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Phones Switched to SSGS3: an Apple Girl's perspective (Part II Follow up)
- Thread starter Wrathwitch
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WW: 19 hours with 43% battery left is bad? I have never owned an Iphone but no smartphone I've had would do that well. I'm interested in reading texts over blue tooth also. I used a wp prior to this android and having texts read to me was very nice.
Thank youI am going to upgrade from my 3GS to the Galaxy S3, especially if my grandfathered unlimited data switches over, which I hear it does. Great review. Keep updates coming
As I understand it your grandfathered unlimited plan will transfer to a new phone but only if you pay the UNsubsidized rate. If you pay the 199 vs the full price they will force you into a tiered plan. I just had this convo with two different VZW employee's at a store. They are hoping many of us on the grandfathered plans opt to go cheap on the upgrade and they do not offer the unlimited plan with an upgrade any longer. I think the change to this was in early June via a press release.
I use my LTE sim in my iPad 3 so no worries for me, I don't use the Razr anyhow other than a GPS device now and then. I won't be upgrading anytime soon or if ever. I plan on just riding the unlimited data boat as long as possible. It really makes the LTE iPad an entirely different mobile device knowing you can literally do anything on LTE you can on your home wifi as I push 12 to 20mbps all over the KC area, which is about a 50 square mile are of KC and surrounding suburbs. It's also great to have a legal free hotspot feature I can share with anyone and not worry about limits!
It took a while for me to get used to, but the side button on a phone this large is very ergonomic. Can press it without needing to shift hands from the standard grip
This is my only complaint with the One X as well. I was nearly tempted by the G3 for this issue alone. The One X screen won out in the end.
I've always hated the top sleep button back in my 4S days. The iPhone is small, sure, but it was uncomfortable to have to reach up to put it to sleep. You'd inevitably have to use your pointing finger to do it one handed, which always felt cumbersome.
Side-wake button makes complete sense because you're thumb is resting on the side usually anyway (or your fingers if you're using it left handed).
Not a whole lot.
I do realize a few changes. Such as slightly less polished apps (ie Mint Finances. In iOS app you can search for the expenditure rather than have to scroll through all the categories). With Android they force you to scroll for some reason. Also some apps that I liked on iPhone are not either available for my device OR not my country for some reason (examples are Gameloft games and Plants vs Zombies). Due likely to my model number and country code. I am still waiting for a solve or a refund from Gameloft.
When I first wrote the review it was only after having my hands on the device for a day or two, I hadn't had the time to give it a full work over and find out how it manages my photos and music.
The follow up is pretty much the same point of view but with more knowledge of the product. I also hit a major learning curve in between the first and the follow up post. MAJOR learning curve haha!
The phone is a keeper, besides I can't afford to get a new device now with my bloody car and house insurance coming due at the same time
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Highway usage
Maybe thats a plus for the S3, anything that reduces talking on the phone while driving is a win in my book!
Maybe thats a plus for the S3, anything that reduces talking on the phone while driving is a win in my book!
Maybe thats a plus for the S3, anything that reduces talking on the phone while driving is a win in my book!
LOL! I dunno though, sometimes when you are driving great distances on the highway, phone conversation is a good way to keep me alert. Yeah I know people say pull over etc stretch etc but when it's -30 deg celcius and you are travelling with pets in the car you can't just get out and do calestenics and open the window
I guess I will some how have to tough it out! LOL! The PROBLEMS we have here in North America eh?
I guess I shouldn't be so down on ya, some people can drive ok while talking. My wife can't start her car without dialing someone first! Oh well, if it's -30C, I'm not gonna get out of the car either
If you stay out of the left lane, I'll be happy, but I'm guessing you're a bit north of my Oklahoma stomping grounds from your dialect!
Just kidding a bit about distracted driving, a pet peeve of mine. Be safe and enjoy your device!
If you stay out of the left lane, I'll be happy, but I'm guessing you're a bit north of my Oklahoma stomping grounds from your dialect!
Just kidding a bit about distracted driving, a pet peeve of mine. Be safe and enjoy your device!
That must be an issue with your bluetooth device. The GS3 phone itself has two microphones built in to elimiante road noise and wind and such so id say it isnt the phone itself. Some bluetooth devices in the car arent that good. Some Toyota's have a cheaper bluetooth built in called blue logic and its junk. Its the cheaper version of a real bluetooth system.
