I recently wrote a detailed post on what’s in my laptop bag and the focus is predominantly on travel technology.
Thanks to reader input, I updated my camera (to Canon S95) and my laptop (to a Lenovo u300s), and months later I’m thrilled with both decisions.
But at the time I punted on the phone. And so now I’m coming back to y’all again for help.
I’m still working off a Blackberry Bold 9700, it’s long been out of contract. I’ve been a Blackberry guy for years because my primary use is e-mail. Ever since 2006 I’ve found it to be a workable enough phone, so I condensed that way, I haven’t had a land line in about 10 years either.
I know that Blackberry has been supposedly working on their next generation operating system, to compete with iPhone and Android, but it’s been delayed and I don’t have high hopes for it. I feel like it’s a dying platform, and the world is passing me by. I’m ready to make the switch, but I need advice, because I don’t know the best device for my situation.
I live off the thing, so I’m not scared of buying a top-end device. Put a different way, I’m not looking to sacrifice quality or performance for $100.
On the other hand, if it’s more likely that the ‘right’ device will appear in the next few months if only I wait, my Blackberry still works fine, I don’t have to pull the trigger immediately.
- I’m looking for an Android, not an iPhone.
- It has to work well as my primary phone, not just as a handheld computer.
- The #1 use is e-mail, far more than media or social networking.
- Currently the only app I use is with Twitter, though I’d love to be able to upload photos to Photobucket (where I store my photos and host them for my blog) and also post here from my phone.
Battery life is important. Weight matters. I’d love a big screen and comfortable browsing experience, I hate the browser on the Blackberry and do anything I can to avoid using it for anything but the simplest tasks.
Mostly though I don’t know what I don’t know, don’t know what I’m missing, since it seems as though I’ve missed out on generations of functionality. Hence the need for a consensus answer among my travel savvy readers. What do I want?
Thanks in advance!
This is why I was asking him to elaborate on his reasons. If he wants a 4.3+” screen and a hardware keyboard, those will simply not happen with an iPhone and no one should bug him on it 🙂 To be fair though, hardware keyboards are a dying breed. Anecdotally, I’ve heard many remark that the iPhone keyboard is the best, and the android soft keyboard is fine.
For android, I think my recommendation will boil down to simply get a Galaxy Nexus. It will be the least adulterated android experience you can have, though you have to buy the GSM version at full price unlocked.
Gary — add me to the list of those who are confused as to why you ruled out the iPhone. Not that there might not be reasons to pick an Android phone over the iPhone, just that given the general demeanor that comes across in your blog, it’s just surprising that you’ve ruled out the iPhone.
Samsung Galaxy 2, google account sync is the best even if you lose your phone you will always have your contacts and that is the most important.
@ Julia Awesome link! Thanks for posting. I think Priceonomics methodology is the most objective at measuring the true value.
“At Priceonomics, we firmly believe that resale value is the best objective indicator of product quality. If you wanted to figure out the best cell phone, you could look at all the reviews, test out all the phones, talk to all the experts, but still your assessment will be subjective. Or you could let the market tell you which phones are the highest quality by seeing which ones best retain their value over time”.
http://priceonomics.com/phones/#cell-phone-depreciation
+1 on the Galaxy Nexus from the Google Play Store. Best phone ever.
1. Unlocked. Very important to a frequent international traveler (pick up a cheap local SIM for data & voice–this alone saves you $100s over AT&T/T-Mobile predatory “roaming” rates)
2. Pure Android. None of the cr@pware that US carriers install on the phones, which destabilizes them, eat up battery, and make the experience awful
3. Latest version of Android, updated directly by Google.
I switched to it from an iPhone; best decision ever. Your decision is spot on.
Wow- Gary, think you started a religious war, with in particular all the Apple fanboys flocking to post the latest comments.
I was in the cell phone business for 7 years, and actually carry an iPhone4S myself, but would put the resale value of the handset near the bottom of any criteria I use to buy- when do any of us sell off our used handset?!
I think you have a good idea of what you want out of your phone-
– mainly email, so strong preferance for a physical keyboard,
– long battery life because of all the travel
So those factors combined with your current familiarity with the BB platform basically leads to a clear conclusion for you- stick with the BB. It does what you want and use a phone for, quickly and easily, and you are already familiar with the form and function.
Have you thought about adding a Playbook to your travelling portfolio, to have a bigger screen for surfing, etc? They’ve dropped to $150 – $200 at discount sites now.
it is strange to read about all the love for apple products. i wasn’t so in love when my computer conked out on me a week after the three year warranty date expired, and i was out of luck.
people should understand the limitations of all products, and also the veil that is created that makes trendiness and the fact that people around you have it is no indication whatsoever of its real value.
if only blackberry used aesthetics as their driving force…., but the unfortunate part is that it is made for businesspeople and is probably run by businesspeople, and this is where apple has them by the nuts.
Avoid the Samsung Charge (Verizon). Didn’t realize that the model name meant that you needed to charge it all the time. Absolutely horrific battery life – and basic email crashes all the time. The screen is big and beautiful but that doesn’t compensate for all of the negative issues.
I went from a keyboard to a touch screen (Samsung Focus, Windows Phone 7) just over a year ago. It took a bit of getting used to, but with the new predictive “spelling” in 7.5 (it looks at the context and suggests words with surprising accuracy), I realized the other day that I am now faster than I was on the keyboard.
