Tried Samsung G3 - going back to iPhone. here's why.

[pfschim]

Got a Samsung Galaxy S3 (ATT) 2 months ago after having my 32g iPhone 4S stolen in Chicago. I gave the S3 a serious shot but am going back to iPhone. FWIW, I am not going to iPhone5, because I don't care about latest and greatest really, and I have add-on devices that are 30 pin and may not work with the new lightning port (stupid idea).

Used the S3 exclusively for Aug-Sept. Was able to customize it fairly readily, and it worked OK for most typical functions (phone, web, email, music, pics ...) but it had some serious quirks that just made it frustrating for me.

So, I have just handed down my S3 to my father and have gone back to a 32gb iPhone 4S.

The good:
- true 4G/LTE - S3 data speeds were very good and much appreciated
- Google Maps Turn By Turn was very nice
- had a 16gb S3 and was able to add 64gb SDHx with no issues - very cool!

The medium/heh (?)
- bigger screen real estate was nice, but it was quite dim under most conditions

- OTOH, the larger screen made for a less portable feeling device for me.

- Camera was decent but the design of the S3 ( function buttons on the bottom left and right) made it very difficult to hold it to take decent pics.

- the customization of the S3 and Android was interesting, but I found the design metaphor of apps, shortcuts and widgets too cluttered for my taste.

- generally I found the S3 and Android to be reminiscent of my experience with Linux. All kinds of apps and functions could be found, and might even work ok, but they just had a somewhat unfinished feel to them - or in extreme cases, would just look and function poorly (Gibson Guitar tool set being a great example - the iOS version looks and works great - the Android version is just a very crude port).

The bad:
- very difficult to move my significant music collection (5k songs, high bit rate) which was about 60% iTunes (no fan of iTunes myself, but it works) 40% mp3.

- even after finding TuneClone solution, and getting the music library moved over to S3, it worked very badly. Songs that I know are good files were regularly truncated half way through.

- WiFi data rates were good, but the S3 would often drop it's connection with wifi routers and the only thing that seemed to restore it was a full restart. Very annoying.

- NO MUSIC over USB and all related apps or functions. For my iPhone I had/have several great devices for recording and doing studio quality tracks on the fly. Nothing of this kind exists for Android in general. I am told Jellybean will have Music over USB and enable ALSA (from Linux), but having had some poor experiences with ALSA on Linux in the past, I am not eager to work with that environment again.


I am sure that most of you who love your Android device will not care about my decision to go back to iPhone (the only apple device I own BTW), but I thought I would just put my experience out there for your consideration.

 

[Metroid Prime]

Sorry about your experience with the S3. Enjoy your iPhone 4s.

 

[chanchan05]

Curious though why get a 4S when the 5 is already available.

 

[ari-free]

Curious though why get a 4S when the 5 is already available.

It was already explained in first paragraph. New port/adapter is going to be a big problem.

 

[lEquin0xl]

And the 5 is all just a "bigger screen" and "thinner body". And let's not forget the "slightly faster" processor.

 

[pfschim]

It was already explained in first paragraph. New port/adapter is going to be a big problem.

yes, this.

a lot of my issues are based on the fact that I had equipped my (stolen) iP 4S with some fairly specific add-on devices and apps for musicians. The devices include a very nice Tascam iM2 stereo mic and the (free) Tascam high bitrate recording app, and the Apogee Jam DAC/guitar interface that allowed me to plug my guitar and bass directly into the iP 4S and record high quality tracks for use by others on various music collaboration projects.

I used the irealb (real book) app to rehearse and practice. It is available for Android, but because the current Android release does not support any input devices (other than maybe the very inferior 3.5mm stereo jack), I cannot play along with the irealb tracks.

There are also some quite high quality amp/guitar modeling apps for iOS that run on the iP 4 and up, that make it possible to use the iP as a preamp for recording and even performance.

