N6 vs iPhone 6+ vs Droid Turbo - Nexus 6 General

Hey everyone, I do not mean to start a whole Android vs iOS flame thread, I simply wanted to put up my experiences as I have been a huge advocate of Android for years prior to switching to iPhone for work and being away for a few months prior to getting Nexus 6.
With the Nexus 6 there is so much to love. At first, when it was announced, I really wasn't going to buy it due to the screen size. At the time I had an iPhone 6 and didn't think I wanted a device that was bigger. I was considering buying N5 again, though I didn't want much older hardware. The reason I wanted an Android device again was due to Lollipop!
I hated iOS 6, it looked dated and didn't have anything I was looking for, other than app quality. With iOS7 I loved the design. From every little aspect that Apple added to it, everything felt as a whole and functioned amazing (I do web design for a living). The fact that it worked so well with my Macbook Pro, was also something I liked. With iOS8, my Macbook and my phone talked better than ever before. I could text straight from my computer, resume what I was doing on the go, and vice versa. Made usability testing a breeze, everything synced so well together. Not to mention the smoothness! Oh, and to this day Android does not have a thing that would match iPhone on backup out of the box.
I may sound like an Apple fan boy there, but I really do like both platforms. I missed certain features that Android had big time. The way platform was open sourced and allowed you to really do anything you wanted with it. From deciding on the browser, to the mail app. Granted, you could still do that with iOS, but integration is not even close to being up to par compared to the way apple apps are. Then the keyboard, I hate how you can't have a comma on iOS instead of that stupid voice key. And disabling SIRI only makes the space bar bigger, still no comma... Then the file manager, ability to literally put anything I would like on my device and actually open it without the need to sync with the computer or do anything else...
So, when my business switched to Verizon (ugh DO NOT get a Nexus on their network) we were forced to get the 6+ since 6 was on backorder. I ended up actually getting used to the size quick, and loved the display on it. That made me realize that Nexus 6 would not be too big, and I decided to get it... THERE IS SO MUCH TO LOVE!!! And yes, with Lollipop Android has made huge strides visually, almost to the point where it makes iOS seem dated... almost...
What I love:
Now, all of this is subjective as it is based on all of my experience and others may or may not care about this stuff...
-- Display: Now, iPhone 6+ does produce better whites and more natural colors. Nexus 6 has a very good display and everything is as sharp as it could be. But, it does have higher contrast that produces rich colors. While they may not look as natural, I actually think I prefer it to the Apple IPS. The fact that the phone is the same size but has a larger display makes a difference when watching videos, really makes it look premium.
-- Ambient Display: Genius! It works well. Most of the time I pick my device up, it literally lights it up so I could see my notifications without using much of the battery. Tapping on notification turns the colors on. The transition is so well done, sometimes I wish I have notifications so that I could see it in action .
-- Battery Life: This one is impressive! When I got iPhone 6+ I really thought it had pretty good battery life. I am a heavy user. I often stream Spotify or Pandora, watch videos, play World of Tanks while doing cardio at the gym. iPhone 6+ took ages to charge up, expected for such a large battery. I downloaded world of tanks beta app on the Nexus and while I couldn't really play as lag was too bad (10fps vs 60 on iPhone). So, with that, my usage changed some as I was not playing the game... But, it lasts a really long time. I could leave my device overnight and only lose 1%, very impressive. The stats that I see on Android also really help to determine what is draining and what is not. On iOS... total mess..
-- Charging Time: I didn't believe the hype... But, it is true. An hour and a half charges my phone to full pretty much. Considering how massive the battery is, crazy good! It also begins displaying how long it will take to charge to full, which is very helpful.
Google Music: If you buy your nexus from GPlay... 6 months free of Google Music! If not, 1 month! Either way, check it out. The redesigned app for Android 5.0 offers a ton of features to get it on par with Spotify. Except it now looks better and adds Youtube integration. I ended up canceling my Spotify for it.
-- Software: Now, this is kind of a mixed bag to be honest. Lollipop is very very nice. I did not expect to like material design quite this much, but I do. Everything flows together, there is animation for literally everything. I really like the dialer for example, same goes for contacts app and calendar. Multitasking view is nice and they are much better than what is offered on iOS. I could literally use 10 new apps and the first app I opened would still be where it was left, no need to reload. Now, there is sometimes delay between hitting something and device going to it, but it is not huge. I am not going to go in detail about Android 5.0 as I am sure everyone knows it very well. However, I will say that it is very much improve Android and made it a very good contender to what iOS was offering.
Dislike:
-- Camera: Yes, it is much improved and sounds great on paper. Reality, doesn't even compare to iPhone's camera. Double the shutter time, less focus, bad low light images. Yes, it is better than any other Nexus camera... That doesn't say much though.
-- iMessage: Hate Apple or love it, but there is no denying that iMessage is great! All you need is their phone number and the device will recognize if the user has iMessage or not. If they do, you can literally send HD videos, sound clips, full res images among other things. It also integrates amazing with OS X. I wish there was something like that on Android. Hangouts does not count. You need to use their email address vs phone number, nobody really uses it that much and you can't send the same type of files nor HD video.
-- App Quality: coming from iOS, same apps are either not available or are not as good as what they are on iOS. There are a few exceptions though. There is currently a huge issue with apps not being optimized for iPhone 6 and 6+ resolutions resulting in them looking as if yo are watching a 480p movie on 1080p tv. The Play Store is very sexy though .
-- Chrome: improved a ton since I've last used it. Loads as fast as Safari, but not as responsive. Often times I notice stutter when browsing websites where it is like butter on Safari.
Bottom line:
Android has come a long way since 4.4.4. I am really enjoying my Nexus 6 and I would really like to keep me from going back to iPhone 6+. Google would easily win my heart with something similar to iMessage as I really really miss it . While there are some drawbacks, the positives of Nexus 6 combined with Android 5.0 go such a long way that I can not recommend anyone using anything else. For the price, it is a steal. Comparable Apple product is $200 more. I know that iPhone 6+ is 750, but it doesn't count. iOS takes up way more space than Android leaving close to 11gb of free space on base model. Install couple of good games and have a few videos, and you are screwed... I never had issues with space on Android. And with the Nexus, 32gb base makes it even better!
Verizon:
DO NOT GET IT FOR VERIZON! Now, this may change in the future.. .but right now, do not. Yes, it works on Verizon 3g as well as LTE, but it really ruins your experience. Voice quality is OK at best as it isn't using VOLTE and Voice + Data doesn't work... If you are like me, this is a big deal. Also, if you are on the go and call a number, data obviously goes out. Problem with that is that Google Caller ID does not work at that point. I find that feature very useful. Voicemail is a nightmare. Not only is there no dedicated voicemail app, but you DO NOT get voicemail notifications.. you need to dial in order to get them. Google Voice? Forget it! I was testing it and noticed something odd... ALL CIRCUITS ARE BUSY. Began testing it... happens almost half of the time. Basically, phone rings... but instead of going to your voicemail it has a 10 second pause and all circuits are busy prompt happens.

air2k57 said:
Verizon:
DO NOT GET IT FOR VERIZON! Now, this may change in the future.. .but right now, do not. Yes, it works on Verizon 3g as well as LTE, but it really ruins your experience. Voice quality is OK at best as it isn't using VOLTE and Voice + Data doesn't work... If you are like me, this is a big deal. Also, if you are on the go and call a number, data obviously goes out. Problem with that is that Google Caller ID does not work at that point. I find that feature very useful. Voicemail is a nightmare. Not only is there no dedicated voicemail app, but you DO NOT get voicemail notifications.. you need to dial in order to get them. Google Voice? Forget it! I was testing it and noticed something odd... ALL CIRCUITS ARE BUSY. Began testing it... happens almost half of the time. Basically, phone rings... but instead of going to your voicemail it has a 10 second pause and all circuits are busy prompt happens.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Re: VVM: They need to update their Nexus VVM app as it does not support 5.0. You will not get notifications if you had VVM before, as notifications for standard Voicemail use SMS. Those notifications are disabled if VVM is active on the account.
Google Voice issues have NOTHING to do with VZW.. works fine for me.
Also, missed iMessage for about a day after I got rid of my iPhone back in January. Don't see the point.

digitaloutsider said:
Re: VVM: They need to update their Nexus VVM app as it does not support 5.0. You will not get notifications if you had VVM before, as notifications for standard Voicemail use SMS. Those notifications are disabled if VVM is active on the account.
Google Voice issues have NOTHING to do with VZW.. works fine for me.
Also, missed iMessage for about a day after I got rid of my iPhone back in January. Don't see the point.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I text quite a bit and we always share small videos, picutures, etc. It is nice to see when people are typing to you, to not have any limitations with file sized and video sizes.
I can't miss many calls and when almost half of my calls have issues due to that problem I can't take the chance.
It will be awhile before they allow VOLTE on the Nexus 6 or even update their app as they haven't even announced the device. Now, would the update work on Nexus 6 devices not purchased through VZW?

air2k57 said:
I hated iOS 6, it looked dated and didn't have anything I was looking for, other than app quality. With iOS7 I loved the design. From every little aspect that Apple added to it, everything felt as a whole and functioned amazing (I do web design for a living). The fact that it worked so well with my Macbook Pro, was also something I liked. With iOS8, my Macbook and my phone talked better than ever before. I could text straight from my computer, resume what I was doing on the go, and vice versa. Made usability testing a breeze, everything synced so well together. Not to mention the smoothness! Oh, and to this day Android does not have a thing that would match iPhone on backup out of the box.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you want SMS and Calling from computer, and other things, there is Airdroid app for years. Apple solution is basically ''copy'' of these app.

