Switching back to the iPhone 5: Why the HTC One grass wasn't greener

[mcmillan27]

I haven't tried an Android device yet and have no desire to do so. I prefer consistency in a platform; Android has too many variables for me. I was a die hard BlackBerry fan and did not like Apple's "walled garden" but, as a photographer, when I saw a photo taken with a friend's iPhone 4 my jaw dropped. Compared to what I was getting from my Torch, well, there was no comparison. This was around the time we lost Steve and the iPhone 4S was about to be released. I got the 4S and there is no looking back.

The iPhone can't replace my Canon DSLR but it's a darn good camera when it's the only one you have with you at the time. So needless to say, for me, with an iPhone I'm walking on the greener grass. I could list the reasons why I think so, and they go well beyond the camera, but if you have an iPhone and really like it, you already know why. Oh, and don't get me wrong, I have all the respect in the world for the other platforms out there. It's just that they aren't for me.

 

[Nophix]

Personally, I can't really decide. Luckily, I have to run 2 lines. My personal phone is a Galaxy S3. It does social very well, it's fun to tweak, and I don't worry about battery life on my personal phone. The big screen is great, and the Google integration is second to none.

My i5 is far more stable, is much easier to use in a hurry, and does my business work better than I could hope for. Siri may not be perfect, but it does dictation far better than S Voice.

Everyone has a different use case, and will use what fits them. For instance, my wife uses the HTC and loves it! She's also had several HTC devices prior, and although she has tried others, nothing worked for her. She even tried the GNex. For the record, she hates iOS as a user interface.

 

[TitansJonne#CB]

I have been on android for about3 years and while I loved it, my biggest quib was that no matter what phone you get, how good the specs. It was susceptible to lagging and updates came months after announcement. Android to me was only useable when rooted and running stock. Unfortunately I grew tired of needing to modify my phone in order for it to run correctly. So I left for a more closed iOS where updates come day 1 and carrier intrusion is non existent. No bloatware, no lag, no rooting necessary. Although I can jailbreak if I just get really bored which I have not been.


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[return_0]

I have been on android for about3 years and while I loved it, my biggest quib was that no matter what phone you get, how good the specs. It was susceptible to lagging and updates came months after announcement. Android to me was only useable when rooted and running stock. Unfortunately I grew tired of needing to modify my phone in order for it to run correctly. So I left for a more closed iOS where updates come day 1 and carrier intrusion is non existent. No bloatware, no lag, no rooting necessary. Although I can jailbreak if I just get really bored which I have not been.


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No bloatware or lag on my Nexus 4. Your complaints are legitimate but only apply to OEM devices, not real Android devices.

 

[Premium1]

A great discussion has sparked up over in the Android Central Forums, started by a member that switched from iPhone 5, to HTC One and back again within 2 weeks. Member fettym outlined some great points as to why they ultimately decided to stick with the iPhone, as well as some of the more positive aspects of the HTC One.

We've featured this on the main blogs here, but wanted to jump in and bring the discussion over to the iMore Forums. Have you switched to another platform? Did you switch back? What made you make the jump in the first place? What made you come back?

Let us know either here in this thread, or in the comments on the post!

I switch quite often from android to IOS and vice versa. I played around with the HTC One and the S4 and neither really felt like anything special. Now they didn't lag or anything but they weren't all up to the hype like some made them out to be. I stuck with my iphone 5 because they just didn't entice me enough back over. If apple makes a larger screened iphone I would never even consider switching back. The larger screen is really the only thing I miss from android.

 

[anthony81586]

This is the third time is switched to an android device and the third time in clawing tooth and nail to get back to ios. I've switched simply because I was bored and wanted to try the new flavor of the week android... Hopefully I've learned my lesson

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[Richard Nieves]

I have been on android for about3 years and while I loved it, my biggest quib was that no matter what phone you get, how good the specs. It was susceptible to lagging and updates came months after announcement. Android to me was only useable when rooted and running stock. Unfortunately I grew tired of needing to modify my phone in order for it to run correctly. So I left for a more closed iOS where updates come day 1 and carrier intrusion is non existent. No bloatware, no lag, no rooting necessary. Although I can jailbreak if I just get really bored which I have not been.


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I agree this is what made me think about getting an iPhone. My epic 4g touch (sprint gs2) was giving me issues and I had been through like 5 roms just to get the phone to work normal! The official Samsung rom was actually worse with bigs that you would expect from a rom not official software. My battery life slowly got worse and I had 3 different batteries (battery life was never that great) I said screw it thinking and intending to get a gs3 off contract on eBay to hold me over until my upgrade at which point I would sell my gs3 and get whatever the latest and greatest phone was...however, before I had the money ready, I started to wonder if getting another android phone was even worth it. I do like android and its holo UI and the customizations! However, I was sick of crappy or no updates, bad battery life, bad quality apps, and sluggishness. I had a windows phone before my gs2 and it was much smoother and the specs were far below my s2. I decided I'd try the iPhone. I was already planning on getting an ipad (I do NOT like android tablets at all because all the apps are pretty much just blown up mobile apps and apple had several more productive apps for the ipad) so why not get the iPhone? If I didn't like it, I could simply sell it when my contract is up and get something else.

