Samsung vs Apple: which smartphone do Reg readers prefer?

Reg readers feel strongly about their smartphones. This much was clear when Freeform Dynamics analysed the results of a recent research study looking at Reg readers' habits and activity with respect to smartphones, tablets, TV viewing and electronic gaming (discussed in a previous article), Altogether, 1122 respondents took …

[dotslash]

Smartphones are for yesterday's cool kids.

Wearable computers is the next wave, google glass looks intriguing.

[Don Jefe]

Re: Smartphones are for yesterday's cool kids.

Yes. You will look intriguing wearing it too...

[FartingHippo]

Re: Smartphones are for yesterday's cool kids.

I've never seen 'intriguing' used as a synonym for 'moronic' before. Still, I dare say they'll not be as bad as those miniscule bluetooth earpieces which make you look like a sherry-swilling tramp (merkin-speak: hobo).

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Smartphones are for yesterday's cool kids.

I bet people thought others looked like tools when glasses first appeared. Us milk bottle wearers eh, four eyes?

[toadwarrior]

Re: Smartphones are for yesterday's cool kids.

I'd argue they still do why else wear pita contacts or risk laser eye surgery?

[Rukario]

Re: Smartphones are for yesterday's cool kids.

@toadwarrior (grrr... lack of threading)

> I'd argue they still do why else wear pita contacts or risk laser eye surgery?

Peripheral vision.

[Michael Wojcik]

Re: Smartphones are for yesterday's cool kids.

I'd argue they still do why else wear pita contacts or risk laser eye surgery?

Some people simply don't like the feel or inconvenience of glasses. (They get dirty, slide down when you're sweaty, fog up when you come in from the cold, etc.)

I wear glasses or contacts while I'm awake, and find both acceptable for most purposes. I don't think contacts are a pain; they don't bother me at all, and the only reasons I don't put them in every morning and wear them all day are 1) I'm too lazy to bother putting them in unless I have a reason to, and 2) I'm too lazy to want to go to the store any more often than I have to for cleaning supplies.

But I do wear my contacts if I'm going to be working on the house, so I can wear safety glasses or goggles; and I put them in if I think I'll want to wear sunglasses that day.

As for eye surgery, I wouldn't bother, but I have one friend who had it done so he could join a police force that required uncorrected 20/20 vision, and another who did it more or less for the hell of it. People get elective surgery for all sorts of reasons.

Finally, note that there are people who wear glasses as a fashion accessory, which would be a counterexample to your claim, if one were needed.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Smartphones are for yesterday's cool kids.

It has always seemed odd that weirdly shaped glasses are a fashion item whereas nobody produces "fashion" hearing aids. For something that calls itself the "reasonable animal", rationality has never been humanity's strong suit.

[Shagbag]

Acer

It's good to see another strong performance from Acer in the polls.

[ToddR]

Re: Smartphones are for yesterday's cool kids.

Ever thought of making friends instead?

[Anonymous Coward]

Statistics can usually be manipulated, but to give more clarity it is importants to see real numbers.

For instance, we had a 50% sickness rate in accounts at the begining of the month. Sounds high doesn't it, but only two people work in the office.

[Anonymous Coward]

@AC 16:41

> Statistics can usually be manipulated, but to give more clarity it is importants to see real numbers.

Was the bar graph at the beginning not there when you read the article?

[N13L5]

Got tired of getting walled in and pushed around by Apple when iPhone 3 was new.

Now i just go for the best specced Android phone until Ubuntu comes out on high end hardware, which so far ends up meaning Samsung.

Sadly, Google is trying to force users into the cloud by removing SD-card slots from all recent products. But the cloud is not always fast, available or even reliable, unless you never leave your hometown.

I resent Google for this purely self-serving act.

For users its rather unhealthy in times of re-emerging fascism pushed on us with the poor excuse of needing to protect us against terrorists, when we really need protection from Banksters, Corporate interests and hijacked governments.

[EddieD]

When it comes time to change, I'll see what there is..

Apps are cheap enough to be disposable, so flipping ecosystems isn't hard - it's not like the massive investments we used to make in a software for a platform - a new copy of Angry Birds (or whatever is the current flavour of the month) is a few pennies, and there are enough free apps for most folk on any platform (including my WinPhone, and my office mate's blackberry).

Whatver looks nice will get the sale.

[g e]

Re: When it comes time to change, I'll see what there is..

Same here. Will be an Android but that's all I know.

[tabman]

Re: When it comes time to change, I'll see what there is..

@g e

+1 agreed. After years of win phone my next handset will be a droid. Have even considered buying out of my contract early so I can switch.

[Mark Simon]

Support

I’ve been in IT for a very long time, and know how to rough it. After a while, you just want something that does the job without fuss.

The thing that hooked me on the iPhone was not just that the phone did everything I wanted, but the after-sales support.

I had a model with faulty GPS. I walked into an apple retail store, had it checked, and 10 minutes later walked out with a brand new replacement. Restored my backup, and everything was fine. With my previous phone (a Nokia),I would have to wait 3 days before they even looked at it.

That’s the total package that convinced me.

[Tezfair]

Re: Support

I don't have an apple, and the nearest apple store is 60 miles away, but I use Windows Mobile based phones, HTC / Nokia etc. I have a business contract and when the phones started playing up TMobile replaced them the next day (usually battery related)

Had I lived within commuting distance of a TMobile store I too could have had a same day straight swap. So in some ways the apple store is not offering anything extraordinary.

Im guessing here the difference is apple replaces the phone regardless of contract whereas TMobile only offers instant replacement to businesses.

[Tom 38]

Re: Support

And when you get the new HTC or Nokia, it's a new phone. A few minutes after turning on the iphone, and it is your phone, exactly as it was at the last backup.

[Geoff Campbell]

Re: @Tom

Nope. Android lives in the cloud, and has done since well before Apple joined the party. Swap phones, give it your Google account details, and everything is restored.

GJC

[I ain't Spartacus]

Re: @Tom

Nope. Android lives in the cloud, and has done since well before Apple joined the party. Swap phones, give it your Google account details, and everything is restored.

Geoff Campbell,

Are you sure? Do your texts and pictures migrate back to the phone. Does it restore and re-install all the apps, their settings and info? Does it also restore saved music and accounts for non-Google stuff (like Exchange / Dropbox)?

I know that you just bung your Google account back in, and addresses, calendars and emails you synch with Google go back on. But it didn't do that back in the days of Android 2.3, and that was years after Apple were selling phones.

Apple may have been later to the cloud party than Google. But they've had full synch of everything to your PC since they started with iPhones.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: @Tom

>"Are you sure? Do your texts and pictures migrate back to the phone. Does it restore and re-install all the apps, their settings and info? Does it also restore saved music and accounts for non-Google stuff (like Exchange / Dropbox)?"

So -- you gave Apple your passwords to DropBox and Exchange? Does your corporate IT dept know about this?

[t.est]

Re: @Tom

Nope you did not give the password to Apple. Stop babbeling andy prough of things you don't understand.

Still dropbox exchange etc don't need to be set up again. Behold the magic of iPhone backups. Android doesn't have a proper backup system, nor does winphones. Nobody gives away the password of those services to anyone.

Funny how the anti-apple fanboys always seem to technically inadequate, while always boasting of how much smarter they are. So fun so fun.

[reno79]

Re: @Tom

Are you sure? Do your texts and pictures migrate back to the phone. Does it restore and re-install all the apps, their settings and info? Does it also restore saved music and accounts for non-Google stuff (like Exchange / Dropbox)?

Music, no (but by god that would take years on 3G for my 40Gb of music on my S3) but everything else, yes. I've done it several times. All my music is stored on SD card anyway. How is your SD card in your iPho..... oh sorry.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: @Tom

>"Music, no (but by god that would take years on 3G for my 40Gb of music on my S3) but everything else, yes. I've done it several times. All my music is stored on SD card anyway."

You might want to check out Google Play Music. Its a fantastic way to get a couple GB of music files off your phone.

[Geoff Campbell]

Re: @Tom

All apps are reinstalled, yes - you have to be quite careful to un-check a setting during the initialisation script if you want a virgin installation. Texts and settings I don't know about, I've never cared enough to check, to be honest.

GJC

[Geoff Campbell]

Re: @Tom

Oh, and "saved" music? What is this, the '90s? :-)

Music lives in the cloud, too.

