HTC One M8 with Windows Phone 8.1

[legend111]

I didn't like this review that much as well. It's kind of biased when a hardcore google user complaints about WP because google doesn't want their apps integrated.

And why are you ranting about swiftkey so much when the WP keyboard is awesome? Most of the things you do not like are just different to apple's or google's way but that doesn't mean they are bad and some people might even prefer it. Diversity is good!

 

Personally I use the original M8 but if the WP M8 would have been available I'm not sure that I still would be stuck on android.

Had a WP before and really liked it.

[Osama Adam]

Probably the first time I ever disliked a linus video.

[Guest]

I have used Android passiontly for over 5 years and i myself also always said ANDROID IS DA BEST.

Ive rooted, flashed, modified every aspect of it. HTC Tattoo, HTC Wildfire, Galaxy Nexus. Samsung s4.

After trying out my brothers Lumia 920 i was persuaded by windows phones fluidness and camera etc.

I wasn't thrown back by the apps, before i bought my first wp Lumia 925 i checked which apps are there and if there are alternatives there.

Linus you didnt even knew about the 3rd party app for instagram which is vastly superior.

I liked windows phone so much in fact that i bought a second one a Lumia 930 in green, because i wanted more storage,qi wireless charging, godly camera.

It seems to me more like Linus hasn't put any effort into this Review at all its a sloppy review at best.

Its basically only a Negative Video, he brings up almost no positive which there are of many.

The fact that there is a third party app is what is stupid if the os was actually worthy then companies would create firstparty apps, the os is clunky and unintuitive

[Heisenbleurgh]

"DAMMIT LINUS WHY CAN'T YOU SAY NICE THINGS OF THE THINGS I OWN" - 90% of the people in the youtube comments section

[INFYN]

I've been using Windows Phone for a while now and I really, really like it. It has some rough edges yes but it's a good looking snappy OS that's only getting better each update.

 

 

I'm not an enthusiast phone user or anything like that too, my phone literally sends calls and receives texts with the odd app (WPCentral, Readit mostly) and some web browsing.

 

However I can see someone like Linus preferring a more fleshed out OS for a daily driver phone. Surprisingly the more feature rich operating systems are preferred. Who knew?

[Skanic]

I think he doesn't even use his Android m8 much, He always shows off his Iphone 5s.

[NinjaStyle013]

Using a Lumia 520 now after having an S3 I can say I see no point to having a high powered windows phone, theres no apps for the platform.

[brokencross]

A great device ruined with subpar software.

[RH00D]

The fact that there is a third party app is what is stupid if the os was actually worthy then companies would create firstparty apps, the os is clunky and unintuitive

Companies don't create apps because the user base isn't as big as iOS and Android, and the user base isn't as big because of a lack of apps. It's just a bad cycle to be in. The reason is not because it's difficult or hard. Actually, developing with Visual Studio you can develop apps for iOS and Android and all Windows platforms (Windows Phone, Windows Modern UI on regular PCs, and even Xbox, all simultaneously because Visual Studio now has really great cross-platform porting capabilities with the use of Xamarin. The only real changes a dev has to make when doing that is in the GUI.

 

You can read about it here. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn771552.aspx

[nicklmg]

I think he doesn't even use his Android m8 much, He always shows off his Iphone 5s.

Linus usually has his iPhone 5s and an Android phone with him - as far as I know quite a few tech YouTubers do this. iPhone for instagram (the instagram app on Android significantly lowers photo quality), Android for everything else.

[murratri]

Linus usually has his iPhone 5s and an Android phone with him - as far as I know quite a few tech YouTubers do this. iPhone for instagram (the instagram app on Android significantly lowers photo quality), Android for everything else.

I thought he did that for reviews

[RMXSeven]

The biggest deal breaker for me with Windows phone 8.1 is that it seems IMPOSSIBLE to SSL-VPN using it. No OpenVPN or other client seems to be available... How can that possibly work in a corporate/enterprise environment! Madness!

EDIT: found some proprietary clients by F5, juniper etc

[Balverine]

I found that review to be very biased. It's a known fact that there are no Google Services for WP and if you need them on your phone -> don't get a WP.

Not everyone uses a ton of apps and sometimes the 3rd party apps are better on WP than the 1st party apps (if they are even available). Stop blaming MS for the lack of apps. It's the devs that ignore WP.

