This is one that I WOULD LOVE. I hate not knowing which email account has mail. If android was acceptable to ActiveSync security. I would switch just because of that. I love apple and the iPhone technology, but tired of it being behind in little things like that. Good thing a lot of the differences can be done with a quick jailbreak..
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Extremely Early first impressions of the iPhone 4s by an Android User
- Thread starter VydorScope
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This is one that I WOULD LOVE. I hate not knowing which email account has mail. If android was acceptable to ActiveSync security. I would switch just because of that. I love apple and the iPhone technology, but tired of it being behind in little things like that. Good thing a lot of the differences can be done with a quick jailbreak..
Does GMail not push when you don't have it set up as an exchange account?
My iPhone doesn't notify me on new GMail messages.
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So I set up GMail as exchange and it pushes now. I also have a google apps account, but I remember Apple having a limit of only one Exhcange account per device or something like that.
Nevermind Google Navigation, if I can't get push email from all my accounts on this thing it is definitely going back.
Edit: OK, got my GApps account set up over Exchange and it pushes now. I think that must have been an iOS 3 or 4 limitation where you can only have one Exchange account configured.
My iPhone doesn't notify me on new GMail messages.
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So I set up GMail as exchange and it pushes now. I also have a google apps account, but I remember Apple having a limit of only one Exhcange account per device or something like that.
Nevermind Google Navigation, if I can't get push email from all my accounts on this thing it is definitely going back.
Edit: OK, got my GApps account set up over Exchange and it pushes now. I think that must have been an iOS 3 or 4 limitation where you can only have one Exchange account configured.
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It does but not in the same way. Apparently you can do it manually or have it push every few minutes, but you could do a bit of research on the differences.
As a former Droid/Thunderbolt user, I agree with most of this review. Good job.
One thing I will add is that the screen feels a LOT smaller. A LOT. Yes, it is very sharp, but the menu text is TINY. I've enlarged all the text in all the apps I could find, but putting it next to my old Thunderbolt the difference seems massive. I am not going to argue the quality of the screens, but I will say it will take some getting used to....
One thing I will add is that the screen feels a LOT smaller. A LOT. Yes, it is very sharp, but the menu text is TINY. I've enlarged all the text in all the apps I could find, but putting it next to my old Thunderbolt the difference seems massive. I am not going to argue the quality of the screens, but I will say it will take some getting used to....
You joking right? You seriously think the cell phone version of Google's GPS competes with the dedicated Garmin car mounted unit? Routing might be a little better, but actual use? No even close, IMO.
I've been using ios on an iPad for two years, and it makes it pretty tough to get used to the small screen. It is so much sharper though. On the iPad with text at the same size it is entirely unreadable.
The quality is something to make note of as well. The keyboard is great and I love the device for what it can do. Good stuff.
Would I like a larger screen? Probably. However, the 3.5 inch screen on the 4S isn't too bad.
I'm REALLY on the fence right now between the iPhone 4S and the Motorola Droid RAZR/Spyder/HD. So many very good points being made here about the advantages/disadvantages of both. Like others have said, free Google Navigation, the notification light, back button, and taskbar are things I've really gotten used to on my Motorola Droid. But on the other hand, the build quality, form factor, smoothness, and ease of use of the iPhone is really tempting too.
FFFFUUUUUU this is a hard decision.
(For the unaware, the Motorola Droid RAZR/Spyder/HD (name not confirmed yet...but one of the 3) is coming out on Tuesday. According to BGR, it is:
* Thinner and “faster than the iPhone 4S”
* 1GB of RAM — double the iPhone 4 and 4S
* 1.2GHz dual-core processor
* 4G LTE (thinnest LTE phone to date)
* 4.3-inch display
FFFFUUUUUU this is a hard decision.
(For the unaware, the Motorola Droid RAZR/Spyder/HD (name not confirmed yet...but one of the 3) is coming out on Tuesday. According to BGR, it is:
* Thinner and “faster than the iPhone 4S”
* 1GB of RAM — double the iPhone 4 and 4S
* 1.2GHz dual-core processor
* 4G LTE (thinnest LTE phone to date)
* 4.3-inch display
Honestly if we set aside any fan love for a company/product, I do not think you can go wrong with either phone. The hardware stats these days (other then the camera, few other pieces) are pretty meaningless, all the top end phones are fast enough, IMO. Plus you cannot compare ghz between different processor lines. Just because one processor is 1.2ghz and the other is 1ghz does not mean the 1.2ghz is faster, it never has in all the decades of computers, and never will. GHZ can only compare chips of the same line. I wish consumers would learn that lesson... but at this point I have given up hope.
