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Dr. McKay

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 20, 2010
821
112
Belgium, Europe
I'm in the market for a new smartphone but my budget won't go as far as the iPhone 5.
Therefore, I would be buying the 4S at a lower price when the 5 is released.

But I was wondering : for the same price the 4S (or even less than that), I could buy a more powerful Android phone like the Google Nexus of the HTC One X.
I already have an iPad 2 so I know what iOS is like. I also have a Mac but the whole integration thing of the 'Mac experience' doesn't mean anything to me (don't use icloud, never use any syncing in any way)...

So maybe buying an Android phone would give me the best of both worlds. Apparently, Jelly Bean rocks...
 

mattopotamus

macrumors G5
Jun 12, 2012
14,738
6,109
I'm in the market for a new smartphone but my budget won't go as far as the iPhone 5.
Therefore, I would be buying the 4S at a lower price when the 5 is released.

But I was wondering : for the same price the 4S (or even less than that), I could buy a more powerful Android phone like the Google Nexus of the HTC One X.
I already have an iPad 2 so I know what iOS is like. I also have a Mac but the whole integration thing of the 'Mac experience' doesn't mean anything to me (don't use icloud, never use any syncing in any way)...

So maybe buying an Android phone would give me the best of both worlds. Apparently, Jelly Bean rocks...

Jellybean on the nexus is really nice. Have you ever tried an android phone? Something I did, and suggest you do, would be to buy the nexus from the google play store and test it out for about 10 days. If you do not like it, return in, but that is the way to get the best pure android experience.

Otherwise, the 4S is still a great phone, but you should give android a chance and the nexus is the best way to go. The s3 is nice, but comes with all of that crap samsung and att/verizon pack into the phone...plus you would be on ICS not Jellybean unless you rooted. Also, I think if you root to jellybean on the s3 you lose a lot of functions like camera. You can update over the air with the nexus

edit: when you say more powerful, I am not sure what you mean? A nexus is far less "powerful" than the 4S in terms of specs
 
Last edited:

virginblue4

macrumors 68020
Apr 15, 2012
2,027
700
United Kingdom
I'm in the market for a new smartphone but my budget won't go as far as the iPhone 5.
Therefore, I would be buying the 4S at a lower price when the 5 is released.

But I was wondering : for the same price the 4S (or even less than that), I could buy a more powerful Android phone like the Google Nexus of the HTC One X.
I already have an iPad 2 so I know what iOS is like. I also have a Mac but the whole integration thing of the 'Mac experience' doesn't mean anything to me (don't use icloud, never use any syncing in any way)...

So maybe buying an Android phone would give me the best of both worlds. Apparently, Jelly Bean rocks...

Yes, the iPhone 4S is still definitely worth it :)
 

VulchR

macrumors 68040
Jun 8, 2009
3,508
14,459
Scotland
I have a 4S and I love it. However, if it were me in your position I'd wait to see what Apple comes up with in September. I am not one of those 'must-have-the-latest-gizmo' people, but Apple will support a given model of phone for only so long. Thus, I view the price of the phone as money spent per month of usability, and a new model is always going to better in this respect. Besides, if you do not like the new iPhone, then you would probably be able to buy a 4S for a lot less in September.
 

Dr. McKay

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 20, 2010
821
112
Belgium, Europe
Besides, if you do not like the new iPhone, then you would probably be able to buy a 4S for a lot less in September.