All of these things make the iP 4S a pretty amazing and completely portable tool for musicians. I was kind of disappointed that Android is so limited in this area (music making/recording apps and interfaces). It may be that JellyBean addresses some of this, but as of this writing it does not officially support music over USB and beyond that, add-on interface manufacturers will likely not build quality devices until it is official and fully embraced.

To be totally fair, none of this works on the iP 5 yet either (to my knowledge) because none of the add-on makers have adapted the 30 pin devices to fit the new iP lightning port, and to the best of my knowledge, the lightning port does not currently support music over USB.

 

[mikedt]

- NO MUSIC over USB and all related apps or functions.

Sorry but I'm not quite sure what you mean by that.

For my iPhone I had/have several great devices for recording and doing studio quality tracks on the fly. Nothing of this kind exists for Android in general.

Isn't that dedicated iOS devices, like microphones and mixers, e.g. "Designed for iPod and iPad", "Works with iPhone", that use the proprietary 30pin dock port(NOT present on the iPhone 5) on those devices, rather than regular USB? Probably a good reason for not buying an iPhone 5. AFAIK no equivalents exist for Android devices.

I am told Jellybean will have Music over USB and enable ALSA (from Linux), but having had some poor experiences with ALSA on Linux in the past, I am not eager to work with that environment again.

I understand music over USB, is when I plug a USB stick or phone into the USB port on a car ICE system or a stereo system that has a USB port. I've found Android devices work just fine for this.

 

[pfschim]

And the 5 is all just a "bigger screen" and "thinner body". And let's not forget the "slightly faster" processor.

yes, agreed. The bigger screen is not a big selling point for me, and that applies to either the S3 or the iP5. I like the smaller/more portable form factor personally. I understand there is a world of folks who want bigger screens, just not for me.

As far as faster processor. The dual core A6 in the iP5 benches faster in spec tests, but I am not sure that will translate into any eye popping differences in real world use.

I always found the dual core A5 cpu in the iP4S to work just fine for all my needs and I believe that some of the demands I put on it were fairly strenuous (e.g. high bit rate, realtime recording). never balked on me once.

 

[AntimonyER]

Yeah, I can't deny, your usage case is much better served by the Apple ecosystem, with the need for specialized accessories, etc. Its one disappointing aspect of Android. No grudges here, you tried it, you decided you liked iOS, can't fault you for making a reasoned, personal decision. I hope once Android can better serve your needs, you will give it another shot!

 

[pfschim]

- NO MUSIC over USB and all related apps or functions.

Sorry but I'm not quite sure what you mean by that.



Isn't that dedicated iOS devices, like microphones and mixers, that use the proprietary 30pin dock port)NOT present on the iPhone 5) on those devices, rather than regular USB? Probably a good reason for not buying an iPhone 5. AFAIK no equivalents exist for Android devices.



I understand music over USB, is when I plug a USB stick or phone into the USB port on a car ICE system or a stereo system that has a USB port. I've found Android devices work just fine for this.

Android devices use USB as the interface (along with a 3.5mm stereo input), so Android is going to have to enable what's called music streaming over USB if the platform is ever expected to be used as a semi-serious music making device. The stereo jack is typically pretty poor quality and is plagued by noise (on any device). Androids somewhat close cousin uses music streaming over USB and a kernel app called ALSA (Advanced Linux Sound Architecture), to enable high quality music functions.

iOS devices with the original 30 pin port allowed direct links to the device DAC and core software functions that enable digital recording and other useful things for musicians. Its my understanding that the new Lightning port on iP 5 does not support much of the old 30pin port functions (including music streaming over USB), nor access to the internal DAC, so it is not currently a good fit for music apps like the ones I described. That's a major reason why I don't care about the iP5.

I don't have any experience with car audio systems that is meaningful to this conversation so I can't comment on how Android works in this environment.

