iPhone 4S or Samsung Galaxy S2 ???

My opinion......

Had the Galaxy S II for one day and returned it to Sprint.

Nice screen and all, but it was too large even for my large hands. Kept on hitting the darn volume key, which lowered the volume a whole lot and good not hear the phone ring or caller at times. Hit the volume key when taking it out of the pouch as well. Wish the volume key was on the top of the phone. Voice quality was not as clear or crisp either. Could have been that one phone but it was a let down. Too bad one cannot test these things out and not have a penalty for returning it ($35.00 restocking fee), lets say one or two days, but I know it not going to happen. Just ranting.

On top of that, 4G was worthless in my home, outside of it and across the street where I eat. Tested the download and upload speed and was getting G2 levels ( 350k dn/150k upload or abouts). Not good.
4G is not ready in my area and not a good investment at this time.

I'll check out the iPhone 4s or new iPhone 5 next year and maybe 4G will be on that phone or at least it will mature more around the country and be worth it.
 
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Buddy of mine picked up the 4S this morning, and was showing it off. I was not impressed in the least. Siri was very slow in responding it seemed, he would ask a simple question to Siri, and it would be like 10 - 15 seconds to reply sometimes.

And still the screen looks washed out and bland, compared to my Nexus-S 4G with the Super AMOLED screen, I am rooted with Voodoo controls to get even better screen colors, and I find my screen to be a heck of a lot nicer looking.

And again just a screen full of app icons :rolleyes: no Widgets, or customization stock.
 
Zorachus said:
Buddy of mine picked up the 4S this morning, and was showing it off. I was not impressed in the least. Siri was very slow in responding it seemed, he would ask a simple question to Siri, and it would be like 10 - 15 seconds to reply sometimes.

And still the screen looks washed out and bland, compared to my Nexus-S 4G with the Super AMOLED screen, I am rooted with Voodoo controls to get even better screen colors, and I find my screen to be a heck of a lot nicer looking.

And again just a screen full of app icons :rolleyes: no Widgets, or customization stock.
Click to expand...

From what I understand, Siri communicates with apples servers. And they are being hammered right now. Probably why it is going so slow. During reviews, no one mentioned it being slow, so it probably has to do with the servers being hammered.

As far as the screen, I think Ips displays look great, but I do think amoled screens are better due to viewing angles, though they tend to exaggerate colors. As far as widgets and all that, kinda pointless IMO. Apple would be copying android if they made it function like it.
 
Omerta said:
As far as widgets and all that, kinda pointless IMO. Apple would be copying android if they made it function like it.
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The problem is these icons are like frigging 1996...

Sorry, but something has got to change, and what's up with cluttering my screen like that?!?
 
CHANG3D said:
The problem is these icons are like frigging 1996...

Sorry, but something has got to change, and what's up with cluttering my screen like that?!?
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I think they're fine. A phone functions differently than a regular computer. The screens are too small to multitask in the same way with having multiple apps on the screen at once. In the smartphone world, a single app takes up the whole screen, so there's really no point to really try and create screen space as far as the home screen, unless you want to put widgets, but full blown smartphone apps tend to deliver much more functionality than widgets. I really dont see the problem with it.
 
I prefer open platforms which allow me to do what I want.
So I would go with the GS2. I'm getting my wife one next week.
As far as personal preference, both will do just about whatever you want quite adequately.
I have been told repeatedly - once an iPhone user, always an iPhone user...
I guess it's a matter of what you're used to and what you like.
For me the phone is an alternate PC for me in many ways - my disk on key, my internet (for my laptop) when Im stuck in the middle of nowhere and have to get something done on the web, my video player, my flash player....
As I said, my second (actually fifth) PC, I'm not sure an iPhone could fill all those needs for me - but again it's USER specific.
Luckily for Samsung the GS2 has the same hype as iPhone, so the choice has to actually be a rational one.
Good luck!
 
Zorachus said:
Buddy of mine picked up the 4S this morning, and was showing it off. I was not impressed in the least. Siri was very slow in responding it seemed, he would ask a simple question to Siri, and it would be like 10 - 15 seconds to reply sometimes.

