Considering switching from iphone to Thunderbolt - a few ?'s and concerns

[sunsetandgower]

Hi there - I have been a pretty die hard apple user for the past several years ever since discovering the Ipod in 2004. Since then I have been a 100% mac house.

However, due to frustrations with AT&T and wanting to try something new in general, I have been looking at jumping ship to Verizon, and trying out the Thunderbolt. Generally I could see this phone working for me and I am very intrigued by having flash on my phone. I do however have a couple of concerns and I'd love to get some feedback -

1. size of the phone. I'm really looking to get a female opinion here, how much heavier is this phone to carry in a purse as opposed to an iphone for every day use?

2. music management - I am a hard core, very intense ipod user. Playcounts and smart playlists are extremely important to me. I am assuming that if I make the switch, I will need to go back to using my ipod nano, or possibly start carrying my ipod classic around for my music needs. I need my day to day music player to integrate into my home itunes set up.

3. battery life - is it really as bad as I am hearing? I check my phone throughout the day for mail, social networking, etc.

There isn't really much else I have heard about this phone that concerns me. I live in a 4G equipped area, and I would love to try this network out. I also am very interested in the personal mobile hotspot options, and in general the phone looks very sleek.

I won't be doing anything until the Iphone 5 features are announced, but I am intrigued and interested in learning more about combining android into my apple world. I still use an ipad and am mac only at home, so I do need to ensure that it won't be a constant source of frustration to have a non-apple phone. I am technically inclined, but not a jailbreaker. I will continue to be 100% apple at home, with the possible exception of switching the iphone for android.

thanks!

 

[CyberPitz]

1.) While not a female, I'll have to say if you're like every GF I've ever had, the extra few ounces will not be noticeable, since your purse will be stuffed to the brim with a bunch of stuff anyway You get 14 days to return the phone, if you find it's too heavy (I sure hope not...), then you can return.

2.) There are some apps out there that sync with iTunes for music/art/playlists. For instance - TuneSync - Android app on AppBrain

3.) Battery Life is too early to tell. New phones like these take a bit of time to condition the battery's to work fine. While I live in a 3G area, I can use my phone pretty heavily (Stream music, youtube videos, forum surfing, etc) for a good chunk of the day and still only have to charge a little before bed. If you're not doing anything heavy on the phone, you shouldn't have to worry. If all else fails, charge it while you're driving around/sitting next to a computer.

 

[sunsetandgower]

2.) There are some apps out there that sync with iTunes for music/art/playlists. For instance - TuneSync - Android app on AppBrain

.

Thanks for thls link - one thing I didn't mention is that I keep all my music in Apple Lossless. I also have a backup library in Flac, but that would completely defeat the purpose of maintianing my smart playlists and playcounts.

Everything I have read so far is that there is no real support for ALAC on the android platform, other than work around that would not include support for the meta tags, album artwork, etc. Not sure if this is still the case as the threads I found were about a year old.

This is by no means a game changer for me, as I'm really not looking to get rid of living in an ipod world. It's most likely that I would not use the new phone for a music player.

 

[Deleted User]

Recent iPhone convert here. I had an aging (and nearly unusable under 4.2.1) iPhone 3G

1. Male user here. I haven't had any problems pocketing the phone or using it on a day to day basis. Occasionally I'll have trouble reaching something with the thumb of the hand holding the phone, but it's a worthy trade-off for the bigger screen, in my opinion.

2. Music management is better on the iPhone, especially if you're adamant about getting ratings and playcounts synced. I haven't found anything that does that for me...however, I don't use iTunes (anymore, uninstalled it as soon as I got this phone) so there might be something that works for that. One thing was handled more elegantly on the iPhone: when a call came in, if I had headphones on I could answer the call, hear the caller through the headphones, and could speak as if I were on speakerphone. With the TB, the mic seems to be disabled so callers can't hear me. When the call comes I have to quickly unplug my headphones and then answer the call. It's a bit annoying, and I am hoping there's a way to fix this behavior.

Ultimately, though, I like the flexibility of being able to choose different players on Android, so I'm happier in the long run now. If you're a heavy iTunes user, though, then you may be disappointed. However, if you're a last.fm user, scrobbling is WAY easier on Android than on the iPhone.

3. Battery life isn't quite as good as the iPhone, but it's manageable. I am next to a computer all day, so I just leave my phone plugged in. If you are away from a power source for most of the day and are a heavy phone user during that time, then you may need to carry around a spare battery.

