So I just switched from the Palm Pre last weekend. First off, I feel WebOS is an incredible smartphone operating system that never got the support it deserved from the hardware side. I had been hoping that Palm would finally release some new hardware that would match the offerings of htc, Samsung, Motorolla and the like. But then the "Pre 2" specs were released, and its bassically the same thing with a bit faster processor (my original pre had been running overclocked at 1ghz for months already). I was, to say the least, dissapointed.
So I went out and picked me up an Epic, and boy am I happy. Here is a run down of my impressions through the first couple of days.
1. Battery life
Wow. I see a lot of people with battery lif concerns on phones like the Evo and the Epic. You people have no idea what "poor battery life" is really like. I rarely got through a day with my Pre on a single charge. More often than not, I drained my Pre's battery in 6 hours of "normal" (for me) use. It got to the point that I bought a second touchstone to keep on my desk at work in order to keep my battery life up.
The Epic? I went through the reccomendations on the xda forums for training the battery (charging the phone, turning it off, charging it again, and all that), and yesterday I got home and the phone still had better than 40% charge left. Its just so noticeably better.
2. Screen
What can i say about the Pre's Screen? Its small, not the best resolution, and I often felt the color quality to be "washed out," i.e. low contrast.
The Epic? Super AMOLED is everything the commecials hype it to be. Brilliant. And Samsung seems to have it the sweet spot with screen size. Not too small like the Pre, but not too big that it doesnt feel like a device that will fit in your pocket without bulging out.
3. Android
The one thing that I know I will miss from the Pre? Gestures. The whole swiping back and forth, up and down to manipulate apps was just so easy and inuitive. Everything the Pre did, the Android does. I just find that I have to spend a bit more time and button/screen presses to do it. I tried the "Itching Thumb" launcher, and it doesnt seem to work on the Epic, or at least not very well. Im sure I will eventually get used to the Android way, but i keep catching myself trying to swipe the screen to go back, or close an app.
4. Apps
The Palm app store has a decent selection of apps, and the hombrew community has even more. But they just dont compare to the veriety on Android marketplace. Sure a lot of them are junk, but theres still a lot of neat stuff that I couldnt get on the Pre. NES and SNES emulators, animated wallpapers, widgets, Rhapsody Music app, iHeart Radio, and more.
5. The Keyboard
I like physical keyboards. I have always preffered Treo's and BB's. The Pre was not a terrible keyboad, it was just a bit cramped around the edges. Most of the time I had not trouble typing on it.
On the Epic, I do enjoy the nice wide keyboard, though I wish there was a bit more tactile difference between the keys. Its a bit harder to tell one key from the next just by touch, and the little dimples on the F and J might as well not even be there. I also seem to have a really hard time with the space key. The lower bezel is raise slightly compared to the space key and i keep trying to press on the bezel instead. I also wish there was a dedicated @ key (instead of the smiley face). I use @ enough during the day that it was really handy on the Pre. The dedicated D-pad is handy though.
6. Speed.
The Epic is blazing. Menu's animate smoothly, apps load quickly, the phone boots in only a few seconds (The Pre takes a couple of minutes to boot). And 4G is nice to have (Houston TX). The Pre's menues at stock speeds sometimes felt a little jerky, apps tended to take a few seconds to load, and boot times were horrible. Overclocking with a modified kernel helped a ton, but added to the Pre's already terrible battery life and often overheated.
So ya, thats my opinion so far. Palm could have done great things with WebOs, and who knows, maybe HP will do something with it in the future, but right now, its just not up to par with the Epic and Android.
So I went out and picked me up an Epic, and boy am I happy. Here is a run down of my impressions through the first couple of days.
1. Battery life
Wow. I see a lot of people with battery lif concerns on phones like the Evo and the Epic. You people have no idea what "poor battery life" is really like. I rarely got through a day with my Pre on a single charge. More often than not, I drained my Pre's battery in 6 hours of "normal" (for me) use. It got to the point that I bought a second touchstone to keep on my desk at work in order to keep my battery life up.
The Epic? I went through the reccomendations on the xda forums for training the battery (charging the phone, turning it off, charging it again, and all that), and yesterday I got home and the phone still had better than 40% charge left. Its just so noticeably better.
2. Screen
What can i say about the Pre's Screen? Its small, not the best resolution, and I often felt the color quality to be "washed out," i.e. low contrast.
The Epic? Super AMOLED is everything the commecials hype it to be. Brilliant. And Samsung seems to have it the sweet spot with screen size. Not too small like the Pre, but not too big that it doesnt feel like a device that will fit in your pocket without bulging out.
3. Android
The one thing that I know I will miss from the Pre? Gestures. The whole swiping back and forth, up and down to manipulate apps was just so easy and inuitive. Everything the Pre did, the Android does. I just find that I have to spend a bit more time and button/screen presses to do it. I tried the "Itching Thumb" launcher, and it doesnt seem to work on the Epic, or at least not very well. Im sure I will eventually get used to the Android way, but i keep catching myself trying to swipe the screen to go back, or close an app.
4. Apps
The Palm app store has a decent selection of apps, and the hombrew community has even more. But they just dont compare to the veriety on Android marketplace. Sure a lot of them are junk, but theres still a lot of neat stuff that I couldnt get on the Pre. NES and SNES emulators, animated wallpapers, widgets, Rhapsody Music app, iHeart Radio, and more.
5. The Keyboard
I like physical keyboards. I have always preffered Treo's and BB's. The Pre was not a terrible keyboad, it was just a bit cramped around the edges. Most of the time I had not trouble typing on it.
On the Epic, I do enjoy the nice wide keyboard, though I wish there was a bit more tactile difference between the keys. Its a bit harder to tell one key from the next just by touch, and the little dimples on the F and J might as well not even be there. I also seem to have a really hard time with the space key. The lower bezel is raise slightly compared to the space key and i keep trying to press on the bezel instead. I also wish there was a dedicated @ key (instead of the smiley face). I use @ enough during the day that it was really handy on the Pre. The dedicated D-pad is handy though.
6. Speed.
The Epic is blazing. Menu's animate smoothly, apps load quickly, the phone boots in only a few seconds (The Pre takes a couple of minutes to boot). And 4G is nice to have (Houston TX). The Pre's menues at stock speeds sometimes felt a little jerky, apps tended to take a few seconds to load, and boot times were horrible. Overclocking with a modified kernel helped a ton, but added to the Pre's already terrible battery life and often overheated.
So ya, thats my opinion so far. Palm could have done great things with WebOs, and who knows, maybe HP will do something with it in the future, but right now, its just not up to par with the Epic and Android.
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