Why the iPhone is better than the desire.

[Richie]

I meant faster with the stock UI, the Desire is faster within applications without a doubt.

Yet on the Desire home screen, moving application icons around is slow. Seems like I have to hold an icon for 2-5 seconds at the edge of a home screen before the adjacent home screen slides over.

You can hold the icon and with the other finger slide the screens a long as you usually would, but this seems cumbersome.

I think this is programmed to have a delay as opposed to being laggy. Normally I do this by moving the icon over another one so it cant be "put down" when I take my thumb off it and then sliding the screens using the same thumb/finger on a blank bit of the screen...

 

[Soulja]

The one thing i dislike about the iPhone is i can't leave skype or similar programs running in the background. I'm really looking forward to trying out OS4.

 

[Mekrel]

Yes there is - having applications RUNNING in the background, not suspended, is multitasking.

IE MSN, IRC, etc whilst browsing or sending texts.

Which is also capable on the iPhone with IM+ application, works in the exact same way as eBuddy on Android.

 

[Rimsy]

After only around 6 or 7 months from my last Android encounter (HTC Hero) I decided to give it another try.

Last year I bought the HTC Hero to compare with my iPhone to see what all the hype was about. It only took me less than a day to realise the Hero was basically a piece of **** compared to my iPhone 3GS.

A few months on and with all the hype of the Desire, I decided to buy it and this time give it more time, (at lease a week).

Here are the things I like about the Desire:

+ high resolution
+ nice screen
+ nice design
+ optical trackball

Well I tried to give it a week but that didn't happen, here is why...

- media player
In one word, rubbish. The media player is slow, clunky and unintuitive compared to iphone.
- internet browser
This one was a suprise, the Desire comes with flash support but that was the only thing I liked about it. Browsing on the desire is horrible, slow and unresponsive. Scrolling is not as smooth as the iphone.
Here are load times on my wifi network, all cache cleared.
(engadget)
iPhone opera browser: 2 seconds
iPhone safari browser: 3 seconds
htc desire: 9 seconds
- camera/video quality
Desire has more megapixels but quality is crap
- android market
where are all the good apps?
well itunes is just better. no need to discuss that
- gps
google maps on htc desire is not accurate. iphone was 2 streets out but desire was a country mile off
- phone lags unless powered on and off everyday

Nearly a year since iphone came out and it is still the best phone. The new iphone is coming out soon and there is nothing out there that comes close. Really disappointed with what all phone manufacturers could come up with. Looks like my next phone will be an iphone.

You sound like a sad little Apple fanboy who is scared because his shiney iPhone isnt recognised as being the best smartphone any more.
Go away please - most of what you just posted is utter ********.

 

[Mekrel]

Yet you sound just as bad with your reply, because you don't counteract what he's said with your views/evidence.

Jesus, the mobile phone section here is as bad as the graphics card sub forum.

 

[james.miller]

you just dont talk to people like that, no matter how wrong you think they.

 

[413x]

apple does have better range of apps for sure, but that will change as a lot of developers bail on apples strict rules, adobe have given up with flash for the iphone!

SQ and media player i think is also better with the iphone, but i wont have iunes on my comp, i hate it,, useless with tags and i hate the whole apple interface, everything light colors, i like dark background light text, all my comp an phone themes are light text on dark bkg.. hate apples you have to have it this way attitude


GPS is fantastic on the desire, meter accurate,
camera is good too, especially on closeups,
browser is good, but id like a simple on/off switch for flash for when im on non3g/wifi network [ie at work and most of the time]
screen is beautiful and multitasking too

oh and price.. better phone for way cheaper.. and no need to jailbreak .. you dont feel your phone is your own with an iphone.. hate that

 

[bigredshark]

There's some good and rational posts in here but the majority of you need to grow up and stop acting like 12 year olds.

The iphone is an exceptionally good device despite it's age and limited hardware.

Android is a very good platform and is improving constantly, it's already better than anything except iphone OS in general terms.

