So I had a Captivate that had to be replaced 4 times and was skeptical about purchasing another Samsung device. I ended up purchasing the SG2 on launch day with the expectation that if I didn't like it I would just trade it for the new apple product.
I really didn't have many issues with the SG2 other than a few minor bugs but, I did end up getting sucked into the whole 4S hype(maybe the Jobs death soft spot). I traded the SG2 for the 4S on its launch day.
Yesterday I went back to AT & T and re-traded the 4S for another SG2.
So I thought I would give my review on both.
I really like the apple ecosystem and itunes on your phone. I also like to purchase itunes cards and use those rather than a credit card type market. These were what I liked best and that's where the list ended.
Siri is still Beta and still has a long way to go. The system network was down over 50% of the 5 days that I had the phone. That means if the network is down even your bluetooth device will not make voice activated call. I don't know why this doesn't have some type of backup plan for at least making voice calls. I was OK with the network being down and losing the goofy Siri features but this was a huge safety hazard.
The contacts in Siri could be set up to recognize things like mom or wife once you assigned a name to that relationship. If you don't assign a relationship and have the name mom or dad listed in your contact list the system keeps going in a loop and won't complete the call. Example: with no relationship set up and mom as the contact. "Call mom" "which mom" "mom" "which mom" "mom" then even if you clicked the contact listed the call would not go through.
I know the Siri issues will be fixed sooner than later and that the millions of people playing with the device and work asking "where's the best place to hide a dead body" and "I need to poop" are clogging the system.
The Vlingo system does not have all of the features of Siri but can do 95% of what a normal person could ever need the system to do.
Ok here are some other areas:
Battery: I hear everyone loving the battery of the iphone 4 but the 4S battery was not as good. The battery would drain to 50% in about 6-7 hours without watching videos or playing games. This was just by using the internet, making a few calls, and checking email. I did find that there was a fix to get longer battery life but it included turning off bluetooth and WiFi. This is not a big deal on the SG2 but I hated going into settings any time on the 4S to make such a simple change. I love being able to make these changes so quickly on the SG2 and to determine what is on or off in 2 seconds.
Browsing Speed: I am not talking about 3G, 4G, HSPA, or any of that. Just connect the phone to WiFi. The SG2 crushed the 4S in the time it took to open webpages. My SG2 opens pages on WiFi faster than my office computer can tied in the network. I am also not talking about mobile pages, this works with any pages. Also trying to watch youtube on the 4S was a major pain. It would buffer any video that I could find and lag in the middle of anything longer than a minute. I don't know how or why this was happening. The SG2 was also faster on the AT & T network but I know thats another can of worms.
Screen: The size, color, brightness, and quality of the SG2 is far superior to the 4S. I think I missed my screen most of all. It was like trying to watch TV on a 13" screen on the 4S. The colors of the 4S had no use of the word "vivid" they were dull and boring. I think the 4S screen might be better than the SG2 for reading ebooks but the size is still going to be a problem. That was the only positive I could find with it.
Widgets: The lack of any type of customization really sent me over the edge on the 4S. I wouldn't call the 4S vanilla because vanilla would imply that it could do normal things that normal people wanted. I had no idea that I was so spoiled on Android and the Samsung customizations.
Response speed: The SG2 is faster when switching through different screens or opening apps. You will still have lag at times on either device depending on what you are opening. The SG2 still felt faster when doing any daily tasks.
I really didn't have many issues with the SG2 other than a few minor bugs but, I did end up getting sucked into the whole 4S hype(maybe the Jobs death soft spot). I traded the SG2 for the 4S on its launch day.
Yesterday I went back to AT & T and re-traded the 4S for another SG2.
So I thought I would give my review on both.
I really like the apple ecosystem and itunes on your phone. I also like to purchase itunes cards and use those rather than a credit card type market. These were what I liked best and that's where the list ended.
Siri is still Beta and still has a long way to go. The system network was down over 50% of the 5 days that I had the phone. That means if the network is down even your bluetooth device will not make voice activated call. I don't know why this doesn't have some type of backup plan for at least making voice calls. I was OK with the network being down and losing the goofy Siri features but this was a huge safety hazard.
The contacts in Siri could be set up to recognize things like mom or wife once you assigned a name to that relationship. If you don't assign a relationship and have the name mom or dad listed in your contact list the system keeps going in a loop and won't complete the call. Example: with no relationship set up and mom as the contact. "Call mom" "which mom" "mom" "which mom" "mom" then even if you clicked the contact listed the call would not go through.
I know the Siri issues will be fixed sooner than later and that the millions of people playing with the device and work asking "where's the best place to hide a dead body" and "I need to poop" are clogging the system.
The Vlingo system does not have all of the features of Siri but can do 95% of what a normal person could ever need the system to do.
Ok here are some other areas:
Battery: I hear everyone loving the battery of the iphone 4 but the 4S battery was not as good. The battery would drain to 50% in about 6-7 hours without watching videos or playing games. This was just by using the internet, making a few calls, and checking email. I did find that there was a fix to get longer battery life but it included turning off bluetooth and WiFi. This is not a big deal on the SG2 but I hated going into settings any time on the 4S to make such a simple change. I love being able to make these changes so quickly on the SG2 and to determine what is on or off in 2 seconds.
Browsing Speed: I am not talking about 3G, 4G, HSPA, or any of that. Just connect the phone to WiFi. The SG2 crushed the 4S in the time it took to open webpages. My SG2 opens pages on WiFi faster than my office computer can tied in the network. I am also not talking about mobile pages, this works with any pages. Also trying to watch youtube on the 4S was a major pain. It would buffer any video that I could find and lag in the middle of anything longer than a minute. I don't know how or why this was happening. The SG2 was also faster on the AT & T network but I know thats another can of worms.
Screen: The size, color, brightness, and quality of the SG2 is far superior to the 4S. I think I missed my screen most of all. It was like trying to watch TV on a 13" screen on the 4S. The colors of the 4S had no use of the word "vivid" they were dull and boring. I think the 4S screen might be better than the SG2 for reading ebooks but the size is still going to be a problem. That was the only positive I could find with it.
Widgets: The lack of any type of customization really sent me over the edge on the 4S. I wouldn't call the 4S vanilla because vanilla would imply that it could do normal things that normal people wanted. I had no idea that I was so spoiled on Android and the Samsung customizations.
Response speed: The SG2 is faster when switching through different screens or opening apps. You will still have lag at times on either device depending on what you are opening. The SG2 still felt faster when doing any daily tasks.