To compare the guys from Jackass to ister is a huge insult to the guys from Jackass.
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Anything out there better than the iphone?
- Thread starter joesegal76
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To compare the guys from Jackass to ister is a huge insult to the guys from Jackass.
That is a good question. In my opinion the HTC 9825 is vastly superior in every way except for Internet Browsing (but who browses the web on a phone?), Text messaging and that lovely huge screen. Otherwise the iPhone is kind of a joke to me.http://www.lapcfixer.com
Everyone has a different experience. I have a new iphone 3G that came with FW 2.1 from the factory.
The reception is actually pretty good, I get 3G in my house which I haven't gotten with my other phones.
There are some sucky spots I need to try it out in though to see how good the reception really is.
I will never choose my iPhone over my laptop for surfing the net. But if I'm waiting in some doctor's office or at the dmv, I will definitely use my iPhone to surf the web.
Well after going around town I can honestly say that the HTC picks up a better signal everywhere. I am basing this against two iPhones. I didn't even know my town had 3G coverage LOL. I thought it was a network problem. In the past I had the original iPhone and it didn't get signal where even the cheapest phones did perfectly well.
I am just not buying the lame excuses anymore about the phones reception. It is inexcusable. If you need proof I could take pics of both phones side beside in multiple locations and show you. At the end of the day why should I have to do this? when you go to the "sucky" spots take another phone with you and try them side by side.
Many people herer were complaining that AT&T coverage maps were way off. I am beginning to suspect they aren't that far off but it is the phone itself that is the problem.
This is long but couldn't justify a seperate thread for an HTC
The latest blogs about smart phones are always comparing these two phones. I am fortunate enough to own both of them. So I will try to answer the question "is the HD an iPhone killer?" as objectively as I can. I have no reason to praise one device over another as which ever one wins, I win as I own both. I have only used my HD for a day now so my comparison will be limited in some ways. I am comparing both devices without jailbreaking or hacking.
The HTC is not nearly as slick as the iPhone at anything it does. The ease of use and interface makes the phone seem like the iPhone's retarded little brother. The screen response is nowhere as good. The web browser looks very nice but is not as good due to the lagginess and slightly unresponsive, resistive screen. The browser lags so badly that even when the HTC gets 3G and the iPhone is on GPRS the HTC loads so slowly that the difference is far diminished. The IPhones capacitive screen makes it the best touch screen around and that seems like it will go unchallenged for quite some time. It is impossible to use the HTC with out resorting to pulling out the stylus at times.
If you need to do anything more advanced than make a call or play a song then Winmo will come out and raise it's ugly head. Touchflo on the HD is like a customised skin for an application on the computer is. It can hide the fact that an app is ugly but doesn't change what the app is. My only analogy here is an ugly hooker with a lot of make up (that does it convincingly enough it takes you around 5 minutes to discover "she" is not actually a woman). For whatever reason Aerosmith's song "Dude looks like a lady" is in my head now.
That being said it isn't difficult to surmise that the iPhone keyboard beats the HTC by a long shot. The HTC virtual keyboard is too small, the auto correct feature is bad and for whatever reason HTC decided to pull an Apple and only let you use the landscape typing in the web browser. In fact the only program the acceloremeter works with out of the box is the browser as far as I know.
As far as reception goes the HTC wins hands down here. This is a very big point as what can you do with a smart phone if you don't get reception? I have an iPhone and my roommate also has one. Last night at the pub we both went online on our phones to surf. I was getting full bars of 3G coverage with the HTC and my roommate was getting 3 bars of GPRS service. At one point when trying to run a speed test his went to no service. At home it is the same thing both iPhones get GPRS only but the HTC gets full bars of GPRS and tests out at 1.9 MBPS. The radio in the HTC is 100 times better for data and calling. This is one of the few things the HTC beats the iPhone at.
I wouldn't however say that it is much to HTC"s credit however as I would be more inclined to say that the iPhone has sub par cell performance. Next time I am in the Apple store where the iPhone gets hardly any signal I will have my HTC with me and show the "genius" my full 5 bars of 3G signal. I hope that will make them stop lying and saying 3G just doesn't work inside. If they claim it is the SIM I will inform them that my HTC is unlocked and that is my iPhone SIM inside it. LOL The HTC merely works as any phone should. If the iPhone actually got good reception it is unlikely that I would have an HTC to compare it to right now.
