http://bit.ly/u8Swcp

http://bit.ly/pWGaqA

http://on.wsj.com/kvxEmH

http://bit.ly/lotJTA

And since I love WP, I would be remiss in not including:

http://bit.ly/nadjkU

http://zd.net/p8TxpQ

http://usat.ly/tWYa8S

And for your friends who have Androids or iPhones, send them to this link to demo Windows Phone on their own phones.  It will NOT work in a Windows Phone, but trust me, it is a good tool.

http://bit.ly/DemoWp

[haysouse1]

Rich, do you work for MS?

I mentioned 4G and, as a more minor issue, dual core earlier.  Some of you jumped on the dual core but didn't mention 4G, which was the main deal breaker for me.  So 'nuff said about 4G I guess.

Now about dual core, all the performance arguments are simply lame excuses to me.  I as a consumer want the choice.  The OEMs have the hardware, just not MS's support.  Personally, I would trade battery life for a 0.1s increase in performance and 720p resolution any day.  MS saying the hw doesn't matter is an excuse for its slow execution.

The real reason sounds like MS is too slow to develop for dual core.  I work in Silicon Valley and MS is one of the slower moving juggernaughts.  They can only hire 2nd rate programmers and new grads, who may be top rate but not top performers as they ramp up and who will jump ship as soon as they have some resume fodder.

I hope WP has LTE and up to date hardware for my next upgrade in 20 months, or that Android will get more Metro-like apps and launchers.  LTE will probably be around for a long time so it's too much to give up this time around.  We all have to make trade-offs.

[hopmedic]

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haysouse1 wrote:

Rich, do you work for MS?

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No, I do not (though my wife says they should be paying me for selling phones).  I am a developer at a bank.

[haysouse]

Rich, about those security links, Android just got a vote of confidence from the DOD:

http://www.stripes.com/news/android-to-be-approved-for-dod-use-within-weeks-1.162952

I hope this spurs MS to pick up the pace.

[chinch]

Bingo.

Dual core is a total waste with WP7. Titan is 1.5Ghz and has FANTASTIC battery life, including 4G with wifi and bluetoothand constantly enabled. Also great battery life when using using micro-cells (which seem to suck batteries worse. Reports are the new Samsung Focus S also has fantastic battery life at 40% faster processer and GPU than the original Focus.

Integrated radios are more urgent than dual core.Dual core is simply is a marketing giimmick targeting tekkie losers.

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JasonSCarter wrote:

Dual core this, dual core that.  Last night on the Engaget show, they had two new Android phones, the Moto Droid Razr and the HTC Rezound.  The Razr only got 5 hours of battery life in their tests, and the Rezound a little less than that. 

Dual core is great, in that it is very fast.  But it just uses TO MUCH battery. 

Look, even Apple went to a dual core processor in their new 4S phones, and people are going nuts over battery life.  They tried to fix it once with an update, and people are still having problems.  Dual core processors aren't just there yet as far as power goes, but it's coming.

Windows Phone using a single processor is smart.  You get longer battery life and it's still fast because of all the optimization Microsoft has done.

Qualcomm showed off a new dual core CPU last night on the Engaget show as well.  It has both the dual core prcossor, and the LTE radio processor on the same chip.  Right now, in LTE phones they are seperate chips, both using power resources.  That is where we will see power savings come in.  It should be out next year sometime.

Still would like to see better WP7 devices on Verizon, even if they are only 3G right now.  I won't get LTE in my area for a while.  Also, I hope when it comes, they have the ability to turn LTE off, unlike on the Razr and Rezound.  Those two phones are always on LTE in a LTE area because you can't turn it off.  Once again, hurting battery life.  I hope Windows Phone has a setting you can turn LTE off once phones starting getting it and go back on 3G when you don't need the speed of 4G.  Will save on battery.

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[christian1s]

I am still waiting on new verizon Windows Phone.(higher end ones)

I understand that the markety for Windows Phone is not big. however VZW should not ignore these customers. Every customer is important. I really hope they add more windows phone within next 3 months. If not I will start reading up on alternatives. It doesn't help that when i called VZW represenative last time the guy was clueless when it came to Windows Phones. I quote " windows mainly works on processers, computers and tablets... they aren't focosing too much on cellphones". I didn't go off on him but it shows that VZW does not train its staff about WP.

PEOPLE WANT Windows Phone!!! THEY WORK!

[johnnyutah]

I'm still waiting..........only 1 mid-range phone after a whole year?  Ridiculous.