 

[pfschim]

Yeah, I can't deny, your usage case is much better served by the Apple ecosystem, with the need for specialized accessories, etc. Its one disappointing aspect of Android. No grudges here, you tried it, you decided you liked iOS, can't fault you for making a reasoned, personal decision. I hope once Android can better serve your needs, you will give it another shot!

thanks for the reasoned reply. I am always looking for the best technology to fit my needs. I had been very interested in Android and now feel I have at least a sense of what it is capable of. I will definitely be watching the up coming Jellybean release to see what the community does re music/USB/ALSA.

thanks

 

[mikedt]

Android devices use USB as the interface (along with a 3.5mm stereo input), so Android is going to have to enable what's called music streaming over USB if the platform is ever expected to be used as a semi-serious music making device. The stereo jack is typically pretty poor quality and is plagued by noise (on any device). Androids somewhat close cousin uses music streaming over USB and a kernel app called ALSA (Advanced Linux Sound Architecture), to enable high quality music functions.

iOS devices with the original 30 pin port allowed direct links to the device DAC and core software functions that enable digital recording and other useful things for musicians. Its my understanding that the new Lightning port on iP 5 does not support much of the old 30pin port functions (including music streaming over USB), nor access to the internal DAC, so it is not currently a good fit for music apps like the ones I described. That's a major reason why I don't care about the iP5.

I don't have any experience with car audio systems that is meaningful to this conversation so I can't comment on how Android works in this environment.

How it works with USB enabled car audio, stereos and active speakers. These devices play the MP3s directly from whatever is plugged into their USB port, usually it''s a USB stick. But I've found pretty much anything that uses a FAT file system that can be read by USB, should work, hard drives, Android phones, PMPs, digital cameras, etc. I've even got a really cheap USB enabled FM radio that can play music over USB from my Lenovo Android, it just looks for MP3s on the phone and plays them. The 3.5mm headphone jack is not used. That's what I understand music over USB is.

Sounds like you've got dedicated iOS devices that use the 30pin dock connector on iOS devices, apart from iPhone 5. I know Apple does a $30 adaptor, so you're supposed to be able to use your regular 30pin dock devices with the iPhone 5, but there's problems apparently. One I heard about was with BMW car audio systems not working with it.

 

[Mostly Harmless]

It's a shame the S3 couldn't handle all your needs, these smartphones are suppose to make our lives easier and not harder. At least you were opened minded and gave both sides a try. Good luck with the 4S.

 

[HamptonCaught]

Have to say, I have real sympathy with the opening post. What I loved about my iPhone and still love about my iPod Touch, is the way I just plug it in to my Mac and there it is - everything, music, podcasts, films, etc. in front of me. I can move stuff around, delete anything I've finished with and download new material from the iTunes Store. It works brilliantly and makes my life easier.

Trying to get that music/film onto my Samsung S2 however, is nothing but hassle and frustration.

The key is Apple's investment in iTunes and the iTunes Store - whatever you think of Apple, they work brilliantly and that's what gets people hooked into their products.

 

[Digital Controller]

Personally I enjoy how you gave android a shot and don't bash it into the ground like many apple users.

However, what i can offer for HamptonCaught's post is, everything works flawlessly like that because Apple knows what is on there phone, they know exactly the 1 system that is on the phone, and they only have to worry about iOS, while Android has so much more capability of turning into something that possibly could not be accounted for seamless integration like that cannot really be produced and be reliable.

People do buy apple because it is easy, it is very user friendly, however, the problem i have with Apple is the fact that they keep there prices high and my phone will be the same as everyone elses iPhone, besides the case i get...

I love Android because my Galaxy Nexus literally looks different than probably every other GNex out there. I love it because i can say this phone has a little piece of me inside it, because i was able to customize every aspect of this phone, and put love and care into the device to work just the way i want it to

Not trying to bash people for saying Android is bad, just giving my 2 cents

 

[Stuntman]

If you are satisfied with the way that Apple and iOS manages your songs and such, then switching to Android will require a change. I have managed to organise my music collection in my own way. With my Android phone, I found that I can manage my music multiple ways and chose the way I am most comfortable with. It is not difficult to get MP3's into iTunes. I think going the other way is not very simple as I understand it. Switching environments is going to be some hassle no matter which you switch to and from.