That's the whole idea, can't afford a 4S right now, nor will I be able to afford a 5 either when it's out in september.


edit: when you say more powerful, I am not sure what you mean? A nexus is far less "powerful" than the 4S in terms of specs

Well, not really more powerful (slightly more powerful processor), but more possibilities. Also, having free GPS is also a deal maker (I don't think you get free voice navigation with a 4S).
And the Nexus offers more storage (and I'm sure Apple will reduce the storage capacity of the 4S from 16gb to 8Gb when it goes budget), and it's got a lot bigger screen and I'm a real google fan as well.
The fact that Apple is putting more distance between itself and google, worries me : no more google maps or youtube app in iOS6, and I fear this is only the beginning...
 

dahauss

macrumors 6502
Jul 7, 2009
297
26
hmmmm

I just got a 4S...Sprint reduced prices $50 (not sure if other carriers did too). I am not waiting for the 5. 2 things holding me back.. 1 is the price of the 5 ... and second is the supposed new dock connector. I have a lot of items I use for my IPOD TOUCH and my iPad and if they dont come out with an adapter it make everything useless INCLUDING 2 of my expensive ihome clock radios ....

Now, if the Iphone 5 is really worth getting, I will wait until January when my wife is eligible for an upgrade and we will switch phone and she will get the 4S.

also, as far as the 4S not having GPS navigation.... while it doesnt come standard with the phone, you can get the best program WAZE from the app store for free. There is also another program I used called COPILOT LIVE PREMIUM and it is good too (although I mostly use WAZE because it has the best traffic and notification system).

UNLESS the Iphone 5 does something that the 4S doesnt, IMO its not worth spending all the money.. we dont even have Sprint LTE and wont have it till sometime in 2013. also I dont like the rumors I have seen that the 5 is only a little bigger of a screen and it is just stretched out. the 4s while smaller then what I had before (EVO 4G), is really easy to read with its retina display....
 

mackinmike

macrumors 6502a
May 3, 2012
635
458
not worth it. it's old tech. it's 3g phone with a tiny screen. lte is soooo fast. i believe sprint is offering new users a $99 SG3 phone.
 

dahauss

macrumors 6502
Jul 7, 2009
297
26
not worth it. it's old tech. it's 3g phone with a tiny screen. lte is soooo fast. i believe sprint is offering new users a $99 SG3 phone.

Im on sprint.. there is no 4G here where I live and wont be until sometime next year. I dont even know if it will work.. they promised WIMAX here and it is so bad I never used it on my EVO.

honestly I am glad I purchased a 4S from my EVO. the EVO was great for a while but I need a reliable phone for work and my other business and my android phone just didnt cut it.... it worked for a while and they I had nothing but issues since the 2.3.x updates .... I cant say anything about newer android phones...
 

phillytim

macrumors 68000
Aug 12, 2011
1,784
1,272
Philadelphia, PA
One of my buddies went over to the S3, and he does nothing but moan and complain about how he needed to reset his S3 and Android would not save ALL of his settings & apps unless he "rooted" it, which he didn't want to do. In iPhone-land, this is simple as pie to backup & restore your phone, should you really ever need to, with no loss of any settings or apps.

He complains that the stock Google apps should "be better".

He complains about the Bluetooth quality of calls sucking and is even to the point of unusable with his Toyota car.

He complains that his precious Galaxy S3 hangs on some apps and needs a reboot every so often.

He complains that TouchWiz causes an error and needs to restart every so often.

The grass is not always greener, and in the S3's case is DEFINITELY not greener. The 4S (and coming 5) are indeed the gold standard of communication devices.

Apple has spoiled us for all other phones, at least Android ones.

People should just appreciate & reward what we do have, and not reward other manufacturers for bad phones with Android being a cheap, imitation knock-off operating system that people need to tweak and fiddle with and reboot all the time!

I'm in the market for a new smartphone but my budget won't go as far as the iPhone 5.
Therefore, I would be buying the 4S at a lower price when the 5 is released.

But I was wondering : for the same price the 4S (or even less than that), I could buy a more powerful Android phone like the Google Nexus of the HTC One X.
I already have an iPad 2 so I know what iOS is like. I also have a Mac but the whole integration thing of the 'Mac experience' doesn't mean anything to me (don't use icloud, never use any syncing in any way)...

So maybe buying an Android phone would give me the best of both worlds. Apparently, Jelly Bean rocks...
 
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