I agree with many points you made. The biggest thing for me now is the width compared to the 6+ and iMessages. I love being able to send large files, videos and many photos. Hate I can't do that on android. I'm a big dude with big hands so I don't have a problem using phones this big, but some are more comfortable to hold. At this point, while I wait for development on N6, I fancy my jailbroken 6+ because it's not as wide and broken in with my setup. I prefer a jailbroken iPhone on most days to Android honestly. The ios integration with it's apps is just it. I know ios is simple to use and you can't do this and you can't do that, but with a jailbreak I can't think of one thing I need that I don't have on my phone. Two things I can't do on ios is flash ROMS and install apk files right from root explorer, which I love Android for. With a jailbreak there's some sort of tweak that makes every app "I" use better or more useful in some way on ios. I just always get bored and need to flash something so Android is my fix when I want to do my own tinkering with the phone and flash a couple ROMS.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

Great read....as i am on Verizon and waiting it out to see if they are really going to support the device!
Also Google Hangouts is essentially the same as iMessage...but for android. I use hangouts for sms and instant messaging and its integrated with my google voice #. It's much better imo!
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app

Tsoflyyup said:
Great read....as i am on Verizon and waiting it out to see if they are really going to support the device!
Also Google Hangouts is essentially the same as iMessage...but for android. I use hangouts for sms and instant messaging and its integrated with my google voice #. It's much better imo!
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True, but it isn't as convenient. Most of my friends seem to have iMessage, I do not even need to ask anyone if they have an iPhone. I like how it defaults to it and the way it integrates. Hangouts I need to get friends to download it, tell me their email address and add them. Too much of a pain, most people on Android don't even seem to know what their Gmail is. And even then, video and message sharing isn't as good as it is on iMessage.
You know, I am not happy with Verizon. T-Mobile had amazing voice quality and while N6 isn't VOLTE enabled on T-Mobile yet, they said it will be in early 2015. Verizon... not a word. If you value Voice + Data as well as VVM... wait till they release it. I am sure that even if they do decide to update N6, it will only update Verizon variant.
Thing is, Verizon is all about pushing their branded phones with ton of bloat. I was shocked when the built in SMS app asked me to pay for their service on droid turbo. They never want to support something that isn't branded to all hell by them. I think it will be awhile before VOLTE is working on N6 on Verizon.

Related

My first week with the Evo 4g coming from an iPhone 3G

For the first five days I had a huge issue with the battery draining while in standby, and because of that I expected to return the phone. Now that I have logged out of google talk and changed to CDMA auto it's doing much better... I seem to get at least 6 hours of continuous use with little power draining when the screen is off, which I can definitely live with.
Here are the things I love about the evo:
* Being able to plug it in to my computer and mount it as a drive. So simple, and so frustrating that apple won't allow it.
* Google navigation. It's awesome, and much safer since it has text to speech.
* The screen size is amazing... I love that it lets me view docs in meetings so I hardly have to print anything
* Wifi tethering
Here are my main issues, the big ones that might make me have to return it:
* Horrible wifi reception. I have yet to pick up a signal at work, and I have no problem with my iPhone & laptop.
* It sucks as a media player. I have a huge library full of lossless files, and I don't have the energy to convert everything (yes I've tried doubletwist and andless but I can't get it to recognize the artist/album/songnames properly). I listen to a lot of music so this is a major PITA for me.
* Build quality kind of scares me, light leakage etc.; it makes me feel like I need to get the insurance. This plan is costing me way more than an iPhone 4 would (since I still have two other lines on AT&T with one year left on the contract and I get a lower corporate discount) and I hate the thought of paying any more.
The evo is not without it's imperfections, but I love it so far and shudder at the thought of having to go back to an iPhone. In fact I picked up my 3G today and it felt like a sad pathetic joke, like going back to one of those 12 lb. i486 laptops from the 90's. And nobody wants that.
Gary
cloudyphiz said:
For the first five days I had a huge issue with the battery draining while in standby, and because of that I expected to return the phone. Now that I have logged out of google talk and changed to CDMA auto it's doing much better... I seem to get at least 6 hours of continuous use with little power draining when the screen is off, which I can definitely live with.
Here are the things I love about the evo:
* Being able to plug it in to my computer and mount it as a drive. So simple, and so frustrating that apple won't allow it.
* Google navigation. It's awesome, and much safer since it has text to speech.
* The screen size is amazing... I love that it lets me view docs in meetings so I hardly have to print anything
* Wifi tethering
Here are my main issues, the big ones that might make me have to return it:
* Horrible wifi reception. I have yet to pick up a signal at work, and I have no problem with my iPhone & laptop.
* It sucks as a media player. I have a huge library full of lossless files, and I don't have the energy to convert everything (yes I've tried doubletwist and andless but I can't get it to recognize the artist/album/songnames properly). I listen to a lot of music so this is a major PITA for me.
* Build quality kind of scares me, light leakage etc.; it makes me feel like I need to get the insurance. This plan is costing me way more than an iPhone 4 would (since I still have two other lines on AT&T with one year left on the contract and I get a lower corporate discount) and I hate the thought of paying any more.
The evo is not without it's imperfections, but I love it so far and shudder at the thought of having to go back to an iPhone. In fact I picked up my 3G today and it felt like a sad pathetic joke, like going back to one of those 12 lb. i486 laptops from the 90's. And nobody wants that.
Gary
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Welcome!
Thanks for your iPhone/Evo thoughts.
I have some friends at work that are curious about Evo and how it compares to an iPhone.
I've been with Sprint for 10 years, so I've never had an iPhone.
These XDA forums are full of really good folks that want to help out.
Enjoy you Evo!
I also came from a 3G and have similar opinions:
Screen - Damn this screen is beautiful. It definitely is hard to go back to the iPhone just because of this. In addition, I can see much more on the screen without having to zoom (unsure if this is because of the larger screen or increased resolution, or both). On the other hand, it does seems more reflective than the iPhone. I have a hard time seeing the screen in the sun because of all the glare. It's very nice indoors though.
Syncing - much better than the iPhone. iTunes is okay when it works but it just has too many problems. Plus, being able to manually put things on the android without having to root is awesome.
Navigation - Wow. Google navigation blew me away when I first used it. Streetview is a nice touch. Nothing compared to that on the iPhone unless you pay a decent amount.
Customization - being able to root and apply all sorts of different ROMS is pretty badass. Currently, I'm using a Froyo ROM and I have to say... much better than HTC Sense. I guess I like stock android better (I hate HTCs keyboard - too crowded).
Notifications - hot damn I love notifications on android. This is what may keep me on android. It works so well with gmail.
Widgets are awesome
My issues that may swing me back to the iPhone (and please, if I can fix any of these issues, let me know):
I hate having to press the power button to wake from sleep. Maybe I'm just used to pressing the bottom button on the iPhone, but it was just so much easier for me. Of course, not a deal breaker, but very annoying.
It could be just me, but the screen seems hypersensitive. When I'm scrolling up and down, I'm constantly opening apps/menus that I don't want to. It seems to be getting better, so maybe I just need to get used to it.
I'm in Hawaii and the 4G is supposed to be pretty good -- looking at the coverage maps on sprint shows mostly blue where I live. However, I seem to get spotty coverage and the speeds compared to 3G aren't what they advertise. I was so looking forward to 4G. To add insult to injury, leaving 4G on drains the battery like no other.
I'll probably get flamed for this, but I think most people agree the iPhone's OS is much more polished. It doesn't help that both HTC and Sprint add applications and background processes. Scrolling on the android is a tad slower and a little more jerky. One thing that bugs the hell out of me is, on HTC sense, if you press the applications icon, open an application, but decide to go back to the applications screen, it doesn't do that! It goes back to the home screen. That frustrates me so much. Froyo doesn't do that so right now I'm pretty happy.
I can't think of anything else, but I'm pretty torn right now about keeping the EVO or getting an iPhone 4. Any advice?
binxer said:
I also came from a 3G and have similar opinions:
Screen - Damn this screen is beautiful. It definitely is hard to go back to the iPhone just because of this. In addition, I can see much more on the screen without having to zoom (unsure if this is because of the larger screen or increased resolution, or both). On the other hand, it does seems more reflective than the iPhone. I have a hard time seeing the screen in the sun because of all the glare. It's very nice indoors though.
Syncing - much better than the iPhone. iTunes is okay when it works but it just has too many problems. Plus, being able to manually put things on the android without having to root is awesome.
Navigation - Wow. Google navigation blew me away when I first used it. Streetview is a nice touch. Nothing compared to that on the iPhone unless you pay a decent amount.
Customization - being able to root and apply all sorts of different ROMS is pretty badass. Currently, I'm using a Froyo ROM and I have to say... much better than HTC Sense. I guess I like stock android better (I hate HTCs keyboard - too crowded).
Notifications - hot damn I love notifications on android. This is what may keep me on android. It works so well with gmail.
Widgets are awesome
My issues that may swing me back to the iPhone (and please, if I can fix any of these issues, let me know):
I hate having to press the power button to wake from sleep. Maybe I'm just used to pressing the bottom button on the iPhone, but it was just so much easier for me. Of course, not a deal breaker, but very annoying.
