Android or Windows

LovexxLife

Hiya,
Folks are getting me a new phone for the 22nd B-day! I have a android sony erricsson phone which has Android just wondering is there much difference to moving to a windows phone?

xabi_a

Happy Birthday:-)

If you have a choice I'd say stick to Android. They're both good, but Android has been around longer, has more apps, and more of your friends will have Android too.

If you're a gmail user then Android is definitely best. It's all owned by Google. Windows would probably try to lure you into getting a hotmail account intsead.

wilser

If you are into apps then android is probably the best for you.if the android you have is after slowing down, hangs frequently (to the point that you want to throw it against the wall) then my advice would be to try windows.
I had 3 androids (2 mid range,1 high end), every one of them slowed to a crawl after 5/6 months, used to soft/hard reset daily, didn't make much difference.
jumped to windows & am very happy i did.
either way happy birthday

LovexxLife

Thanks! Yeah after A few months I couldnt even access the android market on my phone. Might give windows a whirl. Sure could you find similar apps to the ones on android with windows? One of the phones Im looking at is Nokia Lumia 620 and I heard Nokia have their own apps thingy too is that true?

kayos

xabi_a wrote: »

If you're a gmail user then Android is definitely best. It's all owned by Google. Windows would probably try to lure you into getting a hotmail account intsead.

Signing into your phone and having its data etc all backed up is what you need a Microsoft account for. They don't try to lure you away from gmail. Your contacts etc can be synced from Google and no issues getting mail from your gmail account on windows phone.

But yes a Microsoft account gives you SkyDrive (OneDrive as its called now) and you hotmail. SMS's backed up, settings backed up and when WP 8.1 hits your app data all backed up.

LovexxLife wrote: »

Thanks! Yeah after A few months I couldnt even access the android market on my phone. Might give windows a whirl. Sure could you find similar apps to the ones on android with windows? One of the phones Im looking at is Nokia Lumia 620 and I heard Nokia have their own apps thingy too is that true?

When it comes to App's the majority of the big app's have now all made their way onto WP. But dont expect to see the latest and greatest app/game to be release the same day/month/quarter as Android/iOS. Although we're at the point now that ad's on TV sometimes have the WP Store icon . Long story short is the WP Store is still behind Android but it is getting better.

If there is any apps you have that you can not live without post them up and we can try point you in the direction of the WP version or its alternative.

I've posted many times about why I prefer WP over the other options. WP just works and works well. On my Lumia 800 I had to reboot to correct a network issue once in 2 years. On my 925 I've not had to do a single reboot to correct any issues yet.

Nokia and any phone manufacturer can have their own collection in the store. Nokia offer some very cool App's and of course with a Nokia you get full Here Drive access (you get a version on all Windows Phones but with some limits) which is simply one of the best GPS app's I've ever used on a mobile device.

If your going for a WP device it would be good to get a 1GB RAM model to ensure you can run everything in the App store. Some App's dont run on 512MB and it can take a while for the developers to optimize it to do so. If they bother at all.

wilser

All the big apps are on it (except snapchat i think)Ask over on the windows devices forum, the posters on there will tell you the ones to down load if you are missing any in particular.
like i said earlier couldn't be happier with wp.
my wife has been using one since windows phone 7 and she has never had any slowdowns/resets in that time
Edit:
what kayos said

LovexxLife

Thats Great! Well I use facebook, youtube, sat nav app and a track id which records a song if I dont know the name of and then Office suite for when I download documents. Thats really all I use it for oh and checking my yahoo emails.

I was a bit worried about changing to a windows phone but It seems to all good so far!
One other thing is the news 8 is on most phones with all the boxes on the screen is that easy to use? As I looked at it on a laptop of a friend and they found it annoying so they were able to set the settings to it looking like a normal desktop. Can that be done with the phone as well?

marcel353

I reluctantly took a corporate Nokia 820 after having a couple of android phones.
Well after one year, I can say it is a very straight forward and sturdy system, it does what it says on the tin.
Without exagerating I could probably count the number of times I had to reboot my phone, that against daily or twice daily reboots on Android phones which were not low or middle end handsets.
I am not that big into apps but certainly no missing anything major.
Making calls when you need, email and really good Office integration, Windows phone all the way, also next update looks very promising.
Hope this helps.
M

Dudda

One problem with Android is there are a lot of poor quality budget phones running outdated versions of the OS. These give Android a bad name so if going this route check reviews or get something like the Moto G which is probably the best affordable phone you can buy.

LovexxLife

Whats the latest Android system?

Vote 4 Pedro

LovexxLife wrote: »

Whats the latest Android system?

