Wait for the iPhone 5 or go Google Android?

Wait for the iPhone 5 or go Google Android?(news.cnet.com)

8 points by mitchie_luna 13 years ago | 9 comments

Interesting that the article skirts the two biggest difference between the platforms -- user experience and the app/entertainment ecosystem. I mean, without starting a flame war, I think everyone can agree that there are big differences in both.

mladenkovacevic 13 years ago |

It's very unlikely that iPhone 5 will be able to make my coffee in the morning and seeing as this is probably the only way to deter me from the "real-OS" functionality and customization abilities of Android I don't see a reason to wait for iPhone 5. Yes it'll have great specs and it will look sexy but in the end it's just another iOS device.

Full disclosure: I bought a used Galaxy Nexus a few weeks ago and after extensive use (including a week-long vacation with it in a city I've never been to before) I am not looking back.

bsphil 13 years ago | |

How's the battery life on the Nexus, and how's the PenTile screen, if I may ask?

I've been curious about the controversy around the pentile display, but I haven't physically seen one in my own hands to get my own evaluation of it.

calciphus 13 years ago | | |

I've set a Nexus, SGS3, iPhone4S and iPad3 all next to each other. Unless your eyes are truly fantastic or you're viewing an image designed to show off one or the other's exact display, you'll not notice the difference. At 300+ ppi (on all those displays) you're probably never going to notice a difference. Color quality, saturation, viewing angle? Those all matter far more than the sub-pixel arrangement. Just go look at an S3 or Nexus in the store and see if you like it.

Bona fides: I own an S1, S3, iPodTouch(2G), iPad3, GalaxyTab10.1 and Galaxy7. I work for a company that develops mobile apps and it's my job to know about these devices.

mladenkovacevic 13 years ago | | |

Battery life is average... it is the only thing I would want to improve (and probably will with a higher capacity battery). With everything on (syncing, auto-brightness, wi-fi, GPS) I get a day's worth of use (9am-11pm and about 2.45 hours of screen-on time). With my crappy old HTC Snap (Windows mobile 6.5) phone without any syncing features I could go 2 days without charging and I kind of miss that.. especially when travelling. But I'm sure I could turn off all the syncing on the GNex and achieve at least a day and a half if I really wanted to (but then what's the point)

Pentile HD is gorgeous despite all the negative you might've heard. I thought I'd be really picky too and was even considering the HTC One X due to it's superior display... but as I squint closely at the details on the Nexus' screen, it almost looks like my home screen is printed on high quality photo-paper. The only time you might notice the pentile arrangement is if some app prominently featured single-pixel white lines all over the place. I've also heard somewhere that solid white colours aren't represented correctly and appear a little yellowish or something, but so far I haven't noticed or it just hasn't bothered me. What I did notice, however, is how rich and dark the colour black appears. I was watching Kung Fu Panda 2 on Netflix the other day with my nephew and I noticed that in certain dark scenes I couldn't tell where the screen ends and where the bevel begins.

These impressions might all be tinted with my sub-standard experience with the HTC Snap before this so take it with a grain of salt (Although I did use an iPad 2 for several weeks and also have experience with my brother's iPhone 4 and with both I felt very limited in what I could do and at certain points felt downright annoyed)

gte910h 13 years ago |

I see no reason not to wait to SEE what the iPhone 5 is at least. It's just a couple months.

calciphus 13 years ago | |

The problem is that it's an unknown couple of months waiting for a device who's software we already know.

You can always "wait and see" on devices and you'll perpetually be waiting. Since the question was asked of someone who's on a 3GS and they want a new phone, "Wait 5 more months" isn't really a satisfying answer, in most cases.

ditoa 13 years ago | |

Agreed. The only thing that makes me envious of an Android phone at the moment is the larger screens.

isnotchicago 13 years ago | | |

Going from a 3.5" screen to a 4.3" screen has actually been somewhat the bane of my existence. Whereas my old phone (original Motorola Droid) was a breeze to use single-handedly, my new phone (HTC Rezound) is miserable. I am constantly having to reposition the phone in my hand to reach the far corners of the screen. Using the phone with two hands mitigates the problem, but only because I can then hold the phone with one hand as the other stretches.

Being able to view more is nice, but I am not yet convinced that it makes up for the significant decrease in usability. YMMV of course, but either way I think the increase in screen size is an interesting trend for an OS [0] spearheaded by someone affectionate toward one-handed use [1].

[0] Not that Google controls device dimensions for most devices, though I imagine they have some say in the Nexus phones.

[1] http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/08/andy-rubin-on-multitouch-...