MANILA, Philippines - I cut my teeth, so to speak, on Apple products. Three decades ago, I was already one of the few who had the early versions of the Macintosh (before it was called a Mac) which I loved. I have always been an Apple guy. But it was a Windows world then and after years of hardly finding anyone using a Mac, I switched to Windows only to find myself aghast and confused at athe convoluted ways it does things. From a Mac user’s point of view, Windows OS was/is a nightmare with too many protocols, steps and procedures being asked of the user just to do simple tasks such as setting up access to the internet, or even getting a printer going.
It wasn’t too long after that I was back using a Mac which, to this day, is still my hardware and software choice. When the iPhone came out, I naturally grabbed one and was very happy with it. But with technology moving so fast and with other companies touting ever newer, more exciting products, I took a crazy leap and decided on a whim to shift to an Android phone. I got myself a Samsung Galaxy S which is rated among the top two phones that supposedly rivaled the iPhone.
Let me tell you at the outset that for all its similarities with the iphone which include the capacity to enlarge photos with ones’ fingers, its flawless scroll capacity, its ease of use and its high tech feel and features, and its access to getting apps in a snap, it is not an iphone experience one is getting. For one, the screen is larger and visibly sharper. Its camera is a 5+ megapixel and its many functions and options do trump the iPhone in some ways. Take the way the contacts list is designed to be so easily accessible from messages, dialer, photo gallery and the other social network apps. It is amazing how sending photos, sound, video is so much easier. They seem to have designed it to use data in so many more ways and with ease.And yes, one can send business cards unlike on an iPhone. (That’s one of my biggest frustrations with Apple).
But as a Mac laptop user, I have a few connectivity problems to complain about. Samsung has yet to design apps that will make connecting to Macs a more flawless experience. To upload music, pics, videos to your Mac laptop for example, one has to use third-party apps that are still not as well made as Apple apps. A way around it is to mail them to yourself or use the Dropbox app to share anything with other devices.
Also, do not look for the Market app inside your Mac. Market, which is the Android equivalent of iTunes or Appstore is used straight on your phone to download your free apps. And Market is quite functional and works well, but to nitpick a bit, it does not deliver a tad as smoothly the way the Appstore brings the downloaded stuff to the iPhone, i-Touch or iPad.
But this Mac user is thankful that the Android OS is a Google-owned format and so my Android phone was able to automatically sync all of my Gmail, Facebook, Myspace, Twitter and phone contacts in a snap.
The use of the Samsung Galaxy S is a wonderful experience. The “Write and Go” application for example allows you versatile handling of messages which you may send via SMS, or MMS or via email. There are so many free apps you can download to make your connectivity to other devices, to the web, and to the goings-on in the world a great experience.
You also get three ways of texting. Throw in the capacity to increase memory via SD card and you know you have a great phone. The WiFi, 3G, data service in my view work a little better on this smart phone than on my iphone. In terms of phone hang, I’d say the two are about the same.
So, is the Galaxy S better than an iPhone? Put it this way. Android is a different OS and so delivers a different experience. While using an iPhone is still a smoother experience in many respects, it is not enough to tilt the balance decisively. While all phones have their limitations, the pluses of the Galaxy S far outweigh its limitations. A psychological plus for me is that I don’t feel too trapped the way I did when I was an iPhone user. I don’t need to jailbreak the Galaxy S to use any service provider I choose. Android is open format. That is such a plus when you go abroad, or when you wish to change providers.
I have upgraded my software from Éclair 2.1 to Froyo 2.2. The phone is even faster and runs smoother. Unless the next iPhone is a hands-down Android killer, I will probably stick to my Samsung Galaxy S while eagerly awaiting the next upgraded OS.