No Longer I Phone user's

gudnoyez

We upgraded are phones to Samsung S4's got them for 49.95 each. Digging them so far but they will take some getting used to. Has any one else got the S4 yet what are your thoughts?

AsSiMiLaTeD

This has been discussed and covered a lot here already, but I don't like the super cheap feel and overly saturated amoled screen on the samsung phones. On the Android side I still think the HTC One is the best option...great screen with superb build quality and choice of materials. I primarily carry an iPhone but also do Android development and have an HTC One and I think it's a great phone, really the only reason I carry the iPhone is the size otherwise I could live with either device as my daily driver.

The cheap plastic on the samsung likely won't matter if you put it in a case, but for me it's more the principle of it, Samsung could choose to build a phone out of better materials but instead use cheap plastic to make a few extra bucks. Every company makes compromises, that's just not one I want to carry around. I hear they're changing directions with the S5 though, so good on them.

I think that if you like it though then who cares what we think...

I think that this thread will probably end up turning into another Apple vs Android thread and the title alone already has it moving in that direction.

gudnoyez

No intentions on starting a Apple vs Android war, it was just time to upgrade the phones and she chose the Galaxy S4, its not like we are abandoning Apple, we both have I-Pod Touch's and a I-Pad Mini, not to mention we both kept our I-Phone 4s, as we can get prepaid cards for those. I agree with you after packing the Galaxy's in a Camo Otter Box Defender that is quite the luggage to be dragging around, so keeping the I-phones for back up is a good idea.

I do find she uses her Kindle more than the I-Pad which is good for me as I like the mini better. I do have to admit though these Galaxys are pretty impressive the 5 inch screen looks great I guess packing them in a Otter Box will help protect the plastic housing. Thanks for your thoughts.

cfrizz

I think that just about all the phones these days need some kind of protection since they are so small and thin. My Galaxy Note 2 is so thin and slippery that it can easily fall out of my hand, but I love the 5.5 inch screen. So I have one of their bumpers which makes it easier to grip but doesn't add too much bulk so it goes easily into any of my pockets.

They have to make a trade off somewhere. You can either have a solid housing that will add significant weight & bulk to an already large size screen or a thinner housing but lightweight large size screen that has a ton of protection accessories you can buy.

I like to travel as light as possible and want to keep my phone in either my pants or coat pockets. Having it be this thin and light makes that possible.

4xoddic

No dog in this fight. Does it come with a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge Apple Protection Suit? /sarchasm

JimKellyfan

I am sure they are pretty equal, Samsungs best and apples best, pretty close with apple the edge for now. I have never owned apple anything, but know from other peoples uses....I was about to go apple / mac, until we lost Jobs....Now, I will never go apple unless they are the only choice....my 2 cents...

tonyb

cfrizz wrote: »

I like to travel as light as possible and want to keep my phone in either my pants or coat pockets. Having it be this thin and light makes that possible.

I dunno Cathy, how light can it be ? I mean, after you add your options like your stun gun, swiss army knife, and the button that shoots nails out the sides, I would think your phone is more on the heavy side.

ViperZ

I upgraded from iPhone 3GS to LG Nexus 5 a month ago. It definitely took me some time to get familiar with android platform (having a bunch of co-workers with Galaxy S4 really helps sometimes). I like how fast and smooth the new phone is, 3GS was ancient compared to this phone. Everything works as intended, added some widgets, downloaded some apps, life is good again.

Disc Jockey

AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »

This has been discussed and covered a lot here already, but I don't like the super cheap feel and overly saturated amoled screen on the samsung phones. On the Android side I still think the HTC One is the best option...great screen with superb build quality and choice of materials. I primarily carry an iPhone but also do Android development and have an HTC One and I think it's a great phone, really the only reason I carry the iPhone is the size otherwise I could live with either device as my daily driver.

The cheap plastic on the samsung likely won't matter if you put it in a case, but for me it's more the principle of it, Samsung could choose to build a phone out of better materials but instead use cheap plastic to make a few extra bucks. Every company makes compromises, that's just not one I want to carry around. I hear they're changing directions with the S5 though, so good on them.

I think that if you like it though then who cares what we think...

I think that this thread will probably end up turning into another Apple vs Android thread and the title alone already has it moving in that direction.

Nail. head. To each their own. I always appreciated the plastic for making the Samsung lighter and thinner. The iPhones always felt clunky and heavy to me. Nonetheless, I steered my mother, wife, and daughter to them because I knew the interface would be better for them. I like the customization available with Android so that's where I am. Funny thing, I know a couple that just switched from iPhones to Samsung and they are having a hard time adjusting to the differences but they are committed because the Samsungs learn swear words easier than the iPhone. The strangest things will sell $500+ devices.

cfrizz

tonyb wrote: »

I dunno Cathy, how light can it be ? I mean, after you add your options like your stun gun, swiss army knife, and the button that shoots nails out the sides, I would think your phone is more on the heavy side.