 

[sunsetandgower]

Recent iPhone convert here. I had an aging (and nearly unusable under 4.2.1) iPhone 3G



3. Battery life isn't quite as good as the iPhone, but it's manageable. I am next to a computer all day, so I just leave my phone plugged in. If you are away from a power source for most of the day and are a heavy phone user during that time, then you may need to carry around a spare battery.

Is the spare battery option literally "plug and play"? The only issues I will probably have is when I'm on vacation - for example I go amusement parks, and because I"m constantly on email, facebook, twitter, etc. my battery tends to drain. Sometimes I can find outlets to recharge, but being able to swap out batteries is super appealing to me.

Also I will be using the phone as a mobile hot spot for my ipad when I am out of general wifi range, and I'm assuming that will eat into the battery as well.

 

[sunsetandgower]

1.) While not a female, I'll have to say if you're like every GF I've ever had, the extra few ounces will not be noticeable, since your purse will be stuffed to the brim with a bunch of stuff anyway You get 14 days to return the phone, if you find it's too heavy (I sure hope not...), then you can return.

Heh this is a good point I carry my ipad with me almost everywhere I go anyway!

 

[Deleted User]

I don't really know what you mean by "plug and play." I mean, it's a battery...you're going to have to take the dying one out of the phone to put the new one in, so the phone will need to be turned off during that time. But once the charged one is back in, and the phone is back on, then it works like before.

I find the battery door to be a little difficult to take off, and frankly I'm afraid I'm going to crack it every time. Maybe that's what you mean? It takes a little prying to get that door off, so swapping batteries isn't going to be the easiest thing about your new phone. I wish they had designed the door to slide off a easier.

 

[sunsetandgower]

I don't really know what you mean by "plug and play." I mean, it's a battery...you're going to have to take the dying one out of the phone to put the new one in, so the phone will need to be turned off during that time. But once the charged one is back in, and the phone is back on, then it works like before.

I find the battery door to be a little difficult to take off, and frankly I'm afraid I'm going to crack it every time. Maybe that's what you mean? It takes a little prying to get that door off, so swapping batteries isn't going to be the easiest thing about your new phone. I wish they had designed the door to slide off a easier.

Yes that's exactly what I meant - how difficult it is to take out the battery and get the new one in. I admit having been with apple so long, it never even occurred to me that a non-blackberry smart phone could do that

 

[Deleted User]

Yeah, Apple tends to have that effect. "You mean I can change the battery without having to send my phone in to the company? What kind of black magic is this?!"

Somehow they got people believing that kind of thing is not only ok, but expected and even beneficial. It's pretty amazing.

 

[kjjb0204]

Yes that's exactly what I meant - how difficult it is to take out the battery and get the new one in. I admit having been with apple so long, it never even occurred to me that a non-blackberry smart phone could do that

It's only hard to remove the battery door if you just pry off from the top center, where the pry indentation is. If you start popping in fingernails along the entire top of the door and sliding to the corners and down the side, it comes off without any issues at all. The problem is people pry from just the center of the top, so the sides actually start to bend inwards, making them sit in the latches even tighter. Just remove the whole top keeping it flat and it comes off easily.

For music, I've been using DoubleTwist. It sync my itunes playlists and music over my home wireless network, so you don't even need to plug into your pc. Transfers your playlists right over. Not sure about playcounts, but there should be no need to carry a separate device for music.

 

[LooseCannon]

1. Size of the phone. The adult female living with me has no issue with the size but when she had to choose one she went with an iPhone 4
2. Music management. There are indeed a variety of ways to play music on an Andriod. And in my opinion none of them are in the same ballpark as iOS. They aren’t even in the same game. Like my experience with Linux. They all do things and someone will always say “if you want to do X, then get program Y”. None are anywhere as good as iPhone. None are as good as the first generation beta iPhone/iTunes. When I finally got thru synchr and DoubleTwist and WinAmp and even manually moving from computer to SD. I had multiple copies of songs, podcast mixed with music all kinds of issues. Some issues I created by not being familiar with Android, but not all. Then there is the issue of existing DRM music on your iTunes if that is an issue for you. It was for me.
3. Battery life. The worst battery draining day I’ve ever had with an iPhone was better than the best day I’ve had with my TB.
Having said all that, I overall like the TB. I have to decide by Thursday if I’m going to keep it. Probably will. Some apps I like better that the iOS version, some not. And I am not going to miss Apples incremental releases that keep me wanting a new phone every year even though everything on the new phone could have been released 1 generation back. Example iPhone 1 not having 3G even though the network is available and Apple had the technology.
[FONT=&quot]I just switched a 5 person family plan from AT&T to Verizon. 2 Females went iPhone4, 2 Males and 1 Female went Android.[/FONT]

 

[AustinTech]

Honestly you'd probably be better off with your iphone. Sounds like you really like it. Why would you change something you like so much? What do you like about the thunderbolt?

