Iphone or Samsung Galaxy 2

[C4B]

At least he gave reasons for his opinion

As opposed to providing ridiculous uneducated drivel.....

[Smitty]

The cover goes straight across from the thicker parts rather than thinning down doesn't it, so the maximum thickness of the phone doesn't increase? I looked into it briefly a while ago but it was more of a quick glance.

yeah..the phone actually gets no thicker
the scalloped out sunken area on the back gets 'filled in'
by the new battery..hence the new cover as well

[white lie]

I'm having reception issues with my SGN and Telstra, which seems to be a common problem. Random drop outs, goes from full bars to nothing at the drop of a hat, put my HTC Desire right next to it and its fine.
Only fix seems to be flashing a new radio on to it... Didn't particularly want to root my 1 week old phone but its useless to me otherwise!

[Evman]

As opposed to providing ridiculous uneducated drivel.....

Yes. How's your small heavy phone going? My big light phone is going great. Happy to educate you on things like that.

[mrtockley]

I love how this thread has turned from iPhone vs Model X into iPhone vs the absolute latest Android flavored phone. Of course Apple can't compete with over 10 companies that between themselves are continually bringing out new hardware. The biggest screen or fastest CPU doesn't sway me it's the OS.

[Evman]

Would you prefer a new thread started every single time a new Android based phone comes out? Good one. The question of the iPhone or GS2 has been done and dusted a thousand times over. It makes sense to continue the discussion regarding other phones in this thread.

You are right though. Apple can't compete with companies continually bringing out new technology. Within months, sometimes weeks, of Apple releasing the latest and greatest iPhone there has been and will be a competitors phone released that one ups it. By the time the replacement iPhone comes out there will be a dozen or more phones that have better hardware. This is why the competition is growing ever more popular. Choice wins out.

[Brendan]

I'm still pretty happy with my SG2 - I don't get to use it much as I don't use it when I'm overseas at work, have a Samsung Dual sim for there (and don't want it stolen), but it is good when I'm home, still discovering more things I can do with the phone.

The Kies Air is cool, no cable, just browse the phone to transfer files etc when it's hooked up to my wireless network.

First time I went out with my friends who are mostly iPhonofiles they were very impressed with the weight compared to their mostly iPhone 3s, liked the screen too.

I need to change my plan from my cheapo Vodafone $19 one so I get more than 50mb data so can use it more as it is intended.

[mrtockley]

Would you prefer a new thread started every single time a new Android based phone comes out? Good one. The question of the iPhone or GS2 has been done and dusted a thousand times over. It makes sense to continue the discussion regarding other phones in this thread.

You are right though. Apple can't compete with companies continually bringing out new technology. Within months, sometimes weeks, of Apple releasing the latest and greatest iPhone there has been and will be a competitors phone released that one ups it. By the time the replacement iPhone comes out there will be a dozen or more phones that have better hardware. This is why the competition is growing ever more popular. Choice wins out.

Don't get carried away, I think Apple are competing just fine - I was talking about the thread. It can be kept alive for years every time a new Android model is released. Competition is good though.

[Vulture]

OK, here are some impressions of the Galaxy Nexus after a day or two:

It's by far the best Android phone that I have used and ICS is a big improvment over previous versions of Android.

Pros:

• Multi-tasking popup menu is fantastic, much better implimented than the iPhone's clumsy double-click of the home button.
• Nice big, HD screen
• Nice and light body, curved glass, minimal increase in size over the SGS2
• Voice quality is very good and earspeaker volume is excellent (compared with the speaker volume which is appallingly quiet)
• Music output quality from the headphone jack is almost equal to the iPhone (the Sensation XL was disappointing for a phone marketed as top music player)
• The OS has been simplified and is more user friendly for the novice; it is much closer to iOS now and is approaching it in terms of user friendliness and polish

Cons:

• Camera is not remotely close to the quality of the iPhone4S's (especially in lower light conditions). The iPhone4s camera is simply superb for a phone.
• Speaker volume is far too soft, and I mean FAR too soft compared with my iPhone. This has been complained about on various forums. Too easy to miss calls and SMSs
• Notificaton LED has almost no customisation
• The auto screen brightness setting is obviously being very, very conservative in keeping the brightness very low - even in bright conditions. To me this is 'cheating' to increase battery life.
• The battery/SIM cover feels very flimsy, I am not confident that it will last a long time for people taking SIMs or batteries in and out (like me)
• No unified inbox is a serious oversight on a new version of Android, this is so 2007!
• Icons, animations not as slick or smooth as iPhone (still!), including picture zooming etc.
• I've had native apps crash more than on the iPhone (messaging mostly)
• Autocorrect is ok but not as intelligent as the iPhone's (it's handling of words that accidentally run into each other is very poor for example).
• Gallery etc app is still confusing and all over the place - I mean these guys have had the iPhone around to copy for ages and they still persist with unintuitive menu and usage options.

