Google Nexus-S vs. iPhone-4 Anybody?

[Dbrown]

It's better when it comes to OS integration, sure, but overall as an app to get you from A to B, mixed with the traffic information and IQ routing, TomTom is, aside from OS integration, better in every single other aspect.

The OS integration is what makes google maps & nav superior to all the other nav apps out there. If you're in an unfamiliar city and you're looking for an obscure shop how do you find it using tom tom?

With google maps and nav you dont even have to open the software. Just say "navigate to: xxx" and one click later the nav software will launch and you'll be right on your way. Or if you're browsing on the web and see something interesting. You can get directions in as little as 2 clicks.

 

[Tarzanman]

Google Nexus S Vs Apple iPhone 4 – Features Compared

The kid who wrote that article is a dolt. No depth, and I have a better understanding of the two phones than he does. For example, there is no mention that the A4 processor in the iPhone4 and the Hummingbird in the Nexus S (and Galaxy S phones) are the same core.

There are also other problems with the 'comparison'

 

[fr4c]

Build quality is something to be desired along the Samsung Galaxy S line, so only time will tell and see how the Nexus S fairs. But from images that available at the moment it doesn't seem to be that much of an "upgrade" compared to lets say the Captivate or Epic 4G (which is just terrible IMO). At over $500 for the unlocked version, they could have at least used better materials.

Why they didn't choose to stick with HTC, beats me.

 

[Savor]

HTC has quality control issues themselves, including dust under the screen and unresponsive touchscreens with the Nexus One and a gap behind the HD7 battery cover and its flimsy kickstand. But I do prefer the design of the N1 over the NS. I prefer HTC way more than Smasung. I can't stand Sammy products. I see the Nexus line more for the niche crowd like geeks, software developers, and hardcore Android fans not wanting to be bogged down by contracts, carrier bloatware, and customized skins from the manufacturer. PURE GOOGLE means that.

Google is just setting a foundation and benchmark for all the others. I just don't think this is that worthy of an upgrade from a Nexus One. The upgrade seems marginal like going from iPhone 3G to 3GS but without the bump in processor speed. I say the next Nexus phone will be build by Motorola and if the PlayStation phone succeeds, perhaps by Sony Ericsson. Android will drive hardware thanks to Google's relationship with manufacturers.

I actually want to see Microsoft manufacture their own phone someday.

 

[Phil A.]

Wirelessly posted (iPhone 4: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

It's better when it comes to OS integration, sure, but overall as an app to get you from A to B, mixed with the traffic information and IQ routing, TomTom is, aside from OS integration, better in every single other aspect.

The OS integration is what makes google maps & nav superior to all the other nav apps out there. If you're in an unfamiliar city and you're looking for an obscure shop how do you find it using tom tom?

With google maps and nav you dont even have to open the software. Just say "navigate to: xxx" and one click later the nav software will launch and you'll be right on your way. Or if you're browsing on the web and see something interesting. You can get directions in as little as 2 clicks.

Don't know about TomTom but with copilot I'd just use live local search to look for the shop. Ok, so I have to start the app first but it's hardly a problem and the benefits copilot gives over Google Navigation (see my previous post) make the extra steps worthwhile.

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

Same here, I gotta start Naviagon app first but how hard is that. Yes intergration is always a plus, but I'm more concerned about integration when it comes to stuff like Email, SMS, Phone/Contacts, Etc.

To much integration can be to much clutter. It's the equivalent of have 30 choices in the right click menu when you right click a file on windows.

Also it's a Google phone, so having integration of a Google app is nothing to brag about .... it's to be expected. That's like critizing Android for not integrating Mobile me.

 

[sophiatristin]

There are huge difference between google nexus-s and iphone. The first difference is its screen is very large instants of iPhone 4 but the resolution is less than iPhone-4. And nexus-S is unlocked by-default and it works with any types of GSM carrier. It is a fully voice activated and its process seems very much comparable to iPhone-4.

