Switching back to Android

[Torch4x4]

I need some help deciding which phone to choose,

-Must be on Verizon
-Must have Wireless Charging
-Must contain same specs of high end WP like the Nokia Icon (coming tomorrow)

I moved to WP in 2012 with the release of the WP8, it was easy for me because I been a regular Microsoft user (Hotmail/outlook, messenger/Skype, Skydrive, etc.), Immediately I noticed some advantages of WP8 against my old android, being a regular MS user I took some advantages of MS because they were trying to get more users (they still trying), I got free premium Pandora for 1 year, 65GB of Skydrive/OneDrive, free apps, bing rewards for more than $20, etc. etc. but living in a WP is a love and hate with some good thing, some promises and some disapointments, I know Windows Phone 8.1 is coming with a lot of improvements but that doesn't change the app store... however there are some questions and points to consider:

-On WP you can pin to the home screen almost everything, music albums, facebook events, people, websites, etc. etc. is there any way to do this on Android? it's like shortcuts, probably a music hub? or bookmarks?
-I noticed all Microsoft apps/services are good running on Android, recently they release the OneDrive apps including the back up photos, one of the best features that I like on my WP, that works exactly the same?
-what about Calendars syncronization, One Note, office, and other MS stuff?

I like the kids corner feature for my kids, but I can deal with it, also with the webapps that I can develop easily on WP because the playstore on android will replace most of those webapps..

I know there's a lot of win moving to Android, but there are some features that I don't want to lose, like the wireless charging, so I'm considering the LG G2

any other Android smartphone from Verizon?
any other think that I need to consider? please advice

 

[UJ95x]

The LG G2 is a great option. The Note 3 is also a good option if you don't mind the big size of the phone.
The shortcuts can be "pinned" to your home screen with widgets. Most apps have an option for those so you can set them up pretty easily. I only use a calendar widget, but there is one for music and others if you need them.
I'm not sure how the Microsoft apps work for picture backups work, but on Android there is Google+ and Dropbox as well as a few others that aren't as widely known.
Again, the calendar can be synced to your Google account, but idk if you can transfer events from the Microsoft apps

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.2

 

[JeffDenver]

I need some help deciding which phone to choose,

-Must be on Verizon
-Must have Wireless Charging
-Must contain same specs of high end WP like the Nokia Icon (coming tomorrow)

The G2 has wireless charging and high end specs (arguably the best on Android right now). Fast CPU/GPU, Lots of RAM, Awesome camera, 1080p display. The only real downsides are that it is polluted with LG's skin and the weird button placement which you might not like.

Other than that it's an awesome phone. You can get a 3rd party case for the Moto X that will allow wireless charging. If it was me I would probably go with the Moto X, but it would be a hard decision. They are the two best phones on Verizon right now.

-On WP you can pin to the home screen almost everything, music albums, facebook events, people, websites, etc. etc. is there any way to do this on Android? it's like shortcuts, probably a music hub? or bookmarks?

Shortcuts. All the major 3rd party launchers support them, and most vendor skins do as well. You can make a shortcut to virtually anything, even just a function, and choose whatever icons you want. Android is extremely flexible in this way.

-what about Calendars syncronization, One Note, office, and other MS stuff?

If you use Google Apps, they will all sync automatically. Many 3rd party apps will as well. And you can turn sync on or off for anything.

 

[Aquila]

I'm pretty sure the droid maxx fits all of the criteria as well.

XT1060. Through spacetime.

 

[UJ95x]

I'm pretty sure the droid maxx fits all of the criteria as well.

XT1060. Through spacetime.

Problem with the Maxx or other Moto phones is the camera. OP didn't explicitly mention it but I would think he wants a good camera seeing as he comes from a Nokia phone. G2 would be his best option

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.2

 

[Torch4x4]

More info, for what I been reading I have 2 options, upgrade to Nokia Icon or switch to Android with the LG G2, I consider myself techie, I been exploring Windows Phone for a year, enrolled my WP to the Developers Preview program and downloaded updates before the carrier, I know Verizon is taking a lot of time to send updates, If I got the Nokia Icon will receive the update to WP 8.1 probably till the end of the year (I will not enroll it as preview prgm because it loses the warranty), I need to know about the LG G2 updates, is expected to run the Key Lime Pie or any other updates soon?
It is better if I wait a couple of months for new Android models to arrive?
I found this comparison made by phonearena,
Nokia Lumia Icon vs LG G2 - YouTube

