samsung note or iphone4s

[mssayles2006]

i just purchased the note and Im on the fence about rather i should keep it or not. If you had to pick would you go with samsung or iphone

[21stNow]

Let's put this back on you and your preferences.  I had the iPhone 4 and now own a Galaxy Note (among other phones) and don't think that these phones are in the same "class".  This is not to say that one is better than the other, just that they are so entirely different that I don't see how this could be a "this one or that one" question.  This is like asking do I want a Buick LaCrosse or a Lincoln Navigator.  The vehicles provide drastically different feature sets, but still get you from point A to point B.

What is important to you in a smartphone?

[mssayles2006]

I love the fact that its a tablet and phone i love the features its just the size that's bittersweet for me i guess

[redpoint73 ACE - Wizard]

Point made in the previous response is pretty critical.  It depends on what you want and expect from your phone. 

You haven't commented at all on your smartphone experience.  If you are not an experienced smartphone user, and not tech savvy, Android may be intimidating.  If you want your phone to just work, with a minimum of configuration, the iPhone may be a better choice.  If you want maximum versatility and customization, Android is better.  Its less limited and more open of a platform.  With Android, you can just plug your phone to your PC or Mac, and drag and drop music, video, and photos.  With iPhone, you are forced to startup iTunes and sync through that interface.

The screen on the Note is huge compared to the iPhone.  After using the 4.7" screen on the HTC One X for just a couple weeks, my wife's iPhone feels like a toy, its so much smaller.  And the screen on the Note is even larger (5.3").  If you start getting used to the big screen, you will not be pleased with the much smaller iPhone screen (3.5").  Also, the pen feature of the Note is a big difference, IF you use it.

There are a huge variety of apps for both platforms.  But you if  want the largest selection of the latest games and some other 3rd party apps, iPhone enjoys better support.   However, as long as you can live without whatever latest game your friends are playing, Android has everything you need as far as utilities and productivity apps.

Even if you lean towards iPhone, I wouldn't bother buying one right now.  A new iteration of the iPhone comes out every year, and usually in the June/July time frame (iPhone 4S was the only exception, released in October).  The 4S was just an incremental improvement over the 4, so the next iPhone will probably bring big changes.  You would be paying full price for something that becomes obsolete in a couple months, if you bought an iPhone right now.

[mssayles2006]

I agree with you i have always been a android user i guess i just need to.learn about all the features the note has i do love the screen i need to take time to explore this phone completely...

[21stNow]

I second everything that redpoint said.

What's bittersweet about the size?  Is it too big?  I use mine with a BT headset for calls; however, calls are rare for me on this device.  I use it more as a quick-to-grab tablet.  I also had an issue that it's hard to be feminine with a phone that big, but I have one of the pretty folio cases from AT&T that helps with this.  I mention this because your screen name indicates that you are a woman.

The iPhone 4S will do many of the same things that most users will use either smartphone for.  You have to decide if viewing videos and webpages is something that you do frequently.  If so, the larger screen would win hands-down for me.  If you are more of a calendar and quick email checker, the iPhone may serve your purposes well.  Also, consider how much you currently like and use iTunes.  A frequent iTunes user may like an iPhone better.  However, there is an Android app (Doubletwist?) that makes syncing an Android phone with iTunes easier.  I detest iTunes and prefer a phone that doesn't use it.

The biggest advantage that an iPhone has for me personally is that voice dialing via BT is much better than on an Android phone.  Voice Talk is supposed to accomplish this on the Galaxy Note, but the actual performance left me screaming in frustration.

As far as app availability, all of the ones that I use eventually made it over to the Android platform.  There are three that were iOS only.  I don't use two of them anymore and the other one has a different mobile solution now that allows me to use their mobile website on my Android phone.

As you can see, I could talk your ears off about the differences and similarities between the phones.  If you let me know what interests you, I could give you answers that would matter to you rather than what matters to me.

[mssayles2006]

I love your solutions and yes i feel weird pulling it out to my ear and me and Bluetooth don't get along because they irritate my ears. But please do share some of the neat things that you do with your note i do email a lot Facebook and twitter. I love my music i do play games text a lot i have not been really using my s pen much so i don't mind your talking i have the speck case but should have gotten the portfolio instead i wish it came in more colors though

[Wild Banchi ACE - Professor]

Personally, I prefer the iPhone 4S to the Note, partly due to the fact that I actually now prefer the iOS platform over Android. Shocker, right? The Note is HUGE, way too large for my liking. The iPhone is solid and fits comfortably in almost any size hand.

But, as redpoint73 pointed out, if you do plan on converting to the iPhone, I would definitely wait. It's rumoured that the new iPhone will have a completely new design - as if the current 4 and 4S weren't already revolutional enough.

[21stNow]

As much as I talk about the phones, you may find my Note use boring.  I use it for web browsing, playing a couple of games, watching videos and light email checking on a regular basis.  On a moderate basis, I use the camera because it is one of the best phone cameras that I have.  I also use this device when I troubleshoot for other users when they have questions about their Android devices.

I may use it to stream music from XM, Pandora or TinyShark on occasion.  I have used the S-Pen, but I haven't perfected my favorite use for this yet.  I can make a coloring book using anything that I see; the problem that I have is that the image moves as I color it, but the S-pen strokes stay in the same place.

