New Android user - phone advice

[AbuZilif]

Hey all,

Been an iPhone owner for four years but I'm making the Android switch in the next couple of weeks. I'm having trouble deciding on hardware and hoping I might be able to get some opinions.

I'm on AT&T and not interested in dropping b/c I'm still on unlimited data, so my choices are basically:

1) Unlocked Galaxy Nexus - love the phone (have played with a friend's), stock Jelly Bean looks awesome, like the flexibility of buying off-contract, but worried about hardware and speed. Lack of SD slot is not really a thing I'm concerned about.

2) Galaxy S3 - Obviously awesome hardware and speed but didn't like the feel of the phone as much as I hoped, and not sold on TouchWiz. Some nice features on it but being new I'm not sure how much it detracts from Android or how much I'd be able to tweak stock Android.

3) HTC One X - haven't looked at it much but I'm open to it, looks like a nice piece of hardware

Would love to hear people's thoughts on pros and cons for these. I'm leaning towards the Nexus but not sure if that's a mistake given that it's older, etc.

 

[blink182]

Nexus will give you vanilla android meaning updates straight from Google


S3,is like an iPhone but android

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Bacon

 

[Digital Controller]

Hey all,

Been an iPhone owner for four years but I'm making the Android switch in the next couple of weeks. I'm having trouble deciding on hardware and hoping I might be able to get some opinions.

I'm on AT&T and not interested in dropping b/c I'm still on unlimited data, so my choices are basically:

1) Unlocked Galaxy Nexus - love the phone (have played with a friend's), stock Jelly Bean looks awesome, like the flexibility of buying off-contract, but worried about hardware and speed. Lack of SD slot is not really a thing I'm concerned about.

2) Galaxy S3 - Obviously awesome hardware and speed but didn't like the feel of the phone as much as I hoped, and not sold on TouchWiz. Some nice features on it but being new I'm not sure how much it detracts from Android or how much I'd be able to tweak stock Android.

3) HTC One X - haven't looked at it much but I'm open to it, looks like a nice piece of hardware

Would love to hear people's thoughts on pros and cons for these. I'm leaning towards the Nexus but not sure if that's a mistake given that it's older, etc.

I have a GNex, and personally i love it because it is unlocked and ready to load roms, and like a lot of android freaks, we like to personalize our phones because we don't specifically like the stock system.

The Gnex will allow you, yes direct updates from google, meaning Jelly Bean already, and will allow you to put anything you want on it, the most flexibility.

The S3 is an awesome phone, strides ahead of the Gnex in computing power, but honestly, sometimes you don't need all that power, and it also is locked, meaning it would be harder to put what you specifically want on it, it is the best phone on the market right now hands down, but sometimes people prefer something that isn't as good, so they can do what they want on a phone.

Personally I don't really know much about the One X, however, i have had good experiences with HTC in the past so I imagine it is a good phone, probably better in performance than the Gnex, but still behind the S3, again not nearly as customizable as the Gnex.

It all depends on your preference, if you want some more specifics go here:

iPhone 4S vs. Galaxy S3 vs. Galaxy Nexus vs. One X: Apple, Samsung, HTC Smartphones Head-to-Head

EDIT: Also depending on your contract and how much you're willing to spend there could be a bit of difference

 

[lunatic59]

The first thing I am going to ask is, are you ever going to root and flash your phone? The reason I ask is because each has it's own level of challenges. I put the Nexus at the easy level and the One X and the hard end of the spectrum (but, in the relative scheme of things, "easy" is pumping your own gas, while "hard" is changing your oil - something most anybody can do.)

If you do root and want to flash, then the options open up quite a bit as far as look and feel. Any of those phones are nice, well built and advanced enough to get a couple of year's use without feeling outdated. It would be a matter of ergonomics ... which one feels best in your hand and/or pocket.

If you don't intend to flash it (which is perfectly fine, BTW. The vast majority of phone owners don't, you know.) then it would be more a consideration of the vanilla Android/TouchWiz/HTC Sense interfaces that will be your deciding factor.

Both TouchWiz and Sense include some very handy widgets that are only available to those launchers and both have matured greatly over the years. Still, some people hate them and others love them. You'd have to make that choice from an aesthetic perspective. Of course, on any of them you can add a third-party launcher which will change the entire look and feel to whatever you want it to be.

What is the most important attribute in a phone for you? Looks? Screen Size? Battery Life? upgradability? And, how do you normally use it? Heavy texter? Social media? Apps? Games? Actual phone calls? (Does anybody still do that? )

 

[AbuZilif]

The first thing I am going to ask is, are you ever going to root and flash your phone? The reason I ask is because each has it's own level of challenges. I put the Nexus at the easy level and the One X and the hard end of the spectrum (but, in the relative scheme of things, "easy" is pumping your own gas, while "hard" is changing your oil - something most anybody can do.)

If you do root and want to flash, then the options open up quite a bit as far as look and feel. Any of those phones are nice, well built and advanced enough to get a couple of year's use without feeling outdated. It would be a matter of ergonomics ... which one feels best in your hand and/or pocket.

If you don't intend to flash it (which is perfectly fine, BTW. The vast majority of phone owners don't, you know.) then it would be more a consideration of the vanilla Android/TouchWiz/HTC Sense interfaces that will be your deciding factor.

Both TouchWiz and Sense include some very handy widgets that are only available to those launchers and both have matured greatly over the years. Still, some people hate them and others love them. You'd have to make that choice from an aesthetic perspective. Of course, on any of them you can add a third-party launcher which will change the entire look and feel to whatever you want it to be.

What is the most important attribute in a phone for you? Looks? Screen Size? Battery Life? upgradability? And, how do you normally use it? Heavy texter? Social media? Apps? Games? Actual phone calls? (Does anybody still do that? )

On rooting and flashing, I have no idea right now, I'm not at the point yet where I'm even clear on what it offers and how to go about it. I took only tentative steps into jailbreaking while I was using iOS. So that's less of a thing for me right now than the aesthetics, I think.

There are definitely some things I liked about TouchWiz (the settings panel in notifications, and remove all on the task switcher stand out), but on the whole I think I preferred the feel of stock Android. But again, not sure if that justifies buying older hardware.

Screen size is really important to me, but I'm happy with both. Usage-wise for me it's all basically internet, calls (I'm a reporter, so this is actually still important, sadly), text, and social. Very little in the way of games.

It all depends on your preference, if you want some more specifics go here:

iPhone 4S vs. Galaxy S3 vs. Galaxy Nexus vs. One X: Apple, Samsung, HTC Smartphones Head-to-Head

EDIT: Also depending on your contract and how much you're willing to spend there could be a bit of difference

Nice, thanks for that.