[@NickyColman]

Most will know, this last week I've had my first real experience with Android. I bought a Pay & Go handset on Three - Samsung Galaxy S 2.

The short story - I'm going back to iPhone & iOS.

Instead of bore you all with a long write-up of my experience, I'm gonna list my hates/dislikes/comparisons to iOS below.


Push - The lack of.
The Android OS doesnt seem to have Push Notifications like iOS. Messages from apps such as Twitter, WhatsApp, Facebook etc were all delayed, anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours (even with the refresh rate set to shorter intervals). Certain apps like Twitter for Android can be configured to refresh every so often, however 'WhatsApp' has no such option meaning messages were received completely at random.

Some notifications, such as Facebook, never turned up at all.


Unstable
Despite running Android 2.3.3, I found the OS to be very unstable at times. For example, the camera app would crash if the phone was moved form landscape to portrait with the viewfinder open.

The OS seemed to, how shall I put it? Fall over itself? It was going so fast that it was as if the phone was two steps ahead of the OS. Graphical hiccups, glitches, etc.


Poor camera
Not an Android issue, but the whole experience overall - The supposed 8 megapixel camera wasnt a patch on iPhone 4's 5 megapixeler.


Fiddly
Androids navigation system is a love/hate affair for me. Loved the fact you can use the hardware buttons for further options. The buttons themselves were very unreliable. Seemingly responding when they wanted to, with sometimes a delay of a few seconds before the OS responded to the touch.


Horrid battery life
Battery life was appalling. It was my understanding that the latest versions of Android were very power efficient. Not in my experience.

Obviously the Samsung GS2 has a larger, brighter screen than many other handsets, however, I found that I needed to have the screen on its lowest brightness setting to stop it from eating itself.

With wifi, Bluetooth & GPS on, the battery would soon plummet. I'm used to having my iPhone last me all day and then some.

Taking the GS2 off charge at 6.30, wifi off, screen on lowest, Bluetooth off, GPS off, no apps open (other than Twitter & WhatsApp) in the memory and phone on vibrate I could find my battery losing 10% by 11 o'clock in the morning. This all whilst not being used and sat in my pocket with only Twitter set to auto fresh once every 2 hours.

Finishing work at 3pm, my battery was regularly ~70%. A 15 minute car journey & a 7 minute phone call across Bluetooth can drag it right down to 50%.

Light browsing in the house and a few tweets later, I was reaching for my charger when the phone begins hitting 30%.


Gmail app
The stock Gmail app that comes with the phone is PANTS! Emails received are not properly formatted to fit the screen. Instead, I was constantly fingering the screen to read what was being displayed.

You can label items for use in Gmail, but no way to put multiple items in a folder. It was my understanding that Gmail on Android was supposed to be a more functional affair? Fair enough I cant Star items on iPhones stock email app, but at least I could move emails in folders.

Then theres the biggest problem with the Gmail app - Inconsistent Push. Gmail on Android is supposed to push emails within minutes of them being received. Hours later, still no notifications. Trawled Google and theres literally tons of forum posts from people having the same issues with Gmail Pushing whenever it wants.

This rendered the app, to me, useless.

Thinking it was perhaps a server issue, rather than a problem with the Gmail App, I switched to the stock Android email app.

Push worked perfectly.

Emails received within seconds!

Great.

Until a link was received in an email. For some reason, the app only allowed part of any link in an email to be selected.

For example, a link received from the BBC showed http://bbc.com/mobile/news/UK/headlines, obviously taking you to the headlines page of the BBC news website. However, only http://bbc.com/mobile was actually highlighted and could be clicked. When you followed the link, you were just taken to the main landing page of the BBC's mobile website.

Tried it with various different links from different clients, different people, different sites. All the same result. Again useless.


Duplicate apps
The above highlights one of the most confusing and frustrating elements to Android - duplicate apps. Before even venturing into the Android Market, the handset comes preloaded with a few apps, all wich seem to be competing for the same job.