There is no software fix that will be coming for the iPhone radio it is a hardware issue and when Apple says otherwise I think they are lying. They have sold too many of these things by now to fess up to the problem and issue a recall. The up side to this is they will probably knock $50 off the next version, tell the carriers to up the plan prices by $200 to compensate and put out a phone that has decent cell performance. I am looking forward to the keynote in January!!!
The screen and audio on the HTC is pretty good. My friend immediately said that the screen on his iPhone looked better but I didn't notice it as much. The external speaker on the HTC beats the iPhones by quite a margin it is much louder without as much distortion. The HTC is capable of getting normal radio stations as well. With headphones on the HTC is at least as good as the iPhone for audio and probably better. I am no hardcore audiophile so I can't elaborate much more on this.
The battery life while it is early seems much better on the HTC. This is another huge point as what can you do on a smart phone if your battery runs out? I have Bluetooth, wifi, 3G and everything else enabled on it and the battery meter isnt going down in front of my eyes. Whatever the case ends up being I have to say here the fact that the battery is replaceable makes the HTC win hands down as far as power management goes. I will be curious to see if the GPS takes more power than the cable can supply as is the case of the iPhone's GPS. Even when plugged in the iPhone using GPS will drain down so you can't charge it in the car and have GPS constantly on. The same is true of the work around for "tethering" on the iPhone. Oh and the HTC GPS locates me (an important feature when one wants to use GPS LOL) The iPhone GPS gives me a wide circle that shows where I might be with in 10 miles and has been like that since software update 2.1.
In regards to the bluetooth stack the HTC wins again. I am not saying the iPhone bluetooth is horrible but it is hard to say because Apple won't give anybody the benefit of actually using it. I can tether the HTC to my mac and it can be charging while giving my Mac a 2 MBPS connection.
One nice little thing I noticed is that the HTC detects your network settings and you don't have to go into it and input your APN password etc. It hooks you up with data straight from the box. No fuss, no muss. People will say an iPhone does this but if you bought it at an official store the salesman actually did that for you.
My iPhone however did automatically connect to DTAC when I was in Thailand and drained my prepaid credit because of it always looking for a data connection. I don't know if anybody else has had that experience that was my first gen iPhone and awhile back so things might have changed. In this case I had to actually put in a fake APN to stop it. When I wanted data I would delete the fake APN and leave it blank.
I wish Apple would allow you to disable widgets on the iPhone but as far as they are concerned if you own an iPhone you have a data plan and if you don't that's your problem. The concern here for "legitimate users" is what about when you are on data roaming? I was in Ireland using my iPhone and data roaming is 3 pounds per MB. That is expensive but it is ok if you just use it to check your email and maybe Google a restaurant or two to get info. I don't want widgets trying to suck data in such a scenario. I am paying through the nose for that data and every single KB counts. I managed to squeak by on just under a MB on my trip and it cost me 3 pounds but I had to always turn data roaming on and off to keep my widgets (which Apple won't allow you to disable or remove) in check. Is there some reason I should have to toggle between data roaming on and off when I travel? I am not amused by this.
The HTC is fully unlocked out of the box. Yes the iPhone I have is subsidised (and thus the company selling it has a very legitimate interest to enforce the contract) but when I read the small print O2 cheerfully informs that they won't unlock it even after my contract is finished. So in 18 months if I don't want to use their service I can take advantage of it as a full featured iPod!! Thank you O2, Kudos to you Apple. I know it could be unlocked in the future but right now the best description I have ever heard of the 3G iPhone is that it is the "North Korea" of cell phones. Unlockable and without voiding your warranty only able to download apps that Apple wants. If I want porn apps on my phone what business does Apple have saying I can't? Oh that's right I only want Disney content that I can watch with the kids (I don't have kids so you all can breath a sigh of relief here) that I paid for from iTunes.
The Ipod features on the iPhone aren't even vaguely in doubt when compared. Ease of use and syncing from a Mac or PC work on the iPhone and work well. To sync my HTC to a Mac I had to buy a 3rd party program. So as far as compatibility goes oddly enough Apple (in regards to the phone itself not their computers) wins on this one. I don't care who is to blame here people will say it is Apple as they should provide better drivers for os x or whatever. I can only say as an end user the HTC cost me $40 for the missing sync software I need and that is a hidden cost to an already excessively expensive phone (500 pounds).
I haven't had time to watch videos yet on the HTC but various feedback on web forums indicate that it may have some lag and lackluster performance in regards to video play back. I will convert some and see if that is in fact the case. I am not one for running benchmarks and if it plays well then it plays well if I don't notice any flaws with the naked eye.
