Disclaimer:
About me: I
use to be a huge Windows Mobile user, then finally switched to the iPhone 3G
when 3G and Exchange Active Sync became available. I've owned and Apple
3G, 3GS, 4, 4S and currently an iPhone 5. I recently bought a Samsung Galaxy 4
at Best Buy where I have 2 months to try it or return it, since I am a Platinum
Member. I thought it would be fun to check out the SG4 with stock
AT&T Android 4.2.2. I know that you can put custom ROMs on it and
there are other apps that can help with some of my limitations and I appreciate
any recommendations you have in the comments below. I'm not here to rag
on Android or praise Apple iOS, just thought I would give it a try. What
you see below is after just 4 weeks of use. I will be updating it as I get more
time with the SG4. This is not my first Android device, I've had a hacked
HP TouchPad and a Nexus 7 tablet but this is my 1st Android Mobile Phone.
Siri vs. Svoice: SG4 comes with Svoice, which is a Samsung product. It can do certain things but is not as polished as Siri is and Siri is more accurate. Using Google's Search app with your voice is better than Svoice and might be on par with Siri although you cannot dictate text messages with it, so Siri wins in my opinion. In iOS7 Siri gets even more services added to it, which should make it even better.
AppStore vs. Play: We all know there are more apps on the Apple AppStore than Google Play so I will give the edge to Apple here but I do like that on Play you can click Install and it will push the App to your Android Phone. That is pretty cool.
Speakers: The iPhone 5 has 2 speakers on the bottom of the phone, which allows for sound when the phone is on its back or front. The SG4 for some reason has the small speaker on the back of the phone, which muffles the sound when trying to listen to music and work on the phone.
Pros:
-Camera: It’s
awesome! Took a trip and decided to ONLY take the SG4 as my camera.
The 13MB camera is stellar. Great editing and sharing tools and the
HD quality is great. 1080P videos are also awesome and you can take pictures while fiming (iOS7 does this as well now for iPhone). However sometimes the camera hangs and I missed some shots
due to that. Many cool camera features
as well, although some of them require you to take 5 pictures to be able to use
them (like Best Picture and Eraser Mode) and I’m not sure I would have the time to switch modes all the time to
take advantage of these features in day to day use, so they are cool to haves
but probably not used most of the time. Especially in candid opportunities.
-Screen: I definitely like the extra 1” for some of my daily tasks like
reading email, web browsing, sling box, RDP, videos and games. The screen is very nice to look at, specially at pictures!
-Watch On:
Being able to control my TV and DirecTV receiver is bad ass! You can have different profiles,
so you can control multiple TV's and Set top boxes.
-S Health:
Having a build in pedometer is a cool thing to have. Although the phone is big and heavy and you wont always have it on you, so something like a Fitbit would be a better option if you really want to track all your steps.
-Scrolling with
your eyes! This feature is also bad ass! Although it does not work
in every app and it’s not perfect. I’m sure this will get better and
perhaps the next iPhone will have it when it works flawlessly but right now
it’s a nice feature to have.
-NFC: The SG4
has it, although I don’t even know where to use it in the USA yet. I've been told Starbucks accepts it but I'm not a coffee drinker, but perhaps this would be something of use to you as well as NFC tags.
-Gesture controls:
are nice as well, although they sometimes get in the way and are not
always accurate. Definitely a nice feature to have, specially if you have dirty hands.
-Exchange Integration: You can do a lot more in Android Exchange integration, like send any type of file attachment, not just a photo or video like the iPhone iOS... You can also Schedule sending the email, set tracking options and Encrypt and sign. I have not seen those options on iOS.
-Bluetooth Integration with my BMW seems to add the ability to see my contacts Picture when I call them on the car's screen as well as I can read incoming text messages and call the sender via iDrive on the BMW.
-Airdroid app is really cool. Like VNC for a Jailbroken iPhone but with many more features.
-Exchange Integration: You can do a lot more in Android Exchange integration, like send any type of file attachment, not just a photo or video like the iPhone iOS... You can also Schedule sending the email, set tracking options and Encrypt and sign. I have not seen those options on iOS.
-Bluetooth Integration with my BMW seems to add the ability to see my contacts Picture when I call them on the car's screen as well as I can read incoming text messages and call the sender via iDrive on the BMW.
-Airdroid app is really cool. Like VNC for a Jailbroken iPhone but with many more features.
Cons:
Group Messaging
works on the AT&T and Verizon version. Although it is not as smooth as when
using the iPhone and iOS iMessage. iMessage allows you to message folks
when only on WIFI, which makes for greater communication with folks
internationally FREE.
Camera: The iPhone 4S and 5 both take better pictures in low light. even with flash, I would say that the iPhone 4S and 5 take better pictures at night.
Camera: The iPhone 4S and 5 both take better pictures in low light. even with flash, I would say that the iPhone 4S and 5 take better pictures at night.
