:argue: So I currently have a 3GS and am off contract now. I really want to like android, but the smoothness of the UI still leaves something to be desired. I am on AT&T and will be staying with them, so I only have the option of what they offer. I looked at the Galaxy SII and Skyrocket as well as the new Nitro HD. The screen on the Nitro is phenomenal, but I wounded how well supported the phone will be by the dev community, which is kind of the whole point of android, no? So any experiences one way or the other from android to iPhone or vice versa?
This is a huge nerd war topic, and the only unbiased advice I can give is to find a device that suits your current needs/interests. Screen size is also a huge factor with personal preference. With the 4s, you get to transfer all the apps you paid for on your 3gs, siri, and a huge appstore with tons of quality apps. with the GSII, you get hspa+ data speeds, customizable roms, and a massive hd screen. Just find something that makes you happy, dont get caught up in the nerd wars lol
I agree adn teh Galaxy S 2 is a very nice phone. Or wait a few more weeks for the release of the Google ICS phones.
I'm not really interested in roots and rooms and that sort of thing, just remember Skype not working on so,e android phones, but working on others, updates being horribly delayed for some models, etc. I am wondering if this is really an issue, or more perception than reality...
I'm a mac/iphone user and won't change. Yes these big @$$ screens are very eye catching and as Apple always does, they will put it out when they want to and I can only imagine that will be when the 5 is released. Chris made some great points and it is all about YOU.. I'll stick it out and wait for the 5.
if UI smoothness is a big issue for you (which I never understood why this takes priority over USABILITY), then give the ICS phones a whirl. the galaxy nexus should be released within the next two weeks and has ICS from the factory on it they've made leaps and bounds progress
Scott, based on what you are looking for, I would suggest sticking with Apple. If you want to customize your device, then Android is the way to go. Since you mentioned already you don't plan to Root, or update the ROMs, I think at the end of the day, you will be unhappy with an Android device right now. I am still very off put by the segmentation in Android. What is available for X is not necessarily available for Y. At least with Apple, if it is in the App Store, it works for your device, for the most part. Sure there are apps that won't work on the Original iPhone, or don't work well on the 3G, but they are few and far between. For the mainstream apps, they work on all Apple devices. Nicad, UI smoothness was a big factor for me, and is why I am going to stick with the iPhone for my phone, and probably Android for tablets. I can't stand when I am reading a website, like WRXatlanta, and I go to scroll in the middle of a sentence, and have to wait until I am done scrolling, and in some cases, the screen reloads, before I can continue reading. On the Apple devices, the interface is so smooth, that even while I am physically scrolling on the page, text is still crystal clear and readable. Apple also only reloads the page when you move on. On my Jetstream, I can be reading posts one and two above, everything else is off screen. When I scroll to post three and four, the entire page renders again, so for about 5 seconds, I have to wait and can't see anything. It is a minor thing, but made a big difference to me.
If he wasnt sticking with att I would have recommended the same Also, if youre interested in smoothness over usability(not saying you are), you should try windows phone 7. Mango is smoother than anything iphone or android has to offer, though there are very few apps on the windows marketplace.
It is called fragmentation and updates to the OS are sent out by the carrier/manufacturer...just like Apple. He doesn't need to root to obtain OTA updates or bug fixes. Also, the ability to use different themes, widgets, scences, launchers and wallpapers...gives you the ability to customize the look and feel of the android device. This doesn't mean that if the iPhone 9000 comes to Tmo...I won't heavily consider it for the ease of use and overall dumb factor.
It went through the FCC as a potential at&t device just this week. It will be available on at&t, but more than likely not until next year (I'm thinking February) Someone told it best to me the other day: Android = Operator iPhone = User A user just uses the phone while an operator wants to fuck with it. They want to customize it. They want to have sizeable widgets. That said, Andriod has come leaps and bounds in their infancy of the OS. I just upgraded to the Droid RAZR, and it's as fluid as can be. And the next version of the OS is far better than the previous. There's a reason Android phones are selling more and faster than iphones.
Id give it a month or so, youre right. I just figured the op was wanting to upgrade in the next few days.
I am an iphone user for 4 years now. I have played with friends Droids and while they are cool my biggest issue is that if you buy a Droid, your phone is the old model in 3 months or less. At least with an iPhone you don't have an out of date model for several years. Even as a 4 user, I don't feel like my phone is outdated with the 4S out.