Gary – I think you should at least consider iPhone. Is this the best phone ever made? That’s debatable. But I can tell you this: If you do get an iPhone, you WILL FALL IN LOVE WITH IT. It certainly is the best phone in the world for me. There is a somewhat arrogant saying “it’s probably hard for a BMW owner to describe to a Honda owner how attention to detail makes their driving experience better”. It sounds supercilious but it is quite true. There is a level of attention to detail which is paid to some products that some people simply do not care about, and for other people it absolutely MAKES the product. For instance, BMW engineers the sound of the closing car door. This is something that subtly affects the experience of driving a BMW. Unfortunately, Android and Windows Phone still lacks much of the fine polish that iOS users enjoy.
These are some of the things that make iPhone special to me (many other things were already addressed by other iPhone users above):
Camera: The latest and greatest iPhone yet has the best camera ever seen on a smartphone. The results are incredible. Its backlit sensor ensure that the 8MP snapper captures great quality images. In fact, if you’ve got an iPhone 4S you probably don’t need a regular point-and-shoot. It may have some pretty close rivals in daylight, outdoors. But, indoors and in low light conditions it shines brighter than anything I’ve seen.
Ease of Use: iOS is intuitively easy to use. It’s a software that requires no explaining or tutorials. Since all the programs are right there on the home screen, the only thing that you have to discover is what the physical buttons do. Even my daughter could figure that out before she turned two.
It just works: It may sound cheesy, but that doesn’t make it untrue. It really does work, pretty much all the time. Think about installing apps for a second. Back in the olden days, installing programs on to a computer usually meant having to reboot. The same can be said of BlackBerry. My Bold 9700 running OS6 still asks me to restart the phone every time I install an update or download a new app. My iPhone? Hit “buy” and it installs and is ready to work as soon as it’s done downloading. Syncing is also breeze, whether you do it via iCloud backup, or using iTunes on your Mac/PC. It kind of just takes care of everything for you. This great feature is mostly down to Apple’s ecosystem. Having designed all the software and hardware to run together, and tie them together in iCloud, or iTunes, means you can have one harmonious network of iDevices without stress.
Reliability: Battery lasts a day, and you rarely get major software performance issues. Crashing rarely ever happens. In fact, the last time my iPhone crashed was when I was running a beta version of iOS 5 in the first week after beta 1 was launched.
App Store/Developer Support: There are hundreds of thousands of apps in the App Store. All of them have to meet Apple’s guidelines, all of them vetted and checked by Cupertino staff. Granted, the odd slippery eel gets through the net every once in a while, but no where near the number that gets in to any of its competitors’ markets. Most great apps find their way on to iPhone first, and get updates pretty quickly if there are any issues. Most of the top professional apps are still missing from Android. Also according to my very close friend who works at Microsoft software group, Microsoft is actively developing iOS versions of the their flagship programs (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Visio, even Age of Empires!). Both iPhone and iPad versions are being developed and will be released in the early summer. There is no chance in hell these applications will ever be released on Android according to my friend, since they feel Android is designed to kill Windows franchise vs. iOS more of premium boutique product to them.
Gary –
I believe you are using yahoo email. Yahoo is FULLY supported on the iPhone, including push email which I am sure something you expect as Blackberry user. Android does not support push mail with Yahoo mail. iPhone is Yahoo’s platform of choice – Yahoo even promotes exclusively iPhone in their ads. Remember Google and Yahoo are fierce competitors and Yahoo is doing everything to devalue user experience on Android. Just like Microsoft is doing with hotmail for Android users but to be fair Google is doing the same thing with Gmail on Windows Phone (iPhone is neutral territory to them so gmail works just as well on iPhone as it is on Android).
Here is a quote from wikipedia:
“Yahoo Mail is not pushed to an Android device as android is still lacking in imap idle. An alternate to lack of native support for Yahoo Mail is to install the free Yahoo Mail app which provides instant push email. The Yahoo Mail app is now overloaded with ads, using up precious space on small screens”.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Push_email#Google_Android
@Alessio I use Yahoo as my ‘throwaway’ account that I don’t want to download via mobile, I check it once a day or so, it gets tons of spam but also reader comments, I admit I don’t look at those in real time 🙂
@Gary Got it. Just trying to be helpful the same way your advice have been helpful to me in the last three years:)
In case of Android, it is important to keep in mind that there will be compatibility issues not just with Yahoo but also Microsoft (exchange, hotmail, outlook integration and apps in general). It’s life vs. death battle for Microsoft when it comes to Android.
Gary,
I’m a little biased. I’m definitely in the iPhone camp. I’ve lived with both Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android—and the experience is revealing. I spent the past eight months using an HTC Inspire running Android 2.2 (Froyo), with HTC’s Sense layered on top of it. Previously I had an iPhone 3G but I had grown tired of the Apple universe and I was initially excited by both Sense and Android. Android initially seemed refreshing.
But it didn’t take long to get annoying. My problems with Android were manifold, I could never get the Microsoft Exchange client to sync with my calendar (which caused me to miss meetings and appointments—not cool), there was too much inconsistent logic with core OS functions such as the back button (in some apps it brings you back to the home screen—that’s what the home button is for!), and it seemed crashy as hell.
But the thing that really damned Android for me in the long run was this general feeling that I had moved into a technological ghetto. The apps in the Android market were almost uniformly cheap and low-quality. Visually Android seems like a patchwork of scavenged design ideas. And despite the fact that HTC’s hardware was pretty nice, that company doesn’t produce the jewel-like objects that Apple does.
This is particulary relevant when it comes to travel apps. Most of them are exlusive to iPhone. SPG app, W app, Mandarin Orienta, Hilton app and many many more are available only on the iPhone. My favorite travel app Expedia is not available. A lot of airlines are iPhone exlusive too and those that have apps available on Android tend to have very limited funcitonality compared to iPhone. FlightTrack, Kayak and TripAdvisor are also available on Android but the functionality is crippled compared to iPhone versions. I also find that the iPhone’s push notifications are particularly suited to flight updates.
