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iPhone 4s VS Samsung SIII - Hands on.

MythicFrost said:
What?

1) That's hardware
2) Carrier restriction
3) Widgets are cool, but they'll be coming in iOS 6. (We have two already lol.) Status indicators not such a big deal
4) Apple's apparently bringing out their own mapping solution for iOS 6
5) Mmm, for the most part that's true. You can open files in other apps though
6)
7) That requires a smartphone with specific hradware for that though, no? But yes the software supports it
8) iCloud supports iDevices, as well as a Mac or PC, and can be accessed online as well
9) For now
10) I guess
11) No. Android may be open, but it's not open source.
Click to expand...


So... you're agreeing then that Android is ahead? :confused: That was his point. I'm not reading anything that seriously contends his point.

Will iOS 6 bring Apple up to speed? Hopefully, but what does that say about them as innovators? Even as an Apple fan, I have to honestly say they aren't what they used to be. Like was said before, if this was a year ago before ICS came out, I'd be on the other side of this debate. Today, however, things have changed.

I'm holding my breath for IOS 6, and I'm equally excited for it as any other, but it really needs to be a grandslam. Many areas of iOS is in dire need of upgrading (keyboard, mail, safari... etc.).
 
onthecouchagain said:
So... you're agreeing then that Android is ahead? :confused: That was his point. I'm not reading anything that seriously contends his point.

Will iOS 6 bring Apple up to speed? Hopefully, but what does that say about them as innovators? Even as an Apple fan, I have to honestly say they aren't what they used to be. Like was said before, if this was a year ago before ICS came out, I'd be on the other side of this debate. Today, however, things have changed.

I'm holding my breath for IOS 6, and I'm equally excited for it as any other, but it really needs to be a grandslam. Many areas of iOS is in dire need of upgrading (keyboard, mail, safari... etc.).
Click to expand...

Just because an OS has features that YOU like doesn't mean the competing OS is behind. iOS already has its forms of widgets, as weather goes. There are apps that show the temp in a badge. Some people don't see flashy animations as an advantage of an operating system.
 
The iPhone 4S is still the leader in photography, videos, security, updates, audio, navigation, games, voice commands, syncing with your computer/iPad, hardware integration and accessories.

Therefore, I consider it to be "ahead".

However, if your criteria for "ahead" is widgets and a 4.8" screen, then the GS3 is ahead.
 
DodgeV83 said:
The iPhone 4S is still the leader in photography, videos, security, updates, audio, navigation, games, voice commands, hardware integration and accessories.

Therefore, I consider it to be "ahead".

However, if your criteria for "ahead" is widgets and a 4.8" screen, then the GS3 is ahead.
Click to expand...

I disagree that the iPhone is ahead in the categories in bold. I can think of ways to justify the iPhone being ahead in the other categories, but how do you justify better audio, and especially navigation and voice commands?

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sk1wbw said:
Just because an OS has features that YOU like doesn't mean the competing OS is behind. iOS already has its forms of widgets, as weather goes. There are apps that show the temp in a badge. Some people don't see flashy animations as an advantage of an operating system.
Click to expand...

While I agree with you, the widgets in iOS 5.x currently are the way apps were in iOS 1.x. You had the apps Apple gave you. Anything else? Do a web search. That is a pretty severe limit if you ask me. No, it doesn't make another OS "better", but the usability of the widgets in iOS could be improved dramatically. As it stands I can check the weather and that is virtually it. I am not talking lack of flashy icons. I am talking lack of content.
 
lordofthereef said:
I disagree that the iPhone is ahead in the categories in bold. I can think of ways to justify the iPhone being ahead in the other categories, but how do you justify better audio, and especially navigation and voice commands?

----------



While I agree with you, the widgets in iOS 5.x currently are the way apps were in iOS 1.x. You had the apps Apple gave you. Anything else? Do a web search. That is a pretty severe limit if you ask me. No, it doesn't make another OS "better", but the usability of the widgets in iOS could be improved dramatically. As it stands I can check the weather and that is virtually it. I am not talking lack of flashy icons. I am talking lack of content.
Click to expand...


