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soulreaver99

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Aug 15, 2010
3,655
5,930
Southern California
I've been testing both the HTC One X and the Samsung Galaxy S3 and have been comparing both along with the iPhone 4S. iPhone is still better in quality and variety of apps and is a much better email device than any Android phone. Also, since I'm a Mac user (also have the iPad and a MacBook Air 2012), iPhone integrates nicely with the whole eco-system with iMessage, Photo Stream, and iCloud. I did however find excellent alternatives to these services for Android such as Drop Box for Photo Syncing which is much better than Photo Stream because I can access the data without having it tied to one Mac computer. And also Air Droid which allows me to send text messages, access photos and contacts from my phone with any web browser.

The HTC One X has a better screen than iPhone 4S and Samsung S3. Build quality on the One X is superior to the Galaxy and is at the level of the iPhone 4S. The Galaxy S3 feels like a cheap plastic phone. Unfortunately the HTC One X doesn't have an MicroSD card slot for memory expandability and the camera produces mediocre photos.

The Samsung Galaxy S3 however wins in having the best camera of the three and having that MicroSD slot comes in really handy. Although the screen quality isn't as great as the iPhone's and the HTC One X, it's not as bad as I or any other reviewer makes it sound, AMOLED displays can still hang with the big boys.

Sense 4.0 to me on the HTC One X is much better to look at and navigate through than Samsung's stupid Touch Wiz. I hate Touch Wiz with a passion, but some people like it just as they hate Sense. I might be biased in this because I've been a fan of Sense since the Windows Mobile days. But when it comes down to simplicity, iOS on the iPhone (I'm using iOS6) is so easy to use and is very straight forward. The ease of use and the plain looking operating system is probably the biggest reason why people get bored with it and want to venture into using an Android based device. It's true, iOS is boring but most people use smartphones only for text, email, social networks, music, and to browse the web and the iPhone does all of these very well. Nothing fancy, no need to customize, and don't need a widget.

Both the Samsung Galaxy and HTC One X are as fast and smooth in navigating through the phone as the iPhone 4S, I actually feel that they are both faster. And if you live in an area that supports 4G LTE, the you're in for a treat on how you fast you can grab data off the internet, download/post photos, and stream music over the air without having any buffering issues! Also, the larger display screens (especially on the HTC One X) are great for viewing photos and for reading. After using the HTC One X for about a week, it's hard going back to the iPhone.

My recommendation at this point is that if you don't have an iPhone 4S right now because you can't wait a few months and want a phone that supports a fast network and has a great camera, I would go for the Samsung Galaxy S3 because of all of those reasons. It may might not have the build quality and the screen of the HTC One X but to me, that MicroSD card slot and camera are huge selling points. If you have an iPhone 4S right now, just wait a few months too see what the next generation iPhone has to offer and then make your decision. The iPhone 4S is still a great phone for 2012 so don't make any rash decisions at this moment unless you are really that bored and underwhelmed with how iOS6 is so far.

To be honest, you can't really go wrong with any of these phones and it's a matter of preference and how you want to use your mobile device. I like the Galaxy and the HTC One X because they are fun to customize and I can make the phone operate how I want it to. The larger screen and LTE capabilities of these phones make a huge difference especially when on the road where WiFi isn't always available. I like the iPhone 4S because of its simplicity, apps, and how it's a great smartphone overall. The iPhone may not be the best phone at the moment depending on who you talk to, but it definitely has set the bar for mobile devices which is why we are getting awesome gadgets like the HTC One X and the Samsung Galaxy S3.

Sorry if that was too long winded and the photo is kind of crappy because I used my iPad 3 to take the photo!
 

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Frankied22

macrumors 68000
Nov 24, 2010
1,779
583
I find using Gmail on my Nexus a vastly superior experience to email on my iPhone.
 

typerlover

macrumors regular
Dec 31, 2006
115
1
I don't post here often, but read quite a bit and have been for many years. This post is worth commenting on by saying that it is right on the money with your presentation and analysis. Lots of stupid posts throughout the forums but your post is accurate.
 

boomboom2

macrumors regular
Apr 12, 2012
116
0
I like most of what you have to say except the email part. Email is one place where Android really shines. I prefer emailing on my Nexus compared to my iPad. I send a lot of attachments and my iPad simply won't do that.
 

jojoba

macrumors 68000
Dec 9, 2011
1,584
21
Thanks for sharing this, very interesting. I really like the look of the Samsung, and I'm drawn by the camera. On my older android phone I use K9 mail and love it, I find the experience at least equal to the mail app on my iPad. There's a part of me that really wants an iPhone so it can become integrated with my Air and iPad, but as long as the keyboard predictive text is next to non existing, it's just too much work to type.
 