[LeTexan]

The biggest deal breaker for me with Windows phone 8.1 is that it seems IMPOSSIBLE to SSL-VPN using it. No OpenVPN or other client seems to be available... How can that possibly work in a corporate/enterprise environment! Madness!

I hope this link will help you :

http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/how-to/wp8/connectivity/use-a-vpn-connection

[VulsaviiK]

1) This review was probably the worst video I've seen on the channel. 

 

2) I have a notebook with me at all times for the "complicated" stuff. 

 

3) But Linus is not even trying at this point. Saying that the OS is for "no one" is nonsense. Everything about lack of apps (and their superior 3rd party counterparts) has been said. But there are other things. Since when is Android good on low end devices? It' barely usable. It got much better but I would like to see Linus use it for a month and then tell me again how just fine it is (especially compared to WP). Complaining about lack of customization, well, I guess it depends. I find the customizatiion fine. Not actually sure what else besides a wallpaper (and lockscreen background) would I want to change.

 

4) Same goes for design. And how is it not intuitive? Especially the OS itself? Everything is described with very specific images and if anyone was in doubt, you cal always just swipe up and read what each button does. But sure, these two could be considered subjective..

 

5) Continuing, on the one side Linus is very happy about the native email app. Which he says in one sentence. Barely even that. On the other hand, he complaints about one missing feature for a minute. It just seems a bit excessive.

 

6) I'm sorry, had to get that out of my system. I acknowledge that WP has it's downsides and is missing few features, but big portion of Linus's criticism is based on lack of willingness to even try to understand the ecosystem.

 

7) Oh yeah, one more thing. Maybe instead of b*tching about lack of custom keyboards, could you maybe review the swipe keyboard that's present on WP? Ya know, as a part of a review?

1) Not really. If Microsoft intend to enter the market, then they need to understand that if it isn't as good as competing options, like Android and, dare I say it, iOS, then people aren't going to adopt it.

2) I don't carry a notebook around with me for "complicated things". I can justify the cost of a flagship phone because I use most of the features almost all the time. I don't carry a seperate camera, I don't carry a seperate GPS, and I don't carry a notebook to check emails and things. So my phone must do this for me. It sort of defeats the purpose of a smart phone if you do everything on a notebook anyway

3) Lack of apps is a dealbreaker dude. Consider that when apple was first marketing the iPhone, the key phrase, which I still remember to this day, is - "There's an app for that". And when there isn't? That's a dealbreaker for a lot of users, myself included. A dealbreaker implying, until that issue gets fixed, WP8.1 is irrelevant to me. Apps allow me to extend my usage, and allow me to do more with my phone, without it, what's so smart about my "smart phone". Customization is a big selling point of Android, being able to have custom effects, custom keyboards (Which I'll address later), custom icons, wallpapers, alerts..... To some people, that's important.

4) Everything about the interface is not intuitive. The text in some scenarios looked atrocious, the tiles look elegant, but messy. It doesn't exactly scream "I'm easy to use" like, again, iOS and Android. They look significantly more organized.

5) Again, this is exactly the kind of thing which is "non-intuitive". If I'm inside the email app, and I press back, I should go back a folder, particularly when there is a home button to go back to the home screen. It's little things like that, which break the overall flow, that make it intuitive.

6) "Ecosystem". It implies there is a series of devices which are all designed to work together. Ok, so there probably is better support for, whatever it is that Xbox kids do these days. Personally, I have no problems transferring things between my PC and my Phone. Or using my phone to control my TV. Things like Spotify, which I use on my PC, work equally well on my Android device. The difference is, I don't have any of the above issues.

 

7) Speaking of things that aren't intuitive. Call people like myself old fashioned, but swipe keyboards just don't do it for a lot of people. I used the stock keyboard on the One M8 for several months before I decided to try out Swiftkey, and holy balls.... is Swiftkey leaps and bounds better than any keyboard I've ever used on a mobile device.... ever. Again, lack of support for things like this are a dealbreaker.

 

 

Not everyone uses a ton of apps and sometimes the 3rd party apps are better on WP than the 1st party apps (if they are even available). Stop blaming MS for the lack of apps. It's the devs that ignore WP.

 

The argument to be put forward in this case is, if you don't need a lot of apps, or any of the things that he complained about, then why the hell are you spending that kind of money on a phone... 