It could be just me, but the screen seems hypersensitive. When I'm scrolling up and down, I'm constantly opening apps/menus that I don't want to. It seems to be getting better, so maybe I just need to get used to it.
I'm in Hawaii and the 4G is supposed to be pretty good -- looking at the coverage maps on sprint shows mostly blue where I live. However, I seem to get spotty coverage and the speeds compared to 3G aren't what they advertise. I was so looking forward to 4G. To add insult to injury, leaving 4G on drains the battery like no other.
I'll probably get flamed for this, but I think most people agree the iPhone's OS is much more polished. It doesn't help that both HTC and Sprint add applications and background processes. Scrolling on the android is a tad slower and a little more jerky. One thing that bugs the hell out of me is, on HTC sense, if you press the applications icon, open an application, but decide to go back to the applications screen, it doesn't do that! It goes back to the home screen. That frustrates me so much. Froyo doesn't do that so right now I'm pretty happy.
I can't think of anything else, but I'm pretty torn right now about keeping the EVO or getting an iPhone 4. Any advice?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have currently an iphone 3Gs and just got the Evo opening day. I am just now able to really install and get a feel for the EVO since we just got back from vacation. I am becoming more and more pleased with the EVO each time I use it. THere are many things that the EVO can do that iphone cant do even being Jailbroken, which my Iphone is. As i use it i will report more. Right now im having loads of fun with my EVO. Yes, I will get the iphone 4 when it comes out. I guess you can tell im a gadget kind of person. There are just a few things with the EVO that has to be fixed, and I feel like it will be much better with the Froyo.
One thing I really like about the EVO is its browsing. How it resizes the screen and paragraphs so you dont have to scroll right to left. Iphone doesnt have that. Yet. Maybe the new update. Will wait and see. But for now, Evo is in my pocket and iphone is on the bedroom nitestand.
binxer said:
I also came from a 3G and have similar opinions:
Screen - Damn this screen is beautiful. It definitely is hard to go back to the iPhone just because of this. In addition, I can see much more on the screen without having to zoom (unsure if this is because of the larger screen or increased resolution, or both). On the other hand, it does seems more reflective than the iPhone. I have a hard time seeing the screen in the sun because of all the glare. It's very nice indoors though.
Syncing - much better than the iPhone. iTunes is okay when it works but it just has too many problems. Plus, being able to manually put things on the android without having to root is awesome.
Navigation - Wow. Google navigation blew me away when I first used it. Streetview is a nice touch. Nothing compared to that on the iPhone unless you pay a decent amount.
Customization - being able to root and apply all sorts of different ROMS is pretty badass. Currently, I'm using a Froyo ROM and I have to say... much better than HTC Sense. I guess I like stock android better (I hate HTCs keyboard - too crowded).
Notifications - hot damn I love notifications on android. This is what may keep me on android. It works so well with gmail.
Widgets are awesome
My issues that may swing me back to the iPhone (and please, if I can fix any of these issues, let me know):
I hate having to press the power button to wake from sleep. Maybe I'm just used to pressing the bottom button on the iPhone, but it was just so much easier for me. Of course, not a deal breaker, but very annoying.
It could be just me, but the screen seems hypersensitive. When I'm scrolling up and down, I'm constantly opening apps/menus that I don't want to. It seems to be getting better, so maybe I just need to get used to it.
I'm in Hawaii and the 4G is supposed to be pretty good -- looking at the coverage maps on sprint shows mostly blue where I live. However, I seem to get spotty coverage and the speeds compared to 3G aren't what they advertise. I was so looking forward to 4G. To add insult to injury, leaving 4G on drains the battery like no other.
I'll probably get flamed for this, but I think most people agree the iPhone's OS is much more polished. It doesn't help that both HTC and Sprint add applications and background processes. Scrolling on the android is a tad slower and a little more jerky. One thing that bugs the hell out of me is, on HTC sense, if you press the applications icon, open an application, but decide to go back to the applications screen, it doesn't do that! It goes back to the home screen. That frustrates me so much. Froyo doesn't do that so right now I'm pretty happy.
I can't think of anything else, but I'm pretty torn right now about keeping the EVO or getting an iPhone 4. Any advice?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To shut off the locksreen go to the matket and get no lock.
After it is installed just launch it and click on the lock.
After that you will just heve to hit the volume button to bring upi the home screen.
I had pretty bad light leakage on the bottom after the first couple days, now that part of the screen has lifted by about 0.5mm and it moves when I squeeze down. This thing has to go back . Just for the hell of it I tried browsing the web on my 3G... I can't imagine going back to such a tiny screen, but it looks like I have to. ugh.
Gary
Cool good info here.
cloudyphiz said:
I love it so far and shudder at the thought of having to go back to an iPhone. In fact I picked up my 3G today and it felt like a sad pathetic joke
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LoL
You sir... have had an AWAKENING!
I came from the iPhone and I can personally tell you this thing DESTROYS the iPhone..
1. CALENDAR SYNC via Exchange - Calendar use is WAY better on Android - one touch navigation of the "Where" clickable numbers(granted the iphone had this) and a beautiful widget to go on the front screen... another widget to show me my upcoming appointment and another to make a "Calendar folder" which makes it a bit easier
2. Notifications, Multi-tasking... Ahh the beauty of using Pandora while writing an e-mail or text message instead of going out of the song each time... being on Skype and Facebook Chat at all times and being that much easier to get ahold of (without the phone call to use my minutes)... LOVE IT
3. Screen Size, Screen Brightness - the screen destroys the iPhone and I have no problem with the touch at all..
4. Apps - I love the openness of the apps.. any major app I used (Pandora, Slacker, etc) are on both Android and iPhone (granted they are usually a bit more developed on the iPhone but I get things like MP3 Explorer that let me download songs when I want them.. something I would need to jailbreak my iPhone for...
5. Customized Home Screen - No need to talk about that... way better then iPhone... I don't feel like I'm the same as every other iPhone user
Okay Okay I coudl go on literally forever ... My iPhone feels like a dinosaur.. Facetime will probably be better video chat then QIK - because QIK SUCKS!!! But its only over WiFi and iPhone 4 to iPhone 4... so I'm not that envious..
One bad thing - battery... granted you get way more power and you can expect that the battery won't be as good... and I'm near a charger most of the time anyways... but I wish they woulda put a super super strong battery in this thing .. I'd be willing to deal with a thicker phone for a battery that's twice as capable!
I just don't get why android can't play all video types.. I'm very surprised that someone hasn't figured out a way to make this work.
jtadeo said:
I just don't get why android can't play all video types.. I'm very surprised that someone hasn't figured out a way to make this work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah.. but my guess.. soon there will be an app on the market that will be better and use more formats.
Like most things on android.. if you dont like it.. you can find an app for that!
Mod. edit: Warez link removed. RockPlayer is a beta, the developer didn't consent it's distribution. Consider this 1st warning!http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=6805512#post6805512http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=6805512#post6805512http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=699824
cloudyphiz said:
For the first five days I had a huge issue with the battery draining while in standby, and because of that I expected to return the phone. Now that I have logged out of google talk and changed to CDMA auto it's doing much better... I seem to get at least 6 hours of continuous use with little power draining when the screen is off, which I can definitely live with.
Here are the things I love about the evo:
* Being able to plug it in to my computer and mount it as a drive. So simple, and so frustrating that apple won't allow it.
* Google navigation. It's awesome, and much safer since it has text to speech.
* The screen size is amazing... I love that it lets me view docs in meetings so I hardly have to print anything
* Wifi tethering
Here are my main issues, the big ones that might make me have to return it:
* Horrible wifi reception. I have yet to pick up a signal at work, and I have no problem with my iPhone & laptop.
* It sucks as a media player. I have a huge library full of lossless files, and I don't have the energy to convert everything (yes I've tried doubletwist and andless but I can't get it to recognize the artist/album/songnames properly). I listen to a lot of music so this is a major PITA for me.
* Build quality kind of scares me, light leakage etc.; it makes me feel like I need to get the insurance. This plan is costing me way more than an iPhone 4 would (since I still have two other lines on AT&T with one year left on the contract and I get a lower corporate discount) and I hate the thought of paying any more.
The evo is not without it's imperfections, but I love it so far and shudder at the thought of having to go back to an iPhone. In fact I picked up my 3G today and it felt like a sad pathetic joke, like going back to one of those 12 lb. i486 laptops from the 90's. And nobody wants that.
Gary
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good comparison. One app you might wanna try for you music needs is btunes. It is basically like the iphone music player. It does cost money but so far its the best one I have used. I have the Hero so I do not know if it works on the EVO yet but you might wanna give it a try. Also when you buy a app if you havent figured it out yet you have 24hrs trial if you dont like it uninstall and you will be refunded. Hope that helps
dwertz said:
Mod. edit: No it's not. Warez link removed. This is a beta, the developer didn't consent it's distribution.http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=6805512#post6805512http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=6805512#post6805512
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it a free program?
it is in beta right now so for this version yes

