Android vs Windows

-Mike-

-Mike-

-Mike-

Soldato
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Afternoon all,

This isn't your normal iPhone vs Android thread, and I'm hoping to get some constructive answers here! Which operating system do you think is better out of Android and Windows Mobile, and why? If you haven't tried Windows mobile I'd be interested to know why that is too!

Thanks
 
Out of those two (discounting iOS), if I had to call one 'better' then it would be Android.

Main reason being there are a far better selection of usually better quality apps, and you can do more with it, better Google integration, greater choice of phones, etc.

On lower end hardware, and if you aren't worried about apps, then Windows Phone is a decent shout.
 
Depends what you want really. Only apps I care about are whatsapp, banking (natwest) and a few simple games. WP covers all of these and is a breeze to use. But if you want all the latest and greatest apps e.g instagram only just officially came to WP few months ago look to android. I find that using WP as a phone is a far nicer experience than android but as an entertainment device android may have the edge. Think about what you do with a phone and what you want to do with a phone and go from there dont listen to the crowds saying ZOMG this is better than that because is octo-core or something.
So what do YOU want out of a phone, what what standard a phone do YOU want (low mid high end?).
Personally I love my windows phone still got my 920 months after my 2 years was up and I dont see me replacing in the next 6 months.
 
Me personally... I'm an iFanboy though I have had my 4s pretty much since release now! I've tried other phones - not for long enough and gone back to the 4s.

I'm sick of it going flat now and have changed the battery once so the time has come to move on! I'm either going android or windows. The only apps that are really important to me are Whatsapp, YouTube and Santander. Problem is - Santander don't have a wp app! The windows YouTube app is poor, but I've just read that there are some decent alternatives.

I had a 930 for a day or so, and found the screen stunning. I'm assuming it plays nicely with onedrive given that in itself is a Microsoft creation? The lack of google drive is disappointing, but I favour onedrive over that anyway.
 
It's situation dependant.

Office environment is either iOS + lockdown of choice (exchange is a firm favourite) or Windows phone with exchange, Android is just not in the same arena right now (although AirWatch + knox are OKish they arn't primetime yet).
General use, either are OK but if you're more technical / app focused you'll get more out of Android due to flexibility. If your mum is using the handset then WP is better, it caters for low/low-mid market more where built in features are more important than apps but approaching mid/mid-high user base it loses out to the other two.

If you're a big user of google apps in general this argument falls heavily though because WP is a second rate experience for this. It's a bit stingy of google but that's how it is.
 
They're both excellent Operating Systems in their own way. I used Windows Phone for something like 18 Months and am very recently an Android fan. Android with Material is very much my thing however when I pick up my sisters 830 I see how seamless it is moving from one app to another and that's one thing I don't have with Android (it's not terrible, it's just not the same).

If you don't care for App availability (some apps struggle with push notifications) and you need a phone that simply works then Windows Phone is great, great specs for great prices. However if you want the latest apps with a huge availability then Android is more for you.
 
I had a Windows phone and really liked it. The tiles gave it a clean look allowing a symmetrical menu and the live tiles I found really useful and actively used. I did like the long menu instead of the multiple screen you get with Android.

The OS isn't always the issue, it's the hardware it's being used on. I had a Huawei and it wasn't great, but this doesn't mean the OS is bad.

There are some obvious differences, I found. The store wasn't great, found it clunky and a little slow and some apps which I've used before were not available. It's common to see apps for everything but the Windows Phone. The integration into the MS features, similar to Google, worked very well indeed.
 
WP is fast and slick. Even on low end phones. Its just missing some things. Its faster to do things on it. Android can do everything. But its needs good hardware. Dire on a low end hardware. It can be a bit long winded to do things as there's so many options.

I prefer WP for phone things, like making calls, texts, sat nav etc. Once I get into more heavy weight things I prefer Android.

For example I wanted an Wifi analyzer app to check the wifi networks so I can choose the right channel for my wifi. Couldn't do it on WP, but Android had a load of Apps for that.
 
One think I like about WP is how you can set everything apps, games and media to always save to the SD card. Why they've removed this on Android (on some releases/phones) baffles me.
 
OspreyO said:
Low end for me is the Lumia 520/630. Thats Moto E (not G) , Samsung Trend, Xperia E1 territory.

MotoG is a lower end mid range phone. Its only recently dropped to 99. For along time it was more expensive.
Click to expand...


Moto G has been £100 for ages. It is low end hardware. Why are you full of excuses?
 
The main reason Android runs poorly on lesser hardware is because of the skin / bloatware that many manufacturers add. The Moto G is one example of a phone free of a skin or excess bloatware, hence it runs pretty well. If manufacturers would stop forcing their crap, ugly skin on people then that situation would improve.

Got to admit though WP runs really well almost regardless of the hardware, and makes it quite a pleasure to use overall, but it doesn't quite have the depth of ability that Android offers (not yet anyway).
 
Isn't there a few differences in the OS though? WP doesn't let a lot of 3rd party apps run fully in the background. They also don't give access to all their API's, and is more aggressive about closing apps. As a result something like a 3rd battery indicator, only updates every 30 mins on WP. often you'll switch apps only to find the one you just left, isn't running when you go back to it. Which is why they had problems with things like Skype originally. Android has a lot less limitations, so you can run a lot more stuff concurrently which will slow it down eventually. Well AFAIK anyway.
 
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I can't see android ever not being the OS of choice for me. a for instance is something that i've literally just discovered. from my mobile i can now control the google music that's playing in the browser on my computer. this is something i can't imagine windows would ever get or for at least a long time. there are too many things i do on android (can windows have customer text tones for each individual contact?) that i'd miss far too much.
 
If you're a very basic user then I would say Windows is better to go with, very smooth and runs well on low end hardware. I suppose the tiles layout is easier to use for those with poor eyes as well.

If you however use a lot of apps, browse the web often, play games, like more customisation options, etc. then Android is the way to go for.

But I suppose this brings you to the next step: Which Android UI would you go for? sure they all are Android in the core side of things but the OEM changes can significantly change the entire experience. In this case in terms of smoothness I would say Google (I view Google and AOSP Android differently now) > HTC Sense > everything else.
 
Used a Nokia 920 for the last 2years but recently picked up a nexus 4 as it died.

Overall WP prefer WP8.1. Not came across an app that wasn't on WP yet.

Android is a great OS though.
 
Had good experience with WP but ultimately with bigger choice of phones and apps I can get on Android the latter wins for me.
 
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