 

[antster94]

It looks insane. Considering selling my iPhone to get one, curved screen is pure genius.

 

[darkside flow]

ZOMG CURVED SCREEN!


This is just a repackaged Galaxy S with a crappier screen, different form factor and slightly newer software.

 

[darkside flow]

There are huge difference between google nexus-s and iphone. The first difference is its screen is very large instants of iPhone 4 but the resolution is less than iPhone-4. And nexus-S is unlocked by-default and it works with any types of GSM carrier. It is a fully voice activated and its process seems very much comparable to iPhone-4.

It works with any type of GSM carrier as long as you're okay with EDGE speeds.

 

[aohus]

if i were AT&T subscriber, I'd hold out for the Motorola Olympus (4.0 inch, Tegra2, dual core phone) thats coming late january.

if you're buying a phone now this late in the game, you're a sucker. wait for the true next gen phones coming out early january featuring dual core processors.

and no, dual core processors do NOT kill battery life. it saves battery life.

 

[BC2009]

Here's one comparison of Google Navigation vs iPhone Navigation apps (TomTom, Navigon, ATT Navigator, CoPilot Live, Sygic) done by iPhone fans.

As they said, "While there is no denying that there are some great iPhone GPS apps available, [none] can hold a candle to the Google Maps Navigation Beta. "

That link is over a year old, Navigon has seen several updates since then. I'd like to see a comparison of the latest iPhone Nav Apps to the latest version of the Google Navigation. (They can remove the comparison to the Telenav on Palm Pre -- nobody cares anymore).

 

[Tarzanman]

The google maps to google navigation interface is seamless. Any information you can find in google maps (street view, traffic, satellite view, etc) is available in Google Navigation.

This includes Google maps links that come up after you do a regular web search.

Is there anything on the iphone that is comparable?

 

[naths]

not good google.....they have just tarted up a samsung galaxy s,called it a nexus...hmmmm...just before the christmas holidays...coincidence or what....not as good as the great Nexus1,nor anywhere as good as my Desire HD...sorry google you should have stuck with HTC...they are making the best phones out there at the moment....

 

[aohus]

not good google.....they have just tarted up a samsung galaxy s,called it a nexus...hmmmm...just before the christmas holidays...coincidence or what....not as good as the great Nexus1,nor anywhere as good as my Desire HD...sorry google you should have stuck with HTC...they are making the best phones out there at the moment....

well, being that the Galaxy S line is the best selling Android device, it makes sense to make the Nexus S the ideal developer phone.

 

[daneoni]

Is it just me or did Google also 'elongate' the signal bars (make them taller) in Gingerbread/2.3?

 

[mKTank]

Is it just me or did Google also 'elongate' the signal bars (make them taller) in Gingerbread/2.3?

Guess who else did that first?

 

[ZebraineZ]

While I agree with the sentiment, have you used your 2G/3G lately .

Yes. Still responsive and fluid as ever... both of them are 2 different things, it can drop frames and yet be responsive in that whatever you drag and swipe goes along with the flow of your finger rather than taking a second or two and then dragging, which TRUST me, when using a phone, matters incredibly. Trust me, Android looks good in writing, but when you actually use a device, iOS and WP7 win hands down.

Heck, my old 3G pre-4.1 with 4.0, the most unusable crap of all, was still better than an Android phone. I'm not buying a phone because it's pretty or because it's got the most uber specs, I'm buying it so I could actually USE it, and capacitive technology was used in the iPhone, and brought to life essentially, by Apple, because it allowed you to have the fluidity and the precision you would get from a resistive screen that contradicted it's choppiness with a stylus, with your finger. What is the point if Android is using it, and yet, sucks in those departments? I'm not buying a phone to watch movies in 60fps, I actually touch my TOUCH SCREEN phone, and slide and swipe and drag and all those things that I do with my iPhone every single day with consistent speed.

