An iPhone or an Android phone...?

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Hi.

Should i stay with Android or shift to iOS.

You see, I love listening to music. I love transferring files without those fiddly softwares to use (iTunes or Kies). I like creating playlist, editing a playlist and deleting songs on a playlist on-the-fly. A solid, crisp, loud, clear music is a must. Listened to an iPhone 5C at an Apple Retail store and was quite underwhelmed by the soft & tinny (read: not so loud audio output). Galaxy phones like the S4 seems ok but is too expensive.

Also, like taking photos on my phone. A very quick opening of the app, a quick shutter speed, a good low-light capability and a very quick burst mode is what i'm looking for.

So, now based on my requirements i'm stuck with choosing between an iPhone 5 or the Xperia SP. I like the cool, simplistic iOS7 but i also love the customisations, multitasking and options that Android has to offer.


Any advice please?
 

vansmith

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You're asking on an Apple forum - keep that in mind when the glut of "go with the iPhone" recommendations creep in.

Go with whatever you value more. Most smartphones on the market will handle what 95% of people want to do. Ultimately, the choice is yours and making a recommendation is difficult since you seem to like both.
 
C

chas_m

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I might cause Vansmith to faint here, but the *better* Android phones can meet your specified needs as easily as an iPhone.

You can probably get an iPhone 5 at a very attractive price right now, and I personally think it is a better phone and better OS than anything on the Android or Windows Phone side (though there are a handful of models that I would consider worthy competitors, the flagship models from HTC, Samsung and Nokia mostly), so naturally I will suggest you give the iPhone a try since you've already given Android a try.

The iPhone 5s in particular (yes, I know, they're scarce at the moment) will do what you want arguably better than any smartphone on the planet right now. Don't take my word for it, read the reviews -- particularly the ones from photography-oriented sites.

And I definitely wouldn't just ANY smartphone by what their tiny built-in speakers can produce. Dreadful, the lot of them. It's why headphones were invented.

I've looked at the best phones on offer from other companies besides Apple and have generally been impressed by at least some of the features available, but my biggest problem with Android is security -- 92 percent of all malware for mobile devices is on guess which platform. Windows and iOS are essentially free of this issue (apart from SMS scams, but that's on every platform and isn't an actual bit of software, just social engineering).
 
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I was wanting an iPhone 5 (found several on Ebay) but again as i have said it left me wanting more on the audio/music side of things; its not loud enough even with the volume at maxiumum. The equalizers are not even customisable. Found a 3rd-party EQ app on iTunes but if i pay and i don't like it will i get a refund? That's another question. (i've emailed the developer and i have yet to get a reply).

I also hate iTunes. Very fiddly, very "technical" (as your having to look for the files then clicking sync, etc.) and very "closed platform" feel. Why can't Apple just update it for a full drag n drop capability like what i can do with an Android phone?

Camera seems to be a strong asset of iPhones. I love their simplicity, quick startup and the burst mode especially with iOS7. But Android phones are also getting better by each day with updates being issued i think (i could be wrong here) more often than iPhones with better features, added features and basically more options to tinker with.
 
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chas_m

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I was wanting an iPhone 5 (found several on Ebay) but again as i have said it left me wanting more on the audio/music side of things; its not loud enough even with the volume at maxiumum.

This is probably due to you having already damaged your hearing through excessive loud music playing. You might want to consult an audiologist about this, but for heaven's sake don't go making the problem worse by playing things a maximum volume!!

(and I'm not one of those snooty jazz fans who looks down their nose at rock music; I go to concerts all the time)

The equalizers are not even customisable.

Sure they are, but you set them in iTunes on your computer, and then turn the iPod's equalizer off:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/1088999?start=0&tstart=0


Camera seems to be a strong asset of iPhones.

It is no accident that the iPhone is in fact the single most popular camera in the world.

But Android phones are also getting better by each day with updates being issued i think (i could be wrong here) more often than iPhones with better features, added features and basically more options to tinker with.

Ah, thanks for reminding me of the second reason I don't like Android: you are totally at the mercy of your carrier (except for small number of models made directly for Google) as to WHEN and IF you will EVER get an update from the version you bought that came with the device. And it is in the carrier's interest NOT to provide you with updates.

And even when they do, it's usually MONTHS after the update originally came out, even if said update included important security fixes. Apple has it ALL OVER Android on this particular point.

As for "more features, better features": usually the latter claim is, at best, arguable, but I will certainly cede the former part of that. However, "more features" doesn't always translate into a hit: the Galaxy S4 has been a big disappointment compared to the SIII, because its extra features were seen as gimmicky, little-used and not good enough to merit it being pushed as a major upgrade. Having loads of features hasn't helped the HTC One, the BlackBerry Z10 or the Lumia 920 (or whatever the current flagship is) from being universally ignored. Having tons of "more features" didn't help any MP3 player in any way whatsoever to challenge the iPod. The 41MP camera phone on the Nokia 1020 hasn't helped it challenge the iPhone.

