Dilemma: Nexus S 4G or iPhone 4S?

[bojackson63044]

Hi everyone, I've had the Nexus S 4G since August and it's been a good phone for the most part. However, there are a couple of issues that prevent me from being totally happy with it:

1. Random reboots - I know the updates supposedly have fixed that, but I'm still getting them on 2.3.7. I even reset my phone to factory after the update. Yesterday, the phone froze while I was checking a text message and then rebooted. That's almost a dealbreaker.

2. Laggy UI - I have heard a lot about how stock android is a smooth and buttery experience before I jumped over to the Nexus S from my Evo. However, that's not been the case for me. Sometimes the UI can be smooth, but most of the time, it is jittery and rather unresponsive. The stock launcher freezes up at random times, making the phone entirely unusable until a reboot. I can understand if this happens while I'm running many intensive apps. However, it seems to happen randomly, even when I have just turned on the phone at times.

There are of course more issues with the phone but so far the above 2 are the ones that really cause me to want to throw it out the window. I run stock Android on the phone and my friends keep telling me to root and put a customized ROM on it and then I'd be happy. But isn't the phone suppose to work out of the box? Especially since it's a "Nexus"?

Anyway, at this point, I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of ICS. I am hopeful that such a substantial update will fix at least the 2 biggest problems that's bothering me.

Here's my problem now. I have in my possession a brand new iPhone 4S. I have had several iPod Touches in the past so I am familiar with iOS and how smooth and responsive it is. I haven't opened the package in case I fall in love with ICS. However, I have no idea when that update is coming! So should I wait for ICS to drop on the Nexus or should I just rip into the new iPhone?

 

[Paul627g]

We don't speak of the Fruitphone in here LOL....

Well your friends are correct... Rooting and installing custom ROMs will really do wonders... The ROM and kernel package I'm running is so smooth its really hard to believe.. I came from the Samsung Epic 4g and was a flash o holic and still am but coming from a UI overlay device with TouchWiz to the Nexus S 4G stock was great. Then I rooted the NS4G within the first day of having it and its been the best I could ever imagine... Random reboots, haven't had one in weeks... Laggy, not here...

Now onward to ICS, yes that should provide an even better experience for everyone. Until we get it on the device "an actual official build" we really can only hope for the best.

Fruitphone, well for one you will not see 4g so if thats not an issue then okay... If you like having a device basically dictate how and what you can run then even better.. Me personally I don't like the restrictions that the Fruit company places on all of their products. Sure they have conversion apps and stuff available to play their tunes on other devices but heck I already paid for the tunes once why should I have to pay twice to put it on another device?

Here is another thread to take a look at that has some valid points...

Top 10 Awesome Android Features that the iPhone Doesn't Have

To each their own, everyone is entitled but its rare you hear of people going from Android back to Fruit... Its usually the other way around...

 

[BrianDigital]

my phone works out of the box with no flaws, my girls however does not

she insists on installing three home replacement apps and two different sms apps. and not uninstall the other ones. Not sure where your getting the random reboots from.

And you have a nexus root that sucker, its the easest android phone to root and importantly unroot..

That fruitphone looks ok i suppose I do not prefer apples closed system. Take Siri for example you can do most of the stuff already on android. Big difference here is google is using the open web to find your answers. Apple for now is using Yelp, weather app, and wolfman aphla( if those do not have the answer then it will go to google) and once they get their own search engine then they can cater search results as they say but given their track record they will give you the answer they want u to see.

 

[Saneless]

If some UI lag and some odd reboot I haven't seen are your main gripes, you have to see what you really want out of iOS. Sync to put on any files? Stock apps whether you like them or not? 8 taps to shut off wifi or bt?

No homescreens and widgets are lame too. Folders are a joke and don't fix the real issue.

I had one for a year and I'd never go back

 

[Small_law]

My sister, with whom I have an ongoing gadget war, just picked up an iPhone 4S. I'll put this out there: the iOS notification center is not as smooth as Android. When you select a notification, it sometimes takes you to an inbox rather than the specific message you select. Android will take you to the message if there's only one. And once you reply to a message and want to go back to what you were doing (say the browser), you have to double click the home button, select the app, and wait for the animation. In Android, you hit the back arrow twice usually. It's faster and more elegant.

