Develop Bugs

WP7 owners, love it, hate it, or ...

Unlike those of us in the US, others can buy Win Phone 7 devices. So what do you think?

I have not tested it yet as mine is arriving shortly.
I think that it does look good and that Microsoft has the right idea.
The only issues that I can see with it is the SDK limitations and the general os limitations.

i love it, it has it's limitation but it will get better.

Used an HD7 for about 30 minutes in the T-Mobile store here. Smooth like butter, and it has 16GB storage.
I'm definitely leaning towards getting one.
Finally an OS that performs like one should on this hardware. Can't even imagine what performance will be like on next-gen hardware.

Up until 28th November I was an Android Fanboy - G1 when it was launched, Desire as an Upgrade.
I now actually prefer Wp7 to Android and love the fact I went and bought a HD7. My desire is now untouched, I put it on Ebay

i just played a bit with one at a t-mobile store... (htc mozart)
very smooth handling in every condition
i dont like pinch to zoom in any browser i used before (opera, safari, whatever android has...) but i like it in wp7 very much
but then there are the known limitations and some of them i realy dislike...
if there was a way to use wp7 device as mass storage my decision would be clear pro wp7...

Had it for 3 days, love it.
Blazingly fast and super solid - yes a few things are unavailable at the moment but its only been out for a matter of days.
Genuinely excited for the future of this OS.

Thanks for the replies. Sounds great. I was hoping to move away from AT&T but, if the WP7 devices are good maybe I will stay with them.
BTW, does anyone have a standalone Zune and care to compare the functionality of the WP7? I have a Zune 80 and love the Zune Marketplace and Zune client.

Love it as well. I miss the the messaging apps available on iOS and Android and some apps are a bit slow to launch, but it is a polished OS especially for a 1.0 with a lot of attention to detail taken on it. In a way it makes Android look like a toy, Aesthetics wise, and it is much smoother natively.

agreed with the ones above, had my HTC Trophy for over 2 days now and i'm really liking it. I see the Trophy as the base model for all Windows Phones. There is no stand out feature in this phone at all, it's all minimum spec, but it works... exceptionally! Games are a little slow on loading, but that's ok, the gameplay itself is fine. This limitation is due to the use of microSD (which you'll probably see in the other HTC phones). But I don't plan on voiding my warranty, and my carrier throws an extra year on top, so i have 2 years warranty. I don't use it for music all that much as i'm more of a radio listener... and let me tell you, when i fired up the radio for the first time this morning... man was it a really nicely designed radio. Simple, only get a bar with the radio frequency on top, and you just scroll left/right, and find the frequency you want. Favourite it, and done. SO NICE!

hmm looks like im really gonna have to get this lol

all good comments.. i suppose to have my HD7 with me right now but my friend could not pick it up in singapore for me... now i have to wait till dec 1st as i cant make it to SG till then..

I LOVE IT. its that simple. There is a few very tiny glitches but i had that with android blackberry and sare i say it ios as well. I do have a couple of poiunts for a few people that moan about some missing features though.
Mass storage - why oh why would you want to use your phone for this i don't get it? the memory inside is for the phone not your pc. Get a memory stick they cost about £20 and will sit on your keyring they are faster and easier to use.
Flash - this is coming very soon adobe and Microsoft have confirmed this.
Copy paste - as above (i suspect the January update for both though flash may come as its own download)
Multitasking - just a battery drain and all the main features do this anyway, the phone is quick at swapping between apps. I don't get why you would want to multi-task beyond what it already does if anyone can give me a good example i will retract that but so far its just "cos we like it that we can" i personally prefer a battery that lasts unlike the desire.
removable storage - once again why would you want this? I have an idea don't buy a load of small cards just get one good one. You can argue that the on board amounts given at launch are poor (i to stated this) BUT, America will get the focus this can be upgraded so to can the dell. The HD7 can be also if you don't mind getting under the back cover. I suspect as with the hd7 we will find others. So there are options even for the most data intensive. Your phone is not a memory stick people.
I personally think wp7 has it right esp for a brand new os that has not even had, dare i call the January update this, service pack 1. I don't like to say i will never touch things again because the world is constantly changing but i will say for now i am so glad i sold my desire and got a hd7 it beats anything else hands down.

I just realized i was so busy fending the so called downsides i forgot to look at why wp7 is the best.
Xbox live - this is so good it makes my nuts tingle though it was a lil slow at first once it has had chance to sync everything up it is amazing. I can see all my avatar stuff in 3d i can see my mates avatars in 3d i can compare gamer scores, i can earn achievements on games i can send messages to my live friends and see what they are doing. Basically all the same stuff i can do on my xbox but on a phone. Plus they will soon have multilayer games not just turn by turn and intergration into actual xbox games.
Zune - By far and away the best music/media experience you can get. Makes iphone look old and rubbish. I have loved Zune since i got my zune hd imported last year. Zune software is easier to use then itunes. It is far better at managing your media and is so good at getting the track data. Plus unlike itunes if it cant find it automatically you can just find it yourself easy as and make sure all the tracks have the right names with a no fuss at all. Put it this way my itunes on my mac has about 80% of the right art my zune has 100% (and for about 8 months i had to use the mac as my main pc due to frying my motherboard so it is nothing to do with me not careing about getting it sorted).
Hubs/live tile - just genius i hardly use my facebook app as i don't need to my friends are asy to contact and find and my pictures are all in one place. Yeah you can collect data together on android but until you have used a wp7, and i do say if your unsure go to the store and play, its hard to explain why its so much better but it just is. updates are right there on the home screen and even the lock screen.
Speed/transactions - This is a zippy os everything is smooth and looks sexy, this isnt a big point for many people i know but, there is no better feeling then when showing someone an email or a text or anything on your phone and it flys there but at the same time looks like something from minority report.

The phone is fantastic. The system is very smooth! The zune feature wit zune pass is great. One thing though, notification sounds for txt and email are very, very quiet (HD7). I can hardly hear them

robart76 said:
The phone is fantastic. The system is very smooth! The zune feature wit zune pass is great. One thing though, notification sounds for txt and email are very, very quiet (HD7). I can hardly hear them
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
have you updated the audio controller from htc as it may be coincidence but i thought it was quieter before i did that.

lumpaywk said:
Multitasking - just a battery drain and all the main features do this anyway, the phone is quick at swapping between apps. I don't get why you would want to multi-task beyond what it already does if anyone can give me a good example i will retract that but so far its just "cos we like it that we can" i personally prefer a battery that lasts unlike the desire.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I disagree. There are cases where multitasking would help, one area would be instant messaging. Also, I have looked at most reviews out there and battery life is on par with similarly specced Android devices. For example, the HD7 vs. EVO/Desire HD. Even my developer WP7 devices battery lasts around the same time as my Captivate.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

There is no denying the fact that multitasking would help in many cases. I am glad that MS never said they wouldn't allow 3rd party aps to multitask. I am sure it's already in development... may be being tested as we speak

Went from HTC to Samsung Focus, so far i do love the smoothness and speed. Active tiles are a huge plus and can see where this can be beneficial in various ways. Only 'major' things needed is tethering or turning the phone into a WiFi Hotspot (and would like bluetooth rSAP support).

emuneee said:
I disagree. There are cases where multitasking would help, one area would be instant messaging. Also, I have looked at most reviews out there and battery life is on par with similarly specced Android devices. For example, the HD7 vs. EVO/Desire HD. Even my developer WP7 devices battery lasts around the same time as my Captivate.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're wrong.
With Push Messaging, you get you IMs without the app even running. Multitasking IM applications is a huge waste of battery.
Do you even have a clue what you're talking about?
Also, the HD7 has a weak battery in it. It's around 1230 mAh, IIRC. Most decent phones have 1500 mAh batteries in them. Check that before you make a comparison. Also, use patterns on the two phones may not be identical. It's almost impossible to conduct a decent test for battery life outside of a controlled environment.

