from ios to android and now back to ios again?

[surjavarman]

Long time ios user switch to android last year and I liked the android experience and bigger screens. But my phone broke and I need a new one.

There is no doubt I prefer android more than ios. Probably the closest thing to the iphone 5 is the nexus 4. But the nexus 4 is plasticky, inferior design and construction, thicker, heavier, no LTE, crap battery life, crap camera, performance lags behind the i5. The benchmarks and graphics of games confirms this. And probably tons more flaws.

I am in this very awkward situation where I actually prefer android but just can't buy one of the anroid phones cause their are flawed. Anyone else in my position and having a very tough time to ignore the i5. Choosing hardware over software?

[cynics]

Originally Posted by surjavarman

Long time ios user switch to android last year and I liked the android experience and bigger screens. But my phone broke and I need a new one.

There is no doubt I prefer android more than ios. Probably the closest thing to the iphone 5 is the nexus 4. But the nexus 4 is plasticky, inferior design and construction, thicker, heavier, no LTE, crap battery life, crap camera, performance lags behind the i5. The benchmarks and graphics of games confirms this. And probably tons more flaws.

I am in this very awkward situation where I actually prefer android but just can't buy one of the anroid phones cause their are flawed. Anyone else in my position and having a very tough time to ignore the i5. Choosing hardware over software?

iPhones are my preferred smartphone at this time but I much prefer Android OS over iOS.

I wouldn't consider the N4 the best Android phone simply for the shortcomings you pointed out (some opinions vary I'm sure). The S3 is an excellent phone and the S4 is coming out soon. There are some decent droids etc.

But you are comparing a phone that is 1/2 the price of the of the iPhone to the iPhone and seem surprised its not up to your standards.......?¿

[daveathall]

Originally Posted by surjavarman

Long time ios user switch to android last year and I liked the android experience and bigger screens. But my phone broke and I need a new one.

There is no doubt I prefer android more than ios. Probably the closest thing to the iphone 5 is the nexus 4. But the nexus 4 is plasticky, inferior design and construction, thicker, heavier, no LTE, crap battery life, crap camera, performance lags behind the i5. The benchmarks and graphics of games confirms this. And probably tons more flaws.

I am in this very awkward situation where I actually prefer android but just can't buy one of the anroid phones cause their are flawed. Anyone else in my position and having a very tough time to ignore the i5. Choosing hardware over software?

I have a Nexus 4 and don't find it plasticky at all, I don't need LTE and my battery life has been quite good, I'm not a power user though. I have also had a iPhone 5 and found my Nexus 4 to be it's equal in performance. I am not a gamer, I'm not bothered about what benchmarks say when I have the real phone in my hand. I have not found "tons more flaws" but from what you have typed I would just be done with it and buy an iPhone 5, seems like that is what you want anyway.

[Tinmania]

Originally Posted by surjavarman

Long time ios user switch to android last year and I liked the android experience and bigger screens. But my phone broke and I need a new one.

There is no doubt I prefer android more than ios. Probably the closest thing to the iphone 5 is the nexus 4. But the nexus 4 is plasticky, inferior design and construction, thicker, heavier, no LTE, crap battery life, crap camera, performance lags behind the i5. The benchmarks and graphics of games confirms this. And probably tons more flaws.

I don't know where you got plasticky from: that is about the last thing I would use to describe the Nexus 4. It's a very solid feeling phone (which is really not all that important to me actually).

Speed-wise the Nexus 4 is beating the Note 2 in Epic Citadel benchmarks. It has no issue with games that I am aware of.

The biggest issue is battery life and that is if you are a constant user (as I am lol). But with average use it can definitely make it through a day.

The lack of LTE didn't bother me too much. We don't... well didn't have LTE here--to my surprise we now do. But I was rather happy with the speed of HSPA+.

As for me, there is no way I could go back to iOS right now. I would only consider it with a bigger phone. Even then I don't know if I could go back to the confines of iOS. Had Apple not merely added a little extra length to the iPhone 5 I probably would have had one at the start and never looked at Android. Now that I did I am not sure I can go back to iOS (on my phone: for tablet I prefer iOS or at least the iPad and iPad mini).



Michael

[surjavarman]

Originally Posted by daveathall

I have a Nexus 4 and don't find it plasticky at all, I don't need LTE and my battery life has been quite good, I'm not a power user though. I have also had a iPhone 5 and found my Nexus 4 to be it's equal in performance. I am not a gamer, I'm not bothered about what benchmarks say when I have the real phone in my hand. I have not found "tons more flaws" but from what you have typed I would just be done with it and buy an iPhone 5, seems like that is what you want anyway.

Hey take it easy man. The i5 isn't exactly what I want cause it doesn't run android. Furthermore the screen is a bit too small. I am in a predicament precisely because I want android more than ios but I find the nexus 4 kind of lacking.

And btw the outer rim of the nexus is entirely made out of plastic furthermore once you use the phone and it gets a bit warmed up, you wouldn't know the difference between glass and plastic. Battery life is your opinion but I have seen the screenshots

[Peterg2]

You have several choices which will be available shortly which won't feel cheap. The one that appeals to me a lot so far is the Sony Xperia Z and ZL. Another one is the HTC M7.

