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I am the proud owner of a HTC touch HD phone, and a very happy owner too. I got it just before Christmas, and it is currently running on Duttys rom, 2.6. All in all my best phone so far.
As many, I have always looked upon the iPhone as one of the absolute best phones ever made, in my opinion it more or less revolutionized how we look upon a phone’s capabilities. However, since I have never had an iPhone, I found it hard to argument for or against it. Therefore I have bought one (used), which will arrive by mail within the next few days. When I get it, I will use it for a month and keep posting here how it goes and how it performs compared to the touch HD. Why do I do this? Because I’m curious, and because I want to see what all the hype is about, and most of all, i hate the fact that everyone is *****ing about which product is the best, but only a few has actually had and used the two phones for a longer period of time.
So far I bought the phone (iPhone 3g), and I am waiting for it to arrive. I must say the wait is long I have downloaded iTunes, so all I’m waiting for right now, is the phone itself.
Besides the normal things you do with a phone (calling, sms), I daily use my touch HD for web browsing, email correspondence and video and music. All of which performs perfectly (thank you coreplayer ). So this is what I plan to use the iPhone for, since touch HD is a windows mobile phone, I rely upon activesync to take care of my outlook contacts and calendar notes, we’ll see how well iTunes does this.
I also like the fact that it is so easy to get what you want with windows mobile, mostly through you guys here at xda.
When the phone arrives I’ll post my first experiences.
Update: 15-4-2009
It'll arrive tomorrow. Thanks for all the replys
Update 17-4-2009
First impressions
So i’ve used the phone for all in all 5-6 hours so far, so I can only tell you about my first impressions. I had some problems getting my music from my pc to the phone, it turned out that you have to enable music synchronization in itunes, in order to get anything transferred to the phone. First thing I did was to transfer my music through explorer (drag and drop), more or less the exact same way as with touch hd, this isn’t allowed, so I had to go through itunes, convert all my music, find out how to get it from itunes to the phone, before I could listen to music. In all in all much more difficult than I had believed, but now I know how it works, so hopefully this won’t be an issue in the future. I can see the problem for those who has many more songs than I had on my laptop, it’s takes a long time to convert to the itunes format, so this would be a major drawback. Why can’t I just put my mp3’s directly on the phone?
This being said, I really like the flow on the phone, the framerate compared to touch hd, is better, giving a better feel. However, I’ve been a bit annoyed by the sensitivity of the screen; it probably takes some getting used to.
Finally, when I used the phone this morning in my way to work, I had some issues with the 3G connection. My touch hd has no problems what so ever when I am using to surf and check mails and so on, the iphone used 3G for 3 minutes, and then I found myself browsing using edge, which is in my opinion is not an option. This is something that will be an annoyance if it keeps up (I’m hoping it was a onetime only).
As for the browsing itself, iphone surpasses the touch hd. Opera is simply to slow compared to safari, but if I can’t get a proper connection, there really is no choice.
One thing that really impressed though was the app store. All though you have to put in your credit card information in order to create an account, it is really easy to browse through all the apps, find what you like and install it. And there really are many different and funny apps, which all in all lifts the overall user value.
I’ll return in next week with more views. Thanks for all the responses
04-05-2009
The first many days.
Hey, sorry for the delay. Been busy at work, but finally found some time to write some more. I have had and used the phone for quite some time by now, it performs as expected. All though I begin to see the small bugs, which most people forget to mention when recommending the iphone. I read somewhere that the iPhone simply “just works”. That is not entirely true, yes I have never had a smartphone that performs as well as the iPhone, it has the least amounts of crashes and so on. However, to say that it simply works, is wrong. When I browse the web, safari hangs on every load, so you have to wait for the entire page to load until you start navigating. Furthermore the video player used in safari has a tendency to hang a lot when you are viewing a longer video, and especially if wifi is turned on. But still, the browser is the best mobile browser so far. Opera hangs/stalls/dies a lot too, and of the two browsers, I prefer safari. There’s still a long way to go until web browsing on the mobile is perfect.
The phone itself has rebooted three times, one time in a game and the two other times it just stalled and went black. Odd… Again if I compare to touch hd, it is more or less the same. My touch hd also died a lot of times, and the one thing that annoyed me most on a windows mobile device, is the fact that the memory isn’t flushed correctly. To many times you have to do a hard reboot, in order to get the memory cleared and to get good performance again.
I mentioned the connection problems earlier, or the lack of connection… Well it hasn’t improved, when you are traveling, the phone looses connection so many times it’s a major problem. Sometimes safari stops working when the connection is lost. Damn, that annoys me… So why don’t you just use wifi? Because with wifi turned on, the battery is used up in no time at all. This brings me to the next issue: The battery. I have to charge the phone one time every day, even with wifi turned off. “Then you use the phone a lot” you might say, and the answer would be: “yes I do, but that’s what the iphone is all about…”. If you don’t use the iphone for all the things that are so nice on the phone, why use it at all. I listen to music, surf the web, check emails, and play games on it daily. And this results in a charge a day. So all in all, the battery performance is poor. Furthermore if you are playing a game, and receive a phonecall, the game is shut down, without save, stupid…
This brings me to the app store, this is the one thing that makes me praise the iPhone. Yes we have the same on windows mobile, but not so approachable and comprehensive. Installing a game or a program could be much much easier on winmo. There is only one big flaw in the app store, if you are connected through 3G, there is a max on 10 mb per download. So if you find a game that’s larger than 10 mb, you have to wait to download it. Why??? 10 mb on 3g shouldn’t be a problem… By the way, you gotta love the facebook app… All though you can’t connect a contact to its facebook profile, it’s still a nice app
The GPS is not entirely accurate, but still usable. I won’t say that much about the gps since I don’t use it allot. And google maps is more or less the same as on touch hd.
The last thing: I saw many movies on touch HD. I have ripped many of my dvd’s and converted them to divx. On touch hd you just transfer the movie to the phone and you can see it. On iphone I have to convert it to some stupid format in order to see it. I hate having movies in so many different formats, and hate to rely upon itunes.
I’ll write a new post in the near future, and as for the guy who commented on my description on to much sensitivity: Sorry, but that’s just my experience of the phone
Samoht2003 said:
I am the proud owner of a HTC touch HD phone, and a very happy owner too. I got it just before Christmas, and it is currently running on Duttys rom, 2.6. All in all my best phone so far.
As many, I have always looked upon the iPhone as one of the absolute best phones ever made, in my opinion it more or less revolutionized how we look upon a phone’s capabilities. However, since I have never had an iPhone, I found it hard to argument for or against it. Therefore I have bought one (used), which will arrive by mail within the next few days. When I get it, I will use it for a month and keep posting here how it goes and how it performs compared to the touch HD. Why do I do this? Because I’m curious, and because I want to see what all the hype is about, and most of all, i hate the fact that everyone is *****ing about which product is the best, but only a few has actually had and used the two phones for a longer period of time.
So far I bought the phone (iPhone 3g), and I am waiting for it to arrive. I must say the wait is long I have downloaded iTunes, so all I’m waiting for right now, is the phone itself.
Besides the normal things you do with a phone (calling, sms), I daily use my touch HD for web browsing, email correspondence and video and music. All of which performs perfectly (thank you coreplayer ). So this is what I plan to use the iPhone for, since touch HD is a windows mobile phone, I rely upon activesync to take care of my outlook contacts and calendar notes, we’ll see how well iTunes does this.
I also like the fact that it is so easy to get what you want with windows mobile, mostly through you guys here at xda.
When the phone arrives I’ll post my first experiences.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looking forward to hear your experinces
Yep look forward to it!
Not sure it was revolutionary... the LG Prada was a full touch screen phone before the iPhone.. Apple just packaged it well... Steve jobs could box a turd and sell it. pretty much like Apples claim on the mouse! That was actually Xerox's baby!
Looking forward to your experience and an honest review / comparison between the 2!
I actually have both (HTC Touch HD and iPhone 3g), too
Yeah, waiting to see your comments...
We are talking about Apples & Oranges here!!! Arent we?
the real great things on the iphone are aps! they are realy cool, good looking, running smooth... but only one at a time with a verry bad cam and no mms... (yet )
if it had a better cam, MMS (soon) eand a real GPS (and GPS software) i would defintly forget my HD!
way to go pal, will be glad to read your reviews.
bouyaka said:
the real great things on the iphone are aps! they are realy cool, good looking, running smooth... but only one at a time with a verry bad cam and no mms... (yet )
if it had a better cam, MMS (soon) eand a real GPS (and GPS software) i would defintly forget my HD!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh my.
Jesus phone has a lot of shortcomings, but MMS? Who cares? It's the silliest thing since plastic toothpick. Why do you want to pay your operator for this surrogate email?
And do you really consider HD's camera usable?
daraj said:
We are talking about Apples & Oranges here!!! Arent we?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not really.... I'll explain...
I've just sold my iPhone 3G and bought a HD. My reasons were...
1) I get bored and I had the iPhone since last July and fancied a change
2) I wanted expandable memory
3) I think the iPhone is looking dated now. Controversial I'm sure...
4) I now want stereo Bluetooth streaming for a new iO Play car kit I have had fitted
I used to change phones far too often and had 13 in a year once, but the iPhone is the longest serving handset I've had for a while. Despite not being bleeding edge when it comes to the specification, the way you interact with it, the simplicity, the fluidity and the Apple ecosystem all added up to make it a revolutionary phone. There is a reason why every new touch-screen phone is an iPhone killer.
The email client is superb, web browsing superb and media playback superb. And the text inputs auto-correction is very intelligent and doesn't just look out for spelling mistakes, but patterns in typing which it relates to possible words.
The App store is great, but getting full of rubbish making the genuinely useful stuff harder to find. Rumours are there will be a premier store soon. The O2 contracts are great, as the free data and free WiFi access are superbly implemented, switching between seamlessly. And once you've authenticated with the free WiFi once that's all you ever have to do. I could walk into a Starbucks, McDonalds, Costa, Hotel, Airport etc etc and it would connect to the WiFi before I even realised I was in a hotspot.
But it's not the Jesus phone everyone seems to think. And I hate, really, really hate the fan-boy love affair some people have with it... to the point I was embarrassed by it sometimes.
"No, I don't want to talk to you about your iPhone, stranger...."
The limitations in the iPhone are 75% software based, most of which will be corrected in version 3 of the software. Things like additional Bluetooth profiles, landscape text input in all apps, MMS, tethering etc will be welcome additions.
And that's one of the things that bothered me. These are simple things that really should be included as standard.
Things like the poor camera didn't bother me. I mean, Sony Ericsson have been putting rubbish cameras in phones they didn't market as imaging devices for years. If the camera is the main focus, there are much better options (like buying a camera).