Why I switched from Android to WP7

I'm new to this forum, but have lurked for a while now. A lot of insightful posts, good debate, and professionalism by almost everyone. It's great as I definitely learn a lot from reading them.
Anyways, to the topic at hand. I'm an owner of an HD7 and an HTC G2 (Desire Z overseas). My G2 for a few months was my daily driver, after I sold my Vibrant and purchased it mainly for the HSPA+, however the physical keyboard was a nice add on as well. I went ahead and rooted the device, installed Visionary temp root, and overclocked to 1.2ghz (found it to be my sweet spot, as I've had freezes with 1.4 and won't even bother trying anything higher). The phone is lighting fast, I installed LauncherPro first thing first, customized the home screen to my exact liking, hooked it up to my Exchange account, and basically turned it into my perfect Android device.
Ever since I sold my 3gs and purchased an HTC Hero (GSM), I fell back in love with Android. I had originally bought the G1 in October 2008 when it was released in the states and grew into the Android ecosystem. I switched to iOS only because the 3gs was released, but I ended up going back. One of the main reasons why I enjoy Android so much is because it has a variety to choose from in regards to everything you can do with the phone. There isn't a thing that isn't possible with the OS and you have to appreciate it's willingness to allow anyone to make that happen. It isn't a system that's shoved down our throats, although I have always been against the OS being on so many devices.
Around a month ago, I started doing some research on WP7. I wasn't familiar with WM6.5 or any other Microsoft phone. All I knew was that you can flash Android on an HD2. The more research I did, the more I began to find myself interested in it, it looked smooth, very fluid, and if there is one thing I missed from my 3gs experience that even with the G2 overclocked I don't have is fluidity. The OS looked solid, and I think it's a bit understating when you claim consumers don't care about that. If anything, the GUI is one of the most important features on an OS, and no matter what the processer or device of an Android ran phone, the device is generally still slow and stuttery. Granted you can fiddle with the settings, mess with animation, change the speed of certain things within' the UI etc. etc. Still, it lacks in that department and the fragmentation of the operating system doesn't help. Also, another issue I have with Android are the keyboards. Yes, all of them. I still can't use swype as imo the learning curve isn't as simple as they make it seem and even using Smart Keyboard (great customer service by the dev btw) as my G2's daily driver still proves to be faulty. Lets not even get started on the stock keyboard. The only one that seems to work the best are the 4'3 inch devices, because the screen is so big. It worked well on my previous Vibrant, but still stuttery. Of course my G2 has a physical keyboard so you would think this would be a moot point. A lot of times I don't even use the physical keyboard for whatever reason.
With enough research, I decided on purchasing an HD7. I don't like buying phone's on contract so I decided to find one on craigslist. I realized a day before the Nexus S was released here that there were quite a few firesales on craigslist. Probably due to the fact that people with TMobile wanted to sell their device to purchase the N-S. At least that's what I assumed, considering I was able to buy a great condition HD7 for $250. To no surprise, he was selling to contribute to the Nexus. At first I was skeptical, didn't know much about the OS besides what I saw on youtube, and I was a little weary of the screen because I read that the colors are a bit faded. Regardless, the phone grew on me. The screen is beautiful for all it's detractors and the colors are fine to me. I'd argue that the Vibrant (and specifically screens with Super Amoled) tend to have an awkward blue tint/hue that becomes quite annoying when you begin to notice it more and more. The whites look blue, the blacks look blue, I understand the hue of the actual screen is blue, still doesn't make up for it. The only problem I have with the HD7 is portraying blacks, as it tends to ghost when you scroll and the smaller letters get skewed. Also there seems to be purple borders on the tiles when you scroll with a black background. For this reason, I changed it to white and found no problem. Aside from that minor issue (that doesn't bother me now because I enjoy the white more anyway), the OS is an absolute monster.
Where do I begin? The positives -
-Keyboard - I'm sorry, but there is NO better keyboard on the market today. Windows Phone 7 is far superior due to the sizes of various screens. IOS has a dandy keyboard but it's either too small on a 3.5 inch display (beautiful retina though, can't deny that), or too big on an iPAD. I've already explained my stance on Android keyboards, and I think it isn't even a close margin. The WP7 keyboard hands down is the most user friendly in the market today. Oh and spellcheck is fantastic as well.
-UI - Most fluid UI in the market today
-Exchange support/outlook/syncing w/calendar/contacts - Fantastic. Don't get me wrong, Android does this well, but for some reason, it's just more enjoyable on the fluid and buttery smooth Metro UI.
-Email - The email client on WP7 is awesome. The pinch zoom in an email box on a 4.3 inch display is smooth and a fantastic experience. Same can be said for the pinch and zoom on IE. I know it re-renders words while Android doesn't, but the 5 finger multi-touch support and amazing scrolling makes it a notch above the Android browser, which with any processor, still has laggy pinch and zoom.
-Netflix - Again, goes back to watching Netflix on demand on a 4 inch or 4.3 inch display. No other phone can boast about that feat. (I know iOS has Netflix)
-Web surfing - See email. Again, smooth like butter. Granted there are random rendering issues and freezes here and there, it's still a great experience being able to scroll and move along as smoothly as it does on such a big screen.
So now I was left with a decision to make. Do I use the HD7 or the G2 as my daily driver? Both have their advantages, and ultimately, I looked at which one had the least amount of disadvantages, and it came down to the HD7. As a daily driver, I mainly use my phone to text, email, check my work email, calendar, and surf the web occassionally. In all those fronts, it works better then the G2. In terms of games and such, the WP7 market is still going, but I have to give the edge to the Android Market simply because it's more well estabilished. I also like the fact that I can download directly from a website like say Gameloft. Gives you the chance to work outside of a walled ecosystem. You have to remember, Microsoft is in this for the long haul. There is no such thing as late in the market. The market constantly grows and if a revolutionary product is released, people will be intrigued by it. Tickle Me Elmo wasn't late in the market, the Wii wasn't late in the market, and automobile companies who are now currently building the future of cars aren't late in the market. There is no such thing, the future is always now, and innovation will constantly be showcased for the masses to witness and endulge themselves with.
If we all stuck to the theory that 4 months of being public is enough time to doom a company, then we're more behind then I thought. They aren't investing millions upon millions of dollars in a company that they're going to give up on in 4 months. Updates will come, fixes will be sent, the product will flow, you must give it some time. To this day, for all it's glory, Android still hasn't managed to update the ever infamous lag in their UI. No matter what device, dual core or not, it's just too fragmented and the GUI is in desperate need of change. I'm not demoting Android by any means, it is in fact a great great OS and one that has ultimately changed the game. But to dismiss a new innovation with as much promise as WP7 is silly. To those who have differing opinions, to you I say just try one out for a little while. If it was capable of growing on me (a self admitted Android fan), then I see no reason why the normal consumer wouldn't be able to feel the same way.

i will have to agree, like you said i admit i am a big big big fan of android os. but i just bought htc surround recently and UI is amazing on this new WP7 phones. people just need to give it some time, thats all

I am also a fan of android, but as someone running a small business, needed something that would not soak up my time messing about with rooting and tweaking. wP7 just does the business for me in a slick and professional way. Sure, there are missing features (document sync to skydrive mostly for me) but the positives outweigh any negatives for me

I used to be a big android fan, and I'm still thinking about getting an atrix, but with android you always have to ask yourself, what is the point of all that great hardware if the OS isn't optimized for it.
I've had a Vibrant and an N1. I LOVED my N1, and I wish I still had one, but I quietly ran out of things I wanted to do with it. I couldn't find a single music player I liked and I quickly ran out of games I wanted to play.
To me, fluidity and music are by far the most 2 important aspects of a smartphone. WP7 and a Zune Pass do this better than any other option.

So many people say NO to wp7 with sevral words;
Sevral people say YES to wp7 with so many words.
Very interesting!

Totally agree with everything the OP has said. Android just isn't a next-gen phone OS IMHO.

Great post by OP.
It's possible to see positives in both, while preferring to use one over the other.

Reflexx1 said:
Great post by OP.
It's possible to see positives in both, while preferring to use one over the other.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I need to print this out and:
1/. Go back to the ATT store where I met that d-bag rep referenced here:http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=924802
2/. Give this to my buddy who is about to purchase a Nexus S as his first smartphone.
Perfect post about WP7 IMHO.

I think it's a great post. It just goes to show that it doesn't matter which OS is better, or newer/older, or hot at the time. It comes down to what works for you, the person that actually has to use the phone on a day to day basis.

What makes the Nexus better than the iPhone?

You guys are dropping some serious cash on the Nexus, and for serious cash, I expect there must be serious reasons. What makes the Nexus better than the 4S, for you? I don't just want to hear blanket statements like "more customizability," I'm looking for specific things that effect how you use your phone day-to-day, in a positive way. (hey, it rhymes)
I don't own a GN, but here's some reasons I can think of switching:
-I can turn off annoying animations
-hi-res screen, shows more content
-bigger screen
-no physical buttons
-I can turn off the lock screen
-loads webpages faster
-slightly better browser tabs
-widgets. They'd be slightly helpful
-Flash, for when I need it
-file system. This is kinda crippled now, but whatever.
-better YouTube app
-better Gmail support
-better Google maps
I figure I'll mention the cons, too...
-worse camera
-not as smooth
-no 100% reliable, native syncing for my photos and music
-no comparable suite to iWorks
-less app selection
-bad battery life
-no good solution for security if I lose my phone. Find My iPhone is pretty sweet.
What about you? I'm hoping to hear about some things I didn't think about. Part of me really wants to get the Nexus.

