This phone vs. iPhone - AT&T Samsung Galaxy S II SGH-I777

Name your pros and cons for having each. I'm deciding whether to get this or the 4S. Obviously you're on here cuz you probably have the GS2, so I'm expecting some good pros! But I also want to be aware of things I might miss or run into. This is probably easier for people who've had an iPhone in the past, but really, you can participate either way.
Edit: I'm also really concerned about battery life. What kind of battery life do you get? How long does it go without a charge, and what kind of screen-on time do you get? And how does this compare to the battery life of your past iPhone (if you've owned one)?

my gf has the 4s i have the gs2. her phone is tiny, its really disappointing to use. I used to own an iphone 4 and was very pleased with the os, now though whenever i hold one i get sad because there's so much goodness being spoiled by that small screen.
anyway, on to the part that matters to you: battery life.
This one really varies, when i first got the gs2 and android i would get about the same battery life as her 4s but i was a noob and had all sorts of background data going and wasting battery. Since i've downloaded juice defender ultimate and set it up correctly, i get about 24 hours or more out of the phone b4 needing to charge.
Go with the gs2.

systoxity said:
my gf has the 4s i have the gs2. her phone is tiny, its really disappointing to use. I used to own an iphone 4 and was very pleased with the os, now though whenever i hold one i get sad because there's so much goodness being spoiled by that small screen.
anyway, on to the part that matters to you: battery life.
This one really varies, when i first got the gs2 and android i would get about the same battery life as her 4s but i was a noob and had all sorts of background data going and wasting battery. Since i've downloaded juice defender ultimate and set it up correctly, i get about 24 hours or more out of the phone b4 needing to charge.
Go with the gs2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
24 hours? That's sweet. How much do you use the phone during that time? Heavy or moderate user?

the only thing that iphone wins in is the connectivity with a mac (ical, address book, itunes) i know there are apps for this and while they are good, they dont match the easiness (IMO)

I was an Iphone user since the 2007 when it first came out. I have had everyone one of them since. I just switched to the SG2 from my 4S and I absolutely love this phone. Yeah, the Iphone has a polished OS, but I had to jailbreak it to use any of the better functions.
I rooted and put a rom on this puppy and I get 48 hrs of battery life moderate use. If I go heavy I can easily get 24 hrs...

i have the skyrocket now and i'm really disappointed with it. longtime 3gs user and android is definitely less polished with many more force closes than ios. another thing is that you're always worried about whether or not an app is poorly written and just spinning in the background. i don't have energy to deal with such things- when i download an app (words with friends or facebook are two really good examples on android vs. iphone) i just want it to work and not screw up my phone. yes, i know there are other apps other than words with friends but everyone i know uses words with friends and i don't think i could convince everyone to switch over just to play with me.
that said, yes you can do a lot more but you really have to mess with all the settings to get them just right. and even then the battery life is awful.
i'm a med student so i spend long hours studying and listening to music on my phone. with my 3gs i could easily get through a 12+ hour study session listening to music the whole time with frequent browsing to look up drugs, diseases, etc.
yesterday i was in the library for a little more than 10 hours with my skyrocket (on wifi the whole time) and it was at 10% when i left whereas the 3gs would be 50%+

hurley81388 said:
i have the skyrocket now and i'm really disappointed with it. longtime 3gs user and android is definitely less polished with many more force closes than ios. another thing is that you're always worried about whether or not an app is poorly written and just spinning in the background. i don't have energy to deal with such things- when i download an app (words with friends or facebook are two really good examples on android vs. iphone) i just want it to work and not screw up my phone. yes, i know there are other apps other than words with friends but everyone i know uses words with friends and i don't think i could convince everyone to switch over just to play with me.
that said, yes you can do a lot more but you really have to mess with all the settings to get them just right. and even then the battery life is awful.
i'm a med student so i spend long hours studying and listening to music on my phone. with my 3gs i could easily get through a 12+ hour study session listening to music the whole time with frequent browsing to look up drugs, diseases, etc.
yesterday i was in the library for a little more than 10 hours with my skyrocket (on wifi the whole time) and it was at 10% when i left whereas the 3gs would be 50%+
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The skyrocket has much lower battery life than the Galaxy S II because of the 4g. I usually get a whole days worth of usage out of mine (14+) by the end of the night with about 2-3 hours of screen on time and still have about 40-50% battery left.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using xda premium

I had an iPhone 4, before 3gs and 3g.
I hated having to wait for jailbreaks to use some features.
Hated Itunes with a passion.
The OS felt boring without jailbreaks.
Bluetooth is closed to share files, songs with other people.
Can't use it as a mass storage device, everything from pc have to go through itunes.
Means you can't copy files directly from other pc, have to rely on third party apps like dropbox which sucks for big files.
Only thing I miss is Activator, which is a jailbreak tweak.

I'm going to attempt a different approach here....
You need to ask yourself what type of user you are. Either a tech/geek/hacker (whatever you want to call it) or someone I would call a general user. By general user I don't mean light phone user. I mean somebody who doesn't want to monkey with settings/themes/roms/kernels etc. The tech user will probably always pick the android over the iphone for its ability to be modded. The iphone is good because you don't have to think about it. Let Apple do all the worrying for you and just use it.
This is not to say that the GS2 is not a great device for a general user, or that an iPhone is not a great device for a techy, but they both shine in different ways. Take a look through the themes section and check out some screen shots of the GS2. Look at all the different ways you can make it personal. The iphone (non jailbroken) will always look pretty close to everybody else.
To answer your battery question though, I easily get 24hrs with moderate to heavy use (caveat: I run an app called tasker that helps with battery saving. Great app).

GeremyHamlett said:
I'm going to attempt a different approach here....
You need to ask yourself what type of user you are. Either a tech/geek/hacker (whatever you want to call it) or someone I would call a general user. By general user I don't mean light phone user. I mean somebody who doesn't want to monkey with settings/themes/roms/kernels etc. The tech user will probably always pick the android over the iphone for its ability to be modded. The iphone is good because you don't have to think about it. Let Apple do all the worrying for you and just use it.
This is not to say that the GS2 is not a great device for a general user, or that an iPhone is not a great device for a techy, but they both shine in different ways. Take a look through the themes section and check out some screen shots of the GS2. Look at all the different ways you can make it personal. The iphone (non jailbroken) will always look pretty close to everybody else.
To answer your battery question though, I easily get 24hrs with moderate to heavy use (caveat: I run an app called tasker that helps with battery saving. Great app).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with you about what kind of user you are. The iPhone is meant for certain people while android is meant for others. It really comes down to what you want from your phone. If you like the freedom of changing every little thing about your phone then go with the Galaxy S II. If you like something that you don't have to mess with much and still have a good user experience, get the iPhone.

I say go gs2. Better community, xda is awesome. More customizable stuff...and androids eat apples.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using xda premium

Pretty much just echoing what has already been said, but I switched from the 4 and while it was a beautiful piece of hardware, I had so many headaches dealing with Apple's restrictions. I'm not much of a widget guy and keep just one homescreen with almost nothing running in the background and get amazing battery life, certainly just as good as the 4 if not better (flashing UnNamed helped as well, but not necessary).
This phone is lightning quick, feels great in the hand and I just can't imagine going back.

Agree with Geremy.. used a 3GS before, then an Aria, now the SGS2..
How you approach using the phone is the key decision point.
As to battery life,the SGS2 is pretty good for an android phone. On a light-use day (some email, 20 minutes of newsreaders, about an hour of music...I can go 14-15 hours. On a heavy use day, extensive emailing, web browsing for a hours, navigating in car, music while working, phone calls,I will get about 8 hours. BUT I always carry a backup battery, so I don't pay much attention to that issue.. on a heavy day,I will switch batteries at about 4 pm and use the phone until the end of the day... just start charging when I go to sleep, meantime, the second battery is charging in the external charger... the next day,I am ready for either situation.
(actually I have 3rd battery for when I am traveling an don't know how much I will use the phone, or when/ where I will be able to charge it again..).
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using XDA App

Yup
GeremyHamlett said:
I'm going to attempt a different approach here....
You need to ask yourself what type of user you are. Either a tech/geek/hacker (whatever you want to call it) or someone I would call a general user. By general user I don't mean light phone user. I mean somebody who doesn't want to monkey with settings/themes/roms/kernels etc. The tech user will probably always pick the android over the iphone for its ability to be modded. The iphone is good because you don't have to think about it. Let Apple do all the worrying for you and just use it.
This is not to say that the GS2 is not a great device for a general user, or that an iPhone is not a great device for a techy, but they both shine in different ways. Take a look through the themes section and check out some screen shots of the GS2. Look at all the different ways you can make it personal. The iphone (non jailbroken) will always look pretty close to everybody else.
To answer your battery question though, I easily get 24hrs with moderate to heavy use (caveat: I run an app called tasker that helps with battery saving. Great app).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would have to agree with this whole-heartedly. The other main difference are the apps that are available and how well they are written. I fall as someone who is a techy but isn't too much for visual customization. I don't mind the phone looking the same as others, but do like tinkering with the internal processes from time to time.