So now I’ve moved back to the iPhone 4S, which I like a lot. Fantastic phone, really can’t recommend highly enough!
A BB 9700 – man, that’s painful. The world HAS passed you by. As for waiting for BB10, that must have been said by a Cubs fan. As for a Windows phone, it is in a tenuous position at the bottom of the marketplace. I strongly recommend the iPhone as well. I have a 4g and a Mophie Juice Pack Plus for double battery life – very nice. I bought my wife an Android (Motorola Atrix) last year (it was the absolute best out there) and she could not figure it out. I took it back within 30 days (AT&T policy) and she is now very happy with her iPhone. Apple periodically updates their OS, which means new features and bug fixes are made available to existing users – forget that on Android. This really is a VERY big issue. Apple has corrected a number of issues as well as added new features 2x since I bought the phone last year. As for a keyboard, you can learn the screen keyboard – I am not as fast as I was on the BB, but in total the usability of the device more than makes up for it. The iPhone works around the world, although I did have some issues in Nigeria (go figure).
Not sure why you don’t like Apple – it’s your decision, but I think you are hurting yourself. I don’t worship the place, nor do I Google or Microsoft. All three have their warts.
@Jim “Apple periodically updates their OS, which means new features and bug fixes are made available to existing users – forget that on Android. This really is a VERY big issue. Apple has corrected a number of issues as well as added new features 2x since I bought the phone last year”.
Kind of demonstrating your point, Apple just released a new iOS update 2 hours ago with new features and security updates. Even 4 year old iPhones are qualified for an upgrade.
This never happens on Android: http://theunderstatement.com/post/11982112928/android-orphans-visualizing-a-sad-history-of-support
I’m in the market for a new phone as well. Like many folks my first smart phone was the original iPhone from 2007. I upgraded that to 3G when that came out and enjoyed both of those. Then when 4G came out (originally in the form of WiMax) I switched to an HTC Evo on Sprint. People say that’s much too slow to be called 4G today but back then it was the fastest thing I’d ever seen in a mobile by any carrier. It was great. The only thing I didn’t like was the battery life, so I ended up having to replace it with an extended battery.
Everything was fine for a couple years but now it’s starting to experience some issues related to wear and tear. It still does 90% of what it always did, but sometimes it gets sluggish or confused. I’m currently waiting to see what the next iPhone 5 will be like. Not so much because I expect to buy an iPhone but rather because I want to know how far they’ll raise the bar.
The nice thing about Android is that it is always improving so even when Apple gets ahead chances are there will be similar improvements for Android in a few months as they work to catch up. I have no idea why iPhone owners are so anti-android even to this day. Both markets push each other to improve faster and to a higher level. Seems like a win-win to me, but what do I know.
HERE’S A QUESTION FOR ANYONE: Are there any features and/or applications on Android (or iPhone for that matter) that provide trusted and stable encryption for storage and communication like Blackberry was famous for?
Seems like something a lot of people who are still with RIM might want but I’ve never heard anyone ever talk about it.
@Dax You are right that Android is always improving, just like iOS and WebOS and Windows Phone and Blackberry. But the question is do you see these improvements on your existing phone or are they only available if you buy a new phone? Android phones don’t get software updates. Zero. None. But why? Obviously a big part of the problem is that Android has to go from Google to the phone manufacturers to the carriers to the devices, whereas iOS just goes from Apple directly to devices. But there is also no incentive for smartphone manufacturers to update Android because manufacturers don’t make any money after the hardware sale, they want you to buy another phone as soon as possible. In other words, Apple’s way of getting you to buy a new phone is to make you really happy with your current one, whereas apparently Android phone makers think they can get you to buy a new phone by making you really unhappy with your current one.
I have the same travel, e-mail needs, but prefer a smaller pocketable device. I’m looking at the
Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini for its keyboard, small size and android system. Its also unlocked standard for easier international use.
Gary – iPhone wins my vote. The strongest selling point of the iPhone for me has always been the plethora of apps available, especially in the world of photography. The iPhone 4s takes a phenomenal photograph even without any fancy apps. I have the iPhone 4, and while it holds its own with photos, the new 4s happens to have all-new optics (a custom lens with 5 new elements), a larger aperture (f/2.4), and a new 8-megapixel sensor.
What really makes this camera shine though, is the back-illuminated sensor – a refined version of the one they stuck in the iPhone 4. Without going into all the technical jargon, it simply means that the sensor is able to capture photons of light far better than with conventional sensors, and as a result, you’re able to take photographs in much lower levels of light – a really epic feat for mobile phones.
What’s really awesome however, is that not only can you take great photos with the iPhone, you can also edit them straight away, really easily, and of course share them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc, all within a few minutes of taking the shot – you show me a DSLR that can do that! Convinced yet?
When Motorola releases a new version of its Droid Pro (probably this summer), get that one.
It has a physical keyboard that’s a dead ringer for a blackberry.
Great for former blackberry users looking for an easy transition.
Alessio – you are so far off base. “Android phones don’t get software updates.” That’s a ridiculous, and false, assertion. To the contrary, since Android phones are open source, even when the manufacturer deprecates support for a device there is a community able to update or customize the code if they want to. You can port Android 4.0 to nearly the oldest Android devices and certainly all the one released in the last 2 years. Can you port the latest iOS to older iphones?
