
Ask HN: Is Windows 10 Mobile dead? - milankragujevic
I&#x27;m in the market for a new mid- to low-range phone, like a Lumia 640, but I&#x27;ve been wondering whether to even buy Windows phones or to use Android. I currently have an Android phone but have used Windows in the past and was satisfied.<p>The main drive for me to buy a Windows phone is that they&#x27;re much smoother and faster compared to Android phones of the same price. I do not want to buy a Chinese no-name phone because they send the data to servers of the company or the government, be it either Chinese or whatever, I&#x27;m not comfortable with doing that.<i></i>*<p>And I don&#x27;t care about custom ROMs, because at that low price point nobody even bothers making a custom ROM like Lineage OS or whatever, because the phones are designed to be disposable and used only for 2 years and most models are custom to a country, for example I have a Tesla Smartphone 3.2 Lite, which is made by Tesla (which infringes on Tesla Motors&#x27; trademark for the name) in Serbia for the Serbian market, and is actually a re-branded Ulefone U007 Pro, and it sends data to servers in China, and has some shady apps installed.<p>In the past, I&#x27;ve had the Nokia Lumia 520 and 720 phones, and I liked the 720, it&#x27;s a great phone and all but I broke the USB charger off the motherboard in a fall and the repair was the cost of a new 520, and being me, I wanted a new shiny thing even thought it was slower. The 520 was unremarkable in every way and I kept it for some time then selling it for a similar price that I bought it for.<p>Also, of Android phones, I&#x27;ve had a Huawei Ascend y210, which I hated, Prestigio Muze C3, which I liked, and my first phone was Alcatel OT-990 in 2011.<p>Help me make a right choice.<p><i></i>* - (to clarify, I say I don&#x27;t want to buy a No-Name Android phone which is faster than the branded Microsoft Lumia yet costs the same)
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coreyp_1
I wish there were. I would buy a Windows 10 phone at this very second if I
could get it with CDMA. I am unaware of any Windows 10 CDMA phone, from a
trustworthy source or otherwise.

The HP Elite x3
([http://www.gsmarena.com/hp_elite_x3-7954.php](http://www.gsmarena.com/hp_elite_x3-7954.php))
was released 6 months ago and is exactly what I want, except that it is only
available with GSM. This phone has AMAZING potential, but they are firmly
focusing on the business market as well as AT&T's GSM networks (I assume).

I refuse to own an Apple product, for various reasons.

I am sick of the Android ecosystem; I can't get a timely update from Samsung,
and if I put a custom ROM on it (with who-knows-what software bundled with
it), some essential features just don't work. I would _pay_ someone for a
safe, functional, and timely Android update, but I don't see that as an option
at all. I don't want to buy another $600-700 phone when I can't trust the OS
will be patched in a timely manner. PERIOD.

GIVE ME A CDMA WINDOWS 10 PHONE, & I WILL BUY IT AND LOVE IT! ARE YOU
LISTENING, MICROSOFT?!?

------
Tomte
Alas, yes, it is.

Windows Phone was a superior phone OS in many ways (even 8), but at the same
time it was infuriating. Not only the lack of some well-known apps, but even
more so Microsoft's lacklustre commitment.

------
ocdtrekkie
As a very happy Windows 10 Mobile user presently... yes, it is unfortunately
kind of dead. Microsoft is 90% of the Windows Mobile market, and has stopped
making new devices for the time being.

I find this unfortunate because my two year old Windows Mobile device can run
circles around any Android device sold today performance-wise, and my phone
didn't have 700 security vulnerabilities last year.

I think there's still a ton of potential in the Windows Mobile platform, but
until Microsoft picks a direction and starts pushing it again, you may be
disappointed if you expect more than a basic phone experience. I don't need or
want a lot of extraneous apps on my phone, so it still works great for me.

~~~
WorldMaker
« until Microsoft picks a direction and starts pushing it again »

Hope springs eternal, and as a fan, I do hope that "starts pushing it again"
happens sooner rather than later. I remember at the 950 announcement that
there seemed to be rumors that big things would start to happen in the
Redstone timeline of Windows releases. The Anniversary Update (Redstone 1) did
a few small things, but the rumors persisted that the big things were pushed
Redstone 2. Since the Creators Update (Redstone 2) was announced, it doesn't
look like there is much for mobile in that upcoming release(though the
addition of folders to the Start Menu on the desktop implies possibly more
convergence between the Start Menus on desktop/mobile). The rumors continue to
be persistent and that "this time for sure" we might see big things finally in
Redstone 3... (Timing wise, that does seem to coincide with when people think
we can anticipate the x86 emulation on Qualcomm's ARM to be ready, which is a
big part of "Surface Phone" rumors right now.)

I have optimism that HP's exploration of the hardware is a sign we might see
some new interest in the platform, at least in the enterprise-managed space.
(Which may be a space that starts growing again soon now that the carrier
subsidies on hand sets are at their lowest since the original iPhone was
released.)

I still think the UWP is doing good work to fill the "app gap" because there
is at least some small incentive to support phone users "for free" when
building a desktop (or Xbox or HoloLens) app.

~~~
ocdtrekkie
I have indeed been surprised to find some great new UWP apps lately that work
on mobile.

The biggest mistake with the HP Elite x3, is that someone thought it was okay
to make a phone to cater to the enterprise space and not support Verizon. I've
literally never worked anywhere that didn't use Verizon for their corporate
phones, and it locks me out of buying one personally too.

~~~
WorldMaker
A plausible sounding explanation I heard is that it was Verizon itself
blocking Windows 10 from their network (for some combination of "security" and
"revenge" motives, depending on which rumor source you read), so there was
little point selling hardware to support it if Verizon would immediately block
SIM cards they found installed in Windows devices.

I don't know how much of that is rumor and how much is reality, but given the
very poor sales of the last Windows phone Verizon tried to sell, I think the
rumors sound quite plausible.

~~~
ocdtrekkie
I have heard this too, but I suspect this is more Verizon-haters spreading
Verizon hate. Because of the Block C rules, Verizon has to grant access to
pretty much any device that can pass certification from a radio standpoint.
Both during the Lumia 950 launch and the HP Elite x3 launch, Verizon stated
that Microsoft/HP had not submitted their devices for certification. Even
though the radios in both are allegedly capable of the required bands.

------
WorldMaker
I don't thing Windows 10 on mobile is dead, but it definitely seems
dormant/sleeping right now.

Consumer-facing hardware especially seems to be in a lull. I think you might
have a harder time right now finding a Windows 10 device in the price point
that would make you happy. That saying, if you did find one in that price
point, I'm not sure there's a good reason not to buy the Windows phone if you
like the ecosystem better than Android.

