Android vs. WP7

[shorted999]

Whats better, Android (2.3) or WP7?

Are their any problems with either operating system?

[Stuntman]

Can you define, "better"? What is better for you may not be better for someone else. For instance, I think it is better if the home screen were centred and symmetrical. In this case, Android Gingerbread is better than WP7. That off centred home screen just bugs me.

[shorted999]

I mean better as a personal opinion, what you find good or bad about either.

[0defaced]

go play with both at best buy?

[shorted999]

best buy's near me only have those gutted dummies. theres none you can use around my house :(

[Stuntman]

best buy's near me only have those gutted dummies. theres none you can use around my house :(

That's the one thing that just bugs me about Windows Phones. No a single store I went into had a working model of a WP7 phone that I can actually try out. Most have just the sticker of the home screen pasted on the fake unit. The units that actually work only play an ad for WP7. You cannot stop the ad and actually try out the phone. Even when it is featured in the store, you only see the ad while other featured phones are actually working models.

I have followed Windows Phone 7 since its release. I've seen videos and read articles about it. There are some interesting concepts in WP7, but without an actual working demo model for me to try out, I give WP7 an inconclusive rating at best. The asymmetrical home screen just bugs me. The live tiles are supposed to be a very useful feature. How am I supposed to really see what cool things these live tiles can do when all I see are dead tiles painted on a fake unit?

As for Android phones, I do own one. Prior to getting one, I had the opportunity to actually try a couple of them out at stores. After trying them out, I was sold on them. Based on the information I have regarding these two phone OS's, I would say that Android is better.

[JBear7]

Youtube some WP7 videos or try CNET. They always have great reviews.

[MrCrowley]

How many problems do you encounter with your pc? Enough said Android is the way to go, and I don't an Android phone yet......just outside my no penalty window for an upgrade and so for a little while longer I am stuck with my BB 8330. I have played enough with Android on tablets and some phones to know I am going Android!

[chiewable]

i owned a android for 6 months and traded it for a wp7 phone 3 months ago. wife is still using android.

a few random thoughts based on my experience with both

I use to have random reboots at least once a week with Android. WP7 has not rebooted once. WP7 seems rock solid

the core functions on WP7 (calling, msg, stock keyboard, contacts, music player picture hub) are alot nicer more stable and seem "faster/zippier" compared to Android.

if you use alot of google services (which i do) android is ALOT better, especially gmail.

google maps > bing maps right now. may change with Mango update/Nokia maps. no real turn by turn on bing maps right now

WP7 not as "versatile" as Android. no wifi hotspot, can't use phone as USB storage or hot swap SD cards.

as of "right now" my vote would go to android (nexus s $350 from koodo is really tempting) but i'm waiting for the Mango update. if Mango does not fix all or at least most of the above issues i'll be back on Android or Ios.

WP7 is for you if you want a smart phone that is really really easy to use and use hotmail/live as your primary web service. also if you want hands down the best "looking" smartphone OS

[shorted999]

I decided to go with Windows Phone 7. The home screen doesn't bug me haha.
My new LG Optimus 7 is coming in the mail, and just in time too. They just discontinued it and there was only a few left online. It should be in soon and then I can port my number over.

And with Mango updates it can only get better! (I hope)

[Stuntman]

I'd be interested in what you think of it. The concept of hubs sound good, but it seem more of a benefit for developers. I find that with my Desire Z, I can view my contacts and see their updates in the various different social networks in one place. I don't find this view that useful, so I don't use it anymore. I generally want to see only Facebook updates or only Twitter updates or only their emails, etc. I have the ability to combind Twitter and FB updates all together in one view on my HTC, but again, this is not useful to me as I want to keep them separate.

Also, there was a lot of hype about those live tiles that are supposed to update on the fly. So far, I haven't seen anything that really demonstrates their potential. All of the videos I saw are more window dressing or simply dead tiles like the big honking IE square. Like I really need the IE button to be that big.

It's been almost a year since WP was released and I haven't seen a single device in a store where I can walk up to and actually use and play around. I've seen many Android phones that are working and I can play around. Apple is the king of allowing you to try out a working device. Viewing videos only gives me limited info because I am limited to what the person in the video does and often, they don't do what I would want to try on a phone.

[shorted999]

I'd be interested in what you think of it. The concept of hubs sound good, but it seem more of a benefit for developers. I find that with my Desire Z, I can view my contacts and see their updates in the various different social networks in one place. I don't find this view that useful, so I don't use it anymore. I generally want to see only Facebook updates or only Twitter updates or only their emails, etc. I have the ability to combind Twitter and FB updates all together in one view on my HTC, but again, this is not useful to me as I want to keep them separate.

