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iPhone 4 or Android
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pallyallyFree Member
Sorry if this has been debated already.
Held off changing my SE P990i until the new iPhone is released. Suddenly realised that Android phones are out there.
Which way should I go ?
If Android…which phone ?Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middling Edition
Latest Singletrack VideosFresh Goods Friday 696: The Middlin...DrJFull MemberCould ask yourself if you think hardware and software integration might be important in a phone.
glenhFree MemberAndroid is more flexible and has more features.
iPhone has more apps.Take your pick…
SuperScale20Free MemberI only use a Blackberry for business but can not see anything that will beat the iphone it works so well. Go for the Iphone 4 I am sure you will be pleased.
spacemonkeyFull MemberI had a Hero which is great, but slightly laggy at times. Apps and OS are generally great. Desire is basically it's more powerful brother, and it runs 2.0. Having said that, I lost mine at the weekend and am getting a replacement through insurance. Am hoping they'll offer me a Desire … although I'd certainly entertain an iPhone 4 too :
spacemonkeyFull MemberIME I'd say the quality of apps on the iPhone is generally better/quicker/more aesthetically pleasing/more functional, etc.
Apple still lead the way on this.
Android is growing all the time but the number of genuinely useful, good quality, stable apps is lower.
MilkieFree MemberiPhone = Apple Fanboy
Android = GeekEven if you don't think this, everyone else will.
A year ago my friend bought a Hero & I bought an iPhone. He started banging on about how good his hero is, he now hates it as it crashes, freezes & things. I still don't have much to say about the iPhone, it does what I want it to, and doesn't freeze/crash.
Seb_CFree MemberI have a Google G1 and it is catastrophically awful. Even the original iPhone is about a zillion times better.
joemarshallFree MemberAndroid is growing all the time but the number of genuinely useful, good quality, stable apps is lower.
I don't think it's such a massive difference any more, I'm really surprised at the quantity of relevant, working and free apps for Android now. And I understand a larger percentage of Android apps are free or ad-supported if that makes a difference to you (I know I'd only pay for a really vital app personally).
I don't know how likely it is that Apple will have more applications in the long term, as Android has a larger number of phones being sold nowadays, and speaking as a developer, programming and selling / distributing applications for it is much easier than it is on the iPhone.
Joe
CountZeroFull MemberDoes iphone 4 have a non-**** camera?
Yes, and in fact the 3G has a non-sh1t camera, if a camera that takes snapshots easily and quickly, that are in focus and print perfectly acceptable photos at 10x15cm from an Epson PX710W, which mine does. The iPhone 4 uses a new backwired chip that improves low-light performance by 40-50%, it's 5Mp, which is more than good enough to print up to A5, possibly A4, and shoots 720p HD video at 30fps, and you can get iMovie to edit video on the phone as well. Please try to remember, it's a **** TELEPHONE camera, not a DSLR, or a 14Mp compact with a 12x zoom, it's a phone with a perfectly acceptable snapshot camera that you carry with you all the time. I took some photos at my brothers wedding several weeks ago with mine, went home, switched on my printer, selected several pics, printed them from the phone, then went to the reception and gave them the prints, took some more then uploaded them straight to Facebook. The prints were every bit as good as shop prints from a compact. Ignore also any camera with 8Mp or above, the digital noise in low light is very high. Oh, and there's a Luxeon LED flash that is on continuously for video as well.
mastiles_fanylionFree MemberMilkie – Member
iPhone = Apple Fanboy
Android = GeekSurely it is
iPhone = Just want something that does stuff out of the box
Android = GeekOr is everyone either a fanboi or a geek?
joemarshallFree MemberYes, and in fact the 3G has a non-sh1t camera,
To be fair, the 3g camera is a heap of poo compared to a 4 year old nokia n95 camera. The 4g camera should be at least as good as the N95, probably a fair bit better (although it depends a lot on lens / sensor quality, which no one really is clear about yet). Maybe not as good as a Sony Ericsson phone, as some of those have pretty decent cameras (pity they are rubbish phones otherwise).