Example:

Google Talk & IM - Virtually doing the same job. Which is better? Who knows? (A side note, the Google Talk app was often the most unreliable, regularly displaying that my contacts werent online and message sending errors)

Another example was the Gmail app & email app - Again which is better?


Multitouch
Multitouch isnt native through the OS. Some screens have + & - options. Inconsistent.


Touch screen jumpy
Not sure if this is hardware or how the software interprets touches, but I found the touch screen to be very inaccurate when in the browser. Clicking links often resulted in a link being selected a few options down. Frustrating.


Android Market
The one good thing the Android Market has going for it is that you dont have to put a password in everytime you download an app (are you listening Apple???)

The rest of it is a pretty meh affair. The UI is revolting and looks like Sony Ericssons content 'wap site' from a few years ago. The whole thing is just a very poor competitor to Apple's humongous App Store.


Random bugs
I found the home screen widgets are more temperamental than Windows Vista at times. The clock widget regularly fell out of sync with the actual time. To remedy the whole handset had to be rebooted - WTF?

Some didn't stick to their refresh schedule. Some just stopped working.

The battery meter app displayed an up to date state % of the battery. That is, until it would stop working, leaving you thinking that the battery was ok. Wrong.

I also I received random error messages from time to time. However, the errors didnt explain what the issues were, instead just showing a long code followed by some gibberish text. A Google search sorted the issues, however, how many 'average' users would have been put off by this?


Conclusion, of sorts
Android is powerful. Its fresh and its undoubtedly got a strong future ahead of it. But right now, IMHO, its not ready to replace iOS. I dont quite trust it. Not yet, anyway.

To me, Android's biggest strength is that its helping to make iOS even better.

[hecatae]

sounds like Samsung's Touchwiz interface is just as bad as it's always been. I can read several of the points you raised as being faults from Samsung, especially competing apps, hardware foibles, not being optimised.

It is quite easy to forget why Apple only release one product at a time, it allows them to make sure the hardware and software fit each other perfectly.

Unstable would be a kernel issue, yet again, Apple only have to optimise for a few devices, but if Samsung have left too many options ticked, a kernel panic would make the system unstable.

I have to be honest, I dont have the push issue or the gmail issue, but I run stock Android on my ZTE Blade, so it's hardly a fair comparison to a manufacturer branded device

[Ben]

Funnily enough some of the points you raised, Nicky, reminded me of using the Nexus One. Especially things like the camera, widgets forgetting to update, push being a bit meh, and battery life being sub-par.

Hopefully iOS 5 will reinvigorate the battle between iOS and Android. I think both being strong and competitive will result in the biggest win for consumers in the long term.

[Hands0n]

Gosh Nicky, it reads like Samsung have taken a hatchet to Android. Mind you, I have always, and will always, mistrust Samsung in relation to mobile phones. I don't think they have a clue about OS, although the hardware might not be quite as bad.

I barely recognise Android from the description you have given. But then, somewhat like Hecatae I run a vanilla Android - that being Google's own on the Nexus S, previously the Nexus One. I also run a Cyanogen 7 (Gingerbread) ROM on a ZTE Blade and it, too, bears almost no resemblance to the issues you've had with the Samsung.

I can't say that I blame you for selling it off. If I were in the market I'd probably have it off you and then immediately pop a copy of CM7 or another independent Android distribution on it.

[@NickyColman]

@Hands0n - I blame a lot of this on TouchWiz 4.0. I played once with the Nexus S, wich seemed a much more stable handset all together.

@Ben - Widgets are great and I was all for them, however, I fear they're one of those features of mobile phones that are just gonna ruin the experience - slowing phones down, not being reliable, eating the battery etc. Apple will hopefully find a new, better way of doing things.

@Hectae - Its a shame really, because on paper, the GS2 has all the boxes ticked. Samsung have dropped the ball on this.


