Help Android or W7

GT_TDI_150

Guys,

I'd like people with experience of android and W7 phones to guide me.

I'm on the verge of getting a smart(er)phone, I'm really confused between android and W7. I've discounted the iPhone for several reasons. I really dont know which OS is better, windows mobile has a bad rep but W7 seems to have broken with that tradition.

The HTC HD7 is the W7 phone I have my eye one, the Samsung Omnia 7 is another I like but not available on 02(coverage would be an issue on meteor/3/emobile) so probably not a runner.

In the android world there is the HTC Desire S, the Sony Xperia 8, the Samsung Galaxy S.

I really dont know where to turn, from experience where's people's opinion @?

Thanks

evolutionqy7

In my experience WP7 is alot smoother and has alot more high quality apps even with a smaller number number of apps in the app store. Though it has all the main ones you would need as Microsoft is pushing all the devs to put it all out there.

Ive been on both sides and i think WP7 offers far more fluid experience.

It might not be up to far with all the functions currently with Android. But that will change soon enough with the next update. Microsoft will push out enough features to make up for what iPhone and Android took years to establish.

Right now the biggest downturn it doesnt have third party app multi tasking but it will be there in the next update.

Right now its still a pretty awesome platform. Simple yet polished.

Odaise Gaelach

evolutionqy7 wrote: »

Right now the biggest downturn it doesnt have third party app multi tasking but it will be there in the next update.

Even that isn't too much of a bad thing, since apps seem to be able to resume fairly quickly when they're deactivated. I even think there are speed requirements in the app certification specification.

Some things that have to load a lot of content, like games, will take longer to resume. But it's not too bad, and most of them are designed to allow you to resume from where you left off, which is really nice.

It's not true multitasking, but it's definitely the next best thing.

racer1

At the moment i would say Android. I think windows needs about another 6 months to a year. There are a lot of new phones due out soon too. I just got the Nexus S after looking at the HTC 7 and i love it. It is unlocked and unbranded also. But go look at both phones and see which one you like. Everyone has different taste.

liamog

If your want a new phone them I'd recommend WP7 its a great OS and everyone I shown it to is delighted with its ease of use. I used Android as well for a while but found the interface to be less intuitive. The biggest reason for me to choose Android would be the lack of Angry Birds on WP but it's due on the 25th of May

angel01

I am on android and I love it, there are thousands of apps to choose from and so many that are free. People in general are not developing for W7 and android is a brilliant platform for a phone to be on.

It works seamlessly with the google platform e.g Gmail and the like. I would go with that myself.

In a month or two, the Galaxy S II will launch and HTC Sensation is also due, take a read about them...

evolutionqy7

angel01 wrote: »

People in general are not developing for W7

Where did that come out from? Theres plenty even Irish devs providing apps. A few of them are on boards.ie too.

There plenty development on. Windows Phone has the fastest growing market out of iOS and Android. Search it and you will know its true

PogMoThoin

Do you use google services for work, Gmail, Google documents, Google calendar? If yes or if you're likely to use them in future then its a no-brainer not to choose Android, it all ties in nicely out of the box

Odaise Gaelach

evolutionqy7 wrote: »

Where did that come out from? Theres plenty even Irish devs providing apps. A few of them are on boards.ie too.

(Slowly raises his hand).

Smartphone Republic

GT_TDI_150 wrote: »

Guys,

I'd like people with experience of android and W7 phones to guide me.

I'm on the verge of getting a smart(er)phone, I'm really confused between android and W7. I've discounted the iPhone for several reasons. I really dont know which OS is better, windows mobile has a bad rep but W7 seems to have broken with that tradition.

The HTC HD7 is the W7 phone I have my eye one, the Samsung Omnia 7 is another I like but not available on 02(coverage would be an issue on meteor/3/emobile) so probably not a runner.

In the android world there is the HTC Desire S, the Sony Xperia 8, the Samsung Galaxy S.

I really dont know where to turn, from experience where's people's opinion @?

Thanks

I've seen a lot of these new phones in the flesh and one you haven't mentioned here is the Sony Xperia Arc. It really is a class phone, Bravia engine powered screen, it's really crisp. Desire S is decent too, Desire HD is that bit better. The HD7 is a good phone, but from working for a mobile operator I've seen a lot of these phones be returned for either a glitch or peoples inability to use it!

jimmycrackcorm

Android for now as it is still early days for WP7. However with the quality of the toolset that MS are providing for WP7, it will give Android and iPhone a good run for the money in the future.

angel01

evolutionqy7 wrote: »

Where did that come out from? Theres plenty even Irish devs providing apps. A few of them are on boards.ie too.

There plenty development on. Windows Phone has the fastest growing market out of iOS and Android. Search it and you will know its true

Not in my experiences. I wouldn't touch Windows Phone, been down that road before and ain't hitting it again.

Love android and will never use anything else.

