New Mobile phone..options

[ricktas]

A friend sent me a text today, saying now the new iPhone is about to come out, was I going to upgrade, and could they buy my iPhone 4. They offered a very good price. So even though I had no intention of upgrading my iPhone, it got me to thinking.

And I wondered if I should not consider jumping ship and look at Windows/Android based phones, and take them up on their offer, cause the new iPhone announced really doesn't get me excited, and I am sick of seeing the price of apps and music via iTunes costing me way more than the equivalent US item, when converted to AUD.

So, I got online and had a browse. The samsung galaxy SII looks interesting, along with a few others. So what can you tell me about Android/Windows based mobile phones and which are good, etc. Happy to hear all opinions, though still not even sure I want to sell my iPhone, but thought checking out the market might be worthwhile.

So feel free to tell me what is a good smart-phone at present and why.

[arthurking83]

Both my sisters get Choice mag, and I noted a comparison chart where the Galaxy II won the comparo test(out of about 20 odd phones).
My current Samsung freebie works perfectly well, except it's not a smart phone in the traditional Android/Windows sense.. it has a closed source Samsung OS on it, and the java based capability is quite limited
But... as of ATM .. I'm a Samsung convertee.

I've had Motorola's, Nokia's, NEC's and whatnot, and they're all garbage for one reason or another.

The only aspect I'm not too impressed about with Samsung is their PC connection software. I've found that Nokia seem to have the best PC based PC-phone software.. I just hate their phones!

I didn't like the troubles we've had in connecting normal Bt phones to iPhones .. and I hate it when simple stuff like this is made more difficult by the device, so I avoid iPhones.

[MiniFighter]

My 2c is to keep the iPhone. I have one and my mrs has a galaxyii. After playing with it and setting it up for her, Iphone is way better imo.

Just my opinion though.

[Bennymiata]

For someone who is a photographer and likes to keep up, perhaps look at the LG phone with the 3D camera and 3D screen.

[Ellen]

Hey Rick,
I went from an iphone to a samsung galaxy s2, and I have to say I'm write happy with the samsung. I like that I can customise it a lot more than the iphone, but I do prefer the iphone for playing music through. So I keep my iphone in the car, and dont use the samsung to listen to music anymore. But I do find it easy to use, and I like the big screen, it is also lighter than the iphone even though it is bigger. If I was changing phones again? I would have a tough time choosing between the two, I like them both!!

[ricktas]

thanks for the feedback. I am going out today to have a play with a Galaxy, seeing as I have never really looked at one, held one so far. I am thinking I might stick to the iPhone at this time, though.

[AmyK]

For someone who is a photographer and likes to keep up, perhaps look at the LG phone with the 3D camera and 3D screen.

Do you mean the HTC Evo? I had a play with one the other day at work, and I'm not a fan. I think the 3D would make me feel motion sick after a while.


thanks for the feedback. I am going out today to have a play with a Galaxy, seeing as I have never really looked at one, held one so far. I am thinking I might stick to the iPhone at this time, though.

We've got a live one in at my work, if you can brave heading in there :) [Telstra that is...I don't work at Habitat anymore :P ]


As far as the Galaxy SII goes, I love them :D Got one for Mark a few weeks back, and it's an incredibly powerful phone, amazing camera, fantastic screen, and the colours & brightness are awesome :)

It handles things well, like having numerous apps open.

A lot of the Apps on the Apple App store are free on the Andriod Market.

They're supposedly re-releasing the SII in a week or so with a bigger battery in it, so better battery life. But after having an iPhone, you wouldn't notice the difference between the current SII battery and the iPhone.

They're nice and light, and quite thin, however they are still large, because of their big screen.

As for Android vs. iPhone, well let's say that Apple are still trying to catch up with all the improvements that happen with Android. I think the iPhone 4S is a step forward to get on par with the rest of the market, but nothing terribly fresh or exciting.

The processor in the Galaxy SII is bigger than the iPhone 4S. Galaxy SII is 1.5GHz processor, 4S is beleived to have a 1GHz processor. Apple hasn't disclosed the amount of RAM its iPhone 4S uses. The 4S is believed to have a gigabyte of RAM; if so, it's now on par with most high-end Android phones from the past several months. If not, it could be sitting somewhere around the 512MB mark and would remain behind them in that domain.