ROTFLOL!!!! Thank you for my Friday end of the work week laugh Tony!!!!

I'm sitting here drinking my Italian Cantina Gabrielle Dolcemente wine unwinding. In a little bit I'm going to crank up my system and watch Peter, Paul & Mary's Christmas Holiday Concert.

I hope you have a great weekend Tony!!!

tonyb

You too sweetheart, and have yourself a effin' fantastic Christmas.

gudnoyez

Well after a full day with the S4 I'm happy, not as much as the wife she just ordered a spare battery and charger since the back opens up so easy to replace the battery while the other one charges and the slot to add more memory she already bought a memory card. Me I still am on the fence but once I get more comfortable with it I think I will like it a lot more. Now only if this had a Swiss Army Knife or would shoot brad nails, or fetch me a beer then I would probably warm up to it faster.

schwarcw

Apple products are full of Samsung parts. They are far and away Apple's biggest supplier. I-Phones are losing market share fast, I believe they have about 13% of the smart phone market, Droid products have the biggest share about 81%. Look Here

http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/31/strategy-analytics-q3-2013-phone-share/

[Deleted User]

Congrats on your purchase! I am not biased to any company or product. I like what works. The design behind a product should not be inclusive and indicative of its performance. Hardware and software are two different animals. So is the R & D, etc etc.

When we talk interface, we talk about designs.. Clean and free of clutter. Android must be customized for many manufacturers, like windows. IOS is strictly one device, their own. Need I say more?

iPhones are built like a tank and their software is built for one device.

Android is an OS for many devices, not one. Android is still based on heavyweight components (AWT) and unfortunately not swing. What it means in a nut shell. It can only be a nice as the device and OS it is on.

It takes an advanced, seriously advanced android developer to create an app as nice as a novice iOS developer.

Frameworks guys, frameworks...

Android is no where as clean as iOS. But then again, android is innovative, leagues beyond.

Halen

mantis

Even though I'm a full Apple user when I go for a new phone I always check out what everyone else is doing. The Galaxy s4 I thought was a really nice phone. I really liked how clear the screen was. I'm just not a fan on the way you navigate it. I guess I'm so use to the iPhone that everything else is foreign to me.
Honestly I don't think the iPhone is superior to all other phones, I just like it more then the others. I do wish they would make it just a tad bit wider. Since going from a 4s to the 5s, I really enjoy the longer screen.
The other thing I love about the iPhone is when I do get a new one , it's exactly like my old one as it has ALL of my stuff on it. Even my last text and web pages. All my apps everything. What I do before I upgrade it make sure I'm running the latest software , do a complete back up to my computer , go buy a new phone , bring it home and download my backup to the new phone. Its pretty damn awesome.

Question , do other phones have this ability? If I ever switch to another phone type , I think I'd go with the Galaxy series with Android. Can you back up your phone and use that back up on a new model?

AsSiMiLaTeD

schwarcw wrote: »

Apple products are full of Samsung parts. They are far and away Apple's biggest supplier. I-Phones are losing market share fast, I believe they have about 13% of the smart phone market, Droid products have the biggest share about 81%. Look Here

http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/31/strategy-analytics-q3-2013-phone-share/

Try looking at actual utilization stats and the picture changes, dramatically. Android sales includes all the freebie phones and phones from second tier providers, most of which iPhone doesn't compete against. When you look at web utilization stats you can see that iOS products actually get used more, but we've been over this several times here.

Toolfan66

It's just a phone, buy what you want/like and be happy..

AsSiMiLaTeD

mantis wrote: »

Even though I'm a full Apple user when I go for a new phone I always check out what everyone else is doing. The Galaxy s4 I thought was a really nice phone. I really liked how clear the screen was. I'm just not a fan on the way you navigate it. I guess I'm so use to the iPhone that everything else is foreign to me.
Honestly I don't think the iPhone is superior to all other phones, I just like it more then the others. I do wish they would make it just a tad bit wider. Since going from a 4s to the 5s, I really enjoy the longer screen.
The other thing I love about the iPhone is when I do get a new one , it's exactly like my old one as it has ALL of my stuff on it. Even my last text and web pages. All my apps everything. What I do before I upgrade it make sure I'm running the latest software , do a complete back up to my computer , go buy a new phone , bring it home and download my backup to the new phone. Its pretty damn awesome.