 

[Johnly]

I had a pleathura of android devices (uper deck) and always had to root and rom them. That is the beauty in android. I love my 4s. I have zero desire to modify it as it is butter flawless when it comes to glitchy or rebooting. As a result my life is full of much more time to bear fruit! AC, you know I still love you.

 

[RickInHouston]

You should open the box on the apple phone and move on. Then you can join all those wonderful people on apple and macrumors forums. They are the most pie in the sky people you will ever meet and be greeted with open arms.

Goodbye.

 

[Shadow Death]

At the risk of sounding like a fan-boy I will put your comparison another way. Complete freedom vs captivity, with android you can do just about anything you want to the Nexus S. Oh, and i LOVE my Nexus S. 1.4GHz stable OC is nothing to joke about.

Oh, let's not forget ICS will be out in the near future. That is going to make this phone even more beautiful.

 

[Paul627g]

You should open the box on the apple phone and move on. Then you can join all those wonderful people on apple and macrumors forums. They are the most pie in the sky people you will ever meet and be greeted with open arms.

Goodbye.

I say allow this user to make their own decision. We can voice our opinions and suggestions but if they are willing to make a move from Android to Fruitphone then they will pay the price. Something tells me that when Fruit had a year since their last update to upgrade their devices to support 4g and other things and they didn't.. Thats a big fail from a company that boasts to be the greatest and the innovator of technology and being in touch with what people want...

 

[esoh]

I am on stock 2.3.7 and I have one reboot a month (which is acceptable to me). Maybe the reboots and lagginess (which I don't have) are related to your hardware. Not every phone that leaves the factory is perfect (even Apple), have you tried asking for a replacement? I would do that before I did anything else.

 

[aman1127]

The one benefit of the fruit phone is that it's fast without tinkering.....not like you can anyway. Just saying

Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk

 

[anon(5021)]

I have an iPhone 4s and Nexus S 4G. I would recommend a Nexus with a custom ROM.... Especially because of ICS.

 

[kamtsa]

S 4G vs 4S? This is a no brainer. both phones have '4' and 'S' in their names but the Nexus has an extra 'G'.

 

[kalex]

funny i came across this thread. I had NS4g since launch day and bought 4s few days ago. I too had few issues with ns4g and the main one that was bugging me was the keyboard. Random reboots i can deal with but for some reason i can't type too well on it. too many mistakes and corrections i have to make. I tried different keyboards (swiftkey, and other ones)
Battery life on NS4G is ok but I had to start thinking about finding a charger in the evening hours. 4S just keeps on going through the day and then some.

I also had laggyness on it. Mainly it was browsing heavy image websites, in google reader and few other places. I lived with them. Now i'm using iphone 4s and so far like it a lot. yes its closed system until JB comes out but phone works perfectly, battery lasts much longer than NS4g.

I do miss 4G on it as 3G on sprint is slow but I have wifi available everywhere i go so its not a big issue. Integration with google services is a lot better on NS4G but works fine on 4S too. No major issues. I'm keeping my NS4G and will load ICS once it comes out and will give it a run.
Google wallet is nice to have but face it i still carry my wallet with me so its not a big deal.
I made a decision a while ago where everything that I use app wise is not attached to particular OS so I can pretty much switch at any time. All my apps on my OSX have windows counterparts and all apps I use on NS4G are available on 4s and vice versa.

 

[dwaynewilliams#WN]

I have had both and I have to say that when comparing the hardware of the phones, I would definitely prefer the iPhone. Comparing the software, I think that Android is a more capable platform, but I like the iTunes ecosystem especially now that you don't have to plug into your computer. And most of the Google services I enjoyed on Android are available on IOS.

 

[Shadow Death]

As of late, with the introduction of music to the Android Market there isn't much to put the App store ahead. As I sated before, it all comes down to Freedom vs What they want you to do with it. Apple likes to tell you what you can and can't do with your phone. Google/Android doesn't really care. You are a big boy and that's how they see it.

As for the previous poster. Yes, there is Android for the iPhone but not for the iOS, it's dual-booting between android and the iOS. This method is flaky, features don't work, and let's not forget you will instantly lose Apple's support if they find out.

I hope none of this is taken as hostile as none was intended as such. I just don't like to quote, I think it clutters things up.