The lack of expandable memory is a big deal for a multimedia phone though. I can understand the marketing / product reasons behind it, but even that seems to contradict the 'one device to do everything' approach Apple take with this.
Now to go back to my original point, Apples Vs Oranges, the HD and the iPhone aren't that different. Both have huge strengths, both have huge weaknesses, both have massive amounts in common. The thing that differs between them is down to the person buying it. What do you want from a phone....?
Out of the box usability and slickness? iPhone.
Endless tinkering, customisation and free reign of what you do with your phone? Touch HD
But both have the capability of matching the other in every single aspect. There is pretty much nothing that you can do with one that you can't with the other. Exactly the same can be said for Windows PC operating systems Vs Apple Mac OS X. Funnily enough, most of what I have said above can be applied in some way to that argument too.
So, the other downsides to the iPhone.... (some of this is entirely personal opinion).
Text input needs work in it's current form. The keys are just too small. This is made up by the excellent auto-correction, but it's still poor. And you can't add in new keyboards without jailbreaking, which brings me to..
Restrictive approach to third party applications. Apples closed-door approach has no benefits. I originally thought it would be good as it would ensure reliability and stability, but there are some terribly shaky applications in the App Store. I see no benefit in this for consumers and the only way around involves invalidating your warranty.
Hardware restrictions - No expandable memory, as above. Screen size Vs chassis size and screen resolution are falling behind the competition. Poor build quality is another factor that's not uncommon either.
If you are the kind of person who enjoys Windows Mobile, I predict you will get frustrated with the iPhones shortfalls and will be jailbreaking it within a day.
Robster83 said:
Not really.... I'll explain...
I've just sold my iPhone 3G and bought a HD. My reasons were...
1) I get bored and I had the iPhone since last July and fancied a change
2) I wanted expandable memory
3) I think the iPhone is looking dated now. Controversial I'm sure...
4) I now want stereo Bluetooth streaming for a new iO Play car kit I have had fitted
I used to change phones far too often and had 13 in a year once, but the iPhone is the longest serving handset I've had for a while. Despite not being bleeding edge when it comes to the specification, the way you interact with it, the simplicity, the fluidity and the Apple ecosystem all added up to make it a revolutionary phone. There is a reason why every new touch-screen phone is an iPhone killer.
The email client is superb, web browsing superb and media playback superb. And the text inputs auto-correction is very intelligent and doesn't just look out for spelling mistakes, but patterns in typing which it relates to possible words.
The App store is great, but getting full of rubbish making the genuinely useful stuff harder to find. Rumours are there will be a premier store soon. The O2 contracts are great, as the free data and free WiFi access are superbly implemented, switching between seamlessly. And once you've authenticated with the free WiFi once that's all you ever have to do. I could walk into a Starbucks, McDonalds, Costa, Hotel, Airport etc etc and it would connect to the WiFi before I even realised I was in a hotspot.
But it's not the Jesus phone everyone seems to think. And I hate, really, really hate the fan-boy love affair some people have with it... to the point I was embarrassed by it sometimes.
"No, I don't want to talk to you about your iPhone, stranger...."
The limitations in the iPhone are 75% software based, most of which will be corrected in version 3 of the software. Things like additional Bluetooth profiles, landscape text input in all apps, MMS, tethering etc will be welcome additions.
And that's one of the things that bothered me. These are simple things that really should be included as standard.
Things like the poor camera didn't bother me. I mean, Sony Ericsson have been putting rubbish cameras in phones they didn't market as imaging devices for years. If the camera is the main focus, there are much better options (like buying a camera).
The lack of expandable memory is a big deal for a multimedia phone though. I can understand the marketing / product reasons behind it, but even that seems to contradict the 'one device to do everything' approach Apple take with this.
Now to go back to my original point, Apples Vs Oranges, the HD and the iPhone aren't that different. Both have huge strengths, both have huge weaknesses, both have massive amounts in common. The thing that differs between them is down to the person buying it. What do you want from a phone....?
Out of the box usability and slickness? iPhone.
Endless tinkering, customisation and free reign of what you do with your phone? Touch HD
But both have the capability of matching the other in every single aspect. There is pretty much nothing that you can do with one that you can't with the other. Exactly the same can be said for Windows PC operating systems Vs Apple Mac OS X. Funnily enough, most of what I have said above can be applied in some way to that argument too.
So, the other downsides to the iPhone.... (some of this is entirely personal opinion).
Text input needs work in it's current form. The keys are just too small. This is made up by the excellent auto-correction, but it's still poor. And you can't add in new keyboards without jailbreaking, which brings me to..
Restrictive approach to third party applications. Apples closed-door approach has no benefits. I originally thought it would be good as it would ensure reliability and stability, but there are some terribly shaky applications in the App Store. I see no benefit in this for consumers and the only way around involves invalidating your warranty.
Hardware restrictions - No expandable memory, as above. Screen size Vs chassis size and screen resolution are falling behind the competition. Poor build quality is another factor that's not uncommon either.
If you are the kind of person who enjoys Windows Mobile, I predict you will get frustrated with the iPhones shortfalls and will be jailbreaking it within a day.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What I meant by that is the fact the HD is highly customizable to the bones, heck you can even run an Android OS on it. Iphone is a very closed OS with very little tweaks allowed by Apple ( Not talking about Jailbreaking) From the usability to the screen to the memory to the GPS vs A-GPS.. from the camera to almost everything in both phones are different. I consider the Iphone a weekend phone While the HD is a very business oriented phone that gets the job done and good.
Not sure If I can really say they are very similar. Just my 2 cents
daraj said:
What I meant by that is the fact the HD is highly customizable to the bones, heck you can even run an Android OS on it. Iphone is a very closed OS with very little tweaks allowed by Apple ( Not talking about Jailbreaking) From the usability to the screen to the memory to the GPS vs A-GPS.. from the camera to almost everything in both phones are different. I consider the Iphone a weekend phone While the HD is a very business oriented phone that gets the job done and good.
Not sure If I can really say they are very similar. Just my 2 cents
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's fair enough. But when you sit the two side-by-side and ask them to do the same task, there isn't much difference. If you think about what you do with your phone, I'd bet the HD does things in a very similar way to the iPhone. There are only so many ways to construct a text message, make a call or browse the internet on a touch screen mobile
The one big thing I didn't mention that you have just reminded me of, is the touch screen. The capacitive screen on the iPhone is much more responsive in use.
Robster83 said:
That's fair enough. But when you sit the two side-by-side and ask them to do the same task, there isn't much difference. If you think about what you do with your phone, I'd bet the HD does things in a very similar way to the iPhone. There are only so many ways to construct a text message, make a call or browse the internet on a touch screen mobile
The one big thing I didn't mention that you have just reminded me of, is the touch screen. The capacitive screen on the iPhone is much more responsive in use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup. WVGA on HD and VGA on Iphone ( Not sure if its even VGA)
pretty much it boils down to what you do with it. I have both devices. I use the HD and the iphone sits on the desk. I am an admin at my company and we are windows based the windows mobile device it the best phone for us. While I like the Iphone it is not praticle for me to use. I hav not found any thing that I do on the iphone that I gave not been able to find an app that works on the hd doing the same or better. I really like being able to change the rom on my phone and customise it. Can't really do that with the iphone. And I think the display on the HD is much better.
daraj said:
Yup. WVGA on HD and VGA on Iphone ( Not sure if its even VGA)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Capacitive Vs Resistive is a bigger aspect than the resolution which, I agree, the iPhone falls short of. It is HVGA (320x480).
You have to be crazy to think that the iphone hasnt changed the mobile industry. It is an amazingly capable, intuitive and beautiful device to boot compared to these piece of lard htc OS's (the stock ones).
I owned about 15 HTC/Winmo devices starting with the SPV c500 and culminating in the Diamond as soon as it came out and got an iphone 3g at around the same time. None of the roms could come close to the intrinsic slickness, speed and support for the iphone, I jailbroke it, and was blown away and it became my primary device. However the iphone is currently mediacentric and not a buisness/professional phone and I needed an OQO UMPC to carry around as well but it doesnt claim to be anything else in fairness.
I have been quite impressed by the cooked Win 6.5 roms and skyfire recently though, and I am going to buy the HTC Touch Pro2 when it comes out as I need to use programs like word with a built in keyboard and tv out facility and perhaps retire my UMPC/laptops. This forum is also a great feature in choosing a HTC phone for customisation.
And for people who say the iphone doesnt have microsd, poor camera etc... How many crippled HTC devices have we seen? The iphone has been in a class of its own untill recent catch up devices.
imperiallight said:
And for people who say the iphone doesnt have microsd, poor camera etc... How many crippled HTC devices have we seen? The iphone has been in a class of its own untill recent catch up devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Expandability is (in my opinion) essential for any electronic devices. I have an 8GB card in my HD now, and I plan on upgrading to a 32GB soon by simply inserting a memory card. iPhone...can't do that. You have to buy a new phone to do so. I also have a spare battery which I can swap out when I am on the road and can't charge my phone...like camping perhaps. Iphone...can't. I like to copy and paste text from one program to another (multitasking). iPhone...can't. The HD 5MP camera takes great pictures which can be geo tagged with great accuracy. iPhone (until v2.0 comes out)...can't. Sure, there are some HD's out there that are crippled or bricked. Why? Because people that have the mental capacity to appreciate a multitasking device/computer actually like to open the hood and tweak it. Sure, iPhone apps may seem to run smoother. But that's because of the lack of multitasking! My HD (or any other Windows Mobile device) runs processes and applications in the background so you can do more and be more productive.
Honestly, do a side by side comparison of the HD and the iPhone. And I am not talking software, I mean hardware. We can debate applications all day, but it's the hardware that defines the capabilities. If you want a list of HD hardware features then I will post them for you.
*double post*
DerrickD2,
You have misunderstood the thrust of my post, that the iphone was/is a trailblazing and revolutionary device in the mobile sector. It seems anywhere bar this 'nerdy spec-hugging' forum that its not too hard to accept. The Touch HD is a better device in my opinion too as like I already stated, other companies have played catch up. There is no need to tell me its hardware specs.
But to pick up on a few points:
* Upgradeable SD is important, it annoys me to only have 16gb but I can stream content off free iphone optimised filestores available, some providing 10gb a go. Not ideal but workable.
* Spare battery, well the iphones battery is pretty decent and lasts for many years. If you want to keep the battery charged you can do it on the fly by adding these 'double your battery' packs and their ilk/cases when you are running low and you dont even 'have to swap the battery':
http://us.kensington.com/html/15462.html
* You can cut and paste text in jailbroken phones within the app. You can mulitask too, to an extent on JB phones although I dont know if it's sytemwide cut and paste (prob. not)
* Megapixels aren't everything on a camera. Its about the lens too. The 2MP camera of the iphone image quality is known to be quite decent, better than most 3.2MP HTC offerings but I agree it should have a better camera.
