An Android users take on the iPhone 4s

[Yankees368]

Here is your long awaited iPhone 4s review!

Most people here know that I have been with Android since the HTC Evo 4G came out. However, I became sick of Android and the inherent glitchiness and bad business practices by manufactures. I find it completely unacceptable that instead of fixing a poorly made handset (Samsung Charge, Razr maxx) they just churn out another handset and screw over the users who just got the thing (52 days int he razr's case). If apple puts out a bad phone or has a software issue, people will know, and they will fix it.

Hardware: It's heavy, very heavy. Oddly heavy for a phone of its size, but I guess that comes in the territory when you use quality materials. This thing is all glass and metal, no cheap Samsung plastic here. Its well built and solid, but that creates a problem. This phone is a glass covered brick when dropped, and they are very easy to smash. You almost need to have a case (especially if you have an AT&T ip4 and want to make a call). The phone is fast, responsive, and almost never lags. No home screen redrawing issues like on so many android phones. The A5 processor is more than up to the task.

Screen: Its small, but beautiful. The retina display is wonderful, extremely clear. However, it does not have the deep black levels that a Samsung SAMOLED+ screen has. However, its not Pentile like those crap Motorola screens are. It is super clear, but its small. It is smaller than almost every Android phone released now. While this helps battery life, there are times where I would want a bigger screen. It just isn't big enough for GPS navigation, I have trouble reading the directions when mounted on my windshield. Here is a point that I do enjoy about the screen. Something that I have noticed for a long time is that Android phones don't seem to get dark enough. In a dark room, such as a movie theater, the iphone screen will be very dim, appropriate for the situation. Android phones just don't seem to have the ability to dim to that degree, and its annoying.

OS: iOS. This is easily the biggest change for me. Android, in my humble opinion, is a sloppy mess in its 2.x iteration. I have not tried 4.x, but neither have 99% of people. From the very first interaction screen, the lock screen, I like things already. Every music player integrates itself into the lock screen for easy control, even with album art. That is underrated. There is also a fast camera option, but must Android phones have that now.
Deeper into the OS, it is a big change for me to not have widgets. I love widgets. I always had a weather radar, big clock, sports scores, etc on my home screens. iOS does not allow this, at all. Now my home screen is just folders and icons,. I miss widgets, but I understand why they are not on iOS. They are resource hogs and take up a lot of space.
iOS is very stable. I have only had 1 random reboot in a month. That would be a common thing on my Android phones. iOS never seems to lag, ever. This might be due to the way apps are multi-tasked. Nothing can run wild in the background, like on Android. No app will open itself and peg out the CPU at 100% and need to be hunted down.
However, some things do bug me. As everyone knows, iOS is very closed down and simplified. There are sometimes where I don't have the option to customize things, like a separate volume for messages or the fact that I can't turn off the need for a password just to update an app. I want to jailbreak, but I read about too many issues in doing so.
Oh, and apps do crash on iOS. They are no more stable than Android. When apps work, they are usually a better experience than their Android counterparts, but things do crash on iOS.

Camera Video sample (of course, compressed by YouTube)

Damien rolls around outside - YouTube

Damien rolls around outside - YouTube

Conclusion The big question now is "are you happy with the iPhone?" The answer is, for now, yes. I will eventually go back to Android, of course. However, I will wait until 4.x is a usable OS and manufactures stop churning out garbage devices every 3.2 weeks. The iPhone is a simpler device, and what it does, it does very well. After enduring Verizons LTE outages and many issues where I would have no data at all, a reliable 3G phone is a very appealing thing. Will I wait on line for the next iPhone? Hell no, not in a million years. Will I consider it? Yes.

[viewfly]

Very good straight up short review, Yankee.

Yep, I never agreed with Jony Ives designs for the backs of Apple products (phone, ipod). Look great, but they are either shiny, glossy metal, plastic and now glass. They are bound to get messed up in normal use. A clear film back screen protector does the trick. But a case gives it overall more grip for me. But that is my only design gripe. Otherwise a very heavy and well made phone...even the sim tray is solid heavy gauge metal.