 

[808rides]

I just got the iPhone 4S, figure I'd give it a shot for the 2 weeks Apple gives you to return it. I've had the NS4G since launch and it's my third android phone. The iPhone is my first attempt to try an iphone, and I've jailbroken my iPod touch. Here's my $.02, take it for what it's worth, I'm trying to be really unbiased, but at heart I'm an Android/Linux/open source fan. I've also rooted every android phone I've had.

Hardware: Winner iPhone
iPhone pros - great design, conveniently small, great screen. Also call quality is great, speakerphone/ringer is loud and the noise cancelling mic really makes a difference to the person on the receiving end. The camera is also really good and takes pictures amazingly fast. Vibrate is not on par with blackberry, but close enough. GPS locks on quickly. Great battery life. (estimated 1.5 times better than my NS4G with the same use and apps) Great cell signal, world phone capable.

iPhone cons - no notification light, smaller screen, weight considering the size, don't like the glass on the back as it shows fingerprints constantly, and of course no 4g. Only 1 button. (I'll get to why I listed this).

NS4G pros - great design, perfect sized phone / screen ratio in my opinion. 4.65 too big, 3.5 too small. (kinda feel like Goldilocks here, don't laugh) camera quality is great, even in low light situations. Replaceable battery. Has 4g and 4 buttons.

NS4G cons - speakerphone/ringer is quiet, vibrate is really weak. The glossy plastic back also attracts fingerprints like crazy. No notification light. Battery life is ok, but could be better.

Software: Clear Winner NS4G
iPhone pros - Does basically what android does as a phone. Does basically what android does as a PDA / Smart device. Does it really fast.

iPhone cons - software, because of the one button, everything seems to take 3-5 clicks or taps more than an android phone to get done. App/Device Settings and notifications settings are all over the place and not entirely intuitive in my opinion. I've got 3 places where facebook settings show up as an example. Other than that, and a slight learning curve being so used to an android device, its different but really close. I've tried to use the same apps or something comparable for everything I used to do with android. Of course the iPhone spit and polilsh in some apps are better, but I feel android apps will eventually have the same polish. (Maturity of the OS leads to longer and more development) Also integration from the apps don't work as well, facebook again as an example, you need to take a pic, then get out of the camera, then open facebook and click upload picture, then browse for the picture you just took. Then if you want to take more pictures you have to go back to your camera app. The app store is also inefficient, it kicks you out of the app when you download something and shows it loading on your screen. So as an example, if you want to try 3 different dictionaries, you click install, then have to go back to app store, then find the other dictionary then click install, then repeat...and they make you download half the app items over wifi including the iOS 5.0.1 update...it's no wonder iPhone users use less data, they're forced to use WiFi. I travel a lot, so this is a pain. And lastly is the integration with iTunes...you have to use iTunes on your computer to upload and download items. And being a heavy google app user, the integration isn't nearly as good. But I figure google phone / google apps, should work better, I'm not going to dong Apple for this, but it's still a minus.

NS4G pros - similar to an iphone, but I feel a lot of thought went into the usability. Widgets allow for much quicker access to data or settings. Buttons allow for more intuitive use of software and apps. (similar to using a 1 button mouse vs, a 3 button scrolling mouse). Also very fast, I've got no lag running stock. It's the first android phone, I've felt I didn't gain much by rooting, it just works and works well! Also the fact that the software is open source allows for tighter integration from 3rd party developers. For example, I can take a picture, tap it, then share via facebook, and still stay in the camera app for another quick photo. Google integration and cloud works awesome, I can get a new NS4G sign in and have everything. Apps, Pictures, etc show up. They really made it easy to switch between android devices.

NS4G cons - couldn't think of any, Android is vastly more configurable, usable and more convenient.

Hackability: Winner NS4G
Both are extremely hackable, NS4G is just easier being a developer phone. But because iPhone is so locked down, you gain a lot by jailbreaking it. Unfortunately there is no jaibreak for the 4s right now...though I'm hopeful. But the NS4G has backlit notification buttons through the kernel mods, so it's another win for NS4G.

Usability as a phone: Winner iPhone 4s
Here's the hard part, as a phone the 4s is better with better battery life, so in the end I need a phone that lasts. I have the option to carry an extra battery with my Nexus, but would rather not. I have also Undervolted and Underclocked my Nexus and still don't get the same battery life. Speaker and vibrate quality are also better on the iPhone for me. I can also hear it ring or hear messages come in even in loud environments, it had better reception in the same locations and call quality was better while using it.