* Like I said the iphone isn't productivity centred and its probably why they dont consider multitasking a crucial feature but from what I understand its processor is faster than any HTC phone. Jailbroken iphones can run background apps too but obviously native apps dont support this.
We can debate applications all day, but it's the hardware that defines the capabilities.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is so contentious! Hardware can define the capabilites and software/OS/User experience can define the capabilties! It depends on what the consumer needs. Horses for course's!
hello
im looking to buy a new phone in about a month and im deciding between the nexus one and the iphone. i currently have a HTC Touch Diamond and i have suffered quite a bit with this phone and im doubting the quality of the products that htc makes. i have read all the reviews and the specs and im still finding it hard to choose so i want to find out from u guys here if it is actually the perfect phone or it comes with glitches, and the occasional freezing.
dragonoflight said:
hello
im looking to buy a new phone in about a month and im deciding between the nexus one and the iphone. i currently have a HTC Touch Diamond and i have suffered quite a bit with this phone and im doubting the quality of the products that htc makes. i have read all the reviews and the specs and im still finding it hard to choose so i want to find out from u guys here if it is actually the perfect phone or it comes with glitches, and the occasional freezing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you do want a phone with 3G glitches, faulty software and occasional freezes / reboots then be sure to buy the iPhone. Ask my wife about her wonderful iPhone
Seriously though, just about every modern phone has some flaws and requires a restart every now and again ... its progress
iPhone simple and capable with loads of apps and support, sort of a "Tomy - My First Phone"
Android edgy and capable with loads of apps but not as many as iphone (most companies will release to the iPhone first due to the huge base of customers who will buy).
If you are happy having a simple interface with no options of customisation and are happy never being able to do anything your own way or take shortcuts then the iPhone is for you.
If you are happy to do a bit of tinkering and customise your phone then the Android is for you.
Both are amazing phones and look good and are easy to use. Specs wise Nexus one wins hands down.
If you love google and use Gmail, contacts, etc. And if you dont like iTunes and stuff then Nexus One is definetly the way to go.
But if you like all the crazy apps thats out on the iphone seems quite good for that, however Nexus One has got some really good apps aswell! A lot of people say iPhone is still easier to use. But I would say nexus one is just as easy and highly customizable which is cool.
All comes down to personal preference...
iPhone is obviously more stable seeing as OS 4 is going to come out whereas Android is 2.1, iPhone has less bugs and stuff im guessing..But Nexus one should be no trouble as your everyday phone and internet device!
I always fund iPhone really boring, with out jailbreak there isn't much in it.
Lots of apps and what else? I never had able to figur it out . If you coming from windos mobile i think you should get Nexus. You would love it.
I've been using WM since 1997 (PPC).
I've got my Nexus One yeasterday its my first Android device, i like it.
as far i saw iphone is mostly problem free and i want a phone with causes a little problems a possible but i have been with xda for more than 1 year and have gotten into the habit of customising so a phone with a little change in interface would be nice. the quality of the apps u get in the iphone is extremely good, u always get a nice colour full, smooth and simple interface. i personaly dont know about android apps but my experience of windows mobile apps is that they are ****. they come with 1980 style buttons and some times they don't even fit on ur screen cos thy were build with the developers looking at a different phone and the apps are expensive. so you see i don't want to go through that again.
I'm not sure there is anything such as the perfect phone since everyone has some different interpretation of what that is. I just received my Nexus One yesterday and I'm switching from the iphone, although I have extensive experience with winmo, palm and symbian. A few observations:
Build Quality: this is the best built phone I've seen in a long time. It has the exceptionally solid feel of the iphone, but still gives you the removable battery feature and expandable storage. In addition, it just feels great in the hand, nicely rounded with great build materials. Just overall top notch build and feel.
Software: I spent yesterday evening looking at the applications on my iphone and trying to find comparable ones on Android. I was successful for about 90% of what I use. The applications may look a little different, but the functionality is essentially the same and I haven't had any issues so far. There are a couple that I couldn't yet replace like the kindle app, cnn and the NY times, but I expect they'll be there eventually. A few others like ewallet have equivalent products on android such as splashid.
Useability: The iphone is dead simply which is both a strength and a weakness. I've always found it to be a little too easy and the lack of customization was frustrating as well as the lack of multitasking. I've always found the multitasking issue rather humorous since so much of the tech industry used to point this out as a weakness in the palm os and now the iphone has the same weakness years later and it's not an issue for the writers...go figure. The N1 is not quite as simple as the iphone and you'll probably spend a little more time getting used to it and setup the way you want, but you'll end up with a phone that meets your personal needs as opposed to someone else's view of your needs.
Overall I'm finding it to be a top notch phone that I expect will only get better as the OS continues to evolve. Google seems to be on a pretty regular update cycle and it continues to evolve. As the os attracts more users the applications will continue to grow as well.
One final word. I wouldn't equate the winmo htc experience with what you'll have with an android htc device. Winmo definitely contributes to issues with some of the htc phones. This device is in a whole different league.
here is few questions if you guys could answer it would be really helpful
does it freeze or have problems when running multiple apps?
do the apps have nice interface and are thy smooth?
does it lag alot?
and i herd mutitouch is coming to the google phone does anyone know when?
does it freeze or have problems when running multiple apps? - Nope for me its been pretty smooth, no stuttering at all, Apps open very quickly.
do the apps have nice interface and are thy smooth? - yes most do, there are one or two that do not scale well to the larger screen, these will be fixed with updates, just waiting on the devs to resolve.
does it lag alot? - no lag for me what so ever.
and i herd mutitouch is coming to the google phone does anyone know when?
- no one knows, its been demo'd on the European version of the Nexus One. However you can have multitouch browsing using either a custom ROM (soon to be released) or the Dolphin Browser (free download from the market place).
I know exactly what you're going through with your WinMo and HTC. I had multiple problems with the two just barely working at all. Android is so different but so much easier to find things in. I've played with iPhones and yeah they're fun for a bit but I have a friend with one that has had it for a couple months and is already starting to get bored with it. He says he's jealous of my Android and how much more I can do with it. It always looks different each time he looks at it.
I can tell youre trying to compare the Nexus One to your diamond because Ive used that phone and know what youre talking about with the lag and freezing and theres simply no comparison between the N1 and diamond, if you do get it you will be simply amazed.
I own a nexus, g1, iPhone 2g, and a touch pro 2. I can easily say in terms of speed, battery life, and overall enjoyment, the nexus is easily king. The keyboard is on par with the iPhone as far as usibility, which I could never say about the g1's onscreen. You can still sync your iTunes library with the correct software, it's the best mobile web browsing experiance I've had to date.
Simply put, nexus one ftw!
i think il wait to see how the muti touch on the nexus one turns out. thanks for all ur help!!!
bigger screen, higher resolution, brighter, prettier, easier to unlock and root... none of this cat and mouse crap with apple and the dev team...
I'm sure there are other things to compare..
oh yeah!!! the N! has bluetooth stereo stream and the iphone doesnt...
but, apple is gonna announce a new iphone this feb... so... up to you if you want to wait or not.
The N1 has a 1 Ghz proc, vs iPhone's 600 Mhz,
an 800x480 screen vs iphone's 480x320 (There are as many pixels shoved in the short side of the N1's screen as there are on the entire tall side of the iphone's screen, it's been widely cited as the best looking screen right now, with bright whites and colors and blacks like velvet. It can play full 720p HD video in this resolution.),
512 mb RAM vs. the iPhone's 256 mb, though of course you probably don't need it on the iPhone as you can't even run more than one app at a time (clearly, the iPhone is not a computer)
However, the nexus one doesn't have as many apps. The apps it does have are incredible, though, and you can emulate SNES, download torrents, Remote-desktop to your PC from anywhere with 3G/wifi, run a wireless tether without much trouble. Generally, the kind of stuff Apple would never let you get away with. While Apple has some cooler games, their utilities simply don't stack up.
I know EAXCTLY what you're talking about in terms of HTC and WinMo. I just upgraded from the HTC Touch to the Nexus One. There simply is no comparison, Android is an entirely different animal than WinMo.
As for iPhone vs the N1, the N1 beats it by far in terms of raw specs. In terms of OS vs OS the difference is that with the iPhone you're forced to play in Apple's little sandbox. Highly regulated app store, no "real" customization to speak of. This has the benefit of being an extremely stable and polished OS but if you're used to making things "your own" like I am, it's just not fun.
This is the first Android phone I've had, been using it for almost a week now and I will never look back. I LOVE it. Some of the apps aren't quite as good as they are on the iPhone in no small part due to the nature of Android itself. Developers have to worry about supporting multiple phone specifications and networks. It's very comparable to the Mac vs PC argument. PCs require a bit more maintenance and attention while giving you TONS of options while Macs give you stability and TONS of polish with a bit more limited options.
*Edit*
You mentioned multi-touch, the phone fully supports it at the hardware level. The only "problem" is that it's not supported natively in Google's own apps (everyone assumes this has to do with some legal concern of Google's). Developers can use the API in their apps to fully take advantage of this support and many already do. I use the Dolphin Browser over the one that comes pre-loaded and the multi-touch in it is FANTASTIC. Best part is that unlike the iPhone it auto re-scales things for you to keep them readable.
I hoping to get multi touch as soon as N1 Euro out via custom roms.
Nexus could be superior all around if our apps would mature a bit more. Yes we're growing in apps, but they lack polish. You can look at many of our apps and go "Yeah thats clearly made by an engineer". They work great, but one reason the IPhone sells is because it is pure sexy in just about all forms.
The iPhone and the Nexus One are two different beasts, multi touch is something you dont use that often as you think when you are on the iPhone. When I had the iPhone(1st gen) multi touch was on, the kb, the browser, the photo viewer, and later on gimmicky apps that just came out.
I think of the iPhone more like a PS3 whereas android phones are more like a computer
iphone or android?
its how tech savy you are, ad how much you want to learn ot use something.
the iphone is simple. you hit a button, it responds instantely and it does exactly what it said it was going to do.
andriod is more advanced. alot more ways to customize it but it comes with a learning curve. this curve isnt as bad as the winmo one but it does exsist.
so it comes down to power vs simplicity. id go for power
I just got a Pre a few days ago and have been messing around. I loved my Hero and love my EVO even more, but something was making me test out WebOS. I have compared the two after a little use. The results surprised me, I can say I may be switching between the two for a little while, at least during the week when I don't need 4G.
Software
Notifications - WebOS
Such a beautiful way to display them, easy to see but don't interfere with any current activities.
