Why my next phone will be an iphone. Possibly.

[christopher1]

Ok, so I read the reviews- "Desire HD faster than iphone," "iphone beater" "HTC's fastest phone yet" etc..

So I bought one. We've been together for about a year and like any relationship at the beginning you forgive/ignore the little problems of your loved one, but in time they can become very niggly..

The main thing, and I know a few Desire/Android owners who generally say the same thing, is the speed. Now, when I'm connected to wifi, it is lightening and all works fine, indeed it is faster than my missus' iphone. However, when the mobile connection is on and there's no wifi to connect to, it goes from reasonably quick, to OK, to effing slow. Way slower than the Apple phone, there's been to many times when I've been out with iphone users (some of whom have 3yr old phones) and i've had to put mine away as embarrassingly it won't load a page, or can't find a point on the map.

Which leads me to the map app, which is great. But the problem is that it only works brilliantly when connected to wifi, so what's the point? I live in central London, so I'd assume I'd get a good fix, but often it jumps around, or sometimes won't even get beyond searching for the place. All along, my friends iphone takes us serenely there.

I know that this issue is true with my friends who have Desires on at least, T-Mobile/Orange/O2 and Vodafone. So how come the reviews NEVER mention this? Their models must come in and they sit next to their ultra fast routers testing them. But throughout the day a mobile connection is used much more often when on the go.

I'm not a tecchy. A vast majority of people who buy phones don't want to root them, boost them, clock them, jet-pack them- or whatever (apart from people who read this web-site I guess), we just want them to work.

Also, battery life; sh*te, nuff said.

And now after one year, my lovely little phone is starting to develop psychological 'issues.' The light turns on for no reason, when going to Android market it says "unable to connect to HTC sense server," it crashes occasionally, it answers in speaker mode etc, etc..

iphones last for years, fact. And although things do go wrong they're pretty stable generally. I'm sure that my next September my Desire HD will be properly mental. It's a bit like having Gazza in your team, rather than a (quietly brilliant, ironically) Messi of an iphone.

And that is why with my next phone I will be moving to a safe, efficient, user friendly Apple.
Well, I probably won't as I don't want to be another twat with an iphone- but I needed to get that off my chest..

 

[aztooh]

Sounds like your issue is more with your provider than with the phone itself.

As far as iPhone's lasting for "years", well, maybe. The 3g lasted for about 2 years. Once iOS 4 released, it slowed the iP3g down to nearly unusable levels. We'll see how the 3gs holds up with iOS 5. Also many complaints with the home button being unresponsive due to both hardware and software problems.

Bottom line is, all phones are going to have their issues.

 

[Stuntman]

Sorry you had such a poor experience with your phone. I have the Desire Z which is the smaller version with a keyboard. I have not had such a poor experience when not on WiFi. Don't know what to say. I'm in Canada, so perhaps there is some difference in the networks.

As for iPhones being better and more stable, at least the people I know with it has had issues with theirs. One person I know is on his 4th iPhone another on his 2nd in the past year. At least from what I have seen from the people around me, I don't think iPhones are any better than mine in terms of stability.

If you feel that the iPhone is better for you then go for it. I'm sure you'll feel better about it since you seem pretty upset with your Desire HD.

 

[AndroidSPCS]

Enjoy your new iPhone, OP.

I have used iPhone and Android concurrently for the last 3 years. My personal preference is Android hands down.

Go with what you prefer.

 

[Sutakira]

It depends on what happens in the next few months after steve jobs is removed from CEO Position. If they change everything from the way it is and unleash what the iphone is really capable of then I would go for a diePhone but they are too over-priced for being a paper weight compared to android.

 

[chanchan05]

HTC = bad battery life in general terms. There are a few gems now and then AFAIK.

mobile internet = I'd think its entirely the provider's fault and not the phone's.

iPhone lasting for years = technically, any phone can last for years. My 3310 from 10 years ago still works.

 

[John Redcorn]

A lot of Dhds and inspires according to some have a known jumpy or no-lock GPS problem where a little plastic piece around the camera flash (that has the gps antenna in it) needs replaced. Ill see if I can find you a link later. It actually may be in the inspire 4g forum here.

edit: I can't find the thread where it was talked about, might not have been here, but I found the youtube video. I haven't had gps probs on my inspire so I haven't tried this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qm_z65LA8k

 

[Frisco]

...efficient, user friendly Apple.

Well, I probably won't as I don't want to be another twit with an iphone- but I needed to get that off my chest..

Nice to see a brand new member here make one of the best uses of these forums there is: getting something like (what I call) "Android/iPhone Comparison Anxiety" (AICA, pronounced "iKah") off your chest.