Usability as a smart device: Slight edge NS4G
Even with all the pro's in software, when combined with hardware, it's close, here's my take on it:
iPhone stuff works, maybe not as integrated as an Android device, but basically works well, just more clunky. NS4G is definitely better for business, integration and free apps etc...but using it constantly, the battery life isn't the same and the keyboard on the iPhone is definitely more forgiving / accurate and responsive. I can type a whole lot faster on the iPhone. So while it takes me a few clicks to get to where I want to go on an iPhone, I can compose an email way quicker. The reality of having to use iTunes and Android's poweruser ability in the OS make the NS4G more compelling for me, hence the slight edge. My grandma on the other hand would have a much easier time using an iPhone, less choice, less questions, less mistakes = easier to use. So I weighed it thinking of someone like her as well and that she doesn't rely on the google apps. but to each his own, hence the power of choice on the Android platform.

I've got 5 days left on the iPhone, and while there are moments I want to throw it out the window, there are times I can live with it. All in all, if the Nexus had a better speaker, vibrate and battery, it'd be a no brainer. NS4G all the way. But it really depends on what you use it for. And like I said, I travel a helluva lot, and great battery life as a phone / email / messaging device is what I need. The iPhone seems to have better signal, sound and battery wherever I am. And I've tried to be really unbiased here and use it in the same fashion and locations as my Nexus, but I seem to always have a few more bars or better cell reception. In fact the whole reason I decided to try it out in the first place, was my co-worker and I were travelling for the past 3 weeks, we're both on Sprint with our company plans and both have tethering. His phone consistently had a better signal and did not drop calls and lasted through conferences, dinners and cocktails. I thought at first it was just my battery going bad, so I bought a new one. Still his phone outlasted mine. And while in the work parties he could hear his messages or feel the vibrate while I had to rely on my BLN. Thankfully I was able to always just forward my texts and phone calls to his phone using google/sprint voice towards the end of the night. And as for having 4G or not, I never turn it on since it kills my battery even faster, and when I do have it on, don't always get 4G signal, so it wasn't a win for the Nexus. I'm waiting on Sprint LTE...

And lastly, I think I'm keeping the iPhone, but for convenience more than anything. I really wish this thing had Android on it...but I need the battery, phone, sound/vibrate, world phone capabilities. If they make another Nexus worldphone, with great battery life, notification light and speakers, I'm switching back in a flash!! (and it's gotta be nexus, don't like the overlays of the other devices)

I don't think either phone is a bad choice, it just depends on what you need it for. I don't look at it as closed vs open, jobs vs rubin, its an object with a purpose that costs money. Put your money where it serves you best. Take out the fanboys and stuff you don't need and take a look at what you really use it for daily.

Hope that helps!
808

 

[808rides]

So wanted to follow up after using the iPhone for a few more days, here are some other observations in case this helps anyone. I've also installed ASOP's ICS ROM in the meantime, figuring I want to see what's coming.

Android and the google environment is much better software, plain and simple. The iPhone4s is a better made device. I'm pretty sure if they put ICS, a notification light and a 4" screen on the iPhone4s it would be the best device on the market.

There isn't one area that IOS can outshine Android as an OS. And there isn't one area that iCloud can beat Google as a cloud based computing platform.

The NS4G vs 4S hardware wise is a much closer battle. In the end the battery life and battery charging times won for me. Simply put, if the device isn't on, I can't use the software.
Screen - NS4G, size matters and the S. Amoled is really close to retina
Speakers and sound - iPhone
Notification light - NS4G with BLN
Vibrate - iPhone
Worldphone - iPhone
Battery ife - iPhone
Weight - NS4G
Storage - iPhone (because you can pick storage space, 16-32-64)
NFC - NS4G, though I never used it, but at least there's the option

Things I found that completely drive me crazy using IOS:

I don't have access to the filesystem. If I watched a movie on a trip and now want to delete it so I can make space for the pictures I'm going to take, I'd need my laptop. I need WiFi for A LOT of apps that I wanted to try...

