Android Users - Do you feel the same way?

My upgrade time has come up, and it's about time to put my old HTC Hero away (finally...).

But I have a problem when looking for phones, especially in the Android OS phones. There are a huge number phones from the manufacturers using Android OS, but it seems like in the end...None of them are properly refined to work as phones, as in, they will all have some sort of problem that will affect them immediately or make them worse in the long run.

Lets look at the Samsung Galaxy SII line of phones for example, especially the epic 4g touch (since Sprint's my provider). It has great specs, but it has awful hardware and software issues (LOS, no GPS pickup, Wi-Fi not working properly, 3G Issues, etc..). A patch has come out for it earlier this month, but people are reporting the patch made the problems worse. Of course, it has an amazing processor and a huge amount of RAM, but how does that matter if it can't work properly as a phone?

My HTC Hero for example, has a ton of problems. You can say that the reason is because it was an earlier android phone, but I had the Nexus S 4G for a brief period of time during this summer, but returned it due to the fact that is has the same exact issues as the epic touch 4g (bad signal in areas where my Hero would have full bars, freezes, bad GPS pickup, 4G connectivity was pretty bad, etc..). I use my phone a lot for managing my day, and neither phone did a good job. I always ran into issues when I needed them to work the most.

Although the Android OS is great (much, much better than iOS) the phone manufacturers really need to step up their refining of the final product. The iPhone has a smaller processor and RAM, and can run it more efficiently, and that's what matters. It's getting to the point where I may even need to switch to the iPhone 4G (I know...:x), just because the best phone on sprint is the epic 4g touch, and I just can't risk running into problems again. I rely on my phone a lot, and I can't afford to run into serious issues, no matter if it has a bigger processor and RAM. Let's not forget the consistency of updates either. It seems like you never know when your OS will be updated (my Hero hasn't been updated in a very long time because HTC just decided not to care anymore). I need my phone to work, and I need to know the phone I buy won't be forgotten by the manufacturer by future updates.

In the end, it's great they can have such great specs come out for the phones, but would you guys agree that they need to focus on a more refined product?

My upgrade time has come up, and it's about time to put my old HTC Hero away (finally...).

But I have a problem when looking for phones, especially in the Android OS phones. There are a huge number phones from the manufacturers using Android OS, but it seems like in the end...None of them are properly refined to work as phones, as in, they will all have some sort of problem that will affect them immediately or make them worse in the long run.

Lets look at the Samsung Galaxy SII line of phones for example, especially the epic 4g touch (since Sprint's my provider). It has great specs, but it has awful hardware and software issues (LOS, no GPS pickup, Wi-Fi not working properly, 3G Issues, etc..). A patch has come out for it earlier this month, but people are reporting the patch made the problems worse. Of course, it has an amazing processor and a huge amount of RAM, but how does that matter if it can't work properly as a phone?

My HTC Hero for example, has a ton of problems. You can say that the reason is because it was an earlier android phone, but I had the Nexus S 4G for a brief period of time during this summer, but returned it due to the fact that is has the same exact issues as the epic touch 4g (bad signal in areas where my Hero would have full bars, freezes, bad GPS pickup, 4G connectivity was pretty bad, etc..). I use my phone a lot for managing my day, and neither phone did a good job. I always ran into issues when I needed them to work the most.

Although the Android OS is great (much, much better than iOS) the phone manufacturers really need to step up their refining of the final product. The iPhone has a smaller processor and RAM, and can run it more efficiently, and that's what matters. It's getting to the point where I may even need to switch to the iPhone 4G (I know...:x), just because the best phone on sprint is the epic 4g touch, and I just can't risk running into problems again. I rely on my phone a lot, and I can't afford to run into serious issues, no matter if it has a bigger processor and RAM. Let's not forget the consistency of updates either. It seems like you never know when your OS will be updated (my Hero hasn't been updated in a very long time because HTC just decided not to care anymore). I need my phone to work, and I need to know the phone I buy won't be forgotten by the manufacturer by future updates.

