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From iPhone 5 to Note 2
- Thread starter bmac4
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
What is not to like?
- Absurd 8-tab limitation.
- Locked in as default browser meaning, once again, no choice. That alone is a negative.
- No way to get a desktop version of a site (unless the site provides that option). Many times I had to switch to another browser because the mobile site didn't allow what I needed to do. Thanks, Safari.
- Bookmark syncing that is not reliable across all my Apple devices. It also duplicates bookmarks randomly. Fail. No such issues with Chrome.
- No faster than Chrome on my Note 2... slower than Dolphin. On my macs Safari is slower than Chrome and I choose to use Chrome. Ergo, not being able to make Safari the default browser on iOS is a HUGE fail.
- Safari on iOS is essentially married to iOS. Updates to Safari come with iOS updates. WTF?? Fail.
- Size. Even on a "huge" iPhone 5 browsing with Safari is like browsing on a watch. Fail.
I could go on, but that is off the top of my head. Doesn't matter anyway since the average iOS fan thinks if Apple forces it on you it must be "best." Till Apple changes what is "best" (maps anyone?).
Michael
So now that I am into my second week with the note 2 I am finding my self at a bit of a cross road. I am still trying to decide if I want to keep the note 2 or return it. I have to decide by Saturday. Now if I did return it I would be getting the nexus 4 not going back to the iphone 5. I am not sure that I could ever go back to the iphone.
I like the note 2 a lot, and one of those reasons is the battery life. I have never seen a phone with this much battery life it is great. I love a lot of the small things Samsung added to android to make this phone work. On the other side of things I am not the biggest fan of touchwiz, and would much prefer stock Android. This is the one thing that is making the decision so hard. I can't decide what matters to me most, the battery life, or stock Android. I like to hear from you guys to see what you think.
I like the note 2 a lot, and one of those reasons is the battery life. I have never seen a phone with this much battery life it is great. I love a lot of the small things Samsung added to android to make this phone work. On the other side of things I am not the biggest fan of touchwiz, and would much prefer stock Android. This is the one thing that is making the decision so hard. I can't decide what matters to me most, the battery life, or stock Android. I like to hear from you guys to see what you think.
If battery life is really important, and you use your phone a lot like I do, I would forget the Nexus 4. I started with it and was constantly stressing over running out of battery. I never do that with my Note 2--and I carry a spare battery to boot. I also thought the camera and back speaker volume were sub-par. Nothing on the N4 was "great" in my opinion. It was a good phone, mind you, but nothing that was stellar. Perhaps the build quality and look--but the back glass on mine cracked so that went out the window fast.
I actually like what Samsung has added to android. A lot of good stuff there. I am not running stock rom though: I run CleanROM ACE. It has all the benefits of Touchwiz but with a lot more that was not on my AT&T Note 2 (tethering, editing the notification toggles, etc.).
But if I didn't like it I could run a rom that was much more android generic.
Michael
If you're not sure you want to keep it, then you will probably wish you hadn't kept it.
That said, as a Nexus 4 owner (and iPhone 4S owner, and spouse of an iPhone 5 owner), you need to be aware of some of the downsides of an N4 if you go that route:
That's about it.
I love my N4. I hate the camera, but I love it overall. That said, there's a huge benefit to being able to use the Note 2 as a spare television.
Edited to say: Tinmania and I view the N4 differently, and I can see why. Mine is wirelessly charged all day at work and then plugged in at night, so battery life is never a consideration. I really, really love the screen as well as the screen size. That said, I've played with a colleague's Note 2, and it's also awesome.
That said, as a Nexus 4 owner (and iPhone 4S owner, and spouse of an iPhone 5 owner), you need to be aware of some of the downsides of an N4 if you go that route:
- The rear camera sucks. It's probably equivalent to that of an iPhone 4 (not 4S), but the autofocus is wonky, and it's just not great except in really bright light. This is my biggest issue with it.
- Battery life is on par with that of a 4S, less than that of a 5.
- No LTE.
That's about it.
I love my N4. I hate the camera, but I love it overall. That said, there's a huge benefit to being able to use the Note 2 as a spare television.
Edited to say: Tinmania and I view the N4 differently, and I can see why. Mine is wirelessly charged all day at work and then plugged in at night, so battery life is never a consideration. I really, really love the screen as well as the screen size. That said, I've played with a colleague's Note 2, and it's also awesome.
You could just use Nova Launcher and make your phone look like it's running stock Android, except with a bunch of additional features like gestures etc., while retaining all the good Touchwiz functions like split screen, S-pen stuff and so on. No root needed, and afaik it doesn't slow the phone down one bit. I haven't used it myself but am getting a Note 2 myself soon and it will be the first thing I install on it.