 

[thorthunderblt]

i am curious to see if Apple will increase the size of the iphone's screen to 4"(I have seen reports of them doing that). Seems like that is the route that smartphones are going now. Since phones now a days are all about media and watching tv or movies on them. Then they are used to make calls.

 

[AustinTech]

i am curious to see if Apple will increase the size of the iphone's screen to 4"(I have seen reports of them doing that). Seems like that is the route that smartphones are going now. Since phones now a days are all about media and watching tv or movies on them. Then they are used to make calls.

Me too. I think that would be a huge improvement on the phone. Esp if they can do it without making the phone much bigger. It will effect the battery life though. And so will tossing in an LTE radio. Together, those two things will really eat away any battery, even one as super duper special as the iPhone battery.

There won't be another iPhone for a good while though. Apple hasn't even ordered parts for the 5 yet and analysts are predicting October before we should see one.

 

[Lucidot]

I would stick with the iPhone if I were you.

My wife and I are taking our TB's back this evening, and one of our main complaints (among many) is the absolute poor battery life. If you spend a good part of the work day indoors and the phone has to search for a signal, your battery will die a quick but painful death. I have had the Moto Droid 1 and the HTC Eris and never had those issues with those.

If you listen to a lot of music and do not have it on a charger when doing so, your battery will drain faster than the normal fast.

The spare battery defense is complete BS if you ask me. Do you expect to have to buy another battery for a new car when you buy it, or do you expect the battery in your car to do what it's supposed to do for a few years at least?

 

[CyberPitz]

I would stick with the iPhone if I were you.

My wife and I are taking our TB's back this evening, and one of our main complaints (among many) is the absolute poor battery life. If you spend a good part of the work day indoors and the phone has to search for a signal, your battery will die a quick but painful death. I have had the Moto Droid 1 and the HTC Eris and never had those issues with those.

If you listen to a lot of music and do not have it on a charger when doing so, your battery will drain faster than the normal fast.

The spare battery defense is complete BS if you ask me. Do you expect to have to buy another battery for a new car when you buy it, or do you expect the battery in your car to do what it's supposed to do for a few years at least?

I'm indoors for probably 99% of my day, and when I'm at home I have 0 bars (1 if I'm lucky) and generally catching 'extended network'. Never noticed this "Searching for signal causing the battery to super drain". Listening to music, though, is absolutely true. If you're using 4G, it's going to go dooowwnnn. If you're on WiFi or 3G, it's not near as bad.

With streaming music from TinyShark a good chunk of the day at work (9 hours), I still only have to charge an hour or two before bed. I find that quite acceptable, and it's even still better than my rooted and OC'd OG Droid.

 

[offanairplane]

2. Music management. There are indeed a variety of ways to play music on an Andriod. And in my opinion none of them are in the same ballpark as iOS. They aren

 

[Mallissa]

Hi there - I have been a pretty die hard apple user for the past several years ever since discovering the Ipod in 2004. Since then I have been a 100% mac house.

However, due to frustrations with AT&T and wanting to try something new in general, I have been looking at jumping ship to Verizon, and trying out the Thunderbolt. Generally I could see this phone working for me and I am very intrigued by having flash on my phone. I do however have a couple of concerns and I'd love to get some feedback -

1. size of the phone. I'm really looking to get a female opinion here, how much heavier is this phone to carry in a purse as opposed to an iphone for every day use?

2. music management - I am a hard core, very intense ipod user. Playcounts and smart playlists are extremely important to me. I am assuming that if I make the switch, I will need to go back to using my ipod nano, or possibly start carrying my ipod classic around for my music needs. I need my day to day music player to integrate into my home itunes set up.

3. battery life - is it really as bad as I am hearing? I check my phone throughout the day for mail, social networking, etc.

There isn't really much else I have heard about this phone that concerns me. I live in a 4G equipped area, and I would love to try this network out. I also am very interested in the personal mobile hotspot options, and in general the phone looks very sleek.

I won't be doing anything until the Iphone 5 features are announced, but I am intrigued and interested in learning more about combining android into my apple world. I still use an ipad and am mac only at home, so I do need to ensure that it won't be a constant source of frustration to have a non-apple phone. I am technically inclined, but not a jailbreaker. I will continue to be 100% apple at home, with the possible exception of switching the iphone for android.

thanks!