GJC

[t.est]

Re: @Tom

Yeah music lives in the cloud too if your happy with that crap...

I've tested out the sound quality from different sources, all streaming services like spotify have noticeable low sound quality even compared to iTunes Purchased songs. With other words you need not to compare the songs on a HiFi system to notice the difference. It's quite shocking how much better a song purchased from Apple is than compared too what you get from streaming services. I'ts huge.

[t.est]

Re: @Tom

More than that, they had backups.

Neither Winphone or Android have a native way of doing proper backups. Apple has two possible ways. Go figure.

So fun with the fandroids who vote people down, not even understanding one word of what they read.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: @Tom

Give more details to Google for them to market / sell to the highest bidder - no thanks.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: @Tom

And give Google all your data.

Haven't they got enough information on you already?

I'm starting to feel that google is pretty untrustworthy. They seem to want to know everything there is about everyone of us. Sorry, but I'm an old git and I don't want all this 'targetted marketing' shite thank you very much.

Frankly, I'd like to shoot all the advertisers who won't take 'no, I don't want your effing product' for an answer.

Virgin Media is at the top of that list.

I really value my privacy. If you search for me on the internet (with Google or Bing) you won't find me and I intend to keep it that way.

[Furbian]

Re: @Tom

No it is not, it won't get back game saves, text messages, list goes one. If you use multiple app stores, I use Amazon as well as Play (they banned me from paying for apps, long story, http://furbian.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/my-google-walletplaycheckoutwhatever.html ), then you can spend a good amount of time working out which apps that you had purchased (even if free) were installed and which ones weren't. SMS backup and restore will do your texts, Sony's PC Companion was happily telling me it was backing up my texts, when all it did was store an empty XML template for one, buried in its so called multi-gb 'backup'. Oh then use iSyncr to sync your Music library.

Or you can root your phone and run one of the many backup programs, but root your phone and your providers firmware updates will refuse to install, so it's the backup, flash your own firmware, root new firmware, restore...

With my iPhone this was a ONE step process, sync with iTunes, ALL done. Android syncing is a total mess.

But I'll stick with my Xperia-T, got it a month old for half the price of an equivalent iPhone, larger screen and Swype.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: @Tom

>"No it is not, it won't get back game saves, text messages, list goes one. If you use multiple app stores, I use Amazon as well as Play (they banned me from paying for apps, long story, http://furbian.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/my-google-walletplaycheckoutwhatever.html ), then you can spend a good amount of time working out which apps that you had purchased (even if free) were installed and which ones weren't."

So -- basically, for those of us who have NOT been banned from Google's Play Store, syncing across devices is a one step process. For Furbian, not so simple.

Got it. So your message is - don't get banned like Furbian?

[Furbian]

Re: @Tom

Oh great a Fandriod ...

"syncing across devices is a one step process", Play store buying ban or not, it is not a "once step process", it just gets your Play store apps back and few other things, like contacts, no notes, not even Google Gmail notes, no game saves, no application data of any sort. Google won't cloud save them for you, you have to make sure that your app provider is cloud storing the data, or you back it up yourself locally. Maybe you don't care about note taking or rely on someone like Evernote (hacked a few weeks back) etc. Oh I'll mention SMS messages again, because Google won't cloud save those either, but apparently some don't care for them, fair enough you just the phone for gaming and not work or any form of productivity, oh but then you'll value your game saves, oh what's that you don't use it for work or gaming?

For the record, apart form SMS messages, Sony's PC companion actually does quite a good job of preserving app data.

The banning from Play store is only for PAID apps, I can still get free ones, was because I refused to send them a copy of my passport in response to e-mails form Google that looked like fraudulent phishing attempts, simply because I updated my expired credit card. Perhaps you send copies of your passport off to any who ask for one the web happily, especially to a company that illegally collected everyone's router wi-fi credentials using it's mapping cars. According to some who added their comments to my blog, sending them your passport, license etc. still might not get your ban lifted. Besides Amazon's App store gives a paid app free everyday, and many offered have been good commercially successful titles. Yes my Amazon, Apple, Steam, eBay, Paypal etc. accounts are all in good standing, no problem with any of them.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: @Tom

1) You don't seem to be very good at this whole tech thing, stick with iOS

2) Reading the link, I think I'd ban you from owning milk, even, were it an option. Pissy much?

[t.est]

Re: @Tom

What exactly is restored?

[reno79]

Re: Support

If you're talking about Android, no. Not even slightly.

Everything is stored in the cloud and tied to your account - contacts, apps, even wifi settings (and SMS if you read up on how to do it). Sign in and it begins resyncing. And it's all automatic.

[GBL Initialiser]

Wrong when it comes to Nokia (WP8) too. Cloud backup restores text messages, settings & apps. Photos are generally auto uploaded but I don't think it pulls them automatically.

[I ain't Spartacus]

Wrong when it comes to Nokia (WP8) too. Cloud backup restores text messages, settings & apps. Photos are generally auto uploaded but I don't think it pulls them automatically.

GBL Initialiser,

That's good. I was specific when I said WP7, which didn't do any kind of proper back-up. So it's nice to see they put it in the new version.

Not that I care about texts particularly, but my sister-in-law had about 100 un-backed-up MMS messages with pictures of their kids. A decent OS ought to have a way of backing those up. Android 2.2 didn't. And even most of the apps which claimed you could save them didn't work.

I'm interested to see comments that modern versions of Android now do proper backup. I'm certain that there was nothing available in Android 2.2/2.3, which is what I put in my post and got all the downvotes for. There have always been individual ways of doing stuff, synch the photos with Picassa, use GMail etc. But I'm positive there was no way to do it before. Unless it was in stock Android, but removed by HTC Sense.

Anyway Apple got this one right from the start. Even if they did force you to use iTunes until iOS 5, when you could back-up to iCloud. And I don't think Android or Microsoft did - though I'm glad to be told they've now corrected themselves. I don't know about Blackberry, it's the one OS I've not used.

[t.est]

Re: Support

Lol the down voters of your post, don't even know what you speak of.

12 votes 10 down, that is 10 ignorant fools.

[I ain't Spartacus]

Re: Support

I don't have an apple, and the nearest apple store is 60 miles away, but I use Windows Mobile based phones, HTC / Nokia etc. I have a business contract and when the phones started playing up TMobile replaced them the next day (usually battery related)

Had I lived within commuting distance of a TMobile store I too could have had a same day straight swap. So in some ways the apple store is not offering anything extraordinary.

Tezfair,

There is a big difference here though. The service might be the same, although probably only through the carriers. If you'd bought direct from Nokia, or SIM-free, you'd probably have to send the thing off, and I've heard similar bad reports of Samsung and HTC. Who knows what Google do with Nexus devices now? But when they sold the first one, they didn't even bother having a returns/repairs department - and I think they ended up farming it out to HTC with the G1.

But I've now owned 3 of the OSes. When I broke my Nokia Lumia (WinPho7) I pretty much had to set the new phone up from scratch. Even though the old one was backed up on the PC, this mostly seemed to just be media. I also seem to remember I had to manually back up photos, and there was no method to back up texts (though I didn't bother looking for an app to do so).

When swapped my sister-in-law's Android (HTC Wildfire), to replace her broken one, it took 2 hours to replicate the data. Admittedly that was Android 2.2 - although the phone was only 1 year old at the time - so I don't know if the latest 'Droids are better. But at the time you had to manually find the old apps (I think the Play store has a tab for this now), it took ten minutes to find an app to copy the texts, but half an hour to find one that would back up the picture messages (most didn't work), plus piccies and music and the settings manually.

A non-technical user couldn't have done that Android switch, and that was on 2 identical handsets with the same version of the software.

I've upgraded several iPhones, and this even works when updating the model. You simply plug in the new one to iTunes (that abomination unto the Gods of software), tell it to restore from the old one, and it's done - you just leave the 'pooter to send the data across. You then need to put in a couple of passwords, and it's done. And Apple bother to back up your texts, which all the others seem to abandon.

In comparison, WinPho and Android are shockingly bad.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Support

Tip: If you select the option to encrypt the backup (iPhone to iTunes) it will store the passwords as well - so upgrading one is even simpler and quicker.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Support

"Who knows what Google do with Nexus devices now? But when they sold the first one, they didn't even bother having a returns/repairs department - and I think they ended up farming it out to HTC with the G1."