Check these out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PEmKUBtWlk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3LcG4Dkm24
Oh ok. People keep telling put a custom rom on it, but I have never rooted any of my android phones. I have no idea what goes into. One of the reason I ditched my iPhone 5 was because I could not get the phone to do what I wanted right out of the box. I had to jailbreak it.
Was the nexus 4 your first nexus device or had you had one before? I had the nexus s and Galaxy nexus and I liked both of them. The gnex had bad battery life with the stock battery, but the good thing about it was the removable back. That is what concerns me about the nexus 4. I still have my gnex it just has a broken sim tray, but I am thinking about getting it fixed and using it along side the note. Just love stock Android.
To me, it's more the issue that, if you've got 8 open and open to click on a link to open in another tab, one of your current ones just goes "poof".
Still, I hate being forced to close one, even if 95% of the time I have no need even for 8 to be open.
Because I often see a site that I don't have time to read, but want to leave the tab open for a later time.
With Chrome on my Note 2 I regularly have 10+ tabs open. More importantly I never worry about "running out" of tabs. On my iPhone I would close tabs even if I hadn't read them fully yet, just so I could stay under the strange--in 2013--8 tab "limit."
The real question is... why is there an 8 tab limitation in Safari on the iPhone in 2013, the same as it was in 2007? That is odd to me, to say the least.
Mike
you are exactly right. Nova does not cause any lag once so ever on the note 2, and you can make it look exactly like stock with some added bonuses. For example, deleting extra home pages and gestures like you mentioned.
The Nexus 4 was my very first Android, and of course Nexus, device. Prior to that it was iPhone from the very beginning in 2007.
I LOVE the removable back on my Note 2. It is so nice to be able to swap the battery and also that the memory card is hidden. Speaking of that... it is nice to be able to have an extra 64gb of storage for just $50.
Michael
The Nexus 4 was my very first Android, and of course Nexus, device. Prior to that it was iPhone from the very beginning in 2007.
I LOVE the removable back on my Note 2. It is so nice to be able to swap the battery and also that the memory card is hidden. Speaking of that... it is nice to be able to have an extra 64gb of storage for just $50.
Michael
Yea you are right. Seems to be a lot of positives for the note 2
Then you just answered your own question. If battery life is more important than stock Android, that is. Want even better battery life on your Note 2? Pick up a Gold 4200mAh battery (same physical size as stock so no change in back cover needed) Link
Huh? Please explain your question, does what have NFC? The back cover is the same for both batteries stock or 4200mAh Gold.
But the battery has an NFC antenna in it I do believe. If it was the same as some of the other android phones I have had the battery has to have an NFC antenna for NFC to work.
I had no idea the battery had NFC in it. In that case I believe the Gold battery does NOT have one. The increase in battery life is more than worth the trade off in my opinion (someone who hardly uses NFC) I'd estimate over 1/3rd increase in real use.
EDIT: I did some research and on the GS3 the NFC is in the battery, on the Note 2 the NFC is in the battery cover meaning this Gold battery upgrade keeps your NFC functionality.
I am not saying that is true with this phone cause I am not sure. You could try the nfc and see. I just know on some of the other phones I have had that is how it works
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Ok cool thanks for the info
Because, given there are other ways to "save" a site for reading later (reading lists, bookmarks, simply copying the url and pasting into a note, or your browser history), having a ridiculous number of tabs open only uses up resources unnecessarily.
It's not an "advancement" thing....its simply a way to conserve resources and make the phone more efficient. As I said - many OTHER, very simple ways to save a site for reading later.
I don't think most people need to use custom ROMs. Android phones are very customisable out of the box. There are also a number of alternate launchers you can use to add more functionality to the home screens.
Yea I have add nova launcher on my last 2 android phones. Even the gnex I had. I think I like it the most seems be very light on the phone and does not lag very much at all.
Those are poor excuses for a browser in this day and age. And the resources excuse is the poorest of them all. The ancient iPad 1, with a fraction of the power of iPhone 5, can have more than 8 tabs.
Open tabs are merely an entry in a plist file. Sheesh they survive a reboot. How do you think that magic happens?
And I'm far from the only one with a "ridiculous" number of tab opens. Next you will tell me I could just use pen and paper, like I often had to do when the iPhone lacked copy and paste.
It's a defiency plain and simple.
Michael
Lol....OK. I'll continue to use the other ways to save webpages and be able to do the same thing you do with your dozens of tabs open....
Don't know how that constitutes a deficiency...