One thing I forgot to mention is that Three have branded this handset so I'm not sure what impact this has on the stability of the OS.

[3GScottishUser]

I have had a look around and all of the reviews I have come across from UK publications rate the Galaxy S2 very highly.

Android is not like iOS and never will be because it's not a vendor controlled product. Android is software that is used and adapted by many different device makers so I expect there will always be some inconsitancies but none that are major handicaps.

If Android is helping iOS improve then it must have something going for it or Apple would simply ignore it!

Talking of inconsistancies, the other day I needed a learner to transfer me a photo from her iPhone4 and suggested she bluetooth it to me. Guess what? You can't transfer files between iPhones and other makes of handsets! I was shocked at the lack of such a basic facility on a £500 handset. Not very helpful!

Android isn't out to replace iOS, it's there to offer an alternative and it's doing great business by all accounts having overtaken iOS some time ago. (Hardly a surprise when so many manufacturers install it).

Dissapointed to read some of the comments about the S2 as it's a handset I have been looking forward to trying. Perhaps it's not that good an idea comparing iPhones with Android handsets really as once someone is used to a particular look and feel they tend to favour the use of what they are familiar with. Just ask anyone shelling out wads of cash on a Mac and they will tell you that they just like the user experience!

The link below is a review of the Galaxy S2 which includes quite a lot of user feedback, worth a browse.

http://www.mobile-phones-uk.org.uk/samsung-galaxy-s2.htm

[@NickyColman]

The issues I found really arent massive issues, especially for someone not used to the iOS experience. However, I've been used to an extremely tight OS where everything works reliably & smoothly.

In the link you provided, how long did they test the device for?

Review sites seem to play with a device for a day or so and proclaim it a hit. I had the phone for a solid 5 days.

Now I'm not saying they're wrong, far from it. I just mean that if I had the phone to play with for a day, I would have loved it. In fact, for the first day, i did. It wasn't until later in the week that the issues started to creep in. These issues weren't a constant either. The camera orientation bug for example, would happen at random. Like I said, this wouldnt be instantly noticeable in a shop or with a few hours of play. Same with the push & messaging problems.

I'm starting to believe the issues I had were related more to Samsung's TouchWiz interface, than Android itself.

[Hands0n]

Re Bluetooth File Transfer. Android does not support this "out of the box". You need to install an app, and in certain circumstances may need to root your device do be able to file transfer with, say, a Nokia or whatever. I do believe that you will find that all "smartphone" OS with the exception of Symbian are in this exact same position.

For an iPhone all the user need do is install an app called Bluetooth Photo Share (free). There are also some paid-for apps that may do more.
For an Android device the user will need to install Bluetooth File Transfer app (free) from Market.

"Not very helpful!" - I think that the point that is being missed is that "There is an app for that ...". Consider for a moment, these are "smartphones" and inasmuch as that they are essentially akin to the PC paradigm. That is, a device that is functionally enhanceable by the use of specific applications to allow a very much greater use of the device than the original manufacturer has designed. They are, in fact, highly portable general purpose computers.

In my specific comments I was taking particular care to compare the S2, as described by Nicky, with the Nexus One and Nexus S, Google's reference Android handsets. Clearly, Nicky's experience, indicates that the S2 is woefully lacking in relation to these two devices. That, to me, is shocking. Samsung had an opportunity to learn from their experience of the NS and seem to have squandered it, possibly by way of imposing Touchwiz over Android. And a hunt around the interwebs reveals that Touchwiz is not exactly the most stable UI to plonk on top of the most capable Android UI.

Now fortunately for Android users, there is no need to be plagued with Samsung's crappy Touchwiz. There are very many alternative "launchers" on the Android market that allow the user to experience a UI that is more closely aligned with the Google Android experience. One that is very stable and fast is Launcher Pro, that I can recommend highly through having used successfully for around 18 months now.