Why is it so hard for iphone owners to accept that there are credible, strong alternatives to their beloved brand? Which in some cases are far superior… I haven’t seen much discussion about what you can do on an iphone that you can’t do on Android or Windows Phone.
“You can port Android 4.0 to nearly the oldest Android devices and certainly all the one released in the last 2 years.”
Yes, if you’re sufficiently technically inclined, you can do this. Most people are not- they expect supported upgrades, which Apple delivers to their customers, and carriers selling Android generally do not.
Your argument is like saying “I know your dealer decided not to make any repairs on your car model after 18 months, but you can always fix your own car!”
“Can you port the latest iOS to older iphones?”
Yes. Though you do not have to “port” it.
For the record, every device that Apple is selling today is an iOS 5 device. The majority of Android phones being sold TODAY are Gingerbread (2.3).
eponymous coward – My argument is nothing of the sort. It is a direct refutation of the false statement by Alesio that “Android phones don’t get upgrades. Zero. None.” I don’t know if it’s an uninformed or deliberate fabrication. But it’s still a ridiculous, and false, claim.
What is the point you’re trying to make? Apple can keep the 2 phones they are selling on the newest platform? What does that prove? I could easily counter that there are dozens of phones that are being sold with Android 4.0 compared to 2 on IOS 5. Doesn’t matte.r
I repeat my earlier questions. Why do iphone owners have so much trouble accepting that there is a compelling, competitive and credible alternative to their beloved platform? And what exactly can you do on iphone that you can’t do on Android or Windows Phone?
@AS Alessio is right – there are no upgrades in the Android. This is not an option but a fact. Take a look at the official numbers from Google. Less than 3% of the Android phones use the latest version of Android – 97% of Android phones have not been upgraded and use 2 year old system.
Official Google distribution:
http://thenextweb.com/google/2012/04/03/android-ice-cream-sandwich-gets-biggest-gain-yet-growing-from-1-6-adoption-to-2-9-since-march-5th/
Compare these stats with the iPhone where 95% of all iPhone use the latest system and only 5% use older operating systems.
On iPhone upgrade is easy and automated. Android is a different story. In order to update to a newer version of Android, your manufacturer or would have to release a firmware update specifically for your model phone. But this never happens in the Android world. Android manufacturers don’t make any money after the hardware sale, they want you to buy another phone as soon as possible. Google makes money on advertisement, so they don’t care if your phone never gets upgraded as long as you keep on clicking on all the ads and there are A LOT OF THEM in Android. The only way to upgrade to the latest Android version is what you suggested – to root the phone or effectively hack it. Theoretically you could do it yourself, if you had all the necessary development tools and have the programing experience, but it’s not like installing a Windows or even Linux upgrade. The moment you root your Android phone, the warranty is out of the window. You will also have stability and compatibility issues since the system you rooted your phone with was never intended nor tested on your phone.
@Manny I have read Gary’s blog for years as well as listen to him on UPGRD. I have learned quite a few things from him as well and as someone who is a 1k and has used his current platform as well as iOS and Android I thought I would give him my experiences since I have learned from his blogs. I am a best tech person and right now Android is best tech. I carry the Galaxy Nexus after I made the mistake of going with a HTC non-stock device and I also have the iPad 2 because it has the best hardware sans the screen from the iPad 3. Like so many iOS die hards you have not kept up with Android development. Google has dealt with the malware issue
http://www.infoworld.com/d/security/google-finally-scans-malware-ridden-android-market-185654
They also check developer accounts to prevent malicious developers from uploading apps into the market place. It does not happen all the time as you assert. Also iOS fans and Anti-Virus companies blow the malware threat way out of proportion.
http://www.informationweek.com/byte/news/personal-tech/mobile-apps/232500746
@Mike Jenks is that why the military chose Android over iOS?
http://www.bit9.com/blog/2012/01/04/u-s-military-approves-android-devices-not-iphone/
@Alessio the new Nexus absolutely has the same amount of polish as iOS and it is only getting better with Matias Duarte onboard. If you haven’t played with the new Nexus you should at least check it out. Google did a complete overhaul with 4.0 and it is leaps and bounds above all previous versions of Android. None of the crashing issues that you talk about because it is a stock Android phone. The only time apps crash is when the app hasn’t been updated to support 4.0 which also happens on my iPad. When iOS 5 came out I had plenty of apps that crashed because they hadn’t been updated to support the new operating system. Thanks for linking to the chart on Android updates. You will notice that the Nexus is the one continually supported with software updates which would be equivalent to the iPhone. Not exactly fair to compare top of the line phones with the Motorola Cliq or Motorola Devour the midrange BOGO phones. The high end Androids of the day like the Droid Incredible or Nexus One of Evo 4g are the ones that should be compared with the iPhone. They have a manufacturer skin and they were being updated. Morale of the story is get the best money can buy or get a Nexus.