Native Apps - WebOS/Sense
Messaging, calendar definitely better on WebOS, the HTC dialer though is much better. T9 is necessary in a dialer. HTC Contacts also are much nicer to use, better Facebook (and Twitter/Flickr) integration, easier to manage contacts from different sources.
Homescreen - Sense
I find it slightly easier to navigate apps on android, thanks to apps like "App Organizer" which allows you to categorize apps. Widgets are so helpfull, it would be great if WebOS would have some widgets, like clock/weather, wifi/bt toggles ect. I do think 7 homescreens is to many though. (Note double digit home replacements within android, something for everyone)
Multitasking - WebOS
Not really much of a debate here, WebOS is amazing at multitasking, android's multitasking is much harder to manage running services and swap between the two.
Buttons - WebOS
The required buttons on android are numerous, although they never really bothered my I LOVE how WebOS makes many of them useless. I do miss the dedicated search button and a menu button is useful also (clicking top right is sometimes annoying), although I imagine I could try to program a gesture to do the same. Back gesture, change programs gesture, home button, what more do you need?
Root/Homebrew - WebOS
Obtaining root requires different methods on each phone and each update attempts to stop this. WebOS is open, go at it. I love modding my phone, have on windows mobile, have on android, and have started to on WebOS. If I ever bought a new android phone and it couldn't be rooted I would throw it away, its useless without root access.
Apps - Android
Bigger app market, more devs, stronger tools, ect. WebOS cant really compete here.
Browser - Android
I need to use the browsers more to compare, though they seem very comparable, both being Web-Kit browsers, but I am leaning towards Android right now, with 2.2 having full flash and sense 2.1 having flashlite (full flash with mod). Also, unless I'm completely missing something, the WebOS browser cannot act as a desktop by default. To view sites that auto-detect for mobile devices and redirect you, you have to hope they have an option to view the desktop version (most do), but I like having it default to desktop versions of sites.
Overall - WebOS
This is a really hard decision for me, I really like both and would love some features of both to extend to each other. Multitasking is so much better on WebOS, android is really saved by Sense as vanilla looses hands down to WebOS. I would love to have had Sense+WebOS (HTC nearly bought Palm) alas, it will never happen. I need HTC Contacts/Dialer in WebOS as they are perfection. Hiding contacts from some sources. I have 100 contacts on fb I don't call, text, email, ect, EVER. I don't want them in my phone, but I do want fb info/pics of the people I do call. I no longer use exchange though as both android and WebOS are extremely efficient with gmail.
Now for the Hardware
Battery - EVO
My battery life the first few days has been terrible on the Pre, tried many things and maybe they will work out, otherwise definitely going back to my EVO, which never died from a days use.
Keyboard - EVO (HTC IME_MOD / Swype)
I use the custom keyboard made by the devs at xda, the stock one is quite annoying (up/down/left/right arrows). I also really like Swype, it works really well. The virtual keyboard on the Pre is useless to me. Not only because of the screen size because I had the Hero and it had only a slightly bigger screen. The hardware keyboard on the Pre is decent, especially for its size, but i prefer a slide-out hardware keyboard or a nice software keyboard.
Screen - EVO
Really its just because its so much bigger. Colors are much more vibrant on the Pre, but the extra space is so nice I cant pass it up.
Hardware - EVO
HTC makes a solid phone (despite their early flaws with the EVO) I really do prefer the hardware of the EVO over the Pre. They both feel nice and solid in your hand, but HTC just makes a phone feel and look right. I don't think HP can make a better piece of hardware than HTC either.
Camera - EVO
This comparison is unfair, two phones from different generations the EVO wins though it doesn't have the best camera on a smartphone. The video recording is capped reducing the quality and the FPS. The dual LED flash is better, but can sometimes washout people in closeups. Also the addition of the front facing cam for video chat makes this no contest.
Speed - EVO
The EVO has a faster processor, a generation ahead of the Pre, but WebOS makes the Pre comparable to the EVO in speed. Where the EVO wins is loading time of apps. The EVO loads nearly instantly while launching any app, even messaging, takes a few seconds. This may be different on the Pre Plus, but it would definitely be different in a new WebOS smartphone.
Overall - EVO
I really can't wait for the next WebOS device, please HP bring us one for November (most likely June though). The EVO is a generation ahead and made by (in my opinion) a much better quality company and a better design team in HTC.
If there are other parts of the OS or the phones that I forgot to compare please let me know. I really do love both of these phones and can't decide which I like better. WebOS is amazing, HTC makes amazing hardware (and software modifications). I really would have loved an HTC built WebOS phone.
This makes me wonder how difficult it would be to run WebOS on another phone, yet I am not nearly skilled enough to even figure out how to start on that.
**EDIT**
Voicemail - EVO
Both Google Voice voicemail via the voicemail app and direct replacement of sprint voicemail and sprints voicemail app are far superior to the standard flip phone voicemail of the Pre. This is obviously software and could possibly be changed in the first HP WebOS phone, but I doubt comparable Google Voice service.
you are making me miss using my Pre man, cards are amazing and android has well.. a piss poor multitasking system.
i cant wait until palm releases a new more powerful version of the Pre with 4G on SPRINT Please.
I had a pre since launch. While multitasking appears better I lost count of hoe many times the phone told me I couldn't open an app because I had too many cards open when none were. Don't get me wrong webos is definitely looking good but it still needs quite a bit of refinement. Also the head UI designer for webos has been hired by Google to work on Android.
Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk
While there are valid points in the OP's post in regards to WebOS and how its software is somewhat better than Androids (I don't really think this is true), this will all change come Android 2.5/3.0 (Gingerbread).
Google has already stated that they will be giving Android a major UI face lift. The Human Interface and User Experience VP who used to work for Palm, Matias Duarte left Palm about two months ago and joined Google to work on Android. Not to mention, Google also acquired BumpTop technologies, which is a 3D desktop interface for computers. With BumpTop and Matias Duarte together, I wouldn't be surprised if Google redid the entire Android UI from the ground up and made it so well designed that people wouldn't need HTC Sense/Moto Blur/etc.
Sure there are flaws with the Android OS for now... but come October, I see Android really going mainstream and becoming the dominant mobile OS, especially after its UI changes.
I bought a Pre on launch day and I must say that it was probably the clunkiest, cheapest phone I have owned to date. I initially liked it just b/c it was different than anything I had used before, but once I got over that, there wasn't much to like about it in my opinion. The hardware is some of the worst hardware in the business...maybe they have improved it since its inception, but my phone along with all original Pre's that I dealt with were complete junk. The slider wobbled (see oreo effect), the power buttons frequently failed and lost their spring. On the softare side, the phone always felt as though it was in beta mode. Palm kept trying to fix the stuttering and speed (lack thereof) issues, but most of their updates caused more problems than they fixed. The ONLY thing I really liked about the phone was the multitasking, but even that is more of a gimmick than anything. I don't know too many people that want to keep more than a few apps open at once. Sure it's nice to show people that your phone can keep 25 apps open at once, but who really does that? I'm not really sure how Android's multitasking could be any easier to use...hold down home button and there are your last 6 apps used in their previously used state. The battery on the Pre was absolutely pathetic at best. I realize a smartphone's battery is never going to be that great, but I felt as though it was constantly connected to a charger of some sort...either home or car just to keep it running. As you can see, I'm not a Pre fan and judging from their sales and Palm's demise, I am in the majority.
oh well, to each their own.
Gingerbread is definitely on my radar, as I said I love both of these OS. As for the two many cards issue, that was solved on the Pre Plus, more RAM. I really already would say android is mainstream. It has quickly become the 3rd ranked smartphone OS and blackberry will loose huge marketshare when their original adopters no longer use smartphones, as many people stick to what they are used to.
Yes Palm is not known for their hardware and neither is HP. I wouldn't dare to say it compares to any HTC hardware. Of course there is no need for 25 apps, but 5-10, maybe. Having anymore just makes navigation take forever. The Pre battery is basically useless, I would expect it to be bigger in a bigger device though. Really comparing a 1150 mAh battery to our 1500 mAh one?
I am definitely more hopeful about the future of android, multitasking needs to be easier though. How about take a note from WinMo's multitasking navigation. It was so easy to see what you have open in it. Guessing what you kept open like in android is painful and when switching between many apps you might have more than your previous 6 open. Also nearly all of the google and phone apps dont close.
Can we please steal some of those gestures from WebOS though? Deleting messages/emails and dismissing notifications is just made so simple. Wipe it right off your screen. WebOS has a superior notification system, multitasking, and no need to root, I know everyone here can agree at least give us the option for root.
I dont know how u can say the battery on the pre is horrible?? I love the battery. I use mine all the time, play everything and still is awesome for me. I have a friend that has the Pre Plus and she says its horrible also. I guess im lucky!
I used it for a few days and without charging a few times throughout the day. Fully charged it might make 8 hours, max, while the EVO lasts me closer to 16.
Lol idc what any one says about multi tasking on webos on the original pre it sucked... basically only causr the out of memory stuff i would get so pissed cause it happend so often. Also about the webos interface i had a hard time figuring out his to do stuff. But with android vanillua i understood instantly. I kinda had issues with sense at 1st but i got it pretty quick too. I prefere aosp over sense anyday. Hope a real fully working aosp comes soooon
yeah the pre was pretty nice, hardware wise it sucked but webos made up for it. im temtped to try out the pixi if i can get my heads on it for real cheap. i like its simple form factor and it looks more solid than the pre in terms of hardware design.
Palm/Hp should join the Android world and make the Web OS UI a type of Sense like UI for Android. Having come from a Pre to the Evo I can tell you Web OS is nice but it is missing a lot of features. I got rid of the Pre because it had horrible quality issues and on top of that a lot of missing phone features from the software. In the time it has taken Palm to go from version 1 of web os to version 1.4.1.1, Android has gone from 1.5 to 1.6 to 2 to 2.1 and now 2.2 (and we can discuss all day about manufacturer's not upgrading handsets to the new OS version just to sell new handsets, but at least the community is here to help get you there, my problem with the Web os upgrades is the slow trickle of missing features being added, really, where the hell is voice recognition? is it that hard to get down?). I think Palm trying to do it themselves caused them to fall behind. It was just too much. I got the Pre because I liked the Treo's from Palm before, but the Pre just made me dislike Palm a lot. Yeah, and I know, version 1 of a device and OS, I went in knowing there were going to be better things to come. But after going through 6 phones myself, 4 for my wife, and 5 for my dad (that's a total of 15 pre's, all hardware issues, screen cracking on refurbished phones, phones just outright dying, never to turn on again, headset issues, keyboard issues) it was too much to put up with. They just dropped the ball on the quality of the phone. Because of the Pre, I may never go back to a Palm device.