Android vs iPhone
I use both OS interchangeably on a daily basis, carrying one of each with me constantly. The experience is that iOS (iPhone 4) is significantly smoother and slicker in the operation of keyboard and touchscreen actions to scroll and select, for example. Even with Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) the experience repeats that of 2.x, stuttery, lag, imprecision in touchscreen actions. I originally thought that it was down to the hardware, but we're now talking about the latest Qualcomm and NVidia Tegra 2 processors and large(r) amounts of RAM to flex in. But the experience persists.

There you have it.

[3GScottishUser]

Re Bluetooth File Transfer. Android does not support this "out of the box". You need to install an app, and in certain circumstances may need to root your device do be able to file transfer with, say, a Nokia or whatever. I do believe that you will find that all "smartphone" OS with the exception of Symbian are in this exact same position.

I have not had to download or install anything on my Samsung Galaxy S to file transfer with Bluetooth and nor did I have to do so using an HTC. It works straight out of the box and for music and photos it's a simple matter as you choose the file and press 'share', bluetooth transfer is one of the options.

[Hands0n]

I have not had to download or install anything on my Samsung Galaxy S to file transfer with Bluetooth and nor did I have to do so using an HTC. It works straight out of the box and for music and photos it's a simple matter as you choose the file and press 'share', bluetooth transfer is one of the options.

Photo transfer from Android, directly from the Gallery app, is supported over BT. However, File Transfer OOTB is not without the use of an app of some sort - I use Root Explorer for instance. It may seem like splitting hairs, but it is apparent that on stock Android, that is one that is not "added to" by manufacturers.

That said, there are several [quite universal] strategies for achieving the transfer data from one device to another these days that does not require BT OBEX. The world has moved on and I cannot actually recall the last time I turned on BT on a smartphone over the past three years to transfer any kind of file (iOS, Android, WP7 and WebOS).

I'd say the same goes for MMS - a rapidly obsolete technology that it is beyond its sell-by date.

[3GScottishUser]

Photo transfer from Android, directly from the Gallery app, is supported over BT. However, File Transfer OOTB is not without the use of an app of some sort - I use Root Explorer for instance. It may seem like splitting hairs, but it is apparent that on stock Android, that is one that is not "added to" by manufacturers.

The Samsung Galaxy S needs no extra app to file trasfer. You just highlight any file on-screen and you get an option to share it. This produces a list of services applicable to that file type and bluetooth is available for all of the files I have looked at.

The point about the iPhone is that on such an expensive handset a very common sharing protocol is missing. It may well be able to be solved with an app but what were Apple thinking of denying their customers a facility that has been in common use for years. If an app can easily bypass what they consider may be a security issue is that good? I don't think so. I suspect the blocking of bluetooth transfer on the iPhone is more about protecting revenues and I also consider it's very sneaky of Apple to advertise Bluetooth on-board but without the usability that most customers would expect. Bluetooth is still a very popular way of sharing stuff especially with young people. They seem to like the simplicity of sending photos, video and audio wirelessly and bluetooth provides this without the need for an Internet connection or Wi-Fi. BTW don't you have to jailbreak an iPhone to use a BT transfer app?

[Ben]

Maybe it's just me, but I never really used BT to exchange pictures?

I use MMS, email, or, these days, if I'm sharing a picture I either stick it on my Facebook wall or directly onto the person's wall I want to share it with. All of which work excellently.

Bluetooth was always a slow and cumbersome way of doing things. I really don't get why BT file exchange is being made such a big deal of in this thread? I suppose if you are someone who uses it a lot then Android is going to be a better choice...

[@NickyColman]

Following on from the response I received in this thread about how I found Android, I decided to get the handset back out of its box to give it a 2nd chance.

I'd like to think I've got a better understanding of Android (thanks mostly to Hands0n) now, than I did a week ago so it gave me a bit more confidence for diving in for another round. I set the device back up using my Google credentials. Everything went fine. All the apps I'd previously downloaded all started to redownload to my handset. Emails were pushing straight to my handset. The battery was holding out well. Great!