Joe
wwaswasFull MemberI shall probably go for an iphone 4 next month.
my wife has iphone and compared with most other phones I've owned/used everything just seems so integrated.
The only thing putting me off is the physical size of it, but that applies to most of the smartphones.
joemarshallFree MemberThe only thing putting me off is the physical size of it, but that applies to most of the smartphones.
Yep, it's literally mm of difference between the current good phones (desire, iphone etc.)
There are a few smaller ones, but then you lose the lovelyness of browsing the web on a decent sized screen, and onscreen keyboards suck on smaller screens.
I don't find it that much of a pain to be honest – they're all pocketable – I think the thinner but big smartphones are less of a pain than the old fat but not so big ones.
Joe
GrahamSFull MemberIn my (possibly biased) opinion the iPhone 4G kicks the HTC Desire well into touch.
But the new HTC Evo 4G does look very interesting.
Surf-MatFree MemberIn my (possibly biased) opinion the iPhone 4G kicks the HTC Desire well into touch.
How?
Especially once 2.2 is available…
kimbersFull Memberthat dell streak look impressive too, though its only on android 1.6 for now
FlaperonFull MemberNote that the screen size is still the same on the iPhone, it's just the resolution that's increased. So you still have a stupidly thick bezel around the screen, even if it's thin. Will be sticking with my Nexus One and it's OLED display.
grievoustimFree Memberthe screen on the new iphone looks lovely
the threads recently on here about the desire puts me off – discussions of app kilers etc make me think that the thing will be a pain in the backside when things start to go wrong (like all the PCs I've owned)
I want the iphone – but not as much as I did when I though there was going to be a 64 gig modal.
O2 have published their tarifs for the iPhone 4 – but no word on UK prices for the handset yet
pritcsaFree MemberI've got a Hero and my better half has a 2nd gen Iphone. Iphone is massively better, my Hero is laggy, buggy and the Apps are just not as polished. I can see why Apple's closed approach put's people off but the experiences are in a different league.
The differences are so stark that when she upgrades and gets an Iphone4 i'll probably use her old one and sell the Hero.
Surf-MatFree MemberThe size of smartphones put me off them for ages but they are so thin that it really does make them pretty pocketable – I run with mine in a shorts pocket with no problems.
simon_gFull MemberTo be honest, recent Android phones would probably meet my needs pretty well but my iPhone has been absolutely superb for nearly 2 years now and inertia will mean a new one that's thinner with a better battery, better camera, insanely high-res display and quicker will make it the default choice. Just a very satisfying device to own and use, plus the fact it's still worth £170 or so as a trade-in is a bonus.
As said, it's not so much about the total number of apps – it's about having the ones you want to use and there seem to be plenty of high-quality useful ones on Android now.
The sheer amount of third-party stuff that interfaces with the dock connector means the biggest headache with switching platforms would be not being able to just plug it into the car, or use the chargers that we have all over the place. Apple standardising on the dock connector several years ago has made speakers, docks and things like car interfaces ubiquitous.
glenhFree MemberI've got a Hero and my better half has a 2nd gen Iphone. Iphone is massively better, my Hero is laggy, buggy and the Apps are just not as polished.
Please don't tarnish google android OS with your experience of an old version that has been hacked by a third party (HTC) 😉
BTW, my android phone is much more stable than my old iphone 3G or my ipad.
funkynickFull MemberLets face it.. for most people who own iPhones now are unlikely to change even if they do prefer an Android phone purely down to the fact that they have spent a reassonable sum of cash on apps and various docks and the like. If someone have an investment in all of those it'll have to be something very special to get them to move.
And while Apple might be ahead for the time being, give it 6 months and Android will be taking another leap forward. Also, as the number of users grow, so will the number and quality of the apps.
