Microsoft: buy a Lumia 950 XL and we'll give you a Lumia 950 for free

[HEXUS]

Lukewarm reception to flagship handsets results in the inevitable BOGOF.

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[scaryjim]

There has been no mention yet of whether or not the Lumia BOGOF promotion will be extended to other regions, but would you actually be interested if it were available to you?

Do either of them have a physical qwerty keyboards? No? Then no sale for me.

Dreading the day my Q5 finally karks it...

[jnutt]

I'd go for that

[CampGareth]

Do either of them have a physical qwerty keyboards? No? Then no sale for me.

Dreading the day my Q5 finally karks it...

Just saying my PRIV is a pretty good phone with a physical keyboard, needs a re-review now that marshmallow is out.

[scaryjim]

Just saying my PRIV is a pretty good phone with a physical keyboard, needs a re-review now that marshmallow is out.

I'm still unconvinced about Android on a Blackberry, and the Priv's very expensive. TBH I think I'll miss BB10 more than the keyboard, but after a couple of years of regular upgrades and new features things have started to go backwards (not least with the scrapping of the native Fabebook app).

Besides, when I went Windows 10 on my laptop then got a Windows 10 tablet I decided to throw in with a microsoft account and everything, so a Windows 10 phone would keep all my synchronisation simple. A Q5-like phone with Windows 10 would be ideal for me. Still, I reckon there's a couple of years left in the Q5 yet, so no rush...

[CK_1985]

As good a deal as this is, I still wouldn't go for it as the upfront cost is just too high. However if they do roll it out to the UK I might look out for a wave of cheap 950s popping up on ebay...

[peterb]

As I'm moving away from the Windows infrastructure, this is of little interest to me. It does seem like a desperate attempt to revive an ailing product.

[3dcandy]

Quite desperate especially as the rest are not struggling to sell high end handsets

[rich835]

In my opinion, the Windows Phone OS is far superior to IOS or Android. I've tried them all, and for me it was way easier to use and felt far more stable and intuitive, so I think it's a great shame that it hasn't taken off. I guess they were just too late to the party. I have to use Android now just to get the apps I need :-(

[3dcandy]

Tried em all and like Android best - but as said above part of that is the app infrastructure. iOS is my least favourite as still seems restrictive compared to the rest

[excalibur1814]

"Microsoft Stores in the US and Canada"

U.K. feels let done.

P.s. Also tried them all and I feel that Windows sits in the middle. Security and permissions on Android is a scary thing for the novice user!!!

[Froggywoggy]

If that offer came to the UK I'd take it. Windows 10 mobile has the potential to be a good operating system, especially with continuum. The app-gap is no longer an issue aside from receiving patches later than on other OSs and also if you're a teenager and want Snapchat you're going to be disappointed. Plus the hardware in those two phones is high-end and so gives them a degree of future-proofing. I'd say it's a great offer, especially if you have a family member or friend who would also like a new phone.

[Attila the Bun]

I shall weigh in with an opinion on this one. My step-daughter has a Lumia 920 which she has had for a couple of years now.
I got it for her as there was a great 3 deal and as she was going to Italy to work for 6 months it meant she could use her own talkplan.

Straight out of the box both of us were impressed with the build quality and I would imagine that the 950s would be of a similar standard. She's not the most careless of users (a title reserved for her sister) but the case and screen have held up well.

Set up was by far the easiest she had experienced including getting her numbers from her old android phone.
She loved the metro interface of 8.1 and has moved 10 and still loves it.
Great camera.
When her battery went kaput the rma procedure was speedy (5 days in all).

All in all a good experience you would say. But...and here is the problem for her...when she gets a new phone she's going back to android for the Apps. The majority of stuff she wants either doesn't exist or is a substandard copy of the android version.

My opinion is, if MS want to improve their market share they should concentrate on making sure they can compete with Android / iOS in that arena.

[azrael-]

I almost feel sorry for Microsoft ...almost.

[crossy]

If this is a "fire sale" then I'm a bit sad, as I thought the mobile Windows was actually pretty good, certainly made Android look like a bloated pig on the low end devices.

However I won't be rushing out to get this deal, (assuming it comes to the UK) because there's no benefit to me. Microsoft's Android utilities are so good the "seamless integration" advantage of Windows Phone is lost because I can get that same experience on a Samsung Galaxy or LG phone/tablet. And those have a full range of apps. iOS is also pretty good - I use Outlook as my email client of choice on my iPad, OneDrive is also pretty decent, although not as good as the Android version imho.

Darn, never thought I'd be in position to fan boy Microsoft mobile software.

[scaryjim]

... Microsoft's Android utilities are so good the "seamless integration" advantage of Windows Phone is lost because I can get that same experience on a Samsung Galaxy or LG phone/tablet. ...

Now that is interesting. How many MS services do you use, crossy? My one concern about the Android/Windows integration is just how much you're divesting everything through both Google and MS; one of my current uses of both their services is to separate out the various different communications I get between work and leisure, and I'd be keen to avoid mashing all of my stuff together again...