Then, for no reason, the emails stopped pushing. For no reason, emails just wouldnt come through. Now I'm not talking delayed by a few minutes here, I mean emails not actually coming through. Only entering the app and selecting refresh brought them through. DAMN! A quick Google search confirmed this is a widespread issue on Android.

I tried ignoring this massive failing. But when you've been used to instant emails for nearly 2 years, having to manually refresh is just dire.

I also took some shots with the 8mp camera and put them against my iPhone 4's 5mp camera. The results are below.

On the whole, iPhone wins. Colours look so much bolder with iPhone, whereas the GS2 just looks washed out and meh!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/salochin/sets/72157626777106226/

After taking these pictures, I came across another issue with Gmail/Android - emails took AGES to send with only 1 picture attatched. Now I'm on 30MB broadband and had wifi switched on. iPhone managed to send 5 pictures (at full res) within minutes. The GS2 took about an hour to send one 8mp picture. WHAT THE HELL!?

I considered rooting the device and installing another rom on it to try and improve my experience until I stopped myself and thought - NO! Why should I? Why should I have to mod an OS that just isnt performing.

The phone is now back in its box, wiped, waiting to be eBay'd.

Bluetooth debate

As for the debate about Bluetooth - I think its a much wider debate, certainly bigger than this thread.

IMHO I think there are 2 things to consider here: The Youth & its use as a connectivity tool.

I believe Bluetooth only found widespread success purely because there was no alternative for the yoof of the time to exchange pictures/music/videos. Email was crap on phones until iPhone. MMS was/is too expensive. And Facebook & Twitter were years away. So what option was there to share with your friends? Bluetooth!

Nowadays, kids have the ability to bang a photo straight from their Blackberry, iPod Touch, iPhone or Android (even some basic phones now have Facebook photo uploading features) straight up to the internet for all to see. No standing within 30 meteres and telling people to "ACCEPT!!" just to see a picture. No "Sending failed". No discoverable for 119 seconds. etc. etc. etc.

If Bluetooth had its debut today, I doubt it would be able to even compete against Social Media. It has been fueled by youngsters all wanting to swap things with their mates!

Bluetooth is however, a good tool when used with a computer or other peripheral. Without Bluetooth we wouldnt have Magic Trackpads on our Macs or PS3 controllers or car kits & headsets. I think Bluetooth has its place, just not where it used to be.

[miffed]

Just to echo the last few comments (I think NickyColman puts it perfectly above) - Even when BT WAS relevant (for anything other than headset / car use) I found it to be a pain in the ass !! My transfer method of choice was email , followed by memory card swapping even then.
The only devices I did find it useful on , were S60 devices - My wife would tell me she had taken some pictures on here N73 , and I could browse and transfer them without taking the phone out of her bag , which was great at the time - but now I feel things have moved on so much don't have to get my hands dirty , and we know the photos she takes on her iPhone will be on our computer as soon as she charges , or I'll see them sooner if she had uploaded them to Facebook.
I simply cannot imagine why anyone would faff around pairing & sending photos by bluetooth now ?

[3GScottishUser]

I simply cannot imagine why anyone would faff around pairing & sending photos by bluetooth now ?

I see lots of students still exchanging files with Bluetooth, mostly music and pictures. Many don't have the money for Internet on their phones but I dare say most now do and Facebook for pictures might be a good alternative. Good as long as you want to make whoever you are sending a picture to a friend on Facebook! It's not quite as instant as searching for a device and beaming it directly either. For all of it's failings Bluetooth has some milage yet especially for teens sharing their favourite music tracks and that is no doubt what Apple have chosen to prevent which is daft really with so many on-line torrent sites now freely available with bucket loads of fresh songs on them every day.