Speaking of updates the difference between Android and iOS is that Android phone get faster as the software gets updated while iPhones get slower. Just do a search on the number of complaints that people had with their iPhone 4 after they upgraded to iOS 5. My previous Android phone got the update from 2.2 to 2.3 and the battery life as well as speed improved noticeable. Whereas my iPhone 3g that was updated to iOS 4 was completely unusable after the update and sits as a paper weight on my desk barely able to serve as an internet radio. I say barely because sometimes it crashes when streaming music so I just stopped using it. I am going to trade it in to T-Mobile because they are offering $200 for any iPhone when the highest price on eBay is $200! I love a good deal 🙂 My friend’s Nexus One still fast as ever and will finally retire it this week only because he wants a new phone. Buy a $10 battery on ebay and his old phone will still be a great backup phone or music player for going to the gym for years. Even tech stalwarts like Leo Laporte were complaining about how slow iOS 4 made the iPhone 3g openly on his weekly tech radio show. He used to have an iPhone as well but switched to a Nexus phone and now he uses the Android powered Samsung Galaxy Note. Same thing happened to my iPad 1 it was fine on iOS 4 but once I upgraded to iOS 5 it crashed a lot more frequently and things would take forever to load. Apps would crash while I was in the middle of using them which is horrible when you are in the middle of reading a travel blog or playing a game and the only way to get credit for the level was to finish the level! Not to mention battery life took a 30% hit. Quite a slap in the face for an early adopter who bought the iPad and paid nearly $1000 for it! I was so happy that ebay had an instant sale and took it off my hands for $219. I lost about 80% of what I paid for it in about a year and a half so according to that priceonomics site that iPad was a real piece of junk.
The Galaxy Nexus just works. When I got it I turned it on and it upgraded its system files automatically over the mobile data connection! I never had to mess with iTunes to activate it, just popped in the SIM card turned it on, signed in and the phone started to automatically download all of my apps, contacts and settings without ever connecting to the computer. Much easier than plugging the iDevice into the computer the first time and waiting for it to sync.
@Dax Apple is actually playing catch up at this point. iPhones will hopefully finally get 4g which android has had for a years now. Larger full HD displays have already been released by Android phones. Their “new” notification shade was ripped from Android and their “wireless” sync was finally added that Android has had for years now. It has an inefficient archaic GUI interface. Want to check the weather? On Android unlock and bam weather widget displays the weather. On iOS? Unlock, tap the weather app wait for it to load. Want to check email? On Android unlock and your scrollable email widget has the newest emails right there for you to look at on the home screen. On iOS? Unlock launch the mail app, and if you don’t have full sync on to save battery hit refresh and wait for the email to load. Rinse and repeat for all basic functions. Sure it’s only 20 – 30 seconds here or there but at the end of the day 20 – 30 minutes or more wasted? It’s like that conversation between Ryan Bingham in Up in the Air and Natalie Keener “I really like my luggage. That’s exactly what it is – luggage. Know how much time you lose checking in? I don’t know. Five. 10 minutes?- 35 minutes a flight. I travel 270 days a year. That’s 157 hours. That makes seven days. You willing to throw away an entire week on that?” Except replace luggage with iPhone and you get the idea of how much time is wasted.
@eponymous coward – Galaxy Nexus no technical expertise required. $399 off contract. Just tap the install button when you get notified of timely updates from Google 😉
@AS Don’t get upset that’s just the way the Apple fanboys are they claim to be about the best tech available: as long as it’s an iPhone. No amount of factual, rationale argument can persuade them otherwise. Some people are just too emotionally invested in their “team” to accept that something else might be better when it comes along. Thank goodness for them or else Apple would be out of business. I have the Galaxy Nexus and the iPad 2. I bought the iPad 2 when the 3 came out because I did not want to fully support Apple but wanted an upgrade and at this moment the iPad 2 is the best available. If / when Samsung releases a tablet with quad core Exynos than I will be dumping the iPad because it will be the best available. Yes the iPhone was a huge innovation in 2007 but it’s now 2012 and technology has passed Apple by. Notice all of the tech blogs are saying the next iPhone has to have LTE and at least a 4” screen to compete with the Android phones. Nobody is writing that the Android phones have to shrink their screens to 3.5” and throttle their internet speeds to 3g in order to compete with the iPhone. Who “upgrades” their TV from 42” to 32”? Nobody. It’s always funny to hear people say that 3.5” is the perfect size unless the next iPhone comes out with 4” then that changes everything… again.
Side note Gary, got the match to EXP finally today! They took the full 10 days to match me after I took the trouble of sending it in while I was in China, no evips I have to fly 30k for that but I will finally give the dAArkside a try! It’s enticing because they have showers at the AC at LAX!
I switched from BB to a Verizon Droid (w/ keyboard). It works pretty well for me. As I read more emails those days and write less, I’d say my next phone would be a latest model Samsung Galaxy (w/o keyboard), which many of my friends use and like (some of them moved from iphone to it).
@UnitedEF You don’t have to go through all of the steps that you described to check weather, email, etc on the iPhone. New email for example is right there under notifications. You swipe the finger down and you are there. Just one movement. Not 20 seconds as you described it. It seems that a lot iPhone functions that you are describing are referred to the original iPhone released 5+ years ago. Of course as with any technology iPhone evolved a lot in 5 years.
The screen size is a personal choice. IPhone has smaller screen but much higher resolution/more pixels than Android phones. The only phone ou tthere to have a Retina display. I like more compact screen size on my cellphone since I travel a lot and comfort is important to me. If you like larger screen sizes than Android is a right choice for you or you could just get an iPad or Kindle.
BTW you are the first person I’ve met who owned an iPad and didn’t like it. Strange. There is a reason why 68% of tablets sold worldwide are iPads as of numbers reported last week. Which iPad did you own btw? You mentioned that you owned original iPad 1 in your post above and in the next post you say it was iPad 2?
Not sure if the Galaxy Note was mentioned, but the initial response was that the thing is so big. But going hands-on, you realize it isn’t as bad as you may think. I have an iPhone and iPad and have found that I don’t use the iPhone for anything but the basics (email, calendar, phone) and the Note would replace both.
I have not made the switch yet. I like the consistency of Apple products. You know what you are getting and it is hard to beat their support. But Android has a great rep too, but it makes me nervous that there are sooooo many different versions out there. And carrier’s seem to still have more control over non-Apple products (what bloatware is loaded, when updates are released, etc…).