Apple's iPhone still lacks many features Android handsets provide. It has no support for external storage, no real file access, and a very limited, locked-down approach to customization. You're still stuck with those static rows of icons on your home screens as opposed to dynamic, interactive widgets and a practically limitless choice of personalized launcher utilities. You can't use useful keyboard replacements like Swype, because Apple doesn't allow them. There's no integrated turn-by-turn GPS navigation. And I won't even get into the whole Flash problem.

And the best thing...no more iTunes syncing etc. you just plug the phone into computer, and it reads it like a USB drive, you can put files anywhere in the folder system of the phone, and the phone works out where it's meant to be :)

Okay, okay, so I'm an Android fan :P I personally have a HTC Desire S, and Mark has the Galaxy SII after both of us previously having iPhones.

[KeeFy]

The thing about Android IMO is that the user interface is somewhat a little more clunky vs iphone. iPhone was made with users in mind more than developers and android was made the other way. I had a galaxy S for a while and whilst it was a great phone, the samsung UI was what irritated me the most. I prefer the standard android UI over the Samsung UI. I subsequently got an iphone 4 as it was really cheap and passed the galaxy s to my dad.

There are certain things i missed about the android but also somethings i do like about the iphone. Apps that you love sometimes is not available on the android or vice versa. iPhone4 is a very capable phone.... only if you jailbreak it. Android is a capable phone... even before you root it. The other thing about Android is the optimisation of hardware to software. As Apple develops the software soley fo it's own hardware, it's absolutely optimised for the hardware it's using. As for android.. it is getting to that stage with newer revisions of the software like gingerbread. With the release of Galaxy SII and the other dual cores, it definitely is getting a lot smoother as well.

iTunes made the usage of a phone seamless for untech savvy users. It irritated power users. On the flipside, android UI for computers is programmed by the manufacturer. Samsung makes a crappy UI for computers and their backup process is not as good.

As for the images or a iphone vs Galaxy SII. iPhone 4 wins hands down IMO. Even thou the SII has higher resolution, the processing algo may not be as good as the iphone4. Colour saturation and contrast is nicer in the iphone4.

Last bit is that a lot of the free apps on android has advertisements. You need to root the phone in order to block it, one of irritants. Also i like TOMTOM as a navigator for my phone. It's not avaialble on android and since a few years back they have been saying "coming soon". LoL. I will relish the day it does arrive on android.

That said, i'm pretty sure my next phone won't be an iphone. I've recently been looking at wp7 and they are catching up in terms of UI or its back to android for me. I don't like to stick with one particular system as it kinda numbs the brain IMO. It boils down to what kind of a user you are. :)

[ricktas]

Thanks all. Well went and had a look at the Samsung Galaxy Sii, along with an LG and HTC (both 3D), must say straight up, although the two 3D ones used Andriod, and worked in a similar way to the galaxy, the 3D screen was crap, and very hard to look at.

The Samsung is very nice, intuitive, and I liked it. But at present, outright price, cheapest I could find was at JBhifi, and still over $700.00. Went to 3 stores, customer service was non-existent, played with the phones myself, did not have a single sales person come up and ask me if I wanted help. Will stick to my iPhone at this time. Looking at shopbot, you can get the Galaxy for just over $500.00 online (Australian sites), so if I do decide to swap, will be buying online I think, esp when customer service doesn't at the bricks n mortar stores.

[MarkChap]

My only beef with Android based phones is operating system upgrades.
Android is open source and used by many different hardware manufacturers, I can't get an upgrade for my HTC Desire or my Samsung Tab, because the hardware manufacturer wants me to upgrade the hardware to get the new operating system.

Apple lets everyone have the new operating system as it is released.

[KeeFy]

My only beef with Android based phones is operating system upgrades.
Android is open source and used by many different hardware manufacturers, I can't get an upgrade for my HTC Desire or my Samsung Tab, because the hardware manufacturer wants me to upgrade the hardware to get the new operating system.

Apple lets everyone have the new operating system as it is released.

There is loads of support in forums such as xda-developers. A lot of people do upload their ports so that people don't miss out on the latest OS. That's one other thing that's irritating as well. They drop support of the phone once they launch a new phone.

