iPhone 5 or Samsung Galaxy s3?

Which phone is better overall?

  • iPhone 5

    Votes: 129 49.0%
  • Samsung Galaxy s3

    Votes: 134 51.0%

  • Total voters
    263
G

guitarplayer

Guest
My home screen with the Halloween Michael Myers live wallpaper.

Screenshot_2012-10-28-15-11-32.png

That's a cool live wallpaper isn't it!
 

Dags

Hall of Fame
Sorry, didn't mean to be as harsh as it appeared. Thing is, I was referring to a trend that we see all the time: When iOS doesn't have a feature, users don't miss it. When they have it, they think it is the best thing since sliced bread. :)

It happened when the iphone 4S came without 4G, for instance, people rationalized their purchase of the 4S by saying that 4G wasn't yet a "mature technology". Then, they announced 4G, and the whole audience clapped like little children. I shouldn't complain too much about it though, coz my Apple stock is safe as long as this continues to happen :) .

We'll see. Maybe, when iOS introduces widgets, or NFC, or ...

It's possible some of the choices are made with the global market in mind. In the UK, the first network rolls 4G at the end of this month, with coverage initially limited to 16 cities. The other providers have to wait until next year before a different spectrum is auctioned. So I very much rationalised my purchase of the 4S by saying that 4G wasn't mature enough. :D

NFC is something I'm not convinced by. For the consumer I don't see it as being that much more convenient than chip and pin, and for the retailer it's a large cost to introduce. Right now, a bluetooth system makes more sense to me.

Your post about being able to toggle Airplane Mode, wifi etc. more easily is something that I would definitely welcome on iOS though! The existing stuff in the Notification centre does nothing for me, and quick access controls would sit perfectly there.
 

Torres

Banned
Swype is the bee's knees. I wish it was just baked into every android phone. Damn android fragmentation! :(

I think you can download/install it to any Android phone but you have to do it direct from the Swype website rather than from Google Play as its only officially licensed to the Samsung phones.

Surprised that Apple haven't developed anything similar given how they supposedly like to 'think different', how they're supposed to innovate better than everyone else, how they're supposed to prioritize UIs, simplicity, user experience etc. Swype is superb and perfect for smart phone screens.

All those $billions in the bank and they couldn't figure out that they should have bought Swype, TomTom etc. Apple's 'walled garden' mentality is just self defeating at times.

Since Steve Jobs passed, they seem to have stopped innovating.
 
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JoelDali

Talk Tennis Guru
When you think of the iPhone, it's probably the object you use the most in your life. And when you think about what you do with it, as you hold this extraordinarily thin and gorgeous object with its unprecedented fit and finish in your hand, you always pick it up and touch the screen with your thumb. This is why they extracted the purest essence of the user experience and transformed it into the new single-button interface. The lush purity and sublime beauty of this interface seems to counterpoint the sophistication of the technological underpinnings and circumvent the irrevocable vulgarization of the stream of subconscious thought imperative to the reflectiveness upon which the chamfered diamond cut edge of your mind celebrates the now of the future.
 
Did anyone else pay attention to the WP8 event yesterday? I'm very interested in the software and the hardware (Lumia 920) also looks amazing.

If they can get all the top apps developed, I'd strongly consider a Windows Phone when I'm eligible for an upgrade.
 

bad_call

Legend
When you think of the iPhone, it's probably the object you use the most in your life. And when you think about what you do with it, as you hold this extraordinarily thin and gorgeous object with its unprecedented fit and finish in your hand, you always pick it up and touch the screen with your thumb. This is why they extracted the purest essence of the user experience and transformed it into the new single-button interface. The lush purity and sublime beauty of this interface seems to counterpoint the sophistication of the technological underpinnings and circumvent the irrevocable vulgarization of the stream of subconscious thought imperative to the reflectiveness upon which the chamfered diamond cut edge of your mind celebrates the now of the future.

wow!!...well written. almost want to go out and buy one. however the inner voice compels me to stay grounded and resist the instant gratification that comes with purchasing something new, bright and shiny. that and just ordered a bit of uber expensive, highly sought after IPA hops. :)
 

Power Player

Bionic Poster
I used swype on and off for years but never found it to be amazing, and never fully could commit to it. Reason being was certain words were just always a huge pain to swype and i had to hybrid between typing and swiping, which slowed things down.

I thought swiftkey was better to be honest..to me its all about predictive text and voice to text.

In my experience the i5s is more responsive and better for thumb typing then my last phone. I believe that is why they didnt copy the swype idea.
 

DRII

G.O.A.T.
I use widgets all the time, and can't imagine not having them. It seems silly to have to go into settings and apps when you can toggle Wifi, GPS, brightness, bluetooth (or Airplane Mode) with a single touch. These sit on my home screen.

Yes, I have the weather widget, and the people widget and the calendar widget on my other screens, with nice high-res pictures of my favorite contacts. These aren't very fancy widgets, so there is no perceptible battery drain, in that I go through a day and a half with no problems.