If you like to do more than just “use” your phone, go with Android.
@Gary I’ve switched from Blackberry to Android 4G phone last month only to return it three weeks later and have it replaced with a new Blackberry Bold 9930 model. Why? I had to charge my Droid 4 twice a day. They replaced my Android phone four times before I finally gave up. This wasn’t the hardware problem – I think it has something to do with the way 4G is implemented in Android. Ask anybody, including the people working for your wireless provider – why does 4G drain the battery so fast?, and you’ll most likely get a response like, it’s more powerful, so of course it uses more power. But having to charge your phone twice a day is just not acceptable!! You also don’t get the full benefit of 4G because it is still not available in most locations. Not to mention that the rest of the world uses a different type of 4G technology. Wireless providers such as Verizon Wireless have setup their 4G/LTE enabled Android devices to connect to both the 3G and 4G networks simultaneously. That means your phone is working twice as hard to maintain a connection, and therefore using twice as much power to maintain a connection. Whenever you make calls or send and receive a text messages, the 3G radio has to pause. This changing of radio states causes an extreme strain on the battery. When you are traveling, your wireless device has to constantly switch 4G towers to keep you connected to the network, which also drains your battery.
So my strong recommendation would be to stay away from any 4G phone at least for another three years. It is still half backed technology at best. Stay with Blackberry platform, if battery is important to you.
I can’t speak of the iPhone experience since I’ve never used it. My boss uses iPhone and he like it. The battery seems to be better than on Android phones but he still has to charge his iPhone every other day. I charge my Blackberry once a week.
I have had an Android phone for about a year. Before that I had an iPhone. But switched after hearing about how much better Android phones are. Since then I have severely regretted the decision in almost every aspect except that I am no longer paying AT&T for service.
Admittedly, my phone is a cheap model (HTC Hero) but my iPhone which I bought 3 years earlier was no more expensive than this hunk of junk.
Here are my top and most recent complaints.
1) Making calls can take a long time. Sometimes when I press “call” nothing happens for 10 seconds or more, so I hit “call” again and end up with 2 live calls. This never happened on iphone. This sucks.
2) When I look on the map and want to see “my location”, 9 times out of 10 i get the message “your current location is not available”. If I reboot the phone (see 3) then the location works after the reboot. What’s up with that?
3) Rebooting the phone takes about 4 minutes. What is this, windows 3.1? My cheapy 4 year old iphone takes about half the time.
4) if i type in a number but don’t hit “call”, by the time i walk outside, the phone has gone into “sleep” mode. Fine, but the number I typed in is gone. Now I have to go back inside and look up the number again so I can go outside and make a call. I don’t want to store this number permanently, just keep it in the buffer when you go to sleep mode, phone!
Ugh… very much looking forward to getting back on the iPhone full time… Sorry android people.
I’m always a late adopter when it comes to technology, and have long disrespected smart phones, favoring a plain phone. Six months or so ago I had to get a new phone (ran over the old one, lol) and figured I’d try the iPhone. I’m hooked, it’s excellent! Now I’m obsessed with my iPhone. Don’t know how I ever lived without it…
Gary, if you do get an iPhone as your new phone, you will change your Relationship Status on Facebook to “in a relationship” with Siri and your new iPhone! And I am only half joking. The phone is that good!
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30686_3-57428484-266/ditch-the-iphone-for-an-ice-cream-sandwich-phone
@DBest And? The author of the article basically said to wait until a new iPhone released this summer.
The worst thing about Android is that it’s a crapshoot if you’ll ever get an update because the carriers have no interest in giving you an update. At least with iOS, Apple has been good about pushing features out to all iPhone owners at the same time.
I have three Android phones in my house and all three have different flavors of Android depending on our carriers and phone models. Android is a fragmented joke that Google needs to control better if they hope to maintain customer loyalty and not just be the cheap option for people who can’t afford an iPhone.
I’m a phone geek and admit that I stopped reading the comments about halfway through. Both have dedicated users and make good points.
Some info you might be interested in:
I prefer the iPhone’s native email app for exchange over the HTC Sense version. And HTC Sense version over the way touchdown app looks (though it works fine, just terribly ugly).
Gmail app on android is nice enough.
As for battery wars, assume that one day, you’ll be delayed somewhere and away from an outlet with 2% charge no matter how fast/slow your phone uses power. Buy a backup battery from monoprice, ebay, amazon, etc and be done with the battery debate. I’m told iPhones don’t call out on < 5% charge and I just keep a backup swappable battery for my HTC Evo so haven't run into that yet. There are iPhone and microusb battery extenders for < $20.
This year, I'm looking for the 2012 OS version (no upgrade to ICS capable and wait forever game) + Verizon LTE. And not Samsung because I've never forgiven them for crappy build quality and keypad that overheated 7+ years ago. Not Sprint LTE because I waited over 8 months for my area to get 4g WiMax the first time. Above all, I want reception. All this before Christmas please.
I agree that IRL, the iPhone 4S camera produces amazing results and samples of reviews of the newer Android cameras results leave me thinking that HTC, Samsung, Motorola need to step up the engineering and not the PR.
@UnitedEF you said: “Same thing happened to my iPad 1 it was fine on iOS 4 but once I upgraded…”
and in the next post you said: “I have the Galaxy Nexus and the iPad 2. I bought the iPad 2 when the 3 came out because I did not want to fully support Apple but wanted an upgrade and at this moment the iPad 2 is the best available.”
