Android or IOS

RidleyRider

So I'm considering a new phone on bill pay. I'm at a loss as what to get. I've had android since day 1 but am willing to change.

So, what are the pros and con's of 'higher' end phones like the iPhone 5 and S4?

TBi

Why not windows phone?

I like iOS and WP for their ease of use and stability, plus no slowdowns like android.

biko

Is there a particular reason to leave Android?
I've had both and tbh they are quite similar for someone who just use them and isn't into rooting/techy stuff.

To me ios is just a dearer version of android.
I'm also not a fan of itunes, which was part of the reason to leave apple.

Windows looks quite different, I haven't used it much so can't say if it's "better" than any other OS.

There are tons of comparison vids on youtube so you could start there for what various reviewer have to say.

unkel

RidleyRider wrote: »

So I'm considering a new phone on bill pay. I'm at a loss as what to get. I've had android since day 1 but am willing to change.

So, what are the pros and con's of 'higher' end phones like the iPhone 5 and S4?

I'm neither a fan of iOS nor Android. Switched to a Windows 8 phone early this year and I love it. Have a go of one in one of the phone shops. The Nokia Lumia 920 is about €260 unlocked / simm free (see bargain alerts thread), which is a steal

The Windows Phone 8 update 3 came out yesterday with some significant improvements too

beauf

RidleyRider wrote: »

So I'm considering a new phone on bill pay. I'm at a loss as what to get. I've had android since day 1 but am willing to change.

So, what are the pros and con's of 'higher' end phones like the iPhone 5 and S4?

Theres a summary here.

http://www.gsmarena.com/apple_iphone_5s-review-994.php
http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s4-review-914.php
http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_lumia_1020-review-989.php
http://www.gsmarena.com/six_way_camera_shootout-review-998p10.php

TBH though some people like one operating does it better than others. Its quite subjective/personal. My next phone (but not a top end one) will be a Windows Phone. I just want to try it.

kayos

unkel wrote: »

The Windows Phone 8 update 3 came out yesterday with some significant improvements too

The Dev preview of GDR3 which or may not may void your warranty if you install it came out yesterday. Just want to be clear on that its not GA yet.

I'm on my second Windows Phone at the moment (Nokia Lumia 800 and now 925). Never looked back since switching I previously had Androids. In the 18months of owning my Lumia 800 I had to reboot once to fix a network glitch. With android I could not count the times. In the 18months on the Lumia 800 I never ever noticed a slow down in performance.

My wife just swapped to the Lumia 925 from a Sony Xperia and I dont think she'll be going back to android any time soon either. When I was upgrading to the Lumia 800 she stuck to android with her upgrade. This time she took the jump. She loves the OS when comparing it to android. Ease of use and function being the main points for her.

Honestly go into a store pick one up and have a play. Yes its missing certain features biggest pain in the whole is media and ringtone volume being the same setting! But I believe that's ear marked for WP8.1 in the new year (completely different to GDR3!!!!!!). Apart from that nothings been a bug bear to me.

If your into rooting and completely making the phone your own you only have one option Android. WP and iOS are closed systems and will never give you the customization that you get with android.

With respect to the available app's this is normally the point given to say stay away from WP. If your always downloading and using the latest and greatest app's on release day you might not be happy on WP. Games are behind the times (getting better) and if your looking for a mobile banking app WP is going to lose out. Many of the main apps are there though....

Apart from Youtube with Google/Microsoft having a fight over it. Google wont release one, Microsoft build their own. Google block said MS app, Microsoft fix what Google complained about in the app and next thing Google complain that it must be written in HTML 5. Something they dont do for their own apps on Android/iOS. I also remember an article where Youtube when it see's the request headers and cops its a WP browser downgrade features out of nothing but spite. Of course this story would be totally different if I was Android/Google fan .

The whole app argument is valid to many and the market share of WP means companies are not so worried about not supporting WP. But the market share is growing and set to grow more as Nokia or should I say Microsoft push into the lower end of the market. With market share comes more pressure on App dev's to support WP.