If you're coming from an iphone then you'll likely not get on with Android, it feels different and doesn't have the absolute polish of the iphone but most of all it's missing too many apps in my opinion.

The fact is people value different things (which plenty people here seem to have trouble grasping) so because somebody likes itunes (I like itunes, it runs nicely on my machine and it's a single place for all my music, apps, video etc - for me what's not to like) that doesn't mean that everything else they say is 'fanboy lies' because you don't like itunes. Just grow up and get some perspective...

 

[Amp34]

Wow, the iphone looks so dated in that picture.

Well it is essentially a 3 year old design.

Even though the Desire leaves a lot to be desired (no pun intended!) in the looks department the front is far better looking than the iPhones, the iPhone wins the back competition, it would be even better if Apple decided to move that stupid camera lens to the middle of the Apple logo, however that would probably "spoil" it.

I realise I sound like a fanboy, I know, but I do like the iPhone, its a very well executed product, but the specs are lagging behind now. IMO the iPhone 4 needs the iPads A4 chip and 512MB of RAM along with all the Gizmodo confirmed other changes to be brought kicking and screaming into 2010

I'd hope not, or they have no chance. The A4 chip in the iPad is just an amalgamation of the existing processor and GFX chip in the 3Gs, the only difference is the processor has been "overclocked" (i'm guessing the original chip in the 3Gs was underclocked). It needs a much faster chip and as you said loads more ram to really compete.

 

[Amp34]

My other issue with the Desire is the Sync software, it's just awful. People complain about iTunes, but least it synced everything without any issues at all. Music, contacts, applications, play lists - everything.

So iTunes wiped your music because you didn't read about deauthorising your account? Not iTunes fault, it's yours. Would you complain about bricking your phone is you tried to update it with no battery life?

I'm aware software exists to Sync music with the Desire, but they're all awful and no where near as polished as iTunes. DoubleTwist was nigh on two ours trying to sync my iTunes content and playlists before I told it to cancel.

I take it you can also just drag and drop with Android from your computer to phone?

In which case it is 20millliontrillionbilion times better than iTunes and the iPhone in that regard...

That is why I will never buy an iPod (aside from their other issues), Touch, or iPhone as syncing, whilst being ok for some things is no where near as good as simple drag and drop IMO..

 

[fez]

Yet on the Desire home screen, moving application icons around is slow. Seems like I have to hold an icon for 2-5 seconds at the edge of a home screen before the adjacent home screen slides over.

That is just a usability delay, it just makes sure that you want to move it to another screen rather than place it at the edge of the current one.

The desire is a much better phone that the iPhone but I agree that you need a little more know how to ensure that it runs properly. I have just been amazed by the desire but that is my inner nerd. Apple built a phone that was designed to work for everyone and anyone and that is what it is.

Both are brilliant devices and apple have to be credited with actually making the smartphone market popular. Pretty much no one bothered with them before the iphone apart from the techies and sadists.

 

[Totality]

Lol the irony in this post with people bashing the Op for being a fanboy, yet they come across just as strongly as a fanboy for the Desire yet tell HIM to go away? Contradict yourselves much?

I personally own the older 3G iphone and have picked up a Desire a few days ago. I'm returning the Desire and staying with the iphone for now. If I had to compare the two I would compare it to me using Linux whenever a new one comes out. I use it for a few weeks then go back to Windows because most of the mainstream "programs" are released for Windows and overall it is a streamlined process to use it. The desire doesn't have one interface, but has different styles of menus for each and feels "bolted" together with lots of different plugins the same way Linux works. Linux feels bolted together because I suppose it is with all the different distributions and add-ins.

I absolutely loathe itunes and don't own an apple mac so cannot be considered an Apple fanboy, but I just prefer how streamlined everything is in the iphone. For instance, you go to settings to configure everything rather than settings for programs being scattered all over the place.