Also, there was a lot of hype about those live tiles that are supposed to update on the fly. So far, I haven't seen anything that really demonstrates their potential. All of the videos I saw are more window dressing or simply dead tiles like the big honking IE square. Like I really need the IE button to be that big.

It's been almost a year since WP was released and I haven't seen a single device in a store where I can walk up to and actually use and play around. I've seen many Android phones that are working and I can play around. Apple is the king of allowing you to try out a working device. Viewing videos only gives me limited info because I am limited to what the person in the video does and often, they don't do what I would want to try on a phone.

Well it just came in the mail today. The People hub is kind of annoying haha. It is good however if you are wanting to meet up with someone and they post they will be away on Twitter and not Facebook, ect.
This doesn't bother me too much because I don't use Facebook a lot on my phone.

The live tiles do update quite quickly. With email you can choose how often it wants to check for new emails, from every half hour to right when it is sent. The tiles dont really "come alive" as Microsoft says. The people and me hubs move a lot. Nothing else that I have really does. I think of this as a good thing though, because if every single tile was moving I would go insane. :p

Plus the tiles you dont need as big (like IE) you can unpin and keep in your apps menu.

I found a Telus that did let you test a phone out. I was going to get the HTC Surround, but I heard it froze a lot. And when I tested the one in store, it froze. Yikes. So I tried this one out and I liked it more then Android because it seems smoother and more refined. I just wish there were more theme options, there's not a lot of colors.

Anyways I'm glad I chose WP7. The HD video is amazing too.

[Stuntman]

The People hub is kind of annoying haha. It is good however if you are wanting to meet up with someone and they post they will be away on Twitter and not Facebook, ect.

I used that view on my HTC Desire Z as well. Sense has a view like that which can show all of the feeds of a contact. Sense doesn't integrate well with Gmail which is what I use as my mail app. It only integrates with the regular Mail app, so I would miss the email updates. It may have its uses, but seems to be rather limited.

The live tiles do update quite quickly. With email you can choose how often it wants to check for new emails, from every half hour to right when it is sent. The tiles dont really "come alive" as Microsoft says. The people and me hubs move a lot. Nothing else that I have really does. I think of this as a good thing though, because if every single tile was moving I would go insane. :p

So far, from the comments I've read regarding the live tiles have been disappointing. It seems like something similar to widgets or icons with a number on it like on Android phones. The email polling is available on practically any smartphone, so that is nothing really special. I use Gmail on my Android phone which has push notification, so there is no delay when I receive an email.

Plus the tiles you dont need as big (like IE) you can unpin and keep in your apps menu.

That defeats the purpose of being able to launch your app from the home screen. The idea of shortcuts on your home screen is so that you do not need to switch to your app menu to launch your most commonly used apps.

I found a Telus that did let you test a phone out. I was going to get the HTC Surround, but I heard it froze a lot. And when I tested the one in store, it froze. Yikes. So I tried this one out and I liked it more then Android because it seems smoother and more refined. I just wish there were more theme options, there's not a lot of colors.

I haven't checked out any Telus stores because I get poor reception and many dropped calls at my house. That is why I avoided going with Telus. I may check it out if I get a chance.

Anyways I'm glad I chose WP7. The HD video is amazing too.

I'm glad you enjoy your phone. Thanks for your feedback on WP7.

[shorted999]

I agree. The live tiles are kind of a disappointment. Also, If you do take IE off your home screen, you just have to swipe to the app screen on the right. Its similar to having multiple homescreens.
The only problem is you cant re-arrange the apps, they are always in alphabetical order.

[Stuntman]

I agree. The live tiles are kind of a disappointment. Also, If you do take IE off your home screen, you just have to swipe to the app screen on the right. Its similar to having multiple homescreens.
The only problem is you cant re-arrange the apps, they are always in alphabetical order.

The way I use the app tray on my Android phone is for rarely used apps. Having them sorted alphabetically is very handy in that sense. I would not use the app tray to launch apps I use often. If I use an app often, I just put a shortcut to it on my home screen.

The way the WP home screen is designed, there appears to be less flexibility in making live tiles smaller. The tiles are just bigger than what I am accustomed to on Android. That is why I feel that app shortcut tiles on a WP home screen waste space. I guess it is a matter of what you are used to and what you like. You can always criticise the Android shortcuts as being too small as well if you like having larger tiles.

[Hizzoner]

My HTC Windows 7 HD phone has Mango installed. (7.10.7720.68 )
Only the battery saver is a major update IMHO.
A highly over rated smartphone IMHO