If you go WP go with a Lumia and you really are buying a global GPS device that does not need data to work (you do need to download the maps you want first) and has free map upgrades (globally if your on a higher end Lumia). My 800 has seen me get from A to B at home, in the States and mainland Europe be it in a car or on foot. Heck I ran it side by side with a Garmin and the speed zone warnings were quicker on the Lumia. The latest upgrade from Nokia built on top of GDR 2 also means any changes in the maps only needs to download the changes not the complete map handy!

Now off to install the dev preview of GDR 3 not something I'd normally do to my main device, never mind my month old main phone, but I strangely trust it to work fine. Pretty much because everything on WP works.

unkel

Great post, kayos

And to stress your point that the Nokia GPS / satnav application is free and comes with free maps (because Nokia owns map maker Navteq), so it does not rely on a data connection

I'm a light user with a very cheap monthly bill pay sub with only 1GB data and I rely heavily on this feature

kayos wrote: »

Now off to install the dev preview of GDR 3 not something I'd normally do to my main device, never mind my month old main phone, but I strangely trust it to work fine. Pretty much because everything on WP works.

Did it earlier today. Not a glitch, working fine

Who'd have thought a few years ago that a device running Microsoft software would be more stable than any of its competition?

RidleyRider

Hey guys, I apologise for the lateness with the reply but have been very busy with a wedding and stuff etc..

Anyways, i appreciate the advice ye gave me and decided after going to carphone warehouse and having a chance to fiddle with them I went with the iPhone 4S.

I liked a few of the Sonys and was very tempted but the iPhone pleases me more aesthetically. Windows phones are brilliant and I love the windows 8 layout...on my computer but for everyday I think id have gone bizerk with it.

TBi

Hope you enjoy the iPhone. The tiles on windows phone are very useful, i really missed them when i went back to iOS.

D'Peoples Voice

RidleyRider wrote: »

So I'm considering a new phone on bill pay. I'm at a loss as what to get. I've had android since day 1 but am willing to change.

So, what are the pros and con's of 'higher' end phones like the iPhone 5 and S4?

How can you say you've had android?
The whole point of android is that every company is encouraged to provide a different experience,

Samsung Touch Wizz is even different to its own Samsung Google Edition
HTC One with Sense is even different to its own HTC One Google Edition
Both very different to the google edition Motorola Moto X or the (Google Edition) Nexus 5

I haven't even started on Sony with Xperia or LG with Optimus and so on.

More interesting though than all of the above, in MY opinion, is that you can purchase a Blackberry Z30 (or Z10 or Q10),
and once it has the Blackberry 10.2 operating system, you can port over apps from the Android Play Store - see more here

The Z30 will run on BB OS 10.2, and with this update comes support for Android Jelly Bean apps. This gives developers more tools to get their existing Android apps over to BlackBerry, and could help to make the new phones more appealing to a wider audience.

Aside from Android,
there is the Firefox operating system on mobile phones
and the Ubuntu operating system on mobile phones
there are others such as Tizen, Windows and perhaps Saffron X.

So, just a sample of phones out there - though the cheaper operating systems are the ones you might buy for your children in school - at least if they lose or drop them, it won't be too bad. :P

Being European, a phone manufacturer I would never choose is Apple, because of the arrogance they showed to the EU.
Since 2011, the EU has harmonised phone chargers for data enabled phones, yes, all data enabled phones must use a micro-USB - to my knowledge all major manufacturers but Apple did this - even though Apple agreed they would.

The following 14 companies have signed the MoU: Apple, Emblaze Mobile, Huawei Technologies, LGE, Motorola Mobility, NEC, Nokia, Qualcomm, Research In Motion (RIM), Samsung, Sony Ericsson, TCT Mobile (ALCATEL mobile phones), Texas Instruments and Atmel. Together, their brands represent more than 90% of the mobile phones sold in Europe today.

Instead of Apple changing, or giving their customers an adapter for free, they charged €9 ON TOP of the price of the phone. A real F.U to the EU!! But to their credit - with the iPhone it is now micro USB - just one that is not compatible with any other phone ( to the best of my knowledge)!