Any comments on RF reception?

Enjoy your phone!

[Yankees368]

Originally Posted by viewfly Very good straight up short review, Yankee. Yep, I never agreed with Jony Ives designs for the backs of Apple products (phone, ipod). Look great, but they are either shiny, glossy metal, plastic and now glass. They are bound to get messed up in normal use. A clear film back screen protector does the trick. But a case gives it overall more grip for me. But that is my only design gripe. Otherwise a very heavy and well made phone...even the sim tray is solid heavy gauge metal. Any comments on RF reception? Enjoy your phone!

RF reception is typical for a Verizon CDMA only device. It works where it should. All my recent Verizon phones have been LTE devices, and those just flat out suck. Way too many periods where I had no data at all. The iPhone works well when it has 3G, and even manages to chug along with iMessage on 1x. Sometimes the signal meter goes a little whacky though, telling me I have a -46 signal when I know that's impossible, but that happens I guess.

[TWX]

Excellent review!!

On a different note, is your cat a Bengal?

[Irish Rose]

Originally Posted by TWX Excellent review!! On a different note, is your cat a Bengal?

Concurred. This is a great review.


Sent from my iPhone 4S using Tapatalk.

[Yankees368]

Originally Posted by Irish Rose Concurred. This is a great review. Sent from my iPhone 4S using Tapatalk.

Thank you! I got lazy when writing that and should be adding more soon.

Originally Posted by TWX Excellent review!! On a different note, is your cat a Bengal?

He sure is. We also have a snow bengal.

Here are a few pictures of them, all taken on the iPhone

[Irish Rose]

Originally Posted by Yankees368 Thank you! I got lazy when writing that and should be adding more soon. He sure is. We also have a snow bengal. Here are a few pictures of them, all taken on the iPhone

You're better than me as I didn't even make an attempt to review it. Nice looking cat, btw.


Sent from my iPhone 4S using Tapatalk.

[Charlyee]

Originally Posted by Irish Rose You're better than me as I didn't even make an attempt to review it. Sent from my iPhone 4S using Tapatalk.

You know what they say - better late than never.



Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk

[RadioRaiders]

Nice honest review. Pretty much sums up my take on things as well. Altho I haven't experienced too many problems with my Android phones that would make me want to switch. The only problem I have at the moment is that since I upgraded my Milestone to 2.1, the built-in web browser sometimes crashes when it switches from landscape to portrait mode. Oddly, it only seems to happen when I'm lying in bed. If it was an iPhone, I guess one might say that the phone was designed to intelligently shut down when it notices it's being held horizontally after 10pm, as Apple's way of saying "You know, it's been a long day, why don't you shut your phone off and spend a little time with your wife?"

But seriously, it's good to keep an open mind and "play the field", if you aren't happy with something, no reason to stick with it. What was the main problems you experienced with Android phones? Did you look at any BlackBerry or Windows Phones? I tried out the new Nokia Windows Phone in a shop yesterday, and I have to say the User Interface is pretty slick. BlackBerry is scheduled to release a new phone soon as well that looks like a big step up for them in terms of physical design. As far as OS goes, I still think BlackBerry is my favorite in terms of design and stability. Android has come too far too fast, I can understand your wanting to step back for a while and let things catch up.

For me, when I look for a new phone, I'm looking for one with a physical keyboard and a large selection of apps available, so that pretty much is locking me in to Android at the moment. Plus I haven't had any bad experiences, so no need to look elsewhere for me.