Yes, the hardware is pretty bad on the Pre, but WebOS itself is nice as an OS. After reading some of the things you said, I realize that it is missing some things I take for granted on android. It isn't as well developed as android, but as an overall OS and its actual potential are still great. I'm sure it is somewhat possible for a home replacement to simulate cards, I've actually thought about it before. If only I knew how to program for android now. I really think android needs better running service/app management, something visual like cards would be great. How about long-pressing the home key brings up running apps in some nice visuals?
this is just a personal experience, opinion, and review of Windows Phone 7 and Samsung Focus based off a few days of heavy use and playing around with the phone. I'm originally coming from an HTC Aria android phone. which some..or most of you may be weary and questioning and doubting microsoft's new and fresh OS.
this'll basically a side by side comparison of both phones and OS's. and hope it helps answers some questions some folks may have before purchasing the phone. and in hopes it will help interest users and give this forum a little growth.
Body and Feel of the Phone
The size was exactly what i was looking for. coming from the HTC Aria..the screen size was a huge bonus for me. it was perfect for viewing and using, but not too big where i felt like my fingers had to stretch. slid in my pocket easily where it's light enough to not weigh down my pants, but just enough to let me know it's there.
minor gripe is the back of the phone..the battery cover. flimsy plastic compared to the Aria's solid rubber like back. it was easier to get off than the Aria's, but the little hooks at top to hold the cover under the body of the phone were just a little small for my comfort. so i'm taking it extremely easy whenever removing and replacing the cover.
the buttons on the sides were pretty solid and flush with the body, but had enough ridge to them so you knew where they were. dedicated camera button, love it, since the Aria and most android phones don't have one. helps with those spontaneous random shots.
the overall thinness and just right curves make this phone pretty damn sexxy.
Body: 9/10 - (if they make an after-market solid backcover..definite 10)
Windows Phone 7 UI and Software
I was actually surprised how quickly i adapted to windows new UI coming from an android phone. gotta say everything is extremely fluid and gorgeous. watching early previous video demoes before Microsoft officially released it, i did not think it would be that fluid, smooth, and quick.
i definitely like how everything i need to know and see is all in one screen. Android's use of multiple pane screens was..genius at first...but tedious over time and too similar to iphone's UI. with my HTC Aria, i had one pane dedicated to my calendar and events notices, one for basic info..time - date - sms - email - weather, another pane with a group of my most used apps, and another pane to regulate GPS - Bluetooth - Sync - Brightness..via widgets. my thumb did A LOT of swiping. most don't recognize with WP7..its touch and go and rarely any swiping, except within the apps.
adding apps was a breeze and less stressful than with the android phone. with microsoft regulating what's in the app store, i feel a little more comfortable with the security measures. i think Apple did one thing right when they went in that direction. how is giving a list of warnings before installing an app supposed to make you at ease with your phone and what you're putting on it? I of course immediately downloaded Netflix app, which works perfectly! i was able to snag near HD quality on a solid 3G connection. and with the Focus's gorgeous and bright screen..gonna love watching movies on it. App Market took a little getting use to, search button makes it a little easier if you know what you're looking for. and it had it's share of hiccups where it wouldn't load back up if it froze, requiring a reboot. not a huge issue and something microsoft is aware of and working on a fix for. I was just glad i didn't have to sift through thousands of crappy apps or apps that were variations and copies of similar apps (memory matching games...those of you android owners should know so well).
Getting my gmail account setup was easy and basic. i honestly gotta say that Windows Phone 7 email interface is the best i've used so far, coming from iphones and blackberries and android. i just can't explain it. it's just something to experience personally. i never really saw google's need to use push notification with their gmail app. i'm fine with having my mail checked every 30 mins. that was probably one of android's many battery draining issue faults. now getting Xbox live synced up with the phone was a little of a chore, but worth the reward in the end. getting messages from xbox players on my phone is definitely a neat addition. and i'm looking forward to being able to play xbox live games on it.
i have a feeling that Windows Phone 7 will be more fluid and well controlled like iPhone. Android is just too sloppy and fragmented. too many app reviews on the Android Market with folks complaining the app won't work on their phone or having different side effects. if you're gonna have an OS on multiples phones, 99% apps should work with every phone. free open source freedom is nice, but it definitely has it's downside. like the old west...everyone and everything needs a law and order to survive or everything goes to sh_ _. - i'm pretty sure John Wayne or someone said it
and as ATT customers we all know that they like to bloat the phones with their crapware. ESPECIALLY with android. but i found it easy just to uninstall ATT's software on this phone. i kept the U-Verse app just in case. may look into getting that possibly as where i live is just out of their area for U-Verse service on the tvs. Unlike with the HTC Aria i had to root the phone and sit around waiting for talented developers to remove the bloat and make a smooth running ROM, flash it, and hope it worked without bugs. without talented XDA Developers..android would be a mess and hassle for a lot of users.
just give it some time. Microsoft hasn't been in the mobile phone market this long and not learned it's lesson (obviously with windows mobile 6.5)
Software and UI: 8/10 - (it's still in it's infancy)
Sound Quality
sound is unbelievable on this phone. music pours out the phone like a good pair of logitech computer speakers. talking on the phone's mic or on speakerphone was very clear and smooth. unsure of why HTC Aria's volume was so low when making calls. i literally had to enable the hearing aid function on the phone, which boosts the volume level slightly higher. still too low in my opinion.
i don't use and do not care for bluetooth, so i can't give an honest opinion or review on that. but Samsung definitely not slack on the audio quality of the phone.
Sound: 10/10
Screen
screen is what caught my attention in the ATT store while eye browsing the whole scene originally looking for the HTC Inspire 4G. the Samsung Focus's screen just popped out and caught my attention. sitting in between the LQ Quantum and the HTC Surround..it was CLEAR the Samsung Focus's screen was the best of the bunch.
Using it in the sun was no problem with the brightness setting set on Medium. I occasionally switch back to low setting when i'm indoors in my apartment or shopping. everything is clear and crisp and almost pop off the screen. i've played with friends' iphone 4's and honestly don't notice too much of a difference in the quality of the display.
Screen: 10+/10
Camera
camera is EXCELLENT on this phone. pictures are crisp and bright. the LED flash is bright but doesn't last as long as it did with a previous Blackberry Curve phone. i've played around a little with the video recording, which is crisp and clear also. sound recording through it is a little deep...expected though. it's not exactly a high-end camcorder. could do with a review option. pictures are snapped and automatcially back to camera mode without a chance to looking at the picture you just took. which i guess is good for those fast random shots. but it would be nice to have an option. and the reverting back to default options after you exit the camera is a little of a hassle and something Microsoft felt was what users would want. hopefully an update will allow more options. other than that i'm very satisfied with the camera's quality and ease of use.
Camera: 9/10
Battery
battery actually seems to be pretty solid for 1500maH...standard for most smartphones. after a couple of days of heavy use, i'd say it would last a whole day with fair amount use. i'm definitely not charging it as much as i was with the Android phone. android apps you took too much of a risk of it sipping on your battery. it was like trial and error trying to figure out what apps wouldn't drain your battery. time waster. i'd probably get a solid 9-10 hrs of use on my HTC Aria before grabbin the charger. on the first full charge with the Focus and full day use...heavy browsing, emails throughou the day, average amounts of texts from friends, picture taking, recorded a short video, installed and tried out some weather apps...i was able to get a good 12-14 hrs of use. possibly longer as with the battery indicator..it's hard to tell how low you really are. there is no app or option to tell you. and from what i've read online, the programming kit Microsoft allows for the phone doesn't allow for pulling the battery information from the system. not a biggie though.
I can honestly say i'm happy with how long the battery lasted where as with the android phone, my charger was a constantly needed accessory no matter where i go. and the worry if an app would drain my battery while i'm out.
Battery: 9/10
Overall
i have a little less than 30 days to give this a good test run and give it back to ATT if i don't like it. but i'm pretty solidly chosen this is my phone to keep and daily driver. HTC Aria is going up on craigslist within the week.
Don't get me wrong now. i'm not trying to be one sided. the HTC Aria is a GOOD phone if you really want an android phone. for it's size and processor speed, it's a VERY fast and snappy and easy to use phone. but professional and smoothness...android hurts it. and i'm just too amazed how WP7 has just won me over so easily.
quoting one user...
Originally Posted by heymen9x
i think iOS is useful , android is interesting and WP7 is so .........sexyyyyyy
THANK YOU for that review.
I am in exactly the same boat as you having just gone from a HTC Aria to a WP7 Focus. It's taking me a bit to adjust.
I've only had the phone 24 hours and the obvious major difference is the screen size compared to the Aria. It's definitely different having all that extra screen real estate.
I was a major tweaker with Android so am finding it a little strange to not be doing much with the phone at the moment.
I also have 30 days to return the phone but want to give it a good run before making a decision.
Any suggestions for some really good apps / games?
yeah it's nice not having to flash roms, do nandroid backups and restores, and all that mess. and the keyboard alone on the WP7 is 100x better than using it on the Aria.
purchasing apps is also a lot less of a hassle on the WP7 Marketplace, as it's just added automatically onto your cell phone bill, well for AT&T users at least.
personally i have the following apps that i use almost daily...
Netflix - instantly grabbed it on the first search on the Market. movies look great on it and battery life could easily last thru 2 movies. so it makes it great for long road trips
Twitter - just makes it simple to use twitter. and i follow a few WP7 related twitters which helps keep me informed early on updates and news and new apps.
last.fm - i had mp3s at first..a couple hundered, but found myself bored with them after awhile. last.fm is close to pandora as you can get and it saves on using up the memory on your phone. and for us WP7 users, it's completely free. iphone and Android users have to a pay a $3 monthly fee or deal with ads. songs stream in pretty quick on 3g and it plays under the lockscreen.
thumba photo editor - one of the best photo editing apps on the market and only 0.99 cents. it does pretty much everything a PC photo editor does, minus layers and transparency. it helps crop down and resize the pictures you take since it's 5MP by default.
4th & Mayor - is great if you use Foursquare. it's better than Foursquare's official app. it loads quicker and just simpler to use. and from what i've read it has features even the official app doesn't app.
The Weather Channel - just to keep up with the weather.
The Harvest - great game to play if you have an Xbox Live account. it's like Halo RPG and shows off the WP7 gaming power pretty well. steep price ($6.99) but well worth it i've had it for a month and play it every now and than and still haven't completed it with the first unlocked character.
Bubble Birds - just a great time killing free game with great graphics
Quadra - another great free game that uses both your fingers at the same time.
Cool, thanks for the pointers.
I notice from your sig that you've installed the NoDo update. I'm assuming this is the unofficial one?
How easy it and is it worth it or shall I wait for the ATT roll out?
What other hacks / mode have you done / are there?
Been playing with the phone a bit more today, it's growing on me for sure but still unsure. I wish there was a better app drawer than having one big long list.