Actually, I do. I phoned the support phone number at 10:30 at night. Got through to a real person (American, *extremely* charming though, even to my flinty British heart). A couple of days later, a new Nexus 7 was waiting on my desk, complete with a TNT bag to ship the old once back, at their expense.

I'm reasonably happy with that. Rooted the new one. Let it sync my Google account up, and I was good to go.

[t.est]

Re: Support

Yes, and if you bothered to put your backup onto icloud, you need no itunes for that.

Simply works.

[ToddR]

Re: Support

Thats coz you live in the sticks mate

[Brenda McViking]

Re: Support

And this is exactly why I still reccomend apple products to my friends, even though I'd never buy one myself as I don't wish to bear the exorbitant cost of this level of service.

Me? I want a well specc'd device which I don't have to compromise on. I've had a camera on my phone since they came out, GPS since it came out, I require a removable battery, expandable memory, and a charge that lasts a full day of moderate use (though preferrably a week...) I like a phone with a party piece too - my current one does 3D without glasses for instance, but above all, my biggest gripe is that I do NOT want to wait for months for software upgrades as they come out.

Apple is completely out as you can't share stuff device to device and the restrictions drive me nuts. I have an ipod touch which I won in a raffle- it's nice, I understand the "just works" mentality, but I'm not sold.

HTC (HD2) wasn't bad, until they broke software upgrade promises (that and Windows phone 6.5- never WinPhone EVER again)

LG (Optimus 3D) have been utterly atrocious. Great design, loads of promise, let down by a company who half implements a UI and then runs off 1 month after it's released to work on something new. Then releases an "upgrade" (a year late) to gingerbread which sometimes PREVENTS THE PHONE FROM RECIEVING A CALL PROPERLY. I mean, seriously guys - lets look at the first rule in the book, shall we? No? okay. good luck ever seeing me as a customer again.

So what next? Apple out, HTC in the bad books, LG never going to recieve another penny from me as long as I live - the answer would appear to be Samsung. Contract just up and the S4 announced - what is not to like? I would have considered a Nexus, before it tried to copy the worst design features of the iphone - i.e. the battery & microSD slot. Or rather the lack thereof.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Support

"exorbitant cost of this level of service"

Really. Friend had a Samsung - went faulty - they needed it back for so long (almost a month) he had to buy a replacement - THAT is expensive. My iPhone also got a fault (albeit after I dropped it) - 20 minutes in the Apple Store and it was fixed - no hassle.

Another friend has an iPhone - lives too far away from a store. Apple sent out packaging for it to be returned - they got it the next day - fixed it same day and back in the post so he received it the next day. Can't really argue with that.

So yes an iPhone 5 is on the face of it slightly more than some of it's competitors but over the life of the phone what are we talking - couple of pounds per month for better security and better service.

[skipper]

Re: Support

Support can be vary whatever devices you might have...

I bricked my Samsung phone a while back, took it into Carphone Warehouse, and within a few hours I had my phone back in my hand, working, with everything synced back as it was.

In comparison my wife's Apple 4S's screen shattered, had to pay a £60 excess for a replacement, and then it took several nights fighting with iTunes to get most of data back.

I've never bricked my SG2 again, my wife's Apple screen has cracked again.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Support

If you have to 'fight' with iTunes you did something wrong - I have upgraded various iPhones for myself and family and it's a piece of cake. Assuming you did a backup (which it does automatically) - you plug the new one in, tell it to restore - done.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Support @AC

seriously? that sounds crazy, where did they buy it from? i've had faulty phones and at most it was a few days away while they checked it, but usually its new phone in the post, please return the old one in the pre-paid baggie we are sending you.. Samsung themselves have always been great when I've spoken to them, UK based call centers and they worked with me on the problem, and these were software related! oh and that was for a UK retail customer, not business!

[BillG]

Re: Support

I want to add a "yes, but..." about LG.

My LG G2X is solid as a rock, reliable, stable, unbreakable, and the best camera you'll find on a smartphone, ever. But for the price of unbreakable hardware I have to put up with atrocious software, lousy upgrades, and absent developer support. Enter CyanogenMod7, an overclocked kernel, and I'm golden, it's now a phone I am immensely proud of and want to live with forever.

But for those that can't or won't root, LG is horrible to it's customers. Any LG phone is going to become abandonware six months after release. Contrast that to Samsung and HTC who I hear warmly embrace developers like their own children.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Support

"I had a model with faulty GPS. I walked into an apple retail store, had it checked, and 10 minutes later walked out with a brand new replacement. Restored my backup, and everything was fine. With my previous phone (a Nokia),I would have to wait 3 days before they even looked at it."

Three days? LUXURY! (etc.)

When I had Nokia fail issues, I contacted Nokia, who demanded all sorts of personal details from me, promised faithfully to contact me back within 48 hours, and then sent me SMS spam regularly for the next month or so, but never actually dealt with my ticket.

(Yes, fuck Nokia)

[Justin 9]

Re: Support

After the first year its a replacement device at £120. unless you stump up the £70 applecare

Nokia and samsung have a 24 month manufacturer warranty...

[JEDIDIAH]

Re: Support

Bragging about how well Apple did with your broken hardware is hardly doing the job without a fuss.

Doing the job without a fuss, is well... doing the job. That means not going anywhere near support. If you are starting based on the idea that you expect the device to break then you've already lost the plot.

Bragging about better support just highlights how bad the product is.

I dumped my iPhone because it failed to do simple things I would expect out of a 1999 Nokia flip phone.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Support

All phones can have issues - it's how they deal with them that matters. Apple deal with them very well - my experience of other brands has been disappointing.

[wowfood]

What's on the market

Is basically what does it for me. The last phone I bought was the LG Optimus 4XHD. Why did I choose this phone? It had one of the newer android versions on it, a large screen and a good processor. Not only that but when compared to the samsung at the time it was damn well near half the price for a similar product.

I do not regret buying my LG in any way shape or form, at least not yet time will tell. But it really does come down to spec and cost for me, if brand b does the same job for half the price, I'll take brand b every time.

This is also the reason I won't buy an apple product. I want full spec at half price, not half spec at full price.

[t.est]

Re: What's on the market

Funny, a friend of mine a long time Android user just recently switched to Apple, the whole bunch his halfyear old PC he sold for 1000€ so no crappy shit, his android tablet and finally his android phone.

That switch in 16 days. Win 8 was the trigger for that switch. Anyway when having the iphone for a while he asks me. How come his iPhone 5 is so much faster than his former Android, though the iPhone have so much lesser cpu power, and less memory, what is the reason for that?

Unfortunately I have no really good answer to that, expect Android apps do JAVA, while iOS apps do native Obj-C, with a very nice optimized cocoa framework.

[t.est]

Re: What's on the market

Lol as predicted I got a thumbs down for a real life event.

Fandroids probably dislikes documentaries too, I like documentaries.

[Intractable Potsherd]

Re: What's on the market

Downvoted for not making sense. As far as I can tell, your friend changed all his Android kit (which Android PC was it he was using, exactly?) to splash a fortune on Apple kit because of Windows 8. Even allowing for a little latitude (lets assume that the PC had Win8 which he didn't like), why the wholesale switch to Apple, including Android kit that has nothing to do with Windows? Why didn't he install a different version of Windows? Why does he come across as a spoilt brat with more money than sense? Does he know anything about the tech he owns?

Nothing in your post actually makes the point you seem to think it does, so it isn't a documentary.

[Danny 5]

i should know better by now

but i'm still surprised people aren't happier with Nokia/winphone.

I love my Lumia 900 and am waiting for the launch of the Lumia EOS. It'll probably be expensive, but i'm quite likely to get one nonetheless.

So the Lumia with winphone isn't as good as it's apearing to me, has my Microsoft fanboyism finally got the better of me?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: i should know better by now

The Lumia 920 i was given (to push) was absolutely awful, I wouldn't sell it to anyone.. The battery life rubbish, the camera very average (despite being called the best smartphone camera ever), app-store embarrassing, and the OS had more bugs than you could shake a stick at.

Bluetooth was barely functional, had trouble pairing to speakers and headphones, and no way to send files like I can on my (purchased) Nexus4.

The proximity sensor is truly horrendous, very often not switching the display off when you put it to your head, and not switching it back on again when you move it away, almost always the in-call keypad in inaccessible because of it.

It fails as a phone, it fails as a camera, it fails as an entertainment device, it fails as a smartphone. It's also very expensive.

I'm surprised the the numbers aren't lower, MUCH lower...

