Would Love to Hear Opinions From People Who Switched From Iphone

[motionxxusxx]

Can we keep this thread for people who switched from iphone 3gs or 3g to the incredible. I would love to hear their opinions, as I may switch to the incredible. I know there is a honeymoon phase so I know some early opinions may be biased

Thanks

 

[greenrolaids]

I am happy with the switch. The only thing about the iphone that is far superior would be the iphone app store.

But after about a few months with the iphone, i found myself not using my apps and was more concerned with my cell coverage and the web browser, and the apps stopped being a reason to stay with AT&T.

Now i have great cell / 3g coverage, a wicked fast web browser and have awesome turn by turn navigation.

My wish list is short on the Incredible.

Android 2.2
Better battery life

 

[XxICEMAN720xX]

I was using iPhone with T-Mobile and I live in Southern Oregon. My issue with iPhone is 4 hour battery time, and poor reception/coverage.

You can call me crazy but I make many phone calls a day, and its the most annoying thing in the world to be disconnected 4x to the same person because of lack of coverage.

App store is cool, it has almost everything, and I might miss a few things, but there is much to offer from droid market, most items are = or comparable.

 

[GotamaHuy]

I love the Incredible. More customization, faster, better camera with flash, feels great, powered by Android, etc.

Iphone looks boring. Pros about the iphone that is better is that the typing on the iphone is easier for me, but I'll probably will get use the HTC one soon. Better battery life. It does have a lot of apps, but honestly a bunch of the apps are useless.

All in all, I am happy with the switch. I have a better and more reliable network now, and a cell phone is suppose to be a phone, and AT&T doesn't deliver.

 

[tranceFusion]

I've only had the phone a day, so take this all with a grain of salt. I am coming from a 3GS. Here's my random bullet points:

The battery life so far seems about half that of the iphone.

The main thing missing on the app store are the bigger budget games.. no popcap, ea, geodefense, etc.

The Sense UI seems to be focused on Social Networking so if you don't use Facebook, twitter, etc extensively it seems to get in the way more than be useful. I will be glad when I can root the phone and just use vanilla android.

While the phone's capabilities exceed the iphone, the stuff doesn't always "just work" like the iphone. For instance, the included mail program doesn't handle Yahoo IMAP via WiFi.. plus you have to setup the imap server configuration. On an iphone, you punch in your email and password, and it "just works".

There's a lot of settings and figuring them out seems a little overwhelming, but I am sure I will settle into a very usable configuration.

The phone is much zippier than an iphone, even when multitasking.

The voice volume is far louder than an iphone. I actually find myself continually turning it down, instead of trying to turn it up when its already maxed. It still sounds a bit compressed, but I haven't gotten any dropped calls or people complaining about echoing (pretty much my main reason for dumping the iphone)

 

[dm33]

I still have my iPhone
Have the Incredible for a day.
I've been using a G1 periodically for a couple of months.

Some observations:
- Android is not as polished. Hardware is not as uniformly top notch as the iPhone. Apps are not as polished.
- Some usability is rougher. Example: the trackpad is redundant. Too many buttons. Often what takes one obvious touch on an iPhone app takes Menu then some action or two on Android.
- More choices causes complexity. Lots of setup options.

More importantly:
- Its a serious issue for me that I can't get Yahoo to reasonably work. Someone should have done a better app by now.
- The email client is no where near as good at the iPhone's email client.
- Podcasts, video podcasts, iTunes integration really is missing.

On the positive notes:
- The phone is awesome fast. Blazingly fast compared to my iPhone 3G. I can't overload this thing. It screams.
- I am giddy with Verizon coverage. I forgot what its like to actually be able to use a phone. And to have 3G coverage... everywhere!
- Multitasking is pretty wicked. I was driving around listening to Pandora, while Google maps was doing turn by turn navigation to my destination. Awesome.

