I was literally hovering over the 'confirm purchase' button for a HTC Desire. I think the Dell Streak is slightly too big and there's no Evo 4G over here and I think I want Sense UI.
Do you guys think I should wait for a month or two or buy now? I know Android development is moving at breakneck speed right now and don't wanna regret a Desire in a few months if the Evo comes to the UK or something even better...
also is the AMOLED screen as bad as people say in sunlight?
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I have an iPhone 3GS and have grown sick of it. I am in the UK and want an Android device.
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jamiehubball's pick
I have a UK Desire, bought ten days or so ago on 3. I migrated from an iPhone 3G for the same reasons as you, plus it's very slow now.
The screen is fine. In really bright sunlight you will have to shade it, but it's not a problem and it is a very nice display.
As an iPhone owner, you will notice:
- poor integration of podcasting, particularly video podcasts, and the music player. Weird stuff particularly around the headphone button(s) not always starting or stopping the correct app. No lock screen controls for podcasting.
- on the other hand, having podcasts download automatically is great.
- I really miss the magnifier when entering URLs or search terms. That is done quite badly in HTC Sense; I find my finger stabs seem to move the cursor to places way off where I stabbed, and the optical trackball moves the cursor very slowly. Any change of screen orientation, stab slightly too far to the right, or click of the trackball and you lose the entire line you just typed.
- Cut and paste is very basic compared to the iPhone. In particular, I'm not sure it's even possible to paste-append onto the end of a URL or search box.
- the apps tend to be a bit basic, even ugly. They are growing fast, but you won't find a single app done to the quality of, say geoDefense or even, say, Solebon's Solitaire. I guess the sheer rate of growth means that will change in 6 months.
- the Facebook app is on the basic side compared to the iPhone and I find the notifications don't work reliably.
Having said this...
- The notification system is much better than on the iPhone (SMS, alerts, reminders etc.)
- The widgets and flexibility of the home screen are fantastic.
- Immediate visual appeal of the home screens is excellent.
- I love the live wallpapers.
- I am free from a daily iTunes sync routine involving botting the laptop before breakfast
- The browser almost never crashes, is really fast, works for almost every website, and the reformatting on zoom is very useful.
- Push Gmail is very nice even if the app is a little light on features.
- The phone is very fast.
- I like the idea that you can even download scripting languages for it, so you can bodge up solutions for things that aren't working as well as you'd like.
For me, I'd say - no regrets; I sometimes miss particular features of my iPhone and I may go back to one one day, but for now I really like my Desire and I think I will get happier with it as time goes on - unlike the iPhone where I got more annoyed with it.
The screen is fine. In really bright sunlight you will have to shade it, but it's not a problem and it is a very nice display.
As an iPhone owner, you will notice:
- poor integration of podcasting, particularly video podcasts, and the music player. Weird stuff particularly around the headphone button(s) not always starting or stopping the correct app. No lock screen controls for podcasting.
- on the other hand, having podcasts download automatically is great.
- I really miss the magnifier when entering URLs or search terms. That is done quite badly in HTC Sense; I find my finger stabs seem to move the cursor to places way off where I stabbed, and the optical trackball moves the cursor very slowly. Any change of screen orientation, stab slightly too far to the right, or click of the trackball and you lose the entire line you just typed.
- Cut and paste is very basic compared to the iPhone. In particular, I'm not sure it's even possible to paste-append onto the end of a URL or search box.
- the apps tend to be a bit basic, even ugly. They are growing fast, but you won't find a single app done to the quality of, say geoDefense or even, say, Solebon's Solitaire. I guess the sheer rate of growth means that will change in 6 months.
- the Facebook app is on the basic side compared to the iPhone and I find the notifications don't work reliably.
Having said this...
- The notification system is much better than on the iPhone (SMS, alerts, reminders etc.)
- The widgets and flexibility of the home screen are fantastic.
- Immediate visual appeal of the home screens is excellent.
- I love the live wallpapers.
- I am free from a daily iTunes sync routine involving botting the laptop before breakfast
- The browser almost never crashes, is really fast, works for almost every website, and the reformatting on zoom is very useful.
- Push Gmail is very nice even if the app is a little light on features.
- The phone is very fast.
- I like the idea that you can even download scripting languages for it, so you can bodge up solutions for things that aren't working as well as you'd like.
For me, I'd say - no regrets; I sometimes miss particular features of my iPhone and I may go back to one one day, but for now I really like my Desire and I think I will get happier with it as time goes on - unlike the iPhone where I got more annoyed with it.
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jamiehubball's pick
Have you thought about waiting for an iPhone 4G and 4.0 OS? Or are you preferably against iPhone's OS right now?
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jamiehubball's pick
I can see the screen just fine outside when I turn the brightness up (by touching one button). It's easy.
Obviously the perpetual question with gadgets is buy now or wait. I am a bigger fan of buying now. If you like the device a lot and you can afford it, then you should get it. You will always hear of new phones coming out and anything that you buy now will be surpassed within a few short months. That's just how the tech world works.
I can tell you that I got the Nexus One and I love it. I've had no issues so far and I'm pretty sure you'll be just as happy with the Desire. Of course when a new awesome phone comes out, I'm going to want that, but the benefit with phones is that you get software updates that make you feel like you're up to date.
Obviously the perpetual question with gadgets is buy now or wait. I am a bigger fan of buying now. If you like the device a lot and you can afford it, then you should get it. You will always hear of new phones coming out and anything that you buy now will be surpassed within a few short months. That's just how the tech world works.
