Technology Android

[dilla]

I see. I was always careful to keep my phone from dying, which isn't hard, because like I said, It's fully charged in the morning and then put on a car charger to work and when I leave work 6 hours later, it's back on the car charger at 50% or so.

 

[Shadows]

i think there is something wrong with my phone. I get a processing error sometimes. but at this point, it's 2 yrs old almost and i'm due to upgrade anyway. might sell it back to the company. i protected it with an otterbox so it looks brand new.

 

[dilla]

What company, Sprint? Don't do that shit. Sell it at the zoo or something. You can easily get $250 for it and all the accessories you have for it. Sprint might give you $75 if you're lucky.

Hold on to your phone until the next Nexus device comes out. If it's as good and feature-packed as the N4 was, get it. Although, if you buy a Nexus or Samsung phone, I suggest you get the unlocked/international edition. The GalNex had a horrible release in the States and was no where near a Nexus device when it came to updates.

 

[masta247]

I'd get the S4. It's a great phone, especially since Shadows said he cared about better camera and battery, and the S4 is top notch in both. Looks like the US variants won't differ at all from the variant the most of the world will get (which means the Snapdragon 600 version).

The rumor is the next Nexus phone will not be announced in May, but it'll be announced by the end of the year. Also rumor is the next Nexus phone will also be made by LG. If I was stuck between going for the S4 now or waiting for the next yet unspecified Nexus phone at least til November or December (if there are no availability issues).

 

[ARon]

What about the x phone

 

[dilla]

I'd get the S4. It's a great phone, especially since Shadows said he cared about better camera and battery, and the S4 is top notch in both. Looks like the US variants won't differ at all from the variant the most of the world will get (which means the Snapdragon 600 version).

The rumor is the next Nexus phone will not be announced in May, but it'll be announced by the end of the year. Also rumor is the next Nexus phone will also be made by LG. If I was stuck between going for the S4 now or waiting for the next yet unspecified Nexus phone at least til November or December (if there are no availability issues).

Well, I mentioned unlocked Nexus phones in case he was planning on switching carriers. If he had the Nexus, or any GSM phone for that matte, he could go to T-Mobile and use their affordable plans. Especially with their new no-contract rule.

But yeah, I can vouch for Samsung's cameras to be top-notch. I've shocked myself a few times when taking pictures with it. I took pics at the auto show, and the photos that I took time to remain steady and get some good lighting in, they turned out like car show pics you would see on car blogs covering the auto show. I mean, that sort of clarity.

And the S4 is supposed to be better, right?

 

[Casey]

So I picked up an HTC One.

It's nice. But I'm selling it.

 

[masta247]

^Casey, it's pretty neat, I played with the HTC One at a HTC venue a couple days ago and I thought it's a pretty good effort from HTC but.. I wouldn't like it as my phone. Hard to explain I guess. Other than the imperfections like the camera or its Sense UI it just doesn't feel right to me, even though it looks fine. And also it's very expensive for what it is. It costs the same as the S4, which is the best smartphone at this moment while the One is more like the Nexus 4 trading stock Android for a higher res screen. I'd feel ripped off.

And the S4 is supposed to be better, right?

Yeah, the camera on the S4 is the best smartphone camera so far. Here's a shootout against the Xperia Z, and the S4 wins ALL categories, including night shots:
http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s4_vs_sony_xperia_z-review-915p9.php

To me the samples from this early review model are a little oversharpened but I'm pretty sure they're going to tweak that along with some other minor imperfections with software updates. But even now they are the best.

 

[Casey]

Anandtech have awarded it their first ever Gold Star review. People seem to trust their reviews. And the demand seems high. Someone has already offered me £600 for it. Non-Nexus phones are not for me anyhow. But I do like the build quality of it. It feels nice in the hand. If HTC were in the running for the next Nexus and built something like this, that'd be cool.

Although I still much prefer the build quality of the Nexus 4, LG knocked it out of the park with that. It seems that all the manufacturers are stepping up their game this year. And I predict that's because they all want a shot at building the Nexus 5. Whoever gets to make the first device to ship with Android 5.0, on the 5th anniversary of Android, will reap some major rewards.