In any case, thanks for posting your experience and thoughts on moving from iPhone to the SGS3. It's unfortunate that it did not work out for you.

 

[Gmash]

Have to admit, iOS does have some great music recording/editing programs that Android can't match.

 

[mikedt]

Have to admit, iOS does have some great music recording/editing programs that Android can't match.

There's also some really nice and rather pricey hardware that plugs directly into iOS devices. Problem is Apple have ditched the 30pin dock connector with the iPhone 5, and almost certainly will do with the next iPad and iPod Touch as well. There's is an adapter available, but has problems apparently with some existing devices. Just hope that expensive Bose "Works with iPhone" speaker system or whatever works with it, else you got to chuck it out and buy a new one.

That's one of the dangers of been locked into a closed ecosystem like Apple. Something changes or is discontinued, you could have problems and endup having to spend serious amounts of money on new gear. Apparently existing BMW "Works with iPhone" car audio systems don't work properly with the iPhone 5, plus dock adapter. What do you do here, buy a new car, so it will work with your new iPhone 5?

There's one thing about standard USB plugs and TRS audio jacks (invented in the 19th century), they're pretty much standard on everything. and are not likely to go away anytime soon. All new cars I've seen here have standard USB sockets rather than proprietary iOS device sockets on their audio systems. You can plug in what you like, USB sticks and HDDs, smart-phones, even digital cameras, as long as they're FAT/FAT32 formatted and have MP3s on them, they will work. Same thing goes for most new speaker systems, TVs, cable boxes, DVD/EVD players, KTV boxes and stereos, there's some iOS 30pin dock devices as well here.

Inexpensive(and sometimes expensive) USB devices like this are extremely common here now...

..it's just an FM radio, with USB socket and SD-card slot to play MP3s with. I've got one, tried it with a friend's iPhone 4S, by plugging it into the USB with the Apple supplied USB lead, but didn't work well apart from charging the iPhone. Could use the line-in via the iPhone's headphone jack, that worked.

 

[Gmash]

Apple's proprietary ports are a cynical, greedy way for them to rake in even more $$$ from cords and adapters. Might be different if there was a benefit, but there's not.

 

[AndroidSPCS]

As a daily user of iPhone 4S (now iPhone 5), and Galaxy S3 (and looking forward to the Note 2), I sympathize, slightly.

Yes, the old 30 pin accessories were really nice, I have home stereo docks for the iPhone 4S that I use to play music wirelessly. But the new iPhone 5 lightning connector is a joke, as it obsoletes all the prior accessories. I don't consider the adapter an option, as it has severe limitations, and will make the iPhone 5 physically ill-fitting for the old docks even if they worked.

In regards to iTunes, I simply hate it. The software is bloated, crashes my PC, and has caused numerous issues with my iPOS devices (including my iPads). I try to avoid it as much as I can. I updated my iPhone 4S to iPOS 6.0, and during the upgrade it randomly wiped out 70% of my music that I had loaded previously through iTunes. Sucky.

The biggest weakness of Android is the lack of good periperals. The accessories are fragmented, ie the Atrix dock doesn't work with other Android devices. There is no universal music connector that allows smart radios to remotely control playlists on Android, and not a whole lot of home audio devices that cater to Android to stream music to the most common home audio systems.

However what ever advantage Apple have had with the 30 pin connector accessory market, is vaporised and many iOS owners like myself will be relunctant to be locked again to the lightning connectors. Making it even worse is Apple's greediness of making an authorization chip for the lightning connector so you can't easily buy cheap after market connectors, as is supposedly rumored.

