Samsung Galaxy SII vs iPhone 4S - AT&T

[Hector_TamerofHorses]

New user here with a question. Looks like I have a decision coming up in December. I'm generally an all Apple user (computer, Apple TV, iPhone, iPad), but I've always toyed with the possibility of getting an Android phone instead of iPhone and using my iPad to access Apple's ecosystem. I almost bought the original Nexus One for this purpose. AT&T is finally getting some good Android phones (AT&T is my network), so I am considering this again.

I went to the AT&T store a few days ago to play with the Galaxy SII. The phone seems huge, but the screen is definitively bright, and the phone seemed fast and responsive. Camera looked great too. After iPhone 4S was announced, I think I have a tough choice (i'll be upgrading from an iPhone 4)

Connection speed - Galaxy SII seems to win out here, I don't think AT&T will have "real LTE" for a while anyway.

Camera - seems like a wash; both appear excellent

Screen - Galaxy screen looks great; i like iPhone retina display, but the Galaxy screen looks more vivid

Apps - I rely on a ton of iOS apps - I am assuming most of them are on Android, but I am guessing some are not. Enhanced Google integration would be a plus on the Galaxy SII.

OS in general - I don't care too much about the open/closed debate. I wouldn't want to root an Android phone if I got it, so the OS is what it is. I fear that I would lose access to media that (music, TV shows, etc) that I have downloaded if I went to Galaxy SII.

Siri- Don't really care about this

Battery life - Seems like a wash

Overall, I guess my question is for former iPhone users who have upgraded to this phone or similar phones - How has the transition been? Does the phone easily integrate with programs like iPhoto? Etc. Are these phones different enough to bother with transitioning from one ecosystem to another?

Thanks.

 

[SteveISU]

Transition is easier than I thought. Doubletwist air sync does wonders.

 

[bake]

I have had both and I prefer the sgs2 personally. The 4s announcement disappointed me and a lot of people I know

 

[pmentior]

I went through the same debate and went with the gs2 and couldn't be happier, especially after the apple announcement.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using Tapatalk

 

[duncanator]

I'm right there with you. I use an iPad 2 and an Apple TV 2 as well as have a windows pc and an iMac and thought about upgrading from my iPhone 3Gs. Well, I had the opportunity to get the Galaxy S II on Monday and I took the chance since I had time to return it. After the 4s announcement yesterday, I'm glad I switched to Android.

It is very had getting used to managing apps and music outside of iTunes and I am still struggling with that a bit. Also, it was much easier in iOS to select which parts of an email account I want to sync. For example, I want the calendar from my work exchange account, but not my email. That google calendar sync works ok, but it is definitely not as easy as the switches in iOS. Also, the manual ringer/vibrate toggle switch is something I already miss.

What I am happy about it the larger screen and the ability to do what I want with the OS. After being with an iPhone for the past 4 years, the same grid of tiles was really getting old. I can deal with it on the iPad, but not the iPhone any longer.

I would suggest you try it out for awhile and see how you like it. I'm still trying to figure it all out but I'm glad I did it.

 

[gerelee54]

for me, the biggest difference is in the apps ... for the most part, when the same app is on both ios and and android, usually the ios app seems more 'professional', nicer looking, less buggy, etc ... compare the mlb at bat on both ... on some of my NEW androids, there is NO live video feed for the mlb games .. just shows the fragmentation of android... and while there is no flash on ios, i can usually watch live sports events on JTV and they look really good, most likely due to the retina display ... the same goes for the live feeds on mlb, they just look better on the iphone..
BUT, after saying all of that, i find myself bored by the iphone .. yes, for the most part it has better apps and also more apps .... check out the photography apps for ios. there are a LOT of useful ones and most are very well done, not so much on androids .. i know those are only a few examples ... oh, also the gps on iphone locks on pretty much instantly .. it's too bad google lags behind on ios apps, they don't update them anywhere near as often as the android apps.
right now, though, i've switched to the galaxy s2 .... it's a great android phone, the best i've used, in fact but i don't know how it will compare with the 4s ... oh, another plus for android is the text reflow, something that apple just does NOT believe it ... it really sucks to have to scroll around on web pages ... wake up, apple!!!
for me, if there were more apps AND better hardware, i would go with windows phone 7 .. it's actually FUN to use and looks fantastic!!! i know some people say it looks 'cheesy' but i like it!!