[TheRisingMyth]

The methodology used in this video is very flawed, i have a strong feeling that Windows Phone wasn't tested with its raw just value and is being blindly compared to counterparts. I've long said that BF and COD fans can't compare each of their favoured games against the other just because of having similarties, they have to look beyond the look and ponder upon the underlying design philosophies, fundemental belief in "How a Phone should be used", it's the eternal question of "Can i do better ?" i prefer to experience art in various forms in its intended vision by the artist and not suggest flaws based on opposing paradimes, not only and this logic translates perfectly into mobile OS, i perceived this video as more of a "Head-to-Head" of HTC One running on WP vs on Android from the perspective of a heavy Android user on a purely functional level for users heavily invested in Google's ecosystem and use a dozen million (/s) of apps. It sure is a long tittle to put on a video, that why this video should've have existed at all, too much subjective blunt statements, it wasn't a review in strict terms at all.

 

The Verge's David Pierce called the WP 8.1 the best home screen a mobile OS can have, while your opinion lands on the other side of the horizon, what should i take away from this ? DP leveraged the strenght of the interface to better suit his usage of the phone, he tested the OS like he'd own the phone for more 2-3 years before upgrading, he's simply adapting to it. Saying "Screens/Icons/Folders" is superior is very subjective in nature, i've used WPs before, and never found this to be a problem, if anything, once your memory adapts itself to app placement, it becomes infinitely fast to switch between programs without having to swipe to the right to reach a page, and then click on the folder, to finally click on the given app. Windows Phone persuases this differnely by a swipe + click approach, which is with minimum self-adapting becomes a breeze of fresh air. I don't think there were any mentions of livetiles and having info pop at a glance without even entering a given app, one strong point justifying the design choices for the home screen.

 

If you call a person that often to the point where you memorized his phone number, wouldn't have been wise to just pin it to the start screen ?

 

The function of the back button is one that can wreck of build open your experience depending on your needs. Very specific in nature, and wouldn't qualify the OS as a no-man land for sure.

 

"I'm in an e-mail, so what happens if i press the back button ? I go back to the homescreen but i FUCKING WANT TO GO TO MY GMAIL."

 

Picture yourself in Android.

 

"I'm in an e-mail, so what happens if i press the back button ? I go back to my inbox but i FUCKING WANT TO GO BACK TO THE HOME SCREEN."

 

... it's an ever lasting conversation, but it'll depend on the given use case, if i wanted to check all my e-mails, i'll simply click on the app icon, if i want to see "one particular" e-mail and move on with my life, Windows Phone seems the perfect fit for that, and given that i and many don't receive that many anyway, the WP situation is a preferred one to be in.

 

I get this sense of "Microsoft rage spree" in Linus' tonality when he speaks of Microsoft products recently, the original Surface (along with Windows 8) received a fair treatment, while recent installments of the company seem to adapt to the enthusiast Android guru that is Linus to be considered as good.

 

If i had to propose or even carry this review myself, i would've made the switch "completely" to Outlook, OneDrive and Skype. Afterall, it's not only an OS they're selling here, their services also get the premium treatment..

 

Enthusiast users for that matter know that WP doesn't have a custom keyboard option, so why would they be searching for swifkey ? Scamapps exist on every single platform, they simply get more visibility due to the lack of the official apps, if anything, Microsoft and the 3rd party devs all share a responsibility in this matter. Quite bipolar and irrationnal in a sense to put all shame on Microsoft, you think they'd like to be in this situation ?

 

And the whole complaint about Modern UI is a purely subjective one, which doesn't make it invalid of course, it simply doesn't mean the phone is for "no one", it isn't just for "you", comparing OSes and very precise use cases wasn't very clever for the review. I absolutely love Modern UI and the flatdesign design philosophy, if anything, recommending the phone to grandmas will result in more good than bad, no intrusive UI elements, clean, straight to the point... uh, this review wasn't any good in my mind. If i don't like all the crap Android and iOS puts in front of my face and opt for a more simplistic approach than putting up with WP's lack of apps if the last of my concerns, might as well just fucking embrace it.

 

The video ignores the soul purpose of having multiple choices, which is experience each ecosystem and OS as a universe on its own. As much as a human can't stand the life on Mars without proper equipment, you can't review Windows Phone with an Android mindset.

 

The old beloved Linus is officially done. Gone are the impartial, neutral reviews. Welcome to the Google worshiping Temple.

