As an Android fan, the UI overlays are my biggest gripe. My phone, the Droid, runs stock Android, but it seems like it and the Nexus One will be the last phones to be free of OEM cluttering. Almost every review you read of every modern Android phone complains that they'd be better off going with vanilla Android. I don't really understand the need to add in their own UIs, especially if their hardware is better than the competition.
Also, as far as the hardware issues with the iPhone 4, its probably only going to be a problem in the US, because of AT&T's halfassed coverage.
I'm hardly the one to defend Apple, in an Android thread, no less, but I'll throw in my piece. All the independent research seems to show that holding the iPhone 4 "wrong" leads to around a 24 dB signal loss. So if you only have 20-25 dB of signal, like possibly in the above video guy's house, you're going to lose all your bars, and potentially lose connection. If you have 100+ dB like people do when they have good service (ie, hardly anywhere in America) you won't even notice it. All I was saying is that this kind of thing should be more common in the land of AT&T.
All that said, Android is better for about 50 reasons, so yay for Galaxy S.
I got mine this weekend. I'm not techie enough to compare it with the other phones on the market, but here are my initial thoughts
- Love the screen. I compared the Vibrant and the iPhone 4 screen to screen, and found the Samsung more clear for text and video. However, it's probably more personal preference as they are really close.
- It bugs me a little where the power button is (upper right side) and how the earphone and charger plugin is at the top. However, both are personal preference
- people seem to have a problem with battery life, but it hasn't been a problem for me. I think it depends on the user. I charge mine every night
- no flash on the camera. The camera is great in natural light and in bright environment, but the quality does decline in darker or less than ideal lighting conditions
Ask or pm me with any questions. I'm still getting use to it, but it's been great so far
If so the Xbox 360 doesn't have any hardware issues either.
I give personal accounts more weight than sales. I'm going off of what my friends that have them say. Not a single one has said they've even noticed it. True, a minuscule sample size, but of my equally small sample size of 360 owner friends, not a one is still using his original unit.
This isn't an iPhone thread, so let's take this to the iPhone 4 thread if you'd like to keep debating.
Maybe it's in the Android thread, but there was a complaint about a GPS bug, that I noticed was referenced in the Engadget review of the Samsung Epic (Galaxy S variant) that indicated that you have to enable GPS from settings.
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Who is in charge of this product and why haven't they been fired yet?
I am very tempted by this Android phone. I have been playing with it everytime I walk by the bell store.
I really like the electronic keyboard implementation. Based on playing with a few different versions it seems to fit how I type the best plus the Swipe typing is pretty sweet.
As an Android fan, the UI overlays are my biggest gripe. My phone, the Droid, runs stock Android, but it seems like it and the Nexus One will be the last phones to be free of OEM cluttering. Almost every review you read of every modern Android phone complains that they'd be better off going with vanilla Android. I don't really understand the need to add in their own UIs, especially if their hardware is better than the competition.
Also, as far as the hardware issues with the iPhone 4, its probably only going to be a problem in the US, because of AT&T's halfassed coverage.
I hear a lot of people say that, but I have no issues with HTC sense on the incredible, I think it adds some (if limited) value. The only complaint is if it is what is slowing down us receiving froyo.
I'm really leaning towards this phone now. I played with it at the Bell store in TD Square and it was pretty nice. The live wallpaper looks really cool. I talked to the Rogers guy at his little stand in Gulf Canada Square and he said he would have more information about the availability of the phone on Rogers today as they are having a managers meeting this morning.
My only concern now is the music player issue that one poster in another thread touched on. He/she said that they returned it because their PC couldn't see the device when connected. For those that have one can you comment on the music player? This feature is very important to me and I would rather wait for the iPhone 4 if the Samsung has poor music functionality. Also, is there way to be able to manage the music on the phone via iTunes?
I'm really leaning towards this phone now. I played with it at the Bell store in TD Square and it was pretty nice. The live wallpaper looks really cool. I talked to the Rogers guy at his little stand in Gulf Canada Square and he said he would have more information about the availability of the phone on Rogers today as they are having a managers meeting this morning.
My only concern now is the music player issue that one poster in another thread touched on. He/she said that they returned it because their PC couldn't see the device when connected. For those that have one can you comment on the music player? This feature is very important to me and I would rather wait for the iPhone 4 if the Samsung has poor music functionality. Also, is there way to be able to manage the music on the phone via iTunes?
I haven't seen any professional review refering to issues with the music player not connecting. For me leaving Itunes in the dust is a big reason to go Android. I hate that program.
I haven't seen any professional review refering to issues with the music player not connecting. For me leaving Itunes in the dust is a big reason to go Android. I hate that program.