In the end, it's great they can have such great specs come out for the phones, but would you guys agree that they need to focus on a more refined product?

taj7575

I have not encountered a single problem with my Android phone in the 4 months that I've owned it. Everything works flawlessly. If you want a single refined product line, then just buy Nexus phones. Any phone will look bad if all you do is look up problems on Google. I can search up iPhone 4S issues, and get hundreds of pages of people reporting similar issues. You'll never find reports of how awesome a phone is because people typically only post on forums when they have problems with their phone, and not a single phone is immune to problems. The VAST majority of GSII owners have had none of the problems you listed. You're just as likely to encounter problems on an iPhone as you are on an Android phone.

A few quick Google searches reveals the following about the iPhone 4 and 4S:

iPhone 4S 'mutes' outgoing calls

Siri security flaw

Siri 'cannot connect to network'

http://www.t3.com/features/apple-iphone-4s-problems-battery-life-other-concerning-issues

iPhone 4 heat and battery issues

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2798189?start=0&tstart=0

Some iPhone 4 models dropping calls when held left-handed

http://www.t3.com/features/apple-iphone-4s-problems-battery-life-other-concerning-issues

I could keep going...

I guess iPhones are just as problem-riddled then.

i feel you. hope you find a good solution soon.Kid-Atari

I have not encountered a single problem with my Android phone in the 4 months that I've owned it. Everything works flawlessly. If you want a single refined product line, then just buy Nexus phones. Any phone will look bad if all you do is look up problems on Google. I can search up iPhone 4S issues, and get hundreds of pages of people reporting similar issues. You'll never find reports of how awesome a phone is because people typically only post on forums when they have problems with their phone, and not a single phone is immune from problems. The VAST majority of GSII owners have had none of the problems you listed.

UssjTrunks

I already mentioned I had a nexus phone, the nexus S 4G, and it was nowhere near "refined".

Of course you hear a lot of reports about how awesome a phone is. Look at the reviews. But a lot of those also come from people who've owned the phone for a couple days and then post about how great it is.

There will be problems for phones, but some will have more than others. Go to the sprint community discussions for examples. Most phones will have normal discussions, but both the epic 4g touch and the nexus s 4g have many conversations that deal with telling Sprint and Samsung to hurry up and fix the issues.

If that isn't enough, I went to both the Sprint store and Best Buy today and tried connecting to Google Navigation on the epic 4g touch and it just stayed on *Searching for GPS*, and during the wait, I tried it on my Hero, which picked up GPS signal immediately.

Sure the iPhone 4S has it's fair share of problems, but not to the extent of many Android phones. Am I saying it's a better device? No, because it really isn't. But when it comes to the point of it working properly as a phone (which seems to be put aside nowadays..), from what I've seen, the iPhone runs into less problems.

I haven't really heard about the epic touch having any sort of software related issues. I'm not wholly surprised, but the majority of android phones have a couple bugs to them, its the nature of these devices. Most are pretty minimal though.

i feel you. hope you find a good solution soon.Kid-Atari

Oh, I missed you and your nonsensical posts so much. Go back to the iPhone board, we leave you alone, kindly return the favor.

If that isn't enough, I went to both the Sprint store and Best Buy today and tried connecting to Google Navigation on the epic 4g touch and it just stayed on *Searching for GPS*, and during the wait, I tried it on my Hero, which picked up GPS signal immediately.taj7575

Maybe...its GPS was turned off?

I know im biased but try a sensation XL, HTC are always refined with their products, the hero won phone of the year for a reason. I would say get a HTC sensation XE but that phone is a little imbalanced. The rezound seems to be a top notch phone too.

There is also the RAZR (be weary though cause the RAZR maxx is nearing its appearance so i might hold out for that) and there is also the Galaxy S 2 which i predict will be the phone of the year 2011.

Why do you have to buy a US SGS2? do what I did, being in Australia and buying a S2 from the UK, just so I didnt have bloatware, and dont have to wait for carrier updates, its direct from Samsung.

The Galaxy Nexus is coming to Sprint. I'd get that. When it comes to software, nothing beats it. Ice Cream Sandwich is a million times better in every way imaginable.

I flashed CM9 on my Atrix and I fell in love with my phone all over again.