Converts ahoy!

So both my parents and 2 of my brothers use iphones (various flavors except the iphone 4)...but all of them have been jealous of my Nexus One since I got it, none of them even want the iphone 4 since they've already seen what my n1 is capable of, and I just helped my dad order his very own today.
Just thought I'd share =)
MaximReapage said:
So both my parents and 2 of my brothers use iphones (various flavors except the iphone 4)...but all of them have been jealous of my Nexus One since I got it, none of them even want the iphone 4 since they've already seen what my n1 is capable of, and I just helped my dad order his very own today.
Just thought I'd share =)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Congrats, they wont regret it.
What were the big things that won them over?
My 50+ (cough) year old mum was the same.
She even went and bought it from google a few months back without my even knowing. It was the speed that she loved. And all the handy little apps/features. Like the app for videoing while its in the car dock.
Former iPhone user here. Bought an iPhone 4 this morning just to see how I liked it. I couldn't be happier to have a nexus! The screen on the 4 is certainly nice, but the colors and saturation on the Nexus are still much better, and the OS flexibility can't be beat. Recently converted my girlfriend too
Wife is getting an Aria today, has a 3G right now. She just liked the way my Nexus felt, how it can be tweaked and adjusted easily. She's not a big techie, and she has her reservations (itunes, apps she uses, etc) but I'm getting those details ironed out for her.
I'll be glad to finally have buying her the damned iphone for her birthday a few years ago off my conscience. She really wanted it, but I felt like a tool buying it regardless.
Very nice. Good work!
I have a family member that loves it, but they've been using a Mac for so long they have tons of contacts and itunes junk that they insist they can only use an iphone for... but refuse to get off verizon. It's frustrating because they really like android and all it can do, but are limiting themselves to staying in such a small world.
Everyone else I show it to, loves it and would get it right now if they could afford it.
I would say don't push too hard. I'm an Android developer, so obviously I want as many handsets in as many hands as possible. But the platform is still immature when compared to iOS (I cannot comment on Froyo).
There are some very fundamental ui caveats still lurking within Android, and attempting to 'convert' non-techie relatives who enjoy Apple's idiot-proof experience may put them off the platform in the future when it gets a bit more user friendly (I hear this is the main goal of Gingerbread).
But, if they're willing to put up with the occasional task-management and UI bugs, I'm all for expanding the Android flock, ye.
Made a few of my friends and family convert too. Specially after this.
Just tested out my coworkers iphone 4. I am very impressed with the camera and noticed how clear the text are in the browser, everything else though my Froyo Frf85 Nexus just dominated.
Here are basis of my comparison:
-Iphone looks real gorgeous, maybe a little bit sexier than the nexus.
-Iphone 4 multi touch is a lot better than the nexus.
-Checkered image when you scroll down really fast on the iphone browser.
-Iphone virtual keyboard is more refined.
-Youtube video quality is noticeably better on the Nexus
-Web Browsing on the Nexus is a lot faster than the iphone, 5-10second difference even with flash on.
-Camera on the iPhone 4 is better, but its a close call.
-Customization on the iphone is still limited.
-Multi tasking is limited on the iphone 4, I probably wasn't using it right but it stopped the music after a certain number of apps opened.
-Market apps on the iphone are ridiculously expensive.
-Sound quality are about the same. I have a kernel with audio hack so that's probably why.
-App rendering is obviously faster with JIT.
Other things:
-OTA is not available for iPhone, you will need a comp to update.
-Market apps are expensive and not refundable on the iPhone.
-I love the trackball on the nexus. I use it a lot.
-Navigation on the Nexus is free and would compare to the 50$ navigation app for the iPhone.
-Flash support on the nexus.
-Tethering for the Nexus.
-Speed advantage on the Nexus.
That's all I can think of for now.
koolin said:
What were the big things that won them over?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Flexibility/customization, Android-specific apps (quickdesk, y5, locale, etc) coming unlocked, 1 GHz CPU, Google Navigation, Flash, high-res screen (compared to previous iphones, obviously...still a close call with iphone 4), and the big one for my dad was the charging pins and interchangeable batteries (I take these for granted now!).
clickwir said:
I have a family member that loves it, but they've been using a Mac for so long they have tons of contacts and itunes junk that they insist they can only use an iphone for... but refuse to get off verizon. It's frustrating because they really like android and all it can do, but are limiting themselves to staying in such a small world.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
itunes you say?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IY3U2GXhz44
Start at 33 minutes =)
Yeah, once i bought my Nexus One I showed it to my co-workers and they were very interested in it. One of them I converted from a BBerry to the Eris, and another from a dumb phone to the Droid.
I never realized how Android gains my favor so quickly
nexus one has one key requirement iphone never has: ogg vorbis support (90% of music I encoded are in ogg vorbis), so I can play them right out of the box without installing ANY codec.
Now I collected official IMs for nexus one (MSN, Yahoo, AIM, and gtalk of course), can iphone do it?
After having my nexus one updated to FRF85B, I can purchase slingplayer and it can play over either 3G or wifi, can iphone do it?
Another benefit I don't use much with Froyo: native wifi tethering. This is the main reason I made a switch from WM to Android and get Nexus One. The phone is the most expensive one I ever had even it's unlocked, but this is also one of the best investment I did so far.
MaximReapage said:
itunes you say?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IY3U2GXhz44
Start at 33 minutes =)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, that is a quite nice feature. I sure hope they get it working well.
However, this person has a lot of professional contacts in their (I don't know what it's called) Mac Mail.?. And I suppose the iphone has great (as I would expect nothing less) synchronization with itunes and mail contacts.
Now, if this was someone that was just a casual user, no problem. Suck it up and re-type in your contacts in gmail. But they've got business cards, letterhead, etc etc. Now, if an Android device can integrate with that and make it as seamless (or nearly) as the iphone, they'd be on android already.
plastix said:
My 50+ (cough) year old mum was the same.
She even went and bought it from google a few months back without my even knowing. It was the speed that she loved. And all the handy little apps/features. Like the app for videoing while its in the car dock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What app do you use for video while in the car dock? What does the app do?
Great review, thanks.
rjhay22 said:
Made a few of my friends and family convert too. Specially after this.
Just tested out my coworkers iphone 4. I am very impressed with the camera and noticed how clear the text are in the browser, everything else though my Froyo Frf85 Nexus just dominated.
Here are basis of my comparison:
-Iphone looks real gorgeous, maybe a little bit sexier than the nexus.
-Iphone 4 multi touch is a lot better than the nexus.
-Checkered image when you scroll down really fast on the iphone browser.
-Iphone virtual keyboard is more refined.
-Youtube video quality is noticeably better on the Nexus
-Web Browsing on the Nexus is a lot faster than the iphone, 5-10second difference even with flash on.
-Camera on the iPhone 4 is better, but its a close call.
-Customization on the iphone is still limited.
-Multi tasking is limited on the iphone 4, I probably wasn't using it right but it stopped the music after a certain number of apps opened.
-Market apps on the iphone are ridiculously expensive.
-Sound quality are about the same. I have a kernel with audio hack so that's probably why.
-App rendering is obviously faster with JIT.
Other things:
-OTA is not available for iPhone, you will need a comp to update.
-Market apps are expensive and not refundable on the iPhone.
-I love the trackball on the nexus. I use it a lot.
-Navigation on the Nexus is free and would compare to the 50$ navigation app for the iPhone.
-Flash support on the nexus.
-Tethering for the Nexus.
-Speed advantage on the Nexus.
That's all I can think of for now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
clickwir said:
Yes, that is a quite nice feature. I sure hope they get it working well.
However, this person has a lot of professional contacts in their (I don't know what it's called) Mac Mail.?. And I suppose the iphone has great (as I would expect nothing less) synchronization with itunes and mail contacts.
Now, if this was someone that was just a casual user, no problem. Suck it up and re-type in your contacts in gmail. But they've got business cards, letterhead, etc etc. Now, if an Android device can integrate with that and make it as seamless (or nearly) as the iphone, they'd be on android already.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If iphone is capable of this, copy contacts to SIM card, then move onto phone memory on new device...it's what I did when I moved from my Fuze to my N1 =D
MaximReapage said:
If iphone is capable of this, copy contacts to SIM card, then move onto phone memory on new device...it's what I did when I moved from my Fuze to my N1 =D
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the sim card itself does not have a lot of space, basically its just a id number that the gsm company then reads and allows access to the function that are paid for based on the id number.
Blueman101 said:
the sim card itself does not have a lot of space, basically its just a id number that the gsm company then reads and allows access to the function that are paid for based on the id number.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just successfully copied 363 contacts from my phone memory onto my SIM card. Any idea how many contacts she has?
You can export contacts from the mac address book to gmail which then automatically syncs with the nexus and hey presto your mac contacts are on your phone. Don't know about letter heads but everything else worked for me. Google it.

People who Switched from iPhone 4 to Focus?