AntiVirus

The only reason (and its the only one) I'd go for an Android over a WP7 at the moment is for the Sat Nav software like TomTom and CoPilot which isn't available for the WP7 at the moment, other than that I'd get the WP7. Go into a store and have a mess about with both OS's

bretttp1

I'd say the htc HD7 myself, I have the Omnia 7 and its a class act (the screen is very good). But it only has 8gb of memory, having said that I've downloaded loads of podcasts a movie about 5 albums worth of music 5 games and theres still loads of room. When you use zune to link up it optimises the file sizes for the phone. Also the zune software makes everything very nice to use.

My two cents

evolutionqy7

PogMoThoin wrote: »

Do you use google services for work, Gmail, Google documents, Google calendar? If yes or if you're likely to use them in future then its a no-brainer not to choose Android, it all ties in nicely out of the box

Which all work well with Windows Phone too.

angel01

Honestly this section of boards is getting more tedious with all the fanboys coming out of the woodwork

PogMoThoin

evolutionqy7 wrote: »

Which all work well with Windows Phone too.

Yes, but not tied into the whole experience like in Android with Google Earth, Maps, Streetview, Latitude, Places tying into your Google Calendar, etc.
Android is built around the these.
In my old job I could get Google map co-ordinates added to a job on my calendar and told go there, they could see my location on Latitude and know where I was, I could use navigator, maps and streetview to find where i needed to go, all worked out of the box with no setting up other than sign in.

evolutionqy7

angel01 wrote: »

Honestly this section of boards is getting more tedious with all the fanboys coming out of the woodwork

You must not have spent enough time here It was always like it would be worse if Apple didnt have their own section

Obviously google is quite advanced in navigation. Ill give android that it was actually one of the best nav systems out there cause of street view (if you have enough data)

Adding a location is not something new. Its supported in every phone. Can link it to the map app. Obviously as mentioned before Windows Phone 7 doesnt have navigation yet as it prepares it for the next update and working on merging Ovi Maps to bing maps.

Just because some one doesnt agree that Android isnt best doesnt mean their fan boys of whatever. I was on Android and then was given the chance to play with Windows Phone 7 and i loved it. I love it cause it was smoother, it was a completely different UI and it had no resemblance to iOS or Android which are all based on small grid icons and swiping left to right. Live tiles replaced bulky widgets and displayed the info i need in a consistent and clean way. Got alot more battery out of it too.
Microsoft is pushing this hard and is being alot more transparent about the future of the operating system and what it has to offer than Google or Apple.
One main advantage is that iOS and Google are both mature systems. They got little space for improvement. Where as a young system has alot more room to improve.

Im still thinking of getting an Android phone in the future. But its just for messing around with custom roms and tinkering. Would still keep Windows Phone for day to day just because the experience is so much smoother, dont believe me? Look at the many reviews online. All the reviews of the first look at Windows Phone 7 will say. The experience is very smooth,no lag, consistent and it just works.

I know the main advantage of Android is you can customize it. But tbh i havent seen an average customer yet that even has changed his/hers wallpaper. Most of my friends around college still have the same HTC Sense bubble wallpaper on. Same widgets everywhere and everything nearly identical So it comes to the point does the average paddy really need that much?

stevenmu

angel01 wrote: »

Not in my experiences. I wouldn't touch Windows Phone, been down that road before and ain't hitting it again.

Love android and will never use anything else.

angel01 wrote: »

Honestly this section of boards is getting more tedious with all the fanboys coming out of the woodwork

Seriously?

muckwarrior

I have both and have developed for both. While WP7 has a very clean UI it's just way too far behind on features at the moment for me to consider using it as my primary phone. If you just want an easy to use phone with a few nice apps then it may be the best choice, but if you're a 'power user' then Android all the way!

evolutionqy7

angel01 wrote: »

Not in my experiences. I wouldn't touch Windows Phone, been down that road before and ain't hitting it again.

Love android and will never use anything else.

Oh and you havent been that road. Windows Mobile was a completely different thing. Windows Mobile isnt Windows Phone. Completely different Operating Systems and UI's

Oafley Jones

I was seriously impressed when I finally got to play around with the omnia 7 but I wouldn't buy one yet. It's an incredibly slick experience - it makes everything else look old fashioned especially iOS - yet it's missing too many basic features for me to even consider it.. kinda comparable to the first few versions of iPhone OS. I could see myself switching over in a years time when they get the functionality up.

Out of curiosity why have you ruled out the iPhone?

Feckfox

Go into a shop and try them both.

Jaykay70

I went from an iPhone 4 to an HTC Desire HD7 to a Samsung Galaxy S.

I really liked the Windows Phone 7 OS except that there were a few too many bugs that made it too unreliable for me. I held out with it for a while but the ongoing delay of the January 2011 update was intolerable. The look and feel of WP7 is brilliant, except that the list of installed apps just keeps getting longer and could become a real pain in the long run. Also, the build quality of the HD7 is not great as the casing creaks and groans in your hands and the slots for the speakers at the top and bottom of the screen are brilliant for collecting dust and other detritus!