Question , do other phones have this ability? If I ever switch to another phone type , I think I'd go with the Galaxy series with Android. Can you back up your phone and use that back up on a new model?

A couple things...

First, I really just don't understand how people are so impressed with the screen on the samsung devices. The screen on the iPhone and other LCD phones like the HTC One are just more color accurate and also don't get washed out in sunlight as much. The colors are more vibrant on the samsungs, they're just not as accurate, reminds me of the difference between plasma and led TVs. I also don't care for the pentile display that some companies like samsung use, kills some of the sharpness for me.

Secondly, to answer your question, yes most phones have some type of backup software but none of them work as well and seamlessly as iCloud. I can honestly say that because I've worked with most of them at some point, and iCloud is the most seamless solution. I helped a friend upgrade from a Samsung S3 to an S4 and it was a nightmare. When I've upgraded my last 3 iPhones it was a breeze, buy the new phone and plug in my iCloud account info and in a few minutes all my apps and data are there. This is one advantage where the closed ecosystem, apple can pull this off with relative ease. This would be a nightmare for google to build with all the thousands of phones out there so they leave it up to the carriers and it's always kinda kludgy.

I still think the HTC One is the best overall Android phone out there but I guess other people don't care about things like build quality and screen color accuracy, they'd rather control their phones with their mind or whatever and features like that are where Samsung is the clear winner...

AsSiMiLaTeD

Toolfan66 wrote: »

It's just a phone, buy what you want/like and be happy..

People could say the same about speakers and audio gear. Honestly that mentality coming from anyone on this forum is kinda strange, you'd think if anyone would understand obsession over something that the rest of the world finds trivial it would be us, collectively.

cfrizz

mantis wrote: »

Question , do other phones have this ability? If I ever switch to another phone type , I think I'd go with the Galaxy series with Android. Can you back up your phone and use that back up on a new model?

Well when I got my Note 2 I was switching from an older Samsung phone. I had to go and get a new card for it since my old one was incompatible. Once they put in the card, they went into my old phone and transferred all of my contact info over to my Note. Then I came home, connected to Wi-Fi and downloaded the apps that I use, put in a sd card that has my music, transferred my 800 + books over to my phone and I was back in business.

mantis

AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »

A couple things...

First, I really just don't understand how people are so impressed with the screen on the samsung devices. The screen on the iPhone and other LCD phones like the HTC One are just more color accurate and also don't get washed out in sunlight as much. The colors are more vibrant on the samsungs, they're just not as accurate, reminds me of the difference between plasma and led TVs. I also don't care for the pentile display that some companies like samsung use, kills some of the sharpness for me.

Secondly, to answer your question, yes most phones have some type of backup software but none of them work as well and seamlessly as iCloud. I can honestly say that because I've worked with most of them at some point, and iCloud is the most seamless solution. I helped a friend upgrade from a Samsung S3 to an S4 and it was a nightmare. When I've upgraded my last 3 iPhones it was a breeze, buy the new phone and plug in my iCloud account info and in a few minutes all my apps and data are there. This is one advantage where the closed ecosystem, apple can pull this off with relative ease. This would be a nightmare for google to build with all the thousands of phones out there so they leave it up to the carriers and it's always kinda kludgy.

I still think the HTC One is the best overall Android phone out there but I guess other people don't care about things like build quality and screen color accuracy, they'd rather control their phones with their mind or whatever and features like that are where Samsung is the clear winner...

I hear yeah it's one thing that keeps me upgrading to new iPhones is the fact that you can back up everything and have your phone on the new phone. Even your last phone calls are all there, it's pretty impressive.
I didn't know if Android had something like that that works as good.

mantis

cfrizz wrote: »

Well when I got my Note 2 I was switching from an older Samsung phone. I had to go and get a new card for it since my old one was incompatible. Once they put in the card, they went into my old phone and transferred all of my contact info over to my Note. Then I came home, connected to Wi-Fi and downloaded the apps that I use, put in a sd card that has my music, transferred my 800 + books over to my phone and I was back in business.

Doesn't sound to bad , with the iPhone , everything is backed up and then transferred. Music , pic's, Books , movies , text , aps everything. I would have thought that Android would have something that you could use to make a complete backup of your phone , get a new one and have every single thing in one shot.
I'm actually surprise they don't have this , I would have thought they would have stopped at nothing to make this experience even better then the iPhone.

Toolfan66

AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »

People could say the same about speakers and audio gear. Honestly that mentality coming from anyone on this forum is kinda strange, you'd think if anyone would understand obsession over something that the rest of the world finds trivial it would be us, collectively.

Point taken, and I agree, and see your point..