I used iphone 3gs, 4 and am using ASGS2 now.
iphone +s.
As apple is manufacturer of phone + OS, they know the things inside out and fix the bugs easily and quickly.
Your iphone is guaranteed for at least 2 to 3 future iOS releases though some functions may not work with new releases.
I like Iphone Keyboard a lot, the accuracy of letters while you type in is excellent, with same speed of typing I make a lot of typos on ASGS2, I somehow managed to get nicer typing with help of "Go keyboard (free)" on ASGS2, my sincere thanks to "Go keyboard" Team!
Quality of hardware and resale-able on ebay! your return on investment works!
ASGS2 +s.
Bigger Screen/Display.
Open source, apps from 3rd party like Amazon apps store, support from forums like xda.
Easily unlock-able/ root-able.
More customizable than iphone due to big community of freelancers as you see on xda!! Hats off to them.
Flash videos works here, not on iphone!

I just came from a 3gs. From a core perspective, i.e, web, email, browsing, facebook, twitter, etc. it's pretty much the same. Lots of different options, way more control.
My recommendation is that you go into the store and spend a few hours over a few days playing with the devices. It's hard to get an true feeling of things but it will at least get you more time with Android.
Apple makes a nice product, iOS is solid. But for me the screen size on the 4s screwed the pooch. I'm older (42), and frankly was sick of the smaller screen.
My decision came down to two points:
1) Could I two way sync with icloud calendars (entire house is apple).
2) How much of a pain would it be to get Apple Address Book Contacts into Google
3) How much of a pain would it be to get/sync itunes to it?
Subjective:
4) Would I like Android.
Answers:
1) Smooth Sync for Cloud Calendars - perfect two way sync.
2) Export to vCard - Import to Google. Easy.
3) Doubletwist with Airsync - works like a charm. Installed doubletwist on device and imac, airsync on device and bam! Wireless sync of itunes to GS2.
4) This is the hardest one for you to answer. As a long time apple user I found myself so ingrained with how things looked with Apple that some things were an initial shock. Not that they didn't work, but because the look a little different etc.

I think most has been covered here already but+ 1 if you like to SET UP EVERYTHING the way YOU LIKE IT AND WANT IT TO WORK then OGSGS2. I have never and will never use a iPhone because I like to tinker with my phone to it's Max. And as far as battery life it is pretty darn good. I would say I am a pretty heavy user also.
The area where it levels out is while I was sleeping fyi and forgot to plug it in.
Sent From My KickAss ATT SGS2 SPORTING CM7

I would say that I agree with everyone here so far. I really want to like android- I'm a techy nerdy kind of guy. I would never buy a Mac because I know I can build my own desktop with the same components for half the price and dual-boot hackintosh it if i really wanted the OS (which i don't). I only bought the first original iphone because I could unlock it and use it on my ridiculously cheap grandfathered T-mobile plan at the time (when there wasn't 3g). This was far before the days of untethered jailbreaking and unlocking so it was pretty involved and quite scary because it was fairly easy to brick the phone from my understanding. And I only got the 3gs because android was really unrefined at that point and ATT had no good offerings.
But at the same time my life has gotten busier and busier so I have less time to mess around with different ROMs of varying stabilities and worrying about whether or not that new app I installed is sucking up all of my battery in the background. Or having to unroot the phone before taking it in for any warranty issues. Maybe I'm getting old, grumpy, or work is ruining my life- I'm not sure which one it is haha.
I will say the one feature I LOVE about my SR though is that 4.5 inch screen. I know it has terrible pixel density and all that stuff but I love how big everything is- it's so much easier on the eyes. I also really like the ability to add widgets to the homescreen and that the customization options are there (but something I don't really care for).
But at the same time I think it's the little things where Apple has really outdone everyone. For one thing, the scrolling on the stock web browser is jumpy and I find that using the headphone remote to double click to skip the song is blah. For some reason (as I mentioned before) Samsung also thinks that nobody cares about bluetooth headset voice dialing and left it out of this phone. Also, you can't change the auto-brightness settings at all and the stock settings are horrific. Yes I know there are 3rd party apps for all of these things but then you're introducing another variable which you then have to worry about if it's sucking up all of your battery in the background (in my experience I found both the Dolphin and Opera web browsers to use significantly more processor time than the stock web browser)
Also, yes having a removable battery is awesome and theoretically easy to switch throughout the day but I have the Otterbox Defender on my SR which is definitely not a case you want to be taking apart and putting back together all the time. All of the other cases for the phone (and I'm a clumsy person so I definitely need a case) don't seem much easier to take on and off as well.
Oh well, maybe with ICS Android will smooth out the edges and developers will stop writing crappy code to allow for all sorts of rogue apps....

I had the S2 for about 3 weeks and then returned it to get my wife an iPhone 4s. I currently use my Captivate. I hate Apple with a passion, but I will say the iPhone is just soo polished! If you dont want to hack anything it really is a great phone (minus flash) and battery life is better than ANY Android phone. My wife gets 3 days of life per charge easily. She doesnt have push email but she does use it.
My S2 only got me a day of battery life (push enabled). For me I would stay Android (i love the customizing) but if battery life is a big concern there is no doubt Apple as Android beat. Thats my 2 cents.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

If you want great battery life, go use an old 3310 Nokia phone.