And still the screen looks washed out and bland, compared to my Nexus-S 4G with the Super AMOLED screen, I am rooted with Voodoo controls to get even better screen colors, and I find my screen to be a heck of a lot nicer looking.

And again just a screen full of app icons :rolleyes: no Widgets, or customization stock.
Click to expand...

Few things

First off, Siri's responsiveness depends on the strength and speed of your data connection. I've seen instant response on Wifi

Second, the screen is not washed out, thats your imagination

Third, What, exactly, benefit do you think you get by having a blank homescreen, then pressing an app icon, vs just having a grid of apps? The ultimate goal is to use the phone and its features. The iPhone way enables that.
 
kre62 said:
Few things

First off, Siri's responsiveness depends on the strength and speed of your data connection. I've seen instant response on Wifi

Second, the screen is not washed out, thats your imagination

Third, What, exactly, benefit do you think you get by having a blank homescreen, then pressing an app icon, vs just having a grid of apps? The ultimate goal is to use the phone and its features. The iPhone way enables that.
Click to expand...
So it's only useful if you're somewhere with WIFI? You think this is a strong point?
WOW, I'd love to be you - you know what other people see....
Most probably it's brightness settings or direct sunlight, either that or a faulty screen.
Third would be choice, but then you wouldn't get an iPhone....
 
BeastInside said:
So it's only useful if you're somewhere with WIFI? You think this is a strong point?
WOW, I'd love to be you - you know what other people see....
Most probably it's brightness settings or direct sunlight, either that or a faulty screen.
Third would be choice, but then you wouldn't get an iPhone....
Click to expand...

Didnt say that. I said it depends on the strength of your data connection. For all we know the guy was on one bar of EDGE.

Also, Google voice works the same way
 
kre62 said:
Second, the screen is not washed out, thats your imagination
Click to expand...
i.e. you're looking at it wrong

The screen in the TIMN review looked washed out, too:
iPhone_4s7.jpg


Though, compared to a saturated AMOLED, most screens will look washed out.
 
kre62 said:
Second, the screen is not washed out, thats your imagination
Click to expand...

My Nexus-S 4G, rooted with the "Voodoo" controls to tweak the screen, looks much much nicer in my opinion than my Buddies 4S. My screen has the deepest blacks, and the reds and blues just pop out super vibrant and beautiful, the iPhone4S just came across drab and grayish looking, and not even close to the quality of Super AMOLED.

And where are the Widgets in the pull down notification screen ? I love to pull down my notification shade, and have direct and quick access to WiFi...Bluetooth...GPS...etc...I turn those on and off all the time, and love having them available to me immediately, without having to go to settings screen.
 
Those blues and reds "popping" out are due to saturation not color correctness. Put them next to your red or blue shirt for comparison. I would expect them to have deeper blacks, though, that's one reason I went for a SAMOLED+ screen nearly two years ago.
 
tybert7 said:
I more of less agree on the screen size, a phone is still nowhere close to optimal for web browsing as a normal computer. What I DID care about a great deal was unlimited data and 4g access so I could tether my laptop to the phone.

And there the sprint gs2 variant wins out in a major way. Not for everyone, wimax coverage is not great, and building penetration is really iffy in many areas, but I live in a city with pretty good wimax coverage, if still finicky due to penetration issues, and I've got unlimited data now and it's fantastic.


the 4s has dated radios, the sprint and verizon version are only going to be able to use freaking rev A cdma, at least the at&t version gets ~14 mbps hspa+ (and even there that is a gimped radio compared to multiple android phones from months past with 21 mbps and soon even higher).


when I have a good connection I can pull speeds like the following

sc20110929214421.png


I'm usually lower than that, and if on 3g god help me on sprint, but I'll be no worse than an iphone 4s user with a sprint iphone, and at least I have the potential for much, MUCH higher speeds in my area. So for me the s2 is the clear winner on sprint. When the prime comes out that ought to be the winner on verizon, but it won't be. People do not choose the iphones merely on function, they go for design and bank on their perceptions that iphones are better in some ethereal cloud of ways. I realized too late that there is no way to really argue against it, at best I am simply trying to describe the phenomenon now.
Click to expand...

