OK, so I’ve been using Windows Phones since their conception, I shit thee not! Since back in Win Mobile days.
Windows Phones as we know them today are going away with EoL (end of life) very near. So a decision had to be made in regard to which of the two remaining phone OS’s would be my choice. OK, I lie… for me and all of my geekiness there only ever has been one choice, Android. I’ll get to why in a bit.
So I had to ask myself “Why was I so damn entrenched and reluctant to let go of Windows Phone?” I finally remembered what lured me to WP (Windows Phone) and why I was enamored with the OS. It was because of my love and need for Microsoft Office apps! Plain and simple, if you wanted to use any of these apps on a smartphone back then, you HAD to have a WP. No other OS had them.
Samsung i760, yes I still have it!
So this wasn’t a dislike or hatred toward Android or iOS, just a love for Windows Phone.
I also loved the ability back in the day when you could root and replace ROM and tweak the living daylights out of a WP, it was fun, geeky, and frankly quite exciting. It brought out the “child scientist” in me. Hell, I even left Big Red (Verizon) for AT&T because Verizon wasn’t supporting WP anymore.
I loved the excitement of being a “Windows Insider” and getting new features in every build ahead of time, before it reached the masses. I also loved the security patch updates that were so frequent, giving me a sense of security.
So Android phones. Coming from a platform that literally only had a few phones to an OS that has a plethora of choices was crippling. Just too many damn choices!
So looking at all of the flagships, premium brand names (because I was coming in from recently owning a Lumia 950XL and an HP X3 Elite) I was still perplexed at the lack of updates from the likes of Samsung, LG, and the rest. Also spending so much money on a phone with a new OS that I’ve never used before… was daunting.
Being a WP geek, what did I need? An Android One (Pure) experience! Google’s phone OS that is (for a lack of a better term) controlled by Google, meaning you get important security updates on Google’s schedule and not the phone manufacturers or the carriers.
So once I determined that, the choice of phones became smaller. But still the MONEY! Damn those Google Pixels are not cheap.
Enter Nokia 6.1 (unlocked) AT&T from Amazon. Having been a WP user for many, many years… I was quite familiar with the Nokia brand (which later turned into the Lumia brand). So let’s talk stats;
- Android Oreo
- Android One (Pure)
- Machined aluminum unibody
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 630
- 3GB of RAM and 32GB storage
- 5.5″ 1080p full HD display
- 16mp rear camera with Zeiss optics, 8mp wide-angle front camera
- Dual-Sight mode, Simultaneous front and rear camera capture with one touch live streaming
As you can see, certainly no “Flagship,” but respectable specs for a phone costing $269.
My new LOVE…
This phone is impressive considering the LOW price compared to other phones. Build quality is off the hook with the unibody aluminum structure, features, Android One Pure… wow I’m impressed!
Not only do I have every single Microsoft app on this little beast, but apps that left the WP platform years ago and apps that have a ton more features than they ever had on WP. The Microsoft Launcher is heaven. In fact Microsoft Apps have more features and work better in Android than they ever did on WP.
Also let’s not let the fact go unnoticed that the damn phone and Android OS integrates with my Windows 10 desktop better than my WP did!
I’m 100% blown away with the Android OS and this specific phone. My reluctance and asinine hesitation was unfounded. And I think I have learned a lesson in the idea you DO NOT NEED a “Flagship” device at $1,000+
NOTE: Now if I could only get this thing to read via “text-to-speech” my SMS messages while connected to BT in my car… it’d be UNSTOPPABLE!
NOTE: (Update 7/8/18) So I finally figured out the “Text” messaging (Text-to-Voice) portion for my ’17 MINI F55. A combination of using an app named “ReadItToMe” by Rob J and tweaking a Bluetooth setting on the phone to have it use “AAC.” Now I have my messages read to me aloud and am able to reply via voice as well. Happy camper here!
MSFTman 