Droid or Iphone
 

Work is getting us new phones and we have a choice. It will be used for all of the usual stuff...email, text, web, calendar etc.

What do you like / dislike and why?

Best Buy and CNET.com
 

IMO: Check out your local Best Buy to compare the hardware and the provider plan that you will be required to use for either format.
• Here at our local Best Buy(s), they can update your current plan and provide instant rebates for phones, etc. instead of the old snail mail "rebate" for ALL.
• Ask for input from the sales techs who use a device the same way you intend to.
• Ask what device they use...and if one is "sold" only on IPhone or Droid seek another salesperson who uses the other to get well rounded options and opinions.

Then again, for another source, there is always http://cnet.com for updated offers and reviews

I wouldn't buy a phone today that wasn't 4G. That eliminates the iPhone.

iPhone without a doubt. Especially if you're not paying. It's all about the software....

I just came from a 4-5 year old flip phone into an iPhone 4s.
I like it.

Researching this stuff myself lately. Do you mean specifically a Motorola 'Droid' or do you mean an 'Android' phone?

This is over a year old but here is a head to head. http://www.pcworld.com/article/19984...omparison.html

One thing I recently picked up on is that not all Android phones have visual voice mail which is something I really got used to with the iphone. There is no way I want to go back to listening to prompts and time stamps. The Samsung Vivid is the only android phone I have found that is capable of visual voice mail but I'm still looking.

Then there is the 4G technology vs the 4G marketing and the different carriers and it gets more complicated. Saving the tech jargon, I think the "LTE" is the newest tech. Not all 4G phones are "LTE".

I did demos of the iPhone a few times and found that my fingers are too big for the keypad, I couldn't type accurately at all on this device!

I went with the original motorola droid with the slide out keyboard and I love it--I have had it for two years now and it's a great smartphone.

So, I suggest trying 'em out before you make a decision

Honestly? They're both great and they both suck, just in different ways.

The truth is that even if you try to do your homework and go try them both out, you're not really going to find out what you like and don't like until you spend time using one of them day in and day out. I'm more familiar with Android because that's what I have. I like the "open-ness" of the apps and the relative freedom from Apple's "we're going to tell you what you like and don't like" approach to things. For example, if you don't like the email client that comes with the phone, there are tens if not hundreds of others out there in 'the market' for you to choose from and try, some free, some trial, some pay.
However, there are some functions that are just better on the iPhone.

It mostly depends on what features are important to you.

Bear

I like my droid 2 It has voice activated gps i just say the address and it automatically sets my route. I have not had any problems with it. It has the keypad to text which the iphone dont have. I had a hard time making a phone call wih the iphone cause it didnt have the keypad

Every droid has visual voice mail capability - Download the app "Google Voice". Rather than voicemail going to your phone, it goes to Google's voicemail box. You get vis. voice on your phone + it can send you an email + you can check your messages on voice.google.com .

Thanks. I did some searching after reading your post and now I see... 'there's an app for that' LOL. The reviews are not so hot though. Do you use it?

I wonder why the person at the ATT store said only the Galaxy S2 has VV and, they said there is NO charge. Somehow it is integrated but it needs to be set up in the ATT account. I'll have to ask more about it.

My Droid Charge goes thru the battery quickly and drops calls intermittantly. Not sure if that the phone itself or Verizon. Otherwise it is great.
My wife has an iphone4 and loves it. Tough for a big fingered guy to use with the smaller screen. Both have good points. The droid is pretty large in size compared to the iphone if that is an issue.

I've used Google Voice for a long time. Google voice is great, not only can you make it your default voice mailbox, they also give you a real phone number that you can give to people to call instead of your cell number. You set it up to fwd to your cell. It's great for buying/selling on craigs where you might get some crazy people you need to block.

I've never had a problem with Google Voice, though the speech to text part is usually way off (but I'd rather use the "click play" feature and listen to the message, rewind whenever)

It's actually rated pretty high.... https://market.android.com/details?i...glevoice&hl=en

Yeah, thats where I read the reviews. What about the complaints that it basically hijacks your phone and you cant choose between your number and the GV number? Soemthing about a recent update. Oh, and it uses minutes for all your calls even if you have unlimited mobile to mobile. These are just complaints I've read, I really dont know how it works.

iphone is my preference. As mentioned, the droid does have excellent speech recognition, which is pretty cool. I'm not sure how useful it is as I can type no problem.. I work in technology and see NO need for 4G. The only reason for this is if you are watching lots of videos/movies. My iphone 4 (3G) on verizon is plenty fast enough and I"m a power user...

android based phones have a greater selection of devices to choose from from many different manufacturers, are a bit more customizable, generally have bigger and better screens, most often shorter battery life between charges, and no proprietary connections (chargers for car or home, or TV connections). You also don't need something like iTunes for apps, music, or movies, you can get them from many sources. If you like to tinker, you can load custom roms, root the device to remove unwanted bloatware, or add features. Many also have expandable memory.

