Help : Time For A Upgrade

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Itr0nic

94 posts

Master Geek

#75412 18-Jan-2011 02:18

As the title says im in need of a upgrade iv been looking around for about 2 weeks now video reviews and what not and im still not any closer whether to get Iphone or android or other phone.

I have not used any kind of smart phone , most my friends down here in invercargill are not using them,At the moment im using a LG GR500 on XT

So i will be using the phone on XT , id be using the normal social networking sites facebook , twitter, foursquare . I would also like to to be pretty handy with music and taking videos / pictures as most phone do this now. And it would be handy if i could hook it up to my wireless router when im at home.

I don't want to start a debate iphone vs X phone , I was leaning towards the iphone purely because most site pretty much team up with the iphone pretty well and most people have them, so with the android now getting pretty big is the iphone still the best bet, im aware there is no Best phone.

In a nut shell

+ Social Networking +GPS +Video/Pictures +Music +WiFi Connection +Games/Apps

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3885 posts

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#428308 18-Jan-2011 08:31

I'm no expert but have looked at this recently myself. I came to the conclusion the whole Android vs iPhone thing is like the old Holden vs Ford argument...depends on which camp you want to sit in for no particular reason.

I have friends who have the iPhone and swear they can't live without it, and then others I know who all work for the same tech company are abandoning their iphones for Android Samsung's, even our IT guy at work has both (iPhone for work, Samsung S for personal)...and he swears by the Samsung any day due mostly to Androids customization capability's vs the "you get what your given" iPhone

Tech differences aside just about every smart phone these days will do what you want.

Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation

dclegg

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#428314 18-Jan-2011 09:01

I'm in the same boat myself, so am keen to hear others thoughts. I am leaning towards getting a high-end Android device (with the Nexus S being the current leading contender, but I'm open to suggestions), but I'm concerned I may be disappointed after experiencing my wifes iPhone 4 (which is a lovely phone). I guess the main problem is that I have first hand experience with an iPhone, and know that I'd be happy with how it performs. But the geek in me craves something different, hence why I'm keen to try out an Android.

My primary concerns are physical build quality (the Android devices I've been looking at all feel cheap and plasticky when compared to the iPhone 4), and lack of UI spit and polish. The iOS user experience is silky smooth, and I find it to be very intuitive. I'd hate to spend > $1000 on a phone and feel that it is a cheap iPhone knock-off. I am attracted to the flexibility that Android offers, but the flip-side to that is that I don't what to have to be constantly tinkering with a phone just to get it to perform as expected.

A secondary concern is the performance of the camera on Android phones, for both still photos and video. I fell in love with the camera on my wifes iPhone after I took it to a couple of concerts, and ended up with some video footage that blew me away. In particular I couldn't believe how clear the audio was, considering how loud it was in the arena (FI, heres some footage I took from Metallica's concert last year). Do the cameras in the Galaxy S or Nexus S offer this level of performance? I know the latter doesn't support 720p, but that isn't a deal breaker if the videos it produces are clear with excellent sound.

The problems I've found when attempting to seek answers to my questions is that most people appear firmly rooted in either the Android or iPhone camp, and its hard getting unbiased opinions which aren't tainted by the fanaticism the user holds for their platform of choice. To that end, I issue a challenge for all smartphone users (Windows Phone 7 users may apply if they wish to :-)). List the 5 things you love the most about your phone, and the 5 things that annoy you the most or that you wish you could change.

Itr0nic

94 posts

Master Geek

#428396 18-Jan-2011 12:35

I havent touched ether phone but i have heard from many people the camera is pretty good in the iphone.

I will be living in the app store as i don't have the knowledge to code my own. I have heard great things about the Galaxy X im still leaning towards the iphone 4 tho. What ever phone i get ill have to get use to a touch screen the one on my LG sucks

beehappy

104 posts

Master Geek

#428796 19-Jan-2011 12:52

Prob a bit of a stretch but after searching for a new phone the one I like the best is a Nokia N9 (I know its only a rumour) but the specs look awesome incl FM transmitter seems such a minor thing but we use it all the time with my N85.
plus free maps, large touch screen but also a real keyboard for when i'm at work with gloves on to keep my workers away.
any way thats my two bobs worth & i'm happy to wait.
Pete

lokhor

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#428802 19-Jan-2011 13:15

You really don't want to get a Symbian phone. it's a dying OS.

All comments are my own opinion, and not that of my employer unless explicitly stated.

lokhor

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#428816 19-Jan-2011 13:41

Sorry I didn't realise the N9 is a meego phone. Anyway Nokia have a terrible touch ui design with their now dying Symbian OS and who knows how Meego is going to go. There are some very nice dual core Android phones coming out this year, check out the LG Optimus 2X and the Motorola Atrix

All comments are my own opinion, and not that of my employer unless explicitly stated.

