I'm finally going to go smart phone and giving up my flip texting phone. I'd like to hear from you about your likes and dislikes about your phone. If you have tried different ones would be helpful too.

I'm currently leaning towards the iPhone5 because I've had an iPod Touch for several years and have many songs and apps purchased through iTunes and I also bought one for my wife last year. I haven't messed around with it much though.

Your input would be great. Thanks.

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2013 Adopt a Rookie: Luke Willson

Go Android. Go high-end. Who's your service provider?

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Tanzania¹²

AT&T.

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2013 Adopt a Rookie: Luke Willson

I full on recommend the Galaxy Note II, but it's very big so you'd have to check it out first. Nexus 4, HTC One X+ & Galaxy S III all seem to be really nice phones.

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Tanzania¹²

Galaxy Note II or Galaxy S III. You can still sync iTunes/etc. to your Android device, so you're not losing your music if you go away from iOS.

I am a known Apple-hater. However, that does not mean I lack for valid input as to why one should not buy an Apple product. They basically force their manufacturer, Foxconn, to use child labor. The profit margins to the manufacturer are so slim, Foxconn has to have deplorable working conditions. This is the fault of Foxconn in a lot of ways, (they've had several notable worker suicides at iPhone manufacturing facilities of theirs) but also of Apple. Apple basically gives them money to build a factory with Apple having exclusive rights to what gets made there for X years, and the prices are hard-set in the contract so Foxconn has to burden increasing parts and labor costs themselves. Foxconn makes computer motherboards along with a lot of other electronics and computer parts, but only their iPhone manufacturing facilities have horrible conditions with child labor. I wonder why...

Apple's habit of patenting things they did not invent that were in use years before they ever used or implemented them is also highly distasteful, to say the least. Turning pages on a screen, hiding court-ordered public apologies when their shenanigans fail, suing a food store in Poland because they're called "A.pl", patenting the shape of a leaf, (yeah, there's no prior art there) and patenting dual-shock gaming controllers, (yes, what the Playstations have had for like 7+ years) for a few examples.

They are, quite simply, an arrogant company that tries to steal everything they can, not just rightfully patent the things they've invented; and primarily for that reason, they don't deserve your money. You see Google doing this? Even Microsoft doesn't. They patent their own stuff, or stuff of companies they buy, and then bully-sue people over which I don't like, but at least they aren't sitting here patenting the shape of the wheel and crap like Apple is.

Alright, anti-Apple rant is over. Now on to the more technical reasons, or product-related reasons, as to why you should buy Android. In the real world, as far as things you'll actually use, I have to cite widgets and custom on-screen keyboards as the two biggest things. You know how all the icons on iPads, iPhones, etc. are static images? They aren't interactive, they're just shortcuts to apps? Well, on Android, tons of apps have widgets. Interactive elements to their apps; so you can have a widget on your home screen that keeps live weather you can just glance at to see, or use a Gmail widget that will keep the most recent emails visible in there, etc. It's something Android has been doing for 4 years, and it's awesome.

The other thing I mentioned is Swype. It's a free on-screen keyboard you can use instead of whatever default one comes with the phone, and it works by holding your finger down and swiping/sliding through the letters to spell each word. It puts in a space automatically when you lift your finger. Watch this video; it has a learning curve to get used to it with, but give it a solid week of use, and you will absolutely love it. This is an older video, Swype looks and works better now, with predictive text and such. (Auto-correct if you want it, too.)



There are other reasons to buy Android as well, larger screens being available is one of them. I have the Galaxy Note II. It looks gigantic, but you get used to it quickly and the battery life is RETARDEDLY good. Way better than iPhone 5, despite the much larger energy-sucking screen. Now with the Jelly Bean version of Android being buttery smooth like iOS devices as far as interacting with the UI goes, there aren't really any reasons to prefer iOS over Android. If you do go with Android, though, make sure you buy a high-end device. Apple only makes high-end phones; many Android manufacturers make high-end phones, mid-end ones, and low-end ones. The biggest profit margin for wireless carriers is with the mid-end ones, so those are the ones they typically try to sell. Do your own research, and don't depend on salespeople to give you honest advice. Oh, also, Android offers a lot more customization in a variety of ways over iOS.

Alright, Zeb; make fun of my huge rant-post.

Huge? That's not huge; you know you held back

Great insight Roland. Thanks. I definately will do my homework before I buy.

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2013 Adopt a Rookie: Luke Willson

I'd go with the Galaxy S3 or Note II as well.

The only time I've ever recommended an Apple product is when a co-worker was looking to purchase a tablet. He had an iPhone, and quite a few purchased apps. I told him to get an iPad, since he wouldn't have to pay twice for the same apps.

This holds true with Android as well. If you have an Android phone, go with an Android tablet.

To the contrary, I almost didn't post at all because I knew you'd be here soon enough with much more and better information.

