Iphone or Andriod: Which first smartphone for Oxy?

craptakular · 5 Dec 2010 at 01:12

oh hewwo.

I was round a friends last night who has recently got an Iphone, it being the first time I have ever held one I was very impressed. I had always assumed typing and using msn/facebook/etc would be clunky, I couldn't have been more wrong. So much so I'm considering retiring my old Nokia from 2001 and going all cool and getting one... but....

How does Android compare to the iphone? (I know android is the OS)

What is the best handest to get for an android phone?

Is the iphone feature rich now? I heard it didn't have a camera?

Which system has the best battery life?

How good is 3G? Does it cover the countryside? Specifically North Suffolk near Lowestoft and Gt Yarmouth?

opethdisciple · 5 Dec 2010 at 01:26

We may or may not be in similar boats here.

I think it all comes down to how much money you spend on your phone monthly?

If your £20-£30 pounds type of person, then you could probably get a really nice phone etc....

Obviously the hot phones at the moment (although it may just be marketing) are the Iphones.

Me on the other hand. I am not a heavy mobile phone user, so I was looking for a cheap upgrade from my old Sony Erikson k750i.

Iv been advised by people on this forum to take a look at the Orange San Francisco.

Phone looks very good and is cheap for an Android handset etc.....

However, Im very very new to all this mobile phone malarkey so wait untill someone knowledgeable replies...

Amp34 · 5 Dec 2010 at 01:38

Just to throw another OS into the mix... Have a look at Windows Phone 7

Zarf · 5 Dec 2010 at 01:38

iPhones are nice pieces of equipment, However you pay a significant premium. A decent Android phone with similar specs to an iPhone4 (high res screen, fast CPU etc) can be easily found on £25/pm contracts, whilst you're looking at £35+ for most iPhone contracts.

OS wise it's down to preferences. Android is more customisable and has a better notification / desktop widget system, but the iPhone's more basic approach makes it very simple and obvious to use and it also tends to make a better gaming machine thanks to a larger selection of games, strong GPU and a top-notch gyroscope.

craptakular · 5 Dec 2010 at 01:44

I am shell shocked. The companies want £300 for the iphone the £35-60 per month mega rofl....

I pay £15 for a sim only thing from o2 atm... I just really think I can use the msn stuff for work and would be nice to able to read e-mails for my business when out and about.

Is there anything in Andriod world that is sanely priced yet still offers me all the wizz and glitz I saw tonight on the iphone?

Never even heard of windows phones lol.... I was young and cool pre-2000 remember

opethdisciple · 5 Dec 2010 at 01:51

Maybe the 'orange san francisco' is for you as well?

Its the handset I'm considering getting.

My plan, is to buy the handset, unlock the hand set, flash the phone with Android 2.2, and get a sim from giffgaff, at £10 per month with free internet!

There is a whole thread dedicated to the orange san francisco here

It might be possible to get an Iphone 3, cheaper than the 4 however.

Stellios · 5 Dec 2010 at 01:57

Right, first of all the iPhone is a lovely bit of kit, the interface is nice and clean and easy to use but it has some cracking flaws.

First of all its pretty pricey, no matter what you do for a sensibly priced contract you'll need to buy the phone, and even then half the 35/month contracts arnt that good with iPhones. Secondly the software, to do anything via your pc you need to have itunes which personally I find a royal pain, and I'm not just talking for music, I mean pretty much everything, you cannot make the iPhone show up as a storage device and just drag and drop files. Also you cannot utilise Bluetooth properly as files cannot be transferred between phones, Bluetooth is there pretty much so you can use a headset.

From the apps front the iPhone has an insane selection of apps, but they all have to be approved by Apple so a lot of things cannot be done as if Apple don't like an app then it doesn't see the light of day. Basically what I'm trying to put across is that everything is very tightly restricted by Apple and the phones functionality suffers for there being control freaks.

Android on the other hand is a lot more flexible, for example pretty much all the phones come with tethering which allows you to use your phones internet connection on your pc which is handy if you travel a lot. Also, whilst Android has its own marketplace with a huge amount of apps, it also allows you to install apps that are made outside the marketplace, so you can go onto a website and download an app and install it yourself. Basically what you can install is a lot less restrictive so you can get some pretty sweet apps that Apple customers will never get.

The interface isn't quite as polished as with the iPhone but its just as functional, and if you get yourself an HTC then the sense UI is beautiful.

As for cost, Android phones come in all shapes and sizes therefore can be had cheaply or more expensive depending on budget. For example the new HTC Desire hd is probably one of the best of the range at the minute and is available for 35/month, but the slightly older HTC Desire is a for than capable handset but due to not being the flagship model any more and due to being a year old it can be had on contracts for about 25/month.