Now, if I do sell my iPhone when my contract is up, it will be for the iPhone 5s. Stability and battery life is awesome! They even refreshed the design with ios7 which has some similarities to the holo design I loved on android. I am happy. I also am pretty impressed with the camera! I almost use it exclusively now unless I want a really good night/low light picture or to zoom.

 

[Spaz888]

The HTC One is a very beautiful phone.If I was to get an Android phone (I already have a few older Droid phones) I'd get the One of Note 3 (latter not out yet); however, it's still an Android. Call it being picky or sensitive. I doesn't matter. Android devices start to lag after some use. I have the Nexus 7 tablet. I thought that it being a Vanilla (pure) Android device that lag will be gone. No sir. Not a chance. How many times do I go into search mode (google) to search for an app on the device and it is super slow or can't find it? How often does that happen on iPhone? I have over 280 apps on my iPhone. If I search for an app, it shows up almost instantly.

The only good thing I can see, aside from the customization of the Droid OS with the One is the larger screen, very fast LTE chip, and higher sensitivity with wifi. I can't speak of the camera but I do know Android gives you much more options and settings in your camera mode.

 

[frooglepoopillion]

No bloatware or lag on my Nexus 4. Your complaints are legitimate but only apply to OEM devices, not real Android devices.

While I love my N4 it is not without it's drawbacks. I still get some lag while updating/downloading apps and with several widgets. It's nowhere near as bad as any of the other cheaper Android phones but it still exists. The battery life is also subpar (not terrible, but not great either). I'd say the biggest drawback of the N4 is the only real option for carriers is T-Mobile for fast data speeds. ATTs support for it a joke (they don't even have it listed as a usable IMEI number). While I love what T-Mo is doing, they are not ATT or Verizon when it comes to network coverage or reliability and is very highly dependent on where you live. In my city, it works mostly great but in the suburbs not so much.

I have actually been considering switching to iPhone when iOS7/iPhone5s is released. I like Android but the only real advantage it has at this point are widgets (and I find most of them completely useless) and if you're into ROMs/rooting. Stock Jellybean is great but there is next to no carrier or even product support for it. With phones like the S4 and Note2 that rely heavily on Touchwiz features, stock would make the phone almost useless for what it can do with Samsung's software.

I still enjoy most of Google's services but finding myself more and more intrigued by iOS7 and the iPhone5.

 

[mulasien]

No bloatware or lag on my Nexus 4. Your complaints are legitimate but only apply to OEM devices, not real Android devices.

I've seen this comment elsewhere (just saw one on Engadget), and my response is the same:

"Let's carry this thought one step further, then. If the only real Android devices are Nexus devices and not the OEM models, then what does that say about the default argument that Android's market share is superior if Nexus devices are the only 'true' Android device?"

My only other complaints about the Nexus 4 are that 1. the camera is subpar compared to the flagship OEM Android models (S2, One) and the iPhone 5, 2. From what I've heard, the battery life is also subpar as well.

Except for the above bits, I agree that a Nexus device is the superior Android device, hands down. Problem is that Google needs to convince OEM's to make a Nexus device perform as well as their flagships, which they never will because they don't want their core brands cannibalized.

 

[dios07]

I switched from the iPhone 4s to the HTC One a few days ago, and I feel that: 1) iOS is superior to android OS in terms of user-friendliness, smoothness, common sense-ness 2) the iPhone's width is much more comfortable and manageable than the HTC One. However, I will try to learn and use the HTC one whole heartedly for the next few weeks. I am rounding the learning curve of Android 2.1 but will admit that there is much more to experience and learn. But as of today, I believe that I will go back to the iPhone.

 

[jdhooghe]

I also came from an HTC One. Although the hardware was beautiful, HTC is going under and I don't want to be stuck with a phone without any support. The audio was great but the camera...it was not great. I'm a huge photographer and I just could not deal with it. My first HTC One was exchanged due to battery issues. Even with Google's nlp and network locator wakelock issues, it was still bad. My second One had an issue where low light or room pictures attained this red and purple haze. That was the last straw. If HTC pulls out of it and they fix the camera and upgrade the MP, I will possibly go back for a secondary device as the build quality was incredible


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[Uselessbass]

Get the phone that works for you simple, there is no better os becouse that's all someones opinion they are both capable and both have strengths and weakness's

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