I don't need my music on my phone, I've got google music, oh wait, I don't anymore, yes I need to sync with iTunes...at least I've got more space to do so...but I'd rather have google's cloud...

If I want to make folders to store document downloads from email, I can't, it ends up in iBooks...I'd rather just use a file system and pick what I want to read it with.

I downloaded a new camera, and I can't default to it. Android will ask which one you want to use, and also let you default to the one you want.

You have to pay for some of apps that Android has for free, I really don't mind ads that much. Especially since most of the apps just put them at the top or bottom of the screen.

I can't zip files together and send them via email. I can't send the files directly from the file system, can't even get to the file system.

Attached Pictures don't automatically show up as thumbnails in an email, you have to download it to see it. I get jokes and funny pictures from friends that I delete all the time if I don't want to waste the time downloading if I see the thumbnail.

Even with google setup as exchange doing push, email isn't as instant as it is on Android.

The notification software setup isn't nearly as good on iPhone. It doesn't take you directly to the message sometimes, hopefully they straighten that out.

Compared to ICS now, IOS seems even more outdated and clunky. I like that they got rid of the vertical scrolling, it's much nicer to go sidewards for some reason. Maybe cause the apps show up in the same place on the page every time. I also like being able to see the widget previews!

I miss widgets and the ability to put apps where I want them on the screen. I like to use wallpaper, but what's the sense on IOS, you can't see it cause the apps cover it up. On my android phone if I didn't want apps in the middle of the home page I could choose to not put any there.

Scrolling in the web browser isn't as good in IOS, it doesn't seem to take your finger acceleration into account, like I can't scroll all the way down a page in one swipe like I can android.

Zooming in the web browser sucks, I like androids' realigning of text to fit the screen and the fact that I can just tap to zoom instead of having to pinch like on IOS.

Some apps in IOS have back buttons, some don't or they're not intuitively in the same spot. And I stupidly hit the home button way to often and kick myself out of apps, in other words I miss the back button!! I know it's not really software, but I'm sure they're not going to code in a soft button anytime soon, so I'll put it here.

Things I like about IOS more than Android:
Nothing I could find in 2 weeks. I guess it works?

In the end, I'm sticking with the iPhone, but only because I like that it lasts longer and charges in like 45 min compared to the 3-4 hours my NS4G takes. And I'm traveling out of country often and need the SIM slot and GSM coverage. Simply, if I could get android to run on this phone, I would. As a platform, IOS and iCloud cannot compare to Android and the power of Google.

To sum it up, I figure once I'm done travelling in a year, I'll check out the latest Android has to offer and make the switch back, by then, the Nexus will most likely be my iPhone killer. The nice thing about Android is the choice of hardware, unfortunately, I just don't have a choice of hardware that beats the iPhone right now, but the software definitely does. I'm thinking iPhone will constantly develop their software, but it will always be a step behind Android. Being closed, their integration, and file system will never be open to third party app developers. I'm also sure their business model will never let them untether their phone software from iTunes. And lastly, if they continue to spend time on R&Ding things like SIRI instead of something really useful and simple like widgets or having the ability to change your launcher to work the way you do, or defaulting apps to what you want to really use they will never keep up with the innovation going on at google. I mean NFC though I don't use it, seems a lot more useful than having some app give me a cute response to a rhetorical question...

Annyways my third cent. Hope that helps someone make a decision. I'm sorry to leave the Android platform, but I'll be reading this site constantly keeping my eye out for an opportunity to replace my iPhone. It also helps that work is paying for the phone, if they didn't there's no way I'd switch...but I'd definitely pay to switch back. Gimme a battery lasting worldphone and not make it a semi-tablet, please??

Aloha,
808

 

[DougFNJ]

I don't have access to the filesystem. If I watched a movie on a trip and now want to delete it so I can make space for the pictures I'm going to take, I'd need my laptop. I need WiFi for A LOT of apps that I wanted to try...

I don't need my music on my phone, I've got google music, oh wait, I don't anymore, yes I need to sync with iTunes...at least I've got more space to do so...but I'd rather have google's cloud...

If I want to make folders to store document downloads from email, I can't, it ends up in iBooks...I'd rather just use a file system and pick what I want to read it with.

Even with google setup as exchange doing push, email isn't as instant as it is on Android.

Some great neutral reviews here, and maturity in this case are a refreshing pleasure to see. I thought I would address a couple of your concerns....

