
Is it still worth using a Windows Mobile phone in 2025? Through a space-time continuum, Lumia still shines. VIDEO
A short video explaining how it is it like to use a Microsoft Lumia 950 XL in 2025, almost 10 years after this smartphone was released and almost 1 month after the Microsoft Store stopped functioning on the Windows 10 Mobile OS. Besides, 2025 is the year when Microsoft decided to stop updating the Windows 10 platform also for laptops and PCs, but there still are apps ready to use, unlike on the Windows Mobile 10 platform, where most of the apps are dead or outdated.
Nostalgics may add in favour of this 4G old handset that it still gives the feeling of a personal computer inside your pocket, has a very sharp 20 MP photo camera, and a shiny menu, with intuitive live tiles and unique graphics and fonts. The inconvenience of not having access to YouTube, Facebook, or Twitter can be balanced by the still-syncing Microsoft Office suite, the Microsoft Edge browser, the Unigram app for Telegram and a productivity-based approach. While HMD nowadays preaches the social media detox, old Nokia or Microsoft Windows Phones can offer you the same mind focus combined with minimalist digital tools to keep in touch with real people. I mean, you can still call your friends or connect to 4G Internet networks using your SIM card or the Wi-Fi. The USB-C charging port keeps the gates open to present days, but the only 3 GB of RAM memory can sometimes be too little to ensure the fluidity of a demanding OS like Windows 10 Mobile. I still wonder why Microsoft didn’t break the barriers of the 4 GB RAM memory psychological threshold before abandoning its Lumia project in favour of the Surface Duo Android smartphones.
I forgot to mention: besides no YouTube, no Facebook, no Twitter, no Outlook mail, no Appstore, you will also find no WhatsApp and no Facebook Messenger. The interesting/fascinating characteristic of this model of Microsoft Lumia (950 XL – but the same characteristic also applies to its 950 smaller-screened sibling) is its ability to connect to an external screen and keyboard, via a dock station and the Continuum app, thus transforming into a mini portable PC, combining the phone and laptop functions.
I believe Lumia remains a brilliant phone for writers, for people who go on holiday and want to disconnect from the communication fog, for passionate photographers, but especially for those who want to experience a social media detoxification.
It’s a pity that Microsoft abandoned its’ mobile O.S. Let’s hope the Windows 11 will bring a new generation of Windows-powered smartphones, although Microsoft didn’t make any official announcements on this topic! Since we live in a competitive world, I dare to predict that if Microsoft doesn’t bring Lumia back, some Chinese company will. And, considering the huge community of Lumia nostalgics, it might generate huge revenues from that enterprise…
If you have other opinions, write them below, in the comments section.
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Dacă v-a plăcut acest articol, puteți alege să sprijiniți presa independentă cu o cafea. Vă mulțumim!