to the people who switched from the iphone 4 to focus. any thoughts?
In the last year and a half, I've gone through a Nexus One, iPhone 4, Samsung Captivate, and now I'm on a Focus.
TLDR version at the bottom, since after writing this out I realized this is a mini essay..
Here are my thoughts:
Android is the OS you should be on if you want (nearly) complete control and lots of features not necessarily supported by your carrier (free tethering!). Unfortunately, assuming you're on AT&T, your options for serious Android phones are limited to a Nexus One or a Captivate. Between the two, I actually preferred the Nexus. Slightly weaker CPU, but you'll get updates pretty immediately, and it's a lot easier to mod that phone vs the Captivate. Also, I never had a single problem with the Nexus One as a GPS unit, but like many others my Captivate was sketchy at best when it came to GPS.
So far, the iPhone in my experience has the best battery life. I never really had to worry about it, and I'm a fairly heavy text/web browser/email user. It's obviously going to have the widest selection of apps, though that didn't necessary mean they were all useful. If games are your thing, the iPhone was also ahead of that by a long shot. However, without jailbreaking, it really is locked down. Tethering through AT&T's rate is a joke, seeing as it uses your already purchased data plan, and outside of changing your ringtones and wallpapers, you're fairly limited in customizations. Despite this, there isn't currently an option to tether at all on WP7.
Now having a Focus with WP7, I can say that the interface is very refreshing. Sometimes I just want to stare at the home screen because 1) the live tiles are cool and 2) the SAMOLED screen is amazing with a black background and brightly colored tiles. The web browsing experience is fast, but noticeably lacking compared to Android and iPhone (due to lack of webkit/html5). It's not a deal breaker by any means, but it was something I noted. The keyboard is about on par with the iPhone.
Build quality compared to the iPhone feels just as sturdy, in my opinion, despite the plastic body. It actually feels better in the hand to me, because of the curve back and slight lip on the bottom. It's also noticeably lighter to hold and carry around. So far the battery is holding up nicely with moderate to heavy text/web browsing/email/staring at pretty tiles.
Call quality was good, found the ear piece to be a bit clearer and louder than the iPhone. The biggest difference for me at the moment is of course the Marketplace. This is where the iPhone's ~4 years on the market really shows the gap. But given that this is Microsoft we're talking about, I don't expect their market to go the way of the Pre (which I also briefly owned) and be a barren wasteland (comparatively).
TLDR
iPhone 4 has ~4 years of exposure behind it with it's marketplace and iOS functionality, and it shows. Focus/WP7 has a fresh UI and is promising with Microsoft backing it. Build quality is very different between the two, but both feel sturdy and reliable. If you're making the leap to Focus/WP7 from an iPhone 4, you shouldn't have any big regrets, so long as you're not tied deeply into the iTunes ecosystem or your life depends on certain iOS only games.
I have both still and am trying one against the other for everyday use for my needs. So far, the Focus lacks on a few things, but no deal breakers, as the functionality should come with future updates like cut and paste.
Since I fired up the Focus, it has given me hope that this OS will give Apple a run for the money.
I like the iPhone 4 but the whole iOS thing has gotten kind of stale for me after 2 1/2 years of iPhones so I bought a Focus to try out and so far so good. It lacks many of the nicities and features in the iPhone but overall it's been easier to use, it's MUCH lighter and doesn't feel like brick in my hand. I'm also a big user of Slingplayer and man, there's no comparison with the video and audio. HD shows up as bright, colorful and full screen and the audio is much louder and more understandable then when using the iPhone or iPad. I still have 3 weeks to return the Focus and I'm not committed yet but it's a damn good Rev 1 phone.
I agree with all of you but for me there have been some things I just don't understand why MS did what they did.
Notifications - There is a noticeable space at the top of the screen that hardly used. It is sometimes used for notifications as in text messages but not for email or twitter notifications.
Keyboard - In portrait its on par with iphone and even MT Android but why not a full landscape keyboard have you guys seen it? The empty space at the top of the screen is there on the side now and wasted.
Phone - 2 keystrokes to get a dialer why and to make it worse why no smart dialing in the dialer. I know you can use the search button but its not the same.
From a hardware perspective the phone is great light and long battery life so far. I just wish MS would have polished it a little more I dont really see a lot of Apple users jumping ship to it. Just my 2cents
boogieboogie said:
to the people who switched from the iphone 4 to focus. any thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have both a Droid Incredible and an iPhone 4 and I love the Focus and WP7 interface over both. what I'm having trouble with is the little things that allow you to control the phone more that are still missing from WP7, probably because MS rushed it to get it out before the holidays. What I miss and need on WP7 include:
A Sound Profiler that allows you to control various preset sound modes and volumes for Alarm, ringer, music, system and keyboard clicks...why is this missing
An equalizer in the zune music App
An integrated favorites app for quick dialing. I'm using the tile approach for some contacts, but it does take more real estate than necesary.
Ability to change system font size. Some of the fonts are a bit too large.
Background processing for Facebook, Twitter, and some of those other things that require that.
That ability to connect to hidden Wifi networks! Come on MS this is suppose to be a corporate phone, corporate networks are often hidden. how do you miss that!
Abiltity to fast dial using the number keys in the phone app, ala HTC Sense! Much quicker to look up contacts that way.
Contact Pictures in Call history and SMS. they are everywhere else, why not there.
Native turn by turn directions Like Android has. Come on, this is a big one the iPhone is missing out of the box and MS is making the same mistake.
the notification system is a little wacky on WP 7...if the tiles that are changing are within view, then you are good, or if you are on the lock screen you can see certain things change via the icons at the bottom, but I'd still like to see an android like pull down.
this isn't microsoft, but can someone tell me why Google Reader doesn't format on WP7 and Windows Mobile like it does on the iPhone and Android. It's annoying! and none of the Google Reader market apps like gReadie and WReader work very well....
And why can't I get WP7 on Verizon! the AT&T network seems to be extremely slow, even more so with teh focus than the iPhone.
When will this stuff be fixed!
codyt01 said:
I have both a Droid Incredible and an iPhone 4 and I love the Focus and WP7 interface over both. what I'm having trouble with is the little things that allow you to control the phone more that are still missing from WP7, probably because MS rushed it to get it out before the holidays. What I miss and need on WP7 include:
A Sound Profiler that allows you to control various preset sound modes and volumes for Alarm, ringer, music, system and keyboard clicks...why is this missing
An equalizer in the zune music App
An integrated favorites app for quick dialing. I'm using the tile approach for some contacts, but it does take more real estate than necesary.
Ability to change system font size. Some of the fonts are a bit too large.
Background processing for Facebook, Twitter, and some of those other things that require that.
That ability to connect to hidden Wifi networks! Come on MS this is suppose to be a corporate phone, corporate networks are often hidden. how do you miss that!
Abiltity to fast dial using the number keys in the phone app, ala HTC Sense! Much quicker to look up contacts that way.
Contact Pictures in Call history and SMS. they are everywhere else, why not there.
Native turn by turn directions Like Android has. Come on, this is a big one the iPhone is missing out of the box and MS is making the same mistake.
the notification system is a little wacky on WP 7...if the tiles that are changing are within view, then you are good, or if you are on the lock screen you can see certain things change via the icons at the bottom, but I'd still like to see an android like pull down.
this isn't microsoft, but can someone tell me why Google Reader doesn't format on WP7 and Windows Mobile like it does on the iPhone and Android. It's annoying! and none of the Google Reader market apps like gReadie and WReader work very well....
And why can't I get WP7 on Verizon! the AT&T network seems to be extremely slow, even more so with teh focus than the iPhone.
When will this stuff be fixed!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WP7 is coming to Verizon in January along with turn by turn directions and Flash support.
I've been playing with mine for a couple hours now. I like the device itself but it's probably going back in the morning. Couple thoughts, IMHO:
The back cover is worthless. Cheap. I never know if it's going to break when I pull it off. Having a removable battery again? Priceless. The SIM slot, specifically the contact nodes themselves, are poorly designed and I think mine bent/broke when I inserted and removed my microSIM adapter with my microSIM inside it. That's insane for a new device. They are just three little prongs waiting to break. Love the TILES!!! Love the font and the clean look of the whole OS!!! Gmail refuses to display my full email box. This makes me angry. Love the screen, when displaying the primary colors of tiles and most of the apps. On the other hand I Can't stand the washed out appearance of the IE and the screen when browsing. PTI podcast works, so big points on that one. Contacts sync is annoying, particularly since I don't have anything save for email in my Gmail contacts. My choice, my fault. I don't have a Live account and really don't want one but see no choice to download anything from the Marketplace. This is tomfoolery. Love the lightness of the phone along with the 4 inch real-estate.
