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I just picked up my first Android phone on the weekend (Galaxy S3), and some parts I really love. Widgets change the way I use my phone. But compared to the i

I just picked up my first Android phone on the weekend (Galaxy S3), and some parts I really love. Widgets change the way I use my phone. But compared to the iPhone, it's far less intuitive, it's build quality is crap, and I can't make it though a day on a charge. I wish there was another phone maker that had the polish of Apple with the freedom of Android.

MikeKusold 14y ago
Most likely the reason that it can't make it through a day without a charge is because of 4G/LTE. If battery life is that important, you can force your phone to only use 3G and you will see much greater life.
- ThePherocity 14y ago
  I'm in a city without LTE yet for this carrier, so that isn't it. Haven't installed any apps that should be background intensive either. I used to stream music all day from the iTunes match and still have more battery than what I have just listening to previously downloaded music.
  - gman99 14y ago
    All the more reason to turn off LTE in the phone. Not sure how the phone is configured, but it's entirely possible the phone is using up battery trying to find non-existent LTE towers unless it's explicitly disabled (but I do agree with you in that battery life in most of the android phones is terrible)
    - ThePherocity 14y ago
      Heh, okay, thanks, it's done. I'll see if it improves.
  - ljf 14y ago
    Odd - I found the inverse when going to iPhone (unintuitive and low battery life), from android. With my Galaxy Note, the battery life improved, considerably after 5 or 6 charge cycles.
  - bmurphy1976 14y ago
    I installed "System Tuner" and found that my live wallpaper was chewing up CPU even when I wasn't browsing the main desktop. Once I switched to a different (non-broken) wallpaper my battery life doubled. I've also used this tool a few times to figure out why my phone was running hot (even though I wasn't using it). For instance, last night, my Facebook app was in a bad state and was chewing up 20% CPU in the background. I killed it and everything was back to normal. The tool isn't the easiest to use, but it might help.
    - ThePherocity 14y ago
      Thanks for the live wallpaper tip, it was neat but not worth having a brick for half the day. I'll check out the tuner app.
kitsune_ 14y ago
HTC One X? I own one and I'm happy with it. I certainly prefer it over the iPhone. (Disclaimer, I've owned a iPhone 3GS in the past, and this isn't my first android phone)
sigkill 14y ago
When you say build quality is crap, what exactly do you mean? Is it because it doesn't feel "heavy"?
Dove 14y ago
Check your battery usage in the setting area. It'll tell you what's been using the battery.
- gbog 14y ago
  Buy another battery and swap them when you are low. Fred Wilson is doing this in the plane, I think he has three batteries.
- mrharrison 14y ago
  Exactly, you don't need to do this with iPhone, this just illustrates the point of unpolished software. Why should I waste my day looking at battery usage for apps. Maybe I should also look at the CPU monitor for half an hour to get an overall understanding of what is happening on the phone, so that I can make a correct decision in turning some apps off in the morning and turn some apps off at lunch etc...
  - w1ntermute 14y ago
    That's because the iPhone severely limits what you can do with it. I'd say a one-time investment of 5 minutes to solve any battery life issues you might encounter is irrelevant compared to the feature differences between iPhone and Android.
    - Steko 14y ago
      If it only takes 5 minutes to fix battery life they should have done it at the factory.
      - hammersend 14y ago
        How are they supposed to do it at the factory if it's some user downloaded app causing the problem?
tehaugmenter 14y ago
>it's far less intuitive, it's build quality is crap Sorry that you feel that way. Really, I do.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
huggyface 14y ago
I desperately pray for a day when I can look at comments on an Android or iOS story without seeing likely fictitious anecdotes (why does anyone who has ever used an iPhone seems to think they are in some sort of unique, privileged position to pass judgment, as an aside?). This is a recurring problem that undermines any ability to discuss these platforms without noisy conversations. Your observations are not meaningful or unique or valuable, nor are your subjective comments (e.g. build quality) interesting. Let everyone who feels some compelling need to inject these useless mini-reviews in every discussion know this.
- ThePherocity 14y ago
  I was just sharing my experience. What's your problem?
  - huggyface 14y ago
    There are countless very thorough professional reviews of the Galaxy S III available. There are countless very thorough reviews of Android proper. Many of them by people who have actually touched both platforms extensively, and many extensively compare the two. Personal, usually agenda-driven, subjective summaries are not useful as as reply to stories like this. They simply aren't.
    - ThePherocity 14y ago
      So you're saying that only professionals (and more importantly, professionals that you personally agree with) should have and share opinions?
      - bretpiatt 14y ago
        "While everyone has the right to have questions and theories, only believable people have the right to have opinions. If you can't successfully ski down a difficult slope, you shouldn't tell others how to do it, though you can ask questions about it and even express your views about possible ways if you make it clear that you are unsure." -- #194 from Principles by Ray Dalio

MikeKusold 14y ago

Most likely the reason that it can't make it through a day without a charge is because of 4G/LTE. If battery life is that important, you can force your phone to only use 3G and you will see much greater life.