As you can tell, I'm biased towards Android but its down to personal preference. The iPhone isn't a bad bit of kit, its just overpriced and overrated for what its actually capable of.

Whilst not pimping Android, this whole thing was typed on an HTC Desire z, not a pc :-P

craptakular · 5 Dec 2010 at 01:58

opethdisciple said:
Maybe the 'orange san francisco' is for you as well?

Its the handset I'm considering getting.

My plan, is to buy the handset, unlock the hand set, flash the phone with Android 2.2, and get a sim from giffgaff, at £10 per month with free internet!

There is a whole thread dedicated to the orange san francisco here

It might be possible to get an Iphone 3, cheaper than the 4 however.

Looks good, could by a great "my first smartphone" to see if I actually use the features I think I need before i waste £300 on a handset and then get raped by a 24 month, £35 pm contract. Gonna read some of the thread.

craptakular · 5 Dec 2010 at 02:01

Stellios said:
Right, first of all the iPhone is a lovely bit of kit, the interface is nice and clean and easy to use but it has some cracking flaws.

First of all its pretty pricey, no matter what you do for a sensibly priced contract you'll need to buy the phone, and even then half the 35/month contracts arnt that good with iPhones. Secondly the software, to do anything via your pc you need to have itunes which personally I find a royal pain, and I'm not just talking for music, I mean pretty much everything, you cannot make the iPhone show up as a storage device and just drag and drop files. Also you cannot utilise Bluetooth properly as files cannot be transferred between phones, Bluetooth is there pretty much so you can use a headset.

From the apps front the iPhone has an insane selection of apps, but they all have to be approved by Apple so a lot of things cannot be done as if Apple don't like an app then it doesn't see the light of day. Basically what I'm trying to put across is that everything is very tightly restricted by Apple and the phones functionality suffers for there being control freaks.

Android on the other hand is a lot more flexible, for example pretty much all the phones come with tethering which allows you to use your phones internet connection on your pc which is handy if you travel a lot. Also, whilst Android has its own marketplace with a huge amount of apps, it also allows you to install apps that are made outside the marketplace, so you can go onto a website and download an app and install it yourself. Basically what you can install is a lot less restrictive so you can get some pretty sweet apps that Apple customers will never get.

The interface isn't quite as polished as with the iPhone but its just as functional, and if you get yourself an HTC then the sense UI is beautiful.

As for cost, Android phones come in all shapes and sizes therefore can be had cheaply or more expensive depending on budget. For example the new HTC Desire hd is probably one of the best of the range at the minute and is available for 35/month, but the slightly older HTC Desire is a for than capable handset but due to not being the flagship model any more and due to being a year old it can be had on contracts for about 25/month.

As you can tell, I'm biased towards Android but its down to personal preference. The iPhone isn't a bad bit of kit, its just overpriced and overrated for what its actually capable of.

Whilst not pimping Android, this whole thing was typed on an HTC Desire z, not a pc

hehe nice, so much wonga does oine need to stomp up for one of these HTC? Never heard of HTC b4 are they good? Always had Nokia's and my old brick since 2004 i think hehe

Morba · 5 Dec 2010 at 02:29

Stellios said:
Right, first of all the iPhone is a lovely bit of kit, the interface is nice and clean and easy to use but it has some cracking flaws.

First of all its pretty pricey, no matter what you do for a sensibly priced contract you'll need to buy the phone, and even then half the 35/month contracts arnt that good with iPhones. Secondly the software, to do anything via your pc you need to have itunes which personally I find a royal pain, and I'm not just talking for music, I mean pretty much everything, you cannot make the iPhone show up as a storage device and just drag and drop files. Also you cannot utilise Bluetooth properly as files cannot be transferred between phones, Bluetooth is there pretty much so you can use a headset.

From the apps front the iPhone has an insane selection of apps, but they all have to be approved by Apple so a lot of things cannot be done as if Apple don't like an app then it doesn't see the light of day. Basically what I'm trying to put across is that everything is very tightly restricted by Apple and the phones functionality suffers for there being control freaks.

Android on the other hand is a lot more flexible, for example pretty much all the phones come with tethering which allows you to use your phones internet connection on your pc which is handy if you travel a lot. Also, whilst Android has its own marketplace with a huge amount of apps, it also allows you to install apps that are made outside the marketplace, so you can go onto a website and download an app and install it yourself. Basically what you can install is a lot less restrictive so you can get some pretty sweet apps that Apple customers will never get.

