What decent Android handset to use instead of iPhone 5?

[Jibbajabba]

IMHO both Swiftkey and Swype are better than the predictive text on iOS.

Amen to that - the only time Swype / Swiftkey fails is when I hit the wrong keys myself while swiping ... best prediction I ever worked with ..

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I had the international version S3 and the battery was great,.

Same here .. if standby is all you care about then you are in for a treat - but the phone is so damn nice that I keep playing with it - making sure my battery sucks

 

[Cubytus]

I had the international version S3 and the battery was great, I was really surprised. Not sure how other versions are, AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile. Didn't try the tethering much though.

Well, you got Android, Windows Mobile, and the new Blackberry 10.

If I were you, I would wait a couple of months. CES and Mobile World Congress are both in the next two months.

If it has to be now, I'd say S3 or Nexus 4. There are a lot of developers and users for both, so if you ever run into trouble you can expect to find solutions fast.

Tethering is absolutely essential to me, so it has to perform decently.

Windows Mobile and Blackberry, unfortunately, aren't platforms of choice anymore. Both waited much too long before updating their outdated OSes, and by the time they refreshed it, developers left for more fertile grounds of iPhone OS and Android.

One ready to wait will always get a better device, sure. By "finding solutions fast", do you imply there's a 1-stop way to solve issues without significant downtime? A reference forum among users?

Same here .. if standby is all you care about then you are in for a treat - but the phone is so damn nice that I keep playing with it - making sure my battery sucks

A phone is meant to be used. I don't give a damn about standby, I want it to hold its charge through my typical working days (unplugged around 10 AM, back home at 3AM).

 

[daveathall]

If it was me, I would get a S3 and a spare battery just to be on the safe side.

 

[Cubytus]

Thank you all for your answers, but still doesn't answer my question. Is it just me or you don't know a bit about Android supports?

 

[walie]

Thank you all for your answers, but still doesn't answer my question. Is it just me or you don't know a bit about Android supports?

if the answers don't satisfy you, do the damn research yourself

 

[Cubytus]

The reason I asked it here is to get Mac-users' experience with Android, not get an uncontrollable flow of enthusiasm. The answer is not unsatisfactory, it's non-existent.

Here is is again, for your convenience:

1. - makes a good wireless modem without drying the battery in 2 hours
2. - supports the most common applications, including (gasp!) commercial ones I use, say, to find a good place to chill out with friends in an unknown "barrio"
3. - top quality predictive texting (Apple's iPod Touch being the best I tried so far)
4. - supports third-party IMAPS servers, with supports for aliases.
5. - supports standards-based, not Google-based, calendar sync, as well as Mac Address book, ideally locally, or through the cloud. Considering difficulties in easily accessing a wifi network in this city, local sync would be preferable, though not mandatory.
6. - native eduroam authentication

 

[Oletros]

Here is is again, for your convenience:

1. - makes a good wireless modem without drying the battery in 2 hours -> Samsung Note II
2. - supports the most common applications, including (gasp!) commercial ones I use, say, to find a good place to chill out with friends in an unknown "barrio" -> ANY Android phone
3. - top quality predictive texting (Apple's iPod Touch being the best I tried so far) -> Swiftkey is better than iOS keyboard
4. - supports third-party IMAPS servers, with supports for aliases. -> K9
5. - supports standards-based, not Google-based, calendar sync, as well as Mac Address book, ideally locally, or through the cloud. Considering difficulties in easily accessing a wifi network in this city, local sync would be preferable, though not mandatory. -> What type of standard based?
6. - native eduroam authentication > ANY Android smartphone

Here you are

 

[Cubytus]

Here you are

Reminder: I am looking for ONE device to do all that.

3- Will SwiftKeys drain the battery in a few hours when used? Sending around 85 SMS a day?

5- CalDAV, CardDAV, HTML5, no Flash
6- Really? So what is the use for that application?

I'll add a 7th one now you gave me the idea: multitask that doesn't drain the battery. Nokia lamentably fails here, and Apple famously pointed Android's uncontrolled battery drain when running multiple applications at a time, as they justified only supporting a few applications for backgrounding.