Andriod 4.4 KitKat

Vote 4 Pedro

I just got the Motorlla Moto G with 4.4 KitKat on it and it runs everything really nice and smooth, it's a great phone for the money and the thing is pritty much a google devive as they owm Motorolla.

corsav6

I can highly recommend the moto g, running android 4.4. I can't really advise on windows phones as i never owned 1 but my son has 1 and he always leaves it down to use my old nexus. If you do go down the android route then avoid the cheapest phones and do some research. I personally check xda to see how busy the forum is for the device I intend to buy, that way you have a better chance if getting a custom rom that fixes some bugs and suits your needs.

ct5amr2ig1nfhp

Not anymore google-sells-motorola-to-lenovo

Vote 4 Pedro wrote: »

I just got the Motorlla Moto G with 4.4 KitKat on it and it runs everything really nice and smooth, it's a great phone for the money and the thing is pritty much a google devive as they owm owned Motorola.

corsav6

Wilder Agreeable Rye wrote: »

Not anymore google-sells-motorola-to-lenovo

Google only bought Motorola for the patent portfolio, they only sold the hardware division to lenovo.
I still wouldn't let that put anyone off buying the moto g, its a fantastic device for the price. A word of warning however, if pictures are your thing then look elsewhere, poor camera on the g.

Missymoohaa

I have a windows Nokia 520 for about a year now. I do find I miss some apps that I access on my samsung tablet i.e Google Chromecast which I use all the time for Netflix and Showbox. Maybe it will come to windows eventually. Also Irish Independent and a couple more I can't think of.

But in saying that it's a great phone, I like the interface, it does not need as much charging as an iphone and is pretty slick and cool. I like the way it links with my email from work and my diary from work so I know what's happening on the move.

So it really depends on what you like........... but as for the phone itself, it's great.

ct5amr2ig1nfhp

Indeed, a strategic move. They have the cash, so why not!

I wouldn't put anyone off it either. I'll be ordering one for the misses over the weekend!

When you say the pics are bad, are they really bad or just not as great as a high end device?

corsav6 wrote: »

Google only bought Motorola for the patent portfolio, they only sold the hardware division to lenovo.
I still wouldn't let that put anyone off buying the moto g, its a fantastic device for the price. A word of warning however, if pictures are your thing then look elsewhere, poor camera on the g.

Dudda

Wilder Agreeable Rye wrote: »

Indeed, a strategic move. They have the cash, so why not!

I wouldn't put anyone off it either. I'll be ordering one for the misses over the weekend!

When you say the pics are bad, are they really bad or just not as great as a high end device?

Just not as good as a high end phone but better than other low end Android phones.

Just an FYI: While not a huge battery the Moto G also has a great battery life compared to other high quality phones. Battery life is key for a lot of people. http://www.designntrend.com/articles/10954/20140218/iphone-5s-vs-galaxy-s4-lg-g2-htc-one-nexus-5-comparison-battery-life-test-moto-g.htm

corsav6

Wilder Agreeable Rye wrote: »

Indeed, a strategic move. They have the cash, so why not!

I wouldn't put anyone off it either. I'll be ordering one for the misses over the weekend!

When you say the pics are bad, are they really bad or just not as great as a high end device?

Noticeably worse than my 5mp nexus, especially in low light. My other half has the HTC one mini and it takes a great pic compared to the moto g. If your main use is just to upload to social networks then it will do, if you plan to print any pictured then avoid.
I'll try to upload some pics shortly for you to see.

Edit: must take some pictures as all I have at the moment is pics of the baby.

LovexxLife

02 doesn't do any Motorola phones. Unless I try to buy it sim free but that probably be more money.
I was looking at the Alcatel one Touch which has jellybean 4.1
theres also Galaxy Trend Plus which has 4.2.2 and the xperia M has jellybean 4.1.

For the Windows Phone I was looking at Nokia Lumia 620 ( Windows phone V8, which can be upgraded to WP8 Amber) and HTC8s.

corsav6

LovexxLife wrote: »

02 doesn't do any Motorola phones. Unless I try to buy it sim free but that probably be more money.
I was looking at the Alcatel one Touch which has jellybean 4.1
theres also Galaxy Trend Plus which has 4.2.2 and the xperia M has jellybean 4.1.

For the Windows Phone I was looking at Nokia Lumia 620 ( Windows phone V8, which can be upgraded to WP8 Amber) and HTC8s.

The moto g from meteor will lock to the 1st sim used, and its €3 to unlock. Honestly at the price range its in it can't be beat, far better than the android phones you listed.
On another note I actually think some of the windows phones are the nicest looking devices on the market and Microsoft are pushing hard to get big into the mobile market so expect plenty of apps. Also I'm sure a windows phone will work far better with a windows PC or Xbox, I'm open to correction on that however.

Vote 4 Pedro

The Moto G is one of the easiest phone to unlock,
I got mine unlocked on ebay for about €3 in under 2 mins.

LovexxLife

I think it be a bit too expensive to ask mammy and daddy to buy for a 22nd present seeing as they paying for big sis wedding next month! I was thinking 120 at the very most