Enjoy your new phone, but stay away from the Kool-Aid

[Yankees368]

For one thing, Verizons 4G LTE simply isn't ready yet. However, every new Verizon Android phone worth having is an LTE phone. I got sick of having data issues and outages, so I wanted to go back to 3G. The only 3G phone worth having on Verizon is the iPhone. Blackberry is a joke and Verizon, for all intensive purposes, does not have Windows Phone.
Android just outgrew itself. There are a few instances where it pissed me off. One example is music playback. The build in Android music player has no response to in-line headphone buttons for song skipping, which I used a lot. An app called PowerAMP would do it, but because of the way Android is built, that app did not always have "focus" of the button. So I would hit it, and random things would start playing music or blast my ear with voice dial. An iOS, it just works.
Integrating apps like Pandora onto the lock screen for easy song skipping is also something Android simply does not do. (hell, WebOS did that since day 1).
As stated above, I also really got sick of Googles (and the Manufactures) inattention to issues their phones ship with. The compass on my Droid Charge and RAZR never worked properly. There is a google forum page with thousands of pages saying the same thing, but no response from Google:

Android Google Maps Compass Issue - YouTube

Android Google Maps Compass Issue - YouTube

I felt like it was time for a change, and I am staying far away from the bucket of Kool-Aid.

[Charlyee]

Originally Posted by Yankees368 As stated above, I also really got sick of Googles (and the Manufactures) inattention to issues their phones ship with. The compass on my Droid Charge and RAZR never worked properly. There is a google forum page with thousands of pages saying the same thing, but no response from Google

The compass problem sounds like a device related problem and not the OS. The compass on my Google Maps is perfectly aligned with my hand held stand alone compass.

This gets back to your and many others, point of Google needing to have more control over the hardware that their OS goes into.

Time for you to switch to AT&T for the Lumia 900.



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[Yankees368]

Originally Posted by Charlyee The compass problem sounds like a device related problem and not the OS. The compass on my Google Maps is perfectly aligned with my hand held stand alone compass. This gets back to your and many others, point of Google needing to have more control over the hardware that their OS goes into. Time for you to switch to AT&T for the Lumia 900. Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk

It was definitely not a device issue: Issue 16741 - android - compass not working on gingerbread roms - Android - An Open Handset Alliance Project - Google Project Hosting

[Charlyee]

Originally Posted by Yankees368 It was definitely not a device issue: Issue 16741 - android - compass not working on gingerbread roms - Android - An Open Handset Alliance Project - Google Project Hosting

Thanks, I must really have a Magical Motorola then.


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[AnthroMatt]

My Motorola must be magical as well!

Sent from my MB865 using Tapatalk

[Yankees368]

A little more use, a little more observations. There are some things that iOS falls way short on. First and foremost is the built in Maps app (as well as weather).
It, it's awful. These 2 apps are basically in the original form from when the first iPhone was released (maps has minor modifications). Anyone who has used Google Maps on Android knows how advanced it is. 3D buildings, indoor maps, selection of POIs on the map, navigation. iOS does none of that. It drives me nuts that you can't actually select POIs on the map. That makes no sense. You can do it in a round about way of seeing what you want to check out, type in a search for it, and then it comes up. But then you are just left with basic info like phone numbers. No reviews or anything. iOS falls way short here.
And whats up with the weather app? Its absolutely useless.
I'm also having an issue with storage space. I have the 16GB model, and I am nearly 100% out of room. iTunes tells me that the phone is using 1.33GB of memory for "other," but won't tell me what. There is now way to clear this without a full wipe. According to Rene Ritchie of iMore, "Should be much lower, but isn't extraordinarily high (high enough that you want to wipe and start at a new device." Yuck!
On the positive side of things, battery life is still great. It blow away anything I had on Android away.
Also, the BBM rip-off iChat works very well. Android needs their own version.

[RadioRaiders]

Nothing can really compare with Google Maps right now. Google invested huge money into that with the purpose of making their money back via advertising (ie: "where's the nearest pizza place?") and as well by giving their Android OS a leg up on the competition. Nokia sunk huge money into their Ovi/Nokia Maps (now I guess moved into the Windows Mobile platform?) as well with the same idea (theirs isn't too bad, but still not as good as Google Maps). Apple kind of dropped the ball with the maps, I don't think they put any money into a mapping system

Anyway, generally speaking, you'll need to find a compromise with your mobile OS, as I don't think there's one OS that's got it all right now. You have the main options of the "stable but restricted" Apple world, and the "Wild West" of Android. Or if you want to try the "unproven yet interesting"new Windows Phone, there's that too, or go "Back to the Future" and get a BlackBerry again

...your call

[Charlyee]

Originally Posted by Yankees368 A little more use, a little more observations. There are some things that iOS falls way short on. First and foremost is the built in Maps app (as well as weather).These 2 apps are basically in the original form from when the first iPhone was released (maps has minor modifications).................................... ..... And whats up with the weather app? Its absolutely useless Also, the BBM rip-off iChat works very well. Android needs their own version.