Yumunum said:
You guys are dropping some serious cash on the Nexus, and for serious cash, I expect there must be serious reasons. What makes the Nexus better than the 4S, for you? I don't just want to hear blanket statements like "more customizability," I'm looking for specific things that effect how you use your phone day-to-day, in a positive way. (hey, it rhymes)
I don't own a GN, but here's some reasons I can think of switching:
-I can turn off annoying animations
-hi-res screen, shows more content
-bigger screen
-no physical buttons
-I can turn off the lock screen
-loads webpages faster
-slightly better browser tabs
-widgets. They'd be slightly helpful
-Flash, for when I need it
-file system. This is kinda crippled now, but whatever.
-better YouTube app
-better Gmail support
-better Google maps
I figure I'll mention the cons, too...
-worse camera
-not as smooth
-no 100% reliable, native syncing for my photos and music
-no comparable suite to iWorks
-less app selection
-bad battery life
-no good solution for security if I lose my phone. Find My iPhone is pretty sweet.
What about you? I'm hoping to hear about some things I didn't think about. Part of me really wants to get the Nexus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had a 4S and I honestly didn't like it. I don't like the way it handles multitasking or really anything about it. I guess I am also accustomed to larger screens having had a few 4.3" phones before this and the iPhone. My 4S had absolute **** battery life so this is an improvement and it's not bad at all. I don't know where you got that we have no security apps like find my iPhone because we have a dozen or so that work just as well if not better. Documents to go is reliable for when I need to make a quick edit on the go. I find my nexus to be just as smooth as the 4S I had as well. Also in terms of less app selection.. we have most of the big names
Hope this helps quell some of your fears a little
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

because it's not apple. Setting up apps and.screen is lot better over the good old setup. Hw acceleration finally. Bigger screen. Not apple. Higher res. Better sound. And I get great battery life. What you talking about Willis?
And the no. 1 reason is dev support. They pick up where Google and Samsung don't and then some. And some more. Thanks devs without you guys we'd eat more apples.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

I haven't had an issue with battery life ever since phone started coming with micro usb. One of the reasons I didn't buy an iPhone is the proprietary usb, with GN (or any other android phone) everywhere you go has a charger.
That and it's a phone with a large screen, I'm not going to quibble over a few hours difference in battery life. It either lasts a month on 1 charge or I need a charger everywhere I go....
My main beef with iPhone is the connectivity, I need iTunes and not just on any computer but an authorised one. I use a lot of computers so that's out...
Apps, camera, OS, battery life its all the same more or less. Like comparing Mercedes to BMW.
The other feature I can't live without is Google Navigation, even though you can download an app on iPhone that does the same, having it fully integrated with Google Map is very useful. I use Google Maps like Yellow Pages now....
The search is also a lot more useful with ICS (wont be GN only feature soon) as it combines searching for apps/music/files on your phone with google search.
All this will be on any ICS phone/tablet, not just GN. So it's not really GN vs iPhone, its ICS vs iOS5.
Oh and another nice feature is having multiple accounts in Market. So if you want your wife/girlfriend to have the same purchased app/game you don't have to buy it twice.

I won't go into a device comparison, but here's what I like about the Nexus/Android:
- Super Amoled HD Screen
- Pentaband & Unlocked
- Widgets and customizability
- Scrolling and/or Live Wallpaper
- Replaceable Battery
- Faster data speeds on AT&T (For my location)
- The best web browsing experience on a mobile device...PERIOD. If you goto Settings->Labs and select Quick Controls and Fullscreen...it's a whole different experience. Full HD screen is used to browse and it's buttery smooth
- I prefer ICS's Task Manager MUCH MUCH better than iOS. It's quick to hit a button and swipe on the android vs. double table, hit small x's and scroll.
- Voice Guided Directions via Google Maps (Improved over previous versions)
- Face Unlock
- Better youtube
- Camera isn't as good as the iPhone, but IMO the app and shutter speed make up for it.
- Syncs beautifully with iTunes with iSyncr app!
- People always bring up selection of apps, or lack thereof as a bad thing. While there are some titles missing from the market, there are apps available that you would never be able to download on the app store. For example mp3 downloads, bit torrent remotes, etc.
- Type as you speak voice recognition
- I find the battery life equal, if not better than the iPhone 4S
- Free mobile hotspot (Don't abuse her)
- NFC
- Built in data usage tracker and limiter. Perfect for those on data caps. Also displays what apps are hogging
- Notice a killer app on the Market only to find out it's garbage after the purchase? 15 min refund window!
Don't like compared to the iPhone...
- Build quality is good but the quality of materials could be better
- Speaker sucks
- Front facing camera may have more pixels, but looks like crap compared to the 4s
- I miss iTunes Match, iCloud and Photostream
Don't get me wrong, the 4S is a sweet device and I've used a ton of Android phones in the past, but the Nexus w/ICS is a whole different ballgame. My Nexus and iPad 2 are a match made in heaven.

I switched from an iPhone 4S to a Galaxy Nexus (and a Galaxy Note between).
First of all I like Apple products, I use an iMac and a MacBook Air for work and have owned iPhones, iPods and iPads. They are usually well designed and do the job at least as well as competitors and yes there is a premium to pay for that and I have always thought that worth paying extra for.
But for me the iPhone 4S was a major disappointment. I had seen some of the renderings of possible designs and they looked exciting but what we got was a revamp of the iPhone 4 with new notifications and Siri.
I still bought one as I like to have the latest tech but after you realise that Siri is a gimmick that last 10 minutes and is then redundant and the pull down notification system has been perfected by Android 100 phones ago, then the same old IOS niggles surfaced.
For me the first time I used the Galaxy Nexus I thought 'this is better'. ICS is smooth and runs quickly on the Nexus out of the box. I have owned virtually all the top smartphones and my one gripe about Android is that to get the very best out of the phone I have to visit XDA and start updating and tweaking.
My main reasons for switching away from the iPhone were lack of Flash support and screen size. So I bought a Galaxy Note and was blown away but the size was just a little too large and when I read up about the Nexus I just had to have one. I can wait a month or so for Flash but otherwise I don't think I have ever been happier with a phone.

Yumunum said:
You guys are dropping some serious cash on the Nexus, and for serious cash, I expect there must be serious reasons. What makes the Nexus better than the 4S, for you? I don't just want to hear blanket statements like "more customizability," I'm looking for specific things that effect how you use your phone day-to-day, in a positive way. (hey, it rhymes)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Keep in mind that not everyone here is buying it outright for $600+, and keep in mind that a lot of people here wouldn't even consider an iPhone instead of Android in general. This post sounds a bit like flame bait, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt.
My personal reasons are as follows:
Screen: Not just quality (AMOLED), but size. Ever since I had my Samsung Captivate, holding an iPhone has just felt wrong. Everything feels tiny on the iPhone, watching movies is a significantly worse experience etc.
OS: In a nutshell, I prefer Android to iOS. The notification system is better, the multitasking is better (especially in ICS), the OS gives me more options and doesn't hold my hand telling me I'll break my phone if I'm given any more freedoms.
Widgets: Falls in line with OS, but deserves its own category. Why the hell does iOS not have widgets yet? Why don't I have glanceable data on my homescreens such as weather, calendar, and RSS feeds? This is the killer app for me as far as Android is concerned. iOS simply does not compare.
iTunes: I hate it. Especially on PC. I don't like Apple's music format, I don't like being forced to sync content as opposed to drag and drop, and I don't like how iTunes on PC is so badly coded that it completely freezes up and becomes unresponsive while syncing. Something like iTunes should be optional at best.
TV out: the iPhone simply doesn't have it. Connecting my phone to my TV to output youtube videos, emulated SNES, PS1 etc. games, and pictures is a huge boon for the GN. Yes there are alternatives, no they are not as simple as "connect a cable and the picture literally pops up the next second".
General freedom: No emulators or inappropriate content on the iOS market. Yeah, I don't put porn on my phone, but the next guy may want to and he should be able to do so freely without a company scrutinizing his morals. The Android market allows virtually anything as long as it's legal.
Programming freedom: In the same vein as the above, iOS is extremely locked down. There are no custom ROMs, there's no system level tweaking.
As far as drawbacks go:
Camera: Let's face it. The iPhone 4S' camera is best in class. Yes the GN's is faster, but for sheer quality iPhone simply wins hands down.
Touch response: This one may be a bit subjective, but every time I pick up an iPhone I marvel a bit at how smooth it is. Yes ICS is smooth, but I don't feel that it's quite at the same level.
Applications: For sheer quantity, Android is getting there. Quality however, is just now starting to pick up. More triple A developers are starting to realize that Android is a force to be reckoned with, so this is one that will fix itself in time. For the time being however iOS' app selection is simply better.
GPS: Every iPhone I've tried locks instantaneously indoors to a 10-15 meter radius. Every Android phone takes 5 seconds to forever to do the same. It's a minor gripe at best since the GN's GPS is pretty good but it's still technically worse.
That's about all I've got. Also OP, you'll be pleased to know that Android also has a variation of "Find my iPhone". "Where's my Droid" does basically the same thing.