1. I don't think the phone is heavy at all. I carry ALL KINDS of junk in my purse and don't think it adds any weight at all. I also have had hand surgeries on both hands, and I can use it with no stress. I love form of it, just fits your hand.

2. I play music on my phone while it's plugged into my work computer, so I can't really comment on that to much.

3. All I have to say about this is that EVERYONE has a different experience with the battery. Some are in a 4G area and getting awesome battery life, some are getting extremely poor battery life. I am in a 3G area right now, so I turned off 4G and am pulling around 14 hours battery life. When I went to Columbus (4G area) I turned it on and pulled just shy of 11 hours. Battery life is a matter of personal opinion, and how often you use it. The first few days whil eyour setting it up and playing with it will be the worst battery days ever. But after calibrating the battery, it should improve as the days go by. Some people are extremely frustrated with the battery life, and are returning the device. Just keep in mind that no one uses the phone the same, so your experience with it will be different. I LOVE my TB and am quite happy with the battery life at this point. The only issue I had was my sim card wasn't programed properly so they exchanged it for a new one.
Whew! lol All that being said, use your own judgement. None of us can tell you what your experience will be. Good Luck!

 

[thorthunderblt]

Hi there - I have been a pretty die hard apple user for the past several years ever since discovering the Ipod in 2004. Since then I have been a 100% mac house.

However, due to frustrations with AT&T and wanting to try something new in general, I have been looking at jumping ship to Verizon, and trying out the Thunderbolt. Generally I could see this phone working for me and I am very intrigued by having flash on my phone. I do however have a couple of concerns and I'd love to get some feedback -

1. size of the phone. I'm really looking to get a female opinion here, how much heavier is this phone to carry in a purse as opposed to an iphone for every day use?

2. music management - I am a hard core, very intense ipod user. Playcounts and smart playlists are extremely important to me. I am assuming that if I make the switch, I will need to go back to using my ipod nano, or possibly start carrying my ipod classic around for my music needs. I need my day to day music player to integrate into my home itunes set up.

3. battery life - is it really as bad as I am hearing? I check my phone throughout the day for mail, social networking, etc.

There isn't really much else I have heard about this phone that concerns me. I live in a 4G equipped area, and I would love to try this network out. I also am very interested in the personal mobile hotspot options, and in general the phone looks very sleek.

I won't be doing anything until the Iphone 5 features are announced, but I am intrigued and interested in learning more about combining android into my apple world. I still use an ipad and am mac only at home, so I do need to ensure that it won't be a constant source of frustration to have a non-apple phone. I am technically inclined, but not a jailbreaker. I will continue to be 100% apple at home, with the possible exception of switching the iphone for android.

thanks!

As for the battery dont read all the posts made by people on here. they where expecting this thing to run like a super phone. If you regulate what u are doing on the phone and know what apps to install. As well as some other things the battery life will be fine. I dont know what kind of phone u are coming from, but if it is a "feature phone" you will notice the battery dying faster. Which is expected. Especially during the first week an a half. Since you will be on the phone a lot to see what all it can do. Also see how strong the 4g is in ur area by with checking on line or calling verizon. I am in a very strong 4g area and i dont see near the battery drainage that people are talking about.

 

[dajogejr]

As a former ipod touch user, I downloaded and installed doubletwist on my phone.
It imported all my itunes media and it looks/smells/acts like iTunes.
It made my switch very easy.

 

[Kshaner]

Hi there - I have been a pretty die hard apple user for the past several years ever since discovering the Ipod in 2004. Since then I have been a 100% mac house.

However, due to frustrations with AT&T and wanting to try something new in general, I have been looking at jumping ship to Verizon, and trying out the Thunderbolt. Generally I could see this phone working for me and I am very intrigued by having flash on my phone. I do however have a couple of concerns and I'd love to get some feedback -

1. size of the phone. I'm really looking to get a female opinion here, how much heavier is this phone to carry in a purse as opposed to an iphone for every day use?

2. music management - I am a hard core, very intense ipod user. Playcounts and smart playlists are extremely important to me. I am assuming that if I make the switch, I will need to go back to using my ipod nano, or possibly start carrying my ipod classic around for my music needs. I need my day to day music player to integrate into my home itunes set up.

3. battery life - is it really as bad as I am hearing? I check my phone throughout the day for mail, social networking, etc.

There isn't really much else I have heard about this phone that concerns me. I live in a 4G equipped area, and I would love to try this network out. I also am very interested in the personal mobile hotspot options, and in general the phone looks very sleek.