I'm very techie. The biggest thing for me is that I can no longer tolerate Apple deciding for me what I can do with my iPhone. Their random decisions on what apps are 'allowed' to run on the iPhone have pushed me over the edge. I plan to do what it takes to make the Incredible work. I'm hopeful that Android's rough edges will smooth out over time. It is a superior environment in some respects.

 

[tranceFusion]

Oh yeah I should have mentioned the screen. The increased size and resolution is very nice when reading and browsing.

dm33 - Yahoo mail is killing me too. Considering this phone has flickr and a bunch of other yahoo stuff already built in, it is bizarre that the mail doesn't work properly. If I keep this phone I will prob just have to start forwarding to gmail, as much as I hate to.

I don't find the trackpad redundant. It was always a huge PITA on the iphone if you put your finger down and the cursor went one letter too far to the right/left. Now you just swipe with the trackpad real quick.

 

[kunzie]

Things I miss from iPhone:

- SMS interface. Easily fixed with a $3 (or free with ads) app: chompSMS
- Very little tweaking required with iPhone. Most apps just work.
- Quality control of Apps / App UIs
- (Slightly) cheaper Apps
- Decent Facebook App
- Tweetie 2

Things I prefer over the iPhone:

- Customization
- Flash

 

[memillh]

I still have my iPhone 3GS as well - only while I test drive the Incredible though. I actually used to be an iPhone hater. I originally had a HTC Touch Pro 2 and loved the customization. I gave the iPhone a try and got actually got hooked by how smooth, polished and streamlined it really was.

I decided to give the Incred a try because network issues in Chicago on AT&T were beginning to piss me off. For some reason, only Edge in some parts of my downtown office - and barely a signal in my driveway - just outside the downtown area.

I've used the Incred for a day now - and pretty much agree with the others:

Pros
* Great signal in places where AT&T had trouble
* Faster internet speeds (and it's not just the browser...I actually did a couple speedtests and the Incred won in data speeds every time)
* Love the mutli-tasking (although that's on the way for iPhone)
* Love the easy access to social media feeds via widgets
* Love the seamless integration with my Google email, Google voice, and Google reader.
* The Google Maps Navigation is awesome!
* Bluetooth music streaming works seamlessness with my new Toyota Venza!

Cons
* Battery life is less than the iPhone (only slightly though - as the 3GS's was pretty bad)
* App store is not as robust (I tried to replace all of my most useful iPhone apps - and was only able to do so for about 75% of them)
* The screen (I believe OLED?) doesn't seem as sharp. There's a slight haze or compressed look around icons and within apps.
* Some of the apps that I was able to find duplicates for don't look or work as well (i.e. the slider button wasn't working in the Bank of America app - and again, the graphics aren't as sharp...no biggie though)
* I've had to do the infamous "forced close" on a couple apps within the first day (never had glitches during my few months with the iPhone)
* The media player is not as robust as my iPhone's (I've noticed a slight lip sync delay in video podcasts)
* For podcasts (i'm a heavy user), I'm still trying to find workarounds for sync'ing them. I'm giving DoggCatcher a try, but it's already glitched on downloads a few times. Not as easy as sync'ing to iTunes.

Overall, I love the Incred, although I do miss the polish, streamlining and stability of the iPhone. Ideally, if Verizon was selling a 3GS or 4G right now, that would be my choice. The Incred presented my first chance to jump over to a better network for something that's at least comparable though. I've felt handcuffed by AT&T.

I'll continue this test drive for the next week, while I hold on to my 3GS/AT&T service - and will make a decision later. I can report back here though with my decision.

 

[motionxxusxx]

Thanks for all the good info. Keep the replies coming.

 

[benjamin7062]

I won't repeat everything from the above posts but they are pretty dead on. I should preface this with I'm a BB user by heart but I've been on an iPhone for the last year, own an iPad, yet don't really care for Apple. In-other-words I just use the best device for the job and don't bother with who makes it. I'm not a fan boy of any of them. I prefer stuff that 'works' and whoever delivers it gets my money.