ThePherocity 14y ago
I'm in a city without LTE yet for this carrier, so that isn't it. Haven't installed any apps that should be background intensive either. I used to stream music all day from the iTunes match and still have more battery than what I have just listening to previously downloaded music.
- gman99 14y ago
  All the more reason to turn off LTE in the phone. Not sure how the phone is configured, but it's entirely possible the phone is using up battery trying to find non-existent LTE towers unless it's explicitly disabled (but I do agree with you in that battery life in most of the android phones is terrible)
  - ThePherocity 14y ago
    Heh, okay, thanks, it's done. I'll see if it improves.
- ljf 14y ago
  Odd - I found the inverse when going to iPhone (unintuitive and low battery life), from android. With my Galaxy Note, the battery life improved, considerably after 5 or 6 charge cycles.
- bmurphy1976 14y ago
  I installed "System Tuner" and found that my live wallpaper was chewing up CPU even when I wasn't browsing the main desktop. Once I switched to a different (non-broken) wallpaper my battery life doubled. I've also used this tool a few times to figure out why my phone was running hot (even though I wasn't using it). For instance, last night, my Facebook app was in a bad state and was chewing up 20% CPU in the background. I killed it and everything was back to normal. The tool isn't the easiest to use, but it might help.
  - ThePherocity 14y ago
    Thanks for the live wallpaper tip, it was neat but not worth having a brick for half the day. I'll check out the tuner app.

kitsune_ 14y ago

HTC One X? I own one and I'm happy with it. I certainly prefer it over the iPhone. (Disclaimer, I've owned a iPhone 3GS in the past, and this isn't my first android phone)

sigkill 14y ago

When you say build quality is crap, what exactly do you mean? Is it because it doesn't feel "heavy"?

Dove 14y ago

Check your battery usage in the setting area. It'll tell you what's been using the battery.

gbog 14y ago
Buy another battery and swap them when you are low. Fred Wilson is doing this in the plane, I think he has three batteries.
mrharrison 14y ago
Exactly, you don't need to do this with iPhone, this just illustrates the point of unpolished software. Why should I waste my day looking at battery usage for apps. Maybe I should also look at the CPU monitor for half an hour to get an overall understanding of what is happening on the phone, so that I can make a correct decision in turning some apps off in the morning and turn some apps off at lunch etc...
- w1ntermute 14y ago
  That's because the iPhone severely limits what you can do with it. I'd say a one-time investment of 5 minutes to solve any battery life issues you might encounter is irrelevant compared to the feature differences between iPhone and Android.
  - Steko 14y ago
    If it only takes 5 minutes to fix battery life they should have done it at the factory.
    - hammersend 14y ago
      How are they supposed to do it at the factory if it's some user downloaded app causing the problem?

tehaugmenter 14y ago

>it's far less intuitive, it's build quality is crap Sorry that you feel that way. Really, I do.

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

huggyface 14y ago

I desperately pray for a day when I can look at comments on an Android or iOS story without seeing likely fictitious anecdotes (why does anyone who has ever used an iPhone seems to think they are in some sort of unique, privileged position to pass judgment, as an aside?). This is a recurring problem that undermines any ability to discuss these platforms without noisy conversations. Your observations are not meaningful or unique or valuable, nor are your subjective comments (e.g. build quality) interesting. Let everyone who feels some compelling need to inject these useless mini-reviews in every discussion know this.

ThePherocity 14y ago
I was just sharing my experience. What's your problem?
- huggyface 14y ago
  There are countless very thorough professional reviews of the Galaxy S III available. There are countless very thorough reviews of Android proper. Many of them by people who have actually touched both platforms extensively, and many extensively compare the two. Personal, usually agenda-driven, subjective summaries are not useful as as reply to stories like this. They simply aren't.
  - ThePherocity 14y ago
    So you're saying that only professionals (and more importantly, professionals that you personally agree with) should have and share opinions?
    - bretpiatt 14y ago
      "While everyone has the right to have questions and theories, only believable people have the right to have opinions. If you can't successfully ski down a difficult slope, you shouldn't tell others how to do it, though you can ask questions about it and even express your views about possible ways if you make it clear that you are unsure." -- #194 from Principles by Ray Dalio