Had a look at Nikky's pictures and have to agree that the Samsung versions look less warm than the iPhone ones. I think I had similar issues with the Galaxy S initially but some adjustment of the settings made a big difference. Samsung's cameras seem to always be quite low in contrast levels at normal settings, same on their dedicated cameras. This can be a matter of taste too of course, whilst the richer contrast produced by the iPhone may appeal to some it may look unnatural to others (the picture of the apples looks quite over exposed by the iPhone with the apples looking like they have some internal illumination!). Still if thats the image reproduction you prefer, so be it. Might be worth checking out the advanced settings on the Galaxy S2 again just to be sure! Nice comparisons BTW!

[Hands0n]

I know we're going rather off-topic here (we're like a load of old Ronnie Corbets it seems) but I really have a problem with the suggestion that BT is a suitable means for the promotion of media piracy, regardless of whether or not there are obvious Bit Torrent sites from where the stolen media is retrieved from. I have an even bigger problem enthusing BT's virtues in enabling a widening of the original piracy with consummate ease being something that Apple should be criticised for effectively, if not intentionally blocking.

So, why is it exactly "daft" of Apple to block or at the very least make it difficult to file-share quite so casually using an outmoded communications technology?

There is nothing "secret" about Apple's deployment of BT - it is completely clear if the punter could be bothered to read the specs for the device. It has always been the case that BT is a suite of protocols - not all of which are mandated to be implemented in all devices. I do recall Sony Ericsson devices that did not support OBEX, for example.

BT as a technology for mice and keyboards is entirely appropriate, that is a very low data volume use. Remember, BT tops out at less than 200Kbps (BT2 is 2.1Mbps nominal), which by today's communications standards is a ridiculously slow transfer rate.

Affording Internet
It is true that a lot of the younger set have BlackBerry devices. If these are set up with either Contract or PAYG BIS then they already have unlimited Internet and the ability to use any of the Internet means cited above are wide open to them to use.

Those that do not have Internet are needlessly missing out. The likes of giffgaff, for one example, and Three for another, offer very attractive and affordable PAYG terms that mean generous Voice minutes, SMS and [truly unlimited] Internet are well within the grasp of even a modest spend (£10 and £15 respectively).

There cannot be many who have a mobile phone who cannot afford £10 a month. And if they cannot, then one has to wonder what they're doing with a mobile phone anyway ... This is not elitist, just a completely reasonable standpoint. A mobile has to be very far down the "must have" list of someone who cannot reach for £10 a month.

[@NickyColman]

@3GSU - I find it almost impossible to believe that a student cannot afford the 'luxury' of the mobile internet in todays mobile market! Every network has some form of unlimited/AYCE data offering wether thats on PAYG or Pay Monthly - the options are there and at VERY reasonable prices too!

You make the comment "Good as long as you want to make whoever you are sending a picture to a friend on Facebook!". Now forgive me for misunderstanding but why would you be sharing pictures/music with someone that isnt a friend? It seems like a total contradiction. Todays younger Facebook users tend to add anyone they know as a 'friend' so its unlikely anyone they would be sharing content with would not already be a 'friend' on Facebook.

I'm within the student bracket. It certainly isnt the rage it once was, for me & my friends. My mates are sharing music using VEVO, YouTube, Spotify etc. Transferring an album would take an age at Bluetooth speeds! As for pictures, well, the options online are simply endless.

[hecatae]

@NickyColman , thank you for confirming it is an issue with the stock rom for the email problem.

[Ben]

Thanks for continuing this thread, @NickyColman, and for sharing your second experience of the Samsung Galaxy S 2 and Android.

The comparison shots were very interesting. The iPhone pictures definitely 'pop' where the Samsung Galaxy S 2 ones look rather drab. Interestingly, despite the megapixel difference there's certainly no visible improvement in quality from the S 2 as far as I can see; perhaps a testament to the quality of the sensor in the iPhone.

I think there are two conclusions we can draw.

One is that the S 2 isn't quite there. Some impressive specs perhaps, but, unless the buyer intends to install their own customisation of Android or wait for updates from Samsung, there are probably better Android handsets on the market. Another fail for the spec wars.