In addition to the above posts:

--Exchange Email support is half-baked at best (my subfolders don't all show up, intigration with the phone is clumsy, etc)

--The phone is snappy but without polish. You can tell it is brute forcing through things with it's processor, some screens won't go horizontal for typing, etc

--The battery is pretty bad. Plenty of folks on here are uninformed about Li-Ion batteries and bark about exercising them..etc. I'm not here to educate so I'll let them stay misinformed. The Incredible and most of the apps are not as highly optimized as the iPhone and they eat up CPU. Your battery life will be factor of signal strength and how much you let apps chew on your CPU. (type of app is also a factor) With that said, coming from an iPhone .. equal usage between similar apps will yield a much worse battery experience on the Android over an iPhone 3GS. One sip call this morning for 70 secs drained 12% of a fresh charge. Right after a clean kill-all from taskpanel. Then the phone drained slowly after that. Either way.. .purchase with the expectation that the battery is bad and ignore the bias and fan club on the forums. Usable? To each their own... you won't know until you try it with your personal usage pattern.

--Multi-tasking on this phone is a bit over rated due to the above battery point. However, having the option is nice. You simply need a nuclear power plant for a battery if you want to run CPU intensive apps in the background (Pandora, Sip Phones, etc)

--The Phone's screen in sunlight is less bad than people make it out to be compared to the iPhone. Yes, it is more difficult to see but really you need to have the sun shining RIGHT on it to notice the difference.

--The phone allows a TON of customization on the sense UI which is neat, refreshing, but limited to the design of the Widget creators.

--Every single major app for the phone I've used has seemed half-baked as well. If you are familiar with unix... consider all the open-source alternatives to core windows apps. They get the job done but often with much less polish... and hoops to jump through

--Someone above mentioned the 'just-work' thing. You will find that most everything you enjoy with your Apple 'just-works'. He's right about the incredible. Things on the incredible are cumbersome comparing them.

Issues I've had with the Phone:

--Lots of apps crashing (core apps)
--Bluetooth will not stay connected to any of my A2DP headsets (including car) pairs fine but disconnects after 5 secs of music playback
--Built in email client won't load half my Exchange sub-folders
--Battery lasts approx 3/4 an iPhone 3GS. Maybe a tiny bit less than 3/4.
--TouchDown app for exchange email doesn't tie-to-the-phone as cleanly so your exchange options are simply half-arse
--Polish, Polish, Polish - You will immediately notice this coming from an iPhone

The good:

--Loud Speaker
--Nicer Camera
--Verizon (although where I live ATT > Verizon in 3G and Coverage)
--Removable Battery (options for bigger batteries)
--Great speach-to-text input.. really accurate and usable in all text fields
--Google Apps (Anything they've personally designed has more polish and works well)
--Customization is really refreshing

Conclusion (For Me):

If I do not find a solution to the bluetooth A2DP issue I will return mine. It is *almost* there but I use my device for work and the Enterprise support is lacking a bit. Since that is a huge deal for me all these other small issues start to stack up making it not an optimal phone for me.

Be conscious that 95% of the forum is in love with the phone right now. They just got it and we all want to love our new toys. It takes some time for that bias to rub off and for people to really _feel_ the hurdles this phone brings. Additionally, folks coming from rotary phones and old gadgets will LOVE this phone. However, coming from an iPhone 3GS you will likely feel like the hardware promises of this phone don't quite hold up to an iPhone when you see how unpolished the OS is still.

But... it's getting much closer and I'm EAGER to get away from Apple...

 

[kyle1745]

I think one thing people forget is that with the incredible you can at least get a larger battery or a second one... Can't do that with a iphone.

Never been a iphone fan to me its simply a great device limited by apple.

 

[Lars]

I have an iTouch 3G and a 1G so my comparison is more limited. I'm coming from years of Win Mobile phones. I'll try not to rehash others opinions.