[Danny 5]

Re: i should know better by now

I call bullshit!

i know several people who have a 920 and they report none of the crap you allegedly experienced. I also know for a fact the camera's great, so clearly you're talking out of your ass.

troll, or someone who just hates Microsoft, you opinion should be scratched from the board.

[I ain't Spartacus]

Re: i should know better by now

Danny 5,

I seem to recall there being various bugs/driver errors with the original 920 on launch. So it's possible that some of it is true. Certainly they had battery life and some sort of call receiving bugs. All fixed after a couple of weeks.

They had similar problems with the Lumia 800 in 2011 too. Personally, I suspect Nokia were in a serious rush to get to market, and cut a few corners on QC.

That post still sounded like BS though.

[Frank Bough]

Re: i should know better by now

No, the camera is shit. I was involved in an ad campaign for the Lumia where the ads were all going to be shot on the phones... Until we tried and discovered how awful the pictures are. Honestly, no where near as good as an iPhone 4S or 5 or a recent Samsung. The ad ended up being shot on Canon 5Ds.

[The_Regulator]

Re: I Should Know Better

Obviously you would go anon coward with these comments as you are way out of line with reality. The camera on the 920 has already been proven by multiple sources to be the best there was at launch in lowlight situations and very accomplished in all others. Every OS has its kinks but I have found wp8 to be very enjoyable to use with few if any major flaws. The marketplace is growing and more official apps are making their way to the platform as well as games too.

Personally very satisfied with the Lumia 920 from all aspects.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: I Should Know Better

The 920 camera was claimed to be the best by Nokia, who were caught faking the pictures.

The REALITY, is it's low-light performance is on-par with an Xperia Arc from 2011... Seems you have well and truly fallen for the hype...

http://www.xperiablog.net/2011/02/16/great-demo-shows-off-exmor-r’s-low-light-camera-abilities-video/

[t.est]

Re: I Should Know Better

No, I'm a iPhone fanboy, but nothing beats the 920 camera. Except proper dslr's, some dslr's setups do even worse on some test.

Well that's not quite right, the Nokia 880 does better, at least in good light conditions, much better.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: I Should Know Better

"No, I'm a iPhone fanboy, but nothing beats the 920 camera. Except proper dslr's, some dslr's setups do even worse on some test.

Well that's not quite right, the Nokia 880 does better, at least in good light conditions, much better."

I think you mistyped "I am a massive tool".

Many many compacts beat the 920's camera. My little fixed focal length Ricoh sure as hell does, especially when I have put the raw shots through Lightroom properly. A bunch of sRGB JPEGs from a camera phone don't even come close.

Sigh.

[t.est]

Re: I Should Know Better

Yes, ok, I said dslr's as some of the dslr's actually do a poor job. Read the cheap stuff.

I do own a dslr, and it still does better even if it's an old one. I've seen what the 920 is capable of as my workmate next door has it and a 808. And it's pretty impressive. Sure the types of shoots you can do is restricted compared. In fact over all the 920 does a better job than the 808. But in good light nothing handheld I've ever seen does better than the 808. Mind you I got the iPhone 4S and many of my friends have the 5. We have done a few test's ourselves, to see what the reality is.

No phone maker beats the Nokia cameras. True though, they had some issues, software related that have been sorted out with software updates.

Still S3, Nokia 720, Nokia 880, iPhone 4, 4S and 5 are those we had a closer look at. And in over all performance, the type you expect from a phone camera, 720 beats them all. In good light conditions nothing is close to the Nokia 808, the kind of detail that phone can capture is amazing.

But then I don't buy my phone due to which one has the best camera. I get the phone that does about everything well. That's why I use iPhone, to that I count calendar, email and other features where the iPhone still beats all in a overall test.

Each phone can have a area where it's the best. Apple's iPhone have lost a few rounds lately. But with the camera they never been best. I think Nokia phones always have had the best cameras. Earlier much due to their large lenses that gave them good results. Today much of things they learned from making pureview on the 808, with it's whooping 41 Mpix sensor.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: I Should Know Better

"Yes, ok, I said dslr's as some of the dslr's actually do a poor job. Read the cheap stuff."

Just. Stop. Digging.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: I Should Know Better

You don't need to be an optical engineer to know that the sensor and lens on a phone is so tiny that it cannot possibly compete with even a cheap point and shoot. The marketing-number resolution is such that the wavelength of light is getting to be a serious obstacle to more megapixels. At 13MPx, you are looking at 4000 pixels along a baseline of 4mm. Each pixel has 3 sensors, so you have to fit three sensors into a space 1 micron on a side. And the longest red light is around 0.7 of a micron wavelength.

But, even more fun, the effect of dirt on the lens is magnified. In the bad old days wedding photographers got away with quite dirty lenses on their Rolleis and Blads because the image size was reasonable, but with a sensor less than 1/200th the area of a medium format frame, it doesn't take much to get the resolution much worse than a micron. What a phone camera does under ideal conditions and what it does in a pub are likely to be very different. PaS cameras usually have an automatic lens protector.

HTC have bravely admitted this with a 4MPx camera on the One, but, at the end of the day, trying to flog a phone on the grounds it has a good camera is a bit of a joke. The fact is that you can take perfectly adequate A4 photocopies with a 3.2MPx camera off a cheap phone, and that's the main business case.

From what I can see, Apple simply has rather good software to make the most of what's there. But for the price of an Apple phone with enough memory for lots of stuff, you can buy someone else's top of the range phone, and a good compact camera, and a big SD card, and still have cash left over.

[I ain't Spartacus]

Re: i should know better by now

I've turned to the Dark Side since filling in this survey. I got frustrated with the work Android (HTC Wildfire) so much that I bought my own Nokia Lumia 710 18 months ago. For the £120 I paid for it, it was brilliant. For the £350 they wanted on launch, it was mediocre. Since saying I liked my Nokia I've now got an iPhone 5 from work, with EE's 4G.

As a phone, the Windows one was best. Big, clear buttons, better contact management, better call quality, better signal indoors. The only other thing Nokia/MS won on was SatNav.

I'd like to have a good play with a more modern Android, rather than just in a shop. There's a lot to like in all 3 of these OSes. I quite liked my play with the new Blackberry too.

Like you, I'm a bit surprised Windows Phone hasn't done a bit better. MS's lack of decent marketing 2 years ago probably didn't help. Plus I've read a few suggestions that Nokia hadn't managed to get onside with the networks/retail. Don't know if that's due to Elop's mistakes, Nokia sales losing their touch, distrust of MS, or just the perception that Nokia were a busted flush. The lack of apps don't help though. As of February, I had a good root around in there, and it was still pretty rubbish. Bad enough that a small investment from MS of just a few millions would have still made a significant difference.

[Nick Ryan]

Apple have followed the stable, don't rock the boat, path with their phones for a little too long now. While the hardware is generally good, barring the obligatory build quality failures that plague production to a cost and a few other poor design choices, are well engineered as well. Unfortunately iOS itself is really not looking the whizz shiny interface that it used to be, it's still smooth and still works but now lags behind everything.

Microsoft have a much more fresh looking UI, although (subjectively for me, I find it ugly as sin), the UI is plagued by more inconsistencies than other phone OSes and while very good for a few tasks tends to really fail for others and fails on quite a lot of counts for basic UI principles. Again, and subjectively, I find the look of the some of the devices quite disappointing, but this is probably down to the sheer lack of choice as too many users and manufacturers have been burnt by the 6 to 6.5 to 7 changes. The lack of a wide range of devices and app support really seems to be hampering uptake and the Microsoft brand is not one that screams "trust" or "reliability" which is very bad for consumers. While the range of devices is wider than Apple's, therefore the lack of variety would seem an off argument, there isn't the cult of Apple or "cool" factor driving uptake.

Android... a very mixed bag of devices. The wide range gives a lot of choice for the consumer and the manufacturers really are producing a wide selection of looks, feels, features and price points. Unfortunately many of the devices are sub-standard and quite appalling to use and some manufacturers just fling so many models out there that you're left with no clear idea what are the good ones and which aren't. The manufacturer's own interfaces often detract rather than enhance the experience and add horrible delays to the delivery of OS updates, some of which are quite desirable.

...and my take on all of this. The competition is good. Without it we'd be languishing around with whatever crap a few suppliers feel fit to give us. Apple really changed the mobile market with a device that was polished at many levels and while they've stagnated recently it's not impossible for them, bean-counter excepting, to turn things around it does feel like they've lost it on the iPhone.

