Comparing Apples to Androids
I have had the opportunity recently to use the iPhone 4s in home rather than drooling over it at the Apple Store. Since I have been using the Android platform with my HTC Evo for the past year, I thought I would write a short comparison. But I must admit up front that I have been an Apple entusiast for many years. I would have purchased an iPhone for my own use before even considering the Android, but I was limited to using the Sprint network due to our churches contract. Now that the iPhone is available on Sprint, I can guarantee that my next phone will be an iPhone.
Since I have had the Evo for over a year, I will list what I do not like about this particular phone and the Android OS and compare that to the iPhone and Apple OS.
Single Hand Use - FAIL. Maryland restricts holding a phone while driving, so I am limited to one hand usage while in the car if I am going to obey the law. This phone is virtually impossible to answer, dial, or put into sleep mode with one hand. I have had no problem using a single hand for the iPhone and Siri makes this even more possible.
Battery Life - FAIL. Seriously. I can use my phone for nothing but making and receiving a few phone calls and the battery dies in less than 6 hours. This is probably the result of multitasking within Android. There is no easy method for closing or controlling apps that open in the background without wasting a lot of my time. Yes, there are apps that will allow you to kill tasks in order to preserve battery, but those actually use more battery then just letting the apps run. My boys have played games, texted, surfed the internet and played around with Siri for hours on the iPhone and still have plenty of battery life left. This is because it is very easy to double click the homescreen and then choose the apps you want to close.
Secure Apps - FAIL. I was actually told on the first day that I got the phone, "While the Android has more apps than then iPhone, you need to read reviews on anything before you download it. There are many fake apps in the Market that are actually viruses." I know that many people complain about the strict requirements to get apps included in iTunes, but I don't want to waste my time searching through hundreds of comments to find the ones that warn me that an app is actually a virus. iTunes beats Android Market hands down.
Screen Lock - FAIL. I miss many calls because I cannot get the screen lock to function. It seems like a simple enough act to swipe down on the touch screen to unlock the screen. I do something similar with the iPod Touch and iPad that I own, but they actually work. The Evo screen lock often gets stuck partway. The only fix that I have found is to press down on the Power switch at the top, but that automatically ignores the call and sends it straight to voicemail. This is an extremely frustrating feature. The iPhone follows in line with my iPod Touch and iPad so it far exceeds the Evo in this area.
Power Save - Passable. Often when I click on the Power button so that I can force my phone into Power Save feature to save my precious, all too short battery life, the phone opens the camera. Not sure what I do wrong, but this actually does the opposite of what I intend to do...save power. Not a problem on the iPhone.
Recharge - Passable. I personally hate the little mini-USB plug. I can never seem to get it turned the correct way to plug it in. It takes me numerous attempts each time and that is an annoyance. The iPhone cable is much easier to plug in correctly due to the printed symbol on the frontside of the plug. I guess in the dark it would be equally difficult to plug in either phone to charge.
Legibility - Passable. The Evo screen is larger than the iPhone 4s, so there is more room to display stunning graphics. However, I have noticed that text is rather pixilated. If I do a lot of reading on my Evo I get eyestrain. I have not used the iPhone long enough to really compare this feature. I personally could not read much on my iPod Touch (1st gen) for the same reason. I do not have that problem on my iPad2. I will say that the screen display seems much brighter and easier to see for most functions on the iPhone. Angry Birds looks the same to me on both platforms.
Since I have had the Evo for over a year, I will list what I do not like about this particular phone and the Android OS and compare that to the iPhone and Apple OS.
Single Hand Use - FAIL. Maryland restricts holding a phone while driving, so I am limited to one hand usage while in the car if I am going to obey the law. This phone is virtually impossible to answer, dial, or put into sleep mode with one hand. I have had no problem using a single hand for the iPhone and Siri makes this even more possible.
Battery Life - FAIL. Seriously. I can use my phone for nothing but making and receiving a few phone calls and the battery dies in less than 6 hours. This is probably the result of multitasking within Android. There is no easy method for closing or controlling apps that open in the background without wasting a lot of my time. Yes, there are apps that will allow you to kill tasks in order to preserve battery, but those actually use more battery then just letting the apps run. My boys have played games, texted, surfed the internet and played around with Siri for hours on the iPhone and still have plenty of battery life left. This is because it is very easy to double click the homescreen and then choose the apps you want to close.
Secure Apps - FAIL. I was actually told on the first day that I got the phone, "While the Android has more apps than then iPhone, you need to read reviews on anything before you download it. There are many fake apps in the Market that are actually viruses." I know that many people complain about the strict requirements to get apps included in iTunes, but I don't want to waste my time searching through hundreds of comments to find the ones that warn me that an app is actually a virus. iTunes beats Android Market hands down.
Screen Lock - FAIL. I miss many calls because I cannot get the screen lock to function. It seems like a simple enough act to swipe down on the touch screen to unlock the screen. I do something similar with the iPod Touch and iPad that I own, but they actually work. The Evo screen lock often gets stuck partway. The only fix that I have found is to press down on the Power switch at the top, but that automatically ignores the call and sends it straight to voicemail. This is an extremely frustrating feature. The iPhone follows in line with my iPod Touch and iPad so it far exceeds the Evo in this area.
Power Save - Passable. Often when I click on the Power button so that I can force my phone into Power Save feature to save my precious, all too short battery life, the phone opens the camera. Not sure what I do wrong, but this actually does the opposite of what I intend to do...save power. Not a problem on the iPhone.
Recharge - Passable. I personally hate the little mini-USB plug. I can never seem to get it turned the correct way to plug it in. It takes me numerous attempts each time and that is an annoyance. The iPhone cable is much easier to plug in correctly due to the printed symbol on the frontside of the plug. I guess in the dark it would be equally difficult to plug in either phone to charge.
Legibility - Passable. The Evo screen is larger than the iPhone 4s, so there is more room to display stunning graphics. However, I have noticed that text is rather pixilated. If I do a lot of reading on my Evo I get eyestrain. I have not used the iPhone long enough to really compare this feature. I personally could not read much on my iPod Touch (1st gen) for the same reason. I do not have that problem on my iPad2. I will say that the screen display seems much brighter and easier to see for most functions on the iPhone. Angry Birds looks the same to me on both platforms.
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