Related

For those debating between GS2 and iPhone 4S

I know this is a sensitive subject, but....
I lost my iPhone 4 a couple months ago and picked up a Galaxy S2 last week. I have a few concerns that are making me want to go back and get a new 4S... was wondering if anyone had any comments or maybe this little list might be helpful to someone else deciding between the GS2 and an iOS phone. This isn't meant to start some war over iOS vs Android, but I think these are some fairly objective points about why one would possibly bail from the GS2 before their 30 days are up....
GS2 CONS
No silence switch- miss this a lot. Such a great feature of the iPhone.
No front/center physical/mechanical button- I cannot believe they took this away from the original (international GS2)!! Waking the phone up from sleep using the power button just feels so awkward to me! I am I the only one here that gets annoyed by this?? Maybe its because I'm left handed and have small hands... but I don't like this.
Battery life- I think this is probably my fault and needs some optimizing on my part, but I only got about 6 hours of web browsing on it the other day and am having to charge this phone more than I would like... Whatever I was doing with my ip4 was more efficient for some reason. Again, I may just be doing a crappy job here- but I'm not willing to root my phone yet which (from what I understand) opens the door to significant battery optimization.
Worse benchmarks compared to the ip4s- but I'm assuming in the real world the difference is negligible though except in the GPU department where the difference seems pretty huge. I also have read from a lot of people arguing that IF apps were "optimized" for the GS2's hardware they would run better. Can a developer reasonably justify doing this for this device even considering how popular it is? My guess is "no" seeing as the phone has been available for half a year yet I don't really see anything specifically optimized for it.
Lack of good games- I know someone in their mid-20s in med school really shouldn't be too concerned about this.... but I just wish they were there and I think this point is a little more deep than just games. I saw that by rooting I can use the Tegra games, but I'm not really interested in voiding my warranty quite yet. To further drive this point, what annoys me to no end is how a single android app/game apk is not always truly compatible across all devices. Not sure why, but I get pretty pissed when I see some app is "xperia optimized" etc. It sucks to have to worry about- I really loved the uniformity in the experience that iOS offers.
Worse screen resolution- I have a difficult time convincing myself that the bigger screen is actually better when I know that simply holding the ip4 closer to my face should achieve a better experience
Worse camera than the ip4s.
Feels cheaper than the all-glass and aluminum ip4- but I know I will probably be glad about this the first time I drop it.
Minimal 3rd party accessory support. And to add insult in injury, I really cannot fathom why Samsung would now have 4(!!!!) separate devices all called "Galaxy S2" that are being sold. This is going to be a mess.
Long-term value- maybe this is arguable, but I suspect the ip4s will hold its value much better than this phone will. After a year, odds are the ip4s will still be selling for retail while who knows where this relatively unique branch off of the GS2 will be by then if I want to upgrade to something else.
Siri- I don't actually care about this but am putting it here because I know someone probably will.
GS2 PROs
Bigger screen- perhaps the best pro in my opinion. Browsing web pages has been easier on the eyes (I think?). Again, see my comment under the resolution in the previous section.
All of the potential customization that goes along with android- I realize that this is a HUGE point for most people here, but I'm struggling to decided if this along with future prospect of ICS is enough to outweigh the Cons. I guess I will have a better idea on the 18th...
More RAM- 1gb vs 512mb in the 4S.
Was $50 less than the 4S when purchased from AmazonWireless
Please tell me what (if anything) I'm missing here. Does it really boil down to whether or not I have the desire/time to tinker with this device to make it a better experience than the iPhone 4S???
Look forward to hearing other people's comments....
[Grabs some popcorn]
This is gonna be good...
All I will say is that you sound like you want an iPhone. This is a great phone, but its not an iPhone, that was the single biggest selling point for Android for me. If you want an iPhone get an iPhone. Anyone that really want something else spends a whole lot of time complaining until they get what they want. That goes both ways, people that want an android phone and have an iPhone and vice versa.
Sent from my SGS II
Your question in this forum is like walking into a crack house and asking the junkies what would they prefer...crack or buttermilk cookies.
The reason behind the missing physical button is most likely because the legal issues between Apple and samsung.
I love this phone. I too was an iphone user but ever since the atrix and the infuse came out, i jumped ship and went to android. I love the fact that I can do pretty much what ever I want to my phone. Hell, I'm even trying to learn how to code.
I hope this helps.
I understand your pros and cons. I've used an iPhone 3gs for over 2 years. The only thing I miss about the apple experience is iTunes.
The screen on the galaxy rocks. The iPhones screen is too small. I've rooted my phone and am getting over 24 hours of normal use per charge. Juice Defender has helped alot.
If you hold the power button down you'll get an option to silence the phone.
Good luck with your decision.
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I am left handed and the power button does not concern me at all. I was bb user up until the Captivate was released July 18, 2010 and when I look at other non samsung android phone I constantly look for the power button on the right hand side of the screen. As for battery life here are a couple of screenshots from being at my house most of the day yesterday and charging this past friday until 5:30 pm.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
And no I am not using Juice defender at all. This is in a low signal, wifi on, bluetooth on, gps on and medium use to get emails, and take some pictures. Sounds like you prefer the iPhone, my sister has an iphone 4s, not a bad phone but in my opinion not for me at all. I like the openness of Android for custom roms. My phone is still the original rom, with it being rooted, sim unlocked and still has the bloatware and pulling 18 - 20+ hours between charges. Yes I can kill the battery fast but with heavy usage but for my normal usage, the phone keeps getting better battery life. Currently with 18.5 hours, I have 60% battery life. This phone in my opinion is the best device currently. My Captivate was getting similar battery life with 150 mah less battery, a single core cpu at 200 mhz slower, and .3 inch less screen size.. All in All not bad at all, considering my sgs2 is just a lot more powerful phone.
HTH,
Charlie
OP, I know where you're coming from. I've been a pretty avid iOS user off and on over the past few years. My first Android device was the Captivate and then the Infuse and now the GS2. I love this phone. But I won't lie and say that I don't miss my iPhone 4 from time to time. I also compiled a list just for myself which I'll post below. I weighted it (which I won't include) and still found the GS2 to still be the much better purchase over all.
Just giving ya some additional things to maybe think about and again, this is just from my point of view.
GS2
Pros -
.77" bigger screen
SD Card expandable
Open environment for modding w/ very active community
$50 cheaper
2MP FF camera
HDMI output via adapter
Photos/Videos can be manually set for low or high resolution. iPhone 4S is stuck at highest as of now.
Cons -
Battery life is pretty poor
Keyboard input can be a pain
OS can be sluggish and unresponsive sometimes (home and back keys, etc)
Very slippery - dropped several times already
Syncing isn't as simplistic as I'd like with PC/Mac
iPhone 4S
Pros -
Mac compatible out of the box
iTunes and store sync with zero problems
Phone is more solid feeling - better grip
Siri
Video Stabilization
Cons -
VGA FF camera
Closed system
Battery not replaceable
No mem expansion
$50 more expensive
I'll give you games, camera, accessories and resale value.
Everything else in the cons is ridiculous.
All I can say is for me,
Android > IOS
With that said, the SG II runs Android exceptionally well. Android in the hands of the tech-savy with custom roms, themes, and kernels far outweigh the stock options of IOS and iPhone.
+
The camera is nearly as good as the iPhone 4
