Nexus One or iPhone 3GS

PaddyofNine

Not the usual kind of "Which one should I buy" threads.

I have an iPhone 3GS on contract with O2 since last May. There are things I love about the phone - apps, mobile internet, etc. There are things I dislike intensely - the ****ty network signal at work, the lack of multitasking and the brutal battery life. But I live with these.

I recently got offered a free Nexus One (my uncle got given one, but doesn't want it). Should I keep the iPhone, or take him up on his offer, is my dilemna.

The only thing that's really holding me back is I'm wondering if the same breadth of apps are available on Android? (I'm thinking probably not, but that most of the big ones are.)

Also, does anyone know if Android phones get a new OS update as they are released, or do you have to buy the latest flavour of phone to the the latest OS version?

Vurnon San Benito

Take the Nexus I reckon.

Knasher

I'm using a nexus one atm and while I really do like it, it has some pretty major faults you should be aware of.

Firstly the battery life is terrible, I get about 16hrs (mostly in standby) before it dies. It's not the end of the world for me because I work around computers so I'm never away from them for 16hrs straight. But my understanding is that you should get about 3 days between charges on an iPhone.

Secondly I get a serious impression that google really isn't into making android a serious platform. They only support paid apps in certain countries (11 in total and Ireland isn't one of them) and some free apps fall into this category as well. It is possible to get around this restriction by either rooting your phone (and voiding the warantee in the process) or by having a simcard from another region and using that to install the software (over wifi).

Lastly, seeing as you already mentioned it, the os updates are a bit of a gray area. The handsets do receive updates, but its the manufacturer who release them and they really don't make much of an effort after the phone has been discontinued. That being said the nexus one is an offical google phone and everyone at google has one (it was a christmas bonus) so its possible that they might make a little bit more of an effort than other manufacturers have. That being said google are aware of the problem and are trying to make more of an effort to reduce it, but there are still people stuck on 1.5.

All that being said, I actually still really like the phone and I'm probably going to buy one (the one I have is currently just a loan). Multitasking and the fact that the os is opensource (kinda) are big issues for me.

Tom Dunne

One minor point, there is an event today in Apple HQ regarding the iPhone OS version 4. It could be something major, it could be a non-event. Don't know if it will sway your opinion, though.

Might be worth keeping an eye on the various sites, or the AMD forum.

thirtythirty

PaddyofNine wrote: »

The only thing that's really holding me back is I'm wondering if the same breadth of apps are available on Android? (I'm thinking probably not, but that most of the big ones are.)

Also, does anyone know if Android phones get a new OS update as they are released, or do you have to buy the latest flavour of phone to the the latest OS version?

For every app on the iphone, there's an equivalent on android. And more importantly, there's hundreds of extremely useful apps on android that the iphone just won't let on its app store. Where android's lacking though, is games. That side of it is really only just kicking off. I could only name 10 - 15 extremely polished and fun games on android.


The Nexus One is as future proof as you can get OS wise though. It's Google's own dev phone, so it will get all the updates, first. Most OS updates will probably include a few N1 only attributes too.

Atomic Pineapple

PaddyofNine wrote: »

Not the usual kind of "Which one should I buy" threads.

I have an iPhone 3GS on contract with O2 since last May. There are things I love about the phone - apps, mobile internet, etc. There are things I dislike intensely - the ****ty network signal at work, the lack of multitasking and the brutal battery life. But I live with these.

I recently got offered a free Nexus One (my uncle got given one, but doesn't want it). Should I keep the iPhone, or take him up on his offer, is my dilemna.

The only thing that's really holding me back is I'm wondering if the same breadth of apps are available on Android? (I'm thinking probably not, but that most of the big ones are.)

Also, does anyone know if Android phones get a new OS update as they are released, or do you have to buy the latest flavour of phone to the the latest OS version?

Battery life on the Nexus One can be poor but there are various things you can do to improve it (like dim the screen) and there are apps that help you monitor and conserve battery consumption.

Android has no where near the amount of apps that the iphone has and they wouldn't be as polished as some of the top iphone apps but you have to remember Android is very much a newcomer to the game and its growth is only getting stronger and stronger which will lead to all the apps you will want.