If you're a hopeless tinkerer, Android may be the best choice (though I think the two concerns I mentioned are very serious problems at present). As I said earlier, the best Android products aren't bad at all (barring the issues I mentioned).

But when you get to the point in your life where you realise that having a phone that just does what it says on the tin, made by people who genuinely care, is more valuable than endless customization time sucks -- get an iPhone.
 
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I'm in my mid-30's and to be perfectly honest i don't think my hearing is badly affected or "going down". When i listened to the iPhone 5C at maximum volume (albeit at a crowded Apple store with their "own" headphones) i found it to be tinny, soft & weak. Now again this could be because of many factors like (again) the crowds, the EQ settings, the bitrate of the song, etc. With my Galaxy S3 at the same crowded place the volume is at around 70-80% and the volume for me is reaching "loud" levels. Now perhaps again this is because of the various settings, customisations behind the on-device (and 3rd-party app) music player. That i think is the beauty of Android. Why do i need to "set" the EQ on iTunes then sync it to my device? WHy can't i do it on-the-fly?

Camera i am not too fuzzed about. I can live with an iPhone camera or a Lumia WP8 camera. But it has to be "current-gen" or current-gen with some extra features. I am not a tinkerer and i don't expect DSLR-like features on my phone. I want just to take photos with a bit of extra. If you know what i mean.

Updates shoudn't be only once a year. Apple, Google, Microsoft...they all do it once a year / major OS updates. But what's important to me is those incremental/minor updates that is needed like security flaws, battery life, wifi disconnecting, multitouch issues, etc. Minor updates should be "almost immediately" once a serious flaw has been detected. And not wait for 4 months when hackers already managed to reverse engineer your fingerprint and clone you.
 
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For updates, you are much better going with Apple. Apple pushes out updates to all of their currently supported devices. The only Android phones that get steady updates are the Nexus line because they are raw Android, and not some broken cobbled together customization by the carriers or manufacturer.

Apple and Android both have major software updates, usually once a year, when the entire OS gets updated, like Vista to 7. But they both get incremental updates and security fixes throughout the year.
 
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I'm in my mid-30's and to be perfectly honest i don't think my hearing is badly affected or "going down". When i listened to the iPhone 5C at maximum volume (albeit at a crowded Apple store with their "own" headphones) i found it to be tinny, soft & weak. Now again this could be because of many factors like (again) the crowds, the EQ settings, the bitrate of the song, etc. With my Galaxy S3 at the same crowded place the volume is at around 70-80% and the volume for me is reaching "loud" levels. Now perhaps again this is because of the various settings, customisations behind the on-device (and 3rd-party app) music player. That i think is the beauty of Android. Why do i need to "set" the EQ on iTunes then sync it to my device? WHy can't i do it on-the-fly?

Camera i am not too fuzzed about. I can live with an iPhone camera or a Lumia WP8 camera. But it has to be "current-gen" or current-gen with some extra features. I am not a tinkerer and i don't expect DSLR-like features on my phone. I want just to take photos with a bit of extra. If you know what i mean.

Updates shoudn't be only once a year. Apple, Google, Microsoft...they all do it once a year / major OS updates. But what's important to me is those incremental/minor updates that is needed like security flaws, battery life, wifi disconnecting, multitouch issues, etc. Minor updates should be "almost immediately" once a serious flaw has been detected. And not wait for 4 months when hackers already managed to reverse engineer your fingerprint and clone you.
Spend some time with each model at a showroom but most of us on this forum like what Apple has to offer.
My main hobby is Audio Video and I make a living at it with that being said all mobile devices including laptops have a crappy sound as compared to a good set of ear pods or headphone because you can not beat the laws of physics it is impossible with current technology to get Hi-Fi sound out of micro speakers in small cabinets they will never cover the desired frequency for movie or music playback thats why headphones and ear pods/buds come into play and lossless coded with a great set of phones sounds so close on all but Windows and even that can be fixed by defeating Kmixer.
 
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I should add when shopping for headphones/buds try and select models that are rated for 50ohms or less simply do to the fact portable devices lack the power to drive them adequately also if you should find some if they exist stay away from any with less than 15ohms as they will pick up the noise foor of the amp (HISS).
As for the drag and drop sure you can its called make playlists I do it all the time I make Classicl,Blues and Rock playlists and change from time to time.
iTunes may not be perfect but it migrates to all my gear without a hitch when i want to have fun Geek Tweaking there is several Distros of Linux for that which IMO is the ultimate tweaking OS.
 

vansmith

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I might cause Vansmith to faint here, but the *better* Android phones can meet your specified needs as easily as an iPhone.
I was sitting down when it happened so I'm okay. ;)

As I mentioned, 95% of smartphones will meet the needs of 95% of people. You've got some specific needs and from the sounds of it, you have a slight preference for Android. Either way, I think you'll be happy with just about any platform including iOS.
 

dtravis7


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Van you are so skeuomorphismic! hahahahahhaha.
 

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