This is an inflection point for Apple, and I think the S3 is a far superior device to the iPhone 5. I still use my iPhone 4S because of the old 30 pin accessories, the iPhone 5 not so much.

I think you'll be going back to Android once the Apple dominance winds down, as I believe it will be doing as folks like you and me refuse to upgrade to the iPhone 5 and get locked into another set of proprietary connectors and software.

 

[Shocky]

I don't agree with allot of what your said, but at the end of the day it's all down to personnal preference so buy whatever suits you.

Not sure about music via USB, not something i've ever never.

 

[robertkoa]

Do you mean that you can digitally record Guitar tracks into Garage Band on an iphone over USB and transfer to a DAW later ?

Impressive- I noticed the LG Motion I purchased recently does decent Video Recording but no way to get digital audio in (via USB ).

I can see that the flexibility/open architecture of Android is a handicap for some things.

In the Audio Recording Industry PC Computers are usually configured specifically for Digital Audio Recording where with Macs-not necessary.

Truncating your music files on Android is an example-there's probably a remedy -but on iphone it just works.

The open architecture of Android is more flexible but more work to get everything working like the old Mac VS. PC debate.

Guess it carries over into the Android Vs. Iphone.

I like Android but would love to record 24 bit audio into my phone as a sketchpad for Guitar Tracks etc.

So for you Iphone is much more functional. I get it.

 

[Rush]

Got a Samsung Galaxy S3 (ATT) 2 months ago after having my 32g iPhone 4S stolen in Chicago. I gave the S3 a serious shot but am going back to iPhone. FWIW, I am not going to iPhone5, because I don't care about latest and greatest really, and I have add-on devices that are 30 pin and may not work with the new lightning port (stupid idea).

Used the S3 exclusively for Aug-Sept. Was able to customize it fairly readily, and it worked OK for most typical functions (phone, web, email, music, pics ...) but it had some serious quirks that just made it frustrating for me.

So, I have just handed down my S3 to my father and have gone back to a 32gb iPhone 4S.

The good:
- true 4G/LTE - S3 data speeds were very good and much appreciated
- Google Maps Turn By Turn was very nice
- had a 16gb S3 and was able to add 64gb SDHx with no issues - very cool!

The medium/heh (?)
- bigger screen real estate was nice, but it was quite dim under most conditions

- OTOH, the larger screen made for a less portable feeling device for me.

- Camera was decent but the design of the S3 ( function buttons on the bottom left and right) made it very difficult to hold it to take decent pics.

- the customization of the S3 and Android was interesting, but I found the design metaphor of apps, shortcuts and widgets too cluttered for my taste.

- generally I found the S3 and Android to be reminiscent of my experience with Linux. All kinds of apps and functions could be found, and might even work ok, but they just had a somewhat unfinished feel to them - or in extreme cases, would just look and function poorly (Gibson Guitar tool set being a great example - the iOS version looks and works great - the Android version is just a very crude port).

The bad:
- very difficult to move my significant music collection (5k songs, high bit rate) which was about 60% iTunes (no fan of iTunes myself, but it works) 40% mp3.

- even after finding TuneClone solution, and getting the music library moved over to S3, it worked very badly. Songs that I know are good files were regularly truncated half way through.

- WiFi data rates were good, but the S3 would often drop it's connection with wifi routers and the only thing that seemed to restore it was a full restart. Very annoying.

- NO MUSIC over USB and all related apps or functions. For my iPhone I had/have several great devices for recording and doing studio quality tracks on the fly. Nothing of this kind exists for Android in general. I am told Jellybean will have Music over USB and enable ALSA (from Linux), but having had some poor experiences with ALSA on Linux in the past, I am not eager to work with that environment again.


I am sure that most of you who love your Android device will not care about my decision to go back to iPhone (the only apple device I own BTW), but I thought I would just put my experience out there for your consideration.

I understand quite well... And if I had the same experience (vice versa)_ I too would probably be doing the same thing.

All the best.