The browser on the HTC looks really good but is very clumsy to use. You must enter .com, .co.uk etc. and given the keyboard that can be a pain. I actually like the double tap to enlarge and shrink text as opposed to the two finger pinch in and out of the iPhone. The problem on the HTC is that as far as I know when you enlarge things using double tap they aren't centered. So you have to enlarge and then drag it over to see what you wanted to view. I was also having problems clicking links and getting them to open. That is pretty frustrating when on a forum and you want to say... go to page 2. If you hadn't used an iPhone before though the browsing would probably be an amazing experience.
People always mention the iPhone has the app store. I agree the app store is great but I was able to go online and download CAB files for my HTC without having to have Papa Jobs approval. People always argue that it is Apple protecting the end users experienceby not allowing apps that could, be malicious, battery drains, useful, unique, etc. The Microsoft approach here seems to be to offer you a crappy experience to begin with and they don't seem to be the least bit concerned if you run right out and download stuff that makes it even crappier. I haven't downloaded enough things to comment about quality of apps or anything but certainly you can put whatever you want on the HTC. It is possible that there are 3rd party solutions for the HTC that would improve it and that is the case with iPhone. An iPhone with no 3rd party apps does very little so it will be interesting to see the progression of apps for the HD.
As far as form factor goes the iPhone absolutely destroys the HTC. The HTC looks and feels like some cheap Palm device from yester year. The feel of the curved back of the iPhone in your hand is much better due to it's curved back. The HTC feels awkward in comparison. It is possible that I could get used to it and it feels weird just because it is new however.
This is already too long winded so I will sum it up here. The HTC is a phone and a very good phone, nothing more and nothing less. The iPhone is a great iPod and a horrible phone if you depend on that function heavily. The HTC isn't an iPhone killer and I couldn't picture it ever becoming one.
If Apple would open up the bluetooth stack, use a replaceable battery, put in a half decent cell chip, sell it unlocked ( I know I am asking for a lot here, but why wouldn't Apple want to succeed?) then the iPhone wouldn't even have a competitor that is even close. I know that could be argued but if they did those things I wouldn't have an HTC to even make a comparison. The fact that I have one is a telling sign that the iPhone isn't the say all end all in regards to smart phones. I feel like a man with two wives. One that is pretty and I love to be with and the other more homely one. The one that while she doesn't look as good and and isn't all that sexy does the job when I need it to.The killer here is both of them just love me for my money anyway.
I copied and pasted it from a post I made at another website. If some of the Thai related information isn't meaningful here then you have my apologies.
I think most of the info is valid and am too lazy to edit the whole post.
The latest blogs about smart phones are always comparing these two phones. I am fortunate enough to own both of them. So I will try to answer the question "is the HD an iPhone killer?" as objectively as I can. I have no reason to praise one device over another as which ever one wins, I win as I own both. I have only used my HD for a day now so my comparison will be limited in some ways. I am comparing both devices without jailbreaking or hacking.
The HTC is not nearly as slick as the iPhone at anything it does. The ease of use and interface makes the phone seem like the iPhone's retarded little brother. The screen response is nowhere as good. The web browser looks very nice but is not as good due to the lagginess and slightly unresponsive, resistive screen. The browser lags so badly that even when the HTC gets 3G and the iPhone is on GPRS the HTC loads so slowly that the difference is far diminished. The IPhones capacitive screen makes it the best touch screen around and that seems like it will go unchallenged for quite some time. It is impossible to use the HTC with out resorting to pulling out the stylus at times.
If you need to do anything more advanced than make a call or play a song then Winmo will come out and raise it's ugly head. Touchflo on the HD is like a customised skin for an application on the computer is. It can hide the fact that an app is ugly but doesn't change what the app is. My only analogy here is an ugly hooker with a lot of make up (that does it convincingly enough it takes you around 5 minutes to discover "she" is not actually a woman). For whatever reason Aerosmith's song "Dude looks like a lady" is in my head now.
That being said it isn't difficult to surmise that the iPhone keyboard beats the HTC by a long shot. The HTC virtual keyboard is too small, the auto correct feature is bad and for whatever reason HTC decided to pull an Apple and only let you use the landscape typing in the web browser. In fact the only program the acceloremeter works with out of the box is the browser as far as I know.