Benchmarks are not fully accurate, ICS will unlock dual-core
My GF has an iPhone 4 and she thinks the screen is tiny compared to my SG II, she wants a SG II or a Nexus Prime (with ATT)
Call quality SG II is far better than my GF's iPhone 4.
Call drops a lot less often with SG II compared to GF's iPhone 4
External SD is huge for me as well
Also we go on a lot of mountain hikes and semi-dangerous trails. I bought a 2 pack of batteries for 18 bucks on Amazon. It's very nice never having to charge your phone, when it's dead just swap the battery for a fresh one.
Fanboy quote I know, but the last iOS device I purchased was the 3GS- good phone, had some fun with it, but I will never go back. Android has my <3.
Hammersuit said:
Fanboy quote I know, but the last iOS device I purchased was the 3GS- good phone, had some fun with it, but I will never go back. Android has my <3.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 Gsii rock
Yea i was with ios since days 1 of the first 2g n upgraded all the way to the 4g. Just few months ago i jumped on the atrix n never looked back. Its my phone n i can customize it the way i want. I can unlock it n sell it. I don't have to wry about useless updates n lose my jailbreak everytime. I now have the gs2 n as a techy guy i would never touch an iphone again. Android really is freedom. I use to mock it but it lets me do anything i need. Just try it for a bit ull get hooked.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using xda premium
Hi OP, I just bought the GS2 as well and have been tinkering with it over the past few days. I am replacing an iPhone 3Gs. I switched because I've been curious to try an open source alternative to Apple and the iPhone 4s just want enough to convince me that I should buy it. Maybe in another couple of years when the iPhone 5 comes out I'll consider switching back. I really like the larger screen so far. However, if you're not careful you can totally mug your battery in a matter of a few hours. For example yesterday I used the phone to take about 65 photos and upload them all (twice) to Picasa Web. Also did some (15 minutes) navigation while in the car (plugged in) and light browsing and emailing. My battery was dead by about 3:30pm.
Today I checked my applications and sync settings and found that email, Facebook, twitter and latitude were all set to sync every 15 minutes. I killed all of that and have 60% after about an hour of Pandora usage a well as light email and browsing (take the comparison for what it's worth).
The main pluses for me are no iTunes and the larger screen. I'm currently in the process of rounding up all of the music files that iTunes took upon itself to disseminate across hundreds of folders on my hard drive (had lots of wma files that iTunes initially converted). Talk about an American horror story!
Enjoying all of the flack I'm taking from the Apple users in my life and then providing their iPads with a wifi tether .
I'm committed to the change and an willing to give it a couple of years to really hook me. So far, leery good.... (damn auto-correct is gonna take a bit of getting used to!)
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using XDA App
When will we ever see the end to this crap. Mod please close this thread.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using xda premium
I don't think this is a pointless thread.
Compare the iphone 4s to most other phones and the iphone wins. I personally feel the Atrix and SII are the first phones able to compete.
Before these phones the main competing point was openess. The option to do what I want. But now the hardware is there to back it up.
I predict 2012 will be the first real year of android. That currently, the "out of the box" experience is near par with the iphone. Imagine what 2.4 and eventually 2.5 will bring.
Now add onto that the openess and customizing that can be done without root. Being able to choose launchers ALONE is huge! Apple will likely never have that.
In picking a phone to take me into the next two years, android is my choice.
For someone looking for personal viewpoints on the SII, this is the best place to ask.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using XDA App
Dxtra said:
When we will ever see the end to this crap. Mod please close this thread.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unlike you, most people have taken the time to give constructive responses which I really appreciate. I'm not sure why you are so offended by this thread. This wasn't a simple "which is better" thread inviting fan-boys to spout off meaningless opinions.
From most people's responses it seems pretty clear that the GS2 wins in most people's minds here not because of the hardware anymore, but more because of the flexibility of Android. I think that is an important point to consider when deciding which to get.
Thanks for all of your responses. I guess I'm mostly going to see if Android grows on me over the next month to make a decision.
For what it's worth, the day the Nexus 1 was announced for AT&T I bought one at full price and never looked back at iOS. I really enjoy the AOSP roms, and I would HIGHLY recommend flashing your SGSII to one. I've got Cyanogenmod 7 running on mine and I absolutely love it. I simply don't like the customizations that manufacturers like Samsung and Motorola apply to their devices. I want to experience Android as it was intended to be experienced.
My N1 had a trackball, which I missed for about the first day when I switced to the SGSII. I've gotten used to having no physical buttons other than vol/power within the first week EASILY.
That said... Like another person commented. If you know that you want an iPhone, just get the iPhone.
Just get an iPhone. I gave up on trying to convince people to switch.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using xda premium
Oh, come on!!!!!!!!!
How many threads about the same BS!!
Just bolloks!!!
Sent from my HTC HD2 running ( WM,Android,WP7,Ubuntu...& MORE!)
They are both fantastic phones.
When Apple lets me open up the back and replace the battery when I WANT TO!... I may consider one of their phones.
Have seen too many iPhone users be tormented by battery running low, worrying when will they find a wall outlet, then babysitting the phone next to the outlet until they have enough juice to continue or worst of all - hearing them say - I have to charge my iPhone so I don't want to - "insert any smartphone activity here" until I get home/office/starbucks and charge it.
That lack of freedom makes me shudder...
I hate typing from my phone but I had to get into this conversation....
I have both phones and I personally think they are both great and each has its pros and cons, but it really all comes down to personal preference.
For me the silent switch isn't a big deal. I mainly leave my phone.on vibrate to begin with so I don't really care.
The physical home bbutton is also unimportant to me. On the iPhone I tend to use the power button to wake the screen up because its more convinient/comfortable for mu large hands and also because all my iPhone home butttons wore out over time becoming less responsive.
For day to day use you will see very little difference. The only thing that runs faster on the 4s is the camera is quicker, but really not by much. Unless you are taking a bunch of upskirts at the bus stop, this isn't a big deal. I guess maybe if you have small kids it could be a game changer.
Benchmark tests aren't the best way to judge a phone. I have bee. Able tto tweak my phone to score 10k higher on quadrant with some minor changes.
The biggest factor I think is what do you want out of your phone?
For me I want to be able to do anything I want on my phone. What good is all this processing power if you are limited in its use?
For ios the answer to this is a series.of tweaks and mods that apple is constantly combatting. What works on one firmware version is likely to be fully squashed or broken on the next release. So you can opt to have the things you want and be left out of the new apple updates until the jb community catches up or be stock and limited to what apple says is ok. That's fine but after years of compromise I'm just worn out. Because when it comes down to it, a jailbroken iPhone does not perform as well as a stock firmware phone.
All the cool tweaks and stuff you put on the phone take away the overall feel of the phone... put barrel and a live background on your jailbroken iPhone and see how it handles it. Android does a lot of this stuff out of the box and runs well. So its hard for me to.say.ios is better or runs better.
Then there are tethered jailbreaks..
And wow if you have ever used one of these you know how useless they are.
The battery life of the 4s kills the s2 tho
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using xda premium

My brother wants an iPhone4S, Help me convince him to switch now to Droid.