Anyway, I enjoy using the Note.  It's actually addictive for me.  I changed phones but couldn't give up using the Note!

[mssayles2006]

What other phones do you have

[21stNow]

Current?

International Galaxy Nexus, International HTC One X, AT&T Nokia Lumia 900 and AT&T Galaxy Note.

Recent past, iPhone 4 and other Android devices.

[mssayles2006]

Geesh i thought i was addicted to cell phones lol which do you like the most

[21stNow]

Overall, I like the Galaxy Nexus the best because it gives me an Android experience without the manufacturer skins.  I also like some of the hardware features (I'm in the minority on this).  But, I recognize that I'm biased toward the Nexus line of phones.  I'm also fascinated with the capabilities that the NFC chip offers.  I can't use Google Wallet on the One X yet, so the advantage goes to the Galaxy Nexus here.  Android Beam is neat, but no one in my inner circle has an NFC-enabled phone yet, so I can't use it as much as I would like to.

What I like about the others:

Galaxy Note: Screen size, HD display, camera

HTC One X: Excellent call quality, slim profile yet fairly large screen

Nokia Lumia: Voice Dialing over BT is superior, ease of use (somewhat)

To be honest, I haven't given the Lumia 900 a fair chance yet, because there are two things that it doesn't do that are huge pet peeves to me (no screen rotation lock and no auto-reformat of web pages to fit the screen's width on zoom).

The Galaxy Note is my second favorite out of these phones, but I like it as a small tablet rather than a phone.  Continuing my addiction, I'm trying to decide which Samsung Galaxy S III to get in the next couple of weeks.

[redpoint73 ACE - Wizard]

If you give the large screen format a chance, I have a feeling you will never want to go to a smaller screen.  Its just so much easier to browse web pages, and a much more pleasurable experience viewing photos and videos on a larger screen.  I too had some reservations about moving to a device with a large screen, coming from a phone with similar screen size to the iPhone (HTC Desire Z).  But the large format of the One X turned out to not feel overly large to me at all.  Still feels slim and sleek in my pocket or in my hand, and the larger screen has been a joy.  Picking up my old phone or my wife's iPhone feels like a joke to me now.

That being said, given the original question of the Note versus the iPhone.  I would choose . . . the HTC One X!  Large gorgeous screen, amazing camera, slim sleek light body. 

Also, if you use iTunes and want to sync music to your Android phone easily, Doubletwist is an okay app.  But I found it a bit buggy.  iSyncr is much better.  Very easy to use, just install the app, install an app on your PC/Mac and select what music you want to sync.  It works wonders if you organize your music on iTunes.

[Entropy512]

I have recently owned the following devices:

Samsung Infuse, AT&T Galaxy S II (SGH-I777, NOT the skyrocket...), International Galaxy Note (GT-N7000) - I absolutely love the N7000.  It's a great device, however I wouldn't touch the AT&T version with a ten foot pole.  It's highly mangled and delivers inferior software polish, inferior performance, and horrible battery life.

After using the Note I don't think I'll be able to go back to a smaller device.  Even my I777 (huge compared to an iPhone) feels like a dinky toy now.

[Wild Banchi ACE - Professor]

@redpoint73

How is the quality of sound of Beats Audio on your One X and other HTC phones? I'm curious to know if the sound quality of Beats Audio on select cell phones really "beats" out the competition.

The sound quality on my original Captivate is still the best I have ever heard on a phone before.

[redpoint73 ACE - Wizard]

---

Wild Banchi wrote:
@redpoint73

How is the quality of sound of Beats Audio on your One X and other HTC phones? I'm curious to know if the sound quality of Beats Audio on select cell phones really "beats" out the competition.

The sound quality on my original Captivate is still the best I have ever heard on a phone before.

---

I find the sound quality on the One X to be quite good.  Whether Bluetooth (over car stereo system) or wired headphones, music is significantly richer and louder than on my past HTC phones.  I'm actually not a big fan of Beats, and find it a marketing gimmick.  On my old Desire Z, I used several custom ROMs that implemented Beats (the stock ROMs did not), and I found the sound to be too bass heavy and muddy. On that phone, I always just turned Beats off.  On the One X, it actually sounds quite good, and I leave it on.

Unfortunately, I've only owned HTC phones (this is my 4th), and I also haven't done any sound comparisons to my wife's iPhone.  So I couldn't tell you how the sound quality compares to other brands.  Some people have commented that they find the sound volume to be too low.  But I think those folks are nuts.  Over my car stereo, its plenty loud, and louder than FM radio.  On headphones, turning the music volume up any more than 3/4 results in volumes so loud  that they would likely damage my hearing.  So I can't imagine the need for any more volume.

[21stNow]

I'm no audiophile, so I won't notice much about the sound quality of the HTC One X.  If I remember, I'll try the same song on my Galaxy Note and One X through my Bose Soundlink to see if I notice a difference.  I have cheap-to-midrange headphones, so I can't tell much of a difference with those.

The Beats Audio seem to make a difference only with music.  The Navigation sound output on the One X is just as low in volume as it is on the HTC Sensation.

[Wild Banchi ACE - Professor]

Interesting, interesting... I also agree that the whole "equipped with Beats Audio" is a marketing gimmick, too. Both companies are being advertised in one, which is probably what Dr. Dre/whoever manages the company wanted it. Smart, yet kind of annoying.