[daveathall]

Originally Posted by surjavarman

Hey take it easy man. The i5 isn't exactly what I want cause it doesn't run android. Furthermore the screen is a bit too small. I am in a predicament precisely because I want android more than ios but I find the nexus 4 kind of lacking.

And btw the outer rim of the nexus is entirely made out of plastic furthermore once you use the phone and it gets a bit warmed up, you wouldn't know the difference between glass and plastic. Battery life is your opinion but I have seen the screenshots

After re reading my post it does come across as harsh, that wasn't my intent, but nevertheless, I'm sorry. I should have read it before pressing the enter button.

I find the rim to have a more "rubbery" feel rather than plastic (if that makes sense). As i mentioned about the battery on other occasions, I think I fell lucky with mine. I must stress that I am not a power user and can have my phone on for 48 hours with blue tooth on etc, but screen on time will only be around 2 hours though.

[Tinmania]

Originally Posted by surjavarman

And btw the outer rim of the nexus is entirely made out of plastic furthermore once you use the phone and it gets a bit warmed up, you wouldn't know the difference between glass and plastic. Battery life is your opinion but I have seen the screenshots

The outer band of the Nexus 4 is like a slightly rubberized (for lack of a better term) plastic that actually feels good to hold--in my opinion better than my iPhone.

Have you actually held one? Doesn't sound like it.



Michael

[F123D]

Which phone were you using before?

[jrswizzle]

Originally Posted by Tinmania

The outer band of the Nexus 4 is like a slightly rubberized (for lack of a better term) plastic that actually feels good to hold--in my opinion better than my iPhone.

Have you actually held one? Doesn't sound like it.



Michael

Lol - I stopped reading the OP's posts when he said the N4 was plasticky....

By plasticky, do you mean primarily made of glass?

[sixteen12]

I went from iOS (3G to iP4) to Android (Galaxy S, Desire HD, Galaxy S II, Galaxy Nexus) back to iPhone (4s to 5) I ended up just making trades for the most part and didn't have to spend money until the 5.

Personally I'm in an Apple ecosystem, I can use my android phones to do what I need, but its more round about. I like a lot of things about Android and a lot about iOS. Ultimately I found I liked the simplicity and integration across my systems of iOS more than I did the customization and other features of android.

[Stuntman06]

Originally Posted by surjavarman

Long time ios user switch to android last year and I liked the android experience and bigger screens. But my phone broke and I need a new one.

What Android phone did you have that broke?

There is no doubt I prefer android more than ios. Probably the closest thing to the iphone 5 is the nexus 4. But the nexus 4 is plasticky, inferior design and construction, thicker, heavier, no LTE, crap battery life, crap camera, performance lags behind the i5. The benchmarks and graphics of games confirms this. And probably tons more flaws.

Have you considered other Android phones other than the N4?

I am in this very awkward situation where I actually prefer android but just can't buy one of the anroid phones cause their are flawed. Anyone else in my position and having a very tough time to ignore the i5. Choosing hardware over software?

So what is it about Android did you like so much that you would lose if you got an iPhone 5?

[surjavarman]

Originally Posted by Stuntman06

What Android phone did you have that broke?



Have you considered other Android phones other than the N4?



So what is it about Android did you like so much that you would lose if you got an iPhone 5?

htc one s which I actually think was a very bad phone. All the other android phones are just cheap plasticky toy phones. I prefer aluminum or glass. I look at design more than function.

And what I love about android? Basically almost everything.

- I think google services are better than apple's services.
- pattern unlock
- swype keyboard
- email attachements or can just about use any app to send any files that I have stored on my sd
- choose any app as default app
- full screen webbrowser in portrait mode
- able to customize just about everything
- scrolling speeds adjust to how fast I flick my finger. its just a better scrolling experience than on ios
- android seems to be more innovative than ios and it seems that the gap between the two are only going to grow larger and larger in the future
- full info on my systems specs such as what processes uses the most battery life, storage or ram. apple keeps that info away from the user.
- the ability to automate certain tasks
- does not need itunes. although sometimes this is a con
- and just in general android feels just more free and open
- dedicated back button
- no mechanical weak home button

probably tons more that I can't name at the moment

[Stuntman06]

Originally Posted by surjavarman

htc one s which I actually think was a very bad phone.

Some people do not like HTC Sense UI very much. I am personally a fan of it when I used an HTC phone. Sense is rather resource intensive and may make the UI not as smooth as other Android phones. The only reason I did not get this phone was that it only has 16GB of storage and is non-expandable.

What is it about the One S that you really do not like?

All the other android phones are just cheap plasticky toy phones. I prefer aluminum or glass. I look at design more than function.

If you feel that an aluminum or glass body trumps all of the below, then perhaps an iPhone 5 is what fits you the most. The Nexus 4 is made mostly of glass with a plastic frame. You had indicated you did not like the feel of it. I think most current Android phones has a mostly plastic chassis.

