Started with iOS, tried Android, then...

[Calidude]

Buy the unlocked nexus. It is a great phone and the price is even better.

I just ordered it online. I'm going to play with it and report back my findings to this thread. I've only used Blackberry and iPhone as smartphones for years and I'm gonna give Android a chance now.

I personally don't really see IPhone and Android as competitors in that one needs to win and the other lose.

Why not? Competition is good for you: the consumer. No need to be egalitarian about it. Let them fight it out to the death. Stick Windows Phone and whatever other OS in there too. The more the better.

 

[boss.king]

Started with a 3GS, tried Android out for a while, sold it and kept the 3GS, then switched to Windows Phone and have no intention of switching back for the forseeable future.

 

[Wrathwitch]

I just ordered it online. I'm going to play with it and report back my findings to this thread. I've only used Blackberry and iPhone as smartphones for years and I'm gonna give Android a chance now.

Please do let us know what you think!

I played around a bit with one at my local Telus store and it looked pretty decent. My big issue is the "If I am going to buy a new piece of tech, I am going to get the latest and greatest" That way it shouldn't get stale and boring for at least a short while.

My big concern is that if I get this SSG3, and 6 months Google releases it's new Nexus phone (which of course will put the specs etc of the SSG3 to shame I am sure), I am going to feel a bit annoyed. One good thing about buying an iPhone is that you know that you will have to wait at least a year for their new latest and greatest haha! Now that being said, as long as I love how ICS works and the phone works, I should be able to handle not getting OS updates by our slack arsed carriers who make us wait for 6-12 months before deigning to grace their paying customers with the OS updates...

If I like how it works, smooth, no dog locking etc then perhaps the constant "newest and best" Android phones that follow won't bother me so much... Here's hoping!

----------

I just ordered it online. I'm going to play with it and report back my findings to this thread. I've only used Blackberry and iPhone as smartphones for years and I'm gonna give Android a chance now.

.

It seems I messed up the quote

 

[ahfu25]

I have an iPhone 4S and a Galaxy note and I love both!! Im currently selling my note to get the galaxy s3 though!! Can't wait. Won't get into pro's and con's but we all can agree technology is great!!!

 

[maflynn]

Im currently selling my note to get the galaxy s3 though!!

That was quick, if you love the Note why sell it? Its a fairly new phone from Samsung

 

[Calidude]

My big concern is that if I get this SSG3, and 6 months Google releases it's new Nexus phone (which of course will put the specs etc of the SSG3 to shame I am sure), I am going to feel a bit annoyed.

1) You'll always feel annoyed when you buy an expensive gadget because something better always comes out months later. iPhone may last a year in between, but the annoyance is still there.
2) At least with Android, you can always install custom roms and make your phone work for as long as the community is out there to keep it up to date.

I'd wait for the Nexus and enjoy the updates for that if you wanna try Android.

 

[monkeylui]

I have a Samsung galaxy tab 2 & an iPad & an iPhone 4s. I like the slight change of pace with using ICS on the tab, came with it, I don't root. But essentially they are the same. My core apps I use are on both platforms. There is a difference in the "gracefulness" between the two, iOS is far and away smoother & slicker. But overall they are the same & I like both. I just want a major overhaul of the iPhone hardware or I'm out.

 

[Wrathwitch]

1) You'll always feel annoyed when you buy an expensive gadget because something better always comes out months later. iPhone may last a year in between, but the annoyance is still there.
2) At least with Android, you can always install custom roms and make your phone work for as long as the community is out there to keep it up to date.

I'd wait for the Nexus and enjoy the updates for that if you wanna try Android.

Alas, you are correct, I will always be annoyed by that haha. However, I am still on the iPhone4 and it is TIME for a switch (features, appearance, options, bigger screen (4.5-4.8"). I don't want to wait 3-4 more months for the next iPhone. If all of the rumours are correct it will just look like the same phone I have but be taller. If they impress me and release one of those slick mock ups that there were all over the web when we thought the iP4S was going to be re-designed I can always buy one unlocked outright and still have the benefit of one phone at a "reduced cost" by my evil Carrier.

 

[KentuckyHouse]

Great thread, and I'm glad to see it hasn't devolved into an Android vs. iOS debate.