[AmyK]

Apple lets everyone have the new operating system as it is released.

As far as I know iOS5 is not going to be supported on iPhone 3G and 3Gs, so that statement is technically incorrect.

[ricktas]

As far as I know iOS5 is not going to be supported on iPhone 3G and 3Gs, so that statement is technically incorrect.

iOS 4 on a 3g version makes the phone very slow as well. I think mainly due to older hardware having trouble keeping up with the newer iOS

[AmyK]

iOS 4 on a 3g version makes the phone very slow as well. I think mainly due to older hardware having trouble keeping up with the newer iOS

Yeah I was running iOS4 on my old 3G, and it was terrible, and I couldn't be bothered restoring it to the old software.



A very good point came up today at work, and that was that Apple have finally started doing what Android phones have been doing for a number of months now. In an age where technology is changing all the time, how [in terms of timeframe etc] Apple releases it's products isn't going to last in today's market.

[ricktas]

Well, on Sunday I had to wander round town a bit (my mum was in hospital, and having tests done at the time, so I was at a loose end for a couple of hours), so I ventured into a few phone shops that were open and had a go at some phones. After annoying the staff for some time (I am sure they thought I was just going to look, and then buy online), I decided to push the $$ issue, and got a great deal on a Samsung Galaxy S2.

So now, after having an iPhone since the very first one came out (bought in the USA, before they even got to Aus), I am no longer an iPhone owner..and I could not be happier. It took me a while to come to grips with the Galaxy and Android OS, but now I have, I am impressed.

[melmo78]

being a hard core iphone fan,my husband got the sansung galaxy s2 last week and i love it i was thinking about changing over myself and to get me away from an iphone it has to be pretty damn good thats for sure ,so i think you are going to really love the galaxy Rick they are a great phone thats for sure

[KeeFy]

Well, on Sunday I had to wander round town a bit (my mum was in hospital, and having tests done at the time, so I was at a loose end for a couple of hours), so I ventured into a few phone shops that were open and had a go at some phones. After annoying the staff for some time (I am sure they thought I was just going to look, and then buy online), I decided to push the $$ issue, and got a great deal on a Samsung Galaxy S2.

So now, after having an iPhone since the very first one came out (bought in the USA, before they even got to Aus), I am no longer an iPhone owner..and I could not be happier. It took me a while to come to grips with the Galaxy and Android OS, but now I have, I am impressed.

Enjoy it mate! It is a wonderful phone. And the UI definitely has gotten better vs the S1, although i still think the original android UI is better. :) So what's your first impressions vs the iphone? Always good to hear it from other people's point of view.

[ricktas]

Enjoy it mate! It is a wonderful phone. And the UI definitely has gotten better vs the S1, although i still think the original android UI is better. :) So what's your first impressions vs the iphone? Always good to hear it from other people's point of view.

First impression was. WOW so many settings! It lets me customise so much more. Took me a while to find all the settings etc and the manual was less than helpful. I found the net a good source of 'how to' stuff. it took me a good 4-5 hours of playing and googling to get my head around all the options. The iPhone is 'take out of the box and use it'.

But the Galaxy offers much more, and I can really appreciate the benefits now after a few days of use. I also found a lot of the Apps are free on Android, that you have to pay for on AppStore for the iPhone. Some are much cheaper. I use a good diary App, that in Itunes is over $20.00, but is under $8.00 on the Android Market.

The best thing I have installed is Juice Defender, which monitors system environment and stops apps running that do not need to be, to save battery power. I am up to day 3 since charging it and still have 63% battery left, with it turned on 24/7. Much better than the iPhone.

So, even though it took me a while to get my head around the Android OS, I like the ability to do more, with it, not being limited entirely to how Apple wanted me to use the phone. At this time, I have to say, for me, the Galaxy S2 runs rings round iPhone.

[KeeFy]

First impression was. WOW so many settings! It lets me customise so much more. Took me a while to find all the settings etc and the manual was less than helpful. I found the net a good source of 'how to' stuff. it took me a good 4-5 hours of playing and googling to get my head around all the options. The iPhone is 'take out of the box and use it'.

