I got my Lumia phone a day ago and I cannot stop playing with it. This is THE phone that I was waiting for. There are, of course, a few issues that could use refinement, but the overall experience is amazing.
When the Lumia phones came out, techies were raving about how great they were and how everything felt so alive. I didn't quite understand what they meant back then, but I do now. Everything about the phone seems alive, it almost seems like its breathing! The transitions are silky smooth and it never lags.
One irksome thing is that Microsoft used to allow app downloads from their Zune software, but they removed that feature as people weren't really using it. I wish they hadn't. See, I have a 3G connection for my laptop, which means I can only afford a 2G connection on my phone. Downloading anything on a 2G connection is a nightmare. Luckily I was able to download quite a few apps, but that was only after many hours of painstaking restarts. I'm sure there are many others, especially those living in underdeveloped and developing nations, that feel my frustration.
Many people are complaining about how unfair it is that current Windows Phone owners won't be upgraded to Windows 8. I personally don't care about an upgrade to Windows 8, especially with the upcoming 7.8 update for Lumia owners that allows you to better customize your home screen. Lumia owners simply don't have the hardware required to run Apollo. However, I am concerned that this will translate to fewer apps for Lumia owners as developers might not bother re-publishing apps, no matter how similar the coding may be. Let's hope this isn't the case. Besides, even if Microsoft abandons us, I'm pretty sure Nokia will keep coming out with quality apps if it wants to stay in business, especially now that it has ditched Symbian.
Finally, though the quality of apps are indeed superior to those found in the Android Market, there are fewer free apps that are worth downloading. The really good apps have a price tag on them, and even though you can buy many apps for under $2, students like myself have to be more frugal with our expenses, so we cannot waste money on a game like Angry Birds, especially since it is free on the Android Market.
Windows no doubt has a great mobile platform worth watching out for in the long run, but if it wants to maintain the loyalty of its existing consumer base, it needs to up the antics on what it offers people like myself.