Yeah, the unofficial update.
Which I would avoid since you're still in your 30 day trial of it, until you're sure you want to keep her =)
It requires turning your Focus into a developer unlocked phone.
Its the only mod you really can do with it, besides sideloading unofficial apps. Which I'm avoiding. I just wanted the nodo update.
And if you haven't read up on it, avoid the cheveonwp7.updater PC application. Google it to read up why. The Hungary VPN hack is the only safe way.
Maybe an update will allow a folder structure in the app list to shorten it. Not that big of a deal overall
asiancuta said:
Yeah, the unofficial update.
Which I would avoid since you're still in your 30 day trial of it, until you're sure you want to keep her =)
It requires turning your Focus into a developer unlocked phone.
Its the only mod you really can do with it, besides sideloading unofficial apps. Which I'm avoiding. I just wanted the nodo update.
And if you haven't read up on it, avoid the cheveonwp7.updater PC application. Google it to read up why. The Hungary VPN hack is the only safe way.Maybe an update will allow a folder structure in the app list to shorten it. Not that big of a deal overall
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is that to do with the fact MS can see what apps you are loading etc. with the Chevron method?
Haven't seen the Hungary VPN hack - is it listed on xda? I'll go have a look.
I'm pretty sure I'm keeping the Focus - I just put the Aria on eBay and CL. I like the Focus overall, I'm definitely spending less time messing around and tweaking and I'm just using the phone for its features.
Mind you, I still haven't had a really good stretch of time to just sit and play with it as I've been so busy at work. Downloaded a bunch of apps and games to try but just no time to try them yet.
I've decided I will probably just wait for the official AT&T NoDo update as it really should be landing this month anyway.
Actually, I unlocked my Focus using instructions found on this forum. (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=857127). I did not hack registry to change phone from AT&T.
I hooked up to my PC -different one than I used to install "unlock".
Logged on to Zune. My Focus then showed "Update Available". I went on to install the February update. Rebooted. Hooked phone up again to PC. Then showed "Update Available". Downloaded March update.
Everything working fine. No problems.
So, it is possible that you do not need the Hungarian link.
I feel like this is going to belong. Apologies. (feel free to skip to......)
When I turned 18 in '07, I purchased my first smartphone which happened to be the first generation iPhone on launch day. Since then, I've continued on this strange road with Apple products. That iPhone opened my eyes. It was my everything. Since then, I've had every iPhone (including my purchased & returned iPhone 5.) I am currently using a 4s and am unhappy with it. Well, not unhappy. I don't know the word. I'm just satisfied with it. Not happy, not enthusiastic about it. It's just... there.
My tenure with the iPhone hasn't always been grand. In 2009, my iPhone 3Gs took the biggest crap on me. I ended up replacing it 3 times. When it messed up for a 4th time, I decided that I'd switch to Blackberry. What was Android anyway? it was such a knockoff to my superior iPhone. I stayed with Blackberry for 10 months before going back to an iPhone. This time it was the iPhone 4. I loved it, until I didn't.
In 2011, I finally dumped my iPhone (for what appeared to be the last time) for my first Android phone, the Motorola Atrix. I did everything to hate that phone for the next three months... That was until I loved Android (with the help of this website and forum). Earlier that year, I started working a job at a cell phone retailer and began to learn Android in and out. I got to play with the coolest phones. We don't sell any Apple products, by the way, so it was all Android.
I thought I was done with Apple, that is until the 4s. I ditched my Atrix and newly acquired Droid X2 for the iPhone 4s. I felt bad as if I were regressing to a horrible drug after being sober for so long. Now a year has passed and I see that I've completely effed up.
(....here) I am currently in the market for a new phone. I've purchased the Nexus 4 and I'm waiting for the 5-to-6 weeks to pass until I get it. The thing is, that I'm so used to my iPhone that I'm afraid it will be a frustrating adjustment for me and this device will end up being a $400 (more like $383.93) paperweight. I've watched every unboxing and comparison video that I could find on YouTube and have read as many threads that my eyes could take on XDA.
I can spew out specs for days. Hell, I'm a salesman. I know the flagship phones in and out because I am setting them up all day and fixing issues for customers. It's always fun when they ask me what phone I'm using... Oops?
Are there any Nexus 4 users that switched from an iPhone? What features do you miss? Does the Nexus 4 adequately make the transition seamless?
I'm just looking for a bit of real life users and not a bunch of reviewers on YouTube and LG Reps at my job sounding extra robotic about the phone.
Thanks!
(Kudos if you read this whole thing. Seriously. K-U-D-O-S.)
Nexus is the closest thing to iphone you will ever find in the android world. Fast updates, excellent HW/SW integration, etc.
This year I've had a lot of phones, iphone 4 > sensation > GS2 > atrix > GS2 > GNex > GS3 > nokia e5 > Nexus 4, and a lot of iphones 4S, and no one gets close to a nexus.
Trust me, you could never go wrong with a Nexus
I don't fit in the criterion for responders, but hopefully you can appreciate my contribution.
It's very rare that you'll find an iOS feature that isn't implemented on Android. It's usually the other way around.
Anand Shimpi describes the two operating systems better than I can: iOS is an appliance and Android is an OS. With iOS, you have to work with what you're given and the phone is a tool, in the same way a toaster oven is really convenient for a lot of purposes. However, Android is the whole damn kitchen. It's a real OS and gives you the opportunities to do precisely what you want done.
On iOS, jailbreaking is a bit daunting due to the loss of Appstore access and security features. I've also heard that stability is notably worse. However, rooting on Android is a very common and standard process. It's akin to providing yourself an administrative account on Windows, as opposed to a kid's account with limited access and abilities.
In all likelihood, there's not a thing you'll miss about iOS that isn't identically fulfilled by system and third party apps. Except in the case of a few select games and apps (Hype Machine is one that comes to mind) Android equivalents are just that: the same app, but for a different platform.
Now for my bias: I think of iPhones as glorified dumb phones. Widgets are essential for me, and the modularity of the system allows you to actually use an OS fit to your liking. In don't see a functional difference between iPhones today and the Sony Ericsson phone I had on 2003. Both just run apps and give extremely limited access to the file system. I want a real file explorer, and apps that can utilize libs/APIs that significantly improve performance (the reason why iOS browsers not based on Safari suck). I want to install apps that replicate system functions, and do so in better ways. Sometimes, in illegal ways (WiFi sniffing and unpaid tethering), but it's my choice whether or not to do them.
I don't think you'll miss anything about the iPhone. At first, you may think Android is a little clunky, nonstandard, or even un-navigable. But just give it time and you'll come to appreciate the difference between the two OSes. One provides a great out-of-the-box experience that can't be tinkered with, but everything will be generally familiar. The other provides nearly complete freedom to change how you use the phone, at the cost of a dictatorial structure. I prefer the latter, as no phone OS is even close to what I want. Android let's me add, remove, and modify itself to let me get a little closer to having a desktop in my pocket.
raul90 said:
Nexus is the closest thing to iphone you will ever find in the android world. Fast updates, excellent HW/SW integration, etc.
This year I've had a lot of phones, iphone 4 > sensation > GS2 > atrix > GS2 > GNex > GS3 > nokia e5 > Nexus 4, and a lot of iphones 4S, and no one gets close to a nexus.
Trust me, you could never go wrong with a Nexus
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From my job, I have an extensive in-store experience with all of those, except for the E5. There is a HUGE difference from setting someone's phone up, showing them a bit of cool features, and then having them sign a contract, as opposed to actually owning it and going home with the device to make it your own.
I love the ability to make drag and drop folders that ICS added. I'm hoping to get the same clean experience that I've gotten used to, but I just want more. iOS isn't cutting it anymore.
I will miss the keyboard, though.
Hung0702 said:
I don't fit in the criterion for responders, but hopefully you can appreciate my contribution.
It's very rare that you'll find an iOS feature that isn't implemented on Android. It's usually the other way around.
Anand Shimpi describes the two operating systems better than I can: iOS is an appliance and Android is an OS. With iOS, you have to work with what you're given and the phone is a tool, in the same way a toaster oven is really convenient for a lot of purposes. However, Android is the whole damn kitchen. It's a real OS and gives you the opportunities to do precisely what you want done.
On iOS, jailbreaking is a bit daunting due to the loss of Appstore access and security features. I've also heard that stability is notably worse. However, rooting on Android is a very common and standard process. It's akin to providing yourself an administrative account on Windows, as opposed to a kid's account with limited access and abilities.
In all likelihood, there's not a thing you'll miss about iOS that isn't identically fulfilled by system and third party apps. Except in the case of a few select games and apps (Hype Machine is one that comes to mind) Android equivalents are just that: the same app, but for a different platform.
Now for my bias: I think of iPhones as glorified dumb phones. Widgets are essential for me, and the modularity of the system allows you to actually use an OS fit to your liking. In don't see a functional difference between iPhones today and the Sony Ericsson phone I had on 2003. Both just run apps and give extremely limited access to the file system. I want a real file explorer, and apps that can utilize libs/APIs that significantly improve performance (the reason why iOS browsers not based on Safari suck). I want to install apps that replicate system functions, and do so in better ways. Sometimes, in illegal ways (WiFi sniffing and unpaid tethering), but it's my choice whether or not to do them.
I don't think you'll miss anything about the iPhone. At first, you may think Android is a little clunky, nonstandard, or even un-navigable. But just give it time and you'll come to appreciate the difference between the two OSes. One provides a great out-of-the-box experience that can't be tinkered with, but everything will be generally familiar. The other provides nearly complete freedom to change how you use the phone, at the cost of a dictatorial structure. I prefer the latter, as no phone OS is even close to what I want. Android let's me add, remove, and modify itself to let me get a little closer to having a desktop in my pocket.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"Glorified dumb phone" -- Couldn't have put it better.
Right now, I'm at the point where customizations are so limited with my iPhone. I want widgets and I want to be able to move my icons where I want them and not be locked to this stupid grid. I've also ALWAYS complained about downloading apps and being kicked out of the app store to my desktop to watch the damned thing download and install. Now that they've added the ability to stay in the app store, it seems like "too little, too late."
I haven't even bothered with jailbreaking my 4s, because I know it still won't do the things that I've seen Android OS phones do.
I feel like I've reached my peak with my iPhone experience and I'd prefer so much more. I just don't want it to feel like some huge trade off because of the little idiosyncratic things that iOS has done for me. It's been very intuitive. I only used Android 2.3 for 5 months before going back to an iPhone. I didn't do much with it other than complain for 2 and a half months! LOL!
From what I hear, 4.2 on the Nexus is the best Android experience yet. That's what made me purchase it without even having a handson experience with it yet.
I came over from iOS, after being with the operating system since my first smart phone, the iPhone 3GS. (I had the 4S just before).