For the iphone:

+ Simpler to use
+ A more streamlined and professional feel to the OS
+ More mainstream apps on the app store and non of this "you cannot see copy protected apps with the Desire" nonsense which will come up again when they upgrade the ROM version leaving people without apps for a few weeks until the new fingerprints are put in the store by Google
+ The browser feels better on the iphone and more mature. For example, on the desire to go "Home" you have to click the menu button, then more options, then home. Why not just have a home button?
+ The exchange email integration is very well done on the iphone and I use it daily with the work calendar and for sending emails. The desire has integration but you cant simply search the exchange address list. You have to search for someone, add them to your address book and then you email them. This means they show up when you just want to text a mate in your address book! A nightmare if you have been drinking!

- Battery life on the iphone sucks
- Itunes integration has wiped my phone many a time so Ive given up and no longer use it as a music playing phone. You cant simply drag and drop and I ABSOLUTELY HATE itunes!!
- It is SLOWER than the Desire. I dont have the 3GS so cannot comment on that but the 3G is sloooow to use and browse with
- The Desire definitely has the faster internet browser and I "thought" it supported flash but it turns out it comes with flash "lite" which is crap. All this means is that you get to see all the flash adverts but the videos don't play smoothly so aren't watchable. I therefore turned it off so in effect its the same experience now as the iphone so not an upgrade.
- Everyone has an iphone!
- You have to convert the divx videos to an iphone format and then use itunes. As it turns out the Desire doesnt support divx either though!

I bought the Desire hoping for the following points, but I was dissapointed.

1. A better internet browsing experience with embedded flash support - I ended up with a faster internet browsing experience for sure, but was dissapointed to find out that flash "lite" is utterly useless and just means you get popups and adverts so it has been turned off. They claim that Flash 10.1 will be released in a future update, but havent specified a date.

2. I was hoping to just simply be able to copy my films and play them off the SD card - This isn't possible on the Desire either as it cannot support Divx so offers no advantage to the iphone. I still have to re-encode them all. Again this has been promised in a further update but when?

3. I use exchange daily - The desire's exchange integration isn't as good as that of the iphone. The way it handles the global address list isn't as good. You cant simply send to a contact in the address list WITHOUT the phone adding them to the address book

4. Proxy servers - I use the phone at work on WIFI and you cannot set up a proxy server so internet access at work doesnt work.


The key thing here is that I already own an iphone so was hoping for an upgraded experience. I can't justify the cost because of the missing features I use daily making the phone similar to my existing iphone. For me the upgrade isn't worth the money. If I didn't have the iphone already I would probably keep the Desire because it can do everything the iphone can and I'm sure they will get to grips with exchange support at some point in the future - plus its a lot cheaper than buying a Iphone 3GS - but given that I already own an iphone, in my mind it isn't worth the extra cash to upgrade to the Desire.

I may come back in a few months time and see if Flash 10.1 and Divx support has been added along with a more streamlined exchange mail experience, but that will be in June when I compare it to the Iphone 4G and what else has come along at that time.

If the Iphone 4G isn't vastly different to the 3G I won't bother upgrading, the same was as I didn't go from a 3G to a 3GS because it didn't bring anything to the table that justified the extra money. That's how I feel about the Desire too at the moment.

One thing I will say and that is I didn't like the way the Desire handles multitasking. Yes its great having apps open all the time, but why do we have to use task killer to close them? Why not have an option to just hit "Menu" then choose close to actually close the application? Most of the time when I'm done I just want to close the program, not leave it open. I agree multitasking is better, but not having a close button is daft. Who on their desktop machine leaves everything minimised and never closes anything!

In fact this sums it up for me too:

Android is a very good platform and is improving constantly, it's already better than anything except iphone OS in general terms.

If you're coming from an iphone then you'll likely not get on with Android, it feels different and doesn't have the absolute polish of the iphone but most of all it's missing too many apps in my opinion.

 

[The Asgard]

- internet browser
This one was a suprise, the Desire comes with flash support but that was the only thing I liked about it. Browsing on the desire is horrible, slow and unresponsive. Scrolling is not as smooth as the iphone.
Here are load times on my wifi network, all cache cleared.