I thought of getting an iPhone but then I took an arrow to the knee
I don't own a GN, but here's some reasons I can think of switching:
-I can turn off annoying animations
-hi-res screen, shows more content
-bigger screen
-no physical buttons
-I can turn off the lock screen
-loads webpages faster
-slightly better browser tabs
-widgets. They'd be slightly helpful
-Flash, for when I need it
-file system. This is kinda crippled now, but whatever.
-better YouTube app
-better Gmail support
-better Google maps
I figure I'll mention the cons, too...
-worse camera
-not as smooth
-no 100% reliable, native syncing for my photos and music
-no comparable suite to iWorks
-less app selection
-bad battery life
-no good solution for security if I lose my phone. Find My iPhone is pretty sweet.
First off, I'll say that I don't own a G_Nex... yet. I have also thought long and hard about making the jump to the iphone and the other side but a few things have kept me back. And this is my experience with a Droid Incredible which came out early last year so It's based off of an old device with outdated software.
First, I hate iTunes, with a passion. If you like it, cool but I have had such a hard time moving all my media from windows media to itunes I finally gave my ipod away. I'm sure it's a much less stressful endeavor with a Mac but I don't have one of those either so... It just seems way easier to use windows media for me
As far as the camera. I haven't seen it in my hand but there are a few iPhone4s/G-Nex picture comparison and from what I can tell it doesn't look very different. I say that the SGN does have some advantages over the iPhone with the no-lag feature and panoramic photos but that is just opinion. my camera is outdated but like everyone says your not gonna blow up an 8mp photo to put on your wall, it just doesn't make sense.
I don't use it personally but HTC sense has an onlive service similar to Find My iPhone, but without an HTC device your options are limited to apps like Lookout Mobile Security which you can disable everything except for the GPS service so you don't have annoying popups everytime you download an app. I believe they are also apps that can wipe your phone remotely in case your worried about your personal info.
Although I feel like Sense on HTC is just as smooth as an iPhone I've seen the lag and jerkiness of other devices. that said, I think if you check out some YouTube vids of the G-Nex you'll see that there is nothing but smooth butter on 4.0
I agree as far as the battery life goes. sometimes I can go 6hrs before my phone dies but I've settled on the idea that I will need a charger with me everywhere I go work/home/school. But there is a big reason for this: Android does so many other things in the background compared to iPhone. widgets, live wallpapers, etc... look at the animations on a new HTC device with the 3D widgets. it takes a ton of battery to keep all that running and running smooth. Also with the introduction of 4G the battery technology just hasn't caught up with it yet. but give it time.
One thing I will say about iPhone is the quality of apps are way better than Android, but it will not be that way forever. app developers are wanting to make money and if they can expand to another platform they will. There are only a very few app devs that are brand loyal and there are more and more devs porting there apps to Android every day.
To me, Apple did a great job in making a great phone and marketing it to the masses when it first came out. However, there are still a ton of flaws in their ideals. they want to make things simpler but unless you already have a Mac you will struggle. And they don't want to change it because they know most people will get frustrated and just go buy a Mac which makes them more money. and that is something I can't get with.
last but not least I will ask, who's idea was it to design a phone incased in glass anyway? I mean the only way you could've made it anymore fragile is if you made all the componets inside the out of glass as well. I mean really?!

Bad battery life...it is really bad. and also bad reception.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

native syncing for my photos and music - The camera app on the GN can auto matically sync your photos to google+ if you want it to. Also google music can sync your music from the cloud thus meaning you dont have gig's and gig's of storage taken up on your phone.

First of all, generally speaking the main reason that pulled me away from Apple (I had a 3GS) and towards Android was widgets. It might be a minor thing for most people, but I really really love having them on my screen. It just makes things so much easier and faster to accomplish.
Now, focussing on the Galaxy Nexus specifically, the biggest plusses for me where those two:
- The combination of a large AMOLED-screen and the top-notch resolution which takes care of all the "Pentile"-drama that was going on.
- Direct updates through Google (I know, it's the same with Apple, but no other current Android handset offers this, and since your question aimed at why we spend so much money on the GN: This is the main reason why I picked the GN over a Moto or an HTC)
And that's basically it. Mind you, I was almost going to buy the Moto RAZR instead of the Nexus, because I am not a fan of handsets made entirely of plastic shells. But in the end I dismissed the Razr, mainly because of the "Software Update"-reason mentioned above. I could have lived with the lower-res display.
Of course, there are dozens of other reasons why I pick Android over iOS (open platform, costumizability, direct filesystem-access, etc. etc. blah blah), but you probably know them already anyway, so I'm not gonna repeat here once again
Both Android and iOS have their advantages and disadavantages, my take on this is that you should first decide which ECOSYSTEM is better suited for your personal needs and usecases, and after that decide on the actual hardware you're going to buy. Getting a new phone is quickly done, making everything run after an OS transition is much more of a headache (starting with the money one spent on all the apps that become rendered useless the moment you change sides)

only things I miss from my iphone 4 so far are
battery life
quick gps locking
HBO GO!

Screen is beautifull. I just got mine and i Love IT!!
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App

Yumunum said:
You guys are dropping some serious cash on the Nexus, and for serious cash, I expect there must be serious reasons. What makes the Nexus better than the 4S, for you? I don't just want to hear blanket statements like "more customizability," I'm looking for specific things that effect how you use your phone day-to-day, in a positive way. (hey, it rhymes)
I don't own a GN, but here's some reasons I can think of switching:
-I can turn off annoying animations
-hi-res screen, shows more content
-bigger screen
-no physical buttons
-I can turn off the lock screen
-loads webpages faster
-slightly better browser tabs
-widgets. They'd be slightly helpful
-Flash, for when I need it
-file system. This is kinda crippled now, but whatever.
-better YouTube app
-better Gmail support
-better Google maps
I figure I'll mention the cons, too...
-worse camera
-not as smooth
-no 100% reliable, native syncing for my photos and music
-no comparable suite to iWorks
-less app selection
-bad battery life
-no good solution for security if I lose my phone. Find My iPhone is pretty sweet.
What about you? I'm hoping to hear about some things I didn't think about. Part of me really wants to get the Nexus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do you define as comparable to iWorks? Personally I preferred QuickOffice on my ipad and android also has that.
Besides games I have yet to find an app I need not on the market.
There exist some security things in the market. Don't know how well they work but they are there.
Some pros for the nexus
- custom ROMs do more with your phone nor just what apple tells you
- third party sync with contacts such as Google+ twitter and eventually Facebook when they update the syncing for ics
I came from an iPhone to an atrix before my nexus and I will never go back. It's a personal choice but I like the freedom of android.
Sent from my GT-P7310 using Tapatalk

Yumunum said:
I figure I'll mention the cons, too...
-worse camera - Want a better camera, by a SLR, its a phone remember...
-not as smooth - No i find it smooother
-no 100% reliable, native syncing for my photos and musicPersonal preference, i find the syncing very good for mail, photos, contacts, music. The Music sync infact is amazing. I can access my music collection on ANY flash enable browser!
-no comparable suite to iWorks Really, your going to work on the 4.6" screen on documents, spreadsheets? buy a galaxy note, galaxy 10.1 or if you want iWorks, buy an Ipad or Mac!
-less app selection But also the app market is managed by the apple sheep so you actually have access to more apps which are banned on the apple store on the android market
-bad battery life Manage it better then! Its because you can customize everything on an android battery can drain so quickly, if you could do the same on an iphone as you can on an android im sure the iphone wouldnt last 10 hours!
-no good solution for security if I lose my phone. Find My iPhone is pretty sweet. Google an alternative.... like https://market.android.com/details?id=com.mango.findmyphone&hl=en. Also you can encrypt your phone, which is stronger than any solution done by apple at the moment
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Come on, really its down to personal preference. Every pro can be argued with a con, and vice versa
A big plus for me is accessing the app store in a browser!

I'm unclear why the OP said we were dropping serious cash for the nexus, and then proceeded to ask why it's better than the 4S, they are the same price, so what gives?