Yeah, it seems lots of people hate that program. I have an iMac so maybe I'm partial to Apple and iTunes but I don't seem to have any issue with it. To be honest I don't know what other music management tool I could use on the Mac.
I'm really leaning towards this phone now. I played with it at the Bell store in TD Square and it was pretty nice. The live wallpaper looks really cool. I talked to the Rogers guy at his little stand in Gulf Canada Square and he said he would have more information about the availability of the phone on Rogers today as they are having a managers meeting this morning.
My only concern now is the music player issue that one poster in another thread touched on. He/she said that they returned it because their PC couldn't see the device when connected. For those that have one can you comment on the music player? This feature is very important to me and I would rather wait for the iPhone 4 if the Samsung has poor music functionality. Also, is there way to be able to manage the music on the phone via iTunes?
Quote:
Originally Posted by GGG
I haven't seen any professional review refering to issues with the music player not connecting. For me leaving Itunes in the dust is a big reason to go Android. I hate that program.
The issue is that some people are having issues connecting the phone to their comp using USB. This has more to do with Samsungs UI than a technical issue. It is just not apparent that you have to enable the connection once you plug in the usb. Plug it in, pull up the notification that you have connected to the usb and allow the phone to connect with the computer. That way you will see the familiar autoplay pop up on your comp. Samsung also has a itunes like program you can put on your computer (Samsung Kies) that makes it easier to transfer files over. You can set the phone to promp you to choose how to connect the phone to the device (mass media, Kies, network connection/tetering, and hardware (samsung tvs)).
Anyways you should be fine to sync your music.
I posted on the android thread, but there are issues with the gps right now on this phone
The issue is that some people are having issues connecting the phone to their comp using USB. This has more to do with Samsungs UI than a technical issue. It is just not apparent that you have to enable the connection once you plug in the usb. Plug it in, pull up the notification that you have connected to the usb and allow the phone to connect with the computer. That way you will see the familiar autoplay pop up on your comp. Samsung also has a itunes like program you can put on your computer (Samsung Kies) that makes it easier to transfer files over. You can set the phone to promp you to choose how to connect the phone to the device (mass media, Kies, network connection/tetering, and hardware (samsung tvs)).
Anyways you should be fine to sync your music.
I posted on the android thread, but there are issues with the gps right now on this phone
That's a bummer, gps issues would really cripple an Android phone. GPS is what makes most android apps useful. Golf GPS, Running GPS, navigation, search by location, weather by location, etc. are all the reasons I love my Android phone.
That's a bummer, gps issues would really cripple an Android phone. GPS is what makes most android apps useful. Golf GPS, Running GPS, navigation, search by location, weather by location, etc. are all the reasons I love my Android phone.
From what I've read the GPS issue should be fixed in September. I believe that's also the same time that Android 2.2 will be released for this phone. Not sure if those are two separate things or one in the same.
A guy I work with just bought one. Not bad but to me it feels a little light and plasticy. Didn't like the UI all that much either. Not my bag but can see why it would appeal to others. Android 2.1 sure has some nice features though.
i just picked up the phone from Bell, got it unlocked and am running on fido. I used to be an iPhone user, and let me say this phone, is a very worthy contender when it comes to beating the iphone.
the biggest win for me is not having to convert any of my divx movies, i just copy them over to the phone and they play without a hitch. With the iphone I was spending hours converting movies so that I could have them on the phone for viewing.
And the widgets that you can get so you don't have to necessarily open up different apps to get information. With my iPhone I had to jailbreak it (which is a no no according to crapple) in order to be able to customize my lockscreen to show me relevant information.
The one thing i've noticed is that my push mail seems to come through quicker on my iPhone, sometimes by more than 30 seconds (i know it's not a big deal, but that's one quirk about the S that I don't like). I also don't like the predictive text that the S has, it might just take some getting used to but when I type Im on my iphone it's intuitive enough to realize I'm trying to type I'm and it adds the apostrophe. On the S, it will actually pick the word important rather than type I'm which is a minor annoyance.
Oh one more thing to add, I love the fact that I can watch the HD version of youtube videos on the S over 3G. The iPhone on the other hand is nerf'd and you don't even get the option to choose the HD version. My thoughts, it's MY data plan, I should be allowed to watch HD if I feel like it.
A guy I work with just bought one. Not bad but to me it feels a little light and plasticy. Didn't like the UI all that much either. Not my bag but can see why it would appeal to others. Android 2.1 sure has some nice features though.
That was my reaction to the Galaxy S as well. It's really light so it doesn't feel like an expensive device.
We just got a couple of iPhone 4s in the office and after seeing the Galaxy S display yesterday and the Retina display today I can honestly say that they both look very similar. Of course, the iPhone4 has the better display but difference between them didn't seem that big.