I've got a Galaxy Nexus phone and have zero issues whatsoever. Its got the largest and best display available. Videos just look oustanding on this phone. I can read the smallest of text, the one thing I truly liked about the iPhone. To me, this is where android phones were left behind. Crap resolutions. But no more. The Gnex is super sharp and very vibrant. The ICS OS is very responsive like iOS and I dont have any "lag" issues unless I've got like 30 apps running with downloads going. Gaming on this phone is also leaps and bounds above iPhone imo. The 4.65" screen just dwarfs the iPhone's and makes controlling games like GTA 3 a piece of cake. Emulators also are much more enjoyable on the android platform. Haven't run into a game so far that lags my phone so I'm very optimistic about its future. And games haven't even been optimized for ICS yet! You want an android phone with the production quality of an iPhone. The Galaxy Nexus is where its at my friend. It may not have as nice of camera as the iPhone, but it trumps it everywhere else.

I know im biased but try a sensation XL, HTC are always refined with their products, the hero won phone of the year for a reason. I would say get a HTC sensation XE but that phone is a little imbalanced. The rezound seems to be a top notch phone too.

There is also the RAZR (be weary though cause the RAZR maxx is nearing its appearance so i might hold out for that) and there is also the Galaxy S 2 which i predict will be the phone of the year 2011.

mystic_knight

My wife has got the upgrade bug and we are looking at the HTC Sensation XE - can you clarify when you say a 'little imbalanced'?

Thinking of the XE over the XL due to the SD slot and dual-core in the XE compared to the XL.

To answer OP - no I don't mind the range of choice, it just means I have a larger variety to choose from to the find the device for my needs.

I flashed CM9 on my Atrix and I fell in love with my phone all over again.

Rikusaki

I didn't even know that was out yet.

[QUOTE="mystic_knight"]

I know im biased but try a sensation XL, HTC are always refined with their products, the hero won phone of the year for a reason. I would say get a HTC sensation XE but that phone is a little imbalanced. The rezound seems to be a top notch phone too.

There is also the RAZR (be weary though cause the RAZR maxx is nearing its appearance so i might hold out for that) and there is also the Galaxy S 2 which i predict will be the phone of the year 2011.

Fandangle

My wife has got the upgrade bug and we are looking at the HTC Sensation XE - can you clarify when you say a 'little imbalanced'?

Thinking of the XE over the XL due to the SD slot and dual-core in the XE compared to the XL.

To answer OP - no I don't mind the range of choice, it just means I have a larger variety to choose from to the find the device for my needs.

I haven't really heard about the epic touch having any sort of software related issues. I'm not wholly surprised, but the majority of android phones have a couple bugs to them, its the nature of these devices. Most are pretty minimal though.

[QUOTE="Kid-Atari"]

i feel you. hope you find a good solution soon.semianonymous

Oh, I missed you and your nonsensical posts so much. Go back to the iPhone board, we leave you alone, kindly return the favor.

If that isn't enough, I went to both the Sprint store and Best Buy today and tried connecting to Google Navigation on the epic 4g touch and it just stayed on *Searching for GPS*, and during the wait, I tried it on my Hero, which picked up GPS signal immediately.taj7575

Maybe...its GPS was turned off?

It's just the nature of the devices? Why does it have to be that way? Those small bugs ruin the overall quality of the product and makes you wonder if you can go the usual two year term with the phone.

If GPS was turned off, you would get a notification telling you GPS was off. With that aside, I obviously made sure GPS was on.

Don't have an SGSII, but my brother has one and just raves about it. I did have a Epic 4G and I will have to agree, the GPS on that was awful. You could be in a well covered area and all the sudden GPS would just drop and then Id be **** out of luck finding my way to the destination. Id have to pull over to find out how to get there. Most of the time it worked, but it bugged out often enough to make me replace it. Had the iPhone 4s afterwards which had no issues with GPS, and now my Gnex which is flawless as well.

LOL, I remember having the epic 4g while using gps nav on, it wanted to relocate me or something by forcing me to wave my phone in a figure 8 motion. WTF is that about? haha

Other than that, it served me well for a year.

I know im biased but try a sensation XL, HTC are always refined with their products, the hero won phone of the year for a reason. I would say get a HTC sensation XE but that phone is a little imbalanced. The rezound seems to be a top notch phone too.

There is also the RAZR (be weary though cause the RAZR maxx is nearing its appearance so i might hold out for that) and there is also the Galaxy S 2 which i predict will be the phone of the year 2011.

mystic_knight

Although I did mention my problems on the Hero, it definitely was a quality phone. I would get another HTC phone, but honestly, I think HTC sense uses too much memory, and I've gotten bored of the look of the UI. I have sprint by the way, and I just can't imagine moving to another provider right now (especially since sprint will be getting LTE by the summer).