The interface isn't quite as polished as with the iPhone but its just as functional, and if you get yourself an HTC then the sense UI is beautiful.

As for cost, Android phones come in all shapes and sizes therefore can be had cheaply or more expensive depending on budget. For example the new HTC Desire hd is probably one of the best of the range at the minute and is available for 35/month, but the slightly older HTC Desire is a for than capable handset but due to not being the flagship model any more and due to being a year old it can be had on contracts for about 25/month.

As you can tell, I'm biased towards Android but its down to personal preference. The iPhone isn't a bad bit of kit, its just overpriced and overrated for what its actually capable of.

Whilst not pimping Android, this whole thing was typed on an HTC Desire z, not a pc

Being pricey isnt a flaw.

Have you never heard of jailbreaking the iphone? its not completely restricted and there is a hell of a lot that you can do when jailbroken.
Just like you need to 'root' the android phones to get a lot more functionality.

You can install plenty of apps outside of itunes/app store and you can mod the phone also.

asim18 · 5 Dec 2010 at 02:39

Oxy said:
Looks good, could by a great "my first smartphone" to see if I actually use the features I think I need before i waste £300 on a handset and then get raped by a 24 month, £35 pm contract. Gonna read some of the thread.

That's a very sensible idea. Better than dishing out £500~ on a phone which you're not even sure has a camera or not

craptakular · 5 Dec 2010 at 02:47

asim18 said:
That's a very sensible idea. Better than dishing out £500~ on a phone which you're not even sure has a camera or not

Quite possibly hehe...

I just read that this San Fransico only has 600mhz cpu, does this cripple the GUI?

I wont be gaming on it, I only really want, internet - msn, e-mail, maybe post on facebook once or twice...

So I assume it's easy to root and then update to 2.2 Android? Does this remove all the orange crap from the phone? I could then use my current o2 py monthly sim?

Stellios · 5 Dec 2010 at 02:50

Oxy said:
hehe nice, so much wonga does oine need to stomp up for one of these HTC? Never heard of HTC b4 are they good? Always had Nokia's and my old brick since 2004 i think hehe

Well here's a video that shows off a few off the desires capabilities quite well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSh-OH_0Lew

The one to go for is defiantly the HTC Desire, it can be had free on contracts of about 25/month and as shown above is more than capable of keeping up with the iPhone and the majority of the good games etc on the iPhone are now available on Android. The only thing I'd say is that you'd probably need to buy a memory card but a 16gb card can be had for around 15 quid.

Until a few years back I'd never heard of HTC either, but I've had 3 devices off them now in the last 4 years and they have been nothing short of brilliant.

Morba said:
Being pricey isnt a flaw.

Have you never heard of jailbreaking the iphone? its not completely restricted and there is a hell of a lot that you can do when jailbroken.
Just like you need to 'root' the android phones to get a lot more functionality.

You can install plenty of apps outside of itunes/app store and you can mod the phone also.

Yes you can do it by jailbreaking, but I'm comparing out of the box functionality, everything I've listed doesn't require root whereas the iPhone requires a jailbreak. I never said its expensive, I said its expensive for the functionality it offers. Features wise something like an orange san Francisco run rings around the iPhones out the box capabilities for a fraction of the price.

V4NT0M · 5 Dec 2010 at 02:52

I don't know why people always say android isn't as polished as ios, that blue and white scheme is so old hat

not to mention the need for buttons onscreen for almost every app due to lack of buttons.

Honestly if price was not an issue I would say either is fine for your first smartphone, you won't be left wanting either way, but if you're not wanting to maybe spend as much as some of those iPhone contracts there are a plethora of android phones out there to suit you...

Windows phone 7 is quite snappy and most definitely different to either ios or android but I think it needs a little more work to compete properly with either.

craptakular · 5 Dec 2010 at 02:54

so do i get a £25 a month contract or do I go for a San Francisco, unlock it, root it, then shove a sim in with good internet allowance for around £15 a month?

I suppose the HTC Desire could be the better deal if it's free, is it a lot more responsive than the San Francisco?

I'm totally new to these fancy phones and feel overwhelmed atm hehe

Stellios · 5 Dec 2010 at 03:04

It depends on what you want to do really. The san Francisco is a stonking buy and is defiantly the best way to get into the smartphone world on a budget but it lacks the sleek look that the sense UI that HTC offers. Either way your getting the same operating system, its just a different visual experience really.

As for performance, obviously the san Francisco is going to be a bit slower but if you just want it for e-mail etc then you shouldn't notice a huge difference, its if you start playing games you'll see the difference but even then the san Francisco is more than capable as long as your not planning on playing something like assassins creed which are proper 3d games.

manic111 · 5 Dec 2010 at 06:54

Can you get into a shop and have a play with both?