A weather widget gives more content than a weather app?
 
DodgeV83 said:
Same story I've been telling for weeks now:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1369342/
Click to expand...

I read that thread thoroughly. I don't believe it addresses anything I mentioned in bold. It does, however, address plenty of the things I did not bold (which I happen to agree with).

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sk1wbw said:
A weather widget gives more content than a weather app?
Click to expand...

That is not what I am saying. What I am saying is a widget, in iOS, is there to give you a quick glance of information while you are inside another app. But the only real information I can put into Apple's widgets is weather (and alerts like texts, emails, etc.) Can't really add anything else to it.

Clearly Apple's widgets are there so that we don;t have to go right into the app to get to the information. Why they limited it to Apple only applications is beyond me (and is the limitation I am speaking of). I have jailbreak addons which incorporate twitter, facebook, and even toggles for things like wifi, bt, etc. SUPER handy!
 
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MythicFrost said:
What?

1) That's hardware
2) Carrier restriction
3) Widgets are cool, but they'll be coming in iOS 6. (We have two already lol.) Status indicators not such a big deal
4) Apple's apparently bringing out their own mapping solution for iOS 6
5) Mmm, for the most part that's true. You can open files in other apps though
6)
7) That requires a smartphone with specific hradware for that though, no? But yes the software supports it
8) iCloud supports iDevices, as well as a Mac or PC, and can be accessed online as well
9) For now
10) I guess
11) No. Android may be open, but it's not open source.
Click to expand...

3) Maybe, maybe not. I dont see them bringing out a whole slew of them. So when you say they are coming.... theres no guarantee.
4) It still wont be near what Google Maps Nav is and they are unveiling a whole new one themselves. So Apples will most likely be improved, but still way behind. Unless of course you want to spend $50 for Tom Tom which the broken record who is DodgeV83 keeps trying to mention but never mentions it costs you $50 and all you get extra is IQ routes which isnt anything special.

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RoyWill said:
After I have played with the S3 for 2 days, I still hesitate to insert the sim card into the phone.

There are just way too many options (or too complicated) for me to setup!!

Yeap.. may be I am an idiot but the menu is not as userfriendly or clear as my 4S!! I believe it will take me a few more days to learn how to use the phone.

Here are some of my personal comments!! (once again ..IT IS MY PERSONAL COMMENTS :D)

Hardware side..it is SUPAR!! 5/5

Screen (5/5) is awesome!! Dont know how can apple match... (the best other competitors can do is doing the same :eek:)

Speed (6/5): If you think 4S is fast...well S3 is SSSSSuper fast! No delay when I tried to start any app

Built quality(4/5): I think there is still room for S3 to improve...just TOOOOO plastic!! the battery cover is so thin and nothing special. if we pay close attention to the back, we can see some hidden patterns. Man...who will pay that close attention to that microscopic patterns??

Face detection (4/5) unlock function is 50/50. face detection is not a new technology, but I believe it is the first time being used in the phone. Big plus... but still not sensitive enough

GPS (4.5/5): Awesome..way better than the iphone built-in maps..but still dont know how to turn on the voice direction when I am driving :confused:

Picture/Video (4.5/5): great picture and video quality

In conclusion: if Apple does not have any surprise in iphone 5, we will be deeply disappointed!! S3 is waaaaaaaaaaay ahead of 4S now...
Click to expand...

After a couple weeks...you will be comfortable with it and know how to use it and im confident you will come back and say you love the device. All those options is one reason that makes Android great.

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MythicFrost said:
That aside, Google allowing carriers to put out custom versions of Android is probably their biggest problem as all you end up with is carrier bloat. It'd be so much better if Google made them use stock Android, and it'd be so much easier to update.
Click to expand...

True, but you can delete it.
 