-Screen: While I like the added 1”, I feel that it is a lot harder to do 1 handed tasks
that I have become accustomed to with my iPhone 5. Like RSS news reading,
answering emails and texts, opening and closing apps, sometimes require adding the other hand to complete. I've also noticed that the screen has a blue tint to it and becomes a mirror when held in the wrong angle in the sun. That very blue tint makes it hard to read in the sun like at the beach or a very sunny day. I do not have that hard a time with the iPhone 5 screen.
-Facebook and
Twitter integration is way better on iOS. SG4 allows you to tweet and
Facebook news and stories from Apps but they do not let you choose which
Twitter account to use and is sometimes not laid out in a nice way. You
have to allow every app access to your twitter and can only be one account, while
iOS just uses your integrated Twitter accounts and let you use any of them any
time. Twitter app lets you do that to check your tweets and post as who
you want on twitter alone. That does not integrate with CNN or ESPN. iOS has
Twitter integrated into the iOS, then apps just leverage that.
-Battery
consumption is worse on the SG4 than the iPhone 5. This is likely due to
the bigger screen and 4-8 processors. The Screen I can understand but
even in power save mode, the SG4 chews thru 20% of battery just over night with
all apps closed. I don’t feel it any faster than the iPhone 5, so having
4-8 processors might sound nice specs wise but probably not needed and better
battery usage would be preferred.
-App support:
We all know this already and it’s gotten better for sure. Yet I see a lot
of apps like CNBC, Pandora, and Facebook to name a few, which are definitely
available for Android but are in many cases behind in version than iOS.
So folks are lacking a lot of cool features in Android that iOS users are accustomed
to. Eventually I am sure you get them but if you like the latest and
greatest when it comes out like me, then this is a con. There are also
missing apps like Vine and #Music, Nike band to name a few. Also apps
crash a lot and they pop up a message asking me to OK the crash, which seems to
be a daily occurrence with at least 1 app a day.
-Bloatware:
The SG4 comes with a lot of it. Mostly apps from AT&T and
Samsung. Some are nice to have and others you want to remove as soon as
possible. This can be fixed with a custom ROM if you like to root your
phone and try other versions of the OS.
-Copy/Paste: also
copy and paste is a huge pain in the ass and doesn’t work on all apps where it
does on iOS
-Notifications.
Android gets notifications from ESPN, CNN, USATODAY but they do not pop up on
your screen. You have to unlock, pull down the notification center and
then read the alert. With iOS I can just read right on my Home Screen
even locked and decide what to do after that. Share or not, for example, or get more details.
-Will not connect to my BMW via the USB cable and let me open Facebook, Twitter, Internet Radio and a few other Apps. With my iPhone I can post Facebook and Twitter updates via iDrive on my NAV screen.
So far it’s been about what I expected it to be. I knew I would like the phone's screen and camera but I knew it the OS would not be as polished and the apps support would be lacking. I don't like the Twitter limitations I have and Facebook and CNBC and other apps I use a lot are not at the latest versions like they are on iOS. Notifications are lacking more than I expected. I don't like that I can’t see the news, sports or financial updates or text messages right on my home screen when phone is locked. I have to unlock, login and go to notification center just to see that there is another Tornado in OKC. Not sure why Android notifications are that lacking. I like being able to just pick up my phone and see the sports score and not have to do a bunch of stuff, especially when driving. I have 4 weeks or so left maybe more. I might keep it just because the camera is really nice and it would be a new toy for me but I still use my iPhone daily to catch up on the news quicker and it sucks that I text message less with my friends because it’s so much harder and less fluid. I will see Alex tonight and will show him what I mean. Maybe I am missing something. I might need to just re-flash the whole phone and hope it was a fluke. But there are a few threads out there on the group messaging, so it seems to be a huge flaw on the AT&T version. It’s a cool phone though. I think I just like iOS that much more.
-Will not connect to my BMW via the USB cable and let me open Facebook, Twitter, Internet Radio and a few other Apps. With my iPhone I can post Facebook and Twitter updates via iDrive on my NAV screen.
So far it’s been about what I expected it to be. I knew I would like the phone's screen and camera but I knew it the OS would not be as polished and the apps support would be lacking. I don't like the Twitter limitations I have and Facebook and CNBC and other apps I use a lot are not at the latest versions like they are on iOS. Notifications are lacking more than I expected. I don't like that I can’t see the news, sports or financial updates or text messages right on my home screen when phone is locked. I have to unlock, login and go to notification center just to see that there is another Tornado in OKC. Not sure why Android notifications are that lacking. I like being able to just pick up my phone and see the sports score and not have to do a bunch of stuff, especially when driving. I have 4 weeks or so left maybe more. I might keep it just because the camera is really nice and it would be a new toy for me but I still use my iPhone daily to catch up on the news quicker and it sucks that I text message less with my friends because it’s so much harder and less fluid. I will see Alex tonight and will show him what I mean. Maybe I am missing something. I might need to just re-flash the whole phone and hope it was a fluke. But there are a few threads out there on the group messaging, so it seems to be a huge flaw on the AT&T version. It’s a cool phone though. I think I just like iOS that much more.
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