So which iPad version do you own? iPad 1? iPad2? Which one? I have only heard very positive comments from actual iPad owners and was naturally surprised to read your feedback.
By the way, British Parliament made an announcement today that they will fully transition to iPads. They literally will be running the country off the iPad which is pretty amazing technical accomplishment:
http://obamapacman.com/2012/05/british-parliament-buys-650-ipads-for-all-members/
@Greg get an iPhone, it is the best and most reliable phone on the market. It is a standard phone nowadays in the corporate world along with the Blackberry. I used to own the ordinal iPhone and now have the droid 2. I am upgrading my phone in the end of the May to an iPhone 4S because my Droid 2 lags, and weird things happen to the look of the graphics that I don’t know how to explain. I didn’t get an iPhone 4 the last time and I am not making the same mistake again.
Sorry I’meant to say Gary! Long day at work
@UnitedEF: while in theory it might appear that Android is more flexible than iPhone… in implementation, it’s not even close. I’ve owned both, and iPhone’s UI is so much more intuitive, smoother and easier to use than Android. Yes, you can customize Android endlessly, but as much as you try, you will not be able to customize it to work as well as the iOS interface.
Gary, I don’t think you should rule out the iPhone which is the best phone in my opinion. I have used Droid 2, HTC T-bolt and Droid Razr over the last four years. As much as I wanted all of the Android phones to be the best, they ALL failed in terms of user experience, convenience battery life and overall usage. In my expereince, iPhone clearly wins on functionality, quality, stability and durability. I have returned to it time after time.
You choice really comes down to what you value most in a smartphone. If it’s ease of use, good battery life, best email system and biggest selection of high-quality apps you’re after—as well as reliability of the phone and a great camera—the iPhone 4S can’t be beat. Siri takes smartphones to the next level by serving your needs with real intelligence – it can help you with everything from scheduling appointments to sending messages. You’ll also find that apps either come to the iPhone first (such as Netflix) or exclusively (such as Microsoft, Flipboard, iPhoto, iMovie) and just look more polished (Twitter, Facebook). Other advantages unique to the iPhone 4S include iCloud, which does a better job than Google of keeping all of your content in sync across multiple devices. iPhone’s multitouch keyboard is second to none. Both in portrait mode and landscape mode, I can type quickly and accurately. Last but not least is the iPhone’s vast number of available accessories. Having a single standard connector makes things a lot easier on makers of add-ons.
You really can’t go wrong with the iPhone 4S.
I love my Galaxy S2. Can’t wait to get the Galaxy S3. Battery has been good for me, but if it’s a huge deal to you, buy a double battery from seidio.com and I’m sure you won’t run out.
@Gary I have an iPhone and Blackberry. iPhone was my personal purchase and Blackberry was giving to me at work. There are many reasons why I like my iPhone 4S more than my Blackberry. I will share my top three:
High quality of phone reception: iPhone 4S has two antennas — one on the bottom and one at the top of the handset. Apple has given the iPhone the ability to intelligently switch between the antennas to ensure better call quality. The technology also allows this switching to go on during a phone call, so you won’t even notice that the switch has taken place. To be perfectly clear — this is an Apple-only technology. While other companies can receive on dual antennas, no other company can transmit and receive on dual GSM or CDMA antennas. The dual antennas are at work when you’re not on a call too. I have noticed that my iPhone signal is stronger in places where my Blackberry is getting a weak reception.
Fantastic camera: the iPhone has not only been my primary communications device for the past few months, it has also been my only camera. I have taken my iPhone to Europe, all over the US, and countless other places, never worrying about how it would perform for me. Not only did Apple include an 8-megapixel camera, they also improved many of the other elements needed to take a great picture. From a larger aperture, an improved backside illumination sensor, auto white balance, color accuracy, face detection, and reduced motion blur, to a custom lens, everything to make your pictures look the best, has been put into the iPhone 4S. Of course, the ability to take great still pictures isn’t the only improvement in the iPhone 4S. Apple also included 1080p HD video recording. Like my use of the iPhone as a still camera, the device has also been my video camera. The ability to record in 1080p just makes a great camera even better.
Siri: After using Siri for a few months, I can tell you it works just as good in real life situations as it does in Apple commercials. The important thing to remember about Siri is that it’s not just another voice technology. Siri understands the context of what you are asking it and responds appropriately. For instance, if you receive a text message, you can ask Siri to read your last text. It will tell you who it is from, read the text and then ask you if you would like to respond. You say yes, and then give it your response. Siri will acknowledge the response and ask you if you’re ready to send the message. You say yes and it’s sent. I did this today in the car. The iPhone 4S was sitting in the console and I just spoke like I normally would in a conversation. Siri got every word right and sent the text back. Siri can do other things too. I asked it to play specific songs in my iTunes library, schedule appointments in iCal, and asked what Apple’s current stock price is. Every time, Siri carried out the task. You don’t dictate to Siri, you interact and have a conversation with Siri.
These are other reasons why I think an iPhone is the best replacement to Blackberry, but these are the main ones. When you put all of these together in one product like the iPhone 4S, you have the best product in the market that other companies just can’t compete with. You really have to actually have an iPhone to truly appreciate how good it is.
I hope this post offers some value to you, Gary. And I apologize if my post is a bit long. I just wanted to say, albeit in a verbose style, that you should really consider getting an iPhone.
Two Jim’s on here – go figure…. I’m the first one in this thread. I’d use Jim L but I think there is another one of those as well….