Using the iPhone is simple. For the most part, it does "just work". The apps are all Apple-verified, meaning that they run smoothly on the phone, and the app store is well laid out. You will have experienced the layout with your friend's phone, but in short you have a number of screens with buttons on them for your apps. Click the button for the app you want to use, and you enter the app.

Using Android is also simple. However, Android offers you widgets. You get a number of homescreens (a bit like your computer desktop), each of which you can put widgets on, for a variety of things. Do you use your calendar a lot? Put it on your homescreen, meaning that you can view it immediately without having to enter the calendar app. You can do the same with clocks, weather, Facebook, Twitter, emails, texts, train times, and most other things. For me, it is this functionality - being able to see all of your key data immediately, without having to enter apps, which sells Android to me.

There are certain downsides to Android. The iPhone is unlikely to sugger any slowdown, whereas, if you have a lot of apps open on an Android it will slow performance. It is simple to rectify this though, by entering your task manager and closing a few. I have only used an HTC Hero, which is now getting on a bit so does, I assume, suffer slowdown much worse than the Desire, for example.

Finally, regarding your question about HTC - yes, they're very reputable, and make excellent products. They have been around for a long time, but have only really come into the public eye with Android. Just look at reviews for their Android phones to see that thye are far from a micky mouse company. Personally, I can't see myself using anything other than an HTC for my next phone.

Scrutinize · 5 Dec 2010 at 08:05

Oxy said:
so do i get a £25 a month contract or do I go for a San Francisco, unlock it, root it, then shove a sim in with good internet allowance for around £15 a month?

I suppose the HTC Desire could be the better deal if it's free, is it a lot more responsive than the San Francisco?

I'm totally new to these fancy phones and feel overwhelmed atm hehe

I got a san Francisco as my fist venture into modern smart phone tech. Last effort was a Nokia n 70. Best thing I ever did. Only down side is 1day battery life or less with gaming.

I use it with sim only. The desire is better but only if you will use the features and better hardware. I suggest getting a san Francisco on sim only. If you like it and android you have the option of upgrading to a better phone on a longer contract later later.

sarge78 · 5 Dec 2010 at 08:39

If you want more poke then try these Androids at a shop (running fast 45nm ARM A8 based chips)

Motorola defy (£260 sim free or free on a 24 month £15 contract) Very similar to the iPhone 4 and slightly better than the the standard desire.
Samsung galaxy S (£320 payg, or look for redemption deals from mobiles.co.uk etc)
Desire HD - The latest 4.3" monster from HTC (still very new but you can get it free on a £25pm contract)

It's also worth noting the next gen phones will start appearing early next year (fast, energy efficient duel core A9s, higher res etc.) So the orange SF should be a good stopgap until then

Jabbs · 5 Dec 2010 at 10:17

Had lots of Androids from Desire, Galaxy S, Desire HD also had Iphone 4 and now currently on a Omnia 7 and this is my personal pick of the bunch, fast and slick great OP system for a phone and a big update coming in January for it.

The app market lacks atm but that will only pick up in time and the money Microsoft are throwing at developers I wouldn't be surprised if they surpass Apple and Android.

Everyone goes on about Android and what you can do but I only ever ran new roms to make everything on the phone work as it should as they just never do out of the box there is always something, I can't fault the Iphone 4 that was a mint phone and I never had issues with the dropped calls but it comes with a premium as we all know apple are rip off merchants.

I think the Omnia 7 is fantastic lovely Super AMOLED screen which looks sweet fast and smooth op system on it which has never slowed or got laggy for me, the web browser is fast and smooth, flash is coming to it but it never bothered me anyway, when I had it on Android phones it just made the browsing experience slower and laggy moving about I used to disable it, I pray Microsoft does a better job on it.

If you want to go Android I would skip the Desire HD it has a poor poor speaker in it very tinny and not very loud, battery life is terribleI can get 2 days from my current phone, was lucky to make 1 day on the DHD mainly due to it only having a 1230mah battery where as the Omnia 7/Galaxy S have 1500, maybe pick up a second hand Desire or Galaxy S if you got the cash, I would wait for the new phones to come on Android if this is your preferred plan.

I don't care what Android phone comes out in the next 6 months + as I don't think I would get rid of this phone it has a much nicer interface to use, texting on this is superior to any android I have had and would say its better than I4, i rarely make mistakes and its so good its hard to explain but people on Win 7 phones will know what I mean.