Unless you're tethering, I gotta know; what do you need that sort of bandwidth for on your phone? Everything I do on my iPhone4 I have plenty of bandwidth for including FaceTime over 3G, multiple video streaming over 3G (HBO GO, Netflix, Comcast), etc... etc... It's not like you are downloading 1-8GB torrents that you want to get as fast as a DSL/Cable connection.

Just wondering your reasoning for 4G (which does make sense for tethering).
 
mope54 said:
Those blues and reds "popping" out are due to saturation not color correctness. Put them next to your red or blue shirt for comparison. I would expect them to have deeper blacks, though, that's one reason I went for a SAMOLED+ screen nearly two years ago.
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sorry, super amoled plus didn't come out until earlier this year. It launched with the galaxy S II. Nearly two years ago? Really? The regular super amoled, however, did come out in January 2010. So I think you are talking about that.
 
CHANG3D said:
sorry, super amoled plus didn't come out until earlier this year. It launched with the galaxy S II. Nearly two years ago? Really? The regular super amoled, however, did come out in January 2010. So I think you are talking about that.
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Super AMOLED came out with the Galaxy S1 and Nexus-S Summer/Fall 2010. The Galaxy S2 was the first device with the revised Super AMOLED+ in April 2011.

November 2011 we get the third version which will be HD Super AMOLED a high Res version of the original Galaxy S1 screen. And next Spring 2012 the Galaxy S3 will get the HD + version.
 
Yeah i'm on a captive my autocorrect added the plus :) does the plus not have a similar saturation?
 
mope54 said:
Yeah i'm on a captive my autocorrect added the plus :) does the plus not have a similar saturation?
Click to expand...

Plus can be more saturated, or less saturated. It has an option. It's 200% brighter though. I can see it in daylight no issues at all.

I actually made my iPhone totting friend jealous of my phone for the first time ever.
 
i had an international SG2 along with an iPhone 4 but id take the SG2 over a 4
right now I have a 4S and i love it! the camera and the a5 are the main reason ive upgraded
 
kind of remind me when all the tards from a year ago so overjoyed about their "4g" sprint speed of 1mb down and 1hour of battery life
 
umcpgrad said:
kind of remind me when all the tards from a year ago so overjoyed about their "4g" sprint speed of 1mb down and 1hour of battery life
Click to expand...

I get 10-11 Mbps on my Sprint 4G at work, inside an office. And despite that my phone usually has 20% battery at the end of my shift after I've been playing around with it on and off all day.

So if anything, this makes you the tard...
 
I am in the market to get one of these phones. i used to own the iphone 4 and the Galaxy S. I phone 4 was the most stable, but i hated that it didnt support flash and I HATE itunes. Galaxy S gave me the most fucking headaches with its unstability and glitches. I flashed all sorts of ROMS but they all glitch or lagged after a while. Battery fucking sucked on the android phones, ill be playing music while cooking for 8 hours and battery dies.

Sooooo, which phone should I get?
 
XLeezardx said:
I am in the market to get one of these phones. i used to own the iphone 4 and the Galaxy S. I phone 4 was the most stable, but i hated that it didnt support flash and I HATE itunes. Galaxy S gave me the most fucking headaches with its unstability and glitches. I flashed all sorts of ROMS but they all glitch or lagged after a while. Battery fucking sucked on the android phones, ill be playing music while cooking for 8 hours and battery dies.

Sooooo, which phone should I get?
Click to expand...

Android has made some BIG improvements since a year ago and the Galaxy S1. The new Samsung Galaxy S2 is light years ahead of the old S1, it is a very stable phone, has much better battery life, the OS and UI is much more polished and nice.

If you can wait until next month, the all new next gen Android phones are coming out, running the brand new from the ground up complete new Android 4.0 "Ice Cream" OS, with tons of improvements, and overall better OS. The first phones to come out with the Nexus-Prime.
 
Zorachus said:
Android has made some BIG improvements since a year ago and the Galaxy S1. The new Samsung Galaxy S2 is light years ahead of the old S1, it is a very stable phone, has much better battery life, the OS and UI is much more polished and nice.

If you can wait until next month, the all new next gen Android phones are coming out, running the brand new from the ground up complete new Android 4.0 "Ice Cream" OS, with tons of improvements, and overall better OS. The first phones to come out with the Nexus-Prime.
Click to expand...