[I ain't Spartacus]

Nick Ryan,

I think that's a pretty fair summary. The sheer ability to customise Android makes it absolutely brilliant. The downside being, it can be a bit rubbish in places - forcing you to customise it. The lack of ability to customise iOS can get frustrating. Just the simple thing of allowing you to have the the program icons you use most physically bigger makes a massive difference, on a device you're often stabbing at as you walk. Windows is somewhere in between. I seem to recall you can do quite a lot with the new Berries as well. Just that makes iOS look out-of-date. It is simple for Apple to fix though. Personally, I find a screen full of icons harder to use than a boring looking menu. Other's opinions may differ on that though.

All OSes seem to be improving though. So competition's keeping he buggers on their toes. It would be a shame if BB and WinPho disappeared. I don't like the idea of the market left just to Apple and Google.

[dotdavid]

Can't speak for anyone else

But despite owning a Samsung Galaxy S3 I'm not a "Samsung Fan"; more an Android Fan. My next handset is most likely to be another Android, but which manufacturer it comes from is TBD.

I suspect I'm not the only one in El Reg's readership that has that view, although perhaps less savvy users might be more attached to the brands.

[Geoff Campbell]

Re: Can't speak for anyone else

Me too. Currently running an S3, which will do me until next year. By default I might pick another Samsung, but if I had to make the choice today I'd probably go for a Nexus 4. We'll see what the market looks like when I need to make the choice.

Interestingly, one of the strongest requirements behind the choice will be strong support from the custom ROM market. Not strictly needed with the Nexus range, but it's been a useful backstop on various phones in the past.

GJC

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Can't speak for anyone else

Samesame.

I love the hardware of my S3. I don't like the bundled Samsung crap. I'd prefer something as close to plain Android as possible. All the Samsung apps are horrid. I'd much prefer my phone to be a bit more like my Nexus 7.

When I next need to upgrade, I will probably be looking at the current Nexus phone, unless manufacturers start offering two variants, the "plain android" one, and the "loaded down with horrible gimmicky crap" one.

[Geoff Campbell]

Re: @AC

http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Install_CM_for_i9300

Very easy.

GJC

[lansalot]

nah...

The 4s is my last iPhone. I love it, but the walled garden.. I've had enough. My Nexus 7 tablet has convinced me Android is the way forward. All those features in my phone and I can't access half of them? Something as simple as to bluetooth a pic or a contact? Nope! Come on..!

Eyeing up the Sony Experia Z.. Find the Galaxy S3 too big and the S4, well sheesh... Will see what's available come October/upgrade time tho.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: nah...

Walled garden - for almost all users it's a non-issue as there are so many apps available do you really need one from a different source (for most normal users I repeat). Also balance that against old phones like the 3GS still running the latest version of iOS and overall better security.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: nah...

THe walled garden for me is not the app store, its the file system... I CAN"T just transfer a file to and from? I have to use iTunes??? I can't just drop any media file onto the device and play it? I HAS to be the right format??

Things like that make me hate iDevices... I have one, which is a toy for my 3 year old (about the right age group to use them I think) it is perfect for him to use... me.. I use android devices, much more flexible.. Although I would like better backup facilities, and the ability to sync photos with an ftp server to be built in (I use some cloudiness, but I am reluctant to put all my photos in the cloud...)

[t.est]

Re: nah...

As i wrote earlier, those who are ok with leaving the old paradigm behind and move forward have no problem with the walled garden.

I sorry but I have to point out that you mentioned ftp...

So yes, for those who don't want to learn how you can get stuff done in new ways, often simpler ways, usually don't like the walled garden. For me I see more pros than coons with the walled garden. But then I'm not you.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: nah...

Also balance that against old phones like the 3GS still running the latest version of iOS

Does it, really? Or does it run a cut-down version of it?

[Frank Bough]

Re: nah...

Yes it does, it only misses out on the features it can't support in hardware. My family has a 3GS, 4 and 4S all running the latest OS.

[t.est]

Re: nah...

Well it does. The OS is the same.

But then there may be differences in what the hardware support as with Siri. iPhone 4 without Siri and for good reasons I noticed. Different hardware in the SOC that handles the filtration of the signal. And makes a huge difference from the 4S.

While Maps is a software thing with virtual boundaries depending on phone u use, still just an bundled app.

So no the OS is not cut-down. But apps may be.

[t.est]

Re: nah...

You are correct, but as you see most don't see this.

Why?

Because most still are into the old ways of doing things. It might be that they need a cable to plug it in, wireless is to complicated to understand. Or then something else. It's usually due to a paradigm switch. If the user is willing to make the paradigm switch. They be happy with Apples walled garden. If not, they will hate the wallen garden.

Most complaints are about playing their mkv material that they store on some NAS or similar. That is the old way of doing it. While the new way is just stream it, even multistream it.

And if people been smart enough to use standardized formats and containers in the past, wallen garden is no problem either. It's just up to them to take the shift or not.

[lansalot]

Re: nah...

A big "+1" to the frustrating issue of having to use iTunes as well. That means firing up my main machine upstairs, and firing all my music into it, then making a playlist, then syncing. Got a tune on my work PC I want to copy onto it? Not a chance... take it home on USB and go through the whole process.

Drag and drop... it's not exactly rocket science. That said, because of this I ditched iTunes months back for the excellent Spotify. Which of course is cross-platform. Still always been a major bugbear however. I hate iTunes with a spectacular passion. It's awful software for what's supposed to be a premium product.

[t.est]

Re: nah...

What's the problem you can sync songs easely between a work pc and a home pc if you want. The hassle you say you go trough, is not at all necessary.

Besides you can do it all wirelessly too fully automatically, well at least semi automatically. iTunes handles this nicely in the background, or then if you don't live in Scandinavia you get ur music synced trough iCloud.

http://www.apple.com/icloud/features/itunes-in-the-cloud/

Either way it's a non issue.

[Dante]

Re: nah...

Fuck me you're tiresome.

So summed up, if it doesn't do what you want it to do due to walled gardeness - you're doing it wrong!

True, but not how you think :)

[Pooka]

undecided too....

At the moment I'm using a One X, but I'm slowly getting disenchanted with HTC - I love the interface on it, but it definitely needs a better battery in it, and I don't like not having an SD card. I will be sticking with Android - but as to what flavour, it depends on what I find at the time. My decision will be influenced by the reviews that come out at the time, the capabilities of the phone and whether or not that Farcebook Home is dominant on the phone.

I don't want Facebook, I do want SD card support, I don't really care too much who makes it....

[ro55mo]

Re: undecided too....

You hit the nail on the head here with are deal breakers in a phone for me.

MicroSD card

Removable battery

Without these I am not interested. I would have looked at the HTC One or Nexus 4 as the contract on my current handset is up in a fortnight but neither of these handset can tick these boxes.

A real shame as I like the look of the HTC One over the new S4 by a long way.

[t.est]

Re: undecided too....

I find "removable battery" overrated. I have switch my phone before the battery has gone bad. And no I don't want to carry two batteries with me. If I need that something is flawed from the beginning.

I do charge my phone each night though, but that is not a big problem. The charger is next to my bed. The last thing i do before i sleep is to plug in the phone.

If a phone does one day without hick-ups it's good enough from battery point of view.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: undecided too....

Some people think removable battery isn't needed, but the latest crop of teardowns from iFixit are very interesting. The HTC One gets 1 out of 10 for repairability, which means that out of warranty if it dies, bin it. You can't even get the battery out without a massive unwrap operation and damaging things. I was quite horrifed at how complex the inside was - it seemed to be built as layers from the battery out.

Meanwhile the S3 scored 7 out of 10 and the insides were well laid out. The BlackBerry Z10 scored 8, and would have done even better if RIM hadn't decided to glue a solid block of connectors very firmly into the case - I imagine for strength. The insides of the Z10 looked like a little masterpiece of industrial design with an absolute minimum of cabling and screening, whereas the HTC seemed to have huge copper strips (which might be needed to get the heat out, or for screening).

These things don't matter to a lot of people, but I recently did a new battery on a 2006 Nokia and passed it on to an OAP. Manufacturers that put in removable batteries and SD cards seem to care more about the longevity of their phones.