Pros:
Much faster at doing most everything. Especially switching between apps. Even the itouch 3G can take a minute to reopen the app and data or web page.
Wonderful screen, 800 pixels wide is PC browsing!
Speaker sound is better than the 3G when playing video. 1G has no speaker.
Call quality is top notch. You'll like the red map. Everytime I talk to a friend on an iphone half the conversation is "what?" "can you repeat that?"
Better selection of apps for me. Apple outlaws the ones I really want. I'm not a game player. The fact that Apple has 200K apps and Android 50K doesn't matter. I only load 50.
Exchange server works fine for me. Folders and all.
AOL self configures too. I think SBC/ATT/Yahoo uses crazy imap ports.
No itunes yay!
I think the INC hardware is better built. My itouch 1g is a tank and is definately the toughest thing out there but the 3G is very flimsy and screen is warped and threatens to exit the casing.
The mapping and Nav is totally awsome. Besides full Nav the map app has tons of Google Labs addons including terrain, buzz, instant reviews of things like restaurants, Latitude, measuring tape for distance and scaling. The iphone app is barren in comparison.

Cons:
Battery life gets me through a day but is tight. Better than my Samsung Saga with a standard battery but my guess is worse than an iPwn.
The ipods have amazing battery life. (I know, doesn't count)
OS is not as intuitive but has more features.
Not proven whether the phone can protect itself from rogue apps. It should be similar to BB since they both use java applet type apps.
Synching music and video is a bit easier with itunes (but the INC mounts as a drive)

At this point WM doesn't touch the INC for anything except easy wifi tethering and Outlook Tasks integration.

 

[kyler13]

I'm not a former iphone user as I've been with Verizon since 2006, but I am an ipod touch user and I had a few observations to share. Beware of the promise of "it just works" with Apple. Whereas with Android, typically the next version smooths out performance and promises better optimization, this isn't the case with Apple. I have a first gen ipod touch which shares the hardware with the iphone 2g. Despite not having any hardware to take advantage of OS 3.0, I actually found a way to install it without paying for the upgrade so I did. MISTAKE. Yes, I got the enhancements, but I also got laaaaaag. The smoothness and usability went out the door. It sucks. The first gen ipod touch/iphone hardware can't handle the latest OS, and I fear that 3G, maybe even 3GS users might experience the same issues with OS 4.0, especially with multi-tasking introduced. That being said, I don't particular care for the short hardware cycle that Apple utilizes, only because it's done at a steep premium. I was enamored with the ipod touch. I loved it when I got it 2 years ago. But I don't use the unconnected apps much anymore. I've mostly used it for music, and some web browsing. The games and such were really peripheral to my use. As a touch user, I suffered from being shackled to wifi, but it didn't seem worth it to switch to AT&T. Also, I absolutely hate email integration on the touch/iphone platform as a gmail user. I understand Android may be painful for yahoo users whereas it just works with Apple, but it might as well be a 180 if you're on gmail. My friend at work loves Apple stuff. When I told him I was getting the Incredible, he asked me if I'd return it if the iphone came out on Verizon within 30 days (doubtful it would). Ummm, no thanks.

 

[benjamin7062]

I'm not a former iphone user as I've been with Verizon since 2006, but I am an ipod touch user and I had a few observations to share. Beware of the promise of "it just works" with Apple. Whereas with Android, typically the next version smooths out performance and promises better optimization, this isn't the case with Apple. I have a first gen ipod touch which shares the hardware with the iphone 2g. Despite not having any hardware to take advantage of OS 3.0, I actually found a way to install it without paying for the upgrade so I did. MISTAKE. Yes, I got the enhancements, but I also got laaaaaag. The smoothness and usability went out the door. It sucks. The first gen ipod touch/iphone hardware can't handle the latest OS, and I fear that 3G, maybe even 3GS users might experience the same issues with OS 4.0, especially with multi-tasking introduced. That being said, I don't particular care for the short hardware cycle that Apple utilizes, only because it's done at a steep premium. I was enamored with the ipod touch. I loved it when I got it 2 years ago. But I don't use the unconnected apps much anymore. I've mostly used it for music, and some web browsing. The games and such were really peripheral to my use. As a touch user, I suffered from being shackled to wifi, but it didn't seem worth it to switch to AT&T. Also, I absolutely hate email integration on the touch/iphone platform as a gmail user. I understand Android may be painful for yahoo users whereas it just works with Apple, but it might as well be a 180 if you're on gmail. My friend at work loves Apple stuff. When I told him I was getting the Incredible, he asked me if I'd return it if the iphone came out on Verizon within 30 days (doubtful it would). Ummm, no thanks.

