Any Hero & iPhone 3G(s) owners?

[ciden]

Any1 here that owns both a Hero and iPhone? What are your thoughts comparing the 2? I've had my Hero 4 less than a week, and I have to say I luv the phone. I also luv my iPhone - it's super fast and the apps u get and the integration with MobileMe are amazing.

My Hero on the otherhand feels totally different - it's like u're in control of so much more. The integration with GMail has brought features to my attention that i never knew 'bout. The phone is a bit slower than the iPhone, but not to the point that it's anoying. Also the integration with Facebook makes for a very nice experience.

My thoughts - what's u'rs?

 

[Elpelco]

I don't own an iphone, but the thing that made me get a Hero instead of an iphone was the openness of it. That plus HTC sense, I LOVE my widgets.

 

[Nighthaunt]

Only used an original iPhone, then a N97, before switching to the Hero.

The iPhone interface is very smooth, the N97 is an excellent phone with limited customization. The iPhone is faster but is only running one app at a time.

I prefer the Hero - the widgets were why I got the N97 but they work the way I want on the Hero.

The main benefit with the Hero is I can do everything I need using widgets on the home screens. With the iPhone I have to open several apps so although it works slightly faster it takes me longer to check my messages, email, Twitter etc... when compared with the Hero.

 

[Neo-Dragon]

I switched from the iphone 3g (not S) after getting my Hero and I do miss the iphones slightly bigger screen size and resolution.
Multimedia playback is way better on the iphone then the hero.

Other then that, I love all the widgets and apps on the Hero. I love the vibration feedback when pressing keys on the keypad and the ability to sync your contacts with google.

Plus multi tasking is great.

 

[coreymcl]

I have both, I really like the Android platform based on the ability to customize it. I will list a few of my thoughts below.

1. Android is less polished than the iPhone OS when you look at the UI (User Interface).
2. If multimedia is important than Android is missing the boat. The lack of a desktop sync'ing solution like iTunes is a big mistake. This by far is the area that Google and others needs to focus their attention. Devices like Android and WebOS for that matter are great multimedia devices but the ease of use is just not there for sync'ing large digital library's.
3. In 1.5 you have to click too many times as compared to other OS's such as iPhone. Also having the Palm Pre as well as the iPhone 3Gs, I'm not only comparing Android to the iPhone as well as others to be fair. Symbain suffers the same issues in this area.
4. Some of the apps I have grown used to using on my iPhone are not available on my Hero, such as Mint.com, Chase Bank, and a Kindle reader just to name a few.


Anyway, that's a few of my thoughts.

 

[mrmcphisto]

I own both.

What i would like on the Hero:

1. a great program like iBlacklist, afirewall and others are good, but good its not good enough

2. the Appstore and the tons of apps

3. a better sync program even for MacOS X!

 

[trick202]

I am growing increasingly impatient with the Android market. It needs to mature, and FAST!

Where are all the decent games/apps/utilities? Even the ones I have are great from a functional point of view - but lack any polish.

I think apple have it right in so many areas. Their target market couldn't care less about multitasking. They lived without MMS and copy/paste quite happily.

They are a different breed to Android users, who like to tinker and continually mess.

I'd go as far as to say that if the entire apple userbase was to switch to Android overnight, it would be a disaster for android. All those users who didn't have the patience/knowledge/experience to live with a platform like android would brand it "unfinished/broken/clunky/complicated".

Apple is great for Apple people - Android is great for Android people. I love both platforms, and depending on my mood on any particular morning - I could see myself owning either.

My Hero is OK, but I think I should have got a vanilla device as waiting around for HTC is a pain. Sense is "nice", but 2.0 is nicer!

 

[Elpelco]

I agree about Android being unpolished. It took me a while to realise that a lot of what I love about the Hero are HTC things, not Android. That being said, I still love the open-ness of Android.

 

[phillevy]

I have a Hero and my wife has a 3GS - I have spent many an hour playing with them both and comparing. As we are talking Hero (as opposed to Android) I will have to say that the iPhone loses out when comparing interfaces and is bland by comparison. HTC's sensui is far more polished IMO (a comparison with vanilla Android may be different).
The larger iPhone screen is nice to view, but for me makes the device too large. I'm much happier with the Hero's more compact form factor.
As far as functionality/ability/customisation then it is no contest - Hero wins hands down. However, as said before, some like it simple and my wife would never be as happy with the Hero - nor myself with the iPhone.
Simplicity is taken to extremes with the iPhone as well - no user-replaceable battery or memory card - some don't care about these things.

 

[MartinS]

I switched from iPhone 3G to Hero and the only thing I really miss is texting on the iPhone. Texting on the Hero is horrible and I'm not sure if its because the screen is smaller or less responsive or less accurate or all of these..?

 

[phillevy]

I switched from iPhone 3G to Hero and the only thing I really miss is texting on the iPhone. Texting on the Hero is horrible and I'm not sure if its because the screen is smaller or less responsive or less accurate or all of these..?

Have you tried one of the 3rd party apps like ChompSMS or Handcent? - much more iPhone-like. Accuracy is greatly improved if you run the callibration utility in the Hero's settings.

 

[MartinS]

Have you tried one of the 3rd party apps like ChompSMS or Handcent - much more iPhone-like.

Yes I use Chomp (which is a good app), but still feel it suffers from difficulty in typing quickly and accurately as the keyboard is the same still.

 

[ciden]

I agree about Android being unpolished. It took me a while to realise that a lot of what I love about the Hero are HTC things, not Android. That being said, I still love the open-ness of Android.

I'll 2nd that!

 

[bartjunited]

tried using the phone in keypad mode i find i get text much quicker this way

 

[scottricketts]

We came from hacked iPhone 2G on a local carrier, wife's phone was cracked and was having internet streaming difficulties. We wanted to give our 17 year old a new phone for xmas, and the option of paying AT&T $90 a month JUST for data was insane. I comparison shopped and for $99 at Best Buy the Hero on Sprint was unbeatable.

It's not as polished as the iPhone, the app store isn't nearly as organzied and lacks really good games, but the Hero can multitask, which means a lot to me. I miss parts of my iPhone, but finding Bloo, ruining the text entry config, and playing with it more, I am learning to appreciate my Hero.