Wow, Windows 8 puts iOS to shame

[daveathall]

The SGS3 and Nexus 4 are far and away the best Android devices on the market and they definitely address the 'tired' excuses Anti-Android folks use. They are both, as you say, superb devices and great alternatives to the iPhone.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the vast majority of Android devices that due to compromises still suffer from crashing, lag, and low frame rates.

It's true, Google has been tightening control over Android OEMs to the benefit of consumers while also "sponsoring" flagship devices like the Nexus that are much more representative of what Google and consumers would like Android to be. But the fact remains, outside of these devices there is still a much wider range to the Android experience than is seen with either iOS or Windows Phone - both of whom very tightly control hardware and software integration.

Like many things, the truth is somewhere in between: There are Android devices that truly exemplify the what Android can do and then there are the rest that fall somewhere behind...

Yep, although wanting to type something different, I find myself nodding in agreement. I would however extend the term of superb to some other "flagship" models from differing manufacturers using Android. If Apple, Android and MS got together to produce a phone combining the "best of" we would have nothing to debate.

 

[Yujenisis]

If Apple, Android and MS got together to produce a phone combining the "best of" we would have nothing to debate.

I definitely missed some other Android models that represent "the best of" - but I do have experience playing with the Nexus series and with the SG3.

Now, it would be interesting to see an interplay between the big three. It's wishful thinking but still intriguing to think about.

 

[Random 995K]

I'm using a Galaxy Nexus and it was released a year ago. Even when it was just released it wasn't particularly "high end" as far as hardware goes.

These can now be purchased off contract for about $300AU (~$315US) in Australia. Hardly high end and it's extremely smooth.

The cheapest iPhone I can buy brand new is the 8GB iPhone 4 at $449AU
http://store.apple.com/au/browse/home/shop_iphone/family/iphone4

I can get a brand new, top of the line 16GB Nexus 4 off contract for less than that so i'm not sure it's really relevant when iPhone users make use of the term "high end" as a comparative. A 2.5 year old iPhone is more expensive than most Android handsets.

Furthermore, I also have no idea why this is a surprise to you unless you have no experience with general computing other than Apple. Complaining about performance of a low end Android phone is exactly like buying a cheap Acer Netbook with Windows and complaining it's not as fast/good quality as a high end Vaio or Samsung.

Im Aussie as well, anyway yes its understandable that the cheap ones would lag because, as you said, a cheap acer notebook would. Although you take a look at the iPhone 4 which has a chip that is 2-3 years old and its outperforms a 2 year old android with a better chip (as they usually boast). It is due to the fantastic iOS which is very efficient and blows Android out the window in terms of performance. The iPhone 5 in real life tests is unmatchable in speed even by the note 2. It has been also shown in benchmarks that the iPhone 5 is at the top of everything except battery life to the Motorola maxx. This is despite that fact that it has 1 gb of ram and 2 cores... i guess also apple went all out with the A6, using FAR superior architecture than anything else out there. My point is if apple released a "cheap" phone it wouldn't lad. Look at the iPad mini as an example of a cheap tablet that doesn't lag.

 

[SomeDudeAsking]

Im Aussie as well, anyway yes its understandable that the cheap ones would lag because, as you said, a cheap acer notebook would. Although you take a look at the iPhone 4 which has a chip that is 2-3 years old and its outperforms a 2 year old android with a better chip (as they usually boast). It is due to the fantastic iOS which is very efficient and blows Android out the window in terms of performance. The iPhone 5 in real life tests is unmatchable in speed even by the note 2. It has been also shown in benchmarks that the iPhone 5 is at the top of everything except battery life to the Motorola maxx. This is despite that fact that it has 1 gb of ram and 2 cores... i guess also apple went all out with the A6, using FAR superior architecture than anything else out there. My point is if apple released a "cheap" phone it wouldn't lad. Look at the iPad mini as an example of a cheap tablet that doesn't lag.

Please quantify "lag".

 

[SlCKB0Y]

Although you take a look at the iPhone 4 which has a chip that is 2-3 years old and its outperforms a 2 year old android with a better chip (as they usually boast). It is due to the fantastic iOS which is very efficient and blows Android out the window in terms of performance.

I don't doubt this as well but you need to understand that in the last 12 months, Android has made absolutely massive progress in terms of speed, usability and features. Android 4.2 is a completely different beast to gingerbread 2.3, which was the latest phone centric release of Android just a little over a year ago.

The way I see it is that Apple focused heavily on fluidity of UI and user experience right from the very beginning and got amazing results but at the expense of features in the OS.

Conversely, Google previously focused all their efforts at making Android feature rich, but at the expense of user experience and smoothness throughout the OS.

The problem that Apple faces at the moment is that Google is getting better at UX and OS optimisation a lot quicker than Apple is getting better at implementing features within iOS.

I believe that the massive progress Android has made in the last year is almost entirely due to Matias Duarte. His leadership of Android User Experience has completely turned things around.

 

[Random 995K]

I don't doubt this as well but you need to understand that in the last 12 months, Android has made absolutely massive progress in terms of speed, usability and features. Android 4.2 is a completely different beast to gingerbread 2.3, which was the latest phone centric release of Android just a little over a year ago.

The way I see it is that Apple focused heavily on fluidity of UI and user experience right from the very beginning and got amazing results but at the expense of features in the OS.

Conversely, Google previously focused all their efforts at making Android feature rich, but at the expense of user experience and smoothness throughout the OS.

The problem that Apple faces at the moment is that Google is getting better at UX and OS optimisation a lot quicker than Apple is getting better at implementing features within iOS.