 

[masta247]

I was extremely surprised by the Anandtech review. I always trusted their reviews as well. I think they liked the phone surprisingly too much. I noticed they were biased on the camera though, the guy said the camera was better than on his Iphone 5. It's very far from it in reality and that claim actually made me very disappointed with Anandtech (the fact that a tech reviewer is using an Iphone is also very weird).
There's a vocal group of HTC One fans on the Android forums though. However, they are mostly people hating the S4.

 

[dilla]

I was extremely surprised by the Anandtech review. I always trusted their reviews as well. I think they liked the phone surprisingly too much. I noticed they were biased on the camera though, the guy said the camera was better than on his Iphone 5. It's very far from it in reality and that claim actually made me very disappointed with Anandtech (the fact that a tech reviewer is using an Iphone is also very weird).
There's a vocal group of HTC One fans on the Android forums though. However, they are mostly people hating the S4.

Plenty of respected tech people use iPhones. They just may not work for websites with "Android" in their titles.

 

[masta247]

Plenty of respected tech people use iPhones. They just may not work for websites with "Android" in their titles.

To be honest I don't think so, maybe apart from popular portals running as pseudo-tech sites like Gizmodo. Engadget, The Verge and whatever else Topolsky comes up with. Amongst the hardcore tech crowd who make in-depth reviews based on science instead of "I like it because it's shiny" owning Iphones is kind of frowned upon.
I wouldn't imagine anyone at GSMArena or Anandtech using Iphones and being vocal about it, thus my surprise.

Check XDA and ask how does phone "X"(whichever phone) compare to an Iphone. XDA is not Android-specific, it's a tech enthusiast site. I'm yet to see an Iphone owner there.

I'm not really saying this to hate on the iPhone. It's just that reading this HTC One review it was like watching Top Gear and hearing Jeremy say something like "This 911 is the best car, and it's super efficient too, burns less gas than my Prius". Now Prius isn't a terrible car in its own league, just it's not something you'd see a car enthusiast driving. If you see that a guy reviewing new sports cars drives a prius you'd worry there might be something wrong with him.
And the statement I mentioned would be ridiculous as well, of course. That's also how ridiculous comparing the HTC One camera to the Iphone 5 camera is, and so is saying the HTC One is the best smartphone. It's up in the highest league, but we know better phones already.

 

[dilla]

I didn't realize the sites you listed were "pseudo tech sites." Are you sure you don't classify them as such because they do indeed use iPhones and therefore you see them as "pseudo" because of this?

As much as I assume you respect Anandtech, I hope you know that many times their reviews of Apple products end with the recommendation to buy them over competitors, if money is not an issue. They always laud Apple products for battery life, design, build quality, etc. It should be no surprise to anyone that reads these blogs that some of the editors own Apple products, be it MacBooks, iPads, iPhones, whatever.

 

[masta247]

I didn't realize the sites you listed were "pseudo tech sites." Are you sure you don't classify them as such because they do indeed use iPhones and therefore you see them as "pseudo" because of this?

As much as I assume you respect Anandtech, I hope you know that many times their reviews of Apple products end with the recommendation to buy them over competitors, if money is not an issue. They always laud Apple products for battery life, design, build quality, etc. It should be no surprise to anyone that reads these blogs that some of the editors own Apple products, be it MacBooks, iPads, iPhones, whatever.

The Verge and Engadget are Topolsky's sites, most of the times he has no idea what he's doing. These two along with Gizmodo don't do professional reviews. The typical review on these sites is basically reviewer's opinion. They don't even run serious tests. That's why they are pseudo-tech sites. They offer their opinions, they are popular gadget sites, focused on social gadgets and their coolness factor, not their value and performance in various aspects (they aren't even measuring that). They are journalists aiming at miximizing the amount of readers, they don't always understand what they're doing and they don't have to because most people who read those sites can't tell, they are not geeks focusing on finding the best hardware. They are usually people who don't want to know what's inside, they want a new, cooler phone.
If you read an average review on these sites it's like "the battery life is good, it lasted me the whole day", "The camera is good, I liked the colors" and also it was the great trio bashing the Nexus 4 and deeming it unworthy for lack of LTE.

It's night and day compared to real deal tech sites. If you want to compare, read an average review on Anandtech or GSMArena, these are totally different kinds of sites.