The lack of paid markets is currently a problem but Google have not opened paid markets simply because there aren't enough users of Android devices in particular countries, with many handsets now becoming available this will change over the next 12 - 16 months.

Google is very much serious about Android, just reading up on what they have planned for it in future would confirm that.

As for updates there is fragmentation there at the minute and it will be hard to avoid on a open source platform like Android until it settles into a proper solid release but there are efforts to get devices up to the latest versions on going

nmesisca

Knasher wrote: »

I'm using a nexus one atm and while I really do like it, it has some pretty major faults you should be aware of.

Firstly the battery life is terrible, I get about 16hrs (mostly in standby) before it dies. It's not the end of the world for me because I work around computers so I'm never away from them for 16hrs straight. But my understanding is that you should get about 3 days between charges on an iPhone.

Secondly I get a serious impression that google really isn't into making android a serious platform. They only support paid apps in certain countries (11 in total and Ireland isn't one of them) and some free apps fall into this category as well. It is possible to get around this restriction by either rooting your phone (and voiding the warantee in the process) or by having a simcard from another region and using that to install the software (over wifi).

Lastly, seeing as you already mentioned it, the os updates are a bit of a gray area. The handsets do receive updates, but its the manufacturer who release them and they really don't make much of an effort after the phone has been discontinued. That being said the nexus one is an offical google phone and everyone at google has one (it was a christmas bonus) so its possible that they might make a little bit more of an effort than other manufacturers have. That being said google are aware of the problem and are trying to make more of an effort to reduce it, but there are still people stuck on 1.5.

All that being said, I actually still really like the phone and I'm probably going to buy one (the one I have is currently just a loan). Multitasking and the fact that the os is opensource (kinda) are big issues for me.

i dont know what phone you have, but its not a nexus one.

battery life is great. i can go about 45 hours without recharge with moderate use... and 3 days on iPhone?? what planet? people are complaining that it doesnt last 1 day!

the app store. yeah true paid apps are not available everywhere. theres ways around it. and it will come soon enough I would say. google is a business and if its not a good business decision to implement payd apps in a country as small as this one, you cant really blame them.

updates. nexus one is google phone, so the updates dont come from the manufacturer but from google. its not like this with the desire for example.
the people stuck on 1.5 are HTC devices. and thats HTC's fault and the main reason I wont be at the manufacturers mercy ever again.

jd83

I had an iphone and now have a nexus one. The nexus battery is crap but the iphones is crappier. I have a second battery so i just use that when i run out. So at least with the nexus you have this option. I know there pack you can attach for the iphone but they make it more like an iarmywalkytalkie than an iphone.

My other main problem with the nexus is the screen if your anywhere sunny forget it you wont see a thing on it. Even with the brightness turned up its still pretty bad.

Also the music player isnt as good so if your one of these people who needs to carry around a millions songs on their phone get an iphone.

Apart from the above I find the nexus a far better phone. Better phone signal better 3g and wireless speeds. Better web browsing. Its a good solid phone. Im terrible for dropping and throwing phones in my pocket woth keys and coins etc. My iphone had loads of scratchs after around a week. The nexus looks a new as the day i bought it an i dont use a case and im still as careless as i always am.

nmesisca wrote: »

the app store. yeah true paid apps are not available everywhere. theres ways around it.

Go to an english mobile providers website and order one of there free pay as you go sims. When you get it whack it in the nexus and go somewhare with wifi. Go to the market and you have paid apps. Just use wifi to download and then change sim back to irish one.

Atomic Pineapple

Tom Dunne wrote: »

One minor point, there is an event today in Apple HQ regarding the iPhone OS version 4. It could be something major, it could be a non-event. Don't know if it will sway your opinion, though.

Might be worth keeping an eye on the various sites, or the AMD forum.

I think non event pretty much sums up what was shown.

Steve Jobs describes the new features as amazing even though there only a subset of what Android already does :pac:

partyatmygaff

He makes it sound as if he's just announced some new "innovations". Oh wow, we now have an FM radio, Multitasking and the best thing about all of it is you now have to get iAds on your phone just so we can make money from you even after you buy the phone.