Windows phone vs Android

[vlazy]

Hey everyone I just found these forums so I'm new here.. its nice to meet you all!

It is time for me to get rid of my iPhone 4. I can't stand the thing anymore and want to try something new.

I'm having a tough time deeciding between an android phone or a windows phone so I'm hoping you guys/gals can give me your opionions.

I as looking at either the Galaxy Note or the Lumina 900.

What i mostly do on my phone is facebook/twitter, web browsing, youtube and listen to music... these are definitely the most important things to me.

Another thing that i really like is battery life. I don't want to have to charge my phone mid day. Right now the one thing I like about my iPhone is that I take it off the charger in the morning and it is good all day until i go to bed again.

The only experience i had with the andoird O/S is that i owned a HTC sensation 4g and an Atrix 4g for awhile and i didn't like the feel of the andoid o/s at that time i felt liek it was not very polished and a bit clunky. I also felt like there was too much customization to get things working properly like having to install battery savers to get decent battery life and turn my wifi off when i was using it. I just want to be able to turn my phone on and using it like i do with my iphone. Not consatnly have to remember to turn off my wifi to try and make sure i have enough battery life to make it through the day.

What do you guys think... and im sorry for the long post!

Does Windows phone or Android sound like it would be better for ME at this time?

Thanks so much!

[Hook]

I don't honestly know what battery life is like on Windows phones. In terms of everything else, they are closely matched. Android is a bit more fiddley I think because it gives you more options for setting things up the way you want-- which means, you may *have* to set things up to get what you want. Some folks prefer that.

Mitlov will be along to give you a rundown on Windows Phone, but it is more of walled garden like Apple, though not as extreme. If you like the tile interface, it may really be for you.

[vlazy]

Thanks hook, I really am tired of apples 4x4 plain icon look.

As i mentioned i really just hated my first android experience of having to fiddle around with it too much to get things working properly. I relaly like the look of the galaxy note but im worried I will have the same problem again. I dont want to feel like i need to install battery savers and constantly shut off my wifi and screen brightness just to get through the day without a recharge.

OH ANOTHER THING i forgot to mention in the original post is I like push notifications. I want it to pop up when i get a new email or facebook message. In my previous android experience it seemed like if i had all of my push notifications turned on that my battery life was toast to the point of getting out of bed @ 0600am and looking for a charger by noon. It seemed silly that i had to turn all of that stuff off just to save my battery life. I felt like at that point im not getting the full use out of all the features on my phone.

Maybe i need to stick with apple even though im tired of it or has android improved? Would windows phone be better? its a tough choice.

[Hook]

I don't know the answer because I don't use my android devices in quite the same way you do. Generally, I get through a whole day without shutting anything down, but I don't do a lot of push. Battery life is always going to be a function of what you do and the hardware. Bigger screens, less battery life, etc.

More and more,from what yu are saying, you might very well be a candidate for Windows Phone. The tiles are set up to give you very quick updates on the sorts of things you are looking for updates on. There is a poster here named Mitlov who is pretty enthusiastic and knowledgable about Windows Phone and I'm sure he will pop up.

[vlazy]

Thanks again, if anyone else has any input on this it would be greatly appreciated

[Mitlov]

What i mostly do on my phone is facebook/twitter, web browsing, youtube and listen to music... these are definitely the most important things to me.

This weighs heavily in favor of Windows Phone. If Siri is the iPhone's "killer app" and customization is Android's killer benefit, music is WP's biggest advantage. Zune, soon to be renamed Xbox Music, is sort of like Spotify, but is better executed (better interface, better options for free downloading for offline play, and cheaper). The main downside of Zune is that it only works on Microsoft devices (Windows computers, WP phones, and Xboxes), whereas Spotify is platform-agnostic. But it's great. For $10/month or $100/year, you get unlimited downloads to any supported devices for offline play. I've downloaded dozens, possibly hundreds, of albums since I got my Zune Pass earlier this year (calculate the savings). Someone mentions a band? I'll download an album or two to see if I like it. Keep it if I do; delete it if I don't. And by plugging my computer into external speakers and plugging my phone into my car stereo's AUX-IN port, I can get the music anywhere I would normally bring a CD. For music addicts, WP is the best phone OS out there because of Zune Pass.

I don't have a Lumia 900, so can't comment on its battery. My HTC 7 Pro lasts probably 36 hours of moderate uses between charges, including playing music for a few hours. It charges remarkably fast--the first 75% takes perhaps half an hour or so, with the remaining 25% taking much longer. But this allows you to grab a quick charge during a meal and then get going again.

However, WP7 can't deliver the sort of push notifications you want. If you're in the Kindle app, for example, you will never know if you've got emails coming in unless you go to either the lock screen or the home screen. New emails will show up on your lock screen (I've got three email accounts tied to my phone, and each has a counter for new messages on my lock screen, as well as on its tile on the main screen), but it won't really pop up with a notification as each rolls in. And FB? The most you can hope for is a notification of how many new FB notifications you have on your "me" tile and a description of the most recent notification. The official FB app doesn't even have that...it's pretty cruddy. I use the social integration of the "me" and "people" tiles for most FB and twitter stuff, and that works for me.