[Spearchucker Jones]

Nokia fan

I've gone through all of them, starting with the 9110. I've had all the Communicators, the N900, Lumia 800 and now the Lumia 920. Barring an event of Enron proportions, or a security or privacy fail of Sony proportions, I will only consider Nokia.

[BristolBachelor]

Re: Nokia fan

I was a Nokia fan, until I got the E90, which they called a Communicator. To be honest I think it did less than the 9110; OK it had a colour screen, but apart from that it was the pants. I am extremely unlikely to get another Nokia. Ever. Oh and the fact that they returned my 2 month old N770 internet tablet, saying yes the WiFi is faulty but it's not covered by the warrantee just sealed it. Nokia RIP

[Spearchucker Jones]

Re: Nokia fan

My experiences don't quite match yours, so each to their own I guess. That said, warranty issues like you describe wouldn't put me off. I have a 920 because -

a). It's built like a battleship (easily endures the rather violent attentions of my 14-m/o son).

b). The camera really IS that good.

c). I travel in some pretty remote places, so reliably doing offline maps is a must.

I have a Zune Pass, so I don't need an SD card slot. Many have complained that the phone is too heavy. Not sure what the implication of that is, really, because I carry it around with me as easily as I do my iPhone 5 (work phone).

Last, I also had the E90. I loved it. It didn't have a ton of apps, but those it had were better than many of the apps available today. HandySafe is still my usability benchmark for secure storage on a phone. And Nokia Profiles is the only thing I bleat about when I'm asked what Windows Phone is missing.

[eJ2095]

Ahh the HD2

Had one for 29 months

then upgraded to a s3

But i did how ever have android running on teh hd2 for 24 months.

[Anonymous Coward]

Looks like Apple are in an uncontrollable dive. Would rather have an HTC One than a Samsung S4 personally.

[Frank Bough]

Wow

How you drew that conclusion from the graph is a total fucking mystery to me.

[t.est]

Re: Wow

I'm Apple fan since the 80's but I fully agree with the above post. And yes that graph totally shows it.

It's not the first time such graphs have been published. And those who been following can with ease see the trend is downwards.

[Maharg]

Xperia s?

Considering getting a sony Xperia S, because I don't want to spend more then £20 a month (Scottish Jokes welcome) and I want a decent camera on my phone, any suggestions?

[Brenda McViking]

Re: Xperia s?

Get a cheap phone for £5 a month (n.b. demand the ability to be able to play snake) and spend the remaining £15x24 months = £360 on an SLR - you might even get a mid range Sony alpha for that. If the camera has to be on your phone I reccomend duct tape, but beware, you might look like an idiot when taking calls.

[Maharg]

Re: Xperia s?

Sorry, I should have been clearer.

I would like it to have a half decent camera on a new phone for less than £20 a month, as I do not always have my SLR with me, as I have said in a previous post I haven’t bothered with a new wee digital camera for the last 3 years as my N8 was just as good at taking pictures while I was out and about and therefor negated the need for two bits of kit in my pockets, room needed for car keys, wallet, phone, fags, and hip flasks at festivals. If I have to take a case or bag for a camera I might as well take the SLR.

In other words I have an N8, I use it for making phone calls, sending texts and taking pictures, I would like something to replace that.

Any better?

(Pic is ironic)

[Anonymous Coward]

I love how easy it is to change things on an Android build. In fact, just finished installing cynagenmod 10.1 on my Three Galaxy S3. Smooth as butter :)

[Big_Boomer]

Android, but not sure which

I like HTCs best. Samsungs UI isn't as good, but these change with nearly every release so I will wait until I decide I need a new phone and then look around and make my choice. I laughed at a fanboi friend recently after showing him a really useful Android app called WiFi Analyzer. He spent nearly 30 mins in iTunes trying to find something even close in capabilities. Turns out Apple have banned WiFi scanners from iTunes. Walled garden phones and tablets are find for non-it savvy end users but useless for us techs. El Reg is gonna have to add a FanDroid icon soon.

[I ain't Spartacus]

Re: Android, but not sure which

WiFi Analyzer is the thing I miss most from losing my work Droid. Friend asks you to fix/install their WiFi? Dead easy. Wander round the house for a few minutes, you know what channel to go on, what reception they can get in which rooms, and so where to place the router. Lovely. Apple banned them for not using official APIs. Sadly when I had WinPho there was nothing like it in the app store. Not sure if that was a no-no from MS, or just nobody bothering to write one though...

[GrantB]

Re: Android, but not sure which

I am pretty agnostic on the Apple iOS vs Android debate*, but you just picked up on real issue that annoyed the hell out of me.

I had a ~Gen 1 iPod Touch and it was great to fire it up, and check Wifi reception around the office and house etc. When I upgraded quite a while latter, I went to download a wifi scanner and found that they had all gone. No problems, right.. just needs app writers to use the official API... except for some mysterious reason there doesn't appear to be one that app writer can use.

The default Apple handling of Wifi is not great (only showing a few of the available spots) and it loses connection to my work router and randomly won't reconnect, so would love to be able to dig deeper.

*IPad and ~3 iPod Touches of various gen's at home, but Galaxy Nexus phone and Nexus 7 tablet.

There are pros and cons for both - I found my IOS devices were better out of the box - just having a familiar book reader, calculator and notes apps etc all installed and ready to go makes upgrading so easy - plug in new device, sync and iBooks opens on the last page I read, Podcasts are all there etc.

On the other hand, having set up up the Nexus devices fully over time, I find that I get very use to widgets and the swype keyboard.. so somethings are definitely better on Android devices.

Overall, I think for me it comes down to price for my next purchase. An SIII and iPhone 5 are similar prices here in NZ, but something like a Nexus 4 or similar is significantly cheaper and operates much the same as the Nexus 7 I use everyday... so that is probably where I am going next.

[Piro]

Re: Android, but not sure which

Haha, Apple banned WiFi scanners? What the hell? I can tell you for a fact I've been using WiFi Analyzer extensively, and it's probably one of the more useful applications I fire up when I'm at work.

[I ain't Spartacus]

Re: Android, but not sure which

My brother had an iPod Touch. So he'd got a WiFi scanner which he was allowed to keep - so he may even still have it. But by the time I got the iPad 1, Apple had killed them off. I think it was in the update to iOS 3, they were all taken out of the store, for 'using an undocumented API'.

Basically, Apple didn't think it would be a useful app. So didn't bother making the functionality available. Or it might be that their WiFi drivers were so flaky at the time, that they were having to update them frequently. Hence they didn't want the hassle of supporting apps wanting more than just an internet connection.

[William Donelson]

Self-selecting surveys.. why bother?

How many of these people actually own those devices? How many for longer than a month? Self-selecting surveys are worthless, really.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Self-selecting surveys.. why bother?

yep, major fail from the register. this is an empirical study, without any regards to the poll health. it's not only useless but wrong too.

[Anonymous Coward]

Who looks at those wearing a bluetooth headset and thinks "What a wanker"?

Say no more.

[Anonymous Coward]

It took a few years for the reg readers to realise just how crap iPhone is.

We forgive your lack of insight. Just listen to us next time!

[I ain't Spartacus]

I've got the iPhone 5 from work. It's perfectly fine. It does some things better than other phones, some worse.

Personally I don't think there's an overall best OS/phone combination any more. It's horses for burgers courses now. Depending on what you want the thing for, and what price you want to pay.

[Anonymous Coward]

I'll get anything that's not a Windows phone

Even a Blackberry.

If I want a Nokia phone, I'll get a Nokia 301 running S40.

[CJR]

Does it really matter?

I think the whole IOS vs Android or Apple vs Samsung pot has been stirred often enough for most people to just not really care anymore what others are going to buy or what the market share is. I used to argue with IOS fans (after I left the OS myself) about why Android was so much better but have come to the realization that I in fact don't care what anyone else uses, I don't care about market share of smartphones, don't care about the patent wars. I choose my mobile device based on what I want to be able to do and that's the end of it.

I DO, however, care about beer so if anyone wants to have an argument with me over a few ales, let me know.

[jai]

cosy in my walled garden

but i do think that the smartphone market is reaching a plateau. there's not really much else that can be added to a phone and still be useful. even the latest 'features' are little more than gimmicks.

[Halfmad]

None, I can't explain why but I prefer having a bog standard mobile and using a tablet with 3G to lugging around a smartphone. I don't want my e-mail 24/7 and frankly don't like facebook etc enough to give a damn if I miss someones latest pointless post.

