Windows 10 Mobile is a version of the Windows 10 OS designed for mobile devices with a screen diagonal of up to nine inches. Its main feature: synchronization with the desktop version of Windows, launching new “universal” applications, as well as the ability to connect devices to an external display and use the smartphone as a PC with mouse and keyboard support
A little background
The first version of the OS was released in December 2015. Windows 10 Mobile was a “glimmer of hope” for all Windows Phone owners. With the release of the new version of the mobile OS, Microsoft began to “shower” users with promises that many “fell for” (including the author of this article).
I own a Microsoft Lumia 535 with pre-installed Windows 10 Mobile (I have been using the device for 3 years). During my use, I formed a certain opinion about the smartphone and the OS as a whole, so I decided to tell readers about the relevance of this platform these days.
My first impressions of the purchased smartphone are not entirely objective and a little naive:
For comparison and understanding of the issue, you can imagine any device of 2015 on iOS and Android, and this is one generation with Apple iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, Google Nexus 5X and 6P, Samsung Galaxy S6. And most likely, such smartphones are still fully functional (there may only be issues with the battery, but they can be resolved by replacing the battery with a new one). So what happens to a typical 2015 smartphone running Windows 10 Mobile?
Device support
The first disappointment that Windows 10 Mobile brought was that it does not support all devices. Minimum system requirements turned out to be as follows: 1 GB of RAM, screen resolution of 960x540 pixels or higher, the presence of a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor: 208, 210, 615, 617, 625, 808, 810, 820 or 835. This meant that budget Lumia with 512 GB of RAM did not were able to receive official updates (although some users managed to somehow replace data about the smartphone and install updates).
Windows App Store
Shop Windows applications– a complete disappointment and the situation has not changed at all from 2015 to the present day: there is a catastrophic lack of applications and games. The existing ones are not updated by the developers, and no one is making new ones.
The store is filled with all sorts of “slag” that is not moderated in any way. Available paid applications, the purchase of which is pointless. At the top of the store are applications from Microsoft and hits of 2015-2016 for Android.
On this moment applications show the possibility of updating, but refuse to update (the download takes forever), although this problem may be related specifically to my Microsoft Lumia 535 smartphone.
Beginning of work
Getting started with a smartphone is pure hell. On Android and iOS, the user registers one account, which applies to all devices. Microsoft decided to “stand out from the crowd” and invites owners of their devices to register two Outlook accounts and one Xbox, and all this in order to be able to download and install any applications and games from the Windows Store. “Why do you need two Outlook accounts?” - you ask. And I will answer: “For the Microsoft family.” One is “parental” and is connected to a PC, the second is “childish” and is intended for a smartphone, a kind of “innovation” in the field of synchronizing a PC with a smartphone and .
OS shell
The interface is nice and minimalistic. Whatever one may say, Microsoft made the right decision here with its tiled design. On main screen you can display any installed applications, and some of them support output additional information. The second screen contains a list of a bunch of applications that are not convenient to use at first, but later you get used to them. There is also an alphabetical search, which is a good solution for this shell, but in my case, after the next firmware update, the Russian font “broke” (see the last screenshot).
Firmware update
Currently, this process freezes at 1% of the load, causing the device to not update. The description of all the updates to Windows 10 Mobile, with which “your device will work even better,” looks especially funny.
Using a smartphone while charging
This is one of the many factors that will make users lose a lot of nerves. The bottom line is that when charging a smartphone, it is impossible to use it. The screen begins to live its own life, one touch turns into three, swiping down opens a bunch of applications (the problem may be related to a certain model or batch of smartphones, but this does not make it any easier for me).
Compatible with other accessories
In times of smart watches, fitness trackers, and additional plug-ins that can be used seamlessly with smartphones on iOS and Android, this problem is more relevant than ever. There are a limited number of smartwatches that support Windows 10 Mobile: , Fitbit Surge, Agent Smart Watch, i’m Watch (all discontinued).
Today, not a single manufacturer of current smart watches supports Windows 10 Mobile OS. On the Internet you can find official fitness trackers from Microsoft: Microsoft Band and Microsoft Band 2, which are also discontinued and are not supported by the company. But they should work with Windows smartphones. As you can see, the choice is small...