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MythicFrost said:
Google allowing carriers to put out custom versions of Android is probably their biggest problem as all you end up with is carrier bloat. It'd be so much better if Google made them use stock Android, and it'd be so much easier to update.
Click to expand...
That's why we have custom ROMs son
 
lordofthereef said:
I disagree that the iPhone is ahead in the categories in bold. I can think of ways to justify the iPhone being ahead in the other categories, but how do you justify better audio, and especially navigation and voice commands?
Click to expand...

There are many points in support of the bolder categories in the original post, which were elaborated on when other posters questioned my statements. It's a long thread, it's easy to miss. Here's a highlight or two for each:

Audio: Spotify 320kbs bitrate, not available on Android.

I can go for a walk, say "Play Iris", where the phone will search through all my music for that song, and if it doesn't find it, search through all the songs on my home computers (iTunes Match) and seamlessly stream the song to me if it finds a match. Then when I get home, press one button and the song seamlessly starts playing on my home surround sound system.

It syncs playlists between me and my girlfriend's phone.

Navigation: TomTom is the best navigation available anywhere. IQ Routes + HD Traffic + MapShare is the only solution which matches, and exceeds, my defunct Dash Express. Not available on Android.

Voice Commands: This one is debatable, but Siri is the only solution that lets me say things like:

"When is my next meeting with Scott?"
"What time is my first meeting tomorrow? Who is in that meeting?"
"Remind me to show my Dad something cool on the iPad when I get to his place."
"Where is [person's name who is currently sharing ther location with me]"

Also, based on my personal tests, and the videos I've seen, dictation works much better, meaning it is more accurate at deciphering what was said.

There's more, but that should get the point across.
 
DodgeV83 said:
There are many points in support of the bolder categories in the original post, which were elaborated on when other posters questioned my statements. It's a long thread, it's easy to miss. Here's a highlight or two for each:

Audio: Spotify 320kbs bitrate, not available on Android.

I can go for a walk, say "Play Iris", where the phone will search through all my music for that song, and if it doesn't find it, search through all the songs on my home computers (iTunes Match) and seamlessly stream the song to me if it finds a match. Then when I get home, press one button and the song seamlessly starts playing on my home surround sound system.

It syncs playlists between me and my girlfriend's phone.

Navigation: TomTom is the best navigation available anywhere. IQ Routes + HD Traffic + MapShare is the only solution which matches, and exceeds, my defunct Dash Express. Not available on Android.

Voice Commands: This one is debatable, but Siri is the only solution that lets me say things like:

"When is my next meeting with Scott?"
"What time is my first meeting tomorrow? Who is in that meeting?"
"Remind me to show my Dad something cool on the iPad when I get to his place."
"Where is [person's name who is currently sharing ther location with me]"

Also, based on my personal tests, and the videos I've seen, dictation works much better, meaning it is more accurate at deciphering what was said.

There's more, but that should get the point across.
Click to expand...

You are basing your audio choice on one App? Well ok. We can't actually discern the difference between a 320kbps track and a 192 kbps track on our phones, but if you say so.

And do people really airplay their music for any length of time? It's certainly a cool feature, but I can't say I have ever found the need to drain my phone battery airplaying something that I can just play on the original device in the first place.

Siri is great, except when it's down. It's down too often for me to even say it's good. Speech to text is great too when it works. When it doesn't, it doesn't. I have yet to run into a time (I am sure it happens) where speach on Android gave me an "I can;t do this now" error.

You are basing your GPS on a single App too? That's cool too, I guess, if you are wanting to shell out an extra $50 for navigation. I guess this is extremely subjective at this point. Out of the box, navigation on Android and even WP is better. If you want to spend the coin, you have TomTom, which apparently is hitting those other OS's as well.

Frankly, almost everything you mentioned here is covered under "better apps" IMO. It's not really a feature of the phone or the OS, which is what I thought the comparison was about, hence my confusion.
 