He's kinda had his heart set on a new iphone, coming from a 3GS and a Mac user.
I think he'd be smart to make the jump now to Droid, and if he was able to pull the trigger i think he'd never look back. He can get a new Skyrocket refurb for $150 less than the 4S he wants. He's broke so the savings alone should be huge for him! But you know how it is when you get your mind set on something like this. He's also pretty savy, so i think he'd figure out everything he wants to do. He thinks iphone will sync better with his mac and everything he wants to do already.
one thing that will make him think about it - tell him that the iphone doesnt have any porn applications,free or paid NADA....iphone is for kids 13yo below.
android has it all...u name it.
Free mp3 sharing sites on Android market. Never pay iTunes again....that alone made my 14 year old switch.
If her friend bought a cd and wants to share a song, Droid does....iTunes can't....
Sent from my DROID using Tapatalk
meh, he's too set on iphone, since he has a mac. he wouldn't even take the free 30 day trial i told him he could have. lame
Can't really say much. You yourself said he already has a fixed mindset. Tbh iPhone does have the advantage when it comes to syncing. Personally, if it wasn't for Android's crazy level of customization, I would've gone with an iPhone. But that was the past. Its just too expensive. Especially without a plan.
Sent from my GT-I5500 using XDA App
tell him to enjoy the thousands of fart apps
Can you take the battery out or upgrade the memory via sd yet?
How about customise to your liking via themes?
Oh sorry, nevermind, iPhone SUX!
Some people will want the iPhone no matter how much you tell them about alternatives, they are buying it based on brand loyalty only. But here are most Android device advantages:
Hardware:
-Replaceable battery
-Expandable Memory (microSD)
-Non-proprietary charging/usb cable (microUSB)
-Better specs for cheaper than iPhone
The OS itself allows more customization with widgets, launchers, keyboards, etc. So even if you hate the default look it can easily be changed without rooting/flashing. Adobe flash, even though its being discontinued, is great for the full internet experience at least until HTML5 deployment catches up.
This probably doesn't apply since he has a Mac, but I hate iTunes on Windows. It feels bloated and runs useless background processes wasting resources. I keep it off my computers. I'm not sure how iPhones sync better. I can download apps from the market to my Android phone from a browser. I sync music with a small batch file that I made which uses xcopy to sync the two directories, its a lot faster than iTunes.
I guess I'm in the minority here but if he's used to iphone and mac, and got his heart set on 4S maybe its best for him to get what he wants rather than what the majority think is better for him.
As a mac and older gen iphone user he is used to that and it is easier for apple products to connect together than android with apple, if he isn't looking at other phones he is probably not ready to make a switch anyway.
Dave
Sent from my LG P920 using Tapatalk
the iphone is a good product if you are into a limited scope of activities and do not want to learn how to use something that is a little less intuative. If I got my wife a galaxy nexus she would hate it. She wants to turn it on, send a text, make a call, and check her facebook. for users in that class the iphone is the easiest way to go
- iphone's ugly looking waterdrop theme, lifeless, static icons, the entire interface is from the past and feels cheap - like a toy. ice cream sandwich is lightyears ahead in styles und functionality.
- caged. man you cant do anything. my droid remotely controls my dslr (iphone does too, with a laptop in between, duh), locates cables in my walls when i need to drill holes, measures my sleep patterns and wakes me outside REM-phases or sends messages into REM for lucid-dreaming/astral-travel, etc. android is full freedom, everything the device is capable of android allows. iphone is a brick, i'd be bored to heck playing angry birds all day.
- it's inability to change keyboard. most iphone users i know haven't even heard of swype. they need ages to get simple texts done or they reduce their typing to a minimum. i laugh when i see them sweating hard tapping out texts - it's a stone age thing to do really. so apple decides what's good and what's not, you have to bite the bullet and use a typing technology that was never meant to be used on a device as tiny as a smartphone. it's keyboard renders it use-less.
- multitasking on android is awesome. droid's getting real-time facebook msg's, whatsapp, skype calls, voip calls, mail, bluetooth walkitalki, company mail, dropbox, just about every service in the net. everythings coming in nicely through subtle push-notifications. personally i have stopped using countless of programs on my laptop and the browser can go screw itself, phone is collecting everything with ease wherever i go. iphone users are not even close to that experience, again coz apple has crippled the device. they argue battery power, but what the heck, one day or two at max is fine, recharging is fast.
convinced my girlfriend to drop her apple.
Don't convince him to get anything. If he hates it it's now your fault.
Sent from my SGH-I897
Instead of convincing him, which can be a pain since he's hardcore Apple products, do yourself a favor by getting a Samsung Galaxy S2.
Hop on the SGS2 xda forum and switch ROMs weekly.
That's way he will see your new Android phone, new look, new launcher, cool features, 'til he gets envy and jumps ship
votinh said:
Instead of convincing him, which can be a pain since he's hardcore Apple products, do yourself a favor by getting a Samsung Galaxy S2.
Hop on the SGS2 xda forum and switch ROMs weekly.
That's way he will see your new Android phone, new look, new launcher, cool features, 'til he gets envy and jumps ship
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's nothing envious about that.
Sent from my SGH-I897
Don't try to convince hi because he may regret it and be pissed that you talked him into it. The iphone has a ton of games for ppl his age. Also he doesn't have to suffer the lag android has that will irritate him. Also the post in this thread are dumb because a jailbroken iphone does everything a rooted android does except for custom roms. I do find both apple and android fans don't know crap about the others platform and just spread false info.
apollooff320 said:
Don't try to convince hi because he may regret it and be pissed that you talked him into it. The iphone has a ton of games for ppl his age. Also he doesn't have to suffer the lag android has that will irritate him. Also the post in this thread are dumb because a jailbroken iphone does everything a rooted android does except for custom roms. I do find both apple and android fans don't know crap about the others platform and just spread false info.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You make good sense but regarding jailbroken iphones doing all a rooted android can do I'm sure that must be wrong.
For example on a non rooted android you can change launcher completely, have full automation using apps like tasker (eg when I'm at home turn wifi on but when at cinema go silent, auto answer calls and when films finished book me a taxi etc).
You can also change keyboard completely for example, use widgets, put toggle switches in notification bar and so on. I know at least the tasker type automation isn't possible as that's an ios restriction that stops that so at least one thing I can do on stock android a jb iphone can't.
Dave
Sent from my LG P920 using Tapatalk
Don't waste your time. Do you really want to support his device should he end up getting an Android? Tell him to go through all the guides/rooting/flashing if he doesn't like stock?
Just let your bro get the iPhone, he might hate you for convincing him to get an Android after it starts locking up, randomly rebooting and draining battery like crazy. Your brother might also enjoy timely software updates and well design apps with consistent UI.
To be honest, I have been back and forth from Iphone 4 to Samsung Galaxy s2 over the last few months.
The ability to change, customise and tweak everything on Android has its pro's and cons. fun but takes over your life, especially when you get into Rom flashing, I swapped my SGS2 a few weeks back for another Iphone 4, I thought I had managed to quell my addiction to Android...Alas nope, I am returning yet again, OK things run along all well and good on the iOs not too many hiccups, all nice and dandy, dandy andnnnnzzzzzzzz zzzzz arrrghhh I woke up, yes the Iphone can become a little tedious to say the least.
I think iOs is brilliant on the IPAD, Android Pads just don't come close in my opinion, but for the phones there is such an amazing choice and the SGS2 is similar in style to the Iphone. There just is not a community like this one for the Iphone except for trawling through the Itunes clunky market...Androids market you can faff about on anywhere on any computer and it syncs directly to your phone, even if you dont have it with you...Google is better synced with Android and facebook on Android is far better with many more options, twitter notifications work on Android, rarely do on iOs and to top it all of Scramble has just been released for Android yesterday, so there are no more excuses
alex2792 said:
Just let your bro get the iPhone, he might hate you for convincing him to get an Android after it starts locking up, randomly rebooting and draining battery like crazy. Your brother might also enjoy timely software updates and well design apps with consistent UI.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you actually have an android phone? Mine does none of that other than use battery quick which is lg's fault for putting a crap battery on a powerful phone.
Dave
Sent from my LG P920 using Tapatalk

Anyone come to the GS3 directly from an iPhone 4(S)?