I'm very enthralled by my tech gadgets, and the iPhone is no exception. I jailbroke it, tweaked it to my liking, and have been content with its functionality. However, when I saw the price of this phone--also it's factory unlocked--I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to try out Android. I was a bit apprehensive at first to switch over to something completely new, but for me, the transition has been seamless.
I actually avoid much of the cloud-based systems from Apple because I have been with Google to begin with, so the integration of contacts, email, and music were such a relief, and extremely useful. The widgets in Android are analogous to Dashboard X, if you are familiar, but so much better because of their native integration.
I received my Nexus 4 the week of release, and I haven't run into any problems since then. The customization is just as awesome--if you're into that--and it's actually much better on Android because of the limitations set by iOS.
Hopefully this is useful! I'll be happy to provide any more insight if you need.
Zaimojin said:
I came over from iOS, after being with the operating system since my first smart phone, the iPhone 3GS. (I had the 4S just before).
I'm very enthralled by my tech gadgets, and the iPhone is no exception. I jailbroke it, tweaked it to my liking, and have been content with its functionality. However, when I saw the price of this phone--also it's factory unlocked--I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to try out Android. I was a bit apprehensive at first to switch over to something completely new, but for me, the transition has been seamless.
I actually avoid much of the cloud-based systems from Apple because I have been with Google to begin with, so the integration of contacts, email, and music were such a relief, and extremely useful. The widgets in Android are analogous to Dashboard X, if you are familiar, but so much better because of their native integration.
I received my Nexus 4 the week of release, and I haven't run into any problems since then. The customization is just as awesome--if you're into that--and it's actually much better on Android because of the limitations set by iOS.
Hopefully this is useful! I'll be happy to provide any more insight if you need.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your train of thought seemed to be the same as mine. I saw the price-point and that it was unlocked and figured "what the heck?" This could be my only opportunity to try something new for such an awesome price. I spend that kind of money on my newest iPhone models plus a case to be locked into AT&T (snow Sprint... whew! Don't get me STARTED) to have the same features that I've already had.
The price point is enough trade off for me to buy out of my contract with Sprint and utilize one of the dealer-lines that I get for working where I do. They all require me to provide my own phone, so this is the perfect chance to do so.
As far as customizations, I haven't done anything since my 3Gs because I haven't jailbroken my 4 or 4s. I would LOVE to do more. It's just so hard to get anything done when your have the stock icons and a stock grid. Hell, my Mars Blackmon "theme" is all kinds of ruined (see the attachment). I'm anxious to get into a few more things.
Also, I, like you, have been using google since the days of the invite. So, I'm pretty sure that will be EASY AS EVER to get all of my contacts and stuff over. I'm excited about that. The thing is, I'm so deep into the Apple ecosystem. For example, my iPhone notes automatically update on my MacBook. The same goes for reminders and notifications. I like that. I feel like I'm going to miss that a lot.
Oh, and how's the music player? I'm really OCD when it comes to the organization of the music on my phone.
I don't mind not having expandable memory or LTE. Hell, I haven't had it for this long. LOL! HSPA+ will be a huge improvement over my 0.23mbps averaging Speed Tests on Sprint's network.
morejaylesswar said:
Your train of thought seemed to be the same as mine. I saw the price-point and that it was unlocked and figured "what the heck?" This could be my only opportunity to try something new for such an awesome price. I spend that kind of money on my newest iPhone models plus a case to be locked into AT&T (snow Sprint... whew! Don't get me STARTED) to have the same features that I've already had.
The price point is enough trade off for me to buy out of my contract with Sprint and utilize one of the dealer-lines that I get for working where I do. They all require me to provide my own phone, so this is the perfect chance to do so.
As far as customizations, I haven't done anything since my 3Gs because I haven't jailbroken my 4 or 4s. I would LOVE to do more. It's just so hard to get anything done when your have the stock icons and a stock grid. Hell, my Mars Blackmon "theme" is all kinds of ruined (see the attachment). I'm anxious to get into a few more things.
Also, I, like you, have been using google since the days of the invite. So, I'm pretty sure that will be EASY AS EVER to get all of my contacts and stuff over. I'm excited about that. The thing is, I'm so deep into the Apple ecosystem. For example, my iPhone notes automatically update on my MacBook. The same goes for reminders and notifications. I like that. I feel like I'm going to miss that a lot.
Oh, and how's the music player? I'm really OCD when it comes to the organization of the music on my phone.
I don't mind not having expandable memory or LTE. Hell, I haven't had it for this long. LOL! HSPA+ will be a huge improvement over my 0.23mbps averaging Speed Tests on Sprint's network.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can empathize with you with syncing of notes/reminders/things Google doesn't handle because I have an iPad as well. It wasn't too huge of a loss for me because I use a Windows laptop, and my school email is integrated with gmail so the tasks work well. It definitely is something to consider though since you have a MacBook.
If I were in your shoes, it would be difficult to lose all those features because of convenient it makes everything. I'm guessing real world testing will be the only way for you to decide if you can be without it or not.
As far as the music player, I'm particularly OCD about the organization as well. It's not bad, nor is it exceptional; it does what it needs to. Since getting the Nexus, I've uploaded my music into Google Music and have been streaming it all since then--I have the grandfathered unlimited data plan from the 3GS--and it hasn't given me much issues.
The only thing I can say for certain that I sorely miss is music controls via the hardware volume buttons. I used them all the time to avoid taking my phone out of my pocket, or looking at my phone while driving. Fortunately, the feature should be brought back with ROMs in the near future, so there's not really much encouraging me to go back to my 4S.
I actually bought the 16 gb Nexus 4 because the 8 gb wasn't enough space, and I've sold the 8gb while waiting for the 16 gb to come in. I'm using my 4S again tentatively until the 16 gb comes in, and I can't believe how important screen real estate is. I really don't appreciate the 3.5 inch screen on the iPhone, nor the elongated 4 inch screen on the 5; the Nexus 4 really nice. The bigger screen size is much more useful for watching videos, and all around usage since you can see more.
morejaylesswar said:
"Glorified dumb phone" -- Couldn't have put it better.
Right now, I'm at the point where customizations are so limited with my iPhone. I want widgets and I want to be able to move my icons where I want them and not be locked to this stupid grid. I've also ALWAYS complained about downloading apps and being kicked out of the app store to my desktop to watch the damned thing download and install. Now that they've added the ability to stay in the app store, it seems like "too little, too late."
I haven't even bothered with jailbreaking my 4s, because I know it still won't do the things that I've seen Android OS phones do.
I feel like I've reached my peak with my iPhone experience and I'd prefer so much more. I just don't want it to feel like some huge trade off because of the little idiosyncratic things that iOS has done for me. It's been very intuitive. I only used Android 2.3 for 5 months before going back to an iPhone. I didn't do much with it other than complain for 2 and a half months! LOL!
From what I hear, 4.2 on the Nexus is the best Android experience yet. That's what made me purchase it without even having a handson experience with it yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You've got to ask yourself a few questions. Do I need any advanced functionality? Is it extremely beneficial to be able to glance at my phone and get a lot of information at once? Are there any platform-specific apps that I use?
My father is an older gentleman and only uses his phone to call, text, check email, and check his bank accounts. He occasionally takes pictures, but he's a photographer so he prefers to use his DSLR. I certainly recommend that users like this can use an iPhone and be more content than they would with Android. The iPhone dictates your usage, which can be useful if you don't really know what you have to do. The problem with Android is that the experience from one app to another can be very different. Further, you have so much freedom, it can be difficult to know what to do.
Also, here's a little album that has some of the customizations I made to my phone. Note the navigation bar colors, the widgets, the different dpi (text size) among different apps. I can really do what I want with the phone, however limited phone OSes may be at the moment.
I will put it simply. If you are considering a switch because iPhone feels too locked down, its because it is and you have been spoiled by Android. Android does all iOS does and much more and to a higher level of complexity. I was a former iPhone user and I love that now I am able to use MY phone however I want, not how Apple intended. I can use my phone as hotspot, create an FTP, share any file via NFC or Bluetooth, use whatever ringtone, download whatever typr file I want and being able to open it, sideload apks, pretty much anything I imagine. And no iTunes, either. Good old drag and drop, usable as a pen drive for that matter.
If you are not somebody who is satisfied by simplicity, but rather seeks customizability and expandability, then it's a no brainer. Especially at that price point.
I have come from a similar position as you morejaylesswar. (iPhone 3 -> 3GS -> 4 -> 4S) I'll give you my quick and dirty opinions after having my Nexus 4 for nearly 3 weeks now. Good and bad.
GOOD:
I love the freedom of android compared to IOS, you can just do so much more. Even more than a jailbroken iphone.
The screen size is great, at first i thought it was maybe a bit big for me but it didn't take long to get used to it, going back to my 4S which i still have seems way to small now in comparison.
Widget, widget, widgets!! i will say no more than that
NFC, i love using NFC tags for switching profiles e.t.c like switching bluetooth on, wifi off and launching the music player for when i get in my car.
EQ for the music player, this was one of my BIG issues with IOS. Why they never added just a simple 3 or 5 band EQ to the iphone i will never know.
BAD:
The camera on the nexus is poor compared to the 4S, outdoor shots in good light are ok but anything else is frustratingly bad, slow shutter speed, noisy images and a flash thats WAY too bright.
Music apps, this is obviously a personal one but if you like using music production apps (Korg e.t.c) you will be disappointed by the lack of apps on the play store, something to do with the lag thats inherent in the android os.
Battery life, my standby time is good but actually using the phone eats the battery like hell, of course this is to be expected with such a large screen but it is just a bit of a shock when first coming over from the 4S.
All in all the goods outweigh the bads for me by a long way, and i can only see me loving android (and my Nexus) more and more as i learn more about android and what i can do with it. I was bored with IOS, i didn't think it had evolved enough in the last few years and had become a bit stale.
morejaylesswar said:
Are there any Nexus 4 users that switched from an iPhone? What features do you miss? Does the Nexus 4 adequately make the transition seamless?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Things I miss about my iPhone 4/5.
iMessages (medium issue)
In areas where I have wifi and no cell signal (ie: work), it was convenient for me to communicate with people who had iOS
Size (minor issue)
Some people will argue this, but my i5 was perfect for jogging, I could hold it in my hand, switch tunes, even text one handed.. a little trickier on the N4 but not impossible.
LTE (minor issue)
Yes I do miss it, it's not as big of an issue but I did love the fast speeds that were available in my city.
Screen (very minor issue)
Side by side the i5's screen (to me) is a tad bit better than the N4.
All in all though, I am very satisfied with the N4. I thought I'd be reaching for my iPhone 5 again (I have a nano converter so I can easily switch it back out) but I find myself just using the N4 exclusively now. As people have said the customization will keep you busy for a while, and just the sheer amount of things you can do vs iOS is just night and day.