But the Galaxy offers much more, and I can really appreciate the benefits now after a few days of use. I also found a lot of the Apps are free on Android, that you have to pay for on AppStore for the iPhone. Some are much cheaper. I use a good diary App, that in Itunes is over $20.00, but is under $8.00 on the Android Market.

The best thing I have installed is Juice Defender, which monitors system environment and stops apps running that do not need to be, to save battery power. I am up to day 3 since charging it and still have 63% battery left, with it turned on 24/7. Much better than the iPhone.

So, even though it took me a while to get my head around the Android OS, I like the ability to do more, with it, not being limited entirely to how Apple wanted me to use the phone. At this time, I have to say, for me, the Galaxy S2 runs rings round iPhone.

Awesome! Frankly speaking, without the jailbreak community and a jailbreak. I would drop iphone in a heartbeat. A jailbroken iPhone comes closer to Android in terms of configuablity for a power user and without it, IMO it'll like using a Symbian 40 nokia.

[Art Vandelay]

Interesting thoughts on the android gear. I'm guessing that apps previously purchased via apple aren't transferable to a different system ? Not that I've got a lot, but a couple that have cost 30 odd each.

I don't mind my iphone, quite like it actually but really cringe when I see things like the news this morning of all the fan bois lining up for days and singing kumbaya everytime apple farts out a new version or product.

Makes me want to throw mine out the window and hang my head in shame.:(

[ricktas]

Hey Art,

Not compatible as such. But the Samsung will sync with iTunes and all your music, movies etc can be copied to the Galaxy..easy. As for Apps. All the Angry Bird series are free on Android, as an example. I think the Android system is not so much offering more, but not ripping us off by making us pay quite a lot more for the App.

Just google your expensive apps like this 'Pocket informant for Android' and you can see the $ and compare to the AppStore.

I would not have swapped if the offer to buy my old iPhone had not come up, I was happy with the iPhone, but now I have the Galaxy, I can see why its getting reviews as the iPhone killer.

[KeeFy]

Hey Art,

Not compatible as such. But the Samsung will sync with iTunes and all your music, movies etc can be copied to the Galaxy..easy. As for Apps. All the Angry Bird series are free on Android, as an example. I think the Android system is not so much offering more, but not ripping us off by making us pay quite a lot more for the App.

Just google your expensive apps like this 'Pocket informant for Android' and you can see the $ and compare to the AppStore.

I would not have swapped if the offer to buy my old iPhone had not come up, I was happy with the iPhone, but now I have the Galaxy, I can see why its getting reviews as the iPhone killer.

Interesting point with the iPhone killer thing.

Omnia was dubbed the iphone killer.
Omnia 2 was dubbed the iphone killer.
Galaxy S was dubbed the iphone killer.
Galaxy s2 was dubbed the iphone killer.

First 3 ...ermmmm... close but not close enough at that point of time. I think the S2 has really stepped up to the plate and is really a true competitor. I can't wait for the s3 to be launched. I reckon with all the legal issues, samsung will do something different and hopefully it'll be a game changer in the right direction.

[Art Vandelay]

Thanks for the info guys. I came to the iphone from a succession of windows based pda's then pda/phones, which I used to have a love/hate relationship with. The iphone was a revelation in that things 'just worked'. Particularly internet tethering over to my laptop when travelling or away for weekends boating to check weather etc. I'm no tech freak, but not a novice either, the windows phones & laptop used to take hours of fiddling with 5 thousand settings, raised blood pressure, kicked dogs and still be erratic. Next day you'd do the same again & it wouldn't go. I near kissed the iphone the first time I clicked the tethering option, connected the laptop and bang I'm online.

Examples like that is how the iphone blew most of the others out of the water a few years ago. Things just worked, and worked simply. Great to see the balance coming back. Coming out of contract in a couple of months, so will be looking around. Thanks

[KeeFy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elKxgsrJFhw

If you drop your phone often. Don't buy an iphone. LoL


Art: I wouldn't go as far to say that the windows pda phones were THAT bad. I had a Windows CE portable thingy by hp and it was awesome! My first windows pda phone was by HP as well, can't remember the model but it was a wm2003 OS. But by far the worst was wm6.5 imo. Unstable like hell and the worst UI ever.