Overall it is pretty good and ICS is a real alternative to iOS but they are still not quite there yet...

[Richie217]

Hmmm food for thought. Plan expires on the 23rd and the ball & chains has just expired now so I'll be moving from Vodafail (never again) to Telstra. Missus is wanting a 4S and I'm thinking of getting a Nexus.

[stupotarnie]

A 29 dollar phone from Dick Smith.....Its perfect. it rings, and I can ring out!!!!

[seedyrom]

I got to play with an iPhone4s, SG2 and NGS today.

First time i've had my hands on all 3 at the same time.
My god the GS2 and NGS are simply huge. I instantly thought "well that confirms my suspicions, they are too big". Then when holding the iPhone4s it felt like a tiny toy, and not big enough.
The NGS felt like it towered over the SG2, but I know its not "that" much bigger, and that its the screen and buttons (or lack of) which make it seem that way, but yeah, from a simply aesthetic point of view, it was pretty intimidating.
I kept looking back at the iPhone, and it felt like its design was getting a little long in the tooth. I know good design is timeless, and apple do have a habit of running with a particular look for a long time, but there was just something stunning about the NGS. Even the SG2 has a certain i-don't-know-what about it.
But, I dont buy a phone to look at, it was the driving of it which I was interested in.
I was actually a little disappointed in the time for the iPhone 4s to be ready to start typing a message after hitting the button. Yes, it was under a second, but when I need to summon bitches, I want to do it right away. Instantaneous styles. The NGS and SG2 were quicker in that regard.
However, once it came to browsing photos, the iPhone forced the other two phones to lie in the gutter and kiss the kerb.
That intuitive way the iPhone manages photos shines through. There was just a slight delay with the NGS. Again, not big, it wasn't laggy as such ... just when you want to swipeswipeswipeswipe past a million pictures to get to where you want, I thought the iPhone handled that better.

I've gotta say though, I was expecting icecream sandwich to be a non event, and more of a patch update.
It really was a huge improvement for novice users, and is that maturing of the operating system as they realise that mass market phones need to appeal to the mass market.
But even that made me think of back to iOS and how they have had such a consistently good product for such a long time. Personally, I would still be happy with iOS 4 on the phones. I've found iOS5 much slower on the iPad, and whilst I really like cloud back up, automatic downloading of apps to all your iOS devices and a few other features, I miss the speed of iOS4.

I know you cant have your cake and eat it too, but I dont like the bloat that iOS is starting to carry. I do however think it is great how apple are supporting their old devices where possible, and letting the newer operating systems be applied to their older handsets where they can. It is very unlike apple.

The other thing that threw me was the weight of the SG2 and NGS. Friggen featherweights, I couldn't believe how light they are. Its cool and a little concerning at the same time. It doesn't feel natural to have such a complicated, expensive, amazingly intelligent piece of equipment weigh so little.


So anyway, after having all 3 in my hands today, am I ready to make a decision?
Well I might wait till after Christmas, just to see what the market does (most likely nothing), but I will probably go the iPhone.
Yes, I think it is a little dated, yes I think it is small ... but that size is also what is making the decision for me. As said previously, I have the tablet for house browsing. If I didnt have the iPad, it would be a no brainer. NGS fo' shizzle. (Actually, theres a cracking deal on the SG2 with Telstra at the moment - but it would definitely be one Android device or the other).

Icecream Sandwich on this is good value

[mrtockley]

Good informative reviews from Vulture and Seedy. As they stated, no phone is perfect. I'll be interested to check out ICS when I run into someone that has a phone running it. Unfortunately 99% of the people (sheep) I know have iPhones and the ones that do have Android phones are older builds..

[white lie]

Good info there Seedy.
I must say I was much the same when the missus got her Evo 3D. I thought it was massive compared to my Desire but now going from the SGN (not NGS ) it makes the Desire look tiny - which is reasonably close in size to the iPhones.

The other thing is the weight. I think Ev was saying before that the SGN is heavier than the i4, it's not. It's around 5g lighter @ 135g which feels like nothing for such a large device.

Everything seems easier on the bigger screen, especially the keyboard - and I don't have large fingers. I must say my battery life has improved 10 fold since I first started using it. Gone from 1/2 day cycles to easily over a day now, would probably be a day and a half if I didn't charge it every night.

[Evman]

Cons:

• Camera is not remotely close to the quality of the iPhone4S's (especially in lower light conditions). The iPhone4s camera is simply superb for a phone.

• The camera wasn't a major priority for the SGN, as can be deducted by the fact that it's only 5mp when 8mp is readily available and fast becoming the norm. You would have been better off with the GS2 if the camera was a critical factor.
  
  

• Speaker volume is far too soft, and I mean FAR too soft compared with my iPhone. This has been complained about on various forums. Too easy to miss calls and SMSs