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AbyssImpact

macrumors 6502a
Aug 6, 2010
804
17
iPhone > both of those phones combined. They copy iOS which they think they can get away with. I hope Apple sue them for all they have.
 

lordofthereef

macrumors G5
Nov 29, 2011
13,161
3,721
Boston, MA
iPhone integrates nicely with the whole eco-system with iMessage, Photo Stream, and iCloud. I did however find excellent alternatives to these services for Android such as Drop Box for Photo Syncing which is much better than Photo Stream because I can access the data without having it tied to one Mac computer.

Interestingly, my question isn't even about hardware, but this software. Are you aware that you can have photostream on any windows or Mac? You are not limited to one computer, let alone Mac.
 

Mac.World

macrumors 68000
Jan 9, 2011
1,819
1
In front of uranus
I've also looked at these screens and if you look really, really close and carefully, you can sort of make out pixels on the S3. I think the iPhone screen is still the clearest though.

But we are talking about 3 phones that are within 20 ppi's of each other and considering the HOX and S3 are both 1.2" and 1.3" bigger screens to the iPhone, technically it's more impressive for the Android phones. I'll be curious to see what the ppi is on the new iPhone at 4"?

I have been reading up on the pentile screen tech and pretty sure I know why Samsung went with it. Thinner and lighter screen, uses less power and still allows for those deep blacks. It's not the most photo realistic, color wise, though.

To me though, I think all 3 screens are pretty darn good. Yoi have to split hairs and nit pick to distinguish your personal favorite.
 

Jb07

macrumors 6502
Oct 31, 2011
433
1
Dallas
Thanks for the unbiased review. You didn't bash Android and declare the iPhone the winner from the beginning like some people do, although I disagree with the email thing.
It's such a shame the One X isn't on Verizon. It's such a beautiful phone and I really want it. :(
 

soulreaver99

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Aug 15, 2010
3,655
5,930
Southern California
Interestingly, my question isn't even about hardware, but this software. Are you aware that you can have photostream on any windows or Mac? You are not limited to one computer, let alone Mac.

You are right. Just wish there was a way to get photo stream through the Web without having to install software. Thanks for pointing this out!
 

lordofthereef

macrumors G5
Nov 29, 2011
13,161
3,721
Boston, MA
You are right. Just wish there was a way to get photo stream through the Web without having to install software. Thanks for pointing this out!

You're welcome! :)

Does drop box allow this without software? (I am not trying to imply anything one way or the other, I just haven't used it in quite a while, since before they offered anything specifically for photos, so I don't know)
 

soulreaver99

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Aug 15, 2010
3,655
5,930
Southern California
Thanks for the unbiased review. You didn't bash Android and declare the iPhone the winner from the beginning like some people do, although I disagree with the email thing.
It's such a shame the One X isn't on Verizon. It's such a beautiful phone and I really want it. :(

You guys are right that android does Gmail better than anything else. However, I feel iPhone does Exchange better than android. I mainly use exchange the majority of the time for work. It's a bit cumbersome with the mail clients on the s3 and one x. But then again everyone is different.
 

soulreaver99

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Aug 15, 2010
3,655
5,930
Southern California
You're welcome! :)

Does drop box allow this without software? (I am not trying to imply anything one way or the other, I just haven't used it in quite a while, since before they offered anything specifically for photos, so I don't know)

What I meant was access iCloud photos on the web. not sure if that can be done, yet. Like how you can login to Drop Box from the web browser and grab your data from there.
 

Vegastouch

macrumors 603
Jul 12, 2008
6,145
952
Las Vegas, NV
I find using Gmail on my Nexus a vastly superior experience to email on my iPhone.

The Email client on GS3 linked up with Yahoo works great for me too. In fact, i deleted the Yahoo mail App because it works so well which wasnt the case on my Vibrant.

----------

iPhone > both of those phones combined. They copy iOS which they think they can get away with. I hope Apple sue them for all they have.