VPN
Very useful feature Nowadays. Particularly relevant for Ukraine and Russia. Free apps There are programs that allow you to use VPN on Windows 10 Mobile, but they are absolutely not functional. The only apps that remain are those that offer VPN services for a monthly subscription costing $20 or more.
Browsers and popular applications
The story about all kinds of applications is not over yet. Browsers on WP10 are a sore subject. There are only two that work normally: Microsoft Edge and UC Browser. Unfortunately, they do not have sufficient functionality modern browsers. Surfing web pages occurs with stutters and freezes. There are very few applications from Google: Maps, YouTube, Google Play Music and so on.
It is also worth mentioning popular applications. Messengers, they are present in the Microsoft store and almost everything, but they receive updates from developers extremely rarely and not always on time, or even do not receive them at all.
A sore subject is bank clients, who for the most part do not exist or exist, but are unofficial, from third party developers. Whether you should trust such decisions with your banking data is a rhetorical question.
In general, the store lacks many official applications from stores, operators, and websites. There is a significant shortage of photo editors and games. As for audio and video players, the standard ones are enough. Readers can be found without problems, although for the most part they will be analogues of Android applications.
P.S. Fortunately, in the middle of last year Windows 10 Mobile was released Steam client, if you know what I mean, fellow pirates.
Pre-installed applications
When initially purchasing a smartphone, the user is greeted with a number of useful programs from Microsoft: Food, Health and Fitness, Maps, Camera Apps, Weather, Mail, Sports, News, Word, OneDrive and so on. It would seem that at least these applications can be used without problems? But not everything is as rosy as we would like...
We should also talk about the Office software package. They are made really well and conveniently, but after a year they require a purchase paid subscription. The maps are also well made, but are only relevant for Europe.
Gameloft Hub is the official application of the game developer (I could not ignore this application). It contains 5 games from Gameloft, which are ports with java. And everything is either donated or paid. It is not clear what Microsoft was guided by when creating and integrating this application into new (once) smartphones.
The gameplay screenshots speak for themselves – this is some wild old stuff:
One-handed mode
Functionality that developers have added in later versions of Windows 10 Mobile. Perhaps a useful feature for flagship Lumia with a large screen diagonal. On Microsoft Lumia 535 it is implemented “crookedly”. The developers made sure that the user could scroll through only half of the screen, but content in this mode is not always displayed correctly.
Eventually
The author does not recommend taking smartphones under Windows control 10 Mobile. Even if it seems to you that the hardware is quite good, and the price is tempting. Better pay attention to Android devices for a similar price. They may not be as cool at first glance, but at least with them you can use all the popular services without problems and wasted nerves.
“Small-soft” smartphones, in our time, can only perform the functions of dialers and media players. I am especially sorry for users who purchased flagships from Microsoft. Yes, they got the opportunity to use a smartphone as a PC using a docking station, but the abandoned proprietary OS will make you regret such an acquisition more than once.
Windows 10 Mobile is hardly a perfect mobile operating system, but it does have some features that Android lacks. We've selected 5 Windows 10 Mobile features that need to be added to Android.
1. Home screen
The Home screen is one of the few unique features of Windows 10 Mobile. And I'm not talking about tiles, although they are also very convenient.
What I like most about the Windows 10 Mobile home screen is vertical scrolling. It sounds trivial, but it is very convenient for daily use. Android users You need to scroll left and right to find the application you need.
2. Tiles
Another feature of home Windows screen 10 Mobile is all about tiles. This concept provides excellent continuity. I really enjoy using animated tiles that display constantly changing images, missed calls or messages. Widgets on Android are unlikely to compete with tiles on Windows 10 Mobile.
3.Easy activation of one-handed control mode
Few people are able to operate the 5.7-inch Lumia 950 XL smartphone with one hand, but sometimes it is simply necessary. Windows Mobile 10 has convenient solution this problem: pressing and holding Windows button, one-handed control mode is activated, which effectively reduces the screen size by half. You can return to full screen mode by long pressing the Windows button.