@Gary – whatever you do, find someone who is pretty familiar with the phone you select and have them teach you a few things so you get the most out of it. You may need “training” initially and then again later after you have become familiar with the device. For example, how do you *really* end apps that are running so they won’t continue to run in the background and eat up your data plan? Turning off wifi if you can’t use it when other wifi networks are detected will significantly save battery life and improve data performance. How to switch back and forth between apps on the device, etc. I’m not talking about the nerdy stuff here, just the tricks that let an average user get the most out of whatever phone they buy. Whatever device you buy, you will probably be happy with it and be very productive (compared to the Fred Flintstone device you have now). Just make sure you maximize your investment.
@Nicco “You’ll also find that apps either come to the iPhone first (such as Netflix) or exclusively (such as Microsoft, Flipboard, iPhoto, iMovie) and just look more polished (Twitter, Facebook)”. Very true. In fact even Google often releases its flagship applications on iPhone first. For example, Google just released an impressive update of Google Plus that is iPhone exclusive. Android version is coming in a few weeks according to Google’s official blog. Think about it. Even Google gives iPhone preferential treatment.
Source: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2012/05/google-mobile-app-with-sense-and-soul.html#!/2012/05/google-mobile-app-with-sense-and-soul.html
Wow! The iCult and the android fanboys are certainly out in full force.
My advice: ignore all comments that praise one phone or system without also giving the drawbacks. We all know that both systems have opportunities to improve without the need to resort to propaganda.
Battery life sucks for BOTH Android and iOS. I can’t speak for the 4S but the 4 definitely does. As someone mentioned, buying an extended battery does help with the Android handsets without voiding warranties but it can alter your phone’s appearance for the worse.
Regardless of how adept others are at their device’s virtual keyboard, let me tell you that that will be your biggest challenge coming from a Blackberry. I still miss my keyboard.
Regarding apps, don’t let the numbers mislead you. Half a million on iOS versus 200K or whatever on Android is almost a non-issue for most people as many people have a core # of apps totaling less than 100. You might first check whether specific apps that you want are available on each respective system.
Hi Gary, I want to preface by saying that I will try to remain as unbiased as possible in my advice to you, but I felt compelled to write that I generally enjoy using Apple products, but by no means am I a fanboy.
I have gotten myself the latest Samsung Galaxy Nexus three months ago. I have only ever used Android devices in passing, and have never owned one before this. After spending a few minutes with the device, I decided to shell out the GBP 530 for an unlocked device to try it out for myself.
Alas, the honeymoon with Android was short-lived. Having used the silky-smooth iPhone for several years now, I really couldn’t believe that the Android device that had a dual-core 1.2 GHz processor was still lagging and locking up! Even swiping between homescreens was not a lag-free experience, which I found to be very annoying in practice. It was by no means as crisp and smooth as the iPhone. This is true in many of the tasks on the phone, from scrolling, pinch-to-zoom, and even typing on the keyboard.
The camera was a problem too on Android – I found that many of the pictures I was taking were very slightly out of focus and lacked the level of clarity that the iPhone’s camera has garnered much praise for. Also, after the initial wow-factor of the 720p screen, I still found the iPhone screen to be crisper and sharper. Although you can’t necessarily see individual pixels on the Galaxy Nexus display, it just didn’t seem to have the same level of clarity I have gotten used to in the iPhone.
I could go on and on about other seemingly little things that bugged me about the software, but I suppose it really depends on your level of comfort with Android. I just prefer the seamless and smooth experience of the iPhone, with hardware and software designed top to bottom to just work.
This next part was really the deal-breaker for me, and the reason I won’t be keeping the Android Phone. I went in to this experiment really looking forward to having a larger screen, and while I definitely appreciated the extra size, I really found the device in general to simply be too big. I found myself constantly having to operate the device with two hands. I had gotten used to being able to effectively operate the iPhone using one hand, but I nearly dropped the Galaxy on several occasions because I was trying to reach that extra half-inch to access a menu or tap an icon. Granted, I don’t have huge hands, but by no means would I consider myself to have below-average sized hands, so I would imagine this would be a problem for many out there. This, in conjunction with the multitude of small annoyances with the software, has been enough to convince me that Android is just not quite ready to earn my money.
I hope this was helpful Gary! Now that I’ve written a book about my experience, I will be switching back to the iPhone and the level of comfort I have developed with that device. iPhone is still, overall, the best device in its class.
@Tom Bright the Verizon setup does drain more battery. The new HTC one X on ATT’s LTE network actually lasts just as long as an iPhone on LTE. If Gary goes with a non-stock device on ATT I would go with this one. Here is a chart from a very reputable review site. Overall the One X has longer battery life when browsing over 3G than the iPhone 9.65 hours vs. 6.65 hours. IPhone beats the One X, 11 hours vs. 10.35 for One X when browsing over wifi. 4G LTE mode 5.517 hours for the One X and no data for iPhone because it doesn’t do 4g despite what ATT wants you to believe. Cellular talk time 10.73 hours for the One X and 9.269 hours for the iPhone. It’s a bit more technical but that’s what we want right? Overall battery life is still terrible compared to the last Blackberry that I had but you get so much more functionality in return on either platform.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5779/htc-one-x-for-att-review/3
@Jon Why are you comparing a cheapo Android to an iPhone with much better specs?
@Zoobie the Nexus will always get updates. If you go non-Nexus get a higher end phone and you will get updates. Generally speaking having had the iPhone 3G iPad 1, iPad 2 the Mytouch 4g and Galaxy Nexus updates are only really needed if something is broken. The core apps within Android update themselves automatically now with the latest version of the Google play store. If your cell loses signal or if something doesn’t work properly the Android manufacturers have learned they need to fix it fast. HTC is pretty good about that.