Microsoft surprised many of us by releasing the newest version of Windows 10 Mobile for Insiders on the Fast ring. Although this build is long overdue, we were expecting Microsoft to push it out on Tuesday the 15th, so nice to see it get out in the wild.
After about a 90-minute installation, we have been able to use build 10536.1004 and are liking the improvements. Here is our hands-on video walkthrough of what is new and some quick first impressions!
Additionally, here are our notes from updating a few devices to this build:
- Going from build 10512 you need to install build 10514 and 10536.1001; after which another update of 10536.1004 will be delivered.
- This release is a slow update! We spent upwards of 90 minutes updating some of our phones with some erratic status indicators e.g., 0% for a very long time and then a sudden jump to a much higher number. Best to maybe update the phone and let it do its things for a few hours
- The OS feels smoother and snappier although I would not say Microsoft is quite there just yet, there is still room for improvement
- Quiet hours and mobile hotspot are working as they should
- The lockscreen delay is gone, and it feels just right on our Lumia 1520
- Photos app is better with some context menus (press and hold) and better pinch to zoom. Once again, performance is still not there for us. Even on higher end devices performance is much better but not amazing, so we are hoping to see more
- Microsoft Edge feels relatively the same with blank white screens instead of proper loading ones
Overall, it's a good update but not exactly wow-worthy either. After all, there are no new features (besides the Photos app), just lots of fixes for existing problems. That is not a knock against Microsoft; it is just something to keep in mind. The best case scenario here is your Windows 10 Mobile device will feel almost as okay as your Windows Phone 8.1 one.
Hey, no one said remaking an OS was easy.
As to the million-dollar question: Is it good enough for daily use? We'll revisit that tomorrow after we had some more time actually to use our phones, including some impressions about battery life and any other issues. Stay tuned!
For now, let us know what you think about the update and flag anything we should pay attention to in the morning (for us, at least).
More coverage!
Need even more? Here is all you need to know, including some of our helpful guides to get you through this process!
- Windows 10 Mobile help forums at Windows Central
- Here's what's new, improved, and fixed in Windows 10 Mobile build 10536
Here are the known issues in Windows 10 Mobile build 10536 {.cta}