It is worth noting that a similar function is used on some Android smartphones, but, as a rule, to activate it you need to press an inconvenient key combination.
4. High performance
Windows 10 Mobile is an extremely fast operating system. Even low-end smartphones, like my old Lumia 630, exhibit smooth animations and menu navigation. However, if the smartphone has less than 2 GB random access memory, may have problems. Microsoft should increase the minimum amount of RAM to 2GB to ensure Windows 10 Mobile runs perfectly on all devices.
5. Continuum: Use your smartphone as a PC
Continuum is considered one of the main features of Windows 10 Mobile.
Thanks to the Continuum feature, your smartphone can be used as personal computer. You can connect Windows smartphone with Continuum support to the monitor, and also add a mouse and keyboard, and use the system as your main PC.
On the connected monitor you will see the usual working Windows table, and many universal applications. This feature is especially useful if you are working with text documents or create a large number of presentations. Also you can connect HDMI TV and a projector.
Conclusion
Although Windows Mobile 10 has its shortcomings, Microsoft offers a very interesting operating system with intuitive clear interface. I hope the producers Android smartphones will pay attention to the main Windows features 10 Mobile and add them to your devices.
The version of Windows 10 for smartphones is what we have all been waiting for. It is assumed that new version The OS will be shown in September - just a few weeks after the release of “tens” for desktop computers. But is all this too late?..
"Microsoft is giving up"
Windows 10 has appealed to many desktop and laptop owners - but manufacturers, most users, and industry experts are still shaking their heads in doubt. Kantar analyst Carolina Milanesi:
“The bottom line is that Microsoft - in my opinion - has given up trying to be the third ecosystem in smartphones and is now trying to make sure that Windows users 10 worked with its services on other devices, regardless of the platform.”
Changing Focus
Milanesi believes that the recent restructuring at Microsoft indicates that the portfolio of devices from Microsoft Mobile will be significantly reduced in the future. The new management, the analyst believes, will focus on top-end Windows 10 Mobile smartphones and gadgets for corporate clients. All other types of devices will be produced by Redmond's partners.
The expert adds that the main problem mobile Windows- a weak ecosystem - will not go away with the arrival of Windows 10 Mobile. Today's Microsoft, however, doesn't particularly care about this - the company simply offers its services to competing platforms and makes money not by selling gadgets, but thanks to the capabilities of its services.
According to IDC, in the first quarter of 2015, Windows Phone occupied only 2.7% of the global smartphone market. For comparison, for Android the same figure is 78%, for iOS - 18.3%. This is slightly better than at the beginning of the year, but still not enough - after all, over the many years of its existence, WP has never managed to capture at least 5 percent of the market. Microsoft's first partners - HTC and Samsung - have lost interest in the system (except for "operator" smartphones for the USA). Today, besides Microsoft itself, interest in Windows Phone is mainly shown by little-known companies that are not able to provide any significant supplies and sales.
Fighting fragmentation
But for the majority of “true believers” (as in the text - editor’s note) Windows Phone fans, an upgrade to version 10 Mobile is great news, believes Swiss analyst Ernest Doku. Expert, enough of Microsoft: the company offers software updates for both new and old devices - for the same Android the situation is simply unthinkable. This is a plus for buyers - they can absolutely safely purchase the cheapest Windows Phone, because even on it they can evaluate many of the Windows benefits 10 Mobile compared to WP 8.1.
Now Redmond, writes Doc, needs to make another right move - to conquer the mobile market with the help affordable smartphones. In Africa (especially sub-Saharan Africa) and Asia, $80 devices are often the only way to get online, and neglecting such growth opportunities would be unwise to say the least.
Survive in the tough smartphone market
But like Milanesi, Doku doubts that Microsoft can turn things around mobile market. And if the release of Windows 10 Mobile does not coincide with the announcement of new and very interesting smartphones, then everything could end very badly:
“...As always, hardware is the key to success, and a strong portfolio of devices is essential to keeping Microsoft in the expensive, cutthroat smartphone game.”