I think I will end up sticking with the Galaxy S2 (epic touch 4g). Hopefully by the time ICS comes out, most of the bugs will be gone. and besides, after seeing how ICS performs, it looks like the proper, refined Android OS I've been waiting for.

The Galaxy Nexus is coming to Sprint. I'd get that. When it comes to software, nothing beats it. Ice Cream Sandwich is a million times better in every way imaginable.

I flashed CM9 on my Atrix and I fell in love with my phone all over again.

Rikusaki

Do you know when it will? I'm guessing it will when Sprint finally sets up their LTE towers, which will most likely be finished in the Summer.

I was thinking of getting a 4S now and selling it in the summer and switching to the Galaxy Nexus when that finally coms out. I would do that..but I don't like switching around with products over and over again, especially with phones.

[QUOTE="semianonymous"]

I haven't really heard about the epic touch having any sort of software related issues. I'm not wholly surprised, but the majority of android phones have a couple bugs to them, its the nature of these devices. Most are pretty minimal though.

[QUOTE="Kid-Atari"]

Oh, I missed you and your nonsensical posts so much. Go back to the iPhone board, we leave you alone, kindly return the favor.

[QUOTE="taj7575"]

If that isn't enough, I went to both the Sprint store and Best Buy today and tried connecting to Google Navigation on the epic 4g touch and it just stayed on *Searching for GPS*, and during the wait, I tried it on my Hero, which picked up GPS signal immediately.taj7575

Maybe...its GPS was turned off?

It's just the nature of the devices? Why does it have to be that way? Those small bugs ruin the overall quality of the product and makes you wonder if you can go the usual two year term with the phone.

If GPS was turned off, you would get a notification telling you GPS was off. With that aside, I obviously made sure GPS was on.

I actually forgot about the GPS notifying you if it was on. Fair enough.

Do you have any idea how much work has to go into the production of a single device? Theres dozens of hardware components, god knows how many lines of code in base android and who knows how many new features added by the manufacturer. These devices are against a very strict deadline, and theres literally thousands of different things that could go wrong and result in bugs. These little bugs are things that generally slipped past QA, or were allowed to pass with the promise of a swift update that might or might not come, or might not even work if it does arrive. Thousands of man-hours must be used to just get the phone into the state it is in.

There has never, ever, been a sophisticated piece of technology that has not had a bug. There likely never will be one. Even the iPhone, with the notorious apple attention to detail, is plagued with bugs that never should have made it out to the market. It is simply the nature of the devices.

Its got an amazing dual core 1.5 but only limited to 768 ram, sense uses nearly 250ram on its own leaving about 500. The speed cant work if its bogged down with multiple apps. While its true the XL has the same RAM i found it works more balanced with the 1.4 SC CPU. It wont go from zippy to slow but rather a steady smoother fram rate, i only played with both briefly, recommend for you to go play with both phones at your local dealer and look at which you like the most, a 4.7" behemoth may be too big. The rezound is typically your best bet due to it being a 1.5ghz dual core with a nice 1gb ram which is what should have been put in the sensation XE.mystic_knight

Thanks Mate :)

Don't have an SGSII, but my brother has one and just raves about it. I did have a Epic 4G and I will have to agree, the GPS on that was awful. You could be in a well covered area and all the sudden GPS would just drop and then Id be **** out of luck finding my way to the destination. Id have to pull over to find out how to get there. Most of the time it worked, but it bugged out often enough to make me replace it. Had the iPhone 4s afterwards which had no issues with GPS, and now my Gnex which is flawless as well.

LOL, I remember having the epic 4g while using gps nav on, it wanted to relocate me or something by forcing me to wave my phone in a figure 8 motion. WTF is that about? haha

Other than that, it served me well for a year.

awptical

I was actually going to buy the original epic 4G, but remember hearing about those GPS issues. It's a shame when I got the Nexus S 4G (also Samsung) it ended up having it's GPS issues too..

That's the only thing disappointing. You would think after hearing about all these issues, Samsung would improve on it, but it seems like it'll depend on if the hardware on your phone you buy will be good or not.

It's good to see that your Galaxy Nexus (Samsung) is good though. *Sigh*, I wish that came out for Sprint at the same time it came out for Verizon.

