iPhone Alternatives?

[cherishzm]

I've been using iPhones since about 3 years ago from 3G through the 5 I'm using now. Most recently, I've used HTC One and LG Google Nexus 4 and both did not meet my expectation especially in terms of touch response and overall smoothness of OS. I really liked the build quality, screen size & quality, speakers and etc on HTC One but just could not live with how it responds to touches. I had unintended touch responses from scrolling through and many times it required more than one touch to get a response. LG Google Nexus 4 was not much different in terms of the touch response and smoothness. And Nexus 4 did not feel good in my hand too.

I don't not like Samsung Galaxy lineup mostly because their AMOLED screen that makes my eyes tired easily but I'm not sure if their phones are any better than the other two I mentioned above.

Am I spoiled at the experience I've had with iPhones? My wife wanted to get a bigger screen phone so I let her try the HTC One one day as well, but she complained next morning how crappy the touch response was on it. It's a shame how the software can ruin the very well-made hardware such as the HTC One.

By the way, the sound coming from HTC One's front-located stereo speakers is amazing and the 4.7" LCD screen is gorgeous to look at, too. I wish I could have iOS installed on it. Its camera also takes excellent pictures in low-light situation which I really want and need a lot of times.

I do like my iPhone 5 but sometimes I feel I owe to myself to try different experiences so I keep myself current with what's going on with the evolving smartphones..

 

[vikingjunior]

Funny as the 2 androids you mentioned
Are the 2 smoothest ones you would really hate the rest.

 

[cherishzm]

Funny as the 2 androids you mentioned
Are the 2 smoothest ones you would really hate the rest.

That's why I chose to try these two Androids but sadly they did not meet my expectations. I do want a good competition to iPhones but in terms of improving the touch responses and overall OS smoothness, Androids manufacturers or Google need to improve. Not sure if it's Google's Android OS, digitizer, manufacturer's skin or everything combined, but they did not earn my satisfaction yet.

 

[aneftp]

Windows Phone OS is very "smooth". Unfortunately their App Store is still missing many apps consumers like HBO Go, Epocrates for medical professionals, kiddie apps like Disney Junior/channel etc. just to name a few.

 

[617aircav]

HTC one is as smooth as any phone, I have it and the iPhone 5 and 4s.

 

[mpayne2k]

I have found the HTC One very smooth, not sure why you had your experience...was it in settings menus, surfing the web or what?

Also, android has developer options menu where you can tweak the OS to favor speed over lag or even accuracy of scrolling over speed. Many others have said if you don't give android a fair shake, you'll never be a fan.

FYI I'm no android fanboy, I have an iPhone 5, but my tablet I have is a Nexus 10.

 

[cynics]

I believe there is a Google experience version coming out for the HTC (I haven't researched it) but without the Sense skin it should be a little smoother.

Keep in mind these operating systems operate very differently too.

iOS will prioritize the UI. Load a busy web page in any iOS browser and scroll before its done loading and the downloading/loading will stop until you stop. Android doesn't do the same thing.

You can't expect something else to outperform ios's priority task..

 

[Sup3rknova]

I am an iphone and MacBook Pro user. I'm not gonna lie, I was in a Best Buy buying something and I just walked by the cellphones and the Nokia (not sure of the exact name, it was red) windows phone caught my eye. I messed with it a bit and I must say it was VERY NICE! I dropped Android years ago but this Nokia was very refreshing. I think what I liked most was that it was new and different than the others. Didn't buy it cause I love iPhone but if I had the chance I would DEFINITLY try it out. Lack of stuff in the market is a deal breaker though.

 

[lordofthereef]

Smoothness seems to be a big deal to people. I always try to recommend doing something on one phone and then the other. Are you spending any more/less time doing either one? If not, what is it about smoothness that has you so enamored? For the most part, I find stock Android to be smooth, with the occasional jitter. But I get that on the iPhone as well, especially while posting on forums and typing very fast.

 

[sracer]

Smoothness seems to be a big deal to people. I always try to recommend doing something on one phone and then the other. Are you spending any more/less time doing either one? If not, what is it about smoothness that has you so enamored? For the most part, I find stock Android to be smooth, with the occasional jitter. But I get that on the iPhone as well, especially while posting on forums and typing very fast.