Hi...just wondering if anyone has just come over to the GS3 from an iPhone4/4S - especially if you've always been a dyed-in-the-wool iOS fan previously!!
If so, what are your initial thoughts about the switch?
I've a few blinkered friends who just refuse to even consider anything other than an iphone....even though some have never even tried anything else!
I'd like to give them some feedback from you guys as to why they should at least think about it!!
Cheers....
Tell them the S3 has siri too lol, personally I'd just show them all the things your S3 can do that their iPhone cant.
I would....if I had one
Hopefully gonna get one next week sometime....
Willie_Heckerslyke said:
Hi...just wondering if anyone has just come over to the GS3 from an iPhone4/4S - especially if you've always been a dyed-in-the-wool iOS fan previously!!
If so, what are your initial thoughts about the switch?
I've a few blinkered friends who just refuse to even consider anything other than an iphone....even though some have never even tried anything else!
I'd like to give them some feedback from you guys as to why they should at least think about it!!
Cheers....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IOS 6 just having features that we used to have on android 1.6 so u gonna love it.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2 Beta-6
Does it count if I'm a fandroid who's using iphone and is in an apple environment where I'm typing this from an ipad 3 and have access to numerous apple products and actually see out of the box?
Just show them these videos, they are very informative regarding the differences between Android and iOS: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1557484
If they're not very interested in technology they probably won't want to watch them... Though if they in fact aren't very interested in tech per my assumption, then I do feel that the iPhone is the best phone for them anyway, so if that's the case the videos aren't really needed.
When answering friends/family asking me which phone they should buy (I'm the phone advice guy) I always think: How interested is this person in tech such as computers and phones? How much do they know about tech? If the person is pretty uninterested and/or simply not a "settings/theme tweaker" kind of person, my answer is always and without fail the iPhone.
If the person is at least somewhat aware of new tech gadgets and has some rudimentary knowledge about phones, then things get more interesting.
I've had an iPhone4 myself for 11 months, and I did enjoy it. It worked very well, everything from GPS to basic phone stuff worked very well. I never had any problems, and I really felt I could trust in the phone to work when I suddenly needed quick GPS aid or something else. It never failed me.
The iPhone IS a good device, especially if you're more of a "set it and forget it" kind of person.
Me, I started to miss the customization options that Android offers, and the iPhone's tiny display was starting to annoy me. (Because of its size, other than that I loved the display.)
AND another big reason is the video series that I already mentioned earlier. Really opened my eyes. iOS is falling behind. Badly. Although not everyone cares about that. Those who do care should be sporting an Android.
i'll be switching from the iphone 4 to the samsung galaxy s3.
Have been using iOS for 2 years now. Never really liked iOS, but I guess I was just out of grad school and rode the popularity train and kept the iphone. Now I want a little more from my phone.
rjshenoy said:
i'll be switching from the iphone 4 to the samsung galaxy s3.
Have been using iOS for 2 years now. Never really liked iOS, but I guess I was just out of grad school and rode the popularity train and kept the iphone. Now I want a little more from my phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You sir have come to the right place, here is a preemptive welcome to a while new world of mobile versatility and enjoyment... I'm thinking you won't be disappointed.
Sent from my SGH-I997 using xda premium
I am making the switch from the 4S to the S3. I have switched between all kinds of phones, currently back in forth between my Thunderbolt and 4S when I want to switch it up. However, the S3 just seems like it's ready to blow me away, where iOS is getting a bit stale to me.
Kiahnlliya said:
Just show them these videos, they are very informative regarding the differences between Android and iOS: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1557484
If they're not very interested in technology they probably won't want to watch them... Though if they in fact aren't very interested in tech per my assumption, then I do feel that the iPhone is the best phone for them anyway, so if that's the case the videos aren't really needed.
When answering friends/family asking me which phone they should buy (I'm the phone advice guy) I always think: How interested is this person in tech such as computers and phones? How much do they know about tech? If the person is pretty uninterested and/or simply not a "settings/theme tweaker" kind of person, my answer is always and without fail the iPhone.
If the person is at least somewhat aware of new tech gadgets and has some rudimentary knowledge about phones, then things get more interesting.
I've had an iPhone4 myself for 11 months, and I did enjoy it. It worked very well, everything from GPS to basic phone stuff worked very well. I never had any problems, and I really felt I could trust in the phone to work when I suddenly needed quick GPS aid or something else. It never failed me.
The iPhone IS a good device, especially if you're more of a "set it and forget it" kind of person.
Me, I started to miss the customization options that Android offers, and the iPhone's tiny display was starting to annoy me. (Because of its size, other than that I loved the display.)
AND another big reason is the video series that I already mentioned earlier. Really opened my eyes. iOS is falling behind. Badly. Although not everyone cares about that. Those who do care should be sporting an Android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm also the phone advice guy and I have the exact same thought process when considering what I think they should get.
It's really easy to overestimate how limited most people's tech knowledge is and I'm no guru.
Kiahnlliya said:
Just show them these videos, they are very informative regarding the differences between Android and iOS: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1557484
If they're not very interested in technology they probably won't want to watch them... Though if they in fact aren't very interested in tech per my assumption, then I do feel that the iPhone is the best phone for them anyway, so if that's the case the videos aren't really needed.
When answering friends/family asking me which phone they should buy (I'm the phone advice guy) I always think: How interested is this person in tech such as computers and phones? How much do they know about tech? If the person is pretty uninterested and/or simply not a "settings/theme tweaker" kind of person, my answer is always and without fail the iPhone.
If the person is at least somewhat aware of new tech gadgets and has some rudimentary knowledge about phones, then things get more interesting.
I've had an iPhone4 myself for 11 months, and I did enjoy it. It worked very well, everything from GPS to basic phone stuff worked very well. I never had any problems, and I really felt I could trust in the phone to work when I suddenly needed quick GPS aid or something else. It never failed me.
The iPhone IS a good device, especially if you're more of a "set it and forget it" kind of person.
Me, I started to miss the customization options that Android offers, and the iPhone's tiny display was starting to annoy me. (Because of its size, other than that I loved the display.)
AND another big reason is the video series that I already mentioned earlier. Really opened my eyes. iOS is falling behind. Badly. Although not everyone cares about that. Those who do care should be sporting an Android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you forgot one point. a common belief held by typical users is that having an iPhone is cool an shows that you're classy and rich whereas android is for nerds and cheapsakes. they're too full of themselves to realize the different between being smart and efficient conpared to ignorant and foolish
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I remember my boss saw me playing with my brand new galaxy and said "lol, not everyone can have an iphone." i really wanted to bury my foot in his face, he had the damn 3GS! My phone would make the 3GS commit suicide just by looking at it! That is how most nontech folks see this.. Don't get me wrong on this, I'm no iphone hater but I'm beginning to feel some frustration against some users xD
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium
I went from the Samsung Galaxy S2 to the iPhone 4s to the Xperia S to the HTC One XL. I am going to switch to the Galaxy S3 as soon as I find a good deal on an international one or as soon as it comes out for Rogers.
Although I didn't really have many complaints about the iPhone 4s after an iTunes restore. Here are my main problems with it.
It was the first to use bluetooth 4.0 but it sucks. The range is very poor and disconnects too easily compared to BT 3.0. To be fair, this also happens on my One X. I don't think BT 4.0 is ready for prime time yet and the battery saving is not worth it yet. I am not expecting the GS3 BT 4.0 to have the same range as the GS2 and Xperia S BT 2.1 but it will be better than the iPhone 4s BT 4.0 similar to how BT 4.0 is better on the HTC One X.
Here is the main reason I got rid of it though. EVERYBODY in my region has either the iPhone 4 or iPhone 4s. It is like if everyone had your favorite jacket. I would stop wearing it and it wouldn't be my favorite anymore. Also similar to how uniforms make you look like part of a hive, an iPhone 4s makes you look like you are assimilated into some massive cult. It might be a shallow reason and might not bug everyone, but it REALLY bugs me. I like to have some individuality.
You can also tell them that the Xperia S is basically a nicer and classier looking version of the iPhone 4s. It performs just as well down to the keyboard. Not to mention it offers more freedom to boot.
However, I would choose the 4s over the HTC One X and all my other phones before the GS2.
Tomatoes8 said:
I went from the Samsung Galaxy S2 to the iPhone 4s to the Xperia S to the HTC One XL. I am going to switch to the Galaxy S3 as soon as I find a good deal on an international one or as soon as it comes out for Rogers.
Although I didn't really have many complaints about the iPhone 4s after an iTunes restore. Here are my main problems with it.
It was the first to use bluetooth 4.0 but it sucks. The range is very poor and disconnects too easily compared to BT 3.0. To be fair, this also happens on my One X. I don't think BT 4.0 is ready for prime time yet and the battery saving is not worth it yet. I am not expecting the GS3 BT 4.0 to have the same range as the GS2 and Xperia S BT 2.1 but it will be better than the iPhone 4s BT 4.0 similar to how BT 4.0 is better on the HTC One X.
Here is the main reason I got rid of it though. EVERYBODY in my region has either the iPhone 4 or iPhone 4s. It is like if everyone had your favorite jacket. I would stop wearing it and it wouldn't be my favorite anymore. Also similar to how uniforms make you look like part of a hive, an iPhone 4s makes you look like you are assimilated into some massive cult. It might be a shallow reason and might not bug everyone, but it REALLY bugs me. I like to have some individuality.
You can also tell them that the Xperia S is basically a nicer and classier looking version of the iPhone 4s. It performs just as well down to the keyboard. Not to mention it offers more freedom to boot.
However, I would choose the 4s over the HTC One X and all my other phones before the GS2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wow
kaal1010 said:
wow
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It just works and doesn't bother me during use. I am very picky about fluidity and user interface.
A few years ago the thing that I liked about the iPhone was easy music syncing (I actually quite like using iTunes believe it or not), a good music player (continuous playback etc), good screen, and it was pretty consistent.
I felt Android had the potential but maybe the hardware needed to improve to accommodate the great features. The 'oh but the iPhone just works' argument maybe had some substance back then.
Now the hardware has accelerated so much and the developers have really started to fine tune the software, that argument just doesn't hold up.
Plus, now I've finally discovered programmes like PowerAmp and iSyncr that fill the music gap, I can have a decent amount of storage without being extorted, a nice big screen and I don't have to have the same phone every other person has.
For me, you just can't compare the iPhone to the current high end Android devices. The Apple fanboys might make a case when comparing it to the lower end devices but £ for £ Android is way ahead in my book.
Was playing with my father in law's 4S today. I don't know how anyone can say it's more "intuitive" or user friendly than android. I'm sure if you are used to iOS it feels like it, but it took me 20 minutes to figure how to turn off his email ding that drives him nuts from all his spam because obviously he barely knows how to do anything other than make phone calls and read email. Also wanted to make it so when you delete emails it ALSO deletes it from the server. Still haven't found a way to do it with his hotmail account, as he complained about having to delete all his junk mail twice. "Just works" my ass. I guess as long as you don't mind having it work like Apples wants you to.
kaal1010 said:
A few years ago the thing that I liked about the iPhone was easy music syncing (I actually quite like using iTunes believe it or not), a good music player (continuous playback etc), good screen, and it was pretty consistent.
I felt Android had the potential but maybe the hardware needed to improve to accommodate the great features. The 'oh but the iPhone just works' argument maybe had some substance back then.
Now the hardware has accelerated so much and the developers have really started to fine tune the software, that argument just doesn't hold up.
Plus, now I've finally discovered programmes like PowerAmp and iSyncr that fill the music gap, I can have a decent amount of storage without being extorted, a nice big screen and I don't have to have the same phone every other person has.
For me, you just can't compare the iPhone to the current high end Android devices. The Apple fanboys might make a case when comparing it to the lower end devices but £ for £ Android is way ahead in my book.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not saying Android isn't better than IOS. I agree it is. My One X however, just doesn't do it for me. It stutters and lags more than my iPhone 4s did. The BT also didn't work until a factory reset on the One X and even when it did it would disconnect during a conversation.
Also, my screen flexed until I popped it back in by putting a case on and the only way I can get it to run smooth is with Sslauncher. Sorry, my HTC One X sucks and my iPhone 4s didn't.
I like all my other Android phones over the iPhone 4s though even though one of them used a last gen Qualcomm S3.
CapsLockKey said:
Was playing with my father in law's 4S today. I don't know how anyone can say it's more "intuitive" or user friendly than android. I'm sure if you are used to iOS it feels like it, but it took me 20 minutes to figure how to turn off his email ding that drives him nuts from all his spam because obviously he barely knows how to do anything other than make phone calls and read email. Also wanted to make it so when you delete emails it ALSO deletes it from the server. Still haven't found a way to do it with his hotmail account, as he complained about having to delete all his junk mail twice. "Just works" my ass. I guess as long as you don't mind having it work like Apples wants you to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's not really a good comparison. As it takes way more steps to change notification sounds in Androids email client.
All of this is totally biased. You're frequenting a forum that caters to the very people more likely to use android, regardless of what they had before. I think xda is more about the type of person than the tech they use, because most people who enjoy using their tech a specific way find xda like a beacon. Those that don't never bother, and that's the majority of people, with or without Android. The fact of the matter is whatever phone you think will make your life better, that's what you should get. Not everyone has a need for rooting, nfc, etc. Some people have dishwashers, but I get along fine washing it like a normal jackoff (even though I have a dishwasher). I'm also the same guy that flashes every other week. Not all tech is for everyone.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA

What to do

Hey all, first off I just wanna say this is a great site and great community. You guys have been my number one destination when I need something for my phone and never disappoint. So thanks to any devs and anyone else who reads this!
Now, moving on, I purchased my GS2 back in November after having the 3 previous iPhone's before (opted for the GS2 instead of the 4s). And everything had been going pretty good up to this point and I was loving my phone. That was until I received an iPad for a graduation gift... and now I've come to a bit of a fork in the road. I returned the iPad at first because I had always told myself that if the day would ever come I would get a Samsung/Android tablet.
But I've been comparing the 2 a lot and have spent time on my phone and my friend's iPhone and iPad and I can't help but notice how much smoother the games are on iOS, not to mention the far far superior selection of apps. I spend a lot of time playing games on my phone and my GS2 often seems boring because of the poor selection. I remember my iPhone having a lot more people playing games online than I see on Android. I also feel like I've wasted a lot of time flashing new roms on my galaxy. I'm a hardcore diagnosed flashaholic and in a way I think it might be nice to have something that just works (iOS).
TBH, I've always hated Apple, everything about them, but right or wrong they've stolen a lot of good ideas from Android such as the notification bar that was once one of my biggest complaints about iOS. And they now have the chrome browser which I hear may be getting Flash NEXT when it comes out? As far as I can tell the only thing their missing is Flash.
IMHO: I hate how iOS gets the attention and the good stuff because that's what everyone and their mother is buying these days. I've always liked Android more but iOS gets so much more support.
The other thing I like about iOS is the great syncing between iPhone and iPad. I want my phone and tablet to play together nicely. Notes, reminders, apps, everything. Whereas if I get an Android tablet (looking at ASUS Pad 700 when it comes out July 16) I would have to use something like evernote and gtasks and a separate app to sync between devices if that will even work. I also don't like the limited number of tablet specific apps on the Play Store. But Android is no doubt gaining momentum, just look at 9 million GS3 preorders.
Sorry for the massive wall of text I'm just trying to sort out what I've gathered so far and get some opinions on it. So what do you guys think? For a phone/tablet combo which is better, iOS or Android?
Thanks for spending the time to read this if you did and I appreciate and input you guys can provide. I assume I'll get more Android answers but maybe there will be something I'm not seeing or haven't thought about before.
TLDR; iOS or Android for phone/tablet combo?
obviously this forum will fill with "GO ANDROID"
so i am going to buck that and say "GO IOS"
its obvious thats the direction you are leaning, based on the complaints
Pirateghost said:
obviously this forum will fill with "GO ANDROID"
so i am going to buck that and say "GO IOS"
its obvious thats the direction you are leaning, based on the complaints
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well said.
Sent from my SGH-I777 using Tapatalk 2
OP....I understand your point about how everything in ios just works right out of the box while we go crazy here trying to find that one ROM and kernel which we will be happy with but we never find one. We might settle for one for some time but then we need regular updates to keep us satisfied.
Having said that there are somethings which are easier with android....at least for me. Eg.
-File management is much more intuitive.
-Music management is awesome...no need to go thru the uber irritating iTunes. I can just copy folders of mp3 and can play whole folders Instead of albums
-Easy to sideload apps which allow you to do something extra like download YouTube videos.
-Also prefer the larger screens.
-Like the option of external memory.
- and a few other things I can't remember
On this forum you will only get iPhone sucks remarks. I personally like iPhone and ios but buy android to satisfy my above listed requirements which ios does not provide or does not provide well.
My 2 cents.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using xda app-developers app
**** Apple. bad location for this.
I'd pick android, and I'd get the Nexus 7.
I'm no apple alfan boy nor am I an android fan boy. I like something that looks good works good and does what I want.
I had the iPhone 3 3gs 4. I loved the 4 by far it was just a sleek design IMO, I jail broke it to have more functionality and more open source management. I got an upgrade and I though apple 4s? Why pay extra for a few upgrades? Now mind you my iPhone 4 was never touched by human hands after I bought it. I had it cased screen protected the works I take VERY good care of my phones so it wasn't like it was all scratched so a 4s was justified.
So I stepped into android I've heard about it seen it on TV l read about it on the web. So I saw the gs2 and wanted it so I got it. Stock rom dissapointed so in a couple hours of owning the phone I had flashed roms apps the works it was soooooooo much easier then jail breaking. The cons I found was the 70$ a month warrenty while apple would replace anything I brought a jail broken iPhone in for a faulty battery and they replaced the whole phone.
I love both but both have cons why not use Google for notes and such?
Sent from my SGH-I777 using xda premium
Pirateghost said:
obviously this forum will fill with "GO ANDROID"
so i am going to buck that and say "GO IOS"
its obvious thats the direction you are leaning, based on the complaints
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just like Pirateghost already said sounds like you already made ur decision so I don't think there's any need to go further in this thread. Heck I don't even think this thread should have been started in the first place. No one can make this decision but YOU
Sent from my SGH-i777 using XDA
I've had the first iphone and ditched it for an HTC back in the day which had 3G GPS and whatnot while the iphone was lacking about everything. I'm talking iOS 1... anyhow now I've own a lot of devices, have been able to play with a few tablets phones and whatnot. At the end it is hard to decide which pill you should take because there are good things in both products and you can't have all, I found the best combination for me was having an iPad2-3G and my current handset (Galaxy S3 ATM) which is the one I take everywhere. I've had the Motorola Xoom, and trust me I wouldn't touch an android tablet EVER. There is too much redundancy having the same OS on a tablet and your device, you can do exactly the same there is minimal to none difference between running a tablet or a handset with android. thats why I got an iPad I can have "quality software" if you want to call it that way and have my freedom/rom flashing/geek tinkering with android. And the iPad2's are pretty cheap these days
DUBVGALAXY said:
Hey all, first off I just wanna say this is a great site and great community. You guys have been my number one destination when I need something for my phone and never disappoint. So thanks to any devs and anyone else who reads this!
Now, moving on, I purchased my GS2 back in November after having the 3 previous iPhone's before (opted for the GS2 instead of the 4s). And everything had been going pretty good up to this point and I was loving my phone. That was until I received an iPad for a graduation gift... and now I've come to a bit of a fork in the road. I returned the iPad at first because I had always told myself that if the day would ever come I would get a Samsung/Android tablet.
But I've been comparing the 2 a lot and have spent time on my phone and my friend's iPhone and iPad and I can't help but notice how much smoother the games are on iOS, not to mention the far far superior selection of apps. I spend a lot of time playing games on my phone and my GS2 often seems boring because of the poor selection. I remember my iPhone having a lot more people playing games online than I see on Android. I also feel like I've wasted a lot of time flashing new roms on my galaxy. I'm a hardcore diagnosed flashaholic and in a way I think it might be nice to have something that just works (iOS).
TBH, I've always hated Apple, everything about them, but right or wrong they've stolen a lot of good ideas from Android such as the notification bar that was once one of my biggest complaints about iOS. And they now have the chrome browser which I hear may be getting Flash NEXT when it comes out? As far as I can tell the only thing their missing is Flash.
IMHO: I hate how iOS gets the attention and the good stuff because that's what everyone and their mother is buying these days. I've always liked Android more but iOS gets so much more support.
The other thing I like about iOS is the great syncing between iPhone and iPad. I want my phone and tablet to play together nicely. Notes, reminders, apps, everything. Whereas if I get an Android tablet (looking at ASUS Pad 700 when it comes out July 16) I would have to use something like evernote and gtasks and a separate app to sync between devices if that will even work. I also don't like the limited number of tablet specific apps on the Play Store. But Android is no doubt gaining momentum, just look at 9 million GS3 preorders.
Sorry for the massive wall of text I'm just trying to sort out what I've gathered so far and get some opinions on it. So what do you guys think? For a phone/tablet combo which is better, iOS or Android?
Thanks for spending the time to read this if you did and I appreciate and input you guys can provide. I assume I'll get more Android answers but maybe there will be something I'm not seeing or haven't thought about before.
TLDR; iOS or Android for phone/tablet combo?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google docs solves a large portion of your cons. Just saying
Sent from my SGH-I777 using xda app-developers app
I can't believe I wasted time reading this.
Go get your iPhone and enjoy running out of battery when you need it most.....unless you are plugged into the wall somewhere.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using xda premium
HAHAHAHAHA..bugger!!!
I switched to android, just after a jam with friends where all were just talking about how wonderful android is, as I was always a BB and iOS fanboy b4 that instance... and I too found my experiences with this enchanting and quite amazing..
After using the this SGS2 which I got from a friend moving on to some better one, I have used it in stock condition for about a month to get full gist of what android experience is all about..
now I'm also into flashing business and have already flashed my first custom rom (shostock) and kernel(NEAK) with modem (UCKH7) and really having a great time with this.. no issues whatsoever !!!
I'm so entralled by android that I have also started learrning about creating android apps (previously tried my hand on iOS app dev too) and nips n tricks of modding a kernel/rom to get the desired experience.. maybe with a little more time, I may also start making my own stuffss !!!
scsurface1 said:
Go get your iPhone and enjoy running out of battery when you need it most.....unless you are plugged into the wall somewhere.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What makes you say that. Iphone 4 and 4S have much better battery life compared to any android phone (maybe not razor maxx). iOS does a wonderful job of conserving battery
Tophaholic said:
What makes you say that. Iphone 4 and 4S have much better battery life compared to any android phone (maybe not razor maxx). iOS does a wonderful job of conserving battery
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
4s battery is pretty horrible from the people that I know with the phone.
Tophaholic said:
What makes you say that. Iphone 4 and 4S have much better battery life compared to any android phone (maybe not razor maxx). iOS does a wonderful job of conserving battery
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, let's see. Maybe its battery is better, but the fact that I can change mine out and put a new one in (regular or extended) gives me way more flexibility than your iPhone does.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using xda premium
qwertyaas said:
4s battery is pretty horrible from the people that I know with the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The people I know who have a 4S say the battery life is pretty good. Even the battery test results in gsm arena and anand tech say 4S is near the top of the list in terms for battery life for web browsing and video playback.
Tophaholic said:
The people I know who have a 4S say the battery life is pretty good. Even the battery test results in gsm arena and anand tech say 4S is near the top of the list in terms for battery life for web browsing and video playback.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The battery on it sucks ass but the latest ios update has improved it alot
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using XDA
In all honesty and having used both myself, it sounds like you would be happier with the IOS. I personally switched from IOS to android and like it MUCH better but it's not for everyone. The IOS does work well but not near as customizable as android, but is more user friendly.
Thanks for all the replies guys!! If I do ever switch over too the iPhone I certainly will miss this forum. On a side note, is it just me or do 3 out of 4 people in the xda iPhone forums not speak English? Are iPhone users really that young? lol. But really thanks for all the help, I appreciate it.
BrokenPixel said:
There is too much redundancy having the same OS on a tablet and your device, you can do exactly the same there is minimal to none difference between running a tablet or a handset with android. thats why I got an iPad I can have "quality software" if you want to call it that way and have my freedom/rom flashing/geek tinkering with android. And the iPad2's are pretty cheap these days
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for this idea. Thought about it shortly after posting this and wondered if I should have put a "Neither" option in the poll (not that it would have changed much by the look of it lol). It would make sense since iPad gets apps specifically made for it while Android tablets kinda get left out.
justinblaine23 said:
Google docs solves a large portion of your cons. Just saying
Sent from my SGH-I777 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In a way in does, but it would be a bit of a pain to boot up Drive and navigate to a folder just to take down a note. But you do make a good point. If only Google synced apps too (more so than it does now at least).
secretasianman said:
I can't believe I wasted time reading this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I cant believe you wasted even MORE time writing that
scsurface1 said:
Go get your iPhone and enjoy running out of battery when you need it most.....unless you are plugged into the wall somewhere.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Like others have said iPhones typically have very good battery. Even with all my flashing of custom roms, kernels, and modems I have yet to reach the same quality of battery life than I had on my iPhone 4.
Thanks again guys, this decision seems to becoming harder the more I think about it lol