[QUOTE="Kid-Atari"] i feel you. hope you find a good solution soon.UssjTrunks

I do feel this way. I feel like most of the phone companies have so many phone models that they can't (or choose not to) support the ones they have. I feel like Android has been affected by this much more than Apple.

Also, not to go OT, but another thing that bugs me about Android is that the apps are usually never as good as the iOS ones since developers have to code for multiple different versions of the OS rather than one Apple OS. For example, few Android apps have "push" notifications because the older Android OS doesn't support it so most apps don't either as a result whereas most Apple apps have these notifications.

Droid Bionic is the **** and sometimes has 4g problems but not very frequently or severely. Best phone I've ever had. Android 4 lyf

hmm if you're worried about reception quality and all that then there is only one phone to get. And that is the blackberry bold 9900. Not gonna lie, my bro has one and the keyboard is fudgin sexy, once you go blackberry 9900 you don't go back. Yah the iphone has more apps, android has better hardware, but in the end who cares about that? The blackberries are still the best phones on the market in my opinion.

Honestly i haven't had any problems with my galaxy s2. I'm coming from iOS and i miss nothing from it. My wifi and 3g have been fine.

hmm if you're worried about reception quality and all that then there is only one phone to get. And that is the blackberry bold 9900. Not gonna lie, my bro has one and the keyboard is fudgin sexy, once you go blackberry 9900 you don't go back. Yah the iphone has more apps, android has better hardware, but in the end who cares about that? The blackberries are still the best phones on the market in my opinion.blaznwiipspman1

They can't even do half of what Android and iOS can.

[QUOTE="blaznwiipspman1"]

hmm if you're worried about reception quality and all that then there is only one phone to get. And that is the blackberry bold 9900. Not gonna lie, my bro has one and the keyboard is fudgin sexy, once you go blackberry 9900 you don't go back. Yah the iphone has more apps, android has better hardware, but in the end who cares about that? The blackberries are still the best phones on the market in my opinion.UssjTrunks

They can't even do half of what Android and iOS can.

No kidding. In fact, Blackberry OS is unstable crap now since RIM keeps trying to make their phones half-assed Android and iOS devices and that's not what they're designed to be. The only thing I miss from the Blackberry is push email, that's pretty much it.

HTCdev tool worked as adverstised and now I have an unlocked and rooted Rezound. Just waiting on CM9 to be finalized.

HTCdev tool worked as adverstised and now I have an unlocked and rooted Rezound. Just waiting on CM9 to be finalized.

QuistisTrepe_

[QUOTE="UssjTrunks"]

[QUOTE="blaznwiipspman1"]

hmm if you're worried about reception quality and all that then there is only one phone to get. And that is the blackberry bold 9900. Not gonna lie, my bro has one and the keyboard is fudgin sexy, once you go blackberry 9900 you don't go back. Yah the iphone has more apps, android has better hardware, but in the end who cares about that? The blackberries are still the best phones on the market in my opinion.QuistisTrepe_

They can't even do half of what Android and iOS can.

No kidding. In fact, Blackberry OS is unstable crap now since RIM keeps trying to make their phones half-assed Android and iOS devices and that's not what they're designed to be. The only thing I miss from the Blackberry is push email, that's pretty much it.

[QUOTE="QuistisTrepe_"]

HTCdev tool worked as adverstised and now I have an unlocked and rooted Rezound. Just waiting on CM9 to be finalized.

mystic_knight

Get the international version of the Galaxy S2 (i9000) Least problems, loads of custom roms to choose from ;)SPBoss

Its not i9000, that was the Galaxy S, the S2 is called i9100

Honestly i haven't had any problems with my galaxy s2. I'm coming from iOS and i miss nothing from it. My wifi and 3g have been fine.

helwa1988

[QUOTE="SPBoss"]Get the international version of the Galaxy S2 (i9000) Least problems, loads of custom roms to choose from ;)GTR12

Its not i9000, that was the Galaxy S, the S2 is called i9100

No I don't feel the same way for the first part I have no problems with making calls or using the wifi on my atrix 2 in general its a very reliable and stable phone. As for the update parts I agree updates are to slow to roll out for phones if at all. If a phone has the necessary hardware to run the new android OS it should be able to update to it once it comes out.