IT Support | Windows Phone 7 Mini-Review, Part 2!
Posted by The Blogging Desk on Fri, Dec 10, 2010
- By Andrew, "Lewis", Levin
Part 2 of our Windows Phone 7 Review!
Cons
Battery Life - This phone is big and WP7 has a lot going on. This results in subpar battery life. Granted, it’s not horrible, but it’s just OK. The battery drains pretty quickly and even with moderate use it will definitely need to be put on the charger towards the end of the day. For me though, this isn't a huge setback because I can use car charger during to the day keep the charge up, but it is annoying to have to worry about the phone dying more than I had to before.
Service/Coverage - Overall, T-Mobile's coverage areas aren't as good as other carriers. I noticed that switching from ATT, a lot of areas where I had 3G, I now am on the Edge network. But again, just like the battery life, it doesn't impact me much because I rarely absolutely require specific coverage and speeds at specific times. I also use the phone on WiFi in the areas I am in the most, which mitigates the coverage issues. However, this would be very annoying if the time came when I was trying to access, let’s say some media content, but was restricted to an older network.
Marketplace - I put this as a con, but it will eventually become a pro. The Marketplace is obviously pretty small at the moment, but that is only due to how new it is. It grows exponentially daily, so I don't expect application availability to be an issue for very long.
Maps - You can't save your locations without pinning them to the main screen. If I have 15 saved locations, I do want to have to 15 additional items on my main screen. There are of course other apps which you can use for navigation, but the built in maps app needs to be able to store locations within it. Other than that though, the map application is good.
Overall, I really like WP7 and there are so many other features I haven't even gotten into yet. The cons I can deal with and overtime they will eventually go away. For a first release, the think Microsoft (and its hardware partners) definitely hit a homerun. With Trigon's usage and review of the phone, you can continue to rely on us for being on the cutting edge of the newest technology that can make your job that much easier.