My contract is up in a few months, moving my wife and entire family to somewhere where I can get a HTC Titan or similar.

[haysouse]

Windows Phone 7 Bug: Single Text Message Can Wreck The Phone

http://uk.ibtimes.com/articles/266296/20111213/windows-phone-7-bug-single-text-message.htm

^ for full disclosure.

In the DOD case, they can have someone work on Android, for the most part, while a WP7 user is completely dependent on MS.

Not disclosing the use of CIQ was abhorable.  It can be useful, just like browser/app performance stats, but now people wonder what else is hidden.

[Tidbits]

I am just say MS may have their own and Apple has developed their own as of 5.0 when you activate one there is an opt out though you know they still probably collect the data for governmental use ie law enforcement. Wouldn't surprise me if all manufacturers do it.

[louise3000]

Is there a Windows phone presently available somewhere that could be activated on my existing Verizon Droid Charge contract?

I can image that it could be worth purchasing the WP phone rather than charging batteries every few hours.

And then.....I could finally just sync Outlook without turning handsprings.

Louise

[chinch]

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louise3000 wrote:

Is there a Windows phone presently available somewhere that could be activated on my existing Verizon Droid Charge contract?

I can image that it could be worth purchasing the WP phone rather than charging batteries every few hours.

And then.....I could finally just sync Outlook without turning handsprings.

Louise

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Yes. the Verizon branded HTC Trophy. You can buy new or off-contract from VZW or from resellers or ebay. 

Any clean (not reported stolen or currently attached to a customer's data contract) used HTC Trophy with Verizon branding can be replace the current smartphone on your VZW account and not change your contract.

[RandyL]

I am waiting for a better selection of Windows Phones.  Other carriers offer a reasonable selection, but you offer one phone and that should be embarrassing for number one mobile service provider.

I have tried Android for the last 2 years and I don't like it.  Please offer a better selection.  I would rather not have a smartphone or data plan if it means continuing to use Android.

[JasonSCarter]

A lot of us here are frustrated with Verizon only offering one WP7 device.  And it's a Gen1 device.  They haven't attempted to get a Gen2 device.  Really sad.  ATT has a very good selection, even T-Mobile has two Gen2 devices, even though they are on the lower end spec wise.  I am hoping CES will bring some kind of WP7 news for us Verizon customers, but I am not holding my breath on it.

[SmoothDouglas]

Jason - Don't hold your breath.  It was just rumored that AT&T is getting the Nokia Ace/900, a new HTC and Samsung phones that are going to be great devices.  Verizon is going to get the OK, Nokia 700 which happens to be NON-LTE.  Contradicting Verizon's previous statement that they'd only allow LTE Windows Phone devices on their network.

 I have an HTC Trophy and it's OK, but soooooo wanted an Nokia 900.  I'm trying to understand the relationship between MS and Verizon and the more things I see or read about it the more it gets me wanting to jump ship.  I think the only reason they are even HAVING Window Phones is to keep anybody that's currently on the network that like WP to stay there.  My local store has an iPhone display, wall to wall Android phones and not the HTC Trophy.  You can only get it specially ordered.....so {word filter avoidance} that I can't explain how that makes me feel!

I'm going to wait out the next month to see if there are any announcements about Windows Phone Devices.  After the dust clears, I'll be jumping ship to AT&T if Verizon doesn't get some good devices.  That means me, and my wife's contracts will be done with Verizon.  Then soon, my 3 young daughters will be wanting phones too.

Step up Verizon.

[JasonSCarter]

Yeah, I am not happy either with all the news today.  Been venting on Twitter all morning.  Verizon is an Android house for now it looks like.  It's really a shame that Verizon is letting ATT get all these devices.  Tell HTC, Samsung, etc that your customers want these devices too Verizon!  Geez....off to ATT I go it looks like.

[chinch]

it would be a real kick in the pants to VZW customers if only the Lumia 710 comes to Verizon before mid 2012. Nice phone for price-conscious shopper that should compliment 1-2 other superphones (like the superior samsung focus flash $0.99 on AT&T does to the Titan & Focus S and HD7S).

The April suggsted date (3 months after Tmobile) is almost a year after Trophy with same style "midrange $49 smartphone. Same or less memory also.

Nevermind no front-facting camera (good for the Tango app and cross platform with all the droid devices VZW has pimped since the moto droid).

Pathetic treatment of customers but no surprise. Maybe VZW burnt bridges with HTC & Samsung along the way. They had motorolla over a barrel as they hemorrhaged cash (and still do pending the google buyout approval).