iphone replacement comments

[devswap]

Hi all

I have had the last 2 iphones and like them but have an android tablet and love the customisations I can do and the general interface. Hence I am considering an android phone for my next upgrade due in Aug. I would welcome comments off people who may have had iphones and switched to android or people who are pro android and want to make any comments. I dont want comments like iphones are sh** though - good constructive comments please.

My main concerns are over battery utilisation - my iphone can take a hammering with browsing, some texts and using twitter and over 10 hours still have 50 - 60% left - is android as good. My galaxy tab 2 seems to have battery utilisation that goes up and down and I need to closely monitor which apps are running in the background otherwise the battery gets used rapidly. Other concerns are stability - one area where the iphone shines is running satnav software (I use co-pilot). I never have any issues and on android you see its supporting 250+ devices but I worry whether on the new nexus and galaxy whether it will be supported well etc.

Also with the samsung galaxy it concerns me that the operating system updates seem very slow to be sent out. With the iphone as soon as the update is released its available for phone update. With samsung 4.2 may have been out for a while but how quickly is it sent to the phones?

Enough waffle from me - comments welcome

Thanks

 

[rayhipkiss]

I've never actually ever owned an iPhone but I know plenty of people who have and still do. A close personal friend went from an iPhone 4 to the Galaxy S III and is looking forward to going back to iPhone at the earliest opportunity. He finds the S 3 to be somewhat dull and boring. That being said though, I've another friend who went from an iPhone 3GS to a Galaxy S 2 and has nothing but praise for the Android platform and the myriad custom ROMs he can play around with.


I have personally flitted between Symbian phones and Samsung Galaxy S phones and have had no preference either way. However, I've recently got hold of a Nokia Lumia 920 and the Galaxy S 3 but prefer the Lumia as an everyday phone. You might appreciate that Nokia Drive is a great satnav and very stable. My personal experience with Google's own Navigation wasn't a great one so I don't bother using it anymore.


I've got no complaints with battery life on the S3 and can get upto three days easily with light to moderate use and anywhere between one to two days with medium to heavy use. There are some really nice features with the Galaxy S3 that you will never see on an iPhone anytime soon so it might be worth you taking the plunge to try out Android on a smart phone.

 

[Stuntman]

My main concerns are over battery utilisation - my iphone can take a hammering with browsing, some texts and using twitter and over 10 hours still have 50 - 60% left - is android as good. My galaxy tab 2 seems to have battery utilisation that goes up and down and I need to closely monitor which apps are running in the background otherwise the battery gets used rapidly.

I estimate that I can get close to 5 hours of use when constantly browsing on the internet via WiFi. I generally have Maps and BT audio to play my music when in the car. Any mapping app will drain the battery faster and I estimate that doing this will drain the battery in 2.5 hours. When idle, it doesn't drain the battery much. Maybe 1% an hour.

Other concerns are stability - one area where the iphone shines is running satnav software (I use co-pilot). I never have any issues and on android you see its supporting 250+ devices but I worry whether on the new nexus and galaxy whether it will be supported well etc.

I'm not familiar with Co-Pilot. You can check the Google Play store at play.google.com and check the comments regarding this app's stability. In general, I find the SGS3 very stable compared to my older HTC Desire Z and the dreaded Nokia N97.

Also with the samsung galaxy it concerns me that the operating system updates seem very slow to be sent out. With the iphone as soon as the update is released its available for phone update. With samsung 4.2 may have been out for a while but how quickly is it sent to the phones?

The existence of a newer OS update does not make your current one bad. It was December 2012 before my SGS3 got Android 4.1. Still, Android 4.0 still worked well. The only concern would be if there is a bug that directly affects you. I have had an update in September last year. It fixed some issue where it would lose the LTE/3G connection, I believe. Since then, I had no issues, so waiting for 4.1 was no big deal to me. Not all Android devices will get the update the same time because not all Android devices are exactly the same. The manufacturer needs to get the source code from Google and then do their thing to get it working with the specific devices and then it has to go to the carrier to get approved before roll out.