I'll be the odd one out, this is why I sold my Galaxy Nexus and kept my iPhone 4S:
- I find iOS notifications to be better. Sure, swap to discard is a lot better than the tiny "Clear" button on iOS, but being able to see pending notifications on the lockscreen is a lot better than having to reach up and pull down the list. I never managed to find a working solution to get the same function on ICS. Also iOS categorizes them per app, which I like. I also love push notifications and there's really just one twitter app that does it on Android, and its just not a very good app.
- Browsing. Sorry, but I find the ICS browser to not be very good. Sure, it's fast, but Google still treats pages like a desktop browser and text is TINY when zoomed out. iOS picks up what text is important and increases its size so it's readable on most websites without having to zoom in. Also, double tapping to zoom on Android zooms to the general area you want, but will usually cut off text or images. iOS somehow manages to fit the window exactly to the paragraph you want.
- Battery life. Yes, the 4S is famous for not lasting very long, but at least I don't have to worry about what colors im displaying on it because white will burn the battery out faster than black. With SAMOLED (I've had a Galaxy S, Galaxy S 2 and the Nexus) I always found myself worrying about using apps with mostly a black background.
- Screen. I want to lick the Galaxy Nexus screen, really, it looks amazing. Except when I look at slight dark pictures, where the extreme contrast and black levels will degrade and oversaturate colors. Also PenTile, while less noticeable is still there and makes text look horrible at small sizes. Watching HD video on it was an orgasmic experience, but I honestly never watch movies or series on my phone so I just wouldn't have taken advantage of it.
- Speaker. Its bad, really bad, and positioned in a place where setting the phone on a sofa or any other soft surface will muffle it. Volume+ on the market fixes the problem mostly, but still sounds like a low quality speaker.
- Apps. I love the ICS UI, I love how the google apps look on the GNexus, but I HATE how most third party apps look and function on ICS. Yes, I realize this will change in time, but just picking the iPhone and opening Tweetbot or Whatsapp and seeing how much smoother they were compared to similar apps on ICS made me angry.
- Camera. Photos look pretty good in daylight, but it breaks apart easily when light is low. Mushy colors, no sharpness. I love the 4S camera.
- Size. This one I guess is more personal than the others. I found it to be slighty larger than I like and had to flex my hand too much to use it one handed most of the time.
- Smoothness. ICS has hardware acceleration, fine, and it works most of the time, sure, but it's really noticeable when it's not there and really inconsistent to have it be completely smooth in some areas and really stuttery in others. I guess this will get better over time, but I like having this work "out of the box". iOS is smooth 95% of the time.
I'm not dissing the GNexus, I find it to be the best android phone to date and I really love most of what Google has done to android. However, after more than a year owning several android handsets and then buying the 4S I remembered how pain-free the iOS experience is, and I realized I spent more time changing ROMs and customizing android than I did enjoying it and using apps.
I never had a need for a real filesystem, I have no issues with iTunes and I don't feel limited by iOS' restrictions, though I understand if most of you do. I'll probably go back to android with the Galaxy S3 or whatever, and I guess everything will be more mature by then, but right now I'm happy with my 4S and it suits my needs better than the Gnex did.

For some reason when you own an iphone you start wearing turtlenecks and people start calling you a pretentious douche.

-Flash, for when I need it // Nexus Doesn't support flash...yet
-file system. This is kinda crippled now, but whatever. //Why? Works just like it has on my other Androids?
-worse camera // It's as good as the person using it.. my iPhone wasn't that great.
-not as smooth // Depends on what you have running unlike the iPhone that just randomly shuts apps off.
-no 100% reliable, native syncing for my photos and music //This is why I quit iPhones Itunes is a joke takes fooooorever to sync the it duplicates and deletes... just drag and drop...simple.
-no comparable suite to iWorks // There are many office apps most are the same ones in the app store.
-less app selection // seems like both stores have pretty much the same ones and the billion junk apps
-bad battery life // If you run the screen and skype and video... guess what iPhone or android the battery drains.....The iphone will win not because it has better battery life but because it will quit skype force the screen off and stop the video because it knows what you want better than you do.
I have had every IOS device except the 4S... so I don't dislike them but I do dislike lists like this... Because you really should try out Android (especially ICS) and formulate your opinion. Because its not just about the hardware its about changing from my phone knows best I just expect the battery to last.... To taking the time to set it to do exactly what you want it to....and yes if you have 50 apps running the battery WILL die a quick death...lol

The difference and what makes it better is easy. I am in no way bashing the iPhone. I own it and love all apple products. Here are the facts iPhone is a place that houses all your apps the SN is a OS with apps.

Recent iPhone users who migrated to the GS3 - Favorite Features?

Hi guys.
So it seems like a number of people here have recently migrated over from iPhone, just curious what are your all favorite features/apps since you switched over.
I used an iPhone 3 from 2008-2010 and then an iPhone 4 from 2008-Sept 2012. I was jailbroken on those devices but still pretty blown away by many Android functions. I loved loved loved my iPhone when I first got one, back in the day they were so damned ahead of the curve, but over time HTC/Samsung has caught up and they are no longer making truly impressive devices worthy of me overpaying for them, and to have the Nanny state of Apple telling me what apps I am capable of using. Those are the main reasons I made the switch. Although I still kind of miss the smaller size of my iPhone.
ANYWAYYYYS....things I love since I made the switch:
1. TORRENTS! You could never ever get a Torrent application from the Apple App Store. I use "adownloaded" via the Google Play Store. I love mainly the ability to switch between various torrent trackers and even grab torrents from some of the private torrent sites I use (ones for music / video). If I feel like listening to some old album I don't have on my PC at home, simple just grab the torrent. Forgot to DL the new Boardwalk Empire, just grab it off a tracker via Adownloader.
2. Power management options. Having an app to turn off power hog features (wifi, mobile data, gps, etc) when the screen is turned off and then booting them all back up quickly when I turn the screen back on. I use "Go Power Master" for this and love it. You don't need to be rooted to do it either.
3. Themes / visual customization. Animated backgrounds, etc. Some of those things were available to jailbroken (and JB saavy) iPhone users but it was extreeemly buggy and problematic when I tried to mess with visual display customization with my jailbroken iPhones. Here its entirely simple to do for non-root and root users.
4. Battery replacement / external memory. Bought 2 extra batteries and an external battery charger off ebay for only $20 all included. Yes maybe that's a testament to the...not so amazing battery life of the GS3, but I still love the option of having extra 100% charged batteries at home and in the office in case I forget to charge my GS3. Down to 10% and no time to charge? Pull off the ottebox and throw another battery in. Also love the external memory, bought a 32GB micro SD as soon as I got my GS3. Blows my mind that Apple charges $100 extra to go from 16gb to 32gb and to 64gb (when it's been proven online it only costs them $10 to raise the memory....a 90% margin customers have to pay....retarded. A lot of my iPhone devotee friends would just tell me to get the 16gb and keep all my extra music/movies "in the cloud". Fuuuuuuck that. Why blow my wireless data plan constantly DLing albums from my Cloud account rather than just having a phone with a decent amount of memory.
5. Video playback. GS3 has flawlessly played everything I've thrown at it, without any conversion. AVI's / XVID / X264 / MKV / VOB, MP4, alll of it. It's a far far cry from trying to get any bloody files to play on the iPhone, iTunes was so prickly with formats that even many .MP4's I downloaded wouldnt sync properly with iPhone. It was a major pain in the ass to throw videos on the iPhone because so many would require conversion. Even the third party apps in the app store that could play SOME AVI/XVID would get buggy and be unable to play back 50% of anything I threw at it.

Don't forget you can play flash movies on net
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app

Sianspheric said:
Hi guys.
So it seems like a number of people here have recently migrated over from iPhone, just curious what are your all favorite features/apps since you switched over.
I used an iPhone 3 from 2008-2010 and then an iPhone 4 from 2008-Sept 2012. I was jailbroken on those devices but still pretty blown away by many Android functions. I loved loved loved my iPhone when I first got one, back in the day they were so damned ahead of the curve, but over time HTC/Samsung has caught up and they are no longer making truly impressive devices worthy of me overpaying for them, and to have the Nanny state of Apple telling me what apps I am capable of using. Those are the main reasons I made the switch. Although I still kind of miss the smaller size of my iPhone.
ANYWAYYYYS....things I love since I made the switch:
1. TORRENTS! You could never ever get a Torrent application from the Apple App Store. I use "adownloaded" via the Google Play Store. I love mainly the ability to switch between various torrent trackers and even grab torrents from some of the private torrent sites I use (ones for music / video). If I feel like listening to some old album I don't have on my PC at home, simple just grab the torrent. Forgot to DL the new Boardwalk Empire, just grab it off a tracker via Adownloader.
2. Power management options. Having an app to turn off power hog features (wifi, mobile data, gps, etc) when the screen is turned off and then booting them all back up quickly when I turn the screen back on. I use "Go Power Master" for this and love it. You don't need to be rooted to do it either.
3. Themes / visual customization. Animated backgrounds, etc. Some of those things were available to jailbroken (and JB saavy) iPhone users but it was extreeemly buggy and problematic when I tried to mess with visual display customization with my jailbroken iPhones. Here its entirely simple to do for non-root and root users.
4. Battery replacement / external memory. Bought 2 extra batteries and an external battery charger off ebay for only $20 all included. Yes maybe that's a testament to the...not so amazing battery life of the GS3, but I still love the option of having extra 100% charged batteries at home and in the office in case I forget to charge my GS3. Down to 10% and no time to charge? Pull off the ottebox and throw another battery in. Also love the external memory, bought a 32GB micro SD as soon as I got my GS3. Blows my mind that Apple charges $100 extra to go from 16gb to 32gb and to 64gb (when it's been proven online it only costs them $10 to raise the memory....a 90% margin customers have to pay....retarded. A lot of my iPhone devotee friends would just tell me to get the 16gb and keep all my extra music/movies "in the cloud". Fuuuuuuck that. Why blow my wireless data plan constantly DLing albums from my Cloud account rather than just having a phone with a decent amount of memory.
5. Video playback. GS3 has flawlessly played everything I've thrown at it, without any conversion. AVI's / XVID / X264 / MKV / VOB, MP4, alll of it. It's a far far cry from trying to get any bloody files to play on the iPhone, iTunes was so prickly with formats that even many .MP4's I downloaded wouldnt sync properly with iPhone. It was a major pain in the ass to throw videos on the iPhone because so many would require conversion. Even the third party apps in the app store that could play SOME AVI/XVID would get buggy and be unable to play back 50% of anything I threw at it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am like you; long time iPhone user. then my wife upgrade her old iPhone to Galaxy S3 (for free), but she did not like it too much, so I offered my iPhone 4S switch :cyclops:, I still love my iPhone, but I don't know I wanted something different, and I am glad that I did switch with my wife. What I really like about Andorid phones is abilitity to do everything you wish, not like closed guarded iPhone OS thingy to deal here. S3 is a bit laggy because of TouchWiz, but once JB hits, I am sure this Galaxy S3 will be flying....