DodgeV83 said:
3. You're comparing the Samsung Mobile division, which makes the phone he is referring to, with the division that produces some parts for Apple. They are not the same people, they aren't even the same building. Samsung quite literally purchased the companies, and changed the name.
Click to expand...

I can promise you the profit that each division makes all goes back to the mother company.:)
 
DakotaGuy said:
I can promise you the profit that each division makes all goes back to the mother company.:)
Click to expand...

In the comparison, however, that is basically irrelevant. The two companies have nothing (read: extremely little) to do with each other in terms of innovation, products development, manufacturing, etc.
 
lordofthereef said:
YI guess this is extremely subjective at this point.
Click to expand...

That was DodgeV83 main point. Blanket statements either way are pretty silly.

Frankly, almost everything you mentioned here is covered under better apps IMO. It's not really a feature of the phone or the OS, which is what I thought the comparison was about, hence my confusion.
Click to expand...

To me, apps are the primary feature of a smartphone. I'd rather choose between more productivity apps than different icons. :)
 
lordofthereef said:
You are basing your audio choice on one App? Well ok. We can't actually discern the difference between a 320kbps track and a 192 kbps track on our phones, but if you say so.

And do people really airplay their music for any length of time? It's certainly a cool feature, but I can't say I have ever found the need to drain my phone battery airplaying something that I can just play on the original device in the first place.

Siri is great, except when it's down. It's down too often for me to even say it's good. Speech to text is great too when it works. When it doesn't, it doesn't. I have yet to run into a time (I am sure it happens) where speach on Android gave me an "I can;t do this now" error.

You are basing your GPS on a single App too? That's cool too, I guess, if you are wanting to shell out an extra $50 for navigation. I guess this is extremely subjective at this point. Out of the box, navigation on Android and even WP is better. If you want to spend the coin, you have TomTom, which apparently is hitting those other OS's as well.

Frankly, almost everything you mentioned here is covered under "better apps" IMO. It's not really a feature of the phone or the OS, which is what I thought the comparison was about, hence my confusion.
Click to expand...

Absolutely correct. Better apps is all that is and at this point something i will agree with but out of the box, iP4S falls short. Why would i want to spend $50 on a Nav appp when Google Maps is free and very good? It just dont have IQ routes which i dont think is anything to brag about. In 3 days Google is unveiling a new upgraded version of their maps so i suspect it will be even better....for free.

There are so many other music players you can choose to use on Android. Some are very good and the one im currently using is called Power Amp and it has many options. And you can get 320 bitrate music files. He acts like they dont exist at all for Android.
Im sure Spotify will have them for Android at some point but for me, i dont use Spotify much anyways. Just when im searching for something and very sparingly to listen to something, and then ill go download it from the App EasyMP3 downloader and get a 320 bitrate if i want one. But im fine with 192 and above.


That is my version of better audio as i dont like to use streamed music and use up a lot of my data. I prefer to play it from my own library from my Micro SD card.
I have Google Music on my phone which is FREE...but i use it very sparingly for the reason i said already.
 
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lots of disbelief on Apple


They will butt rape Samsung with the next iPhone design... and they will continue outselling those rubbish copycat plastic phones.

I do acknowledge that Samsung is making great phones with incredible specs, but Apple always makes better products, it is incredibly dumb to compare the 4S vs the SIII we haven't seen the new product yet
 
lordofthereef said:
In the comparison, however, that is basically irrelevant. The two companies have nothing (read: extremely little) to do with each other in terms of innovation, products development, manufacturing, etc.
Click to expand...

I just find it ironic that Apple buys millions of dollars worth of product from Samsung and that money filters right back to the Samsung Corporation. Then when Samsung Mobile needs money in it's defense against Apple it draws it right back from Samsung Corporation.