Iphones come in different memory sizes, but otherwise,all look the same and work the same. Having one place like iTunes to get music, movies, and apps is nice, as well as better battery life. They do work very well at everything they do. You can jailbreak the iPhone to do what a stock android phone can do. If you have other apple devices, they all work perfect together.

BOTH Droid based and I based require an email set up, somewhere, somehow, with droid its google, who wants your HOME phone number and of course your home email to link it to the phone ( they say in case you loose the phone LMAO)
SO both invite a huge loss of privacy. HTC 4G is big and nice, use a Stylus with it, and BEAT it when it tries to send words in text that IT wants instead of what YOU type

This is exactly my thoughts. iPhone is outdated technology in terms of mobile internet, which is typically the reason for getting a smart phone.

Though what android device are they planning on getting you? All iphones are the same so you know what you're getting, but not all android phones are good. You need to pick one with solid hardware. My HTC Thunderbolt has been great since April and kicks the iphone's butt in pretty much everything a smart phone is supposed to do. The 4g is fantastic.

My preference is the iPhone. If you want to get creative with it you could jailbreak it, but you will likely not need to consider it. Solid hardware, fantastic speed/performance, great apps.

I'm using the Droid X2. Great phone. You can't pay me to use an Apple product.
I'm an IT guy and, we use the iphones at work also. A few of the dept heads that are currently using the iphones are thinking about switching to the droid.

FWIW - joe

I've got a Droid, and am often unhappy with it - my deal will be up summer 2012 & I will likely get the I-5 if it's out by then.

I have a Droid Incredible and I love it, it's fast, works really well. My wife has a Samsung Fascinate that also uses Android but hers is slow(mostly because of the bloatware Verizon puts on it). Look at the reviews for whatever phone you like. My next one will probably be another Droid.

This is the classic Mac vs PC argument. Nothing more, nothing less. Macs are less "customizable" and many want to "mess with their PC". If that is your liking, go with any one of the many flavors of Android. App market is not as mature. Performance across phones for various makers/flavors of Android and carriers differ.

Summary

iPhone

• Apple is consistent in hardware/software/performance - known quantity
• All works as designed
• Frequent updates
• Unmatched app choices
• Design/feature leader
• Superior voice recognition
• Slightly smaller form factor (plus or minus depending on user)
• higher initial cost

Android

• More versions, different form factors
• More phone choices
• Less apps
• More frequent updates
• Less homogeneity in performance/features
• Lower cost

If you like messing with your phone or upgrading often or if you need a different size or keyboard, Android. If you want something that just works, has superior customer service and app choices and value, Apple iPhone.

Can't beat that post. Totally sums it up. I don't like iTunes, but I love my 2nd gen iPod Touch. I'd really like to walk away from Apple's iTunes when I upgrade to a smartphone. And I am cleary a "PC" person. But...

If someone held a gun to my head this instant and said, "BUY A SMARTPHONE NOW OR NEVER!" I'd go get an iPhone. There's not enough time in the day to review all the Android phones. And a new one comes out ever other day!!! The older I get, the more simple I want things. Getting an iPhone would be like buying a hi-po car that doesn't dare beg you to mod it. Just turn the key and drive. Never pop the hood. An right Android will be like getting a car I want to mod to make is faster. LOL

I'm not so sure on the more apps for iphone note. I think the apple slogan "there's an app for that" applies more to android these days. I can find a free app to do pretty much anything I need, where some ios users I know would have to buy it. Yes I know the apps are cheap, but after awhile it could add up. Especially for something you only need once or twice.

If you spend similar money to an apple product, you get a better product. I see it all the time when people get entry level stuff for minimal cost then complain it isn't as good as an Apple product which costs 3x more.

Until the iphone has a 4G offering, it is a second class phone.

Buying a new phone today (3 weeks from 2012) with 2010 technology doesn't make sense. Especially when that phone is more expensive then the 2011/12 technology phones on the market today.

I havent had an iPhone.....bit evrryone I know who has had Android and iPhone both have prefered the Android. In fact a friend of mine got a new iPhone about 3 weeks ago and this week she switched back to her old Android phone.

I hope I don't get to the point that selecting a phone starts with how fast it downloads "Fargo".

Thanks for all the feedback. never been an apple guy and don't think I want to start now. I'm looking hard at the new Razr (we are with Verizon). Its light and has a huge screen which will help with my old eyes. Battery life is an issue, but I'll just keep a spare battery with me (always had a spare battery for my Bberry). How is the music quality with these things?