I use a car visor bluetooth device (Motorola Roadster) and it too has two mics to eliminate the other noise and nobody has said they get background noise from me.
BTW...what happened to the negative button? Did Bobby get too many and pitition to have it removed?
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That must be an issue with your bluetooth device. The GS3 phone itself has two microphones built in to elimiante road noise and wind and such so id say it isnt the phone itself. Some bluetooth devices in the car arent that good. Some Toyota's have a cheaper bluetooth built in called blue logic and its junk. Its the cheaper version of a real bluetooth system.
I use a car visor bluetooth device (Motorola Roadster) and it too has two mics to eliminate the other noise and nobody has said they get background noise from me.
BTW...what happened to the negative button? Did Bobby get too many and pitition to have it removed?
PS I might just look into that BT device you were talking about... it seems that my car's one does provide too much background noise
Is that something that you can use with the same buttons on the steering wheel or will those become useless accessories if I switch?LOL! No apparently everyone got theirs taken away.
On a more bummer note, I am going to return my phone and exchange it for another same model. For some reason it keeps dropping my calls (not every call but I have had more dropped calls in the past 2 weeks with this phone than I have had in 2 years with my iP4. The Telus tech guy stated that it can be one of two things 1) SIM card related (which is possible, my SIM card is like 3 years old) or hardware and since I was within my 14 day return period I will exchange it.
PS I might just look into that BT device you were talking about... it seems that my car's one does provide too much background noise
LOL! No apparently everyone got theirs taken away.
No it clips to your visor so the buttons are just above your head. All you need to do though is press one button and when it asks you to say a command,.... you then tell it who to call or who to send a text to and then say the text and it sends it. You do need to get the MyMotospeak app from the market but it is free.
There are others and you can search for example vids on youtube. For me i just thought the Motorola Roadster was fine for what i want. There is a new model of the MR which is about the same but it does have a GPS locator if you cant find your car in a big parking lot...lol.
As for the steering wheel controls...f you have those then that one should be better than the Blue Logic but you know, unless your driving an expensive car, sometimes they put in very average bluetooth systems.
As for dropped calls, i havent had any.
I was given the sIII as a test phone. I really do like certain things about it (and some I do not). However, I could never switch primarily for one reason alone (that's already been mentioned)......iMessage. Everybody I know now either has an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad. I guess I can accomplish the same thing with Gtalk but would first need to get everyone I know to switch to an Android device.
For example, 3 of my 4 children have an iPod touch and can message me (and facetime me) on my frequent business trips. Is just too convenient to give up for some widgets and a bigger screen.
For example, 3 of my 4 children have an iPod touch and can message me (and facetime me) on my frequent business trips. Is just too convenient to give up for some widgets and a bigger screen.
I almost pulled the trigger and bought the GS3 outright at T-Mobile tonight.
I currently have an iPhone 4S on T-Mobile with the $30 prepaid plan but there are limitations with the phone. I don't get visual voicemail anymore, I can't text pics, and I'm having a problem syncing with iCloud. Not to mention that I can only get Edge(2g) right now.
With the $30 plan, you get 5 gb's of HSPA+ data each month. I'm feeling sort of silly for not using that.
I may go back tomorrow and just get the phone.
I currently have an iPhone 4S on T-Mobile with the $30 prepaid plan but there are limitations with the phone. I don't get visual voicemail anymore, I can't text pics, and I'm having a problem syncing with iCloud. Not to mention that I can only get Edge(2g) right now.
With the $30 plan, you get 5 gb's of HSPA+ data each month. I'm feeling sort of silly for not using that.
I may go back tomorrow and just get the phone.
I think of using 2g (back when I had the original iPhone) and wonder how I survived. I say switch.
Went back to Apple from SGII
I think this is a good post and does fairly explain you can live with an Android phone but I actually did the opposite and moved back to Apple.
Samsung do make great phones but there were a few things about Andriod which caused me to return to Apple.
My evaluation was over a year and happened when my iPhone 3G died and it was months away until the iPhone 5/4S was to be released and the SGII was out.
I had been convinced by friends it could do everything the Apple iPhone could do, but I found for me this was not really true.
The mistake I made was to go off tech. Spec. Rather than how I would use the phone. So my friends were happy with their Samsung Galaxy because of the way they used it. One just used it as a phone, messaging and photo device. The other friend was geeky and loved the ability to customize his phone.