The other conclusion is, well, if you don't have an iPhone, you don't have an iPhone. Despite its ageing UI, iOS clearly still has the edge when it comes to being a great OS for a mobile phone, giving access to the widest range of features in the simplest possible way. Saying that the reviewer may simply prefer iOS because they're very familiar with it doesn't hold water with me; we've all switched from familiar things (Nokia, Windows) in the past when the competition has been so obviously better - if Android was obviously better than iOS then I don't doubt the reviewer would have been capable in determining this, S 2 bugs or no.

EDIT: TR are claiming "Probably the best smartphone in the world". This is despite noting that the battery life is nothing special, the call quality is poor, they would want to install a third party keyboard(!), it's 2.3.3 (so no video calling), and it's supposedly fiddly to unlock. Seems this handset is getting an easy ride!

[hecatae]

http://www.samfirmware.com/apps/blog/show/7124400-new-firmwares-omnia-7-and-galaxy-s-ii-


The Galaxy S II update is version I9100XWKE7 XEUKD1 XXKE4 and improves battery live, GPS accuracy, reduces the pink spot in photos and offers a bit more free RAM at startup

found the above if it's any help?

It's a stock unbranded rom, latest update, if it does not help, it may help with ebaying it.

and the pink spot is noticeable on the starbucks coffee photo

[3GScottishUser]

The comparison shots were very interesting. The iPhone pictures definitely 'pop' where the Samsung Galaxy S 2 ones look rather drab. Interestingly, despite the megapixel difference there's certainly no visible improvement in quality from the S 2 as far as I can see; perhaps a testament to the quality of the sensor in the iPhone.

I'm not sure about the sensor but what I am sure about is that it's far easier to add warmth and contrast to normally exposed photos than it is to try and alter over exposed shots and perhaps that is what Samsung have in mind. If you download and try to edit the iPhone pictures they are hard to make look natural. Checkout the red on the matchbox which glows and the apples that look illuminated. Download and edit the same shots from the Samsung and it's easy to replicate Apple's contrast but that tends to cause loss of fine detail. The thing is that you can have a similar effect if you want to using free software like Picasa with the Samsung's shots but not such an easy task to undo over exposure in the iPhone shots. Again it's a matter for the individual viewer which they prefer but I like the natural exposure which I can enhance if desired. One of the things Samsung provide is a comprehensive still image editor as a component of Kies for their Smartphone users.

[Ben]

I don't buy that Samsung made their pictures look drab and washed out on purpose, 3GSU.

People want their smartphone pictures to look great first time. If they wanted to spend hours faffing about with them in editing suites then they'd get a DSLR.

[gorilla]

Just to jump in with my 2p.
For me there is iOS, Android and customised Android made by the likes of Samsung.
Stock iOS compares nicely to stock Android.

I have only had one Android device for less than a year and the learning curve is far less than iOS (possibly because it is so similar).
I have none of the issues that Nicky has stated above and blame a couple of factors: 1. Samsung butchering the UI and 2. a really new handset that has issues.
Let's remember that each iteration of iOS has issues at the start.

One thing you will get no argument from on is that the iPhone 4 has a great camera and for me is market leading, but then again the other iPhone's had terrible cameras.
I had high hopes for this handset and was considering buying it, bought along with this review, the price and some other mitigating factors I have decided that it is not for me. I want a straightforward handset running stock android like the Nexus S.

I think Nicky has made the right choice and at least he gave Android a try, but perhaps he should have bought a San Francisco instead :p

One thing that is often discussed is the quality of apps in the Android market against iOS. For me, I have tried many apps on both systems and it is a bit of trial and error, but I basically use the same apps on both (allows me to have my data on my phone and iPad) and they both generally perform the same.

I am really excited about Android, probably to the same extent as I was back when I first got the iPhone 3G. I am not excited by iOS at all anymore.