WP7 got it right, I don't see why Android can't. It has so much potential, but that one big flaw, is unforgivable, it's the foundation of what capacitive and essentially all these new mobile OS's were made for, and if you can't get that right, then your product is FLAWED. Not bad, but flawed, and thankfully those can be fixed, it just needs competent developers, not self glorious spec worshipping bimbos.

 

[Ann P]

That's one great-looking phone indeed. Pity I can't stand the os.

 

[daneoni]

Guess who else did that first?

A certain company with a fruity name comes to mind. I also remember android fans having a field day in mocking said company for it

 

[chrisparr]

Nexus S V iPhone 4????

May have been said already bit it's as simple as this for me:

£35pm contract = Free Nexus S
£35pm contract = £100 i'sh (sometimes much more) iPhone

After my iPhone 3G (wife now has it), I'd love a iPhone 4 but can't afford it.

If anyone wants to send me enough money I will reconsider

Cheers

Chris

 

[JoeG4]

Build quality is a mixed bag, I think the iPhone 4 feels better than anything else on the market and at the price it very well should! As for Samsung, the one phone that stood up to 2-3 years of my use with and still felt new (minus the paint chipping off lol), was a samsung. The OEM GUI was awful, and the menu system made little sense at all, but it was a damn solid phone and it worked great.

Thankfully, with Android.. that terrible UI thing isn't really a problem (Touchwiz didn't seem all that different than any other android implementation to me).

I haven't yet had the chance to mess with a Nexus S, but I have used a Vibrant.. it seemed so light! THAT seemed to make it feel "cheap", but it wasn't really an indicator of how solid it was. I've used an Epic too, wasn't crazy about the keyboard but after using my G2 I can't say that's all that much better anyway. The slider actually felt more solid IMHO (Yea, HTC.. thanks for those crazy Z hinges.. they're "solid" but have a surprising amount of give to them!)

I don't think the build quality would be all that big a deal, and on the upshot since it's a Google phone it'll get updates as soon as they come out, look at the Nexus 1 - it's still one of the most relevant androids on the market.

Of course, you have to actually want an Android phone or have a reason not to buy an iPhone. ($$ for me, AT&T for a lot of people, who knows what else?)

 

[BergerFan]

I love my iPhones, but if I was ever tempted away and went Android, then I would always go for Google's flagship, because you get no carrier bloatware, and will always have the latest OS updates first.

 

[Dbrown]

Wirelessly posted (iPhone 4: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)



Don't know about TomTom but with copilot I'd just use live local search to look for the shop. Ok, so I have to start the app first but it's hardly a problem and the benefits copilot gives over Google Navigation (see my previous post) make the extra steps worthwhile.

lol as if tom tom's live local search compares to google search. google maps and nav works seamlessly with google search and voice control to form one tight cohesive package. Perhaps tom tom's actual nav component is better (I personally think its a wash), but all that's just one part of getting to where you need to go.

 

[BC2009]

The kid who wrote that article is a dolt. No depth, and I have a better understanding of the two phones than he does. For example, there is no mention that the A4 processor in the iPhone4 and the Hummingbird in the Nexus S (and Galaxy S phones) are the same core.

There are also other problems with the 'comparison'

I believe I said the processors were comparable. And I think we all know the names of the processors. But if you require a review: A4 and Hummingbird are both Cortex-A8 ARM processors, the Cortex-A9 being the dual-core successor to the single-core Cortex-A8. Samsung and Apple are both developing ARM processors, Apple is likely using the folks that joined them through the Intrinsity acquisition. Samsung is of course manufacturing the "Hummingbird". Both of them license the chipset from ARM, who is based in the UK.

I may or may not have refuted your belief that I am a "dolt", but I can attest that I am certainly not a "kid".

I regret to learn that you found "other problems" with my comparison as well, though I will try not to lose any sleep. I will try to remember to defer to you before posting any other comparisons.