As far as reception goes the HTC wins hands down here. This is a very big point as what can you do with a smart phone if you don't get reception? I have an iPhone and my roommate also has one. Last night at the pub we both went online on our phones to surf. I was getting full bars of 3G coverage with the HTC and my roommate was getting 3 bars of GPRS service. At one point when trying to run a speed test his went to no service. At home it is the same thing both iPhones get GPRS only but the HTC gets full bars of GPRS and tests out at 1.9 MBPS. The radio in the HTC is 100 times better for data and calling. This is one of the few things the HTC beats the iPhone at.
I wouldn't however say that it is much to HTC"s credit however as I would be more inclined to say that the iPhone has sub par cell performance. Next time I am in the Apple store where the iPhone gets hardly any signal I will have my HTC with me and show the "genius" my full 5 bars of 3G signal. I hope that will make them stop lying and saying 3G just doesn't work inside. If they claim it is the SIM I will inform them that my HTC is unlocked and that is my iPhone SIM inside it. LOL The HTC merely works as any phone should. If the iPhone actually got good reception it is unlikely that I would have an HTC to compare it to right now.
There is no software fix that will be coming for the iPhone radio it is a hardware issue and when Apple says otherwise I think they are lying. They have sold too many of these things by now to fess up to the problem and issue a recall. The up side to this is they will probably knock $50 off the next version, tell the carriers to up the plan prices by $200 to compensate and put out a phone that has decent cell performance. I am looking forward to the keynote in January!!!
The screen and audio on the HTC is pretty good. My friend immediately said that the screen on his iPhone looked better but I didn't notice it as much. The external speaker on the HTC beats the iPhones by quite a margin it is much louder without as much distortion. The HTC is capable of getting normal radio stations as well. With headphones on the HTC is at least as good as the iPhone for audio and probably better. I am no hardcore audiophile so I can't elaborate much more on this.
The battery life while it is early seems much better on the HTC. This is another huge point as what can you do on a smart phone if your battery runs out? I have Bluetooth, wifi, 3G and everything else enabled on it and the battery meter isnt going down in front of my eyes. Whatever the case ends up being I have to say here the fact that the battery is replaceable makes the HTC win hands down as far as power management goes. I will be curious to see if the GPS takes more power than the cable can supply as is the case of the iPhone's GPS. Even when plugged in the iPhone using GPS will drain down so you can't charge it in the car and have GPS constantly on. The same is true of the work around for "tethering" on the iPhone. Oh and the HTC GPS locates me (an important feature when one wants to use GPS LOL) The iPhone GPS gives me a wide circle that shows where I might be with in 10 miles and has been like that since software update 2.1.
In regards to the bluetooth stack the HTC wins again. I am not saying the iPhone bluetooth is horrible but it is hard to say because Apple won't give anybody the benefit of actually using it. I can tether the HTC to my mac and it can be charging while giving my Mac a 2 MBPS connection.
One nice little thing I noticed is that the HTC detects your network settings and you don't have to go into it and input your APN password etc. It hooks you up with data straight from the box. No fuss, no muss. People will say an iPhone does this but if you bought it at an official store the salesman actually did that for you.
My iPhone however did automatically connect to DTAC when I was in Thailand and drained my prepaid credit because of it always looking for a data connection. I don't know if anybody else has had that experience that was my first gen iPhone and awhile back so things might have changed. In this case I had to actually put in a fake APN to stop it. When I wanted data I would delete the fake APN and leave it blank.
I wish Apple would allow you to disable widgets on the iPhone but as far as they are concerned if you own an iPhone you have a data plan and if you don't that's your problem. The concern here for "legitimate users" is what about when you are on data roaming? I was in Ireland using my iPhone and data roaming is 3 pounds per MB. That is expensive but it is ok if you just use it to check your email and maybe Google a restaurant or two to get info. I don't want widgets trying to suck data in such a scenario. I am paying through the nose for that data and every single KB counts. I managed to squeak by on just under a MB on my trip and it cost me 3 pounds but I had to always turn data roaming on and off to keep my widgets (which Apple won't allow you to disable or remove) in check. Is there some reason I should have to toggle between data roaming on and off when I travel? I am not amused by this.