I've currently got the 4S and GSII and I have to say, I love them both. My 4S is jailbroken and my GSII is rooted and running a custom ROM, so I do like to tinker. I'll agree with others here that have said that iOS is still smoother...but the GSII is great too.

I do like the customization that you get with Android but there are things that have bugged me (although I've picked up some good hints from posts in this thread). One is email on the GSII. I can never seem to get it working exactly like it does on iOS (which is pretty flawless in my opinion). It comes close, but it's not as good (again, IMO).

I'll typically switch from the 4S to the GSII when I get bored of it, maybe once a month or so. But I do seem to always come back to the 4S for the simplicity of use. The killer, for me, with the GSII is the battery life. While it's not HORRIBLE, it's nowhere near as good as the 4S. I don't have a problem plugging it in while I'm in the car or at my desk at work, but it does annoy me that it seems to drain twice as fast as my 4S.

If Android can ever get the battery life figured out, I'll keep right on buying their devices, because I like the change of pace. But I honestly don't ever see myself not having an iPhone. Can it get boring? Yes. But it's just so well-done and easy to use that it's hard to let go of it for any length of time.

 

[bigsexyy81]

Great thread, and I'm glad to see it hasn't devolved into an Android vs. iOS debate.

I've currently got the 4S and GSII and I have to say, I love them both. My 4S is jailbroken and my GSII is rooted and running a custom ROM, so I do like to tinker. I'll agree with others here that have said that iOS is still smoother...but the GSII is great too.

I do like the customization that you get with Android but there are things that have bugged me (although I've picked up some good hints from posts in this thread). One is email on the GSII. I can never seem to get it working exactly like it does on iOS (which is pretty flawless in my opinion). It comes close, but it's not as good (again, IMO).

I'll typically switch from the 4S to the GSII when I get bored of it, maybe once a month or so. But I do seem to always come back to the 4S for the simplicity of use. The killer, for me, with the GSII is the battery life. While it's not HORRIBLE, it's nowhere near as good as the 4S. I don't have a problem plugging it in while I'm in the car or at my desk at work, but it does annoy me that it seems to drain twice as fast as my 4S.

If Android can ever get the battery life figured out, I'll keep right on buying their devices, because I like the change of pace. But I honestly don't ever see myself not having an iPhone. Can it get boring? Yes. But it's just so well-done and easy to use that it's hard to let go of it for any length of time.

Can I ask how you guys are switching from a 4S to the GS2? Aren't the SIMs different sizes? Are you using an adapter?

 

[runtohell121]

Too bad there's no Windows Phone option in the poll lol. I switched from iOS -> Android -> WP... Got tired of the square icons after using it for 2-3 years on iOS and nothing new so far in iOS 5 besides the notification that didn't impress me.

 

[nefan65]

Too bad there's no Windows Phone option in the poll lol. I switched from iOS -> Android -> WP... Got tired of the square icons after using it for 2-3 years on iOS and nothing new so far in iOS 5 besides the notification that didn't impress me.

So you went from square icons to square tiles?

 

[Technarchy]

After 3 years and 6 android phones I concluded android sucks, and is a huge scam.

If Apple was not an option I'd go Blackberry or Windows Phone way before ever going back to android.

 

[Matthew9559]

I had the first iPhone and then the iPhone 4 so I used Apple for 4 years or so. I tried a few Android phones from AT&T back in December and hated them all. I switched to Verizon for the Galaxy Nexus and I like it a lot more than the other Android phones I had (HTC Inspire 4G and Galaxy S2 Skyrocket). The vanilla Google phone is the only Android phone I would ever consider using. I still prefer iOS in the end though. The Nexus is more like a computer and with that comes a lot more problems from my experience these past 5 months... Random reboots, phone turned off at night twice and would only boot once removed battery and plugged it back in, home screen crashes, buggy OS when in a phone call (screen turns on/off), etc.

I didn't vote because I will be getting the next iPhone and selling the Nexus so I will be back to iOS but not quite yet. I really like a bigger screen for the phone. 3.5" does seem too small to me even with its advantages (battery life, smaller form factor). Not to mention apps are overall of better quality on iOS.

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Can I ask how you guys are switching from a 4S to the GS2? Aren't the SIMs different sizes? Are you using an adapter?

I switched between an HTC Inspire 4G/iPhone 4 with a micro sim adapter from Amazon. It worked perfectly! I used this one.