Interesting so far but nothing that makes me want to replace my iPhone.
bmstrong said:
I've been playing with mine for a couple hours now. I like the device itself but it's probably going back in the morning. Couple thoughts, IMHO:
The back cover is worthless. Cheap. I never know if it's going to break when I pull it off. Having a removable battery again? Priceless. The SIM slot, specifically the contact nodes themselves, are poorly designed and I think mine bent/broke when I inserted and removed my microSIM adapter with my microSIM inside it. That's insane for a new device. They are just three little prongs waiting to break. Love the TILES!!! Love the font and the clean look of the whole OS!!! Gmail refuses to display my full email box. This makes me angry. Love the screen, when displaying the primary colors of tiles and most of the apps. On the other hand I Can't stand the washed out appearance of the IE and the screen when browsing. PTI podcast works, so big points on that one. Contacts sync is annoying, particularly since I don't have anything save for email in my Gmail contacts. My choice, my fault. I don't have a Live account and really don't want one but see no choice to download anything from the Marketplace. This is tomfoolery. Love the lightness of the phone along with the 4 inch real-estate.
Interesting so far but nothing that makes me want to replace my iPhone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just out of curiosity, where do you keep your phone contacts?
emjee87 said:
Just out of curiosity, where do you keep your phone contacts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In my head and in a backup email labeled "contacts" that sits in my inbox. I redraft and resend the email to myself when I need to update any information. I only have about 10-15 or numbers to remember.
I like the OS very much. I think it has great potential, great upside. But the hardware side still leaves much to be desired against the gold standard Apple offering.
bmstrong said:
In my head and in a backup email labeled "contacts" that sits in my inbox. I redraft and resend the email to myself when I need to update any information. I only have about 10-15 or numbers to remember.
I like the OS very much. I think it has great potential, great upside. But the hardware side still leaves much to be desired against the gold standard Apple offering.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"redraft and resend"
What?
Really?
mcmexican said:
I agree with all of you but for me there have been some things I just don't understand why MS did what they did.
Notifications - There is a noticeable space at the top of the screen that hardly used. It is sometimes used for notifications as in text messages but not for email or twitter notifications.
Keyboard - In portrait its on par with iphone and even MT Android but why not a full landscape keyboard have you guys seen it? The empty space at the top of the screen is there on the side now and wasted.
Phone - 2 keystrokes to get a dialer why and to make it worse why no smart dialing in the dialer. I know you can use the search button but its not the same.
From a hardware perspective the phone is great light and long battery life so far. I just wish MS would have polished it a little more I dont really see a lot of Apple users jumping ship to it. Just my 2cents
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree about the notifications. I would of love to seen Twitter or Facebook notification heck even e-mail for that matter pop up and have a option to disable it if need be. I'm sure this is something coming in the future.
Also agree about the keyboard. I am shaking my head and wondering why there is a significant amount of unused space on the screen in landscape mode.
More active live tiles. I would love to have a live tile that would update the weather for me. I'm sure there is a app in the making but it would be nice to see that.
Also...there is no YouTube app? (I'm not talking about the YouTube that brings you to the mobile version of YouTube) Is that just a way for Google to stick it to M$?
Update:
Spoke to soon about the live tile for the weather. Weather bug has an app out for it.
AllTheWay said:
I agree about the notifications. I would of love to seen Twitter or Facebook notification heck even e-mail for that matter pop up and have a option to disable it if need be. I'm sure this is something coming in the future.
Also agree about the keyboard. I am shaking my head and wondering why there is a significant amount of unused space on the screen in landscape mode.
More active live tiles. I would love to have a live tile that would update the weather for me. I'm sure there is a app in the making but it would be nice to see that.
Also...there is no YouTube app? (I'm not talking about the YouTube that brings you to the mobile version of YouTube) Is that just a way for Google to stick it to M$?
Update:
Spoke to soon about the live tile for the weather. Weather bug has an app out for it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been using Lazy Worm as my YouTube app in the mean time. It doesn't have all the functionality of the other YouTube apps yet, but it does keep the theme of WP7 and it works well enough.
i know this is an old thread, but i will add my 2 cents.
i owned the 3G, the 3GS, and the iphone 4. the worst of the 3 was the iphone 4. it was practically worthless as a phone. i dropped 80% of my calls with it. i returned it after a few weeks because of this.
the 3G was fine and i owned it for a year and a half, but it was really slow. the 3GS was my favorite by far, and really i have very few complaints with it.
obviously the iphone was revolutionary. it started the wave of multi-touch displays and the app world was pretty phenomenal. but the truth is that technology is uncapped now and apple doesn't have the entire market, nor should they.
while MS has some glitches, they were to be expected. the marketplace doesn't provide the number of apps that the iphone market does, but how cool is it that you get to own a focus now and be on the ground-level and see new and refreshing apps as they come to life? i find that pretty cool.
my main reason for switching was just to do something different, and so far i am very pleased with the phone. i think it does everything the iphone does and potentially more, you just have to be willing to learn new techniques as you would with any new phone.
Gonna try to not repeat what others have already said.
Loving WP7 OS and everything it does. Fresh start, smooth UI and a great design paradigm. Missing some features but nothing has been a deal breaker yet. I can tell it's just a matter of time (short time) and a lot of these features will land in the OS.
Focus is OK. It's not great. I don't like the camera as much as I did on my iPhone 4. I used to take a ton of pics with my iPhone 4 but not as much now with the focus. You have to tinker with the settings to get similar quality pics and even then not all the time. Specially in low light settings, the iPhone crushed the focus clarity-wise. In day light, they are mostly the same.
If I could have WP7 on my iPhone 4, I would be extremely happy. But that's not the case. WP7 is good enough to make up for me missing my iPhone 4's hardware so far though.
The camera is actually the reason I've shelved the Focus until there's an update for it. I have to change a bunch of settings to get a half decent picture out of it and then, of course, it doesn't save those settings so I have to do it....every.....single..........time. Hard to believe Microsoft hasn't released a fix for this by now. Well, no...not really. Typical Microsoft, actually. And the hardware button isn't doing the phone any favors, either. The iPhone's on-screen button is nice because it takes no pressure so the phone doesn't budge when you take the picture. The hardware button means you can't help but move the camera when taking a picture and if it's not taken with plenty of light good luck getting a picture that isn't smeared. And finally there's the complete lack of any real features. No panoramic shots, no effects, nothing. I use the camera all the time and the Focus' software makes it almost useless so I went back to the iPhone.
nazeeh said:
Gonna try to not repeat what others have already said.
Loving WP7 OS and everything it does. Fresh start, smooth UI and a great design paradigm. Missing some features but nothing has been a deal breaker yet. I can tell it's just a matter of time (short time) and a lot of these features will land in the OS.
Focus is OK. It's not great. I don't like the camera as much as I did on my iPhone 4. I used to take a ton of pics with my iPhone 4 but not as much now with the focus. You have to tinker with the settings to get similar quality pics and even then not all the time. Specially in low light settings, the iPhone crushed the focus clarity-wise. In day light, they are mostly the same.
If I could have WP7 on my iPhone 4, I would be extremely happy. But that's not the case. WP7 is good enough to make up for me missing my iPhone 4's hardware so far though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To be honest, I have to strongly disagree....I am a photographer, not a pro, but lots of experience and the iphone 4 camera is NOT that good. Im actually able to produce much nicer results with the focus now than my friends iphone 4. Downside is the focus doesn't save the settings you use...which will be fixed. The iphone 4 quality is WAY to oversaturated...Im not saying the focus quality is amazing...but when I change my settings its definetly acceptable quality. EV and ISO can be your best friends when used properly.
to me the focus wins hands down, my friend who is a self confessed iphone/ iphone 4 BIG time fanboy, has had all the other iphones he had got his iphone 4 like a week before he met up with me tooled around on my samsung focus for like a hour packed up his iphone 4 went to at&t store and exchanged it for a samsung focus....
Paolo01 said:
"redraft and resend"
What?
Really?
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Click to collapse
That was my thought maybe it is time for him to setup a Hotmail account,
iPhone vs Focus
I have no regrets switching from iPhone 3GS and 4G to Focus.
They both have pluses and minuses, but I thing WinMo 7 is a new OS and the market place is catching up quickly.
What I miss in WinMo 7 is the customization and low level access (e.g. registry, file system).