Regrets with android

Hey everybody. I have been a longtime iPhone user and I enjoy the phone but I'm getting so bored with it. I love the androids that my friends have especially the Galaxy S3. I really want a Note or the Note 2 but worry about reliability or loss of features. Are there any iPhone converts on here that have no regrets with switching? Thanks!
I'm confused. Your prior posts indicated you owned an android phone since last year.
anyway, i owned 3 versions of iphones and last year switched to Samsung infuse (disappointing because of poor gps issues) but once I went to the NOTE I'll never turn back to iphone (u hit the nail on the head...boring).
I had the 3g and the 4 and do not regret switching to Android. Bought the Dell Streak years ago when making my switch and now own the gnote. Best move I ever made. If u are a tweaker then go with Android, if like the same old vanilla flavor stay with apple.
Sent from the TermiNOTEr!
I have but always just to mess around with android and never used as a daily driver. I have since sold those other ones and am thinking of going with just an android form. Seriously thinking about the Note 2 when it comes out on AT&T. I really want a bigger screen since I love mobile games.
Do you guys have issues with force closing and app reliability? That's the stuff I worry about.
tEcHsAvY said:
Do you guys have issues with force closing and app reliability? That's the stuff I worry about.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Force closing is not really an issue anymore. If you had an app on iphone close on you unexpectedly, basically its the same thing but it just didn't advertise it.
Sent from my Galaxy Note
Yeah that's true come to think of it. On the iPhone it just exits out and doesn't say anything.
I migrated from iPhone a few weeks ago. Had an iPhone 4, and then bought an iPhone 4S when it was released. So it's been about 2 years of using the iPhone. I wanted a bigger screen so I switched to the Note. It has definitely not been a smooth transition, but nothing I didn't really expect. Here are some major issues I had:
Pros:
- Widgets. Seriously, how has iPhone not enabled these yet
- Screen size
- Don't need to jailbreak/root for full functionality
- Flash support (although not possible with Chrome so this will vanish soon)
- No proprietary hardware, more freedom in general
Cons:
- eMail is terrible, need to pay for third party app which still doesn't work properly
- Music app is terrible, need to pay for Poweramp or equivalent, which is still buggy
- No built-in podcast app, need to pay for DoggCatcher or equivalent
- Browser UI is clunky and slow (dealing w/ bookmarks and tabs is a nightmare, much snappier on iPhone)
Overall I still think I'll like my Note more in the long run but getting everything to work properly is a royal pain in the ass, and not cheap, either. The only app I've really had an issue with is Poweramp which I use for music, and every couple minutes I get a static white noise for about a second. And like I said eMail overall is completely terrible, to the point where I said "eff this" and just forward everything to my GMail account. maybe that was their plan all along...
skinblues said:
The only app I've really had an issue with is Poweramp which I use for music, and every couple minutes I get a static white noise for about a second.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Assuming you purchased it, this shouldn't be happening. I've been using PowerAmp forever and there's never been anything like that. You may have had bad luck and your Note has bad hardware.
I used iPhone since 2007, from 2G to 4, back to 3G (cuz 4 was stolen) until June this year.
The ONLY thing I miss is Bejeweled Blitz. Yes, music/email apps are not as good, but for phone/text/browsing/video, Note has been far and away better than iPhone. And I was not impressed at all with iPhone 5 either.
skinblues said:
I migrated from iPhone a few weeks ago. Had an iPhone 4, and then bought an iPhone 4S when it was released. So it's been about 2 years of using the iPhone. I wanted a bigger screen so I switched to the Note. It has definitely not been a smooth transition, but nothing I didn't really expect. Here are some major issues I had:
Pros:
- Widgets. Seriously, how has iPhone not enabled these yet
- Screen size
- Don't need to jailbreak/root for full functionality
- Flash support (although not possible with Chrome so this will vanish soon)
- No proprietary hardware, more freedom in general
Cons:
- eMail is terrible, need to pay for third party app which still doesn't work properly
- Music app is terrible, need to pay for Poweramp or equivalent, which is still buggy
- No built-in podcast app, need to pay for DoggCatcher or equivalent
- Browser UI is clunky and slow (dealing w/ bookmarks and tabs is a nightmare, much snappier on iPhone)
Overall I still think I'll like my Note more in the long run but getting everything to work properly is a royal pain in the ass, and not cheap, either. The only app I've really had an issue with is Poweramp which I use for music, and every couple minutes I get a static white noise for about a second. And like I said eMail overall is completely terrible, to the point where I said "eff this" and just forward everything to my GMail account. maybe that was their plan all along...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What the hell phone are you using? I know your not talking about the note! And the iPhone doesn't have features lmfao it has apps that's it. iPhones don't do anything. Its a cosmetic aluminum can with a screen. I've had one since 2g-4 and at 4s I said I'm not that dumb which I really started to say at 4 not doing much more than 3gs! But hey a phone is a phone if you make calls!
skinblues said:
I migrated from iPhone a few weeks ago. Had an iPhone 4, and then bought an iPhone 4S when it was released. So it's been about 2 years of using the iPhone. I wanted a bigger screen so I switched to the Note. It has definitely not been a smooth transition, but nothing I didn't really expect. Here are some major issues I had:
Pros:
- Widgets. Seriously, how has iPhone not enabled these yet
- Screen size
- Don't need to jailbreak/root for full functionality
- Flash support (although not possible with Chrome so this will vanish soon)
- No proprietary hardware, more freedom in general
Cons:
- eMail is terrible, need to pay for third party app which still doesn't work properly
- Music app is terrible, need to pay for Poweramp or equivalent, which is still buggy
- No built-in podcast app, need to pay for DoggCatcher or equivalent
- Browser UI is clunky and slow (dealing w/ bookmarks and tabs is a nightmare, much snappier on iPhone)
Overall I still think I'll like my Note more in the long run but getting everything to work properly is a royal pain in the ass, and not cheap, either. The only app I've really had an issue with is Poweramp which I use for music, and every couple minutes I get a static white noise for about a second. And like I said eMail overall is completely terrible, to the point where I said "eff this" and just forward everything to my GMail account. maybe that was their plan all along...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Um sir, why are you not using k-9 mail for your non Gmail emails?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using Tapatalk 2
My last iPhone was the 3g. I have not regretted switching. The awesome thing about android its that if you want features, just flash another ROM. The experience has never been what I call boring.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using Tapatalk 2
i switched from 2 years of iP 3GS to the GNote when it 1st came out. LOVE it...no regrets. Is it perfect? no of course not. but nothing is. the size of the screen is incomparable and worth it!
skinblues said:
It has definitely not been a smooth transition, but nothing I didn't really expect. Here are some major issues
Cons:
- eMail is terrible, need to pay for third party app which still doesn't work properly
- Music app is terrible, need to pay for Poweramp or equivalent, which is still buggy
- No built-in podcast app, need to pay for DoggCatcher or equivalent
- Browser UI is clunky and slow (dealing w/ bookmarks and tabs is a nightmare, much snappier on iPhone)
Overall I still think I'll like my Note more in the long run but getting everything to work properly is a royal pain in the ass, and not cheap, either. The only app I've really had an issue with is Poweramp which I use for music, and every couple minutes I get a static white noise for about a second. And like I said eMail overall is completely terrible, to the point where I said "eff this" and just forward everything to my GMail account. maybe that was their plan all along...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you've got some issues going on with you're phone, combined with a possible lack of general knowledge of android apps that a little google searching could help with.
The built in email app is pretty decent in the stock ics build, even then there are several free alternatives such as k9mail like was previously mentioned (it beats the pants off apple's mail app for iPhone).
For music, plenty of free apps that work great. Winamp, is one of the biggest ones that I can think of off the top of my head, Mortplayer is another.
The native browser in ics for my note compared to safari on my iphone 4 is quite a bit faster not only in rendering pages but also has quite a few features that safari lacks (dim screen, download files, save pages, desktop mode, just to name a few.) Plus scrolling pages is relatively lag free.
So I'm not sure where you're coming from on those issues you've listed. I've only had this phone for a week and I've already got everything working flawlessly.
My only one complaint is the very apparent lag when using the spen to write. I havent figured out a fix yet for the millisecond delay from the time you start writing something to the time it shows up in snote. The delay is a tad annoying (I wish it was more like actually writing on paper where the lines you draw show up instantly). I figured since this device was supppsed to be meant for note taking and drawing there should be very little lag with the spen, hopefully project butter will fix this in jb.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda app-developers app
K-9... no that good an app. Kaiten isn't either. I have to agree that the stock email app is week. These other alternatives aren't that great either. I have a Note, contemplated on going to iPhone 5, but I do love the Note and large screen though.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda app-developers app
With so many improvements on android os and top notch high end phones, I'm never going back to an iPhone. When comparing high end phones..the iPhone never comes to mind anymore but that's just me. The look of the phone is tired and iOS is plain and boring. Nuff said.
-Once you go NOTE, you'd say 4 inches a Joke
[Lady]: "How do you carry that huge phone in your pocket?"
[Note User]: "I'm used to having huge stuff in my pants"
borijess said:
I had the 3g and the 4 and do not regret switching to Android. Bought the Dell Streak years ago when making my switch and now own the gnote. Best move I ever made. If u are a tweaker then go with Android, if like the same old vanilla flavor stay with apple.
Sent from the TermiNOTEr!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Whoa! Another Streak owner. I had it too, and if Dell had actually DONE something with it, the potential was all there (though there were issues, like a battery not up to task, and build quality. I loved it, but had to abandon it for lack of development / upgrades - sheesh it took Dell 6 months to get to Froyo from Eclair!.
As for the op...Let me take a shot at this, and hopefully I can help you decide w if you are bored, and you like to tweak (not REQUIRED as some persist, but POSSIBLE, which iPhone is not designed for) you will likely wonder why you stayed with iPhone as long as you did. '
I was a Windows Mobile guy , but Windows Phone looked a but "dumbed down" and was looking less open to modding, as we called it "in the old days" So I jumped on android specifically for the hot n heavy development going on. You will NOT get bored on Android. I like to say, if there is something you can't do on Android today, you will be able to tommorow or soon, cause SOMEONE is out there developing it right now. Look at the rate that Android took over the phone market. That was not an accident. The iPhone was revolutionary, especially the original in 2007, but has gone evolutionary ever since. Did Android, and Samsung, and HTC and others "steal" iPhone stuff? Hell yeah they did, but "building and improving upon your competitors products is what all tecnical consumer companies DO. So what's the point? You want to lead in Mobile device sales and buzz? Make buzz worthy, sales worthy mobile devices. The Japanese famously cribbed European car designs, applied innovative thinking, and found ways to build EFFICIENTLY and make the cars themselves efficient, and basically outsold their competitors by building a more desirable product, on a number of levels.
That's all Samsung did vs. Apple, and Apple doesn't like it. Is Apple technically "right"? Probably. I say who freaking CARES. Samsung should perhaps pay something for cribbing things a but too obviously, but a Billion Plus?
Sorry, side tracked into all the stuff we are inundated with in the press. Basically, this is the worlds easiest decision. Every US Carrier (assuming the OP is in the US) offers a buyers remorse period. If you can;t tell in 30 days whether Android is for you, then you aren't ever going to know. Heck, I would know almost for certain in 2-3 days max, since thats enough time to use the phone for "phone stuff" and play with it as a portable computer, which is it's other persona. The OS CAN be a bit off-putting at first, and it is not a polished in some ways as iPhone. But that's MOSTLY due to the fact that you can DO so much more. You can't get power without a little complexity. As long as it's logical and intuitive, power is awesome.
One final example, and I think it is an excellent argument for Android vs. iPhone: I was in Japan on business, and found that even with a "World Phone" as AT&T calls it, I found that I had connectivity to everything, but my signal strength was poor. Like 2 bars of 4 on the signal icon. Calls weren't dropping, but were not too clear, and data (email, etc) was slow. I happened to have 3 different "radios" on my SD card (cool little memory devices that you can increase your phones memory with! Apple doesn't want you to know about them, LOL!) The phones "Radio" or Baseband is basically a software modem, of sorts, but it's the code that interacts with the transceiver in your phone, in any event. In my hotel room on the first night, I tried 2 different radios. Didn't NEED to try the 3rd. The second one bumped me to 4 bars of signal strength, and maintained 3-4 for the rest of the trip. Took me 5 minutes to do, and saved the day. Try THAT on an i Phone. Even an iPhone after "Jailbreaking it is limited as to what you can do. VERY few pwople "Develop" at the GUI or OS level for iPhone. They are all developing APPs, and iPhone apps ARE quality bits, for he most part. This is the ONLY area that Android is behind the curve, but I won;t go into some of the reasons, since I already typed a novel here. Suffice it to say that many Android apps need to get better. The killer apps already are great. There is just too much crap...
Good luck with your decision. You WILL have an adjustment period. Stay open minded, and willing to learn, and I think you can be a "convert" too in time, offering help to some other poor Apple drone (not that YOU are one, LOL!)
Has thus guy ran a custom ROM or just stock?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda app-developers app
I've used the stock email for my yahoo since going to android and never had an issue.. browser works fine.. does what its supposed to do, and poweramp is worth the measly $5..
I've of the same thought above.. I think your issues lie in the phone having minor malfunctions, I have never had any of those issues..
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda premium

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