apple: since April 1st, 1976
samsung: since March 1st, 1938
bmnator is right, go for the samsung 
i lol’d
In all seriousness, go for the Iphone.
The Samsung Focus is decen’t, I’m sure. I’ve had a Samsung before I had my iPhone and I’m not going back. Mind you I’m not an Apple fanboy. I’ve always like iPods, but I also hate macs.
But each time I see something compared to the iPhone 4, it just doesn’t really compare. Samsung’s touchscreens are decent, but they still show some lag and they still don’t function as smooth as you’d like em to. The iPhone’s the only touchscreen (besides that of the iPod Touch which is the same anyway) that really works like it should. Everything you do on that screen just feels natural, like it should feel.
Then there’s the build. Something I’ve never liked about other phone’s is that they’re so often so badly built. I mean, when you spend so much money on a phone I’d feel insulted if I’d get some plastic casing. And sadly, the Focus is plastic. The iPhone 4 on the other hand is glass and stainless steel. It just feels like you’re actually holding something that’s worth its money. Plus, the industrial design is just beautiful.
When it comes to the screen, the iPhone also takes the crown. Granted, the Focus has a sharp screen too (It would be ironic if it didn’t, with that name), but the iPhone’s is sharper. It also has a huge viewing angle, and is very readable even in bright sunlight.
When it comes to the OS the iPhone once again beats out the Focus, which is logical, since Windows Phone 7 is still a very new operating system. ios 4.2 on the other hand has been around for a long time, and is therefore, logically, a lot more stable. It’s also the best music player and one of the best mobile gaming device I’ve owned. (I’d say I actually prefer it over the PSP, if it weren’t for the emulators I have on it. However, you can have emulators on the iPhone too if you jailbreak it.)
And I could honestly go on like this for a while but I’m gonna stop for now.
Long story short: Get the iPhone.
I don’t think you can really judge the samsung focus on other samsung phones. You should try the samsung focus or at least watch some reviews before assuming it has certain qualities. I guess I can’t say a whole lot good about it not having used it either, but looking at a youtube vid on it the touch looks about as snappy as can be. One reason I think people often think apple products are far superior is because they compare apple’s high end products to low end products from other companies rather than comparing products of the same price from other companies. Before you say smsung’s screens have lag and the iphone’s don’t, look at the price tag. The samsung phones that had bad screens may have been half the price of the iphone.
Also, sometimes I don’t quite understand people’s hatred of plastic. Just because it’s plastic doesn’t mean it’s flimsy. I’ve seen cheepo generic plastic cell phones treated like shit and come out fine. Once again, I don’t think you can really judge this without holding it in your hand and using it for a while. Also, the iphone’s design, though undeniably beautiful, is also and incredibly finger print magnet.
Iphone’s screen is better but smasung focus’s is most definitely good enough.
As for os, it comes back to not being able to judge it without really looking into it. I’ve always found ios too be over simplified and far to app oriented. Also, I don’t know this, but if it’s anything like the zuneHD, which it probably will be, jailbraking won’t be required to install things like emulators.
My friend has an HTC HD7 windows phone so I will ask him if I can try it out and then come back here and tell you guys what I think about the ui and such. I think my favorite windows phone would probably be the HTC because of it’s ridiculously massive screen and appealing design.
As I’ve already said this is the phone I’ve been using for a few months about (the week it came out actually, although I wasn’t aware when I bought it). I, personally, think the interface is very well made. The iOS and Android interfaces looked a bit cluttered to me.
Also, correct me if I’m wrong, but iPhone doesn’t have the LiveTile functionality that the Windows Phone 7 does does it? That’s a nice little feature I find, even if the LiveTile only changes pictures every once and awhile it keeps things fresh.
If you plan on using TONS of apps, I would probably still go with the iPhone though. As people have already said, it’s much more app oriented. The smaller tiles allow you to fit more on your main screen. Windows Phone 7 has very large tiles so without scrolling up or down you can’t really see more than 4 -6 depending on what tiles you’re using.
I’m having no problems with the touch screen either.
If this is an issue about iOS against all other touchscreen phones, well… Even windows mobile is superior to iOS, not to mention Android which is really just an excuse to get Linux on cell phones, so geeks can install a desktop distro like Debian and plug their phones into a usb hub, flash drive, keyboard, mouse, external GPU?
It’d help if you told us your reasoning…
IMO the android ui is too complicated and the iphone ui is too simple. The ZuneHD is right in the middle. I hope the Windows Phone is as well.
I’d carry a usb adapter to copy files from flash drives, small USB keyboard to be able to type faster, and a usb headset instead of the shitty bluetooth ones, and at home it would be my main browsing computer and music player… if I want to do that with Apple devices, I would have to shove an iMac into an iPhone case.
You wouldn’t do the same with an android of windows phone either…
Stuff like that has no practicality, it’s just for shits n’ giggles. If you want all that in something portable buy a netbook.
I’m not really arguing for ios or iphone, I just think you’re taking a silly approach for arguing against it.
Thing is, I have read review of the Samsung Focus. More than one. And it’s grade is almost always lower than that of the iPhone4 on the same site.
And a lot of those things I mentioned are things I read about in those reviews. I know better than to make presumptuous arguments.
Good point, I already have a netbook though, so I want to go smaller.
Touche. From your first post it seemed like you were going off your experiences with other samsung phones. Did you read in a review that the smasung focus has touch screen lag?
After you throw in all those accessories I’m not sure just how much smaller it’s gonna be.
