2 weeks with S4 after 5 years with iPhones

[firedoug]

So I have taken a sip of the Android Kool-Aid after 5 years with every iPhone Apple has released. I thought I would share my thoughts comparing the two Hardware and OS platforms. I have been a tech geek longer than most geeks have been alive, so I have seen plenty of trends rise and fall. My reason for the switch is that while I think iPhone has had a great product, and I believe they were the first to pull the convergence of the smartphone together, Android is starting to mature and the cutting edge approach is appealing vs. the Apple status quo.

So here is my S4 thought vs iPhone:
Hardware - Screen Size, Screen Aspect, and resolution Winner, device weight, Micro USB connectivity are winners. I am neural on the plastic contruction that gets everyone's panties in a bunch.... really we all put our phones in plastic cases anyway, so what is the point if the devices is coated in 24k gold.
S4 volume and sleep buttons suck... terrible tactile feel and having the sleep across from volume makes pressing both a common mistake. No dedicated silent/vibrate switch on S4 is a bummer, but no deal killer, Androids solution is fine, just not preferred. S4 radio signal is worse than latest iPhone.... more dropped calls and lots of S-Voice advising no network connection.

Software - Android is far more tweekable, but also more unstable and problematic.... This is a deal killer for appliance operators or people that just don't have the ability to fiddle with it to get it to work. I really like the depth of customization that Android lets me tweek... But I have also been sick of a few of the pains in the *** that go along with this freedom, not everything plays well in the borderless sandbox.

S4/Android wins:
Google Search, Navigation, Widgets, lock screen, notification/settings window shade

IPhone Wins:
Music/Ipod integration, Headphone music & Siri control, Stability, apps that play well with hardware... like working with headphone controls for forward, pause, back etc.. iPhone Bluetooth music control and data to screens from 3rd party music apps is flawless. Stock apps with iphone just work and play well together they all work as you expect, Android/Samsung apps suck and need to be upgraded with paid apps to gain similar functionality and a lot of upgraded and stock Android apps just have far more bugs. iPhone apps are usually less expensive.... most are .99 or 1.99 vs android common price of 4.99

I could go on about both for a lot longer, but I am going to stick with the S4 for a couple years, and see what is in the future. I am sure that IOS/iPhone will have some catch up features around the corner, but the big deal killer that Steve Jobs legacy has left them falling short is that they fail to see the value of the 5" screen, which in my opinion is the sweet spot for smartphones.

Cheers

 

[Aaron Watson]

Welcome to the beauty that is android.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[anon5664829]

Very nice excellent points.
Just something to add that while the pixel density is incredible on the S4 there is one thing that the iPhone also wins in and that is having the IPS display. now many people prefer the over saturation is fine but I don't like the fact that blue looks look kinda purple and whites are more greyish.
regarding signal strength I have to agree with this my N4 and iPhone 5 do consistently get one bar higher then the S4.


Regarding apps, many apps that I use are either 1.99 or 2.38 NZ dollars
Play music gives you 20,000 songs to upload.

I won't say getting the S4 is a mistake as it is ridiculsly fast and awesome but the Nexus line is IMO targeted at ex iPhone users.
I can't say much about stability since there was an update for the S4 a couple of days ago that made it more stable and smoother, again the N4 wins on stability and is just as good as the S4. If you have those issues with your phone either you would be happier RMA'ing it or really trying a Nexus 4.

 

[Raymond Tan]

You summed it up pretty well, and I agree that 5" is the sweet spot. Fits in the hand nicely and fits in the pocket. I think Apple will end up caving to the masses in the end. It was the same with Microsoft Windows, which can now be run on any Mac. I also think that Jobs' ideology will slowly get watered down. I think he was the one who kept them on a certain path with no compromises to any parts of his vision, but with his passing I'm afraid they won't have the same resolve that he gave to the company. I hope I'm wrong. I love the fact that they are so different that Google. Maybe they'll end up meeting in the middle.

A couple things though. Most apps are less than $2 if not free. I have a ton of apps (on my phone and tablet) with only a handful over $2. I agree that ios is better out of the box. With android it's a matter of hunting down the right app for you, which in the end, I think ends up better. One of the reasons I chose not to go with Apple in the beginning is that I don't like the way itunes works and organizes things, and it's so ingrained into the Apple eco system that you don't really have any other choice, without it feeling like a workaround. I was so happy back in the day when 3rd party developers made software so I put music on my ipod classic without itunes.

The instability is not with android itself or with the skins(touchwiz, blur), as the other person pointed out with the Nexus. The Nexus phones have the same amount of problems as the rest, just look through the forums, their full of people with issues. The problem is the fragmentation caused by so many different devices with different hardware specs. It's hard enough for 3rd party developers to program for one device let alone hundreds. It's like PC and Mac all over again. It's the same weakness' and strengths. Also the fact that depending on what carrier your on, and what phone you have, and even what country your in, you'll have a different version of android(Honeycome, ICS, Jellybean),. Unfortunately I don't either of those problems ever going away. Like you said, thats the problem with an open sandbox.

Honestly more and more I see android becoming more like ios. With each version of android they are slowly taking options away that were available in previous versions. A good example is being able to run apps from the external micro sd card. I'm sure they removed that option for better optimization, but I miss having the choice. There are a lot of other things that have been removed in an attempt to make android run smoother and be more secure.

Anyways welcome to the club.

 

[anon5664829]

You summed it up pretty well, and I agree that 5" is the sweet spot. Fits in the hand nicely and fits in the pocket. I think Apple will end up caving to the masses in the end. It was the same with Microsoft Windows, which can now be run on any Mac. I also think that Jobs' ideology will slowly get watered down. I think he was the one who kept them on a certain path with no compromises to any parts of his vision, but with his passing I'm afraid they won't have the same resolve that he gave to the company. I hope I'm wrong. I love the fact that they are so different that Google. Maybe they'll end up meeting in the middle.

A couple things though. Most apps are less than $2 if not free. I have a ton of apps (on my phone and tablet) with only a handful over $2. I agree that ios is better out of the box. With android it's a matter of hunting down the right app for you, which in the end, I think ends up better. One of the reasons I chose not to go with Apple in the beginning is that I don't like the way itunes works and organizes things, and it's so ingrained into the Apple eco system that you don't really have any other choice, without it feeling like a workaround. I was so happy back in the day when 3rd party developers made software so I put music on my ipod classic without itunes.

The instability is not with android itself or with the skins(touchwiz, blur), as the other person pointed out with the Nexus. The Nexus phones have the same amount of problems as the rest, just look through the forums, their full of people with issues. The problem is the fragmentation caused by so many different devices with different hardware specs. It's hard enough for 3rd party developers to program for one device let alone hundreds. It's like PC and Mac all over again. It's the same weakness' and strengths. Also the fact that depending on what carrier your on, and what phone you have, and even what country your in, you'll have a different version of android(Honeycome, ICS, Jellybean),. Unfortunately I don't either of those problems ever going away. Like you said, thats the problem with an open sandbox.

Honestly more and more I see android becoming more like ios. With each version of android they are slowly taking options away that were available in previous versions. A good example is being able to run apps from the external micro sd card. I'm sure they removed that option for better optimization, but I miss having the choice. There are a lot of other things that have been removed in an attempt to make android run smoother and be more secure.

Anyways welcome to the club.

Android becoming stable and faster is always a good thing. as long as not to many of my options are taken, I'm staying with android.

IMO morning wrong with become slightly like iOS

Posted via Android Central App