Just switched a couple weeks ago (iPhone 3G, 3GS, 4S) to the S3 - rooted and loaded a lightweight ROM.
Love it so far and very happy with the switch:
- took a while to find a browser app I like that 'feels' like Safari. I use Boat browser since I like a bookmarks link to be in the bottom toolbar (instead of clicking a button, then bookmarks like Chrome).
- Love the external SD card (64GB) + ability to play pretty much any video format I have using MX Player Pro. Instead of tediously converting to MP4s, I just load my original files and they look great in HD. Space is no concern either now.
- Love the custom launchers to customize the home screens exactly the way I want (using Nova Prime)
- Like the use of widgets
- Able to re-use my iTunes playlists and organization using iSyncr. Nice I can use one program to manage all my ipods and phone.
- Speed of everything (apps, etc) is great
- Love the much larger real estate - can no longer use my wife's iPhone 5 comfortably
Negs:
- battery life is noticeably inferior to the iPhone 4s and 5. Yes it has a larger battery and I have most power features on, but over 50% of my draw is from the screen. Totally makes sense, but I have to be more aware of where the battery is in the afternoon and re-charge it to avoid running out at night.
- Related to the above, but to avoid my battery dying to quickly, I can't put brightness as high as I'd ideally like. It's fine but not my first choice.
- Also related, auto-brightness doesn't work as well as I'd like
- basic tasks sometimes take extra clicks compared to the iPhone. Making a call and such feel like I'm making a couple extra clicks all the time compared to the simplicity of the iPhone.
- Hard closing apps is annoying vs. the iPhone. I know you don't "have" to, but I like doing it (OCC) and the Android method annoys me
Overall I'm very glad I switched and will likely remain an Android guy for a while.

dawheat said:
- basic tasks sometimes take extra clicks compared to the iPhone. Making a call and such feel like I'm making a couple extra clicks all the time compared to the simplicity of the iPhone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure if this will help..but you can put short cuts on your screen for direct contacts. I have a few set for the people I call most frequently.

dawheat said:
Just switched a couple weeks ago (iPhone 3G, 3GS, 4S) to the S3 - rooted and loaded a lightweight ROM.
Love it so far and very happy with the switch:
- took a while to find a browser app I like that 'feels' like Safari. I use Boat browser since I like a bookmarks link to be in the bottom toolbar (instead of clicking a button, then bookmarks like Chrome).
- Love the external SD card (64GB) + ability to play pretty much any video format I have using MX Player Pro. Instead of tediously converting to MP4s, I just load my original files and they look great in HD. Space is no concern either now.
- Love the custom launchers to customize the home screens exactly the way I want (using Nova Prime)
- Like the use of widgets
- Able to re-use my iTunes playlists and organization using iSyncr. Nice I can use one program to manage all my ipods and phone.
- Speed of everything (apps, etc) is great
- Love the much larger real estate - can no longer use my wife's iPhone 5 comfortably
Negs:
- battery life is noticeably inferior to the iPhone 4s and 5. Yes it has a larger battery and I have most power features on, but over 50% of my draw is from the screen. Totally makes sense, but I have to be more aware of where the battery is in the afternoon and re-charge it to avoid running out at night.
- Related to the above, but to avoid my battery dying to quickly, I can't put brightness as high as I'd ideally like. It's fine but not my first choice.
- Also related, auto-brightness doesn't work as well as I'd like
- basic tasks sometimes take extra clicks compared to the iPhone. Making a call and such feel like I'm making a couple extra clicks all the time compared to the simplicity of the iPhone.
- Hard closing apps is annoying vs. the iPhone. I know you don't "have" to, but I like doing it (OCC) and the Android method annoys me
Overall I'm very glad I switched and will likely remain an Android guy for a while.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agree with most those points.
I'm going to try out the Boat browser, thanks for mentioning that, I also do miss the quick bookmark tabs on the bottom like I had in Safari. I think the bottom loading bookmarks is better since you dont have to do two handled tapping to get to them, the little things that make you miss the smaller size of iPhone is having to reach for top loading bookmarks.
ps. highly recommend you check out "Go Power Master" for the battery issues like you mentioned. As I mentioned in my first post, If you set the settings up properly you can get more battery life out of the GS3 by having it set to shut down certain battery hog features when youd don't need em.

Switched from a 3GS,and I love my new GS3. My Galaxy certainly feels a lot faster (I completely turned animations off in Nova and developer options, my phone is a monster now), I love the customization, and I like how it's open source.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app

I actually returned my iPhone 5 for the S3. Mainly for the iOS still being the same as always. Nothing new, on this I could just flash roms for days.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium

I went from a iphone 4s to a SG3 and here's what I think
Pros:
The phone mainly allows me to express my inner nerd much better.
-Networking apps: Network scanner , nmap, wifi analyzer, mac changer, SSH, free hotspot (most of these are after root though)
-Video Playback: they don't have to be apple's nazi formats
-Customization: I love skinning my phone
-Tasker: just hands down awesome
-Google Navigation is also great
Cons:
-Iphone apps crash/freeze less
-Iphone uses less clicks to get to what I need. Example: if I want to call a number I found from yelp, I need to hit the phone number, then I need to press call on the phone app where as Iphone calls directly by pressing a number on yelp.
-Battery life is not as good on the SG3, like many have noticed.
-Texting is not as nice on the SG3: iMessage was great for group texts, esp when all my friends have iphones. Also I dislike that the two text apps I've tried both cover up my conversation when I turn my phone to landscape mode. It only shows my text typing box and they keyboard. I really liked that the ios message app shows a bit of your conversation however you type. Doe anyone know how to do this on the SG3?
-My iphone was compatible with my car's digital display, but the SG3 is not.

Widgets. I love my new widgets. Why the iphone has no widgets is beyond me. Also, setting in the pull down notifications? Bloody awesome.

Not having to stand in line all day to get one ... seriously though, I personally like the screen size. Is that even a feature?

Screened size, haptic feedback, removable battery, upgradeable storage uses usb instead of 30 pin or lightening, rootable from the day I got it (thanks XDA!) as oppose to weeks or months for a jailbreak.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app

you guys got most the pros and cons pretty much right.
I think having had an iPhone for many years and now having a top-quality Android device, you really get to see that there are many pretty advantages to each device. I dont think the Apple fanboys or the "Fandroids" have a perfect case to make for each device. With the GS3 I sacrifice a few things that I loved about iPhone but the things and possibilities I get in return with Android / GS3 kind of blow me away.
but I'm learning there are some shortcuts to some of the "too many clicks" issues:
if you go into Contact and want to call someone quickly, the common gripe is you select a name and instead of it launching a call to that name, you go into the contact details. there are Swipe Left and Swipe Right features in Contacts. Look up a contact and Swipe Right and it should launch straight into a call, Swipe Left and it will start a text to that name.

Battery life depends greatly on the Rom you are running, I get probably 25% better life on black jelly jb than on stock. I average 16hrs up time, 3 hrs screen, 2 hrs talk and a number of other running apps with 10-20% life remaining... depends on signal strength and Wi-Fi connection of course, but that's about my average experience. No fancy mods or anything, just rooted custom debloated Rom.
Ran iPhones from the 2 until the 4, the only thing I miss is pulling out an iPhone at a table with friends and everyone having the exact same phone and feeling cool lol. Seriously though, I have gotten the same stability with android that I had with a jailbroken iPhone, better battery life ( was never able to get past 4pm with any iPhone) swap batteries if I need to, micro sd, features years before Apple, features, shortcuts, widgets... the list goes on... for me, android and the sgs3 all the way, and these phones are just going to get better and better, it seems to me that Apple has hit their innovative wall, where as android/Google is just getting started. I can't believe the things that Google and Samsung is working on ie Google glass and the unbreakable/flexible screens and the 100% transparent screens... things that get me pretty excited for the future of these devices.
Sent from my SGH-I747 using xda premium

dawheat said:
- basic tasks sometimes take extra clicks compared to the iPhone. Making a call and such feel like I'm making a couple extra clicks all the time compared to the simplicity of the iPhone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really, I either have a direct contact on my screen or in the phone book in a second, and I also activated the GS III feature/gesture/motion of when you have a contact open and put the phone to your ear, it calls them automatically! I can call someone 5x faster than someone one iphone going through their contacts

Sianspheric said:
you guys got most the pros and cons pretty much right.
I think having had an iPhone for many years and now having a top-quality Android device, you really get to see that there are many pretty advantages to each device. I dont think the Apple fanboys or the "Fandroids" have a perfect case to make for each device. With the GS3 I sacrifice a few things that I loved about iPhone but the things and possibilities I get in return with Android / GS3 kind of blow me away.
but I'm learning there are some shortcuts to some of the "too many clicks" issues:
if you go into Contact and want to call someone quickly, the common gripe is you select a name and instead of it launching a call to that name, you go into the contact details. there are Swipe Left and Swipe Right features in Contacts. Look up a contact and Swipe Right and it should launch straight into a call, Swipe Left and it will start a text to that name.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks..I never knew about that shortcut. Just tried it and works very well. Still learning more. Make sure to get the free sg3 users digest from play stores.