Itr0nic

94 posts

Master Geek

#428817 19-Jan-2011 13:42

Iv decided to not get the Iphone 4 , i think i will get the Samsung Galaxy S, was going for a HD desire but the battery like is a bit worrying , I'm also unsure at weather to wait for the new galaxy S2 or not.

Where is a good place to buy the Samsung galaxy S ? I imported my current Phone "LG GR500" ( off trademe ) it has AT&T on it and half the stuff dont work want to avoid that this time hate having useless icons in my menu

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lokhor

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#428818 19-Jan-2011 13:44

I would not recommend a Samsung Galaxy S and I own one. Unless you are comfortable with flashing custom roms and the like you should wait for a really good dual core android/iphone 5 or just get the iphone 4

All comments are my own opinion, and not that of my employer unless explicitly stated.

Itr0nic

94 posts

Master Geek

#428820 19-Jan-2011 13:50

Is flashing easy ? Id like to have a diffrent inphone look than everyone else , maybe i will wait seems ages away tho and the money is burning a hole in my pocket

dclegg

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#428821 19-Jan-2011 13:50

lokhor: I would not recommend a Samsung Galaxy S and I own one. Unless you are comfortable with flashing custom roms and the like you should wait for a really good dual core android/iphone 5 or just get the iphone 4

Can you please expand as to why? The Galaxy S is one of my current frontrunners (with Nexus S in the lead), as it has been widely considered one of the best of the current Android smartphones.

lokhor

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#428827 19-Jan-2011 14:14

The Galaxy S without custom firmware has a very poor GPS due to a bad antenna design and poor firmware. It has laggy RFS filesystem that gets worse the longer you use it and the more apps you install. The phone claims to have 512mb of ram but most of the roms only give the OS access to ~300mb which often causes you to run out of memory. The browser on virtually every rom is insanely slow and lags terribly when using flash. Samsung support is terrible and they provide little or no communication with their user-base and don't even provide change-logs for new firmware. The Touchwiz bloatware infested version of Android that Samsung have butchered is also another reason why the SGS is not the phone it could have been. I'd much rather have the AOSP experience that the Nexus S provides.

If you are willing to flash custom roms such as Darky's or Doc's then you can have a pretty good experience and remove most of these issues. This voids your warranty though and can be daunting for new users.

All comments are my own opinion, and not that of my employer unless explicitly stated.

lokhor

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#428828 19-Jan-2011 14:17

Oh I forgot to mention the lack of flash and the cheap feeling quality of the phone (although it is not actually as flimsy as it feels). Also I have recorded video in a concert and the audio was terrible, it may have been improved since the newer firmware changed the recording format and also @supercurio is working on sound recording improvements so this may be remedied.

All comments are my own opinion, and not that of my employer unless explicitly stated.

dclegg

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#428833 19-Jan-2011 14:26

lokhor: The Galaxy S without custom firmware has a very poor GPS due to a bad antenna design and poor firmware. It has laggy RFS filesystem that gets worse the longer you use it and the more apps you install. The phone claims to have 512mb of ram but most of the roms only give the OS access to ~300mb which often causes you to run out of memory. The browser on virtually every rom is insanely slow and lags terribly when using flash. Samsung support is terrible and they provide little or no communication with their user-base and don't even provide change-logs for new firmware. The Touchwiz bloatware infested version of Android that Samsung have butchered is also another reason why the SGS is not the phone it could have been. I'd much rather have the AOSP experience that the Nexus S provides.

If you are willing to flash custom roms such as Darky's or Doc's then you can have a pretty good experience and remove most of these issues. This voids your warranty though and can be daunting for new users.

Thanks for the detailed feedback. Do you know if the Nexus S suffers from many of the similar issues (obviously the Touchwiz one won't apply)?

While I do like the customization that Android allows, the bottom line is that I really want a phone that works well out of the box, with little to no faffing around on my part. Its because of this that the iPhone is still very much in the running, and I can't shake the nagging feeling that it would be the safest bet (either that or getting a budget Android so I'm not so upset when it doesn't compare to the iPhone :-)). Your comment about the poor concert footage performance of the Galaxy S also has me concerned. This is one area where the iPhone excels.

lokhor

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#428835 19-Jan-2011 14:32

The Nexus S uses EXT4 so doesn't suffer from lag, it also has a different GPS chipset so has no GPS issues either.

I think the concert issues may be fixed with the later firmwares as they changed the audio and video encoding but I haven't had the chance to test it yet.

tbh since CES I have been excited about the Tegra 2 devices coming out. I would really like a Motorola Atrix now.

All comments are my own opinion, and not that of my employer unless explicitly stated.

dclegg

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#428847 19-Jan-2011 14:56

lokhor: Also I have recorded video in a concert and the audio was terrible, it may have been improved since the newer firmware changed the recording format and also @supercurio is working on sound recording improvements so this may be remedied.

I forgot to ask before; do you have this concert footage available on YouTube or elsewhere?

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