Electronics manufacturer Apple deliberately provoked a war over the future of computing when it showed off the first iPad. This tablet strikes a comfortable balance between ease of use, adequate screen real estate, and portability for hand-held use. It didn't take long before Google and Microsoft recognized the importance of tablets.
From my side, Microsoft company decided to research the new category before placing a bid. Google responded to the iPad threat quite quickly by releasing its operating system. Android system Honeycomb for working on third-party tablets. It took some time before Microsoft realized its mistake regarding the tablet category. The company has changed course on all fronts, bringing the world its own series of Surface tablets, as well as bringing Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 to tablets. New Surface tablets, as well as tablets from other manufacturers, now run on , which offers Microsoft's unified vision of operating systems for laptops, desktops, tablets and smartphones.
Windows 10 tablet:
Some people say that Windows 10 tablets and Android tablets are no different, they say they do the same thing at the end of the day. These people are wrong; Google and Microsoft have completely different views on tablets and their capabilities, so you should understand the differences before deciding which tablet you really want to buy.
Windows 10: Differences
The differences between Microsoft and Google's approach to tablets are immediately apparent just by looking at the devices that are available on store shelves. Fearing Apple's dominance in the high-end zone, Microsoft focused its efforts on producing high-end tablets. In addition to the expensive segment, Microsoft and its partners are betting on universal devices, believing that the user wants one device that can do it all.
Android tablet: Google Pixel C.
Google is taking a slightly different approach with Android. There are over a thousand different Android tablets, most of them official, others not so much. There are small tablets with 7-inch panels for users who only want to watch movies and read books. There are tablets with performance cranked to the limit in the Android ecosystem. For example, the tablet demonstrates high performance indicators.
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The quality of the Android tablet you get is only limited by the amount of money you are willing to spend on it. The open nature of Android and the constant need for hardware manufacturers to create best processors for their tablets, forced Android to demonstrate brute force. For example, the latter is powered by an 8-core processor, which means there's virtually nothing this tablet can't do. It also uses an AMOLED display with stunning resolution. This is incredible technology with very deep blacks and vibrant other colors. 8 inch Galaxy Tab S2 entered the market with a price tag of 32,000 rubles.
Android tablet:
The rapid development of new designs is dictated by the fact that Android tablet manufacturers often take risky decisions, unlike other hardware manufacturers. The Lenovo Yoga Tab 3 Pro tablet, for example, offers users a 10.1-inch display and a built-in projector for just $449. Relatively recently, we reviewed the latest Lenovo tablet and categorized it best tablets to consume content running Android.
Android tablets can be very, very cheap. For comparison, a tablet Lenovo Tab 2 A7 costs about 6,000 rubles. It is powered by a 4-core processor and offers a 7-inch display. Android tablets come in a wide variety of colors, sizes, prices, and experiences. Each supports Wi-Fi, some support mobile plans for always-on connectivity, 3G and 4G.
Windows tablets, of course, also have some variety, but the number of offerings from hardware manufacturers simply cannot be compared with Android. Instead, most Windows 10 tablets are focused on consuming and creating content. And you can't get the same experience from an Android tablet by simply plugging in a mouse and keyboard, they simply can't deliver the experience of Windows 10 and Android tablets.
Windows 10 tablet: HP Pavilion X2.
Windows 10 tablet: Microsoft Surface 3.
Android tablets have best characteristics, you can find, as well as entertainment applications in huge quantities, but they are still positioned as companions to other devices. Microsoft is willing to bet that you want to combine your main computer into a tablet. Again, your choice depends on your operating system preference.
Android tablets vs tabletsWindows 10: Software
The hardware advantages of each platform are closely related to their software.
Designed for work and play, Windows 10 on tablets uses a number of hardware tricks to try to find the right balance between casual media consumption and Word, PowerPoint and presentations. You may have heard that Windows 8 is about balance and haven't heard of it. You heard it right.
Windows 10 uses other tricks to make the transition from laptops or competing iPads easier. Connecting or disconnecting a keyboard changes system modes. When tablet mode is active, apps fill the entire screen and on-screen controls become larger. Clicking the Start button will take you to a full-screen menu, complete with an automatically updating tile. When tablet mode is turned off, the Start screen becomes the Start menu and applications can be launched using the mouse and keyboard. Again, applications from Windows Store work side by side.
