As the first Windows Phone 8 devices hit the market early this month, reports have already emerged of issues with the new operating system on the flagship Nokia Lumia 920 and HTC Windows Phone 8X handsets.
Some users have said their devices spontaneously reboot, while others claim they are experiencing problems such as SIM errors, syncing errors and some features simply not working. At time of writing, there were already over 100 replies to a post about the rebooting issue, with users sharing their own experiences in Microsoft's official forum.
Some Lumia 920 users have also said that, in addition to the rebooting, their devices tend to freeze when performing certain functions.
One HTC Windows Phone 8X user posted in the Windows Phone Central Forum on the top, saying: "I received my 8X the day after release and it has been ok for a few days, but just randomly rebooted 3 times within 20 minutes. This is sloppy QA and I really hope things are fixed or it is going back. I really wanted to believe in Windows Phone this time but if this isn't fixed fast then I'll be back to Android." [sic]
One user reported more serious issues: "[Sixteen] days in and my 8X is useless - after initial 2 days of reboots my phone was perfect for 12 days - since Friday just gone I'm getting major issues including reboots starting up again, SIM errors, people hub not working, messaging not working, phonebook not working, unable to fetch data from feeds." [sic]
Looking into it
Microsoft's official statement on the problems so far is: "We are currently investigating reports of these incidents."
Responding to some consumer queries via Twitter, the Windows Phone Support account said: "We are still troubleshooting and collecting information so we can look into it." They have also asked users if they have the Skype preview application installed on their devices. While some users report that uninstalling the app solved some of their problems, others said there seems to be no correlation.
Another complaint raised by Lumia 920 users has been that of lower than expected battery life. Nokia has advised users to switch off the "Tap + Share" and Bluetooth functions when not in use. Users experiencing intermittent reception issues are also advised to check if their SIM cards are provisioned for LTE. If not, they should change the highest connection speed on their device to 3G.
Microsoft offers some basic advice on its site in the event of a Windows Phone 8 device not working or becoming unresponsive. Among the suggested "things to try" are restarting the phone, updating the phone, or resetting and restoring the device. The general consensus in the forums, however, appears to be that none of these options solve the problems they are experiencing.
On Twitter, some users are making light of the situation. One user says: "Windows Phone 8 mobiles are randomly rebooting. Microsoft doesn't want to break its legacy feature it seems."
"Seems Windows Phone 8 sticks to its roots with its own version of the 'Blue Screen of Death'."
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