I had a 3gs for a couple years and like most I liked it alot, but the battery ended up going funky and I was out of space. There really are only 2 gripes I have about Android over iphone
First is using it in the car, Iphones/Ipods just work better for this, to be able to just plug into my stereo USB and it charge and play music while showing the song info and being able to control from the radio itself is the biggest thing I miss, so much so I just leave my iPod in the car for my music and dont use the S3...sad...The other thing I miss is Apptrackr ...They have every app there is for iPhones, I have never not been able to find the app I want. The Android underground is lacking on that side of things, the options like blapk and all that is pretty ghetto. Torrents are not that much of a help either. But I suppose this is a whole other thread....I pretty much love everything else and Im glad I switched
The pros out weigh the cons for sure and I will not be going back to Iphone ever. I just hope that the whole car integration thing can be improved so I can ditch the ipod...

All the custom stuff on Android... I was a jailbreak junky and android out the box has way more custom.. I still have my iphone 4 jail broken.. I want emojis on my keyboard on my gs3 and iOs apps are more polished but pretty much the same on android some are nice some are crappy like wise on iphone just depends on developer.. IOS got stale for me... IOS feels like it's more for basic user /old people lol

I like the "auto reject" feature, especially when it comes to block calls. I like how I can have a live wallpaper

I use a belkin blue tooth adapter for car audio. The only thing I don't like about the phone is that Google Music won't download to my sd card.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2
---------- Post added at 11:14 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:03 AM ----------
I was gonna wait for the note 2 to be my first Android but it's just to big. The quad core would have been nice though.

[Q] Moving from iPhone to Note 2, advice please!

Evening all,
I am a long time lurker on this forum, and I have noticed that a lot of you have got Android phones so I was after a bit of advice.
Currently, I have had the pleasure of using an iPhone 4 for the last two and a bit years. It has been a spectacular phone and with the combination of iTunes for management, it had made everything a lot easier. However, with the launch of the iPhone 5 I personally feel that the ‘enhancements’ made do not warrant the extra expenditure, so I am looking for a change.
My next phone of choice is probably going to be the Samsung Galaxy note 2; which, I have read a number of reviews and watched a variety of different YouTube videos showing its features and functionality. I was looking at buying this on a 24 month contract with 3UK but there are a few little things stopping me.
First, from the management side of things, is there anything like iTunes for the Android platform, secondly is Android as fluid as iOS as I know a few early adopters who used Android and it was one of my primary decisions to go to iOS and lastly what is the build quality like on the Samsung devices?
Thanks in advance!

Do yourself a favour and get Tunesync. It syncs your iTunes library perfectly over wifi - to this day it's the only way I know to get iTunes libraries to your phone without the album art etc screwing up.
Saying that, there's always Spotify too!
In terms of build quality, the Note 2 is a mile ahead of the S3 and has a far better screen, although the sheer size difference may make your head spin. Android runs great provided you get a custom ROM, Android revolution HD is my favourite as it's a very fine tuned version of the ROM it comes with. In fact, after the hideous iOS 6 update to my ipad 3 I'd say my Android is smoother.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda app-developers app

I have been offered the note 2 on three with £30 discount.
I love the way the iPhone works, but I want something that is a little different. What about app synchronisation? How is this done with android?

I'll make this short and sweet.
In terms of build quality, iphone much is better.
It terms of anything else, note 2 is better.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda premium

MohJee said:
I'll make this short and sweet.
In terms of build quality, iphone much is better.
It terms of anything else, note 2 is better.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In what way is the note 2 better?

MohJee said:
I'll make this short and sweet.
In terms of build quality, iphone much is better.
It terms of anything else, note 2 is better.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I totally agree you pay much more for the build quality, thats why iphones are expensive.
I have been very disappointed by the quality of the note2, let's start with the usb cable not working out of the box, a small scratch on the screen out of the box too, and a little bit deformed back cover (camera hole didn't fit perfectly).
Otherwise, I think it is a real smartphone, not a tinny cute Iphone.
How the note 2 is better? It is a computer like not a normal phone, you throw any media file in it and play it, you can use the stylus for working by writing notes on pdf files, highlighting sentences, signing docs, making plans... The extra real estate screen fot browsing Web and i mean, real browsing, not playing it cool with a 4inch toy, you can even use the stylus the way you use the mouse. And finally usb otg, just stick a usb drive and copy, cut, create docs or files or whatever you want.
I can't keep on, but as I said, you will use a smart phone for the first time in your life (if you are coming from iphones as you said) windows smartphones where very cool, but android is taking over.
Sent from my GT-N7100

RokkaMan said:
Android runs great provided you get a custom ROM, Android revolution HD is my favourite as it's a very fine tuned version of the ROM it comes with.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I disagree, most new Android phones with ics and above run great as stock without using a new rom.
Sent from my Samsung Note II.

Tomo1971 said:
I disagree, most new Android phones with ics and above run great as stock without using a new rom.
Sent from my Samsung Note II.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+10
I don't use any custom roms. I love stock Samsung Note 2

Dylanlewis2000 said:
In what way is the note 2 better?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
-Screen size. Speaks for itself.
-Battery life. Probably the second best battery life on a smart phone, second only to RAZR MAXX.
-S-Pen(which comes with a whole set of features far too long for me to list here.)
-A lot of cool and useful features (multi Window, smart stay, smart rotation, direct call, pop up video player, pop up browser, swipe to screen shot and much more)
-Jelly bean (4.1.1) out of the box, official 4.1.2 coming soon.
-Quad core 1.6GHz processor, which is faster than iphone 5 dual core A6 processor.
-2GB ram.
- Feature rich camera. (best shot, best faces, low light, hdr, burst mode, panorama, face detection, share shot, smile detection, timer, anti shake + 12 effects + set exposure value +auto focus & macro focus etc...)
-micro sd card. Enough said. Allows you to add up to 64gb of additional storage. (64gb SanDisk card cost 40 or 50 dollars in amazon, or somewhere around that).
-removable battery, should for whatever reason the 3100mah be not enough for you, you can buy a spare one. Although you probably won't need one because like I said the battery life in this phone is amazing.
On top of my head, these things . I still haven't gone into the tens of dozens things what android can do that IOS simply can't, and I really don't want to since that'll take a lot of typing, and you can Google this stuff.
Also I strongly disagree with above who said that you NEED a custom rom. In my opinion, the stock experience in this phone is excellent and touchwiz is hugely improved than what it was before. You can get custom rom if that's you're thing, but you certainly don't need them. Only thing I'd advise anyone to do is to root their phone.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda premium

You can mention thousand points why Note 2 is better, but the point is how many points are actually applicable in real life usage.
Anyway, replying to OP's query, well in short, NO, Android is NOT smoother or as smooth as iOS 6, in fact it is not smooth like the previous iOS, and I am talking about Jelly Bean 4.1. Well I am using both iPhone and Android/Samsung flagships for over three years now. I have never ditched my iPhone 4S for anything, but I just sold it for iPhone 5. I purchased Note 2 because I loved the S-Pen idea, the screen size. But being said that, when I scroll through my contacts, or some apps, my iPhone 5 is LOT smoother than my Note 2. Jelly Bean might have a name like 'Project butter' but iOS has the real butter.
Also, keep in mind that Android applications (Play Store) are NO MATCH for App Store. Yes, there are several crap in App Store, but more in Play Store, and the overall quality is pretty bad.
I love both my devices for several different reasons, so can't ditch either of them. And another thing about Android users you will see is their pathetic fanboys. They don't even mind a laggy, buggy, crappy device, they just want openness, now I never found out what is openness, the craze of CM ROM's maybe?
Now build quality, well boy, what can say but plastic? Well, Note 2 has all plastic. So I will not comment on it's build quality. Some kids will say glass will break easy, well lets drop both iP5 and Note 2, then see.
So, IMO, if optimization, fluidity and smoothness of OS matters to you big time then stick with iPhone 5, for all the other reasons go with Note 2, and if you have spare money to burn, then have both.
Now you see I have skipped all the cons about iOS, why? Because you know them already.
I am NOT a fanboy of either iOS or Android, I hate them.

