- Hey guys, this is Austin.
Windows Phone launched seven years ago;
however, today, it's on life support.
Why does it still exist in 2017?
First of all, we have the Alcatel Idol 4S.
You know, what's interesting about this phone is that,
not only can you get the Windows version,
but there's also an Android edition,
which is essentially the same hardware.
Even though this is a little bit more of a mid-range phone,
when you actually take a look at it, it looks really nice.
So, what you're getting here is a large 5.5-inch display
and some nice features, like a fingerprint reader,
as well as, a glass back and a metal chassis.
And, because we've got the Windows Phone version here,
we also have a VR headset, which comes in a box.
So, it looks very much like something like Gear VR
and I'm actually curious.
I've never tried a Windows Phone
that actually has any kind of VR support.
Oh, wow, this is actually really nice packaging.
What you're getting here, especially for 200 bucks,
is pretty solid.
This should be the full Continuum experience.
What?!
I will say the hardware of this guy definitely is not
on par with the Idol.
It's very much plasticky and the bezels are pretty giant.
But again, 230 bucks, including all of this stuff.
One of the most promising features
of Windows 10 Mobile is Continuum.
So, paired with this dock, which gives you not only USB3
and HDMI, as well as a couple of USB2 ports,
is that you can take your phone, dock it,
and once you have a mouse, keyboard, and monitor,
essentially this single device can do double duty,
as your phone, as well as your desktop.
At least, in theory.
The last phone I took a look at
that ran Continuum was the HP Elite x3
and, to be fair, that was a very premium phone,
but also came with a premium price tag of about $700.
The Acer, in theory, supports all
of the same Continuum features and there's a lot
of potential here.
However, it feels like it really isn't fully baked.
So, we take a look at it, once you're actually plugged in
to the dock and a monitor.
This looks very much like standard Windows.
However, once you actually get into it,
you realize that this is definitely not a full copy.
One of the big problems here is
that everything is just really slow.
Now, say we're in Edge and, yes, we can kind of scroll,
but it's very jerky.
It's not particularly smooth and that's annoying.
I mean, sure, this is phone hardware,
so you shouldn't expect it to be as fast as a laptop,
but this is a lot slower.
On top of that, there's just not that much
that you can actually do.
So, to be fair,
the Microsoft Edge browser is fairly full-featured,
but once you actually open up the Windows menu,
you'll see that, beyond the standard apps
that come with Windows Phone, there's not a lot
of extra support.
This guy does not run full Windows applications.
It's really disappointing,
because Continuum feels way ahead of its time.
And phones like the Galaxy S8 have actually supported
a very similar sort of setup and, honestly,
have done it a lot better, which just sucks.
I mean, come on.
This is Microsoft.
If anyone is gonna pull off running Windows on a phone
and on a desktop, it's going to be them.
With the Idol 4S, the big feature is the VR headset
that comes in the box and I am actually kind of curious
to see how this is going to work.
I'm actually not totally sure how this is connected,
since it actually doesn't connect via USB-C.
But I do have some buttons here.
I will say it is a 1080p screen,
which makes it a little bit sketchy looking,
but let's just see.
So, I'm in a 360 video right now and
I mean, the tracking looks okay.
I mean, it's VR.
It works.
I guess.
I mean, the 360 effect looks okay,
but it's nowhere near as polished as something like Gear VR.
I honestly don't think anyone would spend
some serious time at this.
Gimmicks aside, what I'm curious about is
how usable Windows Phone is today.
So, the big downsides to basically all Windows Phones,
besides this and a couple of the more recent ones,
such as the HP, is that they are no longer supported.
So, Windows Phone 7, Windows Phone 8.1,
none of these are gonna be getting any updates
and, if the rumors are true,
Windows 10 is actually not going
to be that much farther behind.
To be fair, there are some apps that are still supported
on Windows Phone, mostly because a lot of the apps
that are meant for the Windows 10 store will run here.
When you look through the top category,
the apps are pretty slim.
Once you get past a few of the main ones,
there's not a lot that's still going to run on this phone.
It is very clear
that the software is what's holding back these phones.
'Cause the hardware, actually, isn't too bad.
So, with the Acer,
not only are you getting a 1080p AMOLED display,
which looks pretty nice, but it also has a Snapdragon 808.
Maybe not the newest thing in the world,
but totally decent.
And yet, not a lot actually works.
The Idol 4S even bumps that up to a Snapdragon 820.
You're still getting the nice glass and metal build
and there are a lot of nice little features,
like having the fingerprint sensor,
as well as the dual front-firing speakers.
Something that does hold up pretty well on both phones,
however, are the cameras.
Ah, that's actually not bad.
So, the Idol 4S actually does a lot with HDR
to pull everything in here.
Now, with the Acer, man, the camera apps are not bad
on these phones, but it is really, really slow
to take an HDR photo.
These look pretty similar, but I actually have to give it
to the Acer here, especially when you look really up
and close, there's a little bit less compression.
You can see a lot more detail on the tiles.
To me, it's pretty obvious that Windows Phone is
on its way out.
Now, yes, you can get pretty good deals
on phones that are still technically supported,
but don't expect much of a future here.
Unless you are a hardcore Windows fanboy,
it is really difficult to recommend picking up one
of these in 2017, but what do you guys think?
Let me know in the comments below and I will catch you
on the next one.