Windows users can run two apps simultaneously on the screen in tablet mode, something Android is still working on. There is also support for multiple users. Microsoft has also effectively addressed issues with mouse, keyboard, stylus and touch support.
Android on tablets
Android is an operating system focused exclusively on touch control. This is fine since most users want to interact with tablets to consume media. Only the correct size matters.
Some Android hardware partners have made changes to the operating system, offering things like the ability to run two apps simultaneously. This is not the most universal solution, however, since the applications available in this operating mode are quite limited. Android also offers multiple user accounts, so you can share games and apps with your child or spouse without time-consuming setup. You get access to a huge number of applications as the Android store offers thousands of applications. Windows is still catching up. We should also mention that all programs purchased for tablets and smartphones are available on both devices. Windows 10 offers a similar solution, but few people have Windows Phone.
To make your choice easier, you can consider Android tablets to be very large smartphones. They also suggest performing simple tasks and switching between them. Read, watch and listen, these are the most popular activities for Android tablets. Content creation is better on Windows 10 tablets.
Security is becoming an issue for Windows 10 tablets and Android tablets. In recent years, app developers have been targeting Google Play to deliver malware, just as they have attacked Internet Explorer on Windows last year. Most tablet manufacturers include software on their devices, designed to scan and catch malware. Windows remains a target for hackers, but the situation is no longer so critical. Microsoft includes its own security software for Windows 10. Windows Defender, absolutely free.
Android tablets vs tabletsWindows 10: What to buy?
The choice of whether to buy an Android tablet or a Windows 10 tablet depends on your needs. Some people don’t need, because they don’t intend to, connect a mouse or keyboard to their devices. Android makes sense when users prefer a pure tablet experience.
For those who want to reduce the number of devices used in the home and maintain workplace clean, Windows 10 tablets become a good plan. Windows tablets offer desktop features and full-size USB ports that you simply won't find on Android. What's even better is that they boast mouse support, something most users won't appreciate until they try to change formatting in a document. Just like with a laptop or computer, you have to decide what you want from your tablet and then make a decision.
Despite all Microsoft's efforts, Windows 8.1 did not become as popular as the company had hoped. This was probably not least influenced by the complexity of the task posed by the software giant - Windows 8.1 is designed to work on computing systems of various form factors, not just tablets. This circumstance, in particular, was associated with complaints from some users about the rapid drainage of the battery in the Surface 2, but, it should be noted, the company was able to quickly eliminate this drawback with updated firmware. At the same time, according to James Kendrick from ZDNet, Microsoft's new OS has a number of advantages over one of its main competitors - Android.
Snap View mode. This is the multitasking mode in Windows 8.1, with which the user can run up to four applications simultaneously on the same screen. Each app has a minimum width and it can be adjusted depending on the screen size. Android does not allow you to work with multiple programs on the same screen, which has forced some manufacturers to modify the OS interface. Samsung, for example, succeeded in this - the company added the Multi-View function, but it only works on some models of Galaxy tablets, and is also limited to a few applications. Note that Multi-View supports portrait mode, while Snap View can only work in landscape mode.
Updates. Android has become largely attractive in the eyes of customers due to its undemanding system resources And a large number applications. But it has one significant drawback - fragmentation: updates to latest versions Android devices are exclusively available in the Nexus line; updating other devices, even top-end ones, depends on the whim of the manufacturer. To make matters worse, owners of Android tablets do not receive not only Android updates, what else can you live with, but also security patches. Owners of Windows 8 devices are deprived of such inconveniences, receiving updates as they are released.
Improved user experience. Android appeared before Windows 8, but the user experience or, in other words, the skills that owners acquire when working with each new OS update, if they changed, did not change very significantly. At the same time with Windows update 8.1, Microsft demonstrated its ability to quickly respond to user needs by addressing some serious shortcomings in the original Windows versions 8, in addition, the company is probably preparing serious changes for the upcoming Windows 9. It is possible that they will also affect the system interface.