The level of "polish" of Windows Phone is more like iOS than Android. For example, a friend of mine has a Galaxy S III (dual-core US model). Of course his phone can blow mine out of the water with performance benchmarks or gaming performance or whatever...but he sometimes has framerate drops while just navigating through the phone, particularly with the water effect on the lock screen. That sort of visual lag is entirely absent from WP7 devices, much like it's completely absent from iOS devices.

One other factor you didn't mention is cost. Right now, the Lumia 900 is only $50 with a contract from AT&T. The Android phones at that price range are godawful. The Galaxy S III and One X have great hardware, no doubt, but they're $200 with a contract.

One mark against the Lumia 900 is that WP8 is coming out at the end of the year. It'll get an upgrade to WP7.8 (which has an updated interface much like WP8), but it won't get WP8, and it may or may not be able to run the majority of new apps released after WP8's release. We just don't know how common backward compatibility is going to be. But you don't sound like you use a ton of specialized apps, so that may not be a deal-breaker for you. Certainly music and social media aren't going to be a problem; some games and some industry-specific apps might be an issue. Regardless, I still wanted to bring your attention to it.

[vlazy]

This weighs heavily in favor of Windows Phone. If Siri is the iPhone's "killer app" and customization is Android's killer benefit, music is WP's biggest advantage. Zune, soon to be renamed Xbox Music, is sort of like Spotify, but is better executed (better interface, better options for free downloading for offline play, and cheaper). The main downside of Zune is that it only works on Microsoft devices (Windows computers, WP phones, and Xboxes), whereas Spotify is platform-agnostic. But it's great. For $10/month or $100/year, you get unlimited downloads to any supported devices for offline play. I've downloaded dozens, possibly hundreds, of albums since I got my Zune Pass earlier this year (calculate the savings). Someone mentions a band? I'll download an album or two to see if I like it. Keep it if I do; delete it if I don't. And by plugging my computer into external speakers and plugging my phone into my car stereo's AUX-IN port, I can get the music anywhere I would normally bring a CD. For music addicts, WP is the best phone OS out there because of Zune Pass.

I don't have a Lumia 900, so can't comment on its battery. My HTC 7 Pro lasts probably 36 hours of moderate uses between charges, including playing music for a few hours. It charges remarkably fast--the first 75% takes perhaps half an hour or so, with the remaining 25% taking much longer. But this allows you to grab a quick charge during a meal and then get going again.

However, WP7 can't deliver the sort of push notifications you want. If you're in the Kindle app, for example, you will never know if you've got emails coming in unless you go to either the lock screen or the home screen. New emails will show up on your lock screen (I've got three email accounts tied to my phone, and each has a counter for new messages on my lock screen, as well as on its tile on the main screen), but it won't really pop up with a notification as each rolls in. And FB? The most you can hope for is a notification of how many new FB notifications you have on your "me" tile and a description of the most recent notification. The official FB app doesn't even have that...it's pretty cruddy. I use the social integration of the "me" and "people" tiles for most FB and twitter stuff, and that works for me.

The level of "polish" of Windows Phone is more like iOS than Android. For example, a friend of mine has a Galaxy S III (dual-core US model). Of course his phone can blow mine out of the water with performance benchmarks or gaming performance or whatever...but he sometimes has framerate drops while just navigating through the phone, particularly with the water effect on the lock screen. That sort of visual lag is entirely absent from WP7 devices, much like it's completely absent from iOS devices.

One other factor you didn't mention is cost. Right now, the Lumia 900 is only $50 with a contract from AT&T. The Android phones at that price range are godawful. The Galaxy S III and One X have great hardware, no doubt, but they're $200 with a contract.

One mark against the Lumia 900 is that WP8 is coming out at the end of the year. It'll get an upgrade to WP7.8 (which has an updated interface much like WP8), but it won't get WP8, and it may or may not be able to run the majority of new apps released after WP8's release. We just don't know how common backward compatibility is going to be. But you don't sound like you use a ton of specialized apps, so that may not be a deal-breaker for you. Certainly music and social media aren't going to be a problem; some games and some industry-specific apps might be an issue. Regardless, I still wanted to bring your attention to it.

Wow thanks so much for the excellent detailed response. I'm really leaning toward a windows phone.

What I meant by push notifications is does it make any sort of sound or anything when you get a new email or facebook message so you know you just got a new one. Or do you have to go and check the tile each time to see if you got a new message/email?

[vlazy]

I just read that in the facebook app for windows phone you can set the notifications to TOAST AND TILE COUNT. what is a toast? Does that mean it gives a sound notification?

[Mitlov]

Going into the "ringtones and sounds" section of the phone's main settings menu, I see you can turn on an audible notification for new email (I'm going to keep it turned off because I get a ton of email between my three accounts, but it's good to know the option is there for you), but there's no setting there for social networking notifications. I never tried enabling the FB push notifications in the FB app...I'll turn it on now and report back later tonight.

[vlazy]

Thanks again Mitlov I really appreciate the help.