Hmmmmm sounds interesting, I may have to give android another chance if this is true. See, when the Captivate first came out, everyone praised how much smoother and stable it was compared to the iphone 4. I owned both the I phone 4 and Captivate at the same time when they were just released. I experienced totally different feelings from most reviewers here on [H]. Everyone were saying the captivate was faster and more stable than the iphone 4... i was like bullshit. Fast foward a year later, NOW people agree with what I said back then and everyone I know in person who has a captivate just hates it. I hope this new Galaxy S 2 isn't going to be all hyped up like the first one. Is the Nexus Prime AT&T?
 
Electrofreak said:
I get 10-11 Mbps on my Sprint 4G at work, inside an office. And despite that my phone usually has 20% battery at the end of my shift after I've been playing around with it on and off all day.

So if anything, this makes you the tard...
Click to expand...

I second this, my speeds have been pretty good, and I have 4G coverage pretty much everywhere I go.

I also get between 15-36 hours of battery life, depending on how often I use the thing (typically get 15, with 20 or so texts and a few hours of 4G browsing. Never turn 4G/Wifi off).


XLeezardx said:
Fast foward a year late r, NOW people agree with what I said back then and everyone I know in person who has a captivate just hates it. I hope this new Galaxy S 2 isn't going to be all hyped up like the first one. Is the Nexus Prime AT&T?
Click to expand...
Dunno, I loved my captivate. The ET4G is lightyears ahead of it, yes.... but that doesn't make it a bad phone. I had very few force closes (every single time it was my own fault).

I will say TW3 was complete crap though. TW4.... well let's just say I haven't found a valid reason to switch homes yet.
 
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Wondering if anyone can comment on the audio playback quality of the S2 as compared to IPhone?

I've read some negative things in regards to the sound quality of mp3/lossless music playback on the S2 and for me it would be a deal breaker if it didn't sound good.
 
Shoplifter said:
Wondering if anyone can comment on the audio playback quality of the S2 as compared to IPhone?

I've read some negative things in regards to the sound quality of mp3/lossless music playback on the S2 and for me it would be a deal breaker if it didn't sound good.
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Since when did Apple products became an authority on sound quality? LOL

I think the best out of the box sounding phone is Samsung Focus with WP7.

But with Android and PowerAMP (etc) app, your music can be tuned to your liking. Just get a music player with adjustable EQ settings.

P.S. Get a pair of Ultimate Ears. It's high-end headphones often on-sale for cheap.
 
chrispycrunch said:
SGS2 is outselling iP4.
Do you have many 3GS apps? If so it may be better to stay with apple. Otherwise, Android's a good place to be.
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He said SG S2 vs iP4S not iP4. After 4 million sold of iPhone 4S this weekend, I think its safe to say that the iPhone 4S is already outselling the SGS2 in America.
 
CHANG3D said:
Since when did Apple products became an authority on sound quality? LOL

I think the best out of the box sounding phone is Samsung Focus with WP7.

But with Android and PowerAMP (etc) app, your music can be tuned to your liking. Just get a music player with adjustable EQ settings.

P.S. Get a pair of Ultimate Ears. It's high-end headphones often on-sale for cheap.
Click to expand...
All the way up until the 6th generation iPod Apple used the best audio DAC on the market, the Wolfson (5g ranking highest with wolfson WM8758).

The first generation iPhone also uses the best Wolfson DAC (wolfson 8975) and the the second generation uses a Wolfson WG6180 but not as high quality.

6th gen iPods, touches after the 2nd generation, and iPhones after 3 use a cirrus chip.

No one knows what the 4s uses.

The first samsung galaxy S uses the same wolfson chip. It's unleashed with a voodoo sound app after it was discovered to have the high end DAC. The Galaxy S2 does *not* have this chip, it uses a lower quality and worse sounding Yamaha.