I'm not unhappy? lol. I do like a lot of the other smart phones out there but I'm great w/ where I'm at. As long as I can take pictures, run credit cards and use fb/twitter/email I'm great. I know this can all be done on another phone but why switch? Plus I have literally about 6 iPhone chargers in my house, lol.
But this is supposed to change with Ice Cream Sandwich, no? Didn't google make the manufacturers pledge to support their hardware for at least 18 months in order to get access to ICS? My problem is that I want both, the smoothness of the UI from Apple with the customizability of Android. I am hoping ICS bring the two closer on the UI issue. I have the gamut of apple products but am not a fanboy and really want to try something Android...
Wirelessly posted (From Your Mom's House!: Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.3.4; en-us; HTC_Amaze_4G Build/GRJ22) AppleWebKit/533.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Safari/533.1) Which phone provides the owner with happiness?
I wouldn't go THAT far...several years? Then why does apple bother to update their phone every year, with better processors and whatnot? I had my previous android phone for 18 months and it was still one of the top phones when I got rid of it.
Also, I will admit that not all Android phones are built the same. There's a reason for that. Market saturation. Some phones work fine for some people, but now, the majority of the phones have the latest technology in terms of processors, on board graphics cards, memory, etc...The majority of customers buy the cheapest phone, with the entry level graphics. They don't realize it could play an important roll in the functionality of the device.
I like Apple. Not just the product but their company as well. How things are run inside the store, etc. Just how I am. Not downing anyone for liking Android or not liking Apple.
I don't think Android necessarily is the problem when it comes to Smoothness of the UI. I think it is all the other crap that is loaded on top of Android, like HTC Sense, or MotoBlur, etc... that really kills the smoothness of the UI. And again, as mentioned above, you don't want to Root, or deal with updating ROMs. Therefore, whatever Android device you would buy in the future will have some sort of 3rd party UI overlay on top of Android ICS. If you don't plan to Root or Update ROMs, you will have that overlay that will lag the OS. If you plan to root, you can remove all the extra crap and just run a vanilla Android OS, and probably resolve a lot of the Smoothness issues, while still having the Customization that you are looking for.
Wrong. The Nexus line has always been plain ol' vanilla Android. Nexus S is on at&t and runs it without any kind of UI outside of what Google designed for it.
So you're saying you enjoy the fact that they contract companies out that more or less enslave their employees to pump out phones? The fact that they work their employees 18 hours per day to push out their devices and at one point, there were suicides at the company almost daily. The company had to set up nets around the building to catch people from jumping off the roof. They interviewed some of the employees and many of them said they could work there every day for the rest of their life and still never be able to afford ONE iphone or ONE ipad or even ONE ipod. http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/02/ff_joelinchina/all/1 http://www.dailytech.com/Foxconn+Installs+AntiSuicide+Nets+at+Its+Facilities/article18877.htm http://gizmodo.com/5540045/foxconn-suicide-cluster-claims-another-victim Apple, as a company is scum, plain and simple. Yes, they've made some awesome devices, but the company as a whole sucks. They don't donate to ANY charity, they're ruthless in business, always picking on the little guy. I refuse to support a company like that.
Valid points. I wasnt going that far in depth - im just talking about apple stores themselves. I def see where you're coming from in that aspect.
Uhm, Foxconn makes more than just Apple products, but I don't see you complaining about the Acer Laptops, HP and Dell Computer Components, Vizio TVs etc...
I don't use any of that crap, either...However, all those reports were specific to the apple side of things, not everything foxconn does.
For what its worth I really like my Atrix, I've had the phone since the day it was released and just recently replaced the ROM with a new one. I'm considering upgrading to the Atrix2 but I want to wait until a couple of phones with ICS have dropped that way it will be easier to make an informed decision.
I didn't, although I most likely will with the next one. I would consider the laptop dock but its twice the price of a cheap laptop at this point which makes it a complete waste.
This a question that never goes well on a forum. I think it is worse than the Mustang vs Camaro argument or the STI vs. Evo argument. I think the Android and iOS camps take it far more personally than the car wars I mentioned. Both have advantages and disadvantages. Try the newer Android phones and think about if it will do what you want to do and do it efficiently then choose. I have been impressed with the newer Android phones such as the Galaxy S2. I will more than likely get an Android phone as my next phone. I am not unhappy with my iPhone 4 but I want to something different. I am a person that tries to use the devices and OS's that will allow me to do what I want and do it with efficiency. I will switch from whatever to whatever if it will allow me to get my stuff done faster and better. What gets the job done for me may not be what get's it done for someone else. That is why we have these choices.