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Tanzania¹²

I have the HTC one X and I'd give it a thumbs up. Battery life is good enough for my use, but I'm not away from a power source too often. I plug it in overnight and it lasts all the next day with normal phone use. a couple of calls..check in on FB and .net a couple times a day. Check flipboard every couple of hrs. or so for news. probably could get two days out of it using it like that, but I don't really go two days without listening to some tunes.

If i fire up the pandora at work I will plug it in at my workstation cuz music will kill the battery pretty quick. It has beats audio, but I didnt get the headphones with it so I dont know if that is any better or not.

My fave thing is the camera.. takes pretty dang fine pictures and video is HD (780, i think).

Roland is right on the swipe text..I started using it not too long ago and will use it all the time unless i am just sending a one or two word reply.

It also has facial recognition on it and will unlock itself when it sees your face. Hella cool, but a little too creepy for me so I have yet to turn it on.

Nexus 4!!!! Best Android Phone on the market. Pure 100% stock Android!

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"Go for Broke" - 442nd Japanese-American Battalion

Shaun Alexander #37 for the HoF - 119 Games 2176 Att 9429 Yards 4.3 YPC 100 TDs (112 TDs total) 2005 MVP

"YOU POST...TO WIN...thethread." JesterHawk

I meant to mention the Nexus 4. Oops. Stock Android is good shizzle, too.

Slightly off topic, but now that the uTorrent app is as badass as it is, I'm barely even touching my laptop anymore. I'm really enjoying the future thus far.

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Tanzania¹²

XxxZagnutxxX, do you like you iPod Touch? If you do, then you'll love the iPhone 5.

I'll keep this quick, since I don't want to anger the anti-Apple crowd.

I've had both iPhones and Androids, when I had an Android, I couldn't wait to get back to an iPhone, and when I did it was like coming home and crawling into my own bed after staying in cheap motels for the last year. I think that's a pretty good analogy! lol

My iPhone does everything I need quickly, easily, and never gives me an issue. It's so intuitive, quick, and just such a well made product. It's not that I didn't like my droid, it had it's cool features, and the Note II looks really cool, love the big screen.

But for me personally, the iPhone just 'syncs' with me, the Android didn't. Well that's my spiel.

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You're the new Oakland Raiders; class-less and dirty (with trash-talking players, and an unapologetic head coach), no respect for the game, with a stadium filled with obnoxious/rude fans dressed up in corny Halloween costumes/flare. -49er fan

Just curious, what model of Android phone did you have, Twisted?

I think it was a Droid X?

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You're the new Oakland Raiders; class-less and dirty (with trash-talking players, and an unapologetic head coach), no respect for the game, with a stadium filled with obnoxious/rude fans dressed up in corny Halloween costumes/flare. -49er fan

Android has come so far in the last year, there's nothing I can think of that OS X still does better. There was a time when that wasn't true.

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Tanzania¹²

Just picked up a Galaxy S3 over the weekend and I must admit I am amazed at how it wipes the floor with the iPhone in pretty much every conceivable way. The processor is far more powerful (four cores in a phone, are you kidding me?), the GPU is better, and best of all, it works very well as a phone. The battery life is good enough to spend an afternoon playing Plants vs. Zombies. The screen is brilliant, vivid, clear, and otherwise a joy to view. It makes the Retina display look like a bad case of cataracts. I have worked in tech for the better part of 16 years and the current generation of cell phones are one of a few things which has really made me say "wow".

What are some of the benefits of the Galaxy S3?
It runs on Android, which is vastly better than Apple's OS
Best in class processor
Damn good GPU
Tons of RAM (two gigs in my damn cell phone?)
Big (but not overly so), beautiful display
Low power usage
VERY lightweight
Good heat dissipation
Pull-down menus allow easy disabling of Bluetooth, GPS, sound, mobile data, auto screen rotation, airplane mode, power saving mode, driving mode, and auto-synchronization
Exceptional antenna design gets solid, consistent data rates even on Edge Network. This may also be due to switching to a 2GB/mo prepaid plan, as opposed to the "unlimited" plan I was on previously. Almost certain that Verizon throttles the network for those on the uncapped plans.

How about drawbacks?
Size (for smaller hands, it may be a bit cumbersome - does not lend itself well to one-handed use even when oriented vertically)
No keyboard (I'm a convert and this is my first keyboardless smartphone, a fact I'm not crazy about, but I like the hardware here)
Slow to charge (this is because the stock battery is pretty beefy)
Camera quality is underwhelming. YMMV
No SD card from the factory

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Feel free to contact me if you need legal assistance. I have a great lawyer that helped me with an ex who violated my privacy and kept harassing me on MySpace and Facebook. He's very good. And there is legal precedent. - linuxpro

He is hold back the legion of boom - skater18000

Motorola screwed the pooch with the Droid X in some ways, I had some problems with mine, too. Love my Galaxy Note II, though.

@Smokin' - If Verizon throttles, I've never seen it. Last summer I hit 22GB in one month and didn't get throttled, lol. It's why I paid full price for my Galaxy Note II, to keep unlimited data.