Sure, iOS and Android, particularly ICS is one and the same :rolleyes:
 
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lordofthereef

macrumors G5
Nov 29, 2011
13,161
3,721
Boston, MA
What I meant was access iCloud photos on the web. not sure if that can be done, yet. Like how you can login to Drop Box from the web browser and grab your data from there.

Ah, right. I thought you were saying there was some added photo feature of drop box. I don't believe there is anything browser-wise that would allow downloading that way.
 

404 tech junkie

macrumors regular
Jun 30, 2012
133
0
You guys are right that android does Gmail better than anything else. However, I feel iPhone does Exchange better than android. I mainly use exchange the majority of the time for work. It's a bit cumbersome with the mail clients on the s3 and one x. But then again everyone is different.

I have to disagree with you. In iOS I can't even attach files to my email without having to go to whatever app that file resides in. In other words, if I want to attach two different types of files to an e-mail, I can't do it in iOS. I'd have to send two emails. On the other hand, on the Android platform, I'd just simply attach whatever files I want to the email, and send.
 

oBMTo

macrumors 6502
Oct 12, 2010
271
0
I've also looked at these screens and if you look really, really close and carefully, you can sort of make out pixels on the S3. I think the iPhone screen is still the clearest though.

But we are talking about 3 phones that are within 20 ppi's of each other and considering the HOX and S3 are both 1.2" and 1.3" bigger screens to the iPhone, technically it's more impressive for the Android phones. I'll be curious to see what the ppi is on the new iPhone at 4"?

I have been reading up on the pentile screen tech and pretty sure I know why Samsung went with it. Thinner and lighter screen, uses less power and still allows for those deep blacks. It's not the most photo realistic, color wise, though.

To me though, I think all 3 screens are pretty darn good. Yoi have to split hairs and nit pick to distinguish your personal favorite.
No nit picking or hair splitting here, HOX clearly has the best screen.
 

Mac.World

macrumors 68000
Jan 9, 2011
1,819
1
In front of uranus
iPhone > both of those phones combined. They copy iOS which they think they can get away with. I hope Apple sue them for all they have.

IMO this is an over simplification. I mean icons in a grid was around before the iphone. And we have seen Apple incorporate Android features (notification center) into iOS. And yes, Android did heavily 'borrow' from the original iOS and iphone look. Apple and Google are both guilty.

That said, both OS's have matured along the way and have concurrently created new features. To just say that Android copied iOS and that Google and Android manufacturers should be sued for all they have is a bit childish and excludes any reasoning for the statement.

----------

No nit picking or hair splitting here, HOX clearly has the best screen.

That is your opinion and it is just as right as anyone elses. I still think the iPhones is the best, and that is my opinion. But all 3 of these phones have fantastic screens and are easy to see fine details.
 

Troneas

macrumors 65816
Oct 26, 2011
1,378
58
At the alternatives section.
the problem for me, and i suspect many others, is that i have many paid apps from the appstore and this discourages me from ever switching to another brand that will always be better in some aspects and worse in others.

granted most apps might just cost $.99 or whatever but I've gotten used to them and use them on a daily basis and despite my intrigue at trying out jelly bean or any other OS the idea of having to purchase apps again is a huge negative for me.
 

AFDoc

Suspended
Jun 29, 2012
2,864
629
Colorado Springs USA for now
I don't post here often, but read quite a bit and have been for many years. This post is worth commenting on by saying that it is right on the money with your presentation and analysis. Lots of stupid posts throughout the forums but your post is accurate.

Agreed. To the point, told us why you felt the way you did and seemed like you were pulling for all 3. I wish more reviews were like this. Thanks for the info. I am ready to jump off the ledge and go for an S3 but still can't quite take the leap. I guess when you have 5 lines and one is pretty much always due an upgrade those options are always there lol. Maybe tmr.

iPhone > both of those phones combined. They copy iOS which they think they can get away with. I hope Apple sue them for all they have.
Typerlover, I think this is the type of post to which you were referring.
 

oBMTo

macrumors 6502
Oct 12, 2010
271
0
That is your opinion and it is just as right as anyone elses. I still think the iPhones is the best, and that is my opinion. But all 3 of these phones have fantastic screens and are easy to see fine details.

No opinions involved. HOX clearly has the best screen, FACT.
 
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