Responsiveness of the UI is certainly important for mobile devices. Battery life is another important factor. This is the single biggest reason why I'm staying with the iPhone 4 although I've previously owned Android phones going all the way back to the G1.

I can go 2-3 days of normal usage on an iPhone 4 before needing to recharge. I can only get about 1 day+a few hours on any of the Android sets that I've owned. Similar usage, similar apps.

Also, Android may have "full multitasking" but I prefer iOS' intelligent multitasking. I'm not saying that iOS is better in that regard, only that for the way that I use my mobile devices, iOS multitasking is a better fit for me.

Ironically, it was Google's releasing of Google Maps for iOS that sealed the deal for me. Before that, whenever I would travel I would swap the SIM out of the iPhone and into my Galaxy SII Skyrocket so that I could use Navigation. But with Navigation available on iOS, the SII stays home permanently... relegated to a custom ROM that turns it into a terrific portable media player.

 

[spyguy10709]

I've been using iPhones since about 3 years ago from 3G through the 5 I'm using now. Most recently, I've used HTC One and LG Google Nexus 4 and both did not meet my expectation especially in terms of touch response and overall smoothness of OS. I really liked the build quality, screen size & quality, speakers and etc on HTC One but just could not live with how it responds to touches. I had unintended touch responses from scrolling through and many times it required more than one touch to get a response. LG Google Nexus 4 was not much different in terms of the touch response and smoothness. And Nexus 4 did not feel good in my hand too.

I don't not like Samsung Galaxy lineup mostly because their AMOLED screen that makes my eyes tired easily but I'm not sure if their phones are any better than the other two I mentioned above.

Am I spoiled at the experience I've had with iPhones? My wife wanted to get a bigger screen phone so I let her try the HTC One one day as well, but she complained next morning how crappy the touch response was on it. It's a shame how the software can ruin the very well-made hardware such as the HTC One.

By the way, the sound coming from HTC One's front-located stereo speakers is amazing and the 4.7" LCD screen is gorgeous to look at, too. I wish I could have iOS installed on it. Its camera also takes excellent pictures in low-light situation which I really want and need a lot of times.

I do like my iPhone 5 but sometimes I feel I owe to myself to try different experiences so I keep myself current with what's going on with the evolving smartphones..

At the end of the day, however...

 

[lordofthereef]

Responsiveness of the UI is certainly important for mobile devices. Battery life is another important factor. This is the single biggest reason why I'm staying with the iPhone 4 although I've previously owned Android phones going all the way back to the G1.

I can go 2-3 days of normal usage on an iPhone 4 before needing to recharge. I can only get about 1 day+a few hours on any of the Android sets that I've owned. Similar usage, similar apps.

Also, Android may have "full multitasking" but I prefer iOS' intelligent multitasking. I'm not saying that iOS is better in that regard, only that for the way that I use my mobile devices, iOS multitasking is a better fit for me.

Ironically, it was Google's releasing of Google Maps for iOS that sealed the deal for me. Before that, whenever I would travel I would swap the SIM out of the iPhone and into my Galaxy SII Skyrocket so that I could use Navigation. But with Navigation available on iOS, the SII stays home permanently... relegated to a custom ROM that turns it into a terrific portable media player.

Responsiveness is one thing, but its not like any of the competitors are not responsive. They can be sluggish, at times, but we are realistically talking milliseconds. Truth be told, my wife's iPhone 4 with iOS 6 was more sluggish than any android device I've ever used. Granted, it's many years old now, but the point is that there are people still happily using it.

 

[cherishzm]

I probably need to emphasize that the disappointment was mainly from how HTC One responded to my finger(s) touching the screen, not much on the smoothness of the OS. I had experienced unintended touch responses as if I tapped on something on the screen while scrolling and sometimes I had to tap the screen more than once to get a desired response.

There's a subtle difference in multi-touch experience, too. Using two fingers to zoom in and out on iPhone 5 feels very direct but it was more like artificially smooth multi-touch on HTC One and other Android devices I tried.

These are differences that I would not notice when trying at stores with demo phones, but I did notice these when using the for few hours at home doing different things. Maybe, I'm being too picky...

I'm pretty happy with my iPhone 5 but I'm just bored having the same phone for 8 months now.