You make some fair comparisons for the older apple hardware. However, the iPhone 3GS experience was really the first REAL iPhone experience. It is what people coming from iPhones will compare other phones to. I also purchased an iPhone 2G to try it and went back to my BB right after. I simply ate the cost and it sits in my closet. At that time I strongly agree with you that iPhone wasnt-there-yet. On the other hand this version of the droid is the same. It is faster than the iPhone 2G was back then (especially after the OS upgrades) but the issues with the Droids are really related to the OS/platform itself.

The iPhone 3GS (just that one) is a better phone than this Incredible in probably more ways than not MAINLY because of the closed architecture that Apple enforces. Thus, they can get away with highly optimizing the phone's experience. But, this incredible shows just how quickly android is catching up in several aspects. When they do become equal at some point the android has such a bigger offering that it will most likely dominate. In many ways it already exceeds an iPhone.

However, I would argue the iPhone 3GS is a better experience (currently) than this particular version of the Android OS. The hardware on the HTC is better in many ways but underwhelms because of the OS. Future updates will probably address this and level the playing field. Apple's next iPhone is hardly as innovative as the previous versions.

If the iPhone 3GS was available on Verizon I'm sure many would prefer it over this phone. But, with any statement like that it is HIGHLY subjective to personal opinion. And, really, no one is wrong when it comes to an opinion.

This phone just came out. It's brand new. People love it. Plenty of reasons to love it. But... it is no iPhone 3GS. (in regards to overall experience)

 

[jwm2]

Wow the misinformation in this thread is enough to make your head pop off. I'll just keep my mouth shut and let it go. Its not worth getting excited over. Hey if you like the iphone then by all means go back to it. I have no need for an iphone and yes i've had one i also have an ipod touch that sits here collecting dust. I have about $250-300 in apps for my apple devices and still don't care to go back to them. The android platform has won me over in every way possible. Call me an android fanboy, i don't care. Its an excellent platform and just got an incredible addition to it yesterday. (pun intended)

 

[benjamin7062]

Don't worry. You won't be the last person to come jump-up-and-down because someone doesn't worship this precious phone. However, there are plenty of people who come to the forums and lurk looking for 'opinions'. I know it was valuable to me to have people objectively review the phone without all the 'omg it's amazing best phone ever' crap. It's a lot easier to ease into a different phone (especially coming from an iPhone 3GS) when you manage your expectations.

People can't seem to handle criticism of this device. Which... is fine, because the random lurker will walk away with what they came for and ignore the android bias banter.

It's a great phone for a lot of people but still not the iPhone killer I was hoping it would be. Even with Steve Hitler and his annoying my-way-or-the-highway attitude.

 

[droidINCREDIBLE]

Don't worry. You won't be the last person to come jump-up-and-down because someone doesn't worship this precious phone. However, there are plenty of people who come to the forums and lurk looking for 'opinions'. I know it was valuable to me to have people objectively review the phone without all the 'omg it's amazing best phone ever' crap. It's a lot easier to ease into a different phone (especially coming from an iPhone 3GS) when you manage your expectations.

People can't seem to handle criticism of this device. Which... is fine, because the random lurker will walk away with what they came for and ignore the android bias banter.

It's a great phone for a lot of people but still not the iPhone killer I was hoping it would be. Even with Steve Hitler and his annoying my-way-or-the-highway attitude.

My friend. THIS phone is the iPHONE KILLER.
now pick up your junk and get da bleep bleep out of here !