You CAN delete a movie from your iPhone to clear up space for photos, and you DON'T need your computer. In your video app in the list of videos, swipe across the title and you will see delete...you can now do this with music as well.

I would say iTunes beats out Google Music in regards to selection, you have A LOT more to choose from in iTunes. iCloud has now become a valuable space saver if you need it by just listening to songs you want to listen to now if you don't want to have them all on your iPhone.

Docs to go is a great solution to saving files in email. I have to disagree with GMail being setup as exchange. I am on my 3rd iPhone, and it has always been instant. Maybe change the Exchange setting to Push? I think it might be defaulted to 5 minutes and that's where your delay comes from?

I hope that helps as far as those issues.

In regards to the differences between the 2? I am a gadget geek. Before iPhone came to Verizon, I was jumping from Android phone, to the next, my favorite Verizon phone had been Droid X. I definitely like the flexibility of hardware on Android, Candy Bar, Flip, Slider, all shapes and sizes. So much available in such a short period of time. It definitely brings me back to Mac vs PC. But along those lines, I feel iPhone is such a polished product, there is nothing hardware wise like it out there IMHO. For the 1 choice they give you, Apple makes it a great one.

I have a Macbook Pro, iPad, and iPhone and and fully invested in the Apple Eco-system, I actually appreciate the fact that Apple delivers one upgrade per year....keeps it cheaper for me lol. I am not your typical fanboy though, I have a Nexus S that I picked up off Craigslist to use on Wifi just to play with and enjoy.

I feel IOS has definitely made some long awaited leaps forward in some areas. I love that I now have the notification bar, but I don't use it nearly as much as I did Android, I guess because of the Lock screens notifications available as well. I love how smooth the OS moves, and how fast the Applications open on my iPhone. I REALLY love the lack of crashes on IOS vs the amount I had on Android, and the battery life. I don't have to do a daily reset. These are great features. I never found the need to jailbreak, and a BIG reason I am firmly planted in Apples Ecosystem is the stability and sense of safety and privacy. I don't feel locked down in the OS. I was also in heaven when they introduced 64GB as I do like to have my entire music collection handy along with some videos, and plenty of more storage available for apps, photos, and taking photos and HD Videos.

All that being said, I also feel Android has come a LOOOOOONG way in a very short period of time. I miss Widgets, and I do wish I could configure an iPhone home screen as nicely as I could on Android. Droid X was exceptionally great with being able to resize those widgets, it is great to see ICS doing this universally. The notification bar is much more useful on Android, like I said, I found myself relying on it more in Android. Nexus S is the perfect form factor. It is very similar in size to the iPhone, and they really did it right. I think if Android were to be released on one device per year like Apple does, they probably would had made it this device. It is such a sweet spot. My only issue has been Wifi signal strength. Because I don't have Sprint, and rely on Wifi, where every other device in my house gets full signal, I get 1-2 wifi bars on Nexus S.

I really think you can't lose when you have great options to choose from. They are both great devices, it comes down to the pros and cons of each and using that to weigh out what is more important to you.

 

[milominderbinde]

Click for details on Apple User's Guide to Android including:
1. 4G
2. Any size other than Extra Small
3. Notification LED
4. microSD
5. Removable Battery
6. HD Video Chat (still VGA, WiFi)
7. LED Display
8. DLNA
9. Facebook Sync
10. Flash
11. NFC
12. Haptic feedback (vibrate on key-touch)
13. Full Gmail (Priority Inbox, etc.)
14. DRM-Free Music like Google & Amazon
15. Toggles
16. Widgets
17. Amazon Appstore free paid app of the day
18. Other app stores like GetJar with dozens of free paid apps
19. Goggles, Voice, etc. and Notification bar apps like the Weather Channel
20. Full Notification control: how often to repeat, vibrate, LED, etc.
21. 15-Minute free trial on apps
22. Theming
23. Visual Voicemail with Contact Photos
24. True hands-free Voice Coomands
25. Turn-by-turn navigation
26. Live Wallpaper
27. Swype
28. Real predictive keyboards like SwiftKey
29. Bluetooth Mouse/keyboard
30. See the actual files from your phone to delete, rename, move just like on a PC

The iPhone was an amazing phone when it came out in 2007.