From iphone to android, initial thoughts

Cyrus · 18-07-2011 11:55am #1

Firstly let me preface this by saying in the past i was a serial phone changer! i couldnt go 3 months with the one handset, i had all sort of symbian nokias, wm devices etc.

I then bought a HTC hero and while i liked it, the long promised software updates that didnt come and unfinished feel of some stuff made me try my first iphone, the 3gs, the 4 came out a few months later and i bought it, that was over 11 months ago. It was the longest that i have ever kept a phone and never felt as if i was missing out on anything.

With the iphone 4gs / 5 on the way i thought it should try out a new android phone before i got another iphone so the 4 has been sold and a SGS2 arrived on friday.

First impressions are that its a handsome device, but while the iphone had a real high end feel and seemed almost over engineered, the sgs2 comes across fragile. That said its handsome, light and oddly thin.

I have flashed the phone to the latest official XEU software KF3 and thats what my thoughts are based on.

First off, the amount of customisation for your home screen is staggering, ive stuck with touchwiz altho i may try one of the launchers, however i have almost found the customisation paralysing, on the iphone you changed your wallpaper and moved the apps around or into folders (unless you wanted to jailbreak and mess around with the look which i never did)

here you can choose the clock, choose weather widgets etc etc, however, while i have ended up with something i like, i found it took a while to get there and a lot of widgets were more trouble than they were worth.

additionally, while a lot of great iphone paid apps are free on android, i find that some other apps arent available and the alternatives while as functional arent as polished. for example there is no official daily mail app (one i use a lot for sports news)

there are other things bugging me, copying and pasting text, esp in the gmail app is very difficult, too difficult imo, maybe i should use the mail app and not the gmail one?

the screen doesnt feel as responsive as the iphone, marginally but noticeable, i often click the wrong link on forum websites by accident and it didnt happen as often on the iphone.

That may be caused by the biggest difference ive found, while the bigger screen is lovely, the difference in resolution and pixel density is noticeable while browsing, for me the iphone screen still reigns supreme.

a lot of the things bugging me are due to my own unfamiliarity and im sure ill figure them out, at the moment im glad ive tried android again but i can see me getting the newest iphone when it comes again, esp if the changes promised for IOS 5 as promised re notifications etc, also a screen of 4"+ with the same pixel density would completely seal the deal.

marathonic · 18-07-2011 12:21pm

I'm on the same boat. My iPhone contract ended last month and I'm on the market for a new phone.

I'm tempted by the iPhone because I have about 40 euro's worth of paid apps. However, this 'lock-in' due to paid apps is only going to get worse if I stick with iPhone so I'm considering breaking free. It'll also avoid me buying any iPhone-specific hardware such as speakers, etc. (which I've considered in the past).

Another reason I'm switching is, like you, I like to have the latest phone. Anytime a contract ends on an iPhone, I'd be looking at the latest model which could be anywhere up to a year old (like the iPhone 4 currently) and would be facing a dilemma - buy now or wait.

With Android, I can just buy the latest model and new models come out nearly every month.

A final reason is that, with some of the carriers, the iPhone comes with a more expensive tariff and a longer contract - I'm specifically looking at Meteor here.

For all the above reasons, I'm going to buy either a HTC Sensation or Samsung Galaxy SII - depending on which comes in stock in Meteor first. I'm going to go with the 12 month contract so that I can switch again next year.

Bluefoam · 18-07-2011 12:53pm

OP, for build quality HTC are best in the Android world. Also if you are interested in customisation/widgets/ui HTC are also best. Their UI is truely innovative and useful. Some don't like it, but they are usually puritans & wouldn't like touchwiz either.

Best of luck with your stint on Android.

Raskolnikov · 18-07-2011 12:57pm

marathonic wrote: »

For all the above reasons, I'm going to buy either a HTC Sensation or Samsung Galaxy SII - depending on which comes in stock in Meteor first. I'm going to go with the 12 month contract so that I can switch again next year.

Personally, I have reservations around some of the Samsung devices. Even though the OS and chips inside are practically identical, for some reason I find that Samsung devices I have used have done something to cripple Android, the user experience and responsiveness just isn't as good.

jurahnimoh · 18-07-2011 1:04pm

I have a galaxy s at the moment an im gonna be in the market for a new phone when my contract is up, does anybody know if the i phone can be got on the 35 euro k month tarrif? Or would the galaxy s2 be the superior phone to buy? I can't fault the galaxy s i have at the moment

srsly78 · 18-07-2011 1:18pm

Samsung hardware is the best (guess what's in your iphone). Samsung software is pretty terrible tho, vanilla android is better. Gotta install new rom on phone to purge the Samsung software properly.

One example of Samsung genius: Galaxy 2 beeps when fully charged and wakes you up at night.

jimmycrackcorm · 18-07-2011 1:27pm

One thing that irritates me is the lack of a notification led on the sgs2.