Whoever gave the HTC Thunderbolt example should know that this was the worst LTE phone in terms of battery life. Nearly all other phones are better. BTW, people talking about folders on IOS, you do know that folders are available on Android too, right?

That said, iOS is improving in terms of giving users quick access to data. E.g., Notifications used to suck royally, but now, iOS has an android-style dragdown which works pretty nicely.


Thank you, folders have been available on Android since ICS i believe.

I still prefer the Android multiple home screens though; i think the iOS standard one screen is tedious and binding; and not even symetrical!!! The iphone commercials trip me out when it shows the one home screen that is not even full, with space left at the bottom :confused:
 
Thank you, folders have been available on Android since ICS i believe.

I still prefer the Android multiple home screens though; i think the iOS standard one screen is tedious and binding; and not even symetrical!!! The iphone commercials trip me out when it shows the one home screen that is not even full, with space left at the bottom :confused:

That's optional, obviously. My wife's iPhone has 2 screens that are filled and 1 screen that is filled about halfway, so she has three screens total. I personally like being on a single screen so I have all my apps organized in folders.
 

Power Player

Bionic Poster
Since when is iOS standard one screen? You can make it more if you want. I also prefer the one screen. Its just organized and faster.
 

quest01

Hall of Fame
When I use the gs3, I mostly use Swiftkey 3, I like the predictive text format a lot more than the auto correct feature on the iphone. I've always had issues with auto correct usually nothing major but just really annoying. I use swype sometimes, it's good to use for one hand operation but I prefer the SwiftKey keyboard . Android 4.2 offers swype gesture typing. At least they offer you a choice. My screens have mostly widgets and not apps.
 
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Dags

Hall of Fame
Did anyone else pay attention to the WP8 event yesterday? I'm very interested in the software and the hardware (Lumia 920) also looks amazing.

If they can get all the top apps developed, I'd strongly consider a Windows Phone when I'm eligible for an upgrade.

I have a hitting partner who works for Nokia. He's insanely excited about this phone. I did ask him whether he'll turn up one day and find a handset on his desk; he said not, but that he was able to buy one and charge it to his cost centre. :D

The biggest weakness is clearly going to be lack of apps... just how big a weakness that is remains to be seen. With Blackberry heading south, it would be good to have a genuine third competitor again. And I've always had a soft spot for Nokia - my first mobile was the iconic 3210. God, that was a good phone...
 
I have a hitting partner who works for Nokia. He's insanely excited about this phone. I did ask him whether he'll turn up one day and find a handset on his desk; he said not, but that he was able to buy one and charge it to his cost centre. :D

The biggest weakness is clearly going to be lack of apps... just how big a weakness that is remains to be seen. With Blackberry heading south, it would be good to have a genuine third competitor again. And I've always had a soft spot for Nokia - my first mobile was the iconic 3210. God, that was a good phone...

Yeah this is the sticking point for me as well. One of the big reasons I chose iOS over Android/WP8 this time around was for app development. Even now that Android has more market share, apps almost always get developed for iOS first, because that's where the money is overwhelmingly spent.

There are quite a few apps that I use daily that aren't yet available for WP8. Mint, Yelp, Voxer, ESPN ScoreCenter and others...If they become a major player in the market, which I'm rooting for, they'll get those apps and likely my money in 2014.
 
G

guitarplayer

Guest
Its been 4 weeks with my S3 and wife and daughter with their I5

I've messed with theirs....they've messed with mine. I wouldn't go back to my old iPhone for anything. They love theirs...however my daughter admits she would love to have live wallpapers like I do for different seasons. Some great Halloween ones, and I showed her the many Christmas ones. She wants the Frosty the Snowman and Roudolf n so bad.

Both are great phones. But you all know........mine is better!!!!!
 

DRII

G.O.A.T.
Its been 4 weeks with my S3 and wife and daughter with their I5

I've messed with theirs....they've messed with mine. I wouldn't go back to my old iPhone for anything. They love theirs...however my daughter admits she would love to have live wallpapers like I do for different seasons. Some great Halloween ones, and I showed her the many Christmas ones. She wants the Frosty the Snowman and Roudolf n so bad.

Both are great phones. But you all know........mine is better!!!!!

and it looks like Google's voice search is out-classing Siri according to the latest reviews.

Apple peeps should download it and experience the surperior search/assistance native to Android :)
 

JoelDali

Talk Tennis Guru
Never used Siri and never will. Don't need any kind of voice guided search crap. Gimmick. Unnecessary for me.

Thanks though!
 

JoelDali

Talk Tennis Guru
I have never in my life seen someone talking into their phone to an invisible friend asking how to get to Denny's or the strip club.

But if people use it more power to them.

Google works for me or the 100 other location aware apps I have already.

I use AroundMe all the time. I just type in art framer and I get all the frame shops around me to take my Neiman GOAT paintings to for framing.
 

mikeler

Moderator
I have never in my life seen someone talking into their phone to an invisible friend asking how to get to Denny's or the strip club.

But if people use it more power to them.

Google works for me or the 100 other location aware apps I have already.

I use AroundMe all the time. I just type in art framer and I get all the frame shops around me to take my Neiman GOAT paintings to for framing.