I picked up a 4S yesterday, my first iPhone. I had an HTC Incredible Droid for about two years.
The 4S is a lovely piece of kit, and it is as smooth and slick as you stated, but...
1. So far, I am really unimpressed by battery life. I don't see how you can get through a day with the 4S with reasonable phone use and use of some other of its features. And, of course, there is no way to install a larger cap battery.
2. The Android features that allowed turning on data or wi fi from a widget or app on the home page aren't available on the 4S in stock condition. There's no call blocking app, either, apparently. Syncing on the4S with your Gmail contact list is a pain in the butt. A lot of the apps you take for granted on the Android phones apparently are not available in similar apps for the iPhone.
This isn't a deal killer for me, though I am concerned about battery usage.
Umm, no its not? Its fully automatic and real time... so long as you follow Google's instructions and set it up as an Exchange account and not as a mail/imap/etc account:
http://www.google.com/support/mobile/bin/answer.py?answer=138740
It's not a consumer who made that claim. BGRs source made that claim.
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Did you follow the link I wrote in my response about setting up Gmail as an Exchange account? Its quite easy man...the Apple rep set it up the wrong way for you.
But yeah, speaking of apps, just heard Google Voice was pulled from the iPhone App Store. And no widgets on iPhone feels like a step backwards too.
...but then the iPhone camera is lightyears ahead of the Droid camera which is important too.
Damnit! What a tough decision.
Same dif in this case. You watch you will see people claim either is faster, because it always depends on the task, the load, and which processor the test was optimized better for.
Well, I must be doing something wrong, because it isn't fully automatic. I have to open up iTunes on both my iPhone and my iMac for the sync to happen. The Exchange account seems to be set up properly, at least as near as I can tell.
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Well, I do miss the widgets. The iPhone camera is not something I will use. I never used the camera on my Droid Incredible. I have a nice pocket camera and a top of the line digital SLR with lenses.
http://www.google.com/support/mobile/bin/answer.py?answer=138740
Gmail, Google Calendar and Contacts are Over The Air Real Time syncing on all of our iphones.
The security issues with Siri is a concern. But I really don't want to unlock the phone in order to use voice commands.
Delete all the email accounts, and the contacts, and set up fresh. Something might have gotten stuck?
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I believe iPhone 4S is a great phone if you never had the 4 before. Catered to new users, gamers, and former 2G/3G/3GS users. I am in the minority that really doesn't care for Siri. Talking to a chick with a robotic voice will become a gimmick once the novelty wears off. Great to set reminders or for when you are driving, but it is something Apple makes us WANT to have but not necessarily NEED just like FaceTime. The camera is not something I ever complained about with the 4 since it takes great photos and videos. The 4S basically has the same sensor found in the SE Xperia Arc since Apple went to Sony over OmniVision this time. A great still camera is one with Xenon flash and OPTICAL zoom, so I never truly believed it could ever replace a P&S. Almost every shot will be far away and you will lose quality by digital zooming. But the most important part of a camera is the photographer. And an LED flash will never have the power and range of Xenon in dark lighting. The A5 is what intrigues me the most even though browsing isn't that different. The better GPU, not so much. I don't game all that much and the ones I do play aren't graphic-extensive. Some of this dual-core stuff is just hype and numbers. The other excitement is just getting it in white. I've owned almost every major platform out there. Once the honeymoon phase is over of owning a new toy and launch day process, I start to realize the entire phone industry is getting boring again. I like the iPhone 4 and thought that was a bigger jump from the 3GS than what you get from 4 to 4S. The biggest leap since the original iPhone. But even after a few months, the iPhone 4 got boring too.
The screen/display is noticeably sharper crisper to me versus the ip4/3Gs. Maybe it's the speedier GPU? I don't know & I don't care. All I know if that it looks better, lol.
I drive two hours every day. Being able to have iMessage conversations and write emails while driving will never be a "gimmick" to me.
Why is it that when a feature is useless to one person, they assume its useless to everybody else?
just get the iphone 4s, i promise you wont be dissapointed
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480x360 resolution on the 3GS's 3.5 inch display as opposed to iphone 4s's 960x680 resolution on the same 3.5 inch display with way better contrast ratio's
do it spontaneously and just get the iphone 4s, i promise you wont be dissapointed, and if the motorola doesn't come with Ice cream sandwich os android, itll be the same exact as all the other 1.2 ghz dual core android phones like the evo 3d and galaxy s2 phones.
