I’ve watched Microsoft’s newest Windows Phone ad twice already, and I’m still having a hard time trying to wrap my head around what exactly it is they’re trying to say. The three minute video starts off with a friendly guy named Ben asking you, the viewer, whether you should buy a $150 Nokia Lumia 520 or a $750 Samsung Galaxy S4. It’s a Microsoft ad, so you know what he’s going to say.
Ben then asks what you can buy with the $600 you’ve saved. So he picks up a memory card, some headphones, three months worth of unlimited music with XBOX Music, and then a laptop of all things. Curiously, he doesn’t have to pay any sales tax, but that’s besides the point. What I want to know is how can Microsoft honestly compare the cheapest Windows Phone on the market to the Galaxy S4? In what world does that make sense? If you’re shopping for a high end phone, you’re looking at high end phones. If you’re shopping for a budget handset, you’re looking at budget handsets. And with no offense to Ben, if you want to play fair, then why don’t you talk about Samsung’s new Galaxy Victory for Virgin Mobile? It has the same 4 inch 800 x 480 pixel resolution screen as the Lumia 520. The same 5 megapixel camera. The same dual core processor. And while yes, it’s $40 more, for that you get 4G LTE connectivity, NFC, and best of all: Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.