The HTC is fully unlocked out of the box. Yes the iPhone I have is subsidised (and thus the company selling it has a very legitimate interest to enforce the contract) but when I read the small print O2 cheerfully informs that they won't unlock it even after my contract is finished. So in 18 months if I don't want to use their service I can take advantage of it as a full featured iPod!! Thank you O2, Kudos to you Apple. I know it could be unlocked in the future but right now the best description I have ever heard of the 3G iPhone is that it is the "North Korea" of cell phones. Unlockable and without voiding your warranty only able to download apps that Apple wants. If I want porn apps on my phone what business does Apple have saying I can't? Oh that's right I only want Disney content that I can watch with the kids (I don't have kids so you all can breath a sigh of relief here) that I paid for from iTunes.
The Ipod features on the iPhone aren't even vaguely in doubt when compared. Ease of use and syncing from a Mac or PC work on the iPhone and work well. To sync my HTC to a Mac I had to buy a 3rd party program. So as far as compatibility goes oddly enough Apple (in regards to the phone itself not their computers) wins on this one. I don't care who is to blame here people will say it is Apple as they should provide better drivers for os x or whatever. I can only say as an end user the HTC cost me $40 for the missing sync software I need and that is a hidden cost to an already excessively expensive phone (500 pounds).
I haven't had time to watch videos yet on the HTC but various feedback on web forums indicate that it may have some lag and lackluster performance in regards to video play back. I will convert some and see if that is in fact the case. I am not one for running benchmarks and if it plays well then it plays well if I don't notice any flaws with the naked eye.
The browser on the HTC looks really good but is very clumsy to use. You must enter .com, .co.uk etc. and given the keyboard that can be a pain. I actually like the double tap to enlarge and shrink text as opposed to the two finger pinch in and out of the iPhone. The problem on the HTC is that as far as I know when you enlarge things using double tap they aren't centered. So you have to enlarge and then drag it over to see what you wanted to view. I was also having problems clicking links and getting them to open. That is pretty frustrating when on a forum and you want to say... go to page 2. If you hadn't used an iPhone before though the browsing would probably be an amazing experience.
People always mention the iPhone has the app store. I agree the app store is great but I was able to go online and download CAB files for my HTC without having to have Papa Jobs approval. People always argue that it is Apple protecting the end users experienceby not allowing apps that could, be malicious, battery drains, useful, unique, etc. The Microsoft approach here seems to be to offer you a crappy experience to begin with and they don't seem to be the least bit concerned if you run right out and download stuff that makes it even crappier. I haven't downloaded enough things to comment about quality of apps or anything but certainly you can put whatever you want on the HTC. It is possible that there are 3rd party solutions for the HTC that would improve it and that is the case with iPhone. An iPhone with no 3rd party apps does very little so it will be interesting to see the progression of apps for the HD.
As far as form factor goes the iPhone absolutely destroys the HTC. The HTC looks and feels like some cheap Palm device from yester year. The feel of the curved back of the iPhone in your hand is much better due to it's curved back. The HTC feels awkward in comparison. It is possible that I could get used to it and it feels weird just because it is new however.
This is already too long winded so I will sum it up here. The HTC is a phone and a very good phone, nothing more and nothing less. The iPhone is a great iPod and a horrible phone if you depend on that function heavily. The HTC isn't an iPhone killer and I couldn't picture it ever becoming one.
If Apple would open up the bluetooth stack, use a replaceable battery, put in a half decent cell chip, sell it unlocked ( I know I am asking for a lot here, but why wouldn't Apple want to succeed?) then the iPhone wouldn't even have a competitor that is even close. I know that could be argued but if they did those things I wouldn't have an HTC to even make a comparison. The fact that I have one is a telling sign that the iPhone isn't the say all end all in regards to smart phones. I feel like a man with two wives. One that is pretty and I love to be with and the other more homely one. The one that while she doesn't look as good and and isn't all that sexy does the job when I need it to.The killer here is both of them just love me for my money anyway.
I copied and pasted it from a post I made at another website. If some of the Thai related information isn't meaningful here then you have my apologies.
I think most of the info is valid and am too lazy to edit the whole post.
Ya, you kind of lost everyone when you posted your 10 page treatise which is the reason your thread is dead.
Holding phones next to each other and comparing how many bars they are getting has long been debunked as it does not provide any meaningful information about the quality of the antenna on the phone. If you want to see how a phone is performing for reception you need to at a minimum look at the dB attenuation level of the signal being received.
Some very knowledgeable engineers did a study on the iphone and showed that the 3G reception was comparable to other phones. Does that mean that it has the best reception? No. It simply means that it has adequate reception and obviously most people are satisfied with it as the phone continues to sell quite well.