 

[runtohell121]

So you went from square icons to square tiles?

Yes , well I'm actually just switching phones every month or two. From iPhone 4 to Samsung Galaxy S II to Samsung Focus S, depending on what I feel like using that month.

 

[ahfu25]

That was quick, if you love the Note why sell it? Its a fairly new phone from Samsung

Great phone but less support from dev's than the galaxy s2. I'm pretty sure the s3 will have more support as well. More options with roms and such. I came from a s2 and I loved that phone.

 

[KentuckyHouse]

Can I ask how you guys are switching from a 4S to the GS2? Aren't the SIMs different sizes? Are you using an adapter?

That's it...I use a cheap Micro SIM adapter I got off eBay. I think I got 4 of them for like $2. It works perfectly to switch back and forth and I just leave in in the GSII so I don't lose it.

 

[Lindenhurst]

That's it...I use a cheap Micro SIM adapter I got off eBay. I think I got 4 of them for like $2. It works perfectly to switch back and forth and I just leave in in the GSII so I don't lose it.

SO...I have a Galaxy Note and still an iPhone 4. I can use the micro sim adapter and just swap the sims out between the phones and they will work ?

I didn't think that it would. I may have to do the Ebay thing myself and pick up an adaptor.

 

[KentuckyHouse]

SO...I have a Galaxy Note and still an iPhone 4. I can use the micro sim adapter and just swap the sims out between the phones and they will work ?

I didn't think that it would. I may have to do the Ebay thing myself and pick up an adaptor.

It should work, as long as the Note isn't a 4G device (I could be wrong about that). No 4G in my area yet, so I don't know much about which devices have it and which don't. But yeah, you should just be able to put the iPhone micro sim in the Note and you're good to go.

 

[DroidConvert]

Does it count if I switched from Android, after three years, to iOS. I had the Eris (POS), the Increible (loved that phone best of the three) and the Razr (too big and too glitchy). Got tired of the hardware and software fragmentation so switched to the 4s. So far I have never had to do a "battery pull" which I had been doing with every Android phone I had.

 

[SurferMan]

Great thread, and I'm glad to see it hasn't devolved into an Android vs. iOS debate.

I've currently got the 4S and GSII and I have to say, I love them both. My 4S is jailbroken and my GSII is rooted and running a custom ROM, so I do like to tinker. I'll agree with others here that have said that iOS is still smoother...but the GSII is great too.

I do like the customization that you get with Android but there are things that have bugged me (although I've picked up some good hints from posts in this thread). One is email on the GSII. I can never seem to get it working exactly like it does on iOS (which is pretty flawless in my opinion). It comes close, but it's not as good (again, IMO).

I'll typically switch from the 4S to the GSII when I get bored of it, maybe once a month or so. But I do seem to always come back to the 4S for the simplicity of use. The killer, for me, with the GSII is the battery life. While it's not HORRIBLE, it's nowhere near as good as the 4S. I don't have a problem plugging it in while I'm in the car or at my desk at work, but it does annoy me that it seems to drain twice as fast as my 4S.

If Android can ever get the battery life figured out, I'll keep right on buying their devices, because I like the change of pace. But I honestly don't ever see myself not having an iPhone. Can it get boring? Yes. But it's just so well-done and easy to use that it's hard to let go of it for any length of time.

What rom are you running? I've had two 4S' and battery life was basically the same for each, but my GSII was a bit better stock, we use our phones fairly heavily. I'm on shostock2 though now and battery life is incredible both standby and in use, I would say dead even or slightly better then my 4 which was noticeably better than the 4S.

 

[Calidude]

More consistent and easier to use UI

Nobody can contest that iPhone wins here.

Faster and more responsive user experience

iPhone wins here again. Although, I would say if you meant faster as in "how the UI design affects how fast you can perform functions on your phone" Android may have the upper hand due to widgets and customizability.

Significantly better third party apps

Depends on what you mean by better:

If you mean better looking, more cohesively designed, more integrated with the OS, then sure, Apple wins.

If you mean apps that are better in that they offer more variety and functionality, then Android wins.

No malware/virus/etc.

This depends on the user. Only a very unskilled, ignorant person would get malware on their Android phone. But sure, Apple makes it near impossible to infect the iPhone by locking it down and sacrificing user functionality, so of course there's more security, but at a high cost to some people.