I saw a test or two being in favor of Apple's products on Anandtech, I respect that. There are certain things that Apple products do better than most of their competition. If I looked at the tests and they were in favor of Apple most of the times heck, I'd start liking Apple. That's not the case, however. But yeah, Apple scores pretty well in some aspects.
As long as a testing is in-depth and the review is not full of personal opinions I do respect that site. That's what GSMArena and Anandtech have always been in my opinion. On Anandtech some reviewers might disguise some tests with a little too many personal opinions. The HTC One review is the first controversial review I've come across on Anandtech though. That's mostly because some tests show something else than the Brian guy describes.
Still, there are numerous very good and detailed tests there, so I can just see those without reading the conclusions and I know how good the device is without relying on reviewer's competence.

 

[dilla]

So what tech sites would you say are on-par with Anandtech, or even surpass it in quality and depth of its testing? I don't read Giz or Engadget, but I do read The Verge, Tom's Hardware, and Boy Genius Report. No way are they on the same level as Anandtech's deep reviews, but they provide a more general perspective on a product, like you said, about battery life and such.

 

[masta247]

So what tech sites would you say are on-par with Anandtech, or even surpass it in quality and depth of its testing? I don't read Giz or Engadget, but I do read The Verge, Tom's Hardware, and Boy Genius Report. No way are they on the same level as Anandtech's deep reviews, but they provide a more general perspective on a product, like you said, about battery life and such.

For phones I think GSMArena is the best, pretty much surpasses Anandtech, offers more practical testing and it's not biased, they never say that one phone is better than another one, they just run tests and often give you feedback like "this phone takes better pics, this one has better battery life, we wouldn't recommend this one if you value X" etc, just based on numbers from their tests. Personally I like that. They're the most capable smartphone site out there imho. Just their comments sections have been swarming with trolls lately for some reason, there's the Xperia Z camp, the HTC One camp and the S4 haters camp, lol.
Oh, also they deliver the news real quick and have a blog for less popular but interesting news and tests.

Tom's Hardware is good, I rarely read them these days but they're pretty good all around.

When I'm buying phones or helping someone make a choice a lecture of a GSMArena review supported by an Anandtech review is usually more than enough. These two sites alone are better than any other on the internet, I believe. Despite minor issues I have with some Anandtech reviews now, their tests are top notch.

Also, XDA. They rarely do tests but damn, there's no better place for smartphone geeks if you're looking for the community factor, for example hands-on experience from guys who know these devices inside-out. It's still important to filter information once you read the forums, but there's lots to learn there. I'm there for a couple years now and it used to be almost exclusively populated with developers, these days there's also plenty of newbies there. No trolling though, it's very civilized and aimed at reasonable debate if there's any doubt.

 

[dilla]

The title of that website has been extremely off-putting. I don't know if it's a US site or not, but having "GSM" in it gives me the impression that they are excluding two of the top three carriers in US. As trivial as it may be, it's the biggest thing that keeps me from going to that site. They may cover CDMA models, but I feel like the difference between the models would be somewhat similar to the S3 World Edition and the ones that are actually sold in the States.

I've been on XDA since I got my first smartphone in 2009. It's ok. You find some neat fixes you can flash, but the Sprint GS3 section doesn't seem to have many different ROMs and the discussions are usually not interesting to me.

 

[masta247]

Yeah I think GSMArena started in Europe, in Czech Republic when "GSM" was pretty much equal to "mobile phone", it still is here.
They do cover international variants and American ones as well, they have offices based in the US too. There are even tests of most US variants as well.
Anyways they might grow on you, they do great reviews and have best tests in them.

 

[Pittsey]

It seems that all the manufacturers are stepping up their game this year. And I predict that's because they all want a shot at building the Nexus 5. Whoever gets to make the first device to ship with Android 5.0, on the 5th anniversary of Android, will reap some major rewards.

Your post has excited me.

 

[masta247]

If HTC made the next Nexus phone, on which would be an improved HTC One, and Google was responsible for software (including camera processing) that would be interesting.
But if Sony made a waterproof and shatterproof Nexus, or Samsung made a SGS4-ish Nexus with different design that'd be even more awesome.
I believe Sony will be given a shot next. They were never given a chance before.