Considering that Apple has such a good relationship with Samsung and needs them I think a lot of the other lawsuits are just smoke and mirrors. Apple knows they need Samsung because no other supplier can supply what they need in that kind of quantity. Soon we will hear about them working out something with regards to the patents and life will go on.

apollo1444 said:
lots of disbelief on Apple

and they will continue outselling those rubbish copycat plastic phones.

I do acknowledge that Samsung is making great phones with incredible specs, but Apple always makes better products, it is incredibly dumb to compare the 4S vs the SIII we haven't seen the new product yet
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure that Samsung has been the number 1 phone maker in the world for quite some time. I don't see Apple taking them over anytime soon.
 
apollo1444 said:
lots of disbelief on Apple


They will butt rape Samsung with the next iPhone design... and they will continue outselling those rubbish copycat plastic phones.

I do acknowledge that Samsung is making great phones with incredible specs, but Apple always makes better products, it is incredibly dumb to compare the 4S vs the SIII we haven't seen the new product yet
Click to expand...

Design isn't enough. Apple needs to provide some decent improvements, not just a good looking phone.
 
SGMD1 said:
I disagree. The 4S is Apple's current flagship mobile device and the S3 is Samsung's. They are direct competitors and it wouldn't make sense NOT to compare them.
Click to expand...

True but i can understand their point. The 4S is 7, 8 months old. Then again, they compared the 4S to the GS2 and the GS2 still had many features that the iPhone still doesnt have.

Either way, this is always going to happen as they probably will never have a phone come out at the same time because Apple only puts one new phone out a year while Android puts out a new major OS twice a year along with new phones and why Apple will always be playing catchup from here on out.

The next iPhone i am sure it will be a nice device but they absolutely need to have a bigger screen for starters. Then and only then will i even look their way at all for a phone but im getting a GS3 soon when they get here.

However, if i was going to buy a tablet, id probably get an iPad over an Android one. Love that iPad 3 screen.
 
sk1wbw said:
Just because an OS has features that YOU like doesn't mean the competing OS is behind. iOS already has its forms of widgets, as weather goes. There are apps that show the temp in a badge. Some people don't see flashy animations as an advantage of an operating system.
Click to expand...

Are you implying there's no such thing as an objectively better operating system?

Can we get over this sensitivity about whether we can say an os is or isn't objectively better? Because it allows for complaints and desires for improvement to go unheard. When we keep saying "its only better for you" we are really turning a blind eye to an OS's shortcomings.

I understand that OS's fit everyone differently but we can still discuss what shortcomings each have compared to the other. To not do so is to be complacent. There are issues with android too. I wouldn't for a second pretend there aren't just to say its only an issue for certain people. I would recognize that even if its not necessarily an issue for me, it would still make the OS better if it were resolved.

Also who is saying a flashy operating system is what makes it better? The things being discussed on this thread are features that would add to any operating system if they didn't have them, iOS or not.
 
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Vegastouch said:
Absolutely correct. Better apps is all that is and at this point something i will agree with but out of the box, iP4S falls short. Why would i want to spend $50 on a Nav appp when Google Maps is free and very good? It just dont have IQ routes which i dont think is anything to brag about. In 3 days Google is unveiling a new upgraded version of their maps so i suspect it will be even better....for free.

There are so many other music players you can choose to use on Android. Some are very good and the one im currently using is called Power Amp and it has many options. And you can get 320 bitrate music files. He acts like they dont exist at all for Android.
Im sure Spotify will have them for Android at some point but for me, i dont use Spotify much anyways. Just when im searching for something and very sparingly to listen to something, and then ill go download it from the App EasyMP3 downloader and get a 320 bitrate if i want one. But im fine with 192 and above.


That is my version of better audio as i dont like to use streamed music and use up a lot of my data. I prefer to play it from my own library from my Micro SD card.
I have Google Music on my phone which is FREE...but i use it very sparingly for the reason i said already.
Click to expand...

I feel you. I'm so excited to demo the SIII. Power Amp looks great. But will the SIII be able to get the new and improved Google Maps?
 
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