My experience in Atrix 4G vs iOS (iPhone 4)

My simple comparisons between Atrix and iPhone
I came from the following devices before Atrix 4G:
iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, Samsung Captivate, Samsung Focus, and now the ATRIX 4G. I still have my Captivate, Focus, and 3GS with me. iPhone 4's Bluetooth was giving me absymal call quality that I couldn't keep the stupid iPhone 4. It does have the front facing camera, and very very good picture quality at the back. The IPS screen is no Super AMOLED, but IPS colors are very accurate. The Super AMOLED has burn-in issue after several months of usage especially if you are in a Skype or phone conversation, the screen NEVER turns off when using speaker phone or bluetooth headset...... I have to click the sleep button on my captivate.... sucka SUPERAMOLED best color but worse life-span than LCDs PERIOD! I personally do not like to simply read the reviews and forums and decide what not to buy, because my first hand experience is the most important.
1. GPS: Atrix and iPhone 4 are excellent and they lock extremely fast and instant regardless of Wifi, 3G cell tower triangulation, or none! Woo hoo. I have Navigon on iPhone so I love it way more than Android's Google Nav or Navigon there coz they are buggy and the vocie synthesizer is like a sound of Stephan Hawkins without emotion. Navigon's soothing woman voice provides the best GPS Navi experience so far. Unfortunately, I can't say the same with the Navigon for Android. It's too buggy and lacking some good features from the iOS. I do like Android's 3D map and voice search and most importantly it's FREE. BUT constantly streaming maps over the cell tower is not reliable. What happen when you go to area without cell coverage? Also what happen if the data plan has only 200MB/month?
2. Internet Browsing speed/ease:
I like Safari coz of double tapping to zoom, the pintch and zoom performance and the beauty of copy and paste has been doing very well and more responsive than the Atrix. On the Atrix browser, i CANNOT edit this forum while typing this response. It sometimes not allowing me to select and scroll through the text even Atrix is imitating Apple with the magnifying glass. Sometimes the magnifying glass never shows up!!! While flash is fun on my Atrix bit it slows down a lot just to display ads. Fortunately I can disable Flash if I want to.
Flash to me while is pretty much full web browsing experience, but it does slow down the entire web page performance. It's good to have the flash option in Android no doubt. iOS however, has forced Adobe to take mobile platform more seriously and look into mobile hardware acceleration to create smooth browsing experience.
3. Stability/Speed: Pretty stable so far and pretty snappy over all. Install Launcher Pro or Go Launch Ex and also use Titanium Backup to Freeze MotoBlur if you are thinking Blur is slowing the system down....But I personally like Blur's widget just not the app drawer. Go Launcher EX has the similar UI as the iOS in the app drawer which is a plus when you want to manage your apps such as hold to wiggle the apps and delete them by touching the Minus sign like iOS.
4. Call Quality/Least dropped calls
iPhone 4 call quality is not as good except ear piece. Bluetooth and Speaker phones are.... bad..... the noise cancellation technology on iPhone 4 is not really good... People had hard time hear my voice even I have tried Jawbone Icon, Plantronics, BlueAnt all these highest end bluetooth headsets! Only the earpiece and stupid corded headphone works okay on the iPhone 4
Atrix is also suffering from similar problem especially if there is wind blowing to the top of the microphone.... the wind noise cancellation of the Atrix is not great which Motorola is trying to improve. Fortunately, BLUETOOTH headset call quality is EXCELLENT and that's what I use the most and perfect!!! Speakerphone is pretty good most of the time.
5. Speaker Quality/Volume
iPhone 4 and Atrix both housing the very loud speakers. I love iPhone 4 and Atrix
6. IPS LCD vs Pentile LCD
iPhone 4's LCD color is way more accurate compare to the Pentile LCD used in Atrix. The Color in Atrix such as yellow is greenish lime...... check the demo unit to compare. Use color calibration tables to compare. iPhone 4 is very very very good.
7. OS: ease of use vs high customizable.
I've discovered that Android is like beta product to me. People are trying hard to customize the UI just to have fun and increase productivity. iOS right now so far has provided the best experience. While Android is a little inferior due to simple Copy and Paste, delete app without accessing Application manager, update all apps at ease (Android requires manually permit each app to update automatically. Update ALL does not work when you have a modified app such as Skype for 3G call in US which cannot be updated due to relocking WiFi only call function), webpage rendering performance such as pinch to zoom in iOS is still better than Atrix running Android for sure. Android is also missing a lot of popular Games from the iOS. Hopefully Sony can do some impact....
8. Multitouch
iPhone 4: 5 points
Atrix 4G: 2 fingers but hardware could support 5 but should we buy for the potention?
Apps that support more than 2 fingers are:
iOS: Cut the Rope, Garage Band, Star Wars Force Unleashed, Street Fighter, GTA, and more
Android: does not have enough because the hardware are inconsistent. Sony Ericsson Xperia X8 can't even do multi-touch! Xperia X10 has problem when crossing X-Y axis with two fingers.
9: HDMI output
iPhone 4 or 5 can do 720P: SMOOOOOOOTH like butter but no specialized 720p interface, just mirroring your iPad2 or iPhone 4's screen to the HDTV. Good for games!!!
Atrix 720P Webtop OS is choppy It runs 720P video at lower than 15 fps....It can't truely mirror the image from the phone to the HDTV for games because for some reason the screen is forced to be a touch pad instead of a multitouch gesture or game pad control such as Samurai II.... you can only move the cursor to control the direction or the attack button but not both... VERY DISSAPOINTING!! Motorola's innovation is just old wine inside a new bottle. Webtop is more like a gimmick than a truly reliable feature.
10. VOIP: Skype, Tango, Qik, Fring, etc
iPhone 4: works all the way with Skype support video call on iOS!!!!! perfect!
Atrix 4G: Only Tango, Qik work so far recently. Skype is totally NOT working, people can't hear my voice from the mic due to high amplitude and frequencies noise. Something wrong with the codecs and non standard API that Motorola has used which is another Google's Fragmentation problem. How do you expect developers to change their source code just to suit a single device like Atrix? There is still no video call in Skype for Android!
11. Multilingual Support:
iPhone: Absolutely almost perfect. The iOS ,regardless of anywhere in the world, has the multilingual keyboard, voice recognition system, writing recognition system, system menu. It's a perfect multilingual OS that until today, there is no one in the computer industry is able to match Apple! Windows 7 still can't do that natively unless you purchase the Ultimate edition and still requires to install the language packs separately through the updates!
Atrix: Running Moto Blur is the cause for none North American languages being removed from the stock Android OS due to the limited storage space for system in the phone. Asian Language is not supported right out of the box. What's come worse is you can't even view or edit Asian language such as Chinese, Japanese, Korean, etc in the Webtop environment! What a bummer to me! Motorola Rep told me they are interested about the application of it and willing to enable that feature. That doesn't mean they will enable the feature for North American market. It's a freaking world phone where people need to travel to conduct their business! What happen if people need to type Email in Chinese in the Webtop? It's NOT going to happen as of now and probably not unless you purchase an Asian version in the future.
12. Easy to Hack:
iPhone Jailbreaking requires careful maintanence even it's just a single-swipe or click to Jailbreak. The jailbroken device is highly unstable and usually requires a system restore which takes hours to sync back all the data if your device is fully loaded.
Atrix is easy to root (still definitely not for non tech savvy), convert your phone to webtop without buying the dock, and easy to enable Mobile Hotspot Tethering without paying. BUUUUT ENCRYPTED BOOTLOADER.... which Motorla is still deciding how to response to the developers... fortunately, there is the RSD5.0 that can flash Atrix to stock ROM now
13. BACKUP & RESTORE:
I demand not a simple cloud service backup for the contacts, email, sms, maps, search history but also for the apps and multimedia data! Motorola does provide the software to do it, but it's SLOW. The file manager transfer speed is as slow as 150 KB/sec via USB! I'm forced to use the Massive Storage Media to drag and drop contents. It's convenient in a way but it's definitely not the most efficient method. Syning data prevents wasting time to overwrite data that are up-to-date. Hopefully these can be resolved by the upcoming Gingerbread.
iOS: iTunes simple apps and data backup! It does have it's short coming such as cannot backup data of the deleted apps from the device. I repeat, data backup means not just contact, sms, over the cloud or computer but the data and settings that are stored in the apps and OS.
Atrix: Before the Gingerbread is baked for the Atrix, you must NEED to ROOT to use Titanium Backup and Rom manager (Which doesn't work coz of the locked down bootloader) and it doesn't sync to your computer or your cloud data storage centers. Why do we still use SD cards when there is Dropbox type of system? SD card backup is the not a modern solution. Morever, Titanium Backup is dangerous if you accidentally restore the incompatible data to the system file which may crash the device. The UI of Titanium is not intuitive and it's very complicated for first time users. Titanium Backup is again for geeks not your parents and definitely not your grandma! Android has completely failed in this category! Therefore it can't be a serious work phone without the right backup/restore feature. Finally Motorola's Portal is just slow.... 150KB/sec of USB transfer, it's forcing me to use as Massive Storage Device and that's 40x faster!
I do appreciate the Google cloud service to store all the search history, maps, contacts, email, etc. However, what about Apps data? I'm having a hard time to simply backup my apps data while they aren't stored somewhere in the globe.
14: Multimedia
Both iPhone and Atrix can sync with iTunes library since Apple has dominated the music market. Youtube experience is definitely a lot better in Android than iOS. Because you can rotate your Atrix in landscape mode to have full screen, while potrate mode to access related video and read/write comments while the video is playing! I would say iPhone and Atrix should be quite on par in multimedia.
Codecs that are supported by Atrix are still confusing. Some people say 720P mp4 aren't running correctly.
15. Notification System
iPhone: intrusive! Yup I don't like the bubble in the middle of the screen while I was watching movie, playing games, browsing website, VNC, and most importantly, video conferencing!
Android: non-intrusive notification system where the notifications are up on top to be slided down to review the history like a log. Perfect!
16. How data is being stored
iPhone iOS: single partition easy managemant. You don't need to keep track of where the apps are stored and whether if they can be installed to a larger sd card. This technique has been acknowledged by Microsoft's WP7 though Samsung Focus is an exception which still create confusion on which type of SD card has to be used safely. Atrix stores the data either in the internal memory or sd card which falls to the same issues as Windows Mobile installation --> confusion.
17: Email (3/14/2011)
iPhone iOS 4 now supports threaded emails which sorts out conversations with the latest at the very top even inside the conversation. So far I like it and very productive and convenient.
Atrix: The build in Email App from Motoblur does not do threaded emails. The Gmail app is even more pathetic! While the conversation feature is convenient, putting the oldest thread at the very top inside a conversation forces me to scroll all the way to the bottom just to read the latest email is just ridiculous! There is also bug for conversation list where it doesn't move to the next conversation even I've selected update automatically. The Gmail App is BROKEN in Android and people are complaining about that.
Atrix: Android's support of SD card is good but also bad when you have to keep track of where the applications are installed to and whether if they can be running efficiently when stored to the SD card. SD card does provide expandability but in reality, you are still limited by the maximum size that the device can handle which is 10GB internal usable storage + 32GB and you can't do a single partition to combine the internal storage with the SD card.
If you want a device to ease your life and improve work efficiency, get iOS. Android is more for geeks or developers. Get Atrix if you like to modify the device. The webtop is more like a gimmick rather than productivity unless you really use the Citrix Remote Desktop Control. It's an interesting idea, but in terms of daily basis, Android is still slightly behind iOS in terms of design. Market share does not reflect the re fineness of the product.
*Caution* if you have more important things to worry about rather than modifying system files, customizing the cosmetics of the UI, or simply just trying to eliminate the lags, avoid the Atrix.
Finally, I am still debating if I should keep the Atrix or wait for the iPhone 5, Galaxy S II or the Optimus 2x.
I think there are tons of people on this forum that would disagree with you. I for one was an iphone user for 4 years and I will not go back. Why would you come to this forum of all places to recommend the IOS? Most people who are on this forum have already made up their minds about what phone to get. I found the biggest thing about switching from an iphone to android is that it's like wiping your butt with the opposite hand. If you have been doing it one way for so long you are highly resistant to move to a different tech or adjust to the way that tech works. IOS is plain, boring, and locked down. It's not much different than it was 4 years ago and apple spoon feeds options to users that should be standard from the beginning.
"...update all apps at ease (Android requires manually select each app to update automatically)"
Try going into the market, then pressing the menu key and then My Apps. You should see a link to Update All at the top if more than one app needs updating.
catfarm said:
"...update all apps at ease (Android requires manually select each app to update automatically)"
Try going into the market, then pressing the menu key and then My Apps. You should see a link to Update All at the top if more than one app needs updating.
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Click to collapse
You have to turn on that otherwise some of the apps have to be updated manually. Did that before.....
I'm not sure what you are talking about, but I myself am coming from an iphone 3gs, this is my first android, and as far as I can tell the two update their apps in almost an identical manner in terms of number of clicks to update all the apps that need updates. I haven't changed anything from default and have not had to manually change anything in each app to make it part of the update all functionality.
squassss said:
I think there are tons of people on this forum that would disagree with you. I for one was an iphone user for 4 years and I will not go back. Why would you come to this forum of all places to recommend the IOS? Most people who are on this forum have already made up their minds about what phone to get. I found the biggest thing about switching from an iphone to android is that it's like wiping your butt with the opposite hand. If you have been doing it one way for so long you are highly resistant to move to a different tech or adjust to the way that tech works. IOS is plain, boring, and locked down. It's not much different than it was 4 years ago and apple spoon feeds options to users that should be standard from the beginning.