About half the Android phones I try to sync to an Exchange account for my clients simply refuse to. Those people either just have to live with it or purchase a $20 app that provides that functionality that was supposed to be built into the phone. Maybe they’ve fixed it on newer phones but that’s already turned me off of Android phones. Not to mention that I’ve never used an Android phone that felt anywhere as quick or responsive as an iPhone or Windows Phone. The interface seems kind of difficult to navigate as well. Sersoft mentions all of its capabilities as a full fledged computer, but I’m really just looking for a phone I can just use in my hand and keep in my pocket.
Daedalus: I agree with you on most of your points. The Samsung’s screen is not quite as good as the iPhone’s, but it is ever so close. I almost can’t tell the difference when I use them. Both are very responsive and clear, but the iPhone does top the Focus. The plastic casing on the Focus does also make it feel a little cheap, on the other hand the iPhone is now glass front and back, which makes for more scratches and now the possibility of both the front and back smashing if dropped. However, I’ve almost never dropped any of my cell phones so I’m not too worried, and the heavy, solid construction does feel good. The time iOS has had to be refined and proven also is a good point. WP7 may have to wait a while before it is really polished.
So I dunno. I’ll probably go iPhone just because it will be easier to set up with iTunes than switching to Zune, and because the software has matured well.
Itunes is well known for being shit on windows so I wouldn’t say it’s matured well. And switching to zune is not a hassle; tell it where your music and video collection is if it’s not in the default location and you’re done.
Also, I’d really suggest the HTC 7 over the focus. The screen is much larger and it seems to be overall a much nicer device.
Also the Iphone is $200 more than the HD7.
I meant iOS has matured. As for iTunes, I don’t really have any issues with it. It works just fine for me.
Also, the iPhone 4 16gb is $200 with my upgrade from ATT. The HTC 7 Surround is also $200. So there’s no difference in price, which I already said wasnt really a factor since my company is buying it for me.
I think this thread has served most of its purpose, though, and it’s gotten me to reconsider the iPhone and look closer at WP7. Closer to a decision now, but I’ll have to do a little more digging before I’m done.
No, I’l admit that was mostly from other experiences with, well, nearly every smartphone I’ve held. But, if everyone says they’ve greatly improved I guess that’s not really a problem anymore.
I have an iPhone and a Windows pc, iTunes has never given me any trouble besides from forcing me to download Quicktime which is possibly the worst mediaplayer of all time.
And I wasn’t really implying that the Samsung phone is flimsy, but that it feels flimsy. Because, well, plastic always feels flimsy.
I just don’t like it when something so expensive feels so cheap, even if it’s actually quite sturdy.
Aye… My HTC Wildfire cost €270 and it has a plastic casing, it just feels like a €50 phone that way.
All in all, I regret not forking the additional €200 for an iPhone, but ah well. Maybe in a year or 2-3.
Real Deal… and you have to go with the Windows phone, Bought a HTC Mozart 2 months ago now dont know how i lived with out it, especially if your an xbox fan for all your xbox live compatibility, and yeah the only real downsides are small like customisable ring tone which are said to be being fixed in the updates!!!
Well, I stopped by at&t today to check out all the smart phones. Tried out the samsung and the iphone 4. I think the biggest difference is the samsung Focus has a MUCH larger screen. The screen is much lower resolution, but without looking very closely I couldn’t see the difference. I also think the samsung focus had better colors, but all that is subjective. I was, however, unhappy with the focus’s ui. It is most likely something you could get used to pretty quickly, but none the less it wasn’t ideal. The thing I loved about the ZuneHD ui is that it was incredibly simple intuitive and easy to use, but also very organized. The Focus’s ui is possible a little simpler only without the intuitiveness and also lacking a lot of the clear cut organization. I’d put it on par with the iphone’s ui which I don’t like for being too app oriented and simple.
I’ve gotta say, the two come pretty close. If it worn’t for my dislike of apple I’d be pretty torn between the two. The Iphone4 was 200 with a 2 year commitment and the Focus was 100 with a 2 year commitment so that’s a big plus on the focus’s side. Also, I believe the Focus was 200 dollars cheaper without the commitment.
I also checked out the HTC surround. It didn’t stand out a whole lot. I found it less ergonomic while using the speakers but the speakers were pretty nice. IMO not worth it.
I think that the comparison with Android has kind of distracted this thread from the very different discussion of iOS vs. Windows Phone: Android allows users to completely surpass the aspirations of the manufacturer, whereas both of the latter companies effectively do it for you.
The ultimate question when considering iOS/Windows and Android is whether or not you want a finely polished end-user experience, or whether you want one with slightly uneven edges that you get to do yourself. Android will probably never be quite as slick as Apple, but that’s fine; they’re designed to be entirely different. Apple’s priority is always in maintaining that perfect facade, whereas Android let you tear down the whole house and build it yourself. Which you want is, well, up to the OP.
That means that, as far as Windows Phone and iOS go, the comparison has to be about how well the end-user experience caters to you, since that’s what you’re going to be using. I love the iPhone’s interface, but that’s just me; I’m not you, and will almost inevitably have a different opinion to you. Going and testing the phones yourself would definitely be the best bet, or at least having a clear image in your mind of the two and how they differ (and how they’re the same).
iTunes really isn’t that bad; sure, its a bit bloated, but its zippy enough on my main PC. Plus, if you go with the Samsung, you’ll have to deal with another proprietary media player that is just as clunky. Its not like we’re talking about WinAmp here; there’s six in one and a half dozen in the other in terms of the media browsers.
Obviously my recommendation would be with the iPhone, but that’s more of a “stick with what you know” thing. I’ve used it for a full six months now, and its just great. I would have got a case for it anyway (do this no matter what phone you get; dropping it is the saddest thing you’ll ever do), so the antenna problem is a non-issue, and I just can’t get over how fantastic it feels to use. Whether or not you use a whole bunch of apps (though you should, since there are a great many awesome ones), I’d still go with it every time.