What is wrong with the weather app on iOS? Assuming it is the same as on iPad, I don't find it useless.

G+ works extremely well on Android, and it is cross OS. There is no point in taking a step back to a closed chat system imho.

Coming from an Android, I would have thought that the itty bitty screen on the iPhone and the lack of widgets would have been your biggest issue but apparently I was wrong.

[RadioRaiders]

Oh, speaking of batteries: how do you do a hard-reset on an iPhone? If my desktop computer locks-up, I can pull the power cord, if my phone locks up, I pull the battery. What do you do when an iPhone locks up? (yes, I know the Kool-Aid anser is "an iPhone never locks-up", but seriously )

[Charlyee]

Originally Posted by RadioRaiders Oh, speaking of batteries: how do you do a hard-reset on an iPhone? If my desktop computer locks-up, I can pull the power cord, if my phone locks up, I pull the battery. What do you do when an iPhone locks up? (yes, I know the Kool-Aid anser is "an iPhone never locks-up", but seriously )

On my iOS device, you hold the Home button and the on/off switch simultaneously until the Apple logo comes up again.

Yes, it definitely locks up and mine loses the Search Bar from time to time as well. Considering I use my Atrix much more and tamper with it all the time, my iPad locks up more often comparatively.



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[Yankees368]

Originally Posted by Charlyee What is wrong with the weather app on iOS? Assuming it is the same as on iPad, I don't find it useless. G+ works extremely well on Android, and it is cross OS. There is no point in taking a step back to a closed chat system imho. Coming from an Android, I would have thought that the itty bitty screen on the iPhone and the lack of widgets would have been your biggest issue but apparently I was wrong.

The weather app looks pretty much the same as iOS 1.0. Its data is provided by....Yahoo??? It has an icon that always says 73' and that makes me sad cause its not true. If the calendar icon can show the right date, why cant this show the temp? All the app does it show the "current" temp and 7 day high/low. It doesn't even have a radar page.
As for G+, that is not a chat app, really. iMessage is identical to BBM (except it usually works).

Originally Posted by RadioRaiders Nothing can really compare with Google Maps right now. Google invested huge money into that with the purpose of making their money back via advertising (ie: "where's the nearest pizza place?") and as well by giving their Android OS a leg up on the competition. Nokia sunk huge money into their Ovi/Nokia Maps (now I guess moved into the Windows Mobile platform?) as well with the same idea (theirs isn't too bad, but still not as good as Google Maps). Apple kind of dropped the ball with the maps, I don't think they put any money into a mapping system Anyway, generally speaking, you'll need to find a compromise with your mobile OS, as I don't think there's one OS that's got it all right now. You have the main options of the "stable but restricted" Apple world, and the "Wild West" of Android. Or if you want to try the "unproven yet interesting"new Windows Phone, there's that too, or go "Back to the Future" and get a BlackBerry again ...your call

It just bugs me that Maps on iOS is so piss poor, and Apple users accept it and think its great. Its awful!

[Charlyee]

Originally Posted by Yankees368 As for G+, that is not a chat app, really. iMessage is identical to BBM (except it usually works).

Meant to say G+ Messenger, and yes it absolutely is a great group chat app

[Yankees368]

Originally Posted by Charlyee Meant to say G+ Messenger, and yes it absolutely is a great group chat app

It may be good for group chat, but not for BBM style communication. Lets just all switch back to blackberry.

