Earlier this month, Apple officially unveiled new products like the Surface Pro 4 and the SurfaceBook, and even managed to give some more stage time to HoloLens, which is still ridiculously amazing. The company showed off the power of both its “tablet that can replace a laptop,” and the “ultimate laptop,” which isn’t really a laptop at all but a digital clipboard” that you can pass around or attach a keyboard to.
Microsoft’s event was praised pretty much across the board, especially when just compared to past chances that Microsoft has had when announcing new things. Part of that enthusiasm came from Panos Panay, who, without a doubt, loves the products that he was showing off on stage. That enthusiasm was infectious, and despite the fact that the SP4 and SurfaceBook look like great devices, that probably helped quite a bit in selling them to those watching the event.
But what about those smartphones?
Panay was excited to talk about the Lumia 950 and Lumia 950XL, but the level of enthusiasm for the devices dropped significantly when compared to how he talked about the other products — especially when he eventually go to the SurfaceBook. I don’t think that’s a bad thing, necessarily, but it is, perhaps, a sign that the new Lumias aren’t really his creations and therefore he can’t get behind them as completely as he is the Surface-branded products.
There’s still plenty to like about the new Lumias, though, no doubt about that. They’re high-end devices with a ridiculous amount of bullet points for those sellable aspects, including a high-definition display, more cores than is probably necessary in their processors, and a camera that will probably be better-than-good-enough for many owners. Even if these Lumia devices are more Nokia than Microsoft, that doesn’t translate to something bad.
Sure, they might be stopgaps until Microsoft gets around to unveiling a Surface Phone (because it’s obviously happening), but even if that’s in mid-2016, that’s still plenty long enough to get the new Lumia devices on store shelves and Windows 10 Mobile out in the world.
But do you plan on jumping on board with either one of the new Lumias?
Even if the new devices are powerhouses, with a powerful operating system, it is still missing apps. Yes, Facebook, Uber, and a few other companies have announced universal Windows 10 apps, but that’s barely even the tip of the iceberg at this point.
Do you think you’re ready to jump on board with Windows 10 Mobile, or are you going to wait a bit to see how the app situation pans out? Let me know!