Iphone / BB Torch/ Droid incredible...

[Hokiefyd]

Originally Posted By: jigen
Compared to Android I just see iOS as a better experience for day-to-day use.


I bet if I used it for a while, I'd probably agree. In fact, when I got my HTC Incredible 2, I had the choice of an iPhone 4 for the same price $199 at the time. I didn't do it for two reasons, one of them more significant than the other.

First, on my brief test-drive of it, it didn't seem as easy to use, meaning all that intuitive to me. But the more I think about it, the more I recognize that with no more than 15 minutes with it, I'm sure I could master it.

Secondly, and more significantly, my wife agreed to let me get this HTC "early" as a replacement for my buggy and already-replaced-once-under-warranty Motorola Droid 2. She really wants an iPhone and will probably get one when her Droid 2 is up for renewal. I'd have been dead meat if I came home with an iPhone first.

I will wholeheartedly agree with you that bad software can ruin the Android experience. I think Motorola is among the worst in that regard. Their Motoblur UI looks okay, but seems to be rather buggy, missing key features (like being able to sort contacts by last name for crying out loud), and resource-intensive. With the same processor speed (1 GHz), my new HTC blows my old Motorola out of the water in terms of performance.

 

[asiancivicmaniac]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
There is a premium in thickness, and nothing is better than the iphone there.


You might want to check that claim.

 

[D189379]

The only thing I miss about my Blackberry was the keyboard. I'm happy with my android phone otherwise. Web browsing is 100 times better.

 

[KrisZ]

Originally Posted By: jigen
A Galaxy S phone from last year had specs that trashed a 3GS in every category imaginable. Much faster processor, top of the line GPU, more ram, etc... But it was a buggy mess and in almost all situations the 3GS would get the job done more efficiently. This has to do with software and when you have a closed ecosystem like Apple does, you'll notice how everything seems to work a little smoother. For Android I blame hardware manufacturers thinking they can do software. Samsung and Motorola are the first two I can think of. Incredible hardware on some of their Android phones, but custom software that just brings the whole experience down.


Perhaps you're talking about Galaxy S with Eclair. My Galaxy S came with Froyo and at the time my wife had iPhone 4. Aside from smoother screen slides and browser, the iphone 4 was not any faster than my Samsung, web pages and apps loaded about the same. 3GS would not hold a candle against the Samsung.

But, here is the kicker, I just upgraded my phone to Gingerbread and the phone and browser is as smooth as my wife’s iphone 4 was. So it seems that at least with Android, the new system does not bog down old hardware and in some cases it actually improves a lot of bugs. That was the case with Galaxy S going from Eclair to Froyo to Gingerbread. On the other hand, I keep reading that upgrading 3GS to the latest iOS makes the phone almost unusable.

So perhaps having the hardware ahead of software is not such a bad thing after all. Well, maybe for the early adopters, but I'm not one of them

 

[jigen]

You got me there, I only used the Galaxy S with 2.1. Not froyo.

 

[97tbird]

A real world test of siri (towards the bottom of page):

http://www.slashgear.com/iphone-4s-review-11187049/

A DIFFERENT ONE:
(I think this guy doesn't know that if you wait a bit after speaking, Siri KNOWS that you have stopped talking, and will respond - the guy taps siri button every time he finishes speaking, which is not really necessary):

 

[SLCraig]

I am a BB fan, but it is because I get my work email and BBM is great. The device also feels quality and has good battery life.
That is all I require. It has been a great device. It is a Bold 9780.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: SLCraig
I am a BB fan, but it is because I get my work email and BBM is great. The device also feels quality and has good battery life.
That is all I require. It has been a great device. It is a Bold 9780.


I have the same one. Has been a very good phone. Mind you, I've owned like 13 BB's, LOL

 

[97tbird]

Does the BB work right now, though? Mine doesn't:

(only regular calls and texts don't seem to work either)

BB outage in NA

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: 97tbird
Does the BB work right now, though? Mine doesn't:

(only regular calls and texts don't seem to work either)

BB outage in NA


Mine is getting e-mail (because I'm on WiFi on the same LAN as the BES) but BBM is sporadic at this time.

 

[97tbird]

ok - mine (Pearl) doesn't have wifi

Looks like Facebook works, nor browser, not sure if texts work.

 

[OVERKILL]

Texting should be working. Only services that are routed through RIM's infrastructure are affected.

 

[97tbird]

yep - Texting works.

 

[PandaBear]

Originally Posted By: jigen


I agree with some of your points, mainly about HTC Sense. As far as Android user interfaces go, there's stock Android (which is hard to come by these days) and there's HTC Sense. Those two are the best.

Android devices are the new Windows Mobile phones of today. People can hack them, overclock them, make custom roms, etc. It's a hobby for many. And since iPhone makes doing this much more of a chore than Android, many Android users will write off iPhone and just stick with Google Phones.

Android fans trash a company for making a mobile OS that Google sorta, kinda, copied off of... *sigh* Speed and benchmarks are a big selling point for Android devices, but just keep in mind the specs on paper don't always equal real world usability. A Galaxy S phone from last year had specs that trashed a 3GS in every category imaginable. Much faster processor, top of the line GPU, more ram, etc... But it was a buggy mess and in almost all situations the 3GS would get the job done more efficiently. This has to do with software and when you have a closed ecosystem like Apple does, you'll notice how everything seems to work a little smoother. For Android I blame hardware manufacturers thinking they can do software. Samsung and Motorola are the first two I can think of. Incredible hardware on some of their Android phones, but custom software that just brings the whole experience down.