I won't be doing anything until the Iphone 5 features are announced, but I am intrigued and interested in learning more about combining android into my apple world. I still use an ipad and am mac only at home, so I do need to ensure that it won't be a constant source of frustration to have a non-apple phone. I am technically inclined, but not a jailbreaker. I will continue to be 100% apple at home, with the possible exception of switching the iphone for android.

thanks!

I just bought my GF the verizon Iphone and she loves it. We are a mac household (ipad, 2 itouches, macbook pro, nano etc. etc.) but as the early adopter/geek I HAD to have the TB. She wondered why I was getting/suggesting the Iphone for her....First she has small hands and the 4"+ screens on 3g phones she has held, felt to big in her hand (for texting one handed for example). Now I have four sisters and this would not be an issue for all of them (your results may vary). Second she is not technical at all so the ability to individualize and tweak the device like I do is not important to her (more of an interest issue than a gender one). Third she is a heavier music user than she is an internet browser/facebook/tweeter checker. While there are some great apps for syncing itunes music with Android, you'll be hard pressed to find anything as seamless as when you plug in your Ipad/itouch/iphone. I CAN tell you however that while she's looking for a number of a restaurant that we go to, which is in her phone book (that's not in my TB address book) and I just say to my phone "Call XYZ restaurant" and it starts dialin almost instantly she thinks it's cool. When we are both looking up stuff on the internet and my pages load almost instantly (often faster than at home) she gets jealous. A little thing that she had to get used to is that there is no visual indicator on the phone (like a led light to flash). Her Iphone has the most incredible screen out there bar none and it looks every bit of it. Now the battery issue.....ok...my phone is now pregnant (extended battery) and I have no issues with life but it is considerably bigger. As a 6+ footer over 200 pounds it's not all that material, but if my GF owned it she'd ask me to carry it for her (jk). Someone else made a point and I 100% agree that this is a short term issue (prob no more than 90 days). I also notice the worst life in an area with poor 4g coverage and I'm switching back and forth. In reality though even once fully optimized you are likely to get better life out of the iphone (smaller screen being the major reason and no 4g being the other) because the screen on all of these devices takes up the majority of the juice. So for me the TB was the only choice, for her (not based on gender but the type of user) the Iphone. Both great devices and neither one of us would trade. best of luck

 

[dyezak]

One thing was handled more elegantly on the iPhone: when a call came in, if I had headphones on I could answer the call, hear the caller through the headphones, and could speak as if I were on speakerphone. With the TB, the mic seems to be disabled so callers can't hear me. When the call comes I have to quickly unplug my headphones and then answer the call. It's a bit annoying, and I am hoping there's a way to fix this behavior.

This is because of the type of headphones you are using. Get a set with an inline Mic and you will be fine. The iPhone didn't switch to speakerphone Mic mode...its stock standard ear buds have an inline Mic. I have an ipod, 2 iPhones, and the thunderbolt....they all act the same when a call comes in while listening to a song on my earbuds with an inline Mic.

 

[Deleted User]

This is because of the type of headphones you are using. Get a set with an inline Mic and you will be fine.

I don't really want to pony up for new headphones just for this. It should be fixable in software....somewhere in its guts the Android OS must have a line that says "if headphones plugged in, cut external mic and only use inline mic."

The iPhone didn't switch to speakerphone Mic mode...its stock standard ear buds have an inline Mic.

I never used the stock ear buds, I used my own pair of over-the-ear headphones, with no in-line mic. Calls still worked the way I describe them.

 

[scorpiodsu]

As for the battery dont read all the posts made by people on here. they where expecting this thing to run like a super phone. If you regulate what u are doing on the phone and know what apps to install. As well as some other things the battery life will be fine. I dont know what kind of phone u are coming from, but if it is a "feature phone" you will notice the battery dying faster. Which is expected. Especially during the first week an a half. Since you will be on the phone a lot to see what all it can do. Also see how strong the 4g is in ur area by with checking on line or calling verizon. I am in a very strong 4g area and i dont see near the battery drainage that people are talking about.

What do you mean "don't read all the posts made by people on here"? They need to know both the good and bad sides of the device and a variety of experiences. Not just the opinions of those that refuse to acknowledge a devices shortcomings or downplay them. As you can see there are varying reports about battery life so it's only fair to hear about both sides. No device, including the Thunderbolt is perfect. And you simply accept piss poor battery life is just an excuse by people who need to feel their purchase is justified. So while some people have good battery life others don't and one can make an informed decision based on both sides and not just by listening to the haters nor just listening to the fanboys.