Wetai · 18-07-2011 1:27pm

srsly78 wrote: »

One example of Samsung genius: Galaxy 2 beeps when fully charged and wakes you up at night.

Even on silent?

uRbaN · 18-07-2011 1:46pm

LiamN wrote: »

Even on silent?

This drives me mad as well. haven't tried it on silent as the phone is my alarm.

Cyrus · 18-07-2011 1:53pm

uRbaN wrote: »

This drives me mad as well. haven't tried it on silent as the phone is my alarm.

it vibrates on silent

alarm still works when phone is on silent tho

The_B_Man · 18-07-2011 2:13pm

I've had a play around with 2 SGSII's now and tbh I just don't like the screen at all. It's definitely one of the best phones on the market at the moment, but the screen ruins it, to a degree. Also, I found it a little big.

BTW, I'm still on my HTC Desire and its brilliant. Its missing DLNA, NFC, Dual-cores and Asphalt 6 won't run on it, but other than that its perfect for what I need. Its screen size is exactly the largest I'd go for a phone too coz, like I said, the SGSII (and Desire HD) is too big.

Bluefoam · 18-07-2011 2:34pm

The_B_Man wrote: »

I've had a play around with 2 SGSII's now and tbh I just don't like the screen at all. It's definitely one of the best phones on the market at the moment, but the screen ruins it, to a degree. Also, I found it a little big.

BTW, I'm still on my HTC Desire and its brilliant. Its missing DLNA, NFC, Dual-cores and Asphalt 6 won't run on it, but other than that its perfect for what I need. Its screen size is exactly the largest I'd go for a phone too coz, like I said, the SGSII (and Desire HD) is too big.

I'm using desire s and its great. Screen is just the right size,particularly when i I get a tablet to go with it. Haven't found an app that doesn't run smoothly on it.

jonnny68 · 18-07-2011 5:28pm

The GS2's screen is a sight to behold, this phone is quite rightly ranked my most respected tech websites/blogs as the best smartphone on the market, im blown away by the speed and responsiveness of it, not to mention the superior battery life if you just follow a few simple steps (and root the phone/flash a custom ROM)

Sorry i couldn't be dealing with Apple and their locked down policy, i love the open source community that Android is about.

Stuxnet · 18-07-2011 7:13pm

got a galaxy s2 today, had an ip4 for a year, and a 3gs before that, both jailbroken, loving android, loving what i can do out of the box, dying to check out some custom roms etc, my only gripe is the screen sucks donkey **** compared to ip4, some apps look terrible, the fonts and rendering in some web pages is rotten, i know its easier make apps look sweet on ios as there is only one phone to make for, but I thought my new display would be on par ! the3 camera is perfect, so i guess its just up to devs to cater for the screen and its potential

AAAAAAAHHH · 18-07-2011 7:16pm

The_B_Man wrote: »

I've had a play around with 2 SGSII's now and tbh I just don't like the screen at all. It's definitely one of the best phones on the market at the moment, but the screen ruins it, to a degree. Also, I found it a little big.

BTW, I'm still on my HTC Desire and its brilliant. Its missing DLNA, NFC, Dual-cores and Asphalt 6 won't run on it, but other than that its perfect for what I need. Its screen size is exactly the largest I'd go for a phone too coz, like I said, the SGSII (and Desire HD) is too big.

The screen ruins it? The screen is one of the best features of the phone. What didn't you like about it, apart from the size?

jonnny68 · 18-07-2011 11:43pm

AAAAAAAHHH wrote: »

The screen ruins it? The screen is one of the best features of the phone. What didn't you like about it, apart from the size?

i think the screen is amazing on the GS2 it the best ive ever seen on a phone.

srsly78 · 18-07-2011 11:48pm

Yeah screen is great on SGS2. Blind people gonna hate tho.

Camera sucks tho, Nexus S took much better pictures. SGS2 has good camera hardware, but lousy software to correct for movement etc. And yes I did try the various scene modes etc.

evolutionqy7 · 19-07-2011 12:53am

Ill have to agree with a few people here. While it offers the best performing hardware and screen technology samsung didnt really focus on a nice phone design

They could have kept the screen at 4" would have made PPI better, increase battery life and made it easier to hold it in hand. My only complaints about the SGS2 is that its not comfy to hold in hand. Its too wide. Horrible choice in texture for the back. Im scared to break it in two pieces while in my pocket.

Also they should have painted on the back and menu buttons or something. Alot of consumers and my friends couldnt find the back and menu button

coming to a point asking me how do they go back.

TouchWizz 4 is a welcome improvement and its not bad. But i still think HTC Sense offers a nicer package.

Also why did they have to clutter the few homescreens with widgets out of the box.