[RMXSeven]

I hope this link will help you :

http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/how-to/wp8/connectivity/use-a-vpn-connection

Thanks for sharing that.

 

From the document:

1. Tap Type, and then choose the type of VPN connection you want to create—IKEv2, L2TP with IPSec, or the name of the VPN service you use.

   If an SSL VPN app is required and you don't have one installed yet, tap the link to download one from the Store.

So it can do l2tp and IKEv2 natively, which is kinda ok, but not great. The second line is what I have an issue with. If you need SSL, tap the link to download one from the store, but we couldn't find one. I don't have a windows phone to test it out, but the 2 IT-admins who did couldn't get it working. Both private sector too... hmm

 

​EDIT: That said, there are 4 proprietary ones available. It MAY work with one of them, but its a terrible look when you setup say a Sophos branded firewall/implementation, and need to use another vendors VPN client.

 

• Juniper Networks JunOS Pulse VPN
• SonicWall MobileConnect VPN
• F5 Networks VPN
• Checkpoint Mobile VPN

[ahjolinna]

Wow even Jolla's ~½ year old SailfishOS works way better than M$ WP8.1

 

for those who dont know:

Jolla is an startup company from Finland, started by ex-nokia MeeGo team who wanted to continue Nokias linux/meego work.

They have made their own OS called SailfishOS which uses Wayland, systemd, btrfs & Qt5 + It has Android app support (alien dalvik).

 

homepage: http://jolla.com/jolla

SailfishOS demo video: http://youtu.be/eYR44DJidr0

review: http://reviewjolla.blogspot.fi/2014/09/hi-im-joe-guess-why-i-bought-jolla-phone.html

 

 

PS. I really like to see a review, to bad Jolla doesn't sell nor does 3G/4G work in USA or canada   maybe jolla phone v2 will?

[Yoinkerman]

My wife is a regular user when it comes to phones and honestly it does everything regular users need to do, and does it well. So for most people out there a Windows phone will work great.

[Toomitza]

I would still pick iPhone for the iOS (even though it still needs some improvement) but I am not willing to spend that much on a phone (wish I could build an ihackphone). Android was my first pick for a smartphone, but buying a rather cheap one got me frustrated and after almost 6 months I kinda hate it, mainly because it has apps I do not need and cannot uninstall, it runs things in the background which I have closed but they kinda reopen and due to the 3rd party permissions you seem to love, the experience is not so pleasant (Only the old touchwiz seems like a reasonable interface to me). Even with it's drawbacks, WP8 is not an OS you should neglect because it's going to be improved over time. And, for me at least, it has everything that I need and I like it more for it's looks than i like android (but that is a very personal opinion). You shouldn't just demolish the OS and Microsoft for not making it like android. And some people only need to call, text , use skype/whatsapp and e-mail (like.. business men). But I do agree that the market needs improvement.

[Jogi6]

hi there as a Windows phone 8 (not 8.1 yet because htc ) user I am not quit in sync with linus about his WP experience. and I think this is a much better video

 

 

But I have a little problem. As my HTC WP8S still does not have 8.1 update and it is physically  broken (power button is damaged) I am looking for a new phone, and I quite like Nokia Lumia 625.

It is a beautiful  4.7 inch device on WP8.1 has 8GB of storage and SD card plus it has DEDICATED CAMERA BUTTON (I don’t know why phones don’t have this anymore) an all those good nokia stuff.

But in my country lumia 625 costs 325$, and there is a Motorola Moto G (8GB) for 272$.

And I don’t want to transfer from WP to android, if I don’t need to. And I like WP UI, don’t get me wrong I have nothing against stock Android on Moto G (I like it the most out of all Android), but I would not change it not stock or touch wiz, I am not that kind of a user.

 

So what do you think Lumia 625 or Moto G, an on lumia side I know I like camera button, sd card slot, nokia maps and navigation.

Also is 8GB on Moto G too small and knowing my self if I buy Moto G GTA games need to be installed. Will I have enough space for all other stuff 2GB of music, and 2GB of pictures (and this will grow). Is this 8GB only negative thing about Moto G.

 

And i would like to add (imagine Slick’s mom speaking)
You know Mr. Linus, Google is guilty for lack off  app support on WP, do you remember what happened with WP youtube app (the best YT app), do you remember Mr. Linus