But I needed a iPhone, for reading books, playing games, listening to music and I did this solely from the phone. Android required a computer for many of these tasks. Android now has improved and one friend now is using the Samsung Galaxy 3 and to me it not a lot different to SGII.
Some things which made me revert back to my iPhone 3G. The SGII found a new home to. It is a pensonal choice and it is easy to swap just expensive.
1. No OS updates.
Apple will update the OS for the iPhone and continually fix or improve the phone. While on Android this is left to the manufacturer. So updates are few and the latest Andriod OS release is only available if you buy a new phone. So you at locked in to the OS for life of the phone.
2. Apps
Applications on Android, buggy. Generally this was due to the number of handsets a app had to support. Many games and apps were not available on Android. Android does have a lot of apps just not a lot of "quality" apps.
3. Music and content
None existent at first. It has improved now and you now have the option of google and Samsung stores. But iTunes still is so much easier to use. You just have to see which music apps are popular on the Google store to realize this is still true. (iTunes sync tools)
4. GUI
Much is made about the configurablity of the Andriod phone but apart from geeks most people wont really care and loath these changes. The Android GUI has some really annoying things like spell checker which corrects words which were correct, txt windows which navigate off screen so even with a bigger screen you can't see what you are typing. Trouble sometimes recognize phone or address links. Editing text is very difficult often you end up deleting whole sentences then trying to position the curse. Typing mistakes on iPhone even on smaller screen are less common then on the Galaxy. I could go on and on but remember point one no OS updates to fix these issues.
5. Battery life
Plan awful and sometimes unpredictable. You could find phone was flat even without use, because some widget or something decide to run and drain the battery. Usually the GPS would switch on. Although the Galaxy would tell you by being very warm in your pocket.
6. To big
SGIII is to big, I have a iPad at home if I need a big screen. To me a comfortable pocket size is still important.
7. Bloat ware
Third party or phone carrier bloat ware which could not be removed without rooting the phone. Often the cause of bad battery life.
I think this is a good post and does fairly explain you can live with an Android phone but I actually did the opposite and moved back to Apple.
Samsung do make great phones but there were a few things about Andriod which caused me to return to Apple.
My evaluation was over a year and happened when my iPhone 3G died and it was months away until the iPhone 5/4S was to be released and the SGII was out.
I had been convinced by friends it could do everything the Apple iPhone could do, but I found for me this was not really true.
The mistake I made was to go off tech. Spec. Rather than how I would use the phone. So my friends were happy with their Samsung Galaxy because of the way they used it. One just used it as a phone, messaging and photo device. The other friend was geeky and loved the ability to customize his phone.
But I needed a iPhone, for reading books, playing games, listening to music and I did this solely from the phone. Android required a computer for many of these tasks. Android now has improved and one friend now is using the Samsung Galaxy 3 and to me it not a lot different to SGII.
Some things which made me revert back to my iPhone 3G. The SGII found a new home to. It is a pensonal choice and it is easy to swap just expensive.
1. No OS updates.
Apple will update the OS for the iPhone and continually fix or improve the phone. While on Android this is left to the manufacturer. So updates are few and the latest Andriod OS release is only available if you buy a new phone. So you at locked in to the OS for life of the phone.
2. Apps
Applications on Android, buggy. Generally this was due to the number of handsets a app had to support. Many games and apps were not available on Android. Android does have a lot of apps just not a lot of "quality" apps.
3. Music and content
None existent at first. It has improved now and you now have the option of google and Samsung stores. But iTunes still is so much easier to use. You just have to see which music apps are popular on the Google store to realize this is still true. (iTunes sync tools)
4. GUI
Much is made about the configurablity of the Andriod phone but apart from geeks most people wont really care and loath these changes. The Android GUI has some really annoying things like spell checker which corrects words which were correct, txt windows which navigate off screen so even with a bigger screen you can't see what you are typing. Trouble sometimes recognize phone or address links. Editing text is very difficult often you end up deleting whole sentences then trying to position the curse. Typing mistakes on iPhone even on smaller screen are less common then on the Galaxy. I could go on and on but remember point one no OS updates to fix these issues.
5. Battery life
Plan awful and sometimes unpredictable. You could find phone was flat even without use, because some widget or something decide to run and drain the battery. Usually the GPS would switch on. Although the Galaxy would tell you by being very warm in your pocket.