The razr is a beast of a phone. One thing to note is, the battery is non removable on it so no carrying a spare. How much do you use your phone though? I can get more than a full day on my HTC, which is not known for its battery life. I text and surf a ton and have no issues. You should be fine on battery life unless you are talking/texting/surfing literally every few minutes. Even an iphone couldn't do that on a single charge in a day.

Battery boosters...

http://www.cellboost.com/product_smartphones.htm

If you get the I[hone, try your best to get one with as much capacity as possible. My work first gave us Iphones with 8 gigs storage. I quickly filled that up with music. We were upgraded the the new (at the time) Iphone 4's and I asked for a got a 16 gig Iphone. It's almost full of music now also. If we get to upgrade again, I am going to beg for a 32 or even 64 gig Iphone. I like 'em. Get the right car stereo and you can bring along your entire music collection to play in the car with them. I suppose you can do that with Droids or other phones also, but I like the look, feel, and convenience that comes with the Iphone. They take great pics also. Email and Internet are just fine for me too. Honestly, I hardly ever use it as a phone.

Yikes....I didn' realize that. I listen to Pandora a lot at airports etc which eats the battery. "user non removeable" battery I can see, but I need to find out if it can be replaced when it will no longer hold a charge.

We've been on Verizon with Motorola Droid phones for quite a while, and have been quite happy.

There is a lot of proprietary software bundled on them that eats battery life. Lots of other phones, too -and most of it you probably aren't using. The way around it is to 'jailbreak' or 'root' your phone and just eliminate stuff you aren't using. I should probably do this, but haven't yet.

The other alternative, and what we do, it simply go into 'settings'/running apps and turn them all off each morning after taking it off the charger. Takes about 30 seconds, and you'll know it by lunch time of you forget, lol. Otherwise, the battery can easily go all day/night.

Getting the battery replaced when it wears down in a couple years will be no problem. Just like the iphones with their built in ones.

Check where you are buying it on the insurance. No need to start a best buy hater debate, but if you have a phone with a built in battery and have their insurance on a phone bought through the store, they will get you a fully refurbed phone with good battery in 3 business days. If you have a phone with removable battery, they provide one time battery replacement and ship it right to your house.


I too at first thought I had to manually kill all the apps I wasn't using to save battery life. No longer do it and actually get better life because the phone isn't constantly restarting the apps that I killed. Just let it do its thing :)

The Droid operating system is notoriously glitchy. Everyone I know says their Android phone has mind of it's own, me included. The Droid based phones do have one advantage however, upgradable memory where the iPhone's is fixed. Only $20 to expand my phone's music storage by 400%.

LTE kicks butt
 

Took the plunge and got an HTC Vivid. Just wanted to share some results as I am very impressed. Not all "4G" is the same.

LTE 4G
25.80 Mbps down
6.37 Mbps up

That is lightening fast compared to my old 3G Iphone which could barely manage 1- 2 Mbps down and sometimes less.

I went for the Droid Razr.......will report back in a few weeks after fully setting it up and using it. I did watch a couple of youtube videos while on 4G and it was amazingly fast.

Do these things slow down after a while like a PC? I hope not because its fast fast fast!!!

It may because it is basically a small pc. Treat it like your home pc, scanners and such.

Nope. It might get a touch slower (usually unnoticeable) if you load tons of apps onto it is all. My message app (stock one) gets a little slow once threads get over 1500 messages or over 5000 messages total, but clearing the messages fixes that. They are not like a windows based pc in terms of speed over time. I even highly doubt the windows phone will suffer like that.

I just got the new Motorola razor and wow this thing is nice. Anyways my main reason for going droid is you dont have to mess with itunes. You dont need any pc program or account to move files between the phone and a pc. Thats important to me. Nothing against apple but i don't want to be forced to load their beast of a program, and all it hooks on my pc and have to supply a creditcard to open an itunes account just to move some data between my devices....

You don't have to supply a CC to start an Itunes account, FWIW. I just got an Iphone 4s, coming from an Android platform phone. There is certainly going to be some adjusting, but so far I love it.

When changing from an iphone to a droid phone, are you able to take your investment in music , videos, podcasts, and audiobooks over to the new platform ? Don't they have digital rights management ( DRM ) as part of itunes ? I consider the above content no different than pictures these days and would not want to loose any.

How does this work when going back / forth ?

If I had to pick, Android, I really dont like apple

My wife has an Android, and its pretty nice, not as polished as the Ios, but much more potential.

But then again, I use a Nokia N9 (which is neither) haha