My old HTC Desire Z has a body that is partially metal and a rubbery surface. The back battery cover panel is metal. That phone is over 2 years old, though.

And what I love about android? Basically almost everything.

- I think google services are better than apple's services.
- pattern unlock
- swype keyboard
- email attachements or can just about use any app to send any files that I have stored on my sd
- choose any app as default app
- full screen webbrowser in portrait mode
- able to customize just about everything
- scrolling speeds adjust to how fast I flick my finger. its just a better scrolling experience than on ios
- android seems to be more innovative than ios and it seems that the gap between the two are only going to grow larger and larger in the future
- full info on my systems specs such as what processes uses the most battery life, storage or ram. apple keeps that info away from the user.
- the ability to automate certain tasks
- does not need itunes. although sometimes this is a con
- and just in general android feels just more free and open
- dedicated back button
- no mechanical weak home button

probably tons more that I can't name at the moment

[surjavarman]

Originally Posted by Stuntman06

Some people do not like HTC Sense UI very much. I am personally a fan of it when I used an HTC phone. Sense is rather resource intensive and may make the UI not as smooth as other Android phones. The only reason I did not get this phone was that it only has 16GB of storage and is non-expandable.

What is it about the One S that you really do not like?



If you feel that an aluminum or glass body trumps all of the below, then perhaps an iPhone 5 is what fits you the most. The Nexus 4 is made mostly of glass with a plastic frame. You had indicated you did not like the feel of it. I think most current Android phones has a mostly plastic chassis.

My old HTC Desire Z has a body that is partially metal and a rubbery surface. The back battery cover panel is metal. That phone is over 2 years old, though.

I did not like sense at all so I just put CM on it. What I did not like?

1) screen resolution
2) battery life
3) crap build quality. I had dust and other gunk building up in all the nooks and crannies of the phone. The front camera was unusable after a few months cause of all the dust build up. Fit and finish was a major letdown.
4) weak audio amplifier. if I connect it to my car I had to crank the volume of the stereo up and that would then distort the sound of the music
5) sometimes randomly just didn't have a cell signal at all. meaning that people couldn't even reach me if they wanted to
6) community is pretty much non existent
7) the speakers were so incredibly weak and awkwardly placed. I couldn't hear this phone most of the time when people called me. Missed a lot of calls.
8) but hands down by far the worst thing about the phone is that I had this super buggy home button that would just randomly activate and causes the phone to do random. Super annoying and have to lock the phone first and then unlock it again to solve this problem.

Its a super buggy phone with a major fit and finish problem. And the first few weeks I actually wanted my iphone back but then I learned to live with these issues.

[0dev]

OP, what's wrong with the Galaxy S3?

I went back to iOS from Android because my HTC broke, I can't wait to get back to Android again.

[Stuntman06]

Originally Posted by surjavarman

I did not like sense at all so I just put CM on it.

Have you tried Nova Prime Launcher? There is a free version and a premium version. I use it on my SGS3.

4) weak audio amplifier. if I connect it to my car I had to crank the volume of the stereo up and that would then distort the sound of the music

How do you connect it to your car? Is it via BlueTooth or through the headphone jack. I find that if you connect it to your car, you need to set the volume on the phone to maximum. I find that this is the cause with all audio devices that I have used. Volume controls on all devices actually reduce the volume of the sounds, so setting it to max makes the volume unreduced. If your volume on your device is not at max, you are reducing the volume on your device and then having get your car stereo to reamplify it which will cause distortion.

7) the speakers were so incredibly weak and awkwardly placed. I couldn't hear this phone most of the time when people called me. Missed a lot of calls.

This is an issue I have with some mobile phones. My old HTC Desire Z and my SGS3 has its loud speaker on the back of the phone. This causes the speaker to be muffled when I place it in my holster making it difficult to hear my phone ring when in a loud environment.

My old Nokia N97 and my BlackBerry Tour has its loud speakers mounted on the side edge of the phone. When these phones are in my holster, the holster does not muffle the sound from the speaker. I believe the iPhone 5 has its loud speaker mounted on the bottom edge and will not be muffled my my holster either.

I wished that more manufacturers take this into consideration. I think that in order to make the phone thin (which I feel is getting overdone) it appears that the design decision is to put the speaker on the back.

Its a super buggy phone with a major fit and finish problem. And the first few weeks I actually wanted my iphone back but then I learned to live with these issues.

I haven't had any experience with the One S. I've had the Desire Z. In comparison, my SGS3 is more stable than the DZ. I know one person with the One S. I'll ask him about the stability on his phone.

I also am not familiar with rooting or Cyanogen. I cannot speak to the stability of these builds.

Originally Posted by 0dev

OP, what's wrong with the Galaxy S3?

The OP has indicated that he does not like the plastic builds on many Android phones.

[0dev]

Originally Posted by Stuntman06

The OP has indicated that he does not like the plastic builds on many Android phones.

If that's the sole reason he's written it off then it's quite a ridiculous one. Just throw a case on it, you can get ones made of carbon fibre.