I daresay HTC will bring out something akin to the Evo in this country, which jumps them ahead of the iPhone in terms of tech, and once the dual-processor Snapdragons get into phones, that will be another leap forward as well. Come on, whoever here thought they'd be using a phone with a 1GHz processor, let alone a dual core one!! I'm quite interested to see what Motorola will do with it this time…
At present I'd say the biggest thing holding back all mobile phones is the battery tech!
wwaswasFull MemberAt present I'd say the biggest thing holding back all mobile phones is the battery tech!
I think it's the current requirements of existing chipsets 😉
funkynickFull MemberWell true… and the power requirements of the current fancy-pants displays as well.
vrapanFree MemberThe EVO won't come to the UK any time soon, for this to happen we need 4G networks – I don't believe we have anything in place yet, please correct me if you know otherwise.
I don't like the fact that the Android handsets/OS versions are so fragmented with no warrantee that future upgrades will be supported by your handset or that your carrier will even bother to distribute them or that all applications available will work with all of the handsets. I also like the security of someone else having looked into the app and made sure it is safe.
What the Android has over the iPhone is that it can provide a number of handsets some seriously undercutting the iPhone in price but then you do not compare similar phones. If you want a top end Android phone you are paying similar prices to the iPhone anyway.
bigyinnFree MemberSony Ericsson Xperia X10 is pretty tasty.
8mp camera, 1Ghz processor, big screen. Yes only running Android 1.6 at present, but i can honestly say mine hasnt faultered once in 2 months.simon_gFull MemberAnyone on the Android side of the fence feel slightly overwhelmed by the pace of new devices? It seems every other week there's a new "best" Android phone.
That wouldn't be so bad but long-term support for older models seems to be pretty poor – I mean, if you bought an HTC Magic this time last year (so shortly after UK launch – and we got it earlier than many other markets), already you're shut out of having the latest OS which seems a bit poor in these days of 18 and increasingly 24 months contracts. It was much the same on WinMo as well – HTC and others seem to be more concerned with cranking out yet another new model than supporting any existing userbase.
Apple, to their credit, generally support stuff a lot longer – an original iPhone (now 3 years old) is only just dropping out of being eligible for new versions of the OS. In a worst case scenario, buying just before an update, you'd still have a couple of years of updates before you get left out in the cold.
fishaFree Memberiphone is slick and just works,but you need to be prepared to stick with the itunes side of things which is slightly restrictive at times, but it does the job well.
Android is all but there, perhaps just lacking the cohesion that the iphone OS has. I think Android is starting to fragment and stretch out a little too much between the versions of it. It feels like there is a version per month.
By the time my contract is up, I think Win Mobile 7 will be out. so that'll add more to choices.
I recently switched back to my iphone and still am impressed at how slick it all is when in actual use …. but I get frustrated with itunes.
pallyallyFree MemberDoesn't seem to be a definite concensus here but it looks like the iPhone ahead.
I'm almost convinced to carry on holding out.forge197Free MemberI am at this very cross roads, Mrs Forge's phone is out of contract it's between HTC Desire and IPhone4 not entirely sure which yet but iphone4 is the front runner.
funkynickFull Memberpallyally… it's horses for courses at the moment. Both Android phones and the iPhone can do a huge amount to be honest it really won't make that much difference whichever one you get.
But, I would certainly be looking at the higher end Android phones to be comparable to the newer iPhones.
funkynickFull Memberforge… at present the iPhone 4 is probably the better phone, but will be more expensive to own, both in initial cost and paid for apps.
The Desire, while not being quite as good, will be the cheaper to get hold of and most of the 'required' apps are free.
That just about sums it up I think.
the-muffin-manFull MemberI get an iPhone through work and think its a great piece of kit, I've used it so much more than any other phone I've had – I like it so much I'd actually pay for one out of my own pocket if it was taken away!
MosesFull MemberI've been happy with my HTC Desire over the last 2 months, didn't like the iphones I've played with.
The apps I've downloaded work well (apart from the one where everything is in Polish), and it has the advantage that I can buy & carry spare batteries if I'm out of charging distance for some time. It's not bad as a phone, either
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