 

[Noxian]

I came over from a iPhone 4, and previously a iPhone 3g, and before that a HTC Touch

My primary reason to getting my first iphone was it ws the first touch screen smart phone that actually worked well with your fingers. And the 2nd reason was merging my phone and ipod together.

my hardest move from a iPhone to a Android phone was music, I just couldnt get my music managed the same way I was used to with my iPhone. I have since found programs like iSyncr which allow me to sync my music to my SD card in my phone and then use Bluetooth audio to stream to my stereo in my Jeep.

I was never impressed with the battery life of my iPhone 4 or 3G, I could never get a full day out of a battery so I always surrounded myself with Apple iPhone proprietary cables and chargers so i was always topping up the battery when i could. The S3 can make it through a full day of use and I can plug it in at night when I go to bed, so for me that's good enough, and even better i can use any micro usb charger to charge it.

As for software updates, The S3 is a flagship device and a very popular one, it has already received 2 updates since I got mine in the fall one being jelly bean which was a pretty major one.

I always waited for software updates for the iPhones because I always jail broken them to get the phone to work the way I wanted. With Android I dont have to have wait or hope that Apple doesnt close a feature I can just install a app from the Play Store to get my phone to work the way I want it.

I bought my S3 the same day as the iPhone 5 announcement, right after I read they changed the cable again, and that they would again force everyone to replace devices and cables with ones licensed by apple to work with the new iPhones and idevices. I had already been through this before with Apple devices when they dropped 12volt power support from their connectors in the iPhone 3G and forced me to have to buy a third party adapter to change it to 5volt to get a older Made for iPod device to charge.


Android has come a long way even from Gingerbread last year in almost every way. I had a Droid 3 for about a week last year around this time and went back to the iPhone 4 because the hardware and software just wasn't mature enough.

Now I could never dream going back to a iPhone and being locked into Apples closed controlling hardware and software ecosystem.

Moving from the iPhone wasnt the only Apple device I switched from, I used to own MacBooks and switched back to Windows 2 years ago also and even though I like some of their hardware design the value for money and features just aren't there any more.

 

[MicroNix]

One thing to understand about the Android Operating System is that the bundled apps are updated independently of the OS. You don't need to wait for the next Android OS to get a new version of maps or new feature add to it. The Android OS is also made to allow apps to share with just about anything. Not just Facebook and Twitter. Again, you don't have to wait for an OS upgrade just to share with a new service. Sure there are some things that are must haves with a new version of Android that you want to see on your device, but unless running a Nexus phone, you may not see all of those in your phone when the update does become available because of the vendor skin (the new camera software is a perfect example, every vendor has their own camera software).

Bottom line is if you want the latest OS right away, you simply get the Nexus phone. I know to many Apple enthusiasts it is pounded into your head that having that latest OS is everything. If that is what you think, Nexus is your phone. If you don't mind waiting a little while, companies like Samsung have really stepped it up and made their own ecosystem of features that are very compelling. The GS3 is the first phone that I have not had the urge to immediately root and rom to get rid of the skin. It functions fantastic and my battery easily carries me the whole day.

Good luck in your future decision!

 

[funkylogik]

Why not stick with ios for a phone if thats what youre used to and like from a phone and android for a tablet... best of both worlds?
(Ive never owned an ios device but i read a lot of moaning [no offence] from iphone to android converts who want to replicate the iphone on an android with a nice big screen and cheap apps) :beer:

 

[funkylogik]

Oh p.s, id get the sony Xperia Z if i had

 

[GTWalling]

Also with the samsung galaxy it concerns me that the operating system updates seem very slow to be sent out. With the iphone as soon as the update is released its available for phone update. With samsung 4.2 may have been out for a while but how quickly is it sent to the phones?

Enough waffle from me - comments welcome

Thanks

You have to remember that Apple is in control of the update process. With any Android system on a locked provider you have to wait for the provider to add their bloat to the software before it is sent out. We are waiting for 4.1.2, 4.2 is several months out for most Android phones.