 

[Watchinufrap]

Do some tests see what your specs are and what your apps consumption of the CPU and ram is.

But in all likelihood it is the networks causing the slowness,
And since Apple uses AT&T only you are not getting the same service as an Iphone, if your Android mobile is unlocked you could easily switch providers if your prepaid or not locked into some contract.
You probably do have choices, but if you like Android and HTC and are only thinking of Apple because you want better connections, i ask you just think on it a bit more, because i wouldn't recommend Iphone unless it was just appealing to you personally with how it works with it's own stuff.
That's all, that's my view and i hope you find a solution .

 

[Medion]

And since Apple uses AT&T only you are not getting the same service as an Iphone,

Stateside, the iPhone is available on both AT&T and Verizon. However, going by the carriers he mentioned, he's overseas and likely on the same carrier as at least one of his iPhone owning friends.

 

[alsoran]

If they made the smartphones as durable as my Sanyo flip phones,as close as I got was the Sprint Hero, workhorse and I plan on keeping it for backup.I love that phone, now if I could get this 3d to be as reliable as durable as the Hero. I plan on rooting the 3d, as with the Hero I kept stock.If everything I've read and expectations this could my SUPER-PHONE, faster than a speeding car,more powerful than a ... I'm sorry I was letting my fantasy world overtake rationale.

 

[Tre Lawrence]

Go for what you works for a, OP. IOS is far from shabby.

 

[Fetch Questman]

Why does a guy register on an Android site just to anounce that he is switching to iPhone?

Like others have said, just use what you like best no matter what it is, unless its Blackberry.

 

[Stuntman]

Why does a guy register on an Android site just to anounce that he is switching to iPhone?

I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt and say he's just venting.

If the OP wants to give his phone another opportunity, he can go to the Desire HD forums here and perhaps someone there can help him with his issues.

 

[ari-free]

Join Date: Aug 2011
hmm maybe if you joined earlier, people would have solved your problems. It looks like you joined just to promote Apple.

 

[christopher1]

Haha, I love many things that are not perfect- my football team, my bed, chinese food and my Desire HD..
It just feels that with a few tweaks it COULD be perfect. I find it a little annoying when we have the technology and it's just not quite there. I'm sure that in 5yrs time all these niggles will be ironed out.
I understand that it's hard to take criticism, but don't worry guys, you only own the phones, you didn't invent them

And it's important for Apple to continue to raise the bar. That's what drives companies such as HTC to make the advances that they have. I'm not looking to promote/diss any companies, they're not paying me.

And yes, I've friends on all carriers and it does seem to be an issue that is the phone rather than the carrier.

However, I was out with a group last night, none of which had an iphone- and my phone (inc the GPS) was on top form (maybe iphones have some kind of Android blocker chip in them.) So I know she CAN do it. She just doesn't do it consistently enough and that right there is my bug bear. I mean, in the middle of a big city, why do I get a better signal in the kitchen than the living room? Weird. I know this is probably a carrier thing and if so, they should get together and sort it out. And while I'm here, in this day and age, with unlimited information, the net, mobility across nations etc.. why do I get charged 10x as much to use my phone when I travel abroad?
Well I know why, but it needs to change. Somehow.

Vent 2. Done. Thanks.

 

[christopher1]

I haven't had gps probs on my inspire so I haven't tried this: Desire HD gps antenna swap - YouTube

Christ, thanks. But this is exactly what scares me. I would end up with 3 smaller DHd's. None of which worked...

 

[!on]

I really like the style of the iPhone.... but I've since grown up. I believe the Apple 'boutique' style is coming to an end unless they begin to realise that Android are really taking the baton from where they left off - & create something magically / radically new & different that will keep people's attention firmly back on Apple.

I think the Apple arrogance is starting to wear thin, flash content isn't going away soon so the old flash vs html5 argument doesn't work - in fact, we want both. Oh & a choice of handsets with decent camera. Why Apple haven't caught up with a high spec camera I don't know, perhaps it interferes with the clean simple casing design?

Like others have said, both have pros & cons, I just think that people are more interested in open source nowadays, have been used to google in some manner for years, both are unix like OS, & there are some decent handsets that have style / fashion. Apple are not the "be all, end all" anymore.

 

[Stuntman]

Haha, I love many things that are not perfect- my football team, my bed, chinese food and my Desire HD..
It just feels that with a few tweaks it COULD be perfect. I find it a little annoying when we have the technology and it's just not quite there. I'm sure that in 5yrs time all these niggles will be ironed out.