Argenist said:
Things I miss about my iPhone 4/5.
iMessages (medium issue)
In areas where I have wifi and no cell signal (ie: work), it was convenient for me to communicate with people who had iOS
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just use Google Talk, it's an open platform that's not just locked to Apple users, you can type, voice call, or video call anyone. Be it Android, Apple, PC or whatever...
The reason I would never touch any Apple product is it's proprietary nature that use to lock users in (hardware connectors, quicktime format, iCloud/iMessage etc)
germanj said:
I will put it simply. If you are considering a switch because iPhone feels too locked down, its because it is and you have been spoiled by Android. Android does all iOS does and much more and to a higher level of complexity. I was a former iPhone user and I love that now I am able to use MY phone however I want, not how Apple intended. I can use my phone as hotspot, create an FTP, share any file via NFC or Bluetooth, use whatever ringtone, download whatever typr file I want and being able to open it, sideload apks, pretty much anything I imagine. And no iTunes, either. Good old drag and drop, usable as a pen drive for that matter.
If you are not somebody who is satisfied by simplicity, but rather seeks customizability and expandability, then it's a no brainer. Especially at that price point.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Being that I am a Mac user, iTunes (unfortunately) is a huge part of my life. I hate the time it takes to sync my iPhone. I mean, seriously, there is years worth of stuff in my iTunes. I'm a music hoarder. '
You're right, dealing with Android everyday, I'm a bit spoiled. In my down times at work, I'd rather browse on the Galaxy S III at my job than my own phone. I haven't gotten into messing around with it for more than what I do on my iPhone and that's just browsing, updating my social networks, and watching videos. It's just because I don't know WHAT to do. I know I can do more, but man, that's all I can do on my iPhone. LOL. I haven't downloaded an app in forever while I'm out because Sprint's network is PAINFULLY SLOW. I wish I would've stuck with AT&T.
Google boasts having over 700,000 apps. I'm looking forward to getting into that. I also haven't owned an Android device since it went to the "Play Store." The 'Market' was one of my big complaints when I used Android. It just wasn't my well known 'App Store.' Google Play has come a HECK OF A LONG WAY. Man, I'm impressed at how clean it looks and how user friendly it is.
Oh yes i forgot one more thing...
The search facility on the Nexus is nowhere near as good as the Spotlight search on IOS. You cannot for example type a name in and have it show all emails, texts, notes, calendar things related to that search. Also there is no option to search within any exchange email accounts you have setup.
To say that google is the king of search engines this is a little disappointing
keepittidy said:
I have come from a similar position as you morejaylesswar. (iPhone 3 -> 3GS -> 4 -> 4S) I'll give you my quick and dirty opinions after having my Nexus 4 for nearly 3 weeks now. Good and bad.
GOOD:
I love the freedom of android compared to IOS, you can just do so much more. Even more than a jailbroken iphone.
The screen size is great, at first i thought it was maybe a bit big for me but it didn't take long to get used to it, going back to my 4S which i still have seems way to small now in comparison.
Widget, widget, widgets!! i will say no more than that
NFC, i love using NFC tags for switching profiles e.t.c like switching bluetooth on, wifi off and launching the music player for when i get in my car.
EQ for the music player, this was one of my BIG issues with IOS. Why they never added just a simple 3 or 5 band EQ to the iphone i will never know.
BAD:
The camera on the nexus is poor compared to the 4S, outdoor shots in good light are ok but anything else is frustratingly bad, slow shutter speed, noisy images and a flash thats WAY too bright.
Music apps, this is obviously a personal one but if you like using music production apps (Korg e.t.c) you will be disappointed by the lack of apps on the play store, something to do with the lag thats inherent in the android os.
Battery life, my standby time is good but actually using the phone eats the battery like hell, of course this is to be expected with such a large screen but it is just a bit of a shock when first coming over from the 4S.
All in all the goods outweigh the bads for me by a long way, and i can only see me loving android (and my Nexus) more and more as i learn more about android and what i can do with it. I was bored with IOS, i didn't think it had evolved enough in the last few years and had become a bit stale.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The music apps is why I have to keep a mobile Apple product. I've already figured that it would be my iPad, since I use that the least. I'm a musician, songwriter, and recording and mix engineer. There are so many apps that make my life easy when it comes to that stuff. I have apps that control my recording consoles, actual mobile DAWs that allow me to sketch ideas out and export them into their full counterparts on my Mac.
I know that I will be having some tradeoff with the Nexus S speaker vs the iPhone speaker. When I'm at home, but not in my studio, I use my iPhone speaker to play the music that I am writing to at the time. I don't use headphones to write, because I need to hear myself as I go over the material.
Damn, another thing I will miss is the ability to control my iTunes if I have something playing there, but am pacing around my workspace while I'm writing. Unless there is an app that allows me to control those kinds of things wirelessly on Android. That'd be pretty dope.
I'm interested to see how the battery performs. Despite EVERYONE saying the 4s had horrible battery life... I've gotten 1.5 to 2 days out of it sometimes. But that's because I don't run many apps because of my network and all I do is read sports news on it right now. I feel so caged, lol.
keepittidy said:
Oh yes i forgot one more thing...
The search facility on the Nexus is nowhere near as good as the Spotlight search on IOS. You cannot for example type a name in and have it show all emails, texts, notes, calendar things related to that search. Also there is no option to search within any exchange email accounts you have setup.
To say that google is the king of search engines this is a little disappointing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google had that on the Galaxy Nexus until Apple sued them over it and made them change the search because "they had that idea patented." (BREAKING: They also have breathing through the nose, walking upright, and the opposable thumb patented, too.) The less informed customers that shop at my location were nervous that Apple would make them forfeit their device over those lawsuits. LOL. It was so strange.
Argenist said:
Things I miss about my iPhone 4/5.
iMessages (medium issue)
In areas where I have wifi and no cell signal (ie: work), it was convenient for me to communicate with people who had iOS
Size (minor issue)
Some people will argue this, but my i5 was perfect for jogging, I could hold it in my hand, switch tunes, even text one handed.. a little trickier on the N4 but not impossible.
LTE (minor issue)
Yes I do miss it, it's not as big of an issue but I did love the fast speeds that were available in my city.
Screen (very minor issue)
Side by side the i5's screen (to me) is a tad bit better than the N4.
All in all though, I am very satisfied with the N4. I thought I'd be reaching for my iPhone 5 again (I have a nano converter so I can easily switch it back out) but I find myself just using the N4 exclusively now. As people have said the customization will keep you busy for a while, and just the sheer amount of things you can do vs iOS is just night and day.
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iMessage has saved my life on more than one occasion. Most recently, my brother hadn't paid his half of the phone bill and our phone service was cut off. I had no idea until I was running late for work because of traffic and had to call into my job to let someone know. Long story short, I was able to turn on my hotspot (provided by my job) and iMessage someone to let them know of the situation.
As far as the screen size, most people laugh at me because of how small the iPhone looks in my hands. I'm 6'8" and can palm a basketball with ease. So, holding the Nexus 4 will probably be more natural to my hand than the iPhone is. I'm just used to it.
Zaimojin said:
I can empathize with you with syncing of notes/reminders/things Google doesn't handle because I have an iPad as well. It wasn't too huge of a loss for me because I use a Windows laptop, and my school email is integrated with gmail so the tasks work well. It definitely is something to consider though since you have a MacBook.
If I were in your shoes, it would be difficult to lose all those features because of convenient it makes everything. I'm guessing real world testing will be the only way for you to decide if you can be without it or not.
As far as the music player, I'm particularly OCD about the organization as well. It's not bad, nor is it exceptional; it does what it needs to. Since getting the Nexus, I've uploaded my music into Google Music and have been streaming it all since then--I have the grandfathered unlimited data plan from the 3GS--and it hasn't given me much issues.
The only thing I can say for certain that I sorely miss is music controls via the hardware volume buttons. I used them all the time to avoid taking my phone out of my pocket, or looking at my phone while driving. Fortunately, the feature should be brought back with ROMs in the near future, so there's not really much encouraging me to go back to my 4S.
I actually bought the 16 gb Nexus 4 because the 8 gb wasn't enough space, and I've sold the 8gb while waiting for the 16 gb to come in. I'm using my 4S again tentatively until the 16 gb comes in, and I can't believe how important screen real estate is. I really don't appreciate the 3.5 inch screen on the iPhone, nor the elongated 4 inch screen on the 5; the Nexus 4 really nice. The bigger screen size is much more useful for watching videos, and all around usage since you can see more.
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Yea, I definitely had to do the 16GB, because of how much music I have. I'm certain that my music will overtake this phone... So much so that I'm thinking about just getting an iPod for my car.
Unlimited data is precisely why I chose T-Mobile over AT&T. When I left AT&T last year, I obviously forfeited my unlimited. I don't use much data now (again, blame Sprint) but if I have to do a lot of cloud based things, I'd much rather be on T-Mobile. As well, in my area, when I speed test the T-Mobile phones at my store, I get about 15-20mbps on TMO HSPA+ 42 over AT&T's 3-5mbps on HSPA+ 14.1.
morejaylesswar said:
Being that I am a Mac user, iTunes (unfortunately) is a huge part of my life. I hate the time it takes to sync my iPhone. I mean, seriously, there is years worth of stuff in my iTunes. I'm a music hoarder. '
You're right, dealing with Android everyday, I'm a bit spoiled. In my down times at work, I'd rather browse on the Galaxy S III at my job than my own phone. I haven't gotten into messing around with it for more than what I do on my iPhone and that's just browsing, updating my social networks, and watching videos. It's just because I don't know WHAT to do. I know I can do more, but man, that's all I can do on my iPhone. LOL. I haven't downloaded an app in forever while I'm out because Sprint's network is PAINFULLY SLOW. I wish I would've stuck with AT&T.
Google boasts having over 700,000 apps. I'm looking forward to getting into that. I also haven't owned an Android device since it went to the "Play Store." The 'Market' was one of my big complaints when I used Android. It just wasn't my well known 'App Store.' Google Play has come a HECK OF A LONG WAY. Man, I'm impressed at how clean it looks and how user friendly it is.
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There are hundreds of apps that make your transition from iTunes a breeze. But for perspective, also note there are no apps of this nature in iOS. For example, Kies software from Samsung. A lot of free apps from the market, such as DoubleTwist, easysync, etc. But you don't even need an app for ios->android, once more thanks to the openness (?) of the OS. On iTunes preferences there is a box that let's it organize everything in their own folders (iTunes media folder, Michael Jackson, bad, for example). Its all organized, you would just need to drag and drop into the phone music folder and Google Music takes care of the rest. Not to mention the plethora of music apps.