 

[Orange Furball]

I started with a blackberry. My first iPhone was a hand me down from my sister. It was a 32gb 3gs. I used it completely stock for around 2 months. At this point I got bored of iOS and the plainness of the iPhone. So I moved to windows phone 7.

What I have noticed: Apple wins hands down. The only plus I noticed was the size of the device and look of the UI. Not going into detail, but if I had to choose between iOS and wp7, I would choose iOS. Now my windows phone cracked... and I figured I might as well try Android... so I got an HTC Aria.

Android. My personal favorite. What I love

1. Variety of Android devices to choose from.
2. Hackability. Very easy to theme, mod, and cook new roms.
3. Open Source... nuff said.
4. I can personalize my device to how I want. Do I want an iPhone look? OK. I'll use an iPhone themed launcher. Windows Phone themed? No problem. Stock android? Sure! Basically anything goes for android.
5. App catalog is good enough for me. I don't do much "gaming" on my phone, so if I have word, excel, email, and phone I'm good.
6. Probably more but I don't feel like listing.

Eventually I figured out that I could switch my glass and back on the 3gs to make it one of a kind. So I bought parts and modded it. Back to iOS.

Same old same old. Normal iOS life. But at around January of this year I began to miss android, and my contract was ending soon... to google!

After hours of searching, I find the Galaxy Note. Wow. Perfect. Even better news! It was coming to at&t the same day as my contract was ending. I was at best buy pre ordering it within an hour. Now the galaxy note is my main device and I sold all of my iOS devices for android counterparts. This is to keep all my devices in one ecosystem so I don't need to buy an app twice.

Android is 10x better with ICS and I (probably) never will go back to iOS. Unless there is a full metal >5" iPhone.

 

[KentuckyHouse]

What rom are you running? I've had two 4S' and battery life was basically the same for each, but my GSII was a bit better stock, we use our phones fairly heavily. I'm on shostock2 though now and battery life is incredible both standby and in use, I would say dead even or slightly better then my 4 which was noticeably better than the 4S.

I'm actually on Shostock2 also. The standby time is fine for me on the GSII with that ROM, but it's when I start actually using the phone that it seems to drop like a stone. I typically keep my screen brightness around 50%, but last night I lowered it a little to see if that makes a big difference (since I know the screen can eat up the battery if set too bright).

The best ROM I've ever used, battery-wise, was UnNamed 1.5.1. I couldn't kill that thing, no matter what I was doing. But in that version, the creator removed noise suppression from the mic, and I was getting all sorts of complaints from others that when I was on the phone with them, the background noise was awful. He put it back in in later versions, but I never could duplicate the battery life 1.5.1 had.

I absolutely love Shostock2, though, as far as look and use goes. The only thing I wish the creator would include is the Jkay mod, as I like to be able to remove the battery indicator number from the status bar (otherwise, I feel like I obsess over that number...LOL).

Maybe I should do a wipe and reflash and the battery may get better. I also haven't checked to see if there are any updates lately. Right now I'm running 2.2.6.

 

[asgr8]

I agree with you that the apps on Android do not work as well or as polished as on iOS.

I've never had an iPhone, but I did use an ipod touch 2nd gen (and 4th gen) while waiting for my Windows Mobile phone contract to expire. (Made a hotspot with my WinMo phone for the ipod to use)

For the past year and a few months, I've been using an HTC Thunderbolt. Since March I've been using the iPad 3rd gen, too. I think I'm going to go with an iPhone 5 when they come out just because the apps are better and more polished, and I don't have to deal with the occasional (but not debilitating) OS instability, random apps crashing, etc.

I also think this anecdote is funny... because it mostly rings true for me. See Comment 53 on the URL below.

http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=7648

That Comment is Funny and true

I am enjoying Android right now, getting the hang of it. Already rooted and installed new ROm and everyday playing with one setting or another. Its all very satisfying and enjoying but i hate the apps. I have an iPad 3 as well and i am using it way more now than when i had iphone. Now instead of checking twitter on android, i open tweetbot on iPad. Instead of using Reddit on android ( reddit news is a better client ), i use Alien Blue which is The Best experience of Reddit in my eyes.

So in the end, i know i will cave and buy an iphone 5 when it comes out just because of apps on android.