 

[sarcosis]

I've floated around all three platforms and still use iOS and Android on a regular basis. Here are my thoughts:

- makes a good wireless modem without drying the battery in 2 hours - Samsung Galaxy S III or the Note II. Since you said the Note II was too big, the SIII would fit the bill right now. the SIII comes with a 2100 mah battery to start with, but nothing 20 bucks on Amazon and a 4400 mah batter can't solve. It does make the phone a bit bigger, but solves the battery issue.
- supports the most common applications, including (gasp!) commercial ones I use, say, to find a good place to chill out with friends in an unknown "barrio" - That's just Android in general. There arn't really exclusive apps that I know of that are stuck on a particular phone. Less you are talking about crapware or bloatware.
- top quality predictive texting (Apple's iPod Touch being the best I tried so far) - Swiftkey is big. I happen to like Smart Keyboard Pro as well.
- supports third-party IMAPS servers, with supports for aliases. Android app called K9 if you don't like the email client that comes with the phone. Not sure about the Alias thing since I've never had a need for it.
- supports standards-based, not Google-based, calendar sync, as well as Mac Address book, ideally locally, or through the cloud. Considering difficulties in easily accessing a wifi network in this city, local sync would be preferable, though not mandatory. - Not sure about this one. I know that exchange sync works well and chances locally. I use Exchange sync with my N4 and my calendar says local even if I don't have signal.
- native eduroam authentication - Any Android Phone.

For your point 7, multi-tasking since ICS, and with JB, have been great. You don't see the battery drain you would with Gingerbread. As for rooting, the SIII has a great developer community behind it. It's super easy to root and ROM if you want to, just be nice in XDA, don't want tick anyone off, and it's easier than you think.

 

[Cubytus]

I've floated around all three platforms and still use iOS and Android on a regular basis. Here are my thoughts:

- makes a good wireless modem without drying the battery in 2 hours - Samsung Galaxy S III or the Note II. Since you said the Note II was too big, the SIII would fit the bill right now. the SIII comes with a 2100 mah battery to start with, but nothing 20 bucks on Amazon and a 4400 mah batter can't solve. It does make the phone a bit bigger, but solves the battery issue.
- supports the most common applications, including (gasp!) commercial ones I use, say, to find a good place to chill out with friends in an unknown "barrio" - That's just Android in general. There arn't really exclusive apps that I know of that are stuck on a particular phone. Less you are talking about crapware or bloatware.
- top quality predictive texting (Apple's iPod Touch being the best I tried so far) - Swiftkey is big. I happen to like Smart Keyboard Pro as well.
- supports third-party IMAPS servers, with supports for aliases. Android app called K9 if you don't like the email client that comes with the phone. Not sure about the Alias thing since I've never had a need for it.
- supports standards-based, not Google-based, calendar sync, as well as Mac Address book, ideally locally, or through the cloud. Considering difficulties in easily accessing a wifi network in this city, local sync would be preferable, though not mandatory. - Not sure about this one. I know that exchange sync works well and chances locally. I use Exchange sync with my N4 and my calendar says local even if I don't have signal.
- native eduroam authentication - Any Android Phone.

For your point 7, multi-tasking since ICS, and with JB, have been great. You don't see the battery drain you would with Gingerbread. As for rooting, the SIII has a great developer community behind it. It's super easy to root and ROM if you want to, just be nice in XDA, don't want tick anyone off, and it's easier than you think.

Interesting reading yet another who dare go deeper than shouting a name randomly.

I'm talking about mostly commercial applications, many free ones, an interface for some website, or some journal. Not crapware, although some are badly coded and unstable.

It's not that I don't like the email client that comes with the phone, as I never used it, I can't speak against or for it. As a precision, email aliases are mandatory for my use here. I just can't use the 60MB university is giving me.

Exchange is anything but standard. This is precisely the sort of non-standard and not so widespread protocol I want to avoid.

The community you're referring to, is it device-linked, or OS-linked? How easy is it to tinker with the SIII or Nexus 4 using a Mac? iPhone 5 or 4S price was a major issue, and some here told the SIII had the same pricetag as an iPhone 5.

 

[sarcosis]

Xda can be categorized as a enthusiast community for Android and Windows Phone. More so for Android than Windows Phone these days. If you want to root and flash custom romantic, that IMO is the best place to start since there is a wealth of knowledge. Finding stuff takes research since there isnalot out there.

As for the price, I couldn't tell you. I don't know where you are located, but in general the S3 is cheaper than the iPhone 5.

I would also consider exchange. Standard. The fact that it isn't open doesn't make it a non standard. Many corporations around the world use Exchange for email.

 

[Cubytus]

Xda can be categorized as a enthusiast community for Android and Windows Phone. More so for Android than Windows Phone these days. If you want to root and flash custom romantic, that IMO is the best place to start since there is a wealth of knowledge. Finding stuff takes research since there isnalot out there.

As for the price, I couldn't tell you. I don't know where you are located, but in general the S3 is cheaper than the iPhone 5.

I'll take note of that.

I would also consider exchange. Standard. The fact that it isn't open doesn't make it a non standard. Many corporations around the world use Exchange for email.

I don't give a **** about Exchange. Neither my private server or university use it, basically no common ISP or hosting company supports it in their usual packages. **** Exchange. More politely, de facto standards aren't standards.