since you asked about the 4s, i'm pretty sure its camera will be better than the sgs2 cam ... right now the iphone 4 camera is on par with the sgs2 .... they are both excellent for cell phone cameras!!
i personally don't think it's worth buying the 4s if you have the 4 .. just not enough differences!!
i also don't think the 3.5" screen is big enough for me ... eyes aren't so great anymore and the 4.3" screens really help a lot
that's about all the help i can give you ... i don't think you can go wrong with either .. i'm leery of samsungs record for updating it's software .. one more thing to think about!!

 

[runtohell121]

Samsung Galaxy S II or possibly the next android phone from Samsung.. Unless you really need an iPhone for the iOS Apps, most apps Android should have. Have a try of both OS and decide. I moved from iPhone 4 to Samsung Galaxy S II.

 

[jrl022]

You mentioned app availability from iOS to Android and others have talked about the occasional disparity in quality between the same apps on the two platforms (both of which I mostly agree with), but one thing you might want to consider is any potential paid apps "equity" you have in iOS that wouldn't carry over to Android.

In other words, do you have a lot of paid apps that you use a lot and consider essential? Chances are the majority of them are available on Android as well (or have functional equivalents) but you'd have to repurchase them if I'm not mistaken.

May or may not be a big deal, especially since you'd still have access to them via your iPad, but just throwing it out there.

 

[gerelee54]

You mentioned app availability from iOS to Android and others have talked about the occasional disparity in quality between the same apps on the two platforms (both of which I mostly agree with), but one thing you might want to consider is any potential paid apps "equity" you have in iOS that wouldn't carry over to Android.

In other words, do you have a lot of paid apps that you use a lot and consider essential? Chances are the majority of them are available on Android as well (or have functional equivalents) but you'd have to repurchase them if I'm not mistaken.

May or may not be a big deal, especially since you'd still have access to them via your iPad, but just throwing it out there.

no, you don't have to re-purchase on either platform, that i've ever seen ... i have an iphone on verizon and one on at&t. if i purchase on either phone, i can install it to the other for no charge .... the same goes for android ... i've used several different android phones and the purchases carry over ... hope that helps

 

[asuprice]

no, you don't have to re-purchase on either platform, that i've ever seen ... i have an iphone on verizon and one on at&t. if i purchase on either phone, i can install it to the other for no charge .... the same goes for android ... i've used several different android phones and the purchases carry over ... hope that helps

That's if you go from Android to Android or iPhone to iPhone on the different carriers you don't have to repurchase apps. If you go from iPhone to Android or vice versa you have to purchase the app for the new OS.

 

[ChrisM47]

iPhone 4S vs. the smartphone elite: Galaxy S II, Bionic and Titan -- Engadget

Happy I went with my SII

It doesn't even do HSPA+ up to 21 only 14.4 lol.....

 

[gerelee54]

That's if you go from Android to Android or iPhone to iPhone on the different carriers you don't have to repurchase apps. If you go from iPhone to Android or vice versa you have to purchase the app for the new OS.

oh heck yeah.... sorry i must have misunderstood you

 

[Hector_TamerofHorses]

I played with the phone a bit more at the AT&T store today... For the basic functions, it seems like it will work great. Video looks amazing on the phone. Some mobile sites didn't look as good as they did on the iPhone 4 due to the pixel density, but since you hold the phone further away (due to the size), it may not make much of a difference. I'm sure Google integration will be good. The phone model I played with had a light, flimsy feel to it compared to the denser iPhone, but I'm sure I would get used to it. The unknown issue continues to be app selection, media compatibility, etc. I'll need to play with a 4S but I am seriously considering the Galaxy SII.

 

[timberga]

I played with the phone a bit more at the AT&T store today... For the basic functions, it seems like it will work great. Video looks amazing on the phone. Some mobile sites didn't look as good as they did on the iPhone 4 due to the pixel density, but since you hold the phone further away (due to the size), it may not make much of a difference. I'm sure Google integration will be good. The phone model I played with had a light, flimsy feel to it compared to the denser iPhone, but I'm sure I would get used to it. The unknown issue continues to be app selection, media compatibility, etc. I'll need to play with a 4S but I am seriously considering the Galaxy SII.

