iphone 4/ galaxy s / htc desire

corklad32

Hi guys

As an owner of an iphone 4 im just wondering do people have any thoughts on these 3 phones? Mine will probably be going back before the end of the week with all the issues on th 3 network but just wondering what peoples thoughts on which might be best if i go again looking for a phone? Stick with the iphone? I guess they hold their resale value the best - no?

corklad32

Just found an article comparing the 3

http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/htc-desire-vs-iphone-4-vs-samsung-galaxy-s-702739

Hogzy

This forum will no doubt be completely biased towards iphone.

If your throwing the towel in regards the iphone then i would defo consider the Desire out of all the android phones. Its the iphones biggest competitor in terms of functionality.

cojomo2

corklad32 wrote: »

Hi guys

As an owner of an iphone 4 im just wondering do people have any thoughts on these 3 phones? Mine will probably be going back before the end of the week with all the issues on th 3 network but just wondering what peoples thoughts on which might be best if i go again looking for a phone? Stick with the iphone? I guess they hold their resale value the best - no?

I only have experience with the iphone 4 and the Desire, both have their good points, but as the review points out, I would say the Desire has the edge.

If the iphone didn't suffer with the antenna issue, I would say it would come down to preference and which features are most important to you.

mad muffin

If you aren't going for the iP4 again I would go with the Samsung Galaxy S.

Johnzy Fitzgerald

A post I made on the O2 forum about two months ago regarding me "moving" from the iPhone 3GS to the HTC Desire (I'm too lazy to type anything new)...


"I went from the iPhone 3GS (kinda) to the HTC Desire just over a month ago, so I'm just gonna leave a few of my quick (and random) observations here.
First of all, the little startup sound that the HTC makes annoys the frick out of me (I wish I could turn it off).
The screen (pixel wise) looks slightly better than the iPhone, however it's very difficult to see in direct sunlight (make sure to have it on full brightness before heading out).
The size of the screen (and phone) isn't too big. Although at times I find I've touched the wrong thing with the palm of my hand while trying to stretch across to the top corner.
The screens responsiveness to touch is great.
I managed to slightly scratch the screen on my very first day (actually the same place where I scratched my iPhone screen) but since then... nothing!
Removing the back to get at the SIM/SD card/battery at the beginning was a bit daunting, but now I just rip it off without a bother.
The optical trackball seems pretty pointless to me. I only use it for positioning the cursor when dealing with text.
The loud speaker is, ahem, a loud speaker. Definitely louder than the iPhones.
The camera quality (photo and video) is also a bit better than the 3GS. Nothing spectacular, but definitely better. There's also a lot more camera options, which I like.
It's a very quick phone. However I found my 3GS (and still find it (especially now with iOS 4)) to be just as quick.
I like how the phone truly feels like it's mine. I can change and do loads without having to root it (which I haven't).
The HTC Sense UI is nice, but I'd actually prefer the phone without it.
I don't like not knowing if (or when) HTC will release the latest Android update. As much as people complain about Apple not allowing all of the newest OS features on their older hardware, you know that you'll at least be looked after for a couple of years. With HTC I feel that a year down the line I'll be forgotten about.
Multitasking is great, but as much as I don't want to have to admit it, I think Apple's solution may be even better (believe me I didn't want to say it).
I've read lots about people saying you don't need a task manager for the Desire. However I found that after a bit of messing around with a good few programs the phone will start slowing down (low on RAM). I've since installed Advanced Task Killer, added the widget to the home screen, hit it every now and then and it definitely keeps the phone running quickly.
Battery life on the phone is only ok. It's what you'd expect from a mobile with such a quick CPU.
I love the notifications system on the phone. It does that poo thing all over Apples system.
4GB SD card is alright. Thought I'd buy a larger one, but I just don't put too much music on it.
Headphones are just as good as Apples ones.
One thing where Apple definitely kills Android is in the quality of the Apps. There are some decent ones on Android, but they're far a few. The UI's in apps can differ quite a bit too, which means there's a bit of learning to be done with every app. Also the fact that there's so many different Android devices means that apps most likely aren't optimized to make the most of a specific device.
No paid apps in the market at the moment is also a negative.
However not having to use the monstrosity that is iTunes is really nice (to me anyway).
Widgets... nice too. While there's no widgets that I necessarily need, it is nice to have quick access to some quick settings and information.
Hmm? I've actually wrote quite a lot.
Anyhoo, I'd recommend you be a Gmail user (versus MSN/Yahoo/whatever) if you use this phone, as it integrates really well with some of the Google services. I now store all of my phone numbers/contacts neatly on Google Contacts. If you take a bit of time organizing your contacts and what not it can make things so much easier.
Facebook integration with People is really nice.
Hmm? Some more random observations?
I feel that typing with the phone is a bit more difficult/annoying than with the iPhone.
Reception and call quality.... Decent. I feel that it's slightly better than the 3GS.
Internet program... It's rated highly and it is quite good, but I actually prefer Safari on the iPhone (the full screen browsing is quite nice though).
Music player... adequate, but definitely could do with some improving.
Anyway, overall I find the HTC Desire to be a really good phone. It's pretty, powerful and smart. It (well Android actually) still needs a bit more refinement though.
I'm a kinda gadgety person (kinda) and I'd definitely recommend the phone to fellow gadget'eers, however for those smelly commoners I'd actually have the recommend the iPhone.
As for myself. I actually use both (not at the same time). I usually swap randomly every few days.
Well that's enough waffling from me. I'm off to bed."



SINCE THEN... I've sold my Desire and 3GS and got myself a lovely new iPhone 4 on 3. So I never had an opportunity to try Froyo on the Desire. Also there's obviously been changes from the 3GS to the 4, but it's still very much the same experience. However I find the screen on the iPhone 4 to definitely be better then the Desires 9 (and any other mobile phone) and also the quality of photos and video recordings are better. The battery on the iPhone definitely outperforms the Desire too.
Anyhow, I hope this post is some bit useful to you.

osnola ibax

I'm a desire user and former iPhone 3g user. I can safely say hands down that the desire beats the pants off my former iPhone. The freedom of the desire, being open, is its biggest benefit. And dare I say apples closed system is its biggest downfall. Pissed of with Apple anyway and their bs, all this video call crap, what's the point.

quad_red

I moved from an iPhone 3G to a Desire in April... for a month.

For it's irritations, the UI of the iPhone is so more seamlessly polished than anything else out there. I found the Desire UI incredibly zippy (thanks to the snapdragon cpu) but it wasn't as intuitive, it was buggy and it made me appreciate what I had with the iPhone.

So I sold the Desire on adverts and upgraded my 3G to a 3GS solving most of my issues with the 3G (sluggishness).

My two cents is try out a Desire if you can before getting rid of your iphone.

corklad32

Guys,

Thanks for all the decent replies and the excellent review from johnzy - all very useful. I will try and get a loan of my friends desire and try it out for the day - its the only way to know..

Cheers