I am used to prime-evil OSs, as over the last few years I have had a variety of devices ranging from Symbian os to windows mobile 3,4 and 5. All have their advantages and disadvantages, I loved windows mobile As it had fantastic email client support and a lot of apps (2003-2005 era) and I like Symbian for its simplicity and the devices Nokia created like the E90’ But since transitioning to the iPhone I have found a fantastic yet restrictive user experience.
The restrictiveness with apple is one of the main reasons they have created a fantastic App Store, whereas the Nokia and wimo stores back in the day were utter gash.
Do you get many problems with android apps? Do the fill the screen? I remember reading early reports that android apps were not filling the screen on some devices and on others refuse to run. This is something that would annoy me.

Tomo1971 said:
I disagree, most new Android phones with ics and above run great as stock without using a new rom.
Sent from my Samsung Note II.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Uh, let's just say in my experience compared to my other android phones, that hasn't been the case yet.
And for the record, Android revolution HD is just the stock rom that's been tweaked, just to counter the "custom rom" misinformation in this thread.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda app-developers app

Dylanlewis2000 said:
The restrictiveness with apple is one of the main reasons they have created a fantastic App Store
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well this is so simple to understand but some so called 'power users' are too dumb too get it
Dylanlewis2000 said:
Do you get many problems with android apps? Do the fill the screen? I remember reading early reports that android apps were not filling the screen on some devices and on others refuse to run. This is something that would annoy me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They fit the screen. At least the one I use, and I don't install anything I see. I first see if it's labeled as 'Top developer' or 'Editors choice', then I see the users rating. Just for an example, a good sports app, Score Mobile, labeled as Top developer, available in Play Store. I already was used to this app from my iPhone 4S. It was so smooth, so fluid in iOS, but when I use it on my Note, oh boy, I have never seen an app could lag/stutter like that. Now if this is an app labeled as 'Top Developer' then imagine the apps which are not labeled in anything.

I was an I phone user for 2 years then switched to galaxy s2 and now note 2. The I phone is idiot proof and everything just works but android is catching up. The apps are all full screen any phone and just as good as ios. The real beauty of android is if you don't like something rhen just change it. You can change anything from keyboard to launcher and widgets are a godsend. Got to say I'm really impressed with google now its spookily good, its like it can read my mind
Sent from my GT-N7105 using xda app-developers app

I switched from iPhone 4 to Note 2 in this week.
I'm very satisfied. The only problems that i have noticed are:
- Bad email clients (even those from the market. iOS Mail is much better to use)
- Bad space management (it's impossible, i have a giant 5.5" screen and Messages app is impossible to read decently with the keyboard open)
- Best app quality in iOS (Whatsapp messenger for iOS has more options, like custom ringtones for every single contact)
- Bad display quality if you not see it directly in front of you (iPhone has IPS, which is the best display for view angles)
- Some strange response when i receive a notification. If that is a SMS the phone rings, display turns on etc, if that is a mail, i receive only a notification sound, no display on. And seems that is no way to change this.
- Apps like Facebook Messenger, that has a unique notification tone on iOS, doesnt' have that particular ringtone here, but they use a default tone chosen by the user. And that is the default tone for ALL the application that doesn't permit to personalise it.
I know that there will be solutions for a lot of this things, they will be hidden somewhere but hey, it is a huge waste of time.
Besides, it is a great phone. Great sound quality, great battery, great screen and it has so powerful hardware that it results more smooth than iPhone 4. And it's Android, which means infinite personalization and possibility to use custom roms for reaching better battery life (i suppose), better personalization, better user experience.
Sorry for my english, i'm an italian user. :fingers-crossed:

Music sync can be done with either double twist and tunesync, they both mirror itunes libraries and playlists etc.
I've been a user of the iphone 4 for 2 years and the note 2 is a HUGE improvement. People that say ios never lagged are just lying lol. iOS lagged and apps crashed on my iphone several times.
From the opinion of someone thats been on both sides, I honestly could not go back to an iphone. Mainly because of the screen size of the note 2 makes iphone screens seem too small for me to use anymore. But to each his own. Its about what suits you.
Stock rom on the note 2 is fine. I only get a lag when opening the S-Note app and a slight delay when opening the contacts app. Other than that everything has run smooth even with 3 browser windows open at once and a video playing at the same time.
As for app syncing, why? lol. I never understood the point of it on iOS and always disabled it.
app quality is definitely more refined in iOS. But improving slowly on android finally.
edit: @ the guy above my post: you can change most notification tones in the individual app settings. Facebook -> menu -> settings -> notification tone
In what way is the stock email client bad? :S I find it miles ahead of the iOS email client because you can actually attach multiple files at once. Plus for me, it is easier to use. I find the iOS mail client to be garbage. But again, thats my opinion

If iOS email client is garbage then I see fanboyism again here? And no one said iOS never lagged.
Anyway, I don't wanna argue.

jujuburi said:
If iOS email client is garbage then I see fanboyism again here? And no one said iOS never lagged.
Anyway, I don't wanna argue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol no fanboyism here. Just my opinion. I used the iphone for 2 years and the app honestly annoyed me because it felt so limited. I actually do find the stock android one better. I dont count it as fanboyism as I genuinely used both and gave both a try instead of blindly bashing one without experience.
As for the lagging. My bad, I misread one of the earlier posts. But in general I do find my friends claiming that ios never lags.
All good bro, im not looking to argue either
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda premium

@Note 2 might be too big specially if ur coming from an iPhone
3.5→5.5
I even felt the difference between s2 and s3
4.3→4.8
2 inches more straight away ! You gonna take some time for adjusting for sure !
sent from my gs3 GT i 9300
----------------------------------
---------- Post added at 07:25 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:20 PM ----------
I would say go for nexus 4 instead it has best software and is better than iPhone 5 in terms of fluidity also it has s4 pro processor faster quad core processor presently for mobile.
Only problem is space if it doesn't bother then go for it I used nexus 4 yesterday and it is awesome a bit better than s3 overall I feel , note 2 was too big for me when I used.
I think nexus 4 was the only phone I have used and is way fluid than iPhone, note 2,galaxy s3
sent from my gs3 GT i 9300
----------------------------------

I see that the discussion took a turn to android vs. ios. I guess this is inevitable in these kind of topics. Anyways, here's my take, and I've used both operating systems.
-IOS has the advantage in a number of things. For one, there are way fewer devices to worry about. After all, the IOS is exclusive to Apple devices, which you can count on your finger tips. Android, on the other hand, runs on literally hundreds of devices (a side-effect of being open-source). Naturally, this has it's advantages and disadvantages. For instance, app developers for the IOS, for instance, can make sure that their apps work flawlessly in the Iphone, with all its models, and the Ipad, with all its models, before pushing that app into the market. An advantage of using an open source OS would be that manufacturers don't have to pay for using it in their devices, and as such can offer their devices at lower prices due to lower costs. Another advantage of being open source is that each one can manipulate the system however they like to make it unique than the others and add to it whatever they want (eg: Samsung's Touchwiz, HTC's sensation).
-Google and Apple have completely different philosophies. Apple believes in a "walled garden" approach. Meaning that they'll reject any app unless it fits to their criteria. Of course, what works for Apple in this case can't work for Google. If Google rejected any app that doesn't work perfectly with all android devices, their market would be a ghost town. Consequently, an app developer in android can release an app even if it doesn't play nice with all devices. Most of them will then update it to make it as perfect as possible (at least for the popular android devices) taking into consideration user feedback. Having said that, you'll be hard pressed to find an app that doesn't run on an android device, unless that device is old/obsolete/runs on a very old version of android. To put things in perspective, I still haven't run into an app or a game that don't work well in my note 2 or doesn't fill the entire screen, the same app would work perfect in my old Galaxy S2 before I sold it, which has a much smaller screen and used to run on Android v. 2.3 (this brings me to my next point, read below).
- Largely because it is open sourced, Android is a much more flexible OS. What do I mean by this? Well, take for example the jump from 3.5" Iphones to the now new screen size 4" in the Iphone 5. Most apps in the apple store would get letterboxed until the developers update them to support the new screen size, even though the increase in screen size is only 0.5". I've yet to run into a game or an app that doesn't fill my 5.5" screen in the note 2. If there are any, and probably there are, they would be rare.
- It's difficult to go wrong with IOS because it's a bare-boned operating system (all you really have is an app drawer.. i.e: a bunch of icons on the screen). For the most, the iOS now looks exactly how it did back in 2007. Even the notification slider (which was copied from android) is nowhere as good as it is in android. If that's all you'll ever need or want, then by all means, stay with the Iphone, because you're going to get much more than that moving to Android. It hard to go wrong when you don't actually add anything major. Of course, that's not to say Apple doesn't add things. They are masters in the art of adding things (say for example, the notification slider, rejecting a call with a message, or Panorama mode in the camera) and then calling it revolutionary, notwithstanding the fact that such things existed in other OS's for years.
Like I said this could go on for pages, and it really doesn't have to. Once you understand the concept of a 'closed' system vs. an 'open' system, you'll understand the major advantages and disadvantages of each. Having understood that, you decide for yourself which one is the best one for you. For me personally, I'd rather have device that runs Froyo than one that runs the on the latest iOS 6.