Nexus 7 with 3G on Samba Mobile (free 3G) and I'm happy to use it when I need it, without constantly being pestered by daft push messages. People know if they need me they have to call, not e-mail.

[El Presidente]

HTC One

All the way. It really is a very tidy bit of kit.

[Anonymous Coward]

So el reg is full of....

Shamsung fanboys/Apple haters?

[stephajn]

Re: So el reg is full of....

"So el reg is full of....

Shamsung fanboys/Apple haters?"

In a word....yup.

Reaching for my Samsung made device to just it a little hug and thank God that it isn't an iThingamajig

[Anonymous Coward]

S4 enough to keep me faithful? I am never faithful...

To tech that is... I choose what is best at the time for my needs... and right now S4 hits the nail on the head over the rivals, it is unfortunate, as I like the look of the new HTC but is won't serve my purpose...

[Anonymous Coward]

Overjoyed by my Nexus4

I wouldn't entertain buying any other brand.

[sorry, what?]

Now that's amazing!

Anyone else spot the horizontal scale on the first graph going from 0 to 400% and the over-all figures add up to a remarkable 1410% (or there abouts). Sounds like the sort of arithmetic enjoyed by Apple in terms of sales margin.

[Byz]

As an app developer...

I prefer Objective-C and Xcode as much of the heavy lifting is done.

Java requires more code and the apps run slower, so require more work to optimise.

[Kristian Walsh]

Re: As an app developer...

... if those are your only choices, then yes, ObjC. But it is rather like being asked to chose a favourite venereal disease.

A long time ago, when I did Objective-C, I found that ObjC++ was the only way to make it tolerable. [[but [even [[then [that [[stupid [method call] syntax ]]]] got on my ]] tits]].

[Byz]

Re: As an app developer...

Err...

I think you've not used it in a long time, there have been a lot of changes since Objective-C 2.

We now have dot syntax like other languages, bindings and core data, also literals NSArray *myArray = @[@42, @"hello", @"world"};

Also interface builder is so much better than straight XML files for interfaces.

Brackets are still there but not as much :)

[P. Lee]

Re: As an app developer...

I knew perl would make a comeback!

[fishman]

I'm impressed

I've always disliked Goldstar - My parents had a VCR given to them, and it lasted about 10 hours. It really was rock bottom crap. So when Google announced that the Nexus 4 was going to be made by LG, I ws quite apprehensive. I still bought one, and I'm impressed by the quality of the unit. I don't know if LG has stepped up their game, or if Google cracked the whip on them.

My next phone will probably be another Nexus. Considering how I hang onto things, it will be in about 8 years.

[Wam]

No Apple for me, but ...

I can understand people who don't want the hassle of changing eco-systems - sure, you can buy apps again quite cheaply, but you've got calendar, iTunes in your cloud and the rest, so if you are offered another Apple then why not? Still, unless your contract's up and your next iPhone is free or at least cheap, then why bother at all for the small improvement?

I like Samsung for all the usual reasons mentioned (and I'm also a stickler for the inclusion of a good old-fashioned FM radio as well), and a jump from Galaxy to Galaxy S3 was well worth it, but maybe not next time - how much better is the S4 seriously? I had an issue with my original galaxy - drove to a service centre and it was fixed while I waited (it was a software hang rather than hardware to be fair).

[Anonymous Coward]

Personally speaking

I have an iphone for personal use - because its a free loan from a friend

I have a Blackberry for work - because that's what we've been using and saved having to change from the BES we installed.

On the whole, both do what is expected of them. With the Blackberry I can read my emails and make calls. There is no requirement to access corporate data or applications, and that applies to the other handsets as well

With the iPhone, I can converse with my partner by text, I can play the odd game of solitaire, I can use a free Satnav application and I can use it to listen to recorded audio. There are other free -or very cheap - apps I have installed but they are light amusement rather than aids to my life. I think I may have spent about a tenner total on apps and downloads from the iTunes store since I got it three years ago. the only think that disgruntles me is that the iOS version is now no longer supported for most apps. ITunes on my PC tells me there are 42 updates for the apps I have downloaded, my phone says there are none.

If someone gave me £300 to replace my phone I'd probably pick an iphone, because it would be easiest. If someone asked me what to get when the blackberry handsets at work wear out, I'd say Blackberry again for the same reason.

[aberry9036]

HTC One

I'm now on my 3rd HTC in a row, before that was a nokia N95.

Firstly I had an HTC Hero, build quality was fantastic but it was as slow as sin, mind you as soon as I changed from the stock ROM it was a pleasure to use, though I suppose that doesn't count. This lasted me 18 months

I then went on to an HTC Sensation, a perfectly capable smartphone built like a brick outhouse, I had it for 21 months and it's still in use as a hand-me-down in my family to good effect. This was still the period where HTC outshone everyone with software then scrimped on RAM etc, it was a lovely phone to use but couldn't quite match the SII unless it was rooted, which I did, allowing me to use something a little lighter than Sense to make sure it didn't gum up after a few days use.

Finally, I'm currently the proud owner of an HTC One and, frankly, I'm extremely glad I didn't go for the S4 instead. It's beautifully built, the UI is as slick as they come (I frankly think touchwiz looks and feels a bit cheesy) and it's more than powerful enough for what I do, I'm not a mobile gamer and I won't be doing anything else especially intensive to even warrant it's 1.7 quad core, but the 2gb of ram makes sure there's no slow down and everything about the phone is snappy. Yes the S4 will scroll for you among other gimmicks, and it's a slightly faster phone, but it just doesn't look or feel as well built. I'm saying it doesn't feel as well built without having held one, but seeing as it's made out of plastic rather than metal I don't think there's anyone who will disagree.

I have always loved HTC Sense and now the One comes with the memory to cope with it, I can't see any reason I wouldn't go for the next big HTC in 2 years time, but only time will tell.

[Anonymous Coward]

A good example...

As to why I think Microsoft has used a completely wrong approach with promoting their Windows Phone.

The only commercials you get are Nokia based, in almost every advertisement or even official Microsoft article you'll see Nokia phones whenever the topic is at WP.

Yet guess what; Samsung also makes Windows Phones; I really like my Samsung Omnia W. And although I'm still not too sure if my next phone is going to be a Windows Phone (we'll know next year) I do know this; its going to be another Samsung.

...that is, if I'll actually get a new phone next year ;)

[JEDIDIAH]

Hotel California

The whole "Hotel California" aspect of Apple devices is always something that has annoyed me. You've got this device that potentially has an gi-normous amount of storage capacity in your pocket and you can't really take advantage of it because Apple tells you what you can put on and take off of your device.

A dumb storage device is so much more useful and much easier to recover from.

[mark l 2]

I used to be a Motorola fan before i got a Orange Sanfran and started to play around with Android, i recently upgraded to an no name £100 cheap dual core chinese Android phone running jelly bean which looks like a samsung s3 clone.

Have to say for the price i am mighty impressed, it has stock Android 4.1 so no operator bloat, its really responsive and has dual sim slots and an SD card slot. it even came with 2 batteries which i thought at first would mean that it wouldn't get through the day without needing charging but it easily lasts a couple of days on standby even with the wifi turned on.

I would happily buy one of these cheap chinese androids again after trying this one. At £100 each if it breaks i will probably just buy another

[SpitefulGOD]

None of the above

Nokia EOS will be my next phone in release. I may also go for a backup android if the Xbox music app is released by then.

[Rabbit80]

Samsung for me

I used to love HTC having owned an Orange SPV C500 (made by HTC), TyTn, Touch Diamond and a Desire HD. Then I got a Samsung Galaxy S2. It was the first phone that I never got bored of. Of course it was rooted and running a custom ROM.

Now I have the Note 2. Touchwiz and the extra apps on the stock ROM actually complement this device. I have it rooted and a custom Kernel on it, but stock Touchwiz firmware. Everything about the Note 2 is simply awesome.

Also, the S2 and so far the Note have been mega reliable - though I have seen a few faults on S3s.

Can't stand iPhone due to walled garden, iTunes, Lack of removable battery, no SD card, lack of keyboard options (especially the all CAPS) and not having a back button.

[Worm]

Whilst smart phones are awesome I wouldn't try to use the Android App for the register.

It looks like a cack handed 8 year old created it.

[GBL Initialiser]

Surprising as the WP8 App is great. It even provides an easy way to open a particular article or comments section in the browser if you need a feature the app doesn't support.