You know that nobody ever plans to go to Dennys. Somehow you just end up there.
 

Sid_Vicious

G.O.A.T.
For people with Android devices, has anyone tried to watch flash tennis streams on their phones? Do they work smoothly?

I am watching Paris coverage on Lshunter.tv and I would love to have a device on which I can watch streamed tennis events. The iphone is utterly useless in this regard.
 

Rozroz

G.O.A.T.
For people with Android devices, has anyone tried to watch flash tennis streams on their phones? Do they work smoothly?

I am watching Paris coverage on Lshunter.tv and I would love to have a device on which I can watch streamed tennis events. The iphone is utterly useless in this regard.

huh, i'm totally with you on that.
 

Rozroz

G.O.A.T.
Justin.tv for iPhone is epic for live tennis streemz.

is it?
could i watch all tournys like i watch regular streams (500/1000 events)?
or it's only good for main broadcastin events like GSs?

*in fact, if you have it, could you take a screenshot of a current match (if you have time and patience of course)
 

Sid_Vicious

G.O.A.T.
is it?
could i watch all tournys like i watch regular streams (500/1000 events)?
or it's only good for main broadcastin events like GSs?

*in fact, if you have it, could you take a screenshot of a current match (if you have time and patience of course)

I have justin.tv and occasionally you can find a decent stream on their. It is nothing like lshunter.tv where you can find multiple streams for any particular match in a neat and organized list.

Oh, and to top it off, Justin.tv costs 5 dollars in the app store. I got it like years ago when it was cheaper.
 

Rozroz

G.O.A.T.
I have justin.tv and occasionally you can find a decent stream on their. It is nothing like lshunter.tv where you can find multiple streams for any particular match in a neat and organized list.

Oh, and to top it off, Justin.tv costs 5 dollars in the app store. I got it like years ago when it was cheaper.

that's what i was thinking. if anyone can prove it wrong i might think about it.
 

JoelDali

Talk Tennis Guru
that's what i was thinking. if anyone can prove it wrong i might think about it.

Correct, only GS most of the time...

I use this app more than any other app...the $4.99 is absurdly low for how much I get out of it.

GAOAT.
 

DRII

G.O.A.T.
For people with Android devices, has anyone tried to watch flash tennis streams on their phones? Do they work smoothly?

I am watching Paris coverage on Lshunter.tv and I would love to have a device on which I can watch streamed tennis events. The iphone is utterly useless in this regard.

ESPN 3 works great on my Rezound. I get 720 p resolution! Watching Almagro playing right now. I've never tried Lshunter on my phone...
 

Sid_Vicious

G.O.A.T.
ESPN 3 works great on my Rezound. I get 720 p resolution! Watching Almagro playing right now. I've never tried Lshunter on my phone...
ESPN3? That is sick! If ESPN3 works than Lshunter will surely work.

Man, I'm really thinking about getting an Android device after my contract ends.

Btw, you can just go on espn3.com with your browser and play the video, right? On the Iphone, I get rerouted to the itunes store for this lame app called WatchESPN. It never works!
 
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mikeler

Moderator
ESPN has an app for the iPhone where I can get ESPN3. I love it for watching college football on the go.
 
ESPN3? That is sick! If ESPN3 works than Lshunter will surely work.

Man, I'm really thinking about getting an Android device after my contract ends.

Watch ESPN is available for iPhone too. It's all about who your Internet provider is. If you can't watch it on your laptop, you can't watch it on your phone.

That said, Android devices are great for a lot of users. The GSIII and the Note II are awesome.
 

Rozroz

G.O.A.T.
my only concern is watching live streams as Sid said.
it's a shame there isn't another option besides Justin.tv
 

mikeler

Moderator
iPhones don't have flash. No news there. I had it on my android for years and don't miss it at all. For people who think flash is a deal breaker, android is a great option.

Flash is moving towards HTML5, so eventually Steve Jobs plan of killing Flash will work.
 

DRII

G.O.A.T.
Yeah, it never works for me. Stupid rules by my internet/provider. It works great on my laptop, but not on my phone.

I

I go directly to the ESPN 3 site and watch thru the browser. The ESPN app is available but my ISP does not participate, but it does for ESPN3 :confused:
 

Sid_Vicious

G.O.A.T.
I go directly to the ESPN 3 site and watch thru the browser. The ESPN app is available but my ISP does not participate, but it does for ESPN3 :confused:

Yeah, so I figured out why I can't watch it on my iphone. Someone in my family set up an xfinity account and I don't have the password for it. Once I get it, I will probably be able to see it.

But just like Rozroz, I am more interested in LShunter. That website has year-round coverage of tennis tournaments and I visit it very frequently. If an Android can play flash streams nicely, then I am going for an Android next time.
 

MAXXply

Hall of Fame
I wish to sell my iPhone 4 on the auction site. What is a good pre-sale checklist to go through before I ship the phone to the buyer?

All I can think of is to go into Settings>Clear Data etc to wipe everything off the phone. Is that the only/primary thing to do? Thanks for any advice
 
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