I believe that the massive progress Android has made in the last year is almost entirely due to Matias Duarte. His leadership of Android User Experience has completely turned things around.

Agree completely with what you are saying... its just that less than 1% of android users are on jelly bean. Most phones come out on gingerbread or ICS. iOS7 should have quite a few new features but to be honest many iOS users including myself see so many of the android features as pointless and would never use them. The only feature that i would like to see is the shortcuts to wifi etc. Live wallpapers and widgets is the reason why even now on jelly bean you are using way more cpu on the home screen which can lead to the occasional stutter. Although is far less likely to happen compared to previous OS'.

----------

Please quantify "lag".

I pretty much meant the stutter that you get quite often when changing home screens on a low end android phones or a new one that is running ginger bread or ICS. Also even on jellybean games stutter and are actually programmed to run at a lower FPS to prevent this.

 

[Renzatic]

I pretty much meant the stutter that you get quite often when changing home screens on a low end android phones or a new one that is running ginger bread or ICS. Also even on jellybean games stutter and are actually programmed to run at a lower FPS to prevent this.

Lowering the framerate wouldn't do anything of the sort. You'd only get a stutter when going from a smooth framerate to something incredibly low, like 5 FPS for a split second. What it would do would fix the perception of smoothness for a game that constantly jumps between, say, 25-60 FPS constantly.

Generally speaking, programs get the lions share of CPU time on Android, not the UI. So the usual Android Lag issues would be far less likely to affect games and whatnot.

 

[SlCKB0Y]

Agree completely with what you are saying... its just that less than 1% of android users are on jelly bean. Most phones come out on gingerbread or ICS.

This I disagree with this. There are almost no new phones coming to market with Gingerbread and Jelly Bean currently accounts for 6% of Android phones in the wild:
http://developer.android.com/about/dashboards/index.html

 

[Random 995K]

This I disagree with this. There are almost no new phones coming to market with Gingerbread and Jelly Bean currently accounts for 6% of Android phones in the wild:
http://developer.android.com/about/dashboards/index.html

Yeah, sorry i was using a statistic released ~a week after its launch. Still 6% is quite insignificant imo.

 

[MRU]

Mobile OS

After 24 hours with my Windows Phone 8 (HTC 8X) it really doesn't put Android or iOS to shame at all.

Hardware is great, but software is still very lacking.

Very few of the apps of the very few apps in the store are not optimised for windows 8 and higher resolution screens, and there is a real 'lack' of many of the top / basic android and iOS applications. Heck even Blackberry has more apps and that's saying something.

 

[viewfly]

Windows 8 on tablet looks really good, ive been pondering the idea to get one (so much things to get lol) but my ipad 2 still does what i need and the battery remains perfect.

These is a really good video that shows many aspects of both OS.

YouTube: video

Nice video. But there are so many compromises in Windows 8 currently that I see someone changing only for change sake. And that is not even considering the lack of apps.

 

[MonkeySee....]

I'll stick with iOS for tablet computing.

I've been on Windows 8 Pro for awhile now, almost daily, and it didn't take long for Window-isms to appear. I like Windows 8 quite a bit, but the Windows 8 experience has given me no reason to want to replace my iPad, or dissuaded me from getting an Apple desktop or laptop in the near future to replace my current Windows Box.

I agree with this. Lots of little things are bugging me.

I set aside 40gb on a partition for windows 8 and its just going nuts with space. I deleted 350mb of data to free up space and within a minute it used it back up again on what, I don't know.

 

[onthecouchagain]

I don't see anything wrong with a business model that encompasses both ends of the market, and everything in between. I don't see the point of complaining about the low end, either, and then going about generalizing that Android is bad. Yes, there may be compromises to the OS and performance depending on the target audience, the price points it wants to reach, and the specific needs of that particular market.

This is the power of choice. Most of us here require top tier devices to be satisfied. Get a high end Android. It's quite simple.

There's no better time than now to enjoy the fruits of Android's accomplishments.

 

[TheMTtakeover]

I had a lumia 920 for a couple weeks and I really miss it. I think Windows phone 8 is awesome, but there were just a few crucial things missing and that's why I couldn't make the switch.

Some apps I really do need are just not there yet. The google presence beyond gmail is non existent. The browser always went to the desktop version of the site (yes I had "go to mobile" selected in my settings).

I really miss the live tiles, the "me" tile, the way notifications worked, and I really miss how skype was handled VS any other platform I've used.

If a few apps I need become available I would probably ditch my iPhone for good. But if not, It looks like I might go android once my upgrade comes. Plenty of time for WP8 developers to put out some quality stuff though so we'll see.

Does Win 8 mobile have a file browser or can one be Downloaded?

 

[MRU]

Does Win 8 mobile have a file browser or can one be Downloaded?

no it doesn't. Haven't seen an app to do so...

 

[MuffCabbage]

Does Win 8 mobile have a file browser or can one be Downloaded?

Whoops didnt see that you were talking about WP8. Isnt this thread about Win8? Why is everybody switching to WP8?

 

[b166er]

Whoops didnt see that you were talking about WP8. Isnt this thread about Win8? Why is everybody switching to WP8?

The thread title is kinda awkward... Comparing a desktop OS to iOS. I just assumed OP meant WP8 not Windows 8.

 

[MuffCabbage]

The thread title is kinda awkward... Comparing a desktop OS to iOS. I just assumed OP meant WP8 not Windows 8.

Not really, kind of. Win8 is a new breed that doesnt fit into the Apple ideals. Its a hybrid OS of sorts that is tablet and desktop so it overlaps in the tablet aspect.