[Anonymous Coward]

Pondering a change

I have had an iPhone 3s and an iphone4. My partner has the 4s and my son has the 5. I'm quite intrigued with what I have hread about the new Samsung and depending upon what I hear about the new iPhone I just may take this opportunity to switch (and grow).

[Anonymous Coward]

I used to have an iPhone, then went off on a trip round Android and Windows Phone 8... My next phone will be an iPhone again.

It's a case of: It works. That's all I care about!

[Rukario]

Cheap 'n' not-so-nasty Android

I have one (not-so) basic requirement in a phone. It must be dual-SIM. This tends to mean cheap 'n' nasty "iClones" from fleaBay. And that will probably permanently preclude Apple.

Pre-Android, these phones made from the sawdust from Foxconn's factory floors had UIs in Engrish that rivalled the dodgiest anime fansubs. (Blue Teeth, anyone?) Now of course, it's virtually all Android; they've got a good (relatively) open source OS that can be thrown on these phones.

So far, my "LongShengFa 820" is holding up, admittedly though it's only been a week. Great for phone calls (dual SIM on standby, with Fido & T-Mobile PAYG SIMs), texts, and the screen is clear enough to read even dodgy anime fan-subtitles. And it has the wi-fi's. Android apps run smoothly too. For my first foray into the smartphone world (other than entering Exchange server settings in other people's iThings), I'm impressed.

[Neoc]

Happy Galaxy S2 user

I have a Samsung Galaxy SII and am happy with it. Functions-wise, I rooted it back in its Android 2.x days and installed Mobile Odin on it which allowed me to upgrade it periodically without having to re-root the phone every time.

And I love it. It's now running Jelly Bean and the response is still terrific (although my battery life seems to have decreased) as well as running just about every app I threw at it (unlike my Galaxy Tab 2 which I bought when I got tired of the iTunes walled garden - WTF Samsung? This thing has less grunt and storage than my phone, and thanks to your stupid setup of the SD connectors, I can't move apps to the SD card and free up main memory. FAIL!).

I looked at the S3 when it came out (my wife got one and loves it to bits) but It didn't really do anything my S2 was doing (except for the latest bluetooth and NFC, neither of which I really use). So I didn't upgrade.

Now the S4 is coming out, and I will have a look at it. But considering how happy I am with my now-ancient S2, it'd have to have something special to make me upgrade.

[Anonymous Coward]

Question pertaining to 'would you buy this brand again'

I'm way too late in the comment list but I'll try anyway.

I find this question to be invalid, and possibly skewing the results.

Now, undoubtedly there are people that have bought a Nokia, BB, Apple, Sammy, Sony or whatever else and have 'sold their soul' to the brand, so they actually know right now what their next phone will be.

I, and I suspect many people with me, have elected to maintain ownership of said soul. My current phone is an iPhone S. I bought it after expressly steering away from Apple for years, but unfortunately, after two dismal smartphones from Nokia and Samsung, I bought one as a last resort. I've been happy with it since, and it hasn't caused me any trouble. Oh, I don't use Siri. That may help.

If I had to buy a phone today I would probably NOT stay with the brand. Compared to the competition, the iPhone has become a bit outdated, and I find it has not been sufficiently updated in the last years. Technologically and ergonomically if find it a bit behind the times.

If, however, i would have to buy a phone within 6 months, a year or even longer, there's no possible way I can say if I would stay with Apple. I would have to determine it at that point in time, comparing it to the competition at that time.

So the question is : what do you consider the to be the weight of the question ? Or what exactly were you trying to determine ?

[ted frater]

I thought Id read what everyone else had to say.Then put my foot in it. Well? you ask a somewhat loaded question, Because its like comparing peas out of the same pod. there to similar to really differentiate much between them.

So my answer is neither, Because for all their clever tricks and fast processors and big screens they just dont do what I need. If Ive said it once ive written it at least a dozen times.I NEED A PROPER BUTTON KEYBOARD Not a glass one.

The clever dicks who design these handsets should be made to do their design work on them. Thy use proper keyboards with proper cad s/ware on proper pc's dont they? they would soon chuck the glass screens in the bin in frustration.

So for the texting i do on my handset I still use a nokia communicator 9210i. Untill the handset makers mend their ways and get their heads out of the sand , they aint getting any of my money.

Take the Blackberry a keyboard for 3yr olds. A bloody insult to anyone else. for that kind of stupidity they deserve to go to the wall.

Form MUST follow function NOT fashion.

And I dont want to hear it costs too much. When you can get a pocket calculator from Tesco for £1.50 with a screen and proper buttons.

[Rabbit80]

This is one of the reasons I use Android.

Swype style keyboards are pretty fast to type on if you are using real words - and Samsung (at least on the Note 2) has swype functionality built in - and there are loads of alternative options available on Play. The trouble with hardware keyboards on a phone is they make the phone bulky and the keys are too small - I usually press three at a time!

[Anonymous Coward]

920 is my new phone

my contract is up in july and the nokia 920 is my new phone, the only think i have apple to thank is getting me used to spending lots of dosh on a phone a few years back i would have choked at the price. The iphone os its getting very very dated....

[Steveo119]

I admit I'm a apple fanboy.

I have to admit that I own a lot of apple hardware(imac/macbookpro/ipad/ iphone 5 etc) and it does just work, but the current ios is soooo boring and out of date. :(

If ios 7 isn't a game changer when it finally comes out then I am fancying a Samsung galaxy next time my contract is due. ;)

[Ashton Black's Alt.]

An equasion.

After my last contract ended I could either have upgraded to iPhone5 or HTC One X.

For similar contract terms (mins/data/text/length) I would be paying roughly double per month for the Apple. It's good, but not that good. (This is with O2, other Telcos may be different)

[Old but bold]

The other place high

I suppose this is because they use not high selling phones that they find very attractive. They go for the phone that's right for them not the one with the most hoopla.

[Stuart 16]

My Lumia 820 with WP8 fully implements the SMS Bluetooth protocol allowing my car to read SMS messages to me while I'm driving as well as having the option to dictate replies. A complete deal maker / breaker. This doesn't work at all with Android or iOS and until it does I won't be moving away from WP8.

[Matt Bridge-Wilkinson]

I like my iphone and am very accustomed to the interface. However I am still on an iphone 4 because the upgrades since I got my phone are next to non-existant.

I would personally consider the new Galaxy just because it seems to be genuinely innovative and offer some new features. My first iphone a 3g was quite exciting to me at the time, after countless rather clumsy smart phones this was a revelation. Sadly iphone stopped being an innovative leader (and by that I mean using existing tech in a new way) long ago and now just seem to play catchup with other developers.

Why would I pay 500quid (or whatever it is) to get an iphone 5 which does nothing much over my iphone 4, other than a few novelty features I would use once and then forget? It's all about value and until my iphone 4 conks out I won't worry about upgrading. Apple sells itself as a premium brand but they don't give premium value anymore.

[Here's The Thing]

Cross eco system sample

My family has a great cross section of the phones represented.

I have an HTC 8X, its a fantastic device and yes the Windows Phone 8 software is fabulous. The integration with Office 365 and the productivity apps have me sold. The user interface is fresh, intuitive and works well. I'm testing a Blackberry Z10 currently as part of a project for my company. I love the thing, couple of enhancements coming in the OS will solve one or two annoying issues, but on the whole this is a beautiful new operating system. Not sold on the hardware.

My four sons [teenage and to early 20's] all have Andriod phones. High end Galaxy S 111 or 4, or HTC One. They love the devices and the operating system. They can tinker and customise the devices till the cows come home, and do in fact seem to always be tinkering with the settings etc. I asked them all and they will buy whichever phone is highest speced. None would consider an iPhone.

My wife and teenage daughter have iPhones. Wrapped in fancy cases they are more jewellery/accessory than hand held computer. They text more than anything else and seem to have an endless list of useless apps installed. They get lost using maps, calls drop out constantly, but hey they look pretty. They don't que annually for the next release but they wouldn't switch devices.

As a sample I think the demographic in my family is pretty representative.

[Simon Rockman]

The missed story is Blackberry

People are generally brand loyal. there is a confirmation bias that they are savvy and bought the right thing last time, so for Blackberry to poll so low with the "Would you consider buying this brand again", is extremely serious. However good the Z10 is we've heard the story before with the Storm, Torch and 9900 and they have lost the consumer confidence, it will take more than one generations of good products to restore that.