I can tell you that I got the Nexus One and I love it. I've had no issues so far and I'm pretty sure you'll be just as happy with the Desire. Of course when a new awesome phone comes out, I'm going to want that, but the benefit with phones is that you get software updates that make you feel like you're up to date.
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The device will most likely be supported for the next few Android revisions. There have been unconfirmed rumors that Froyo for Desire will be released by the end of June. Given that this phone is pretty much the Nexus One with Sense UI on top of it, I would say that the chances of this falling by the wayside is much less because much of the work would have been done for Nexus One.
The screen is not an issue for me. I noticed the jaggies everyone is complaining about only when I hold the phone right up against my nose. When using the phone at arm's length (you know, the normal way of using a phone or any other device), I looks just like any other display. It's fine. It's only the fruit-filled tools (and there are many) who are crowing about the display because some juvenile insistent pricks have nothing better to do.
The screen is not an issue for me. I noticed the jaggies everyone is complaining about only when I hold the phone right up against my nose. When using the phone at arm's length (you know, the normal way of using a phone or any other device), I looks just like any other display. It's fine. It's only the fruit-filled tools (and there are many) who are crowing about the display because some juvenile insistent pricks have nothing better to do.
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I too "upgraded" from an iPhone 3GS to the HTC Desire for the pure & simple reason that I was bored of the OS. At the time there was no multi-tasking, the notifications system was a joke & I hated Apple's tight control of the App Store.
Having now been using the Desire I have found many positives but unfortunately many negatives. If we start with the bad:
The battery life is truly appalling. There is no way that this thing is actually going to make it through the day, not if you actually want to use it. I often find that by the time I get home from work then the phone is already dead.
Internal memory has to be carefully managed as until you get the Froyo update there's no way of storing apps to the microSD card. I often get low memory warnings & have to uninstall my less frequently used apps.
The screen is almost unreadable in direct sunlight.
Now for the good:
The hardware is great & having physical buttons instead of soft buttons means you end up with more real estate on the screen.
Having live information via widgets & being able to endless customise your multiple home screens is an absolute revelation having come from an iPhone.
The notification system is simply brilliant. There when you want but not so intrusive as to get in the way.
The way that the Market Place is managed (or not as the case may be) means that developers can create amazingly powerful apps tapping into the features of the phone that just wouldn't be allowed by Apple, hence people jailbraking their phones.
I've got very few regrets about swapping over to Android & the Froyo update should hopefully rectify the internal memory storage problem. Unfortunately, as an O2 UK customer I'm still patiently waiting for them to role the update out.
Having now been using the Desire I have found many positives but unfortunately many negatives. If we start with the bad:
The battery life is truly appalling. There is no way that this thing is actually going to make it through the day, not if you actually want to use it. I often find that by the time I get home from work then the phone is already dead.
Internal memory has to be carefully managed as until you get the Froyo update there's no way of storing apps to the microSD card. I often get low memory warnings & have to uninstall my less frequently used apps.
The screen is almost unreadable in direct sunlight.
Now for the good:
The hardware is great & having physical buttons instead of soft buttons means you end up with more real estate on the screen.
Having live information via widgets & being able to endless customise your multiple home screens is an absolute revelation having come from an iPhone.
The notification system is simply brilliant. There when you want but not so intrusive as to get in the way.
The way that the Market Place is managed (or not as the case may be) means that developers can create amazingly powerful apps tapping into the features of the phone that just wouldn't be allowed by Apple, hence people jailbraking their phones.
I've got very few regrets about swapping over to Android & the Froyo update should hopefully rectify the internal memory storage problem. Unfortunately, as an O2 UK customer I'm still patiently waiting for them to role the update out.
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I would also look at the Samsung Galaxy S. It comes with 8GB internal memory + µSD. The processor in the Galaxy S is faster that the Snapdragon in the Desire. You don't get HTC's Sense UI though.
The screen on the Galaxy S is 4" SuperAMOLED and can be viewed in sunlight. Desire has 3.7" AMOLED and it is difficult to see even at 100% brightness in bright sunlight.
Having said that, I use a Desire and have no plans to get the Galaxy S because the Desire works just right for me. YMMV. If you are concerned about the screen viewability in bright light, or app storage space, get the Galaxy S. If I were in the market right now for a phone, I would definitely get the Galaxy S.
One caveat though: unbranded Desires have FroYo (2.2). Galaxy S is still on Eclair (2.1).
The price ∆ is insignificant (£10): Galaxy S £439.99 (www.expansys.com/d.aspx?i=198072) vs. Desire £429.99 (www.expansys.com/d.aspx?i=196001), last time i checked.
The screen on the Galaxy S is 4" SuperAMOLED and can be viewed in sunlight. Desire has 3.7" AMOLED and it is difficult to see even at 100% brightness in bright sunlight.
Having said that, I use a Desire and have no plans to get the Galaxy S because the Desire works just right for me. YMMV. If you are concerned about the screen viewability in bright light, or app storage space, get the Galaxy S. If I were in the market right now for a phone, I would definitely get the Galaxy S.
One caveat though: unbranded Desires have FroYo (2.2). Galaxy S is still on Eclair (2.1).
The price ∆ is insignificant (£10): Galaxy S £439.99 (www.expansys.com/d.aspx?i=198072) vs. Desire £429.99 (www.expansys.com/d.aspx?i=196001), last time i checked.
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