Is it worth getting a W7 Phone at this point?

[magomago]

Friend is on the Verizon network and ready for an upgrade; went to CES and was really impressed by the new W7 phones. Really liked the whole interface and everything.

However, we are seeing all this news about W8 Phones...is it worth it for W7, or will it be cut short in favor of W8?

 

[Bateluer]

The current WP7 devices are all old and heavily antiquated. Not to say they're bad phones, but they aren't worth it right now. Old hardware, limited app market, limited selection of phones, etc. However, I do believe that quite a few WP7/7.5 devices will get upgrades to W8 . . . not really sure.

I think the Trophy is the only WP7 phone on Verizon right now?

 

[shortylickens]

INB4TROLLZ.


Tell your friend to join up and we'll talk to him. I'm not gonna ask you what features your friend likes and what he needs.

 

[dagamer34]

I'd wait until Windows Phone 8 devices are released. There's no guarantee that current phones will be upgradeable, plus you'll miss out on all of the hardware that currently isn't supported: dual-core CPU, much improved GPU, and NFC just to start.

Plus, the idea of buying a year old phone, regardless of what it is, just repulses me. That's one year less of expected software updates, especially when you are still paying the same phone subsidy essentially. I'd go find a phone on craigslist and just activate it on Verizon. Much cheaper in the long run, and allows your friend to keep their upgrade until they find the phone they really like.

 

[notposting]

I just bought a new Trophy but off of eBay. Well worth it to me, saved my upgrade for (hopefully) something better by this next fall/winter on VZW. Runs great, camera blows, etc. It's the only option for WP7 on VZW right now though.

 

[arod]

I just bought a new Trophy but off of eBay. Well worth it to me, saved my upgrade for (hopefully) something better by this next fall/winter on VZW. Runs great, camera blows, etc. It's the only option for WP7 on VZW right now though.

Yeah at this point I would wait for wp8 but go ahead and get something like the trophy off ebay to at least make sure it will do what you want.... but save your real upgrade for a new device when wp8 actually hits (with hopefully nokia hardware on verizon lte by then).

 

[TheStu]

If he is ready for an upgrade then is he also ready for a switch? AT&T gets all the good ones.

 

[Molondo]

My HTC just died, randomly. Not coming on anymore... .Worst fucking timing too, right in the middle of interviews... fuck

 

[crisscross]

I just got the Samsung Focus 1st Gen $220 unlocked does everything i need. Couldn't be happier.

 

[QueBert]

I played with my friends W7 phone last month, and for being old and outdated blah blah blah whatever else all the Android people say about it. It was fast, fluid and the few apps he shows me looked much more polished than all but maybe 2 I've tried on my Android. In about 2 months my next "new" phone will be an "old" W7 device. Using a W7 phone makes it painfully obvious you really don't need dual core with a gig of memory to have a usable phone.

 

[notposting]

This Trophy may be outdated (roughly Nexus One/Droid Incredible level) which isn't enough for ICS but so far I am running the latest version of WP (8107 in my case, straight from MS servers) with no problems. I would expect WP8 to run on it as well. It's a pleasure to use, outside of no FFC and the main camera is pretty bad indoors (even outdoors, the shutter delay can be bad, but the pic quality is decent at least).

edit: official ICS, anyway...

 

[Red Storm]

It depends on the carrier. On Verizon all you have is the Trophy, and that would be a terrible purchase. This will be your phone for the next year or two, so for Verizon it's best to wait for better options. On AT&T I think there are several new handsets to choose from, and I don't know what the situation is with other carriers.

 

[swanysto]

I have only played with the Windows phone cause Sprint's selection(1) sucks. However, it did peak my interest. I thought it ran very well on what Android and iPhone users call crappy hardware. It is funny how a better/smoother running operating system argument work when you compare the hardware specs of a home built PC to a Mac with lesser hardware, but that comparison is null and void when the phones are compared.

I hadn't really checked Verizon's options, but I guess you are in the same boat as me. Switching from AT&T is the best thing I have ever done when it comes to cell phones, so I don't plan on going back. However, that means I will probably end up with another Android phone, or an iPhone.

 

[iahk]

Believe it or not though, the hardware does actually matter depending on what you're doing. If you are just going to use it for browsing the web, taking photos and uploading, and text/im'ing, yes that's fine.

But when you want to throw in some HD movies, games with intensive graphics, etc.. the WP7 model isn't going to work for you.

With that said though, I'd say arod's reply is very fitting for your friend. He doesn't need to burn an upgrade now. Just grab one second hand.

 

[Fantazn]

With mango devices coming out are they still really as old as people are saying?

Also how about the new WP7 Nokia phones I think those a pretty attractive

 

[Belegost]

With mango devices coming out are they still really as old as people are saying?

Also how about the new WP7 Nokia phones I think those a pretty attractive

The problem is, none of those are available on Verizon.

Overall though, ditch Verizon. They have terrible customer service, overpriced plans, and the crappiest phones. I dropped them over a year ago for TMo and I wish I had done it earlier.

 

[Slick5150]

There's rumored to be some new WP7 devices for Verizon being announced at MWC in a couple weeks. Probably worth waiting to see what pans out there.

That said, I'm still loving my HTC Arrive. It's "old" from a hardware standpoint, but still way faster for most tasks than just about any Android phone I've played with. Check out the #smokedbywindowsphone videos on youtube to see for yourself.

 

[sequoia464]

There's rumored to be some new WP7 devices for Verizon being announced at MWC in a couple weeks. Probably worth waiting to see what pans out there.

That said, I'm still loving my HTC Arrive. It's "old" from a hardware standpoint, but still way faster for most tasks than just about any Android phone I've played with. Check out the #smokedbywindowsphone videos on youtube to see for yourself.

I'm looking into one of the HTC Arrive's, from what I have been able to gather, they will be updating them to the Windows Phone 8 OS when it comes out.

 

[zerogear]

I played with my friends W7 phone last month, and for being old and outdated blah blah blah whatever else all the Android people say about it. It was fast, fluid and the few apps he shows me looked much more polished than all but maybe 2 I've tried on my Android. In about 2 months my next "new" phone will be an "old" W7 device. Using a W7 phone makes it painfully obvious you really don't need dual core with a gig of memory to have a usable phone.

I agree with this, but unfortunately, the lack of a homebrew/tweaking community killed it for me, and I had to go back to Android. But I still quite like WP7, I'm hoping that the ChevronLabs will really take off and we get some decent tweak/homebrew for the OS.