Early apple devices were sought after by audiophiles for their DAC chips because they were and continue to be the best in the market. If you want the best sound from an iPhone you need to buy a first or second generation--in that order. The 4 improves quality over the 3gs (which did not use a wolfson chip) but still not as good as the earlier generations. The 5g is supposed to feature the wolfson DAC again so if you want the best possible sound from a phone (or any digital device, for that matter) and the most up to date hardware wait for the 5g. but given that this article, http://www.electronicsweekly.com/Ar...in-iphone-5-and-ipad-2-says-taiwan-report.htm , was written before the 5 was revealed to be the 4s it's possible the 4s is currently using a wolfson DAC again. double check some audiophile forums, like head-fi.

The best sound from an android phone is from the first generation Samsung Galaxy S phones, which shares the same high end DAC.

Which DAC does the Focus use?

If you get an UE IEM with a cirrus logic DAC phone it will replicate the crappiness of the hardware. Better output doesn't necessarily equal better sound if the source and digital to audio path is trash. Instead of bashing Apple you should do your research and certainly not give advice based on your own misperceptions based on name brands you like or dislike.


edit: here ya go, I haven't read the thread yet http://www.head-fi.org/t/574560/iphone-4s
 
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^^ I don't think ANYONE knows what is in the Samsung Focus in terms of DAC, lol, even though for the most part, it's based off the Galaxy S.
 
mope54 said:
All the way up until the 6th generation iPod Apple used the best audio DAC on the market, the Wolfson (5g ranking highest with wolfson WM8758).
Click to expand...

This is pretty much what I had learned about the S2 and it's sound quality. A friend of mine calls the sound from the Samsung "unresolving".

I had planned to get one and load it up with flac files as I am sick of Itunes etc, but it would have to sound at least as good as the Iphone or it's going to be a disappointment.

So what phone should I look into?
 
@jeremyshaw
it's not inconceivable given that the google nexus S does as well. but the DAC is only part of the equation, unless supercurio (or someone else) ports his code over to wp7 it won't matter.

@Shoplifter
which carrier are you on? any phone on this list will have sound quality that is as good or better than a current iPhone
https://market.android.com/details?id=org.projectvoodoo.controlapp&hl=en

Which iPhone are you comparing against?
If you are using a first generation iPhone (#1) or a 3g (#2), not a 3gs, then there isn't a current phone with better sound and you'll likely be disappointed.
 
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IMHO Apple having bad sound quality is just one of those talking points that never seem to go away because most people don't know how to properly research it. About the only thing that is more prevalent is the myth that AAC is proprietary, or that all the songs on itunes are still DRM'd.
 
Honestly, it's because I listened to the same file played on both an iPhone 4 and a Samsung Focus.

Oh, and hey, here's a review that agreed.

http://www.ubergizmo.com/2010/11/samsung-focus-review/

Sound quality (good): The Samsung Focus sound is very good, I tested it against my computer and the iPhone using the same headphone (JBL-Roxy), it is better than the computer and slightly better than the iPhone.
Click to expand...

Plus, I know Zune HD (RIP) had always been better sound quality wise to the iPod touch.

If you really are an audiophile and need a portable audio device, you should probably go Creative, Cowon, or even a Sony Walkman (android powered). (Heck, even a Samsung Wave or P3...)

Notice how I did not recommend the Galaxy S2 out of the box. And here's someone who agrees:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4686/samsung-galaxy-s-2-international-review-the-best-redefined/13

Oh, and here's another review:
http://www.techdigest.tv/2009/05/ipod_touch_vs_s.html

So, quite frankly, this whole "you must buy Wolfson" doesn't really matter.

It all depends on listening. And I not looking at vendor or spec sheets. Apple may have Wolfson or not, all I know is, by experience, it is NOT the best portable audio player, EVER.

Who is biased now?
 
@CHANG3D
Not only do your posts here and elsewhere demonstrate a clear bias against Apple products you are objectively wrong with your assertions.
Preference may be individual but that doesn't mean to advise people to ignore the specifications unless you have a tin ear!

@Shoplifter,
Apparently the iPhone 4S is using an Apple branded 338S0987 B0FL1129 SGP Cirrus Logic audio codec chip (http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iPhone-4S-Teardown/6610/2), which someone in that Head-Fi thread mentioned is better than the current Wolfson DAC's because it has less roll off of the bass and doesn't suffer from other artifacts the current Wolfson's do. That indicates it may now be the crown based on the specifications.
 
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