 

[UJ95x]

More info, for what I been reading I have 2 options, upgrade to Nokia Icon or switch to Android with the LG G2, I consider myself techie, I been exploring Windows Phone for a year, enrolled my WP to the Developers Preview program and downloaded updates before the carrier, I know Verizon is taking a lot of time to send updates, If I got the Nokia Icon will receive the update to WP 8.1 probably till the end of the year (I will not enroll it as preview prgm because it loses the warranty), I need to know about the LG G2 updates, is expected to run the Key Lime Pie or any other updates soon?
It is better if I wait a couple of months for new Android models to arrive?
I found this comparison made by phonearena,
Nokia Lumia Icon vs LG G2 - YouTube

The G2 should be getting Kit Kat very soon, which is the latest version of Android. The GS5 is coming out soon and from the rumors it is sounding like a beast of a phone. I would personally wait for that as I'm not a fan of the G2's button layout

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.2

 

[A895]

More info, for what I been reading I have 2 options, upgrade to Nokia Icon or switch to Android with the LG G2, I consider myself techie, I been exploring Windows Phone for a year, enrolled my WP to the Developers Preview program and downloaded updates before the carrier, I know Verizon is taking a lot of time to send updates, If I got the Nokia Icon will receive the update to WP 8.1 probably till the end of the year (I will not enroll it as preview prgm because it loses the warranty), I need to know about the LG G2 updates, is expected to run the Key Lime Pie or any other updates soon?
It is better if I wait a couple of months for new Android models to arrive?
I found this comparison made by phonearena,
Nokia Lumia Icon vs LG G2 - YouTube

To be honest, why are choosing android over the Lumia Icon? If I had the choice of a G2 or an Icon, I would get the Icon. Its already familiar to you and has up to date specs. It will be supported for a while and if you live in Microsoft's ecosystem its easier for you.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[JeffDenver]

More info, for what I been reading I have 2 options, upgrade to Nokia Icon or switch to Android with the LG G2, I consider myself techie, I been exploring Windows Phone for a year, enrolled my WP to the Developers Preview program and downloaded updates before the carrier, I know Verizon is taking a lot of time to send updates, If I got the Nokia Icon will receive the update to WP 8.1 probably till the end of the year (I will not enroll it as preview prgm because it loses the warranty), I need to know about the LG G2 updates, is expected to run the Key Lime Pie or any other updates soon?
It is better if I wait a couple of months for new Android models to arrive?
I found this comparison made by phonearena,
Nokia Lumia Icon vs LG G2 - YouTube

The only major phone coming out is the Galaxy S5...and I think we will be lucky if it actually ships by April. May or June is more likely IMO.

Also it is looking like they will have a standard and premium version. And that the premium version will not be out till later in 2014...maybe not till fall. But it does look like even the standard version will have great specs, especially the camera.

Also...touchwiz. Any Samsung phone will be polluted with it.

 

[JeffDenver]

Watching that video, a few things come to mind:

1) Multitasking on the G2 is even easier than it looks in that video...he was doing a long-press on the home button, but Android now has a dedicated multi-task button.

2) The share menu in Android is a big deal. It is far more versatile than WP or iOS, and lets you share almost anything via any app. That would be one of the hardest things for me to give up on another platform. I don't use it a lot, but when it isn't there I really really miss it.

3) If you don't like the default launcher for the G2, you can always just install another one. There are even WP launchers.

4) While the G2 has an awesome camera, the Icon's is probably still better. It is not as good as the 1020, but it is still as good or better than anything I have seen on Android so far. Nokia makes great cameras.

 

[Geodude074]

To be honest, why are choosing android over the Lumia Icon? If I had the choice of a G2 or an Icon, I would get the Icon. Its already familiar to you and has up to date specs. It will be supported for a while and if you live in Microsoft's ecosystem its easier for you.

Posted via Android Central App

WP8 is terrible, for so many reasons. It has all the limitations of iOS but none of the apps.

 

[wizzrah]

WP8 is terrible, for so many reasons. It has all the limitations of iOS but none of the apps.

I think WP8 is ok

 

[Geodude074]

I think WP8 is ok

The deal breaker of WP8 for me personally was the inability to upload/download email attachments. It's absolutely useless in a productivity environment. Which wouldn't be so bad if it was good as a consumerist phone, but it's not very good at that either with the poor apps selection.

