“The Smartphone wars are over. Apple has won,” according to Brian S. Hall writing in techpinions.com. Perversely, however, Brian has bought a Windows Phone. Why?
I now primarily use the Nokia Lumia 1520. It’s huge. I love it. Surfing the web, reading a book, racing cars (gaming), watching movies, scanning my photos; all are so much more delightful on the gorgeous and very big Lumia 1520 display than on the iPhone.
I dislike the iPhone 5(c/s) screen dimensions. I find it much too narrow. The dimensions of the iPhone 5 series, in my view, reveal the limits placed upon Apple by its highly successful app ecosystem. Yes, apps should be optimized for specific screen sizes and Apple is the clear leader in apps, both in terms of quantity and quality. Unfortunately, this results in a display with dimensions that I find to be both limiting and, frankly, unattractive.
I have found no device that is as beautiful as the colorful and unapologetically polycarbonite Lumia phones.
Nothing, though, is that simple. While Brian praises the build quality of the Nokia and suggests that the iPhone 5s feels flimsy and much too light, like a piece of his grandmother’s jewellery, he cannot escape the negative aspects:
I am a Mac user. This means that with Windows Phone I no longer have apps that effortlessly synch across iPhone and Mac. This is just one of the sacrifices I’ve had to accept by choosing Windows Phone.
Because of copyright restrictions, I no longer have full, unfettered access to all the songs and videos I’ve purchased over the years through iTunes.
There are far fewer apps and most apps are of lesser quality on Windows Phone.
Maddeningly, the very latest Windows Phone keyboard remains determinedly stuck in 2011. The keyboard is cumbersome and stupid, rarely correcting my obvious typos.
As much as I dislike the iPhone 5 design, it adheres to what should be a cardinal rule for smartphones, despite everything I have said about big, beautiful displays: for every smartphone, it should be possible for every action to be performed with just one hand.
After all this, it seems to me that all Apple needs do is produce a huge-screen phablet with very solid build and all bases will be covered. I agree with Brian on the narrow, small iPhone screen and would love to have the option of something larger. But I am not willing to leave the comfy Apple eco-system whatever the temptation.
So despite my headline I shall not be switching to Windows Phone just yet.