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Click to collapse
I'm just comparing and responding to another user who is deciding between iPhone 4 and Atrix. That's the comment I provide.
Android is nice as the op stated however it's still not as refined as Apple's iOS is and apple is quickly improving their os and it's easily available when released thru iTunes or visiting a local apple store if you don't have a desktop or laptop and high speed Internet. I think google may need to start making huge changes if they want to have people be happy with android. Starting with requiring manufacturers to make updates available to each device as the updates are released.
galaxyjeff said:
I think google may need to start making huge changes if they want to have people be happy with android.
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We'll go ahead and forget for the moment that for all of the ways which make iOS just so much better, it is still being outsold by Android, with the gap growing every day.
tomit12 said:
We'll go ahead and forget for the moment that for all of the ways which make iOS just so much better, it is still being outsold by Android, with the gap growing every day.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's not the best comparison. Apple has 4 models sold so far.android had like 4 a week.
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galaxyjeff said:
Android is nice as the op stated however it's still not as refined as Apple's iOS is and apple is quickly improving their os and it's easily available when released thru iTunes or visiting a local apple store if you don't have a desktop or laptop and high speed Internet. I think google may need to start making huge changes if they want to have people be happy with android. Starting with requiring manufacturers to make updates available to each device as the updates are released.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agree, Android's update cycle is so exciting and fast, it just takes manufacturers too long to roll out those updates. The Atrix was announced after gingerbread was released, but it came with Froyo.
But in all honesty Android is far better at content creation and not just content consumption. Apple users are such well trained monkeys that they will pay $1 for a flashlight app when a Dev with some decent skills and passion for the platform will release it for free.
My wife is nowhere near as tech savvy as I am, but she lives her Desire Z and finds it easier to use than her iPhone 3gs, but this could also be due to HTC Sense.
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galaxyjeff said:
Android is nice as the op stated however it's still not as refined as Apple's iOS is and apple is quickly improving their os and it's easily available when released thru iTunes or visiting a local apple store if you don't have a desktop or laptop and high speed Internet. I think google may need to start making huge changes if they want to have people be happy with android. Starting with requiring manufacturers to make updates available to each device as the updates are released.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Quickly? It's been 4 years and iOS has barely changed.
squarejp said:
You have to turn on that otherwise some of the apps have to be updated manually. Did that before.....
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Click to collapse
To clarify, you can change each individual app to update automatically which means you will never have to do anything OR you can go into the Market and just select "Update All" at the top. I had an iphone and you either had to update on itunes and then sync your phone or you had to go to the app store in your phone and select "Update all" but with Android, if you take the 2 or 3 minutes to select the automatic feature, you won't have to do anything, so I think Android WINS that round, sheesh. Plus, that's just splitting hairs.
ikenley said:
Agree, Android's update cycle is so exciting and fast, it just takes manufacturers too long to roll out those updates. The Atrix was announced after gingerbread was released, but it came with Froyo.
But in all honesty Android is far better at content creation and not just content consumption. Apple users are such well trained monkeys that they will pay $1 for a flashlight app when a Dev with some decent skills and passion for the platform will release it for free.
My wife is nowhere near as tech savvy as I am, but she lives her Desire Z and finds it easier to use than her iPhone 3gs, but this could also be due to HTC Sense.
Sent from my MB860
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The part about the $1 flashlight app you say is total bologna. The best flashlight app in the app store is totally free and gets regular updates. Also android is a toy with a cute little green robot.
Go bite an Apple, OP. It's obvious you have no clue what you're even saying. If you did, you'd realize that you're sooooo wrong about nearly everything.
Also, I don't know if you're from a different country, but if you're going to make an Android bashing post, please do so without using google translate.
First point: You love Navigon on the iPhone, but you don't like Google Maps or Navigon on Android... alroghty then...
Second: I don't know why you feel like that. I'm using Dolphin browser, P&Z work fine, as well as copying and pasting. It kinda takes a little bit of getting used to to make the magnifying glass pop up.
Three, four, and five I can basically skip since you give Android some room to breathe.
Six: The green feels fine to me. I've used an iP4, and while the Retina Display is nice, I haven't seen any notable differences, and the color green seems fine to me.
Seven: Oh. My. God. Learn what a Beta is. Your definition of beta seems to be: "Too hard for me to use." It seems like my 10 year old sister knows how to use Android better than you. It's so simple to use copy and paste, but it seems you just can't figure out, and you condemn a whole OS because you can't seem to understand it. You also said that there's a launcher to hold and delete apps, so why even bring it up again?
Now for the updating... Are you mental? Is it really that hard to go into the Market, click settings, and then update all? As for the games, just wait. Android hasn't been mainstream as long as iOS.
Eight: So, you're going to use all 5 fingers all the time? I've never seen people use more than 3, and rarely use 3 at all.
Nine: You have to buy an extra accesory to use HDMI output on the iPhone... And that is webtop, not mirroring you're doing. Learn the difference.
Ten: Apps need to be updated. Device less than a month old. Blahdy blah.
Eleven: You skipped 11.
Twelve: High maintenance in time such as tethering? lolwut? Makes no sense at all. Rooting is so simple. All automated for you.
Thirteen: Almost everything is backed up for you! Contacts are auto-backed up to Google from the start. MotoBlur also helps with that. Download an app to backup SMS convo's to your SD card, and then just plug your phone in and transfer your pics. Then there's good, old Titanium.
You're comparing Apples to Robots, and it's just not working. Your basic understanding of the English language is horrible, and shouldn't be used to bash Android.
iOS is def more refined, and user freindly. and i had over all less little glitches with my iphone than ive had with my atrix.
but im still staying with anything android. android phones are more customizable even without root/rom than a jailbroken iphone is. (just talking about visual customization)
I don't understand why almost all "Atrix vs. iphone/android vs. iOS" speak only or mainly of points that are already handed to Apple. I'm sure that other Atrix users here like me, Bought the Atrix knowing in advanced it's does not win over iphones in all categories.
I'm thank the OP for his review but an example of I'm saying about those reviews is like the highlight on "updating all apps at once". I wonder how could this feature be more important compared how each OS handles installing the apps!!
I'm new to Android and it was a little blast I had when I found out how you install apps! click this, install that, back, click this, install, check download progress in notification bar, go back for more apps, they download and install while your still surfing the friggin' market!!
In iOS if you chose to install an app it exits itself to the home screen and you need to go find where you re-launch the store app!!
Now how can that not be spoken of when "updating all apps at once" is suddenly an edge over the other OS?
I have to admit English is not my first language and I was pretty frustrated about my Atrix!
I know some people may not agree with me but here is my refined response.
First point: You love Navigon on the iPhone, but you don't like Google Maps or Navigon on Android... alright then...
Second: I don't know why you feel like that. I'm using Dolphin browser, P&Z work fine, as well as copying and pasting. It kinda takes a little bit of getting used to to make the magnifying glass pop up.
Thanks for the tips on alternative browsers. Copy and Pasting is worse than iOS from my Atrix experience. Sometimes there is no magnifying glass when editing the text. It pops out a selection menu that covers up my whole screen asking me to SELECT TEXT, SELECT ALL, COPY, etc. Inside the browser, I MUST need to click the Menu button, select More, Select text and I've no way to accurately select the correct beginning and the end of the portion that I would like to copy.
Three, four, and five I can basically skip since you give Android some room to breathe.
Six: The green feels fine to me. I've used an iP4, and while the Retina Display is nice, I haven't seen any notable differences, and the color green seems fine to me.
Check with Color Calibration sheets to test LCD monitors then you will know how wrong the colors are especially yellow becomes yellowish green and lime and green contains yellow
Seven: Oh. My. God. Learn what a Beta is. Your definition of beta seems to be: "Too hard for me to use." It seems like my 10 year old sister knows how to use Android better than you. It's so simple to use copy and paste, but it seems you just can't figure out, and you condemn a whole OS because you can't seem to understand it. You also said that there's a launcher to hold and delete apps, so why even bring it up again?
I'm a tech geek who have used WP7, iOS, Symbian, Windows Mobile, Palm, and more in long period of time and I have the right to criticize Android base on my experience. The UI in Android is not refined and feels like Windows Mobile menus embedded within menus just bigger buttons and open source for developers but not really for consumers because the manufactures impose their lock-downs to the bootloaders.
Now for the updating... Are you mental? Is it really that hard to go into the Market, click settings, and then update all? As for the games, just wait. Android hasn't been mainstream as long as iOS.
Updates sucks because you can solely use the phone itself to update. I've a modified version of Skype which can't be updated using the UPDATE ALL menu. If I did that, my Skype can't be used in 3G network for calling. Moreover, Skype DOES NOT SUPPORT VIDEO CALL for Android yet while iOS are supported
Eight: So, you're going to use all 5 fingers all the time? I've never seen people use more than 3, and rarely use 3 at all.
Just because you never seen 3 fingers usage does not mean there is no such demand on the creativity. Take Cut the Rope, Star Wars Force Unleashed, Virtual DJ, Piano, and other creativity apps, they all use more than 3 fingers just to let you know.
Nine: You have to buy an extra accesory to use HDMI output on the iPhone... And that is webtop, not mirroring you're doing. Learn the difference.
Extra accessories also applies to the Atrix Officially. Webtop is running in Ubuntu which is Choppy and DOES NOT have an option to mirror the Android environment completely. When I want to play Samurai II on the HDTV, I CANNOT do that at all because the screen becomes a touch pad instead of normal multi-touch operation in the Android environment. I can't play Need for Speed on the HDTV because I can't touch the screen to play the game at all. iPhone, iPad, Optimus 2X and upcoming Xperia Arc are able to do that.
Ten: Apps need to be updated. Device less than a month old. Blahdy blah.
Truth to be told, Motorola is not using standard APIs. VOIP developers are having troubles to develop the right codecs to work in the Atrix. Do your own research
Eleven: You skipped 11.
Atrix has Limited Multilingual Support. The Webtop Cannot display Asian Characters nor allow users to input them either. Android does not come with decent Asian Characters inputs. Apple iOS is absolutely amazing in that area regardless where the iPhone is being released anywhere in the world, the language packs are the same. The only good side of Android's multilingual is customizable keyboard.. but so far none of the android keyboards have satisfied me due to choppiness, sluggish design, button too narrow, inaccurate writing recognition, and more.
Twelve: High maintenance in time such as tethering? lolwut? Makes no sense at all. Rooting is so simple. All automated for you.
I'm talking about keeping up the Jailbreaking trend against Apple's lockdown on the iPhone, not Android, read carefully! People who need to unlock their phones cannot update their iPhones easily. Feel free to jailbreak but you will suffer from system instability which usually requires full system restore. Re-syncing all apps usually take hours if your device is fully loaded.
Thirteen: Almost everything is backed up for you! Contacts are auto-backed up to Google from the start. MotoBlur also helps with that. Download an app to backup SMS convo's to your SD card, and then just plug your phone in and transfer your pics. Then there's good, old Titanium.
Did you read carefully what I was saying? I demand more than simple Contact, SMS, Email Cloud backup service. Titanium is dangerous to use for non technical people. They will overwrite or delete critical system data that would crash the device. Titanium also requires Root access in order to restore everything. I know how to use Titanium backup ever since I got my Captivate and got frustrated about lacking Google official data backup system. I repeat I'm very technical but Android is definitely not good for non technical people such as your grandma!
You're comparing Apples to Robots, and it's just not working. But I'm comparing different mobile OSs which is the same category
Your basic understanding of the English language is horrible, and shouldn't be used to bash Android.
Yet, Android is being used world wide and therefore should also be multilingual. You, who is an Android user, should able to tolerate people who are not English as their 1st language.
You're obviously not very tech-ish at all. You cannot say an OS is in beta because it lacks features you think should be in it. Your points are moot. So did you consider iOS 2, 3, and 4 to be betas as well?
And to your response to number 11, what?
I can tolerate people just fine. It's when you start rambling in broken English that I can't stand. It just starts looking like some sort of spam e-mail, and hard to read.
I agree with most of what you said squarejp.
Sad to see most people here will down the iP4 just because it is apple.
If they would actually get to use the phone for more than a day, im sure more would see what you mean.
P.S. I have both and iphone and a incredible running 2.2.
Dont kid yourself guys, IOS is much more refined than android.
Papi4baby said:
I agree with most of what you said squarejp.
Sad to see most people here will down the iP4 just because it is apple.
If they would actually get to use the phone for more than a day, im sure more would see what you mean.
P.S. I have both and iphone and a incredible running 2.2.
Dont kid yourself guys, IOS is much more refined than android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm knocking the Apple phone because I used 3 different versions of the iPhone. As well as own the ipad. Your opinions on what's refined or not =\= everyone elses
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Any former iPhone users using a Nexus 4?

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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.

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