Android is working well for me at the moment. To be honest though, all of the three main OS's will do everything you need so it will have to come down to personal preference. For me WP7 is not quite there yet, but when it is it will be brilliant.

liamog

A lot of people have referred to the missing features of WP7, does anybody have a list, as I find it more than capable for my daily needs and am curious what I may be missing out on.

AntiVirus

liamog wrote: »

A lot of people have referred to the missing features of WP7, does anybody have a list, as I find it more than capable for my daily needs and am curious what I may be missing out on.

Sat Nav, thats all I want at the moment

evolutionqy7

Real multi tasking and navigation is all its missing. Both of there should be coming with the next update.

stevenmu

I've noticed a few people saying that navigation will come with the next update, or that something is missing in the SDK to provide it.

I've actually been looking at writing a navigation app (to see if it'll be something feasible as a hobbyist project), and as far as I can tell everything needed is already there. There just doesn't seem to be any interest in providing one by the main navigation players.

I'm hoping to do some tests over the next week or two, but it seems like something that'll be very possible as a hobbyist project.

Jaykay70

liamog wrote: »

A lot of people have referred to the missing features of WP7, does anybody have a list, as I find it more than capable for my daily needs and am curious what I may be missing out on.

Just to be clear the main problems that I had with Windows Phone 7 were as follows:

1) Syncing of email, contacts and calendar stopped working intermittently. Sometimes a battery pull would resolve it sometimes not. WiFi and 3G.

2) Inability to download many attachments correctly, even Office documents!

3) The need to pull the battery or reset a number of times each day.

4) Finally gave up when it refused to send an e-mail over 3G, the handset got very very hot and killed the battery from 90% to dead in under 20 minutes.

I appreciate that these issues were on an HD7 and other handsets may not have the same issues. However, the ongoing delay of the first major update was also a determining factor in giving up on WP7 for now.

I did look at the Omnia 7 but the colour reproduction was very strange on the screen. Odd really, because both of my current handsets (Galaxy S and Nexus S) have a Super AMOLED screen and they are absolutely stunning.

I think WP7 has potential but, for me, it was not reliable enough in every day operation.

AntiVirus

Jaykay70 wrote: »

1) Syncing of email, contacts and calendar stopped working intermittently. Sometimes a battery pull would resolve it sometimes not. WiFi and 3G.

2) Inability to download many attachments correctly, even Office documents!

3) The need to pull the battery or reset a number of times each day.

4) Finally gave up when it refused to send an e-mail over 3G, the handset got very very hot and killed the battery from 90% to dead in under 20 minutes.

All those would have been an issue with your handset, not WP7

Odaise Gaelach

Jaykay70 wrote: »

1) Syncing of email, contacts and calendar stopped working intermittently. Sometimes a battery pull would resolve it sometimes not. WiFi and 3G.

2) Inability to download many attachments correctly, even Office documents!

3) The need to pull the battery or reset a number of times each day.

4) Finally gave up when it refused to send an e-mail over 3G, the handset got very very hot and killed the battery from 90% to dead in under 20 minutes.

I have to agree with AntiVirus, I've never had those problems on my LG Optimus 7.

stevenmu

I'd agree too, none of these problems on my Omnia. The screen is luscious too, easily matches the Galaxys etc that I've tried in stores. If anything I'd say it looks better, but that's probably more to do with WP7s general good looks, the great contrasting colour scheme probably shows off the SAMOLED better.

evolutionqy7

Didn't have that on HD7 or Omnia7. Should bring it back to the shop to fix the software if the problems persist

Jaykay70

AntiVirus wrote: »

All those would have been an issue with your handset, not WP7

I beg to differ, the syncing issue is well documented on various forums.

The handling of attachments is an OS issue as MS do not allow any customisation.

Battery pull for frozen handset could go either way, but as the OS and hardware are locked down by MS then this could be more widespread.

But if you are happy enough to blame the handset then that is your prerogative

Jaykay70

evolutionqy7 wrote: »

Didn't have that on HD7 or Omnia7. Should bring it back to the shop to fix the software if the problems persist

Don't need to. O2 has swapped it for a Galaxy S as a temporary measure and will replace it with a Galaxy S2 when it is released.

AntiVirus

Jaykay70 wrote: »

I beg to differ, the syncing issue is well documented on various forums.

Well documented? Oddly enough no one seems to have that problem here but just you? You didn't post here when you had a problem?

Jaykay70 wrote: »

I appreciate that these issues were on an HD7 and other handsets may not have the same issues.

:P

evolutionqy7

Well i recieve word documents and pictures weekly on my email and never had them problems. Never heard anyone on windows phone 7 thread say it didnt work the way it should have either.

Same goes on XDA. Never seen that issue