 

[Torch4x4]

The deal breaker of WP8 for me personally was the inability to upload/download email attachments. It's absolutely useless in a productivity environment. Which wouldn't be so bad if it was good as a consumerist phone, but it's not very good at that either with the poor apps selection.

You can download everything on WP, you can share everything to email, social networks, etc. the problem with email its that only allows one attachment at the time and/or unlimited pictures, but you can find a different way to do different things for instance you can use skydrive/onedrive to share a link with multiple files, instead of send big data files, etc. etc. the limitations on WP depends of your point of view, notification centre is coming even if you can receive notifications on tiles or in a "glance" passive screen, people on WP want their way to do some things because that was the way they were using in a different platform, all those things will come in WP 8.1 in March-April, also other things absolutely necessary for the platform, just to be at the same level of android, currently there are some issues with the app count and features, some advantages and disadvantages vs other platforms, as I told before love and hate for WP... however I didn't come here to post about WP, I already know the platform and I can continue with that with no problems, or switch to Android ...that's why I'm posting here that I want some of the good features that I enjoy on WP, Wireless charging, good camera, skydrive/onedrive with autoupload photos, etc. etc.

 

[someguy01234]

At this point I would consider the HTC M8, Galaxy S5, LG G3, G Pro 2, and Oppo Find 7.

Galaxy phones tend to not have integrated qi charging, but all you have to do is buy the receiver tag.

Probably no qi charging for the M8 with it's metal body.

Not sure Oppo will have qi charging this time since it didn't for the Find 5. But it's the one I'm most interested in since their phones can install CyanogenMod without rooting.

sent via tapatalk

 

[Geodude074]

You can download everything on WP, you can share everything to email, social networks, etc. the problem with email its that only allows one attachment at the time and/or unlimited pictures, but you can find a different way to do different things for instance you can use skydrive/onedrive to share a link with multiple files, instead of send big data files, etc. etc. the limitations on WP depends of your point of view, notification centre is coming even if you can receive notifications on tiles or in a "glance" passive screen, people on WP want their way to do some things because that was the way they were using in a different platform, all those things will come in WP 8.1 in March-April, also other things absolutely necessary for the platform, just to be at the same level of android, currently there are some issues with the app count and features, some advantages and disadvantages vs other platforms, as I told before love and hate for WP... however I didn't come here to post about WP, I already know the platform and I can continue with that with no problems, or switch to Android ...that's why I'm posting here that I want some of the good features that I enjoy on WP, Wireless charging, good camera, skydrive/onedrive with autoupload photos, etc. etc.

I don't think you quite understood what I was saying. You can't, for example, download a file from your email and then open it up in another program. You can't, for example, attach a file onto an email from any folder that you choose. Yes you could put everything onto your OneDrive and send links to them, but that's a workaround to the inherent limitations of WP8. The whole concept of attachments is exactly that - attaching a file to an email - which is impossible to do on WP8. And those are just a couple examples of things you cannot do on WP8.

 

[Torch4x4]

I don't think you quite understood what I was saying. You can't, for example, download a file from your email and then open it up in another program. You can't, for example, attach a file onto an email from any folder that you choose. Yes you could put everything onto your OneDrive and send links to them, but that's a workaround to the inherent limitations of WP8. The whole concept of attachments is exactly that - attaching a file to an email - which is impossible to do on WP8. And those are just a couple examples of things you cannot do on WP8.

Please note that I been using WP for more than a year, I know about some limitations in WP, but this is not a limitation for me, I been receiving pdf, txt, pictures, office files, etc. you can open files directly from the email (and WP will ask for an App if you don’t have one and will send you to the app store) and currently you can download files to Phone or OneDrive, there's no file system in WP, no folders, however you can open or attach office documents from the Office hub, pdfs from your pdf reader app, pictures from your pictures hub and so on, or for instance you can share a file or document stored in your phone with the designated app, at least the app will ask you if you want to use OneDrive and send the link, going that way you don’t move the file to OneDrive, all the apps are doing this for you... but if you want to tell me that Android is better to handle files you are absolutely right... WP is just different in many ways not necessary bad.

People complain about notifications and other things but WP is just different I never missed a single notification, there are toast notifications, tile notifications (with information), lock screen notifications and glance, but people want the notification center because they come from android.

Those are just a couple of examples that I don’t care because I know how to use a WP.

The switch that I want is because new apps are coming late to WP even if the current popular apps are there; the chances to get the new Facebook-Paper on Android in months are the same to receive that app on WP in years…