[Irish Rose]

Originally Posted by Yankees368 A little more use, a little more observations. There are some things that iOS falls way short on. First and foremost is the built in Maps app (as well as weather). It, it's awful. These 2 apps are basically in the original form from when the first iPhone was released (maps has minor modifications). Anyone who has used Google Maps on Android knows how advanced it is. 3D buildings, indoor maps, selection of POIs on the map, navigation. iOS does none of that. It drives me nuts that you can't actually select POIs on the map. That makes no sense. You can do it in a round about way of seeing what you want to check out, type in a search for it, and then it comes up. But then you are just left with basic info like phone numbers. No reviews or anything. iOS falls way short here. And whats up with the weather app? Its absolutely useless. I'm also having an issue with storage space. I have the 16GB model, and I am nearly 100% out of room. iTunes tells me that the phone is using 1.33GB of memory for "other," but won't tell me what. There is now way to clear this without a full wipe. According to Rene Ritchie of iMore, "Should be much lower, but isn't extraordinarily high (high enough that you want to wipe and start at a new device." Yuck! On the positive side of things, battery life is still great. It blow away anything I had on Android away. Also, the BBM rip-off iChat works very well. Android needs their own version.

For me Google Maps never worked well even on some of the Androids that I've had in the past. I use Navigon on my iPhones and love it. One of the best navigation apps that I have used. Too Apple didn't go for this one over Google maps. Unfortunately with Apple you stuck with whatever storage you pick first. However, you can always use iCloud to manage your storage needs.... As far as the stock weather app goes, I don't like it that much either which is why I use the free Weather Bug app. It works very good even though it is free.... Very true about the battery life. I'm getting 9 hours of use and 2.2 days of standby time on weekends, and 7.5 hours usage, 18 hours of standby time during the week.


Sent from my iPhone 4S using Tapatalk.

[RadioRaiders]

Originally Posted by Yankees368 Lets just all switch back to blackberry.

I'm putting on my day-glo "Frankie Says Relax" t-shirt right now

[viewfly]

Originally Posted by RadioRaiders Apple kind of dropped the ball with the maps, I don't think they put any money into a mapping system

Yeah Google brought maps to the iPhone, and then ran off to make Android. There must be a reason why no more updates come to the iPhone Maps versions.

But more than just rumors, Apple has been buying companies, and apparently working on its own map program.

Originally Posted by RadioRaiders Anyway, generally speaking, you'll need to find a compromise with your mobile OS, as I don't think there's one OS that's got it all right now. You have the main options of the "stable but restricted" Apple world, and the "Wild West" of Android. Or if you want to try the "unproven yet interesting"new Windows Phone, there's that too, or go "Back to the Future" and get a BlackBerry again

I don't thing it really is an extreme between 'stable but restricted' and the 'wild west'. Both platforms are maturing to be somewhere in the middle, for most people's needs.

Originally Posted by Yankees368 It just bugs me that Maps on iOS is so piss poor, and Apple users accept it and think its great. Its awful!

I don't think it is piss poor nor awful, but I don't accept as it is. It could incorporate some more features. Certainly you can say, ' find me the nearest pizza places' and it will drop a bunch of pins for you. Gives the essential information (web link, phone, address, directions). For reviews, you will need the Yelp map or something.

And the compass does work right in it. Apple maps does have the 'Street view' option, but I never use it.

Originally Posted by Charlyee Meant to say G+ Messenger, and yes it absolutely is a great group chat app

IMessage is very good, and my former BB friends like it very much. And now with iMessage on the iPad, and as of last week, on the Mac OS, it blending nicely. Main thing is that it uses phone numbers and all SMS and iMessages.

[Charlyee]

For further iMessage discussions, please se:

http://forums.wirelessadvisor.com/ge...tml#post568382

[Charlyee]

For further iMessage discussions, please see:

http://forums.wirelessadvisor.com/ge...tml#post568382

[jakson0100]

I’m curious as to why a faster hardware cycle is significant. Given the two-year lock in of contracts, a 12- to 18-month cycle seems to fit most people’s reality.