 

[benjamin7062]

My friend. THIS phone is the iPHONE KILLER.
now pick up your junk and get da bleep bleep out of here !

...way to contribute! *high five*

 

[dylo22]

Don't worry. You won't be the last person to come jump-up-and-down because someone doesn't worship this precious phone. However, there are plenty of people who come to the forums and lurk looking for 'opinions'. I know it was valuable to me to have people objectively review the phone without all the 'omg it's amazing best phone ever' crap. It's a lot easier to ease into a different phone (especially coming from an iPhone 3GS) when you manage your expectations.

People can't seem to handle criticism of this device. Which... is fine, because the random lurker will walk away with what they came for and ignore the android bias banter.

It's a great phone for a lot of people but still not the iPhone killer I was hoping it would be. Even with Steve Hitler and his annoying my-way-or-the-highway attitude.

I think the problem is you seem to write paragraphs after paragraphs to what's wrong with the phone in explicit detail (some of the very trivial) while only gave a very short list of pros. That to me makes your opinion just as bias as every one else.

 

[benjamin7062]

I think the problem is you seem to write paragraphs after paragraphs to what's wrong with the phone in explicit detail (some of the very trivial) while only gave a very short list of pros. That to me makes your opinion just as bias as every one else.

The specific nature of _this_ thread was a comparison of the Incredible coming from an "iPhone". When you are switching from a Ferrari to another Ferrari there aren't a TON of benefits to list beyond the ones I've listed (excluding the previous folks who listed quite a few).

They are both good phones so from one iPhone user to another I wish someone would have laid out some of things I could have expected upon switching. If you knowingly continue to purchase the phone after acknowledging its faults then you will be pleasantly surprised and happy with your experience.

Objectivity is not Bias.

And, again, many of my statements are 'opinions' which are only one person's interpretation of both phones strengths and weaknesses.

 

[motionxxusxx]

I've been an original iphone owner (2g, 3g and 3gs). I always need to have the latest tech but since the iphone came out, I tried the palm and eris but have always come back to the iphone. I am one of those people who would buy a new unlocked phone every few months but the iphone has changed that habit. So far no other phone compares to the 3gs in user experience. I'm still looking for that phone and was hoping the incredible would be it.

 

[andermk]

Good Information guys... Thanks for the info...

 

[benjamin7062]

I've been an original iphone owner (2g, 3g and 3gs). I always need to have the latest tech but since the iphone came out, I tried the palm and eris but have always come back to the iphone. I am one of those people who would buy a new unlocked phone every few months but the iphone has changed that habit. So far no other phone compares to the 3gs in user experience. I'm still looking for that phone and was hoping the incredible would be it.

Since you are on AT&T take it for a test drive for a few days. I fully intend to switch and accept the 'gotchas' with the phone assuming I can work out the Enterprise issues and the few other bugs.

I'm even considering the Droid just to get off an iPhone. The Droid offers the ability to root it right away, no Sense UI (faster updates to the OS), on only slightly weaker hardware. I'm ready to switch to Android... but I need the core items to work.

There is a lot of fuss to the nay sayers of this Phone but in-the-end it isn't as polished as an iPhone. However, it DOES have other benefits and *almost* matches many of your current experiences. Really... go use the thing, play with it hard for a few days, and make sure to contribute back your experience.. good-or-bad.

 

[droidINCREDIBLE]

I've been an original iphone owner (2g, 3g and 3gs). I always need to have the latest tech but since the iphone came out, I tried the palm and eris but have always come back to the iphone. I am one of those people who would buy a new unlocked phone every few months but the iphone has changed that habit. So far no other phone compares to the 3gs in user experience. I'm still looking for that phone and was hoping the incredible would be it.

Incredible is it ! no doubt.

You can not compare the PALM/ERIS to the INCREDIBLE. JUST CANT. Thats a very simple rule you need to follow.
Just go to your local store and play with the Incredible for 10 minutes. just 10 minutes and you will be blown away. and then come back to this forum with a feedback.