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480x360 resolution on the 3GS's 3.5 inch display as opposed to iphone 4s's 960x680 resolution on the same 3.5 inch display with way better contrast ratio's[/QUOTE]
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480x360 resolution on the 3GS's 3.5 inch display as opposed to iphone 4s's 960x680 resolution on the same 3.5 inch display with way better contrast ratio's[/QUOTE]
I'm also coming from Android, a Nexus S in fact. Here's what I think:
1) The iPhone 4/4S's screen is the best on the market. This will probably change once the 720p displays come out though.
2) The build quality is unmatched by any Android phone.
3) It's hard to adjust to this super small 3.5 inch screen. It honestly makes me skeptical about Apple. You'd think that after all these years they would at least increase the screen to 3.7 inches, but nope.
4) There's a lot of things within iOS that don't make sense or are frustrating as hell because you can't change it. For example, why does the lockscreen get cleared of all notifications once you unlock the phone, even if you didn't look at them? Why isn't there a Delete All feature for Mail? Why doesn't the bar at the top of the home screen show a Mail icon or a Text Message icon when you have new notifications? Why can't you change the camera settings so it shoots in 5MP or 720p to save space? Why do the YouTube and Maps applications suck so hard when compared to their Android counterparts? There are many more things that I don't understand or frustrate me, I just can't think of them right now.
Again, this makes me skeptical of Apple. You'd think the largest tech company in the world would be able to add in these silly small features and update all their stock applications to be modern, but they don't. Or it takes them a LOOOONG time to do it.
5) Apple's applications. A lot of the applications that Apple has on the App Store just aren't any good. The entire iWork suite has been missing key basic features for quite some time but Apple still hasn't updated them. You'd think the biggest tech company in the world would be on top of stuff like this.
6) Battery life seems decent. Nothing that is night and day better than my Android phone. My iPad 2 can last for days without a charge but I'm bringing my 4S down 25% in 2.5-3 hours.
7) The OS needs a facelift. Period. The new iOS 5 features are nice but Android is improving at a much faster rate. MUCH faster.
Overall I like the phone a lot, but I'm not sure that its enough to pull me away from Android. If they would have given the phone a larger display I would probably overlook a lot of this. But it's the fact that every iPhone has only had a 3.5 inch screen, the OS hasn't changed much and is missing KEY features or settings, and applications developed by Apple are also missing key features. It makes me skeptical about Apple's future in smartphones. This is how RIM lost it's advantage. They remained stagnant for a few years and the competition flew by. Apple and Android fit that scenario very nicely. Every iteration of Android brings forth huge new features and Google has some killer apps available on the Market that are constantly improving.
1) The iPhone 4/4S's screen is the best on the market. This will probably change once the 720p displays come out though.
2) The build quality is unmatched by any Android phone.
3) It's hard to adjust to this super small 3.5 inch screen. It honestly makes me skeptical about Apple. You'd think that after all these years they would at least increase the screen to 3.7 inches, but nope.
4) There's a lot of things within iOS that don't make sense or are frustrating as hell because you can't change it. For example, why does the lockscreen get cleared of all notifications once you unlock the phone, even if you didn't look at them? Why isn't there a Delete All feature for Mail? Why doesn't the bar at the top of the home screen show a Mail icon or a Text Message icon when you have new notifications? Why can't you change the camera settings so it shoots in 5MP or 720p to save space? Why do the YouTube and Maps applications suck so hard when compared to their Android counterparts? There are many more things that I don't understand or frustrate me, I just can't think of them right now.
Again, this makes me skeptical of Apple. You'd think the largest tech company in the world would be able to add in these silly small features and update all their stock applications to be modern, but they don't. Or it takes them a LOOOONG time to do it.
5) Apple's applications. A lot of the applications that Apple has on the App Store just aren't any good. The entire iWork suite has been missing key basic features for quite some time but Apple still hasn't updated them. You'd think the biggest tech company in the world would be on top of stuff like this.
6) Battery life seems decent. Nothing that is night and day better than my Android phone. My iPad 2 can last for days without a charge but I'm bringing my 4S down 25% in 2.5-3 hours.
7) The OS needs a facelift. Period. The new iOS 5 features are nice but Android is improving at a much faster rate. MUCH faster.
Overall I like the phone a lot, but I'm not sure that its enough to pull me away from Android. If they would have given the phone a larger display I would probably overlook a lot of this. But it's the fact that every iPhone has only had a 3.5 inch screen, the OS hasn't changed much and is missing KEY features or settings, and applications developed by Apple are also missing key features. It makes me skeptical about Apple's future in smartphones. This is how RIM lost it's advantage. They remained stagnant for a few years and the competition flew by. Apple and Android fit that scenario very nicely. Every iteration of Android brings forth huge new features and Google has some killer apps available on the Market that are constantly improving.