Most of your comments are way off but this comment is BS unless you have a faulty phone. The browser support on the Desire is pretty much instant and faultless.

Try the MixZing music player.

 

[Demon]

I used to love the iPhone, but I'm slowly coming around to Android..

The main thing is the HTC Sense UI is leagues ahead of Apple, the iPhone is still page after page of square icons, going to Android for the first time was a bit weird, it felt odd and clunky, but after 2 weeks of use I 'got' what most of the HTC widgets where doing and since then haven't looked back.

THe browser is excellent on the desire, the re-flow is more intelligent and scaling of fonts/images is done with high detail, plus rendering speeds seem pretty reasonable.

The only thing I love about iPhones is the smooth/seemless transitioning between apps/screens, but that's about it..

Each to their own, I expect anyone entrenched in the iPhone OS to be instantly at odds with HTC Sense, but in this case different does not mean worse, it means things have moved on, and you need to as well..

iPhone OS 4 is finally adding some good stuff, but have they addressed the 'widgets' issue, or are we still going to just have 5 pages of square buttons?

 

[bigredshark]

Most of your comments are way off but this comment is BS unless you have a faulty phone. The browser support on the Desire is pretty much instant and faultless.

Try the MixZing music player.

If you have a look in the desire or iphone thread that's kicking around somebody posted a video comparing the two browsers which is pretty good. The desire is faster to load by a good bit but the iphone browser does pinch to zoom much more smoothly and naturally (I'm informed this is because the desire pinch to zoom tries to snap to text column width or similar but whatever the reason it looks and feels smoother on the iphone).

Of course it's just cosmetic but it's a nice experience, which may be why the iphone is popular, it's making a smartphone a nice simple user experience rather than trying for every possible feature.

Horses for courses at the end of the day...

 

[BF-Bert]

I never did understand why people get worked up about the way Apple control what they can do with their phone. Apple released a phone and said what it could do.... why does the fact you want to do something different with it make it their problem? Its like buying a BMW for driving on roads then complaining when it won't drive on rivers.

 

[[TW]Fox]

I never did understand why people get worked up about the way Apple control what they can do with their phone. Apple released a phone and said what it could do.... why does the fact you want to do something different with it make it their problem? Its like buying a BMW for driving on roads then complaining when it won't drive on rivers.

A better analogy would be its like BMW announcing a car that can only drive on certain roads, when everyone elses car drives on any road. Then, every year, releasing a FANTASTIC NEW AMAZING VERSION OF REVOLUTIONARY AWESOMENESS that adds a few more roads.

With everyone else going

 

[The Asgard]

If you have a look in the desire or iphone thread that's kicking around somebody posted a video comparing the two browsers which is pretty good. The desire is faster to load by a good bit but the iphone browser does pinch to zoom much more smoothly and naturally (I'm informed this is because the desire pinch to zoom tries to snap to text column width or similar but whatever the reason it looks and feels smoother on the iphone).

Of course it's just cosmetic but it's a nice experience, which may be why the iphone is popular, it's making a smartphone a nice simple user experience rather than trying for every possible feature.

Horses for courses at the end of the day...

Just come off a 18 Month Contract with a IPhone 3G and there is no comparison between the Desire and 3G. Obviously the 3GS is faster but ...

 

[BF-Bert]

Not at all Apple brought out a phone, that like every other phone had a list of specifications that showed what features were on it. Not Apples fault if the feature people wanted wasn't on the first iphone. The 3g was released to address some of the requests for additional features likewise the 3gs. No different to any car getting a new updated model brought out every year. Three phones in 3 years isnt bad compared with most manufacturers most bring that many out a quarter.

 

["andy"]

A better analogy would be its like BMW announcing a car that can only drive on certain roads, when everyone elses car drives on any road. Then, every year, releasing a FANTASTIC NEW AMAZING VERSION OF REVOLUTIONARY AWESOMENESS that adds a few more roads.

With everyone else going

and as for the guy above wanting to watch divx or .avi's then theres apps for it.