I LOVE the feel of the SII compared to the i4.....night and day....flimsy? no way.

Light, absolutely.

As far as "media compatibility" is concerned....Android is way more flexible than Apple on this front.

 

[SteveISU]

I LOVE the feel of the SII compared to the i4.....night and day....flimsy? no way.

Light, absolutely.

As far as "media compatibility" is concerned....Android is way more flexible than Apple on this front.

I think he's just simply talking about the fit and finish of the phones. There's no doubt apple puts a lot into their phones in this respect, which they should given the fact that they produce one design a year. If HTC, Motorola, Samsung took their fit and finish to apple's lengths they'd cost a lot more given the frequency they're phones are released.

 

[ChrisM47]

Samsung compares Galaxy S II to Apple's new iPhone - Computerworld

 

[DANNCAS]

I came from BB and I really like this phone. There are some things that could be better. Battery life, eamil is by far better with BB. I like the way the BB even turn off would turn on to alarm me of an appopintmet. im not carzy about the calender and dont want to sync anything with Gmail,. I dont use it that much. Im testing different calender and email. The Androd apps could be better, BB did not have many but they were good. I still have 30 day to see so I am going to look at the Iphone never had one. But they have grat apps. I use my phone more for business then games. The brower in this phone kicks a$$. I will test the new I phone but think I will keep my SGII. It like when you buy a new car you miss some off the features of the one before.

 

[frozencloud]

Im not sure how the Iphone 4s is like, but based on my experience with the iphone 4...the body is pretty solid. I love the body of the SGSII. however, i recently notice some difficulties in handling it due to it's light and thinness when i take self portrait. I just feel like i dont have a full grasp of it and might drop my phone when i try to hit the shutter button. It might help if we can somehow use one of the 3 physical button as a camera button. Not really a big deal, but its just my 2 cent.

 

[psufan32]

Some late thoughts...

I've fooled around with my wife's iPhone 4 for over a year, and just recently got the SII.

Honestly, both the SII and the 4S are/will be solid phones. I'd imagine that both will seem just as "fast" OS wise and both should operate on the same HSPA+ frequencies.

I wouldn't worry about app availability. I did a comparison before getting the SII and, as far as I could tell, the only major apps not available for Android centered around photography and video (Hipstomatic, Instagram, 8mm Camera, etc.). Everything single other app that I'd seen in the Apple App Store that I wanted was available on Android. Some apps are better, many are the same, some look/feel worse. For example, Scoremobile works VERY well on Android. It lagged greatly on the iPhone. Angry Birds works well on both, but it is ad-supported on Android (free) and costs 99 cents through the Apple App Store. Facebook and Twitter both seem the same.

The biggest difference between the two experiences is this...

Apple makes their products very intuitive and very easy/straight forward to use. Android products are sort of like Windows - you have to do a lot of configuring and changing settings to make it work for you. Whereas you won't find many menus and settings on the iPhone, I'm still working through and figuring out all of the different menus and settings on the SII.

That doesn't make one better than the other, just different. The complexity of Android has allowed me to really customize the phone the way that I wanted it. That was a major draw. Apple's "ready straight out of the box" strategy has been a brilliant one, and has been a major reason for their success. Really, to each their own.

 

[mtucker]

.................The unknown issue continues to be app selection, media compatibility, etc. ...................

I came from the iPhone 4 also and as far as media goes, the GSII is much more capable. You aren't limited to H.264 video that has to be just right for the iPhone to play it. I use Mobo player (free) on my GSII and it plays anything I throw at it. It will play M4V (H.264) files that I imported into iTunes for Apple TV2, DIVX , XVID, and AVI files of TV shows that I downloaded. It is DNLA compatible so no more needing to have iTunes running to stream video to my phone. You can stream right from a media server / computer. You can also wirelessly push a movie to a DNLA TV/device and watch the movie off your phone. If you still like using iTunes as your media center, you can use "Remote for iTunes" ($5) to control playback of your music on iTunes. It works just like Apple Remote.