Bluefoam · 19-07-2011 8:05am

I've said it here before and i'll say it again: Samsung phones are made from the same stuff as the little yellow eggs in kinder suprise. The build quality is awful and they feel like they will break easily. Not good for a product that you should expect to last more than a year....

Venom · 19-07-2011 8:56am

Another very happy HTC owner here

The build quality on HTC devices is up there with the iphone and the level of support from the firmware team staggers belief. Samsung have always had a poor quality rating over all there products tbh and the build quality for there top range of phones just seems to cheap for a €500 product.

Hardware wise Samsung's tech is top notch tho but lack of an OTA update medium along with retarded ideas like beeping when charged among others makes me avoid them as a consumer.

Cyrus · 19-07-2011 9:02am

thing is i handled the htc sensation before the galaxy, i actually prefer the look of the sgs2, even tho the sensation is a little more robust,

my hero that i used to own was closer to the iphone in terms of build quality than either,

it was the superior innards of the sgs2 that made me plump for it over the sensation

Bluefoam · 19-07-2011 9:15am

Cyrus wrote: »

thing is i handled the htc sensation before the galaxy, i actually prefer the look of the sgs2, even tho the sensation is a little more robust,

my hero that i used to own was closer to the iphone in terms of build quality than either,

it was the superior innards of the sgs2 that made me plump for it over the sensation

I've owned a Hero & while I rate it as having far higher build quality than Samsung, it's nowhere near as high quality as the current range of HTC phone.

I love the unibody designs by HTC & would love to see more styling similar to the Hero & Legend.

The_B_Man · 19-07-2011 1:28pm

AAAAAAAHHH wrote: »

The screen ruins it? The screen is one of the best features of the phone. What didn't you like about it, apart from the size?

I thought the colours were off, blacks were off too, like the contrast is messed up. I rooted another one today and thought the same. Also, the icons arent as sharp as on the Desire....which is possibly because they're bigger and "jaggys" are more noticeable.

Professey Chin · 19-07-2011 1:36pm

The_B_Man wrote: »

I thought the colours were off, blacks were off too, like the contrast is messed up. I rooted another one today and thought the same. Also, the icons arent as sharp as on the Desire....which is possibly because they're bigger and "jaggys" are more noticeable.

This makes no sense. Its an AMOLED. The blacks are just black because theres no lighting in them. I dont see how they can be off

Heroditas · 19-07-2011 1:52pm

Cyrus wrote: »

First impressions are that its a handsome device, but while the iphone had a real high end feel and seemed almost over engineered, the sgs2 comes across fragile. That said its handsome, light and oddly thin.

This isn't aimed at you OP but is a gripe I have regarding people comparing iPhones and Android phones.

Many Applytes seem to forget that the previous incarnations of their phones were plastic and looked and felt the exact same as the likes of the Galaxy S. Suddenly Jobs has the "inspiration" to make the iPhone 4 with a metal casing and suddenly it's the best thing EVER!.... while completely ignoring the fact that this was never done previously because it made a phone too heavy.

Gotta love the way you can convince Apple owners that white is black whenever it suits them to be told this.

srsly78 · 19-07-2011 1:55pm

In fairness the SGS2 feels flimsy because it's so light and thin. Nexus S (another samsung) was also made of plastic, and it feels a hell of a lot more solid.

The_B_Man · 19-07-2011 1:59pm

Mega Chin wrote: »

This makes no sense. Its an AMOLED. The blacks are just black because theres no lighting in them. I dont see how they can be off

Is there not lighting coming from the edges, no?

Professey Chin · 19-07-2011 2:04pm

The_B_Man wrote: »

Is there not lighting coming from the edges, no?

Id say I look very weird inspecting my phone at the moment but I cant notice anything :pac:

srsly78 · 19-07-2011 2:05pm

AMOLED doesn't use a backlight (light coming around edges = backlight bleed), the pixels themselves generate light. LCD screens use backlight, totally different.

AAAAAAAHHH · 19-07-2011 2:24pm

Bluefoam wrote: »

I've said it here before and i'll say it again: Samsung phones are made from the same stuff as the little yellow eggs in kinder suprise. The build quality is awful and they feel like they will break easily. Not good for a product that you should expect to last more than a year....

http://hktechnews.com/samsung-galaxy-s2-battery-cover-unbreakable/

evolutionqy7 · 19-07-2011 8:25pm

srsly78 wrote: »

In fairness the SGS2 feels flimsy because it's so light and thin. Nexus S (another samsung) was also made of plastic, and it feels a hell of a lot more solid.

id agree with nexus s. nexus s feels great in hand and feels more solid than sgs2 and the platic coating used for the back is alot nicer than the texture in sgs2.

in my opinion nexus s is on of the nicest phones out there after HTC desire s.

Id pick nexus s over galaxy s2 as my daily driver.

From iphone to android, initial thoughts

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