6. To big
SGIII is to big, I have a iPad at home if I need a big screen. To me a comfortable pocket size is still important.
7. Bloat ware
Third party or phone carrier bloat ware which could not be removed without rooting the phone. Often the cause of bad battery life.
No didn't try stock Android, but to be honest I don't think would of made difference
I didn't use stock android but it wasn't the phone or even Android. It was I used my phone in such a way that a iPhone was the only solution for me.
You need to really work out what you use or value most in a phone.
For me music and ease of access was important. I original held of buying the iPhone 3G until Apple fixed 3G downloads for iTunes.
My mistake was to think my friends used their phones the same way as me but they never used iTunes for music.
To me no iTunes killed the SGII for me. Of coarse there are other ways to get music to phone, but not using a computer was a necessity for me.
My post wasn't designed to say go Apple or to knock Android. But a suggestion to work out what you value most in a phone and go with the platform you think will deliver.
I didn't use stock android but it wasn't the phone or even Android. It was I used my phone in such a way that a iPhone was the only solution for me.
You need to really work out what you use or value most in a phone.
For me music and ease of access was important. I original held of buying the iPhone 3G until Apple fixed 3G downloads for iTunes.
My mistake was to think my friends used their phones the same way as me but they never used iTunes for music.
To me no iTunes killed the SGII for me. Of coarse there are other ways to get music to phone, but not using a computer was a necessity for me.
My post wasn't designed to say go Apple or to knock Android. But a suggestion to work out what you value most in a phone and go with the platform you think will deliver.
Actually it's not the way you use your phone, more so the lack of knowledge of other platforms. I don't mean that in a derogatory way, I mean that to say that because you didn't know what options are available you didn't know what you could do. If iTunes is your thing, you can still use that with your Android phone. You can also tie it in with Google's Music cloud if you so chose to.
iTunes on phone not on a computer
Yeah this may be true.
But I think the solution you suggest requires a computer, and my requirement is no computer. My phone should not require another device like a Mac or a PC.
So when I mention iTunes I am speaking about the itunes player on the phone.
Yeah this may be true.
But I think the solution you suggest requires a computer, and my requirement is no computer. My phone should not require another device like a Mac or a PC.
So when I mention iTunes I am speaking about the itunes player on the phone.
I applaud you for being able to compare these two phones in a subjective way. Even though you have only ever used Apple products, you still decided to try out something else. I have owned a phone of every operating system at some point or another just so I could find what fits my own needs exactly. It seems like you're doing something similar and I'm glad you're liking your GS III.
I realized it is not easy to switch to another system when one is so comfortable with iOS, so kudos to you for switching and finding a new joy to contend with!
I was quite close to switching to S3 as well after playing with my gf's one and trying out another friend's one x. Completely love the bigger screen! Felt a little overwhelmed after coming back to my i4 and realize how small it is.
But now I realize that the bigger screen is the only thing so far that will make me switch.
I still love the tremendous user-friendlyness of my jailbroken i4! Quickreply and quickcompose from bitesms. Quick toggles in NC using NCsettings. Octopus keyboard. Forecast for lockscreen weather. activator for all my shortcuts. swipesafari for a web browsing experience. The user experience is not significantly different from the android system...though I didn't like the sms Quickreply and compose in the android..particularly using go sms pro (tell me if i am wrong about this and there is a better option)
maybe I am just too deep in my comfort zone that I twice back down from the S3 and now sitting deep to wait patiently for the i5.
I was quite close to switching to S3 as well after playing with my gf's one and trying out another friend's one x. Completely love the bigger screen! Felt a little overwhelmed after coming back to my i4 and realize how small it is.
But now I realize that the bigger screen is the only thing so far that will make me switch.
I still love the tremendous user-friendlyness of my jailbroken i4! Quickreply and quickcompose from bitesms. Quick toggles in NC using NCsettings. Octopus keyboard. Forecast for lockscreen weather. activator for all my shortcuts. swipesafari for a web browsing experience. The user experience is not significantly different from the android system...though I didn't like the sms Quickreply and compose in the android..particularly using go sms pro (tell me if i am wrong about this and there is a better option)
maybe I am just too deep in my comfort zone that I twice back down from the S3 and now sitting deep to wait patiently for the i5.