I doubt any phone can be perfect no matter how long it takes. There will always be newer and newer features you want to incorporate into any device. Once you come close to perfecting some feature, you have to add a new feature that will take time to perfect.

I understand that it's hard to take criticism, but don't worry guys, you only own the phones, you didn't invent them

I'm not sure what you are getting at with this statement. It's not like many of us are inventors.

And it's important for Apple to continue to raise the bar. That's what drives companies such as HTC to make the advances that they have. I'm not looking to promote/diss any companies, they're not paying me.

Other companies also raise the bar as well. That is why the latest version of Apple's OS adds features that are available on other companies' phones for quite a while now.

I mean, in the middle of a big city, why do I get a better signal in the kitchen than the living room? Weird. I know this is probably a carrier thing and if so, they should get together and sort it out.

The cell phone signals lose strength when they have to go through and around objects. Why should you expect signal strength should be the same on either side of a wall?

And while I'm here, in this day and age, with unlimited information, the net, mobility across nations etc.. why do I get charged 10x as much to use my phone when I travel abroad?
Well I know why, but it needs to change. Somehow.

I hear you. Traditionally, long distance phone charges subsidize local calling. I guess carriers are simply continuing the practice. Hopefully at some point in the future this would change.

 

[jasvncnt1]

I give you guys here a lot of credit. I have an iphone..for now..and visit a lot of the iphone forums daily. You cant even mention the work "Android" in those forums. If you do you just get bashing. I'm sure you can imagine. But i see the members here are more mature and open minded. Thanks

 

[AndroidSPCS]

I give you guys here a lot of credit. I have an iphone..for now..and visit a lot of the iphone forums daily. You cant even mention the work "Android" in those forums. If you do you just get bashing. I'm sure you can imagine. But i see the members here are more mature and open minded. Thanks

So true. I have an iPhone and iPad 2...and whenever I visit MacRumors, any mention of Android, or even dare you mention a flaw of iOS, and you get jumped on badly. Pretty sad.

 

[chanchan05]

I give you guys here a lot of credit. I have an iphone..for now..and visit a lot of the iphone forums daily. You cant even mention the work "Android" in those forums. If you do you just get bashing. I'm sure you can imagine. But i see the members here are more mature and open minded. Thanks

Android owners tend to not "attack" other OS, especially since they're the ones on top right now. Symbian owners are 50/50, some attack and some dont (The official Nokia forums dont even condone threads pertaining to Android provided its still related in some way to Symbian/Nokia, like how to transfer contacts, general comparisons, how to do the same thing on either etc), but iPhone owners for some reason always feels the need to defend themselves for some reason, and I dont understand why they are like that. @_@

 

[jasvncnt1]

So true. I have an iPhone and iPad 2...and whenever I visit MacRumors, any mention of Android, or even dare you mention a flaw of iOS, and you get jumped on badly. Pretty sad.

Same here. And that was one of the sites I do visit. Lately I just read the front page just to see whats new.

 

[jasvncnt1]

Android owners tend to not "attack" other OS, especially since they're the ones on top right now. Symbian owners are 50/50, some attack and some dont (The official Nokia forums dont even condone threads pertaining to Android provided its still related in some way to Symbian/Nokia, like how to transfer contacts, general comparisons, how to do the same thing on either etc), but iPhone owners for some reason always feels the need to defend themselves for some reason, and I dont understand why they are like that. @_@

Exactly. I have no idea why they need to defend themselves. But its so true. Its like a cult. They don't want to hear anything could possibly be better or faster then the precious iphone. Most of them said they will buy the next iphone without even seeing what it looks like or not even knowing specs and performance. What does that tell ya? Its kinda scary and sad at the same time. So thanks again to all. Finally nice to come to a forum where people are actually friendly. Also sorry bout the double post. Messed up.

 

[Stuntman]

I give you guys here a lot of credit. I have an iphone..for now..and visit a lot of the iphone forums daily. You cant even mention the work "Android" in those forums. If you do you just get bashing. I'm sure you can imagine. But i see the members here are more mature and open minded. Thanks

Everyone has at least a little bit of a fanboy mentality in them. I feel it in me when I was a Symbian user and now an Android user. You just have to respect that not everyone feels the same as you and everyone wants something different in a device. You also have to realise that not everything about the devices you use are perfect.

You can often tell when someone is wanting a genuine discussion or if he is simply bashing a product or blindly supporting it. I find that most people on most sites I frequent tend to park their fanboyish feelings most of the time. Those that display fanboyish behaviour, I try to ignore since they don't really want a serious conversation anyway.