Keep in mind battery life too. If you are coming from a BlackBerry, even a Pearl, you might be disgusted with the battery life from some Android phones. Power Management has never been Android's strong point, and some manufactures are much worse than others.

Most of the new Samsung Android devices have respectable battery life but beware of most of the HTC's. I don't know if it has something to do with HTC Sense, but some HTC devices are so poor with battery life I would probably not be able to stand the phone for 18+ months of use. Two charges a day with medium use isn't unheard of with some of these phones.

I don't want to sound like I am trashing Android. I work in the wireless industry and I use about 12 new devices a year. I try to be a pretty unbiased guy when it comes to the phones too. I've used all of the new OS's... Android, WebOS, BlackBerry, Windows Phone (which is overlooked by many). Compared to Android I just see iOS as a better experience for day-to-day use.


Agree a lot with most of the above.

The biggest issue with power management is that it is a VERY VERY tricky businesses. A lot of the time when a company is trying to finish something and has not time to get the power management working, they'll just ship it. One seemingly innocent change in software to get power consumption down could get a hidden bug that the phone never wakes up, and it could be 5 days of automated testing to find it or only happens in some customers' hand after it is shipped.

About the horrible Android OS, a lot of them are the faults of AT&T (not sure about Verizon, Sprint, or T-Mobil). The carriers really like to push their own agenda by loading up with lots of bloatware that may make them a buck but at the cost of the whole phone experience. I think only some device companies refuse (Apple and maybe a couple others) and some provide a way for people to flash their own firmware to get rid of them.

 

[asiancivicmaniac]

Originally Posted By: PandaBear
About the horrible Android OS, a lot of them are the faults of AT&T (not sure about Verizon, Sprint, or T-Mobil). The carriers really like to push their own agenda by loading up with lots of bloatware that may make them a buck but at the cost of the whole phone experience. I think only some device companies refuse (Apple and maybe a couple others) and some provide a way for people to flash their own firmware to get rid of them.



ATT loaded so much [censored] on my phone when I first got it. As long as there's a good developer who can make a good custom ROM, though, then anything can be made better. My phone has Android 2.3 (used to be 2.1) and my tablet has 3.1 and I think Android has improved a great deal and it will become even more refined. Another issue is when manufacturers put their own layout on top of stock Android and messes something up. Samsung's TouchWiz was laggy when they first had it on the Galaxy S. But I think they've listened enough that it's a whole lot more fluid now. Asus did a good job on putting Honeycomb on the Transformer tablet. Everything is smooth and it looks refined. Now people just need to develop tablet specific apps.

 

[97tbird]

This is exactly what worries me. ..there's always talk of SOME bug and there's always an update coming out or people waiting on one, it seems, with androids...
Right now, with my limited knowledge, iphone just seems to be more..."solid" ...

 

[PandaBear]

Originally Posted By: 97tbird
This is exactly what worries me. ..there's always talk of SOME bug and there's always an update coming out or people waiting on one, it seems, with androids...
Right now, with my limited knowledge, iphone just seems to be more..."solid" ...



You'll always see bugs in software that has huge changes. That's a fact of life. IMO Android is a great OS that is quickly growing and that's a small price to pay for the significant improvement between versions.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: asiancivicmaniac
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
There is a premium in thickness, and nothing is better than the iphone there.


You might want to check that claim.


You might want to as well... I'm all ears. Went through this with Nick R previously. If things have changed, why not point it out rather than making statements that dont give any useful info?

Quote:
Originally Posted By: Nick R


HTC Inspire 4G, or most any HTC phone for that matter.


Originally Posted By: JHZR2

A) the HTC model you mention is 12mm vs the iPhone 9.3. Even the Samsung captivate at 10mm is thicker. I want the thinnest phone possible that combines smarts and size. Show me one that is thinner than the iPhones 9.3mm, please.


http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2306821&page=all

So what new info do you have to add, or are you just trying to create unbased conflict?

 

[asiancivicmaniac]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: asiancivicmaniac
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
There is a premium in thickness, and nothing is better than the iphone there.


You might want to check that claim.


You might want to as well... I'm all ears. Went through this with Nick R previously. If things have changed, why not point it out rather than making statements that dont give any useful info?

Quote:
Originally Posted By: Nick R


HTC Inspire 4G, or most any HTC phone for that matter.


Originally Posted By: JHZR2

A) the HTC model you mention is 12mm vs the iPhone 9.3. Even the Samsung captivate at 10mm is thicker. I want the thinnest phone possible that combines smarts and size. Show me one that is thinner than the iPhones 9.3mm, please.


http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2306821&page=all

So what new info do you have to add, or are you just trying to create unbased conflict?


Samsung Galaxy S II is 8.71 mm thick throughout it's body up to the small bump on the bottom. That qualifies as thinner than the iPhone. And I'm not sure why you would accuse me of having an intent on causing conflict. You made a very strong, definite statement on outdated info which was debatable. Sorry if you feel offended.

And then there's the NEC Media at 7.7mm http://www.geek.com/articles/mobile/nec-bringing-worlds-thinnest-smartphone-to-the-u-s-20110830/

 

[jigen]

I still think on the major carriers that the Samsung Infuse is the thinnest smartphone @8.9mm thick. But to me anything 10mm or thinner is 100% thin enough for me. it's the 12mm+ phones that you start noticing the difference, especially with the big screens.