Black Sprint iPhone 4s 16GB

Sprint iPhone 4s 16GB

I have been kind of a phone geek for a while now, it started back when I got my first job in a wireless retail store.  Over the years I have had several Sprint smartphones including:

  • Palm Treo 650 – Palm OS/Symbian
  • Palm TREO 700wx – The first Windows Treo
  • Palm Treo 800w – Windows 5.0
  • HTC Mogul – Windows 6.1
  • HTC Touch Pro – Windows 6.5
  • HTC Hero – The first Sprint Android phone, Android 1.6, upgraded to 2.1
  • HTC EVO 3D – The first 3D phone, Android 2.3.2
  • Apple iPhone 4s 16GB – iOS 5.1

As you can tell, I have had plenty of smartphones.  I have actually had many, many more than this since I buy and sell cell phones as a hobby/job, but this is a good list.  You can check out my online store at SquawkTalkWireless.com.

I bought my first Android phone at Best Buy several days before the official release date and have been hooked on Android since then.  Android never gave me a reason to use the iPhone, but with all the hype and the popularity of the iPhone made me want to know what the big deal was.  Since I buy and sell phones as well, I wanted to know my product, so I bought an iPhone 4s to try out.

I am definitely not what you would consider an Apple fanboy.  I don’t have a mac, I don’t have an iPod, I have never really used iTunes, and until recently, I never used an iPhone.  That being said, I will be as unbiased as possible, here is my review.

Pros

The hardware.  I have to be honest, the phone feels great in your hand, the size and weight seem just right.  The screen and camera are both great, the buttons are all easy to use, and perhaps an underrated aspect, there is a volume on/off switch.  The switch may not seem like a big deal, but once you get use to it, you will miss it.  This was actually one of the features I have missed all the way back to my Palm Treo days.

The Call Back Button.  When you are talking to someone and drop a call, which I am sure no one ever does, the dial pad comes up on the screen with a green Call Back button.  This is a great idea, why don’t all phones have this?

Siri.  For those people who use it, this comes in very handy.  I personally never used it that much for 2 reasons.  1. I use Google Voice for all my text and calling needs, Siri wouldn’t use Google Voice for either.  Siri uses data.  I have Sprint, I don’t care how much data I use, but when you are in weak reception areas (which I tend to frequent) this causes issue for Siri.  Since I could never seem to get into the habit of using Siri, she quickly became an expensive reason to buy the iPhone 4s over the iPhone 4.

iTunes Sync.  There were a couple times where I had either reset my device or switched iPhones and one sync with iTunes brought all my apps, photos, wall papers, etc back to my phone.  This is one feature that Android has nothing comparable that I know of, and it’s a great feature.

Cons

The Apps.  People are going to go crazy over this, I can feel it right now.  Here is the deal, on Android there is a little thing called a Menu button.  This button is great for storing settings and features that you want to include in your apps.  Simply put, the iPhone doesn’t have a menu button.  This means that all the features/settings have to be put on the screen or eliminated.  In addition you have your many ads for free apps, and a smaller screen to boot.  Many times this means the same apps on the iPhone have less features/options than their Android counterparts.  Many apps are harder to use do to the small screen area, and with all the additional clutter, it’s just a mess.  On one app I used quite frequent, there were 4 buttons taking up space on the screen + ads.  On the apps Android counter part there were no buttons, this became a big deal for me.  If you use a lot of Google apps you may find yourself, like I did, using web apps (meaning when you launch the app it actually opens in the browser instead of an actual app), which is less than ideal.

The iOS5 (The Operating System).   iOS5 allows for very little customizing, no widgets, and can be clumsy to use.  For instance, on my Android device I downloaded GMail, Google RSS, Google+, Google Docs, and Google Voice on my Android phone.  I only had to log in one time, the rest of the time I was simply already logged in, no reason to do it twice.  On the iPhone when I went into the App store, iCloud, Facetime, iMessage, Contacts, etc, I had to log in every time – even though I was using the same account.  I once counted 8 times that I had to log into my Apple account when setting up my phone, a couple times is no big deal, but 8?

Email, Contacts, Calendar sync and GPS. This is actually a pretty big deal.  One of the things that effected me more than anything else was the fact that in order to get my email, contacts, and calendar to sync, I had to set up an exchange server on my phone (unless you switch all of your email, etc. to iCloud, which for me wasn’t a good solution).  This may or may not seem like a big deal, but to me, I hadn’t used an exchange server since 2008!  Unfortunately I found myself using Maps for the first time since 2008 as well. Android has Google Maps installed on every device, in addition you get Google Latitude and Navigation for free.  These two apps where not only not on the device, they couldn’t be downloaded either.  And, there are no free alternative Navigation apps for the iPhone either.  Almost every navigation app is $5+ a month.  Trust me, from a guy who travels a lot to places I don’t know, Maps is not the same – nor comparable to any navigation app on the market

Dial pad / Keyboard.  From a guy who loves to type Peoples names on the dial pad to get to the contact I want to call, not having this feature was disappointing.  This was yet another feature that I have had continually for some time, actually, I have had this feature since 2007 at least.  How could this just be absent?  (Patents are my best guess.)  Another great feature with Android is the ability to download and use different keyboards for your phone.  Granted, the iPhone keyboard is very accurate, but I still found it lacking.  I personally love Swype, I have become very fast with it and used it with one hand while still holding the phone with one hand.  This is nearly/is impossible with the iPhone.  Another very popular keyboard for Android is SwiftKey.  In addition, voice input is something that’s been standard on virtually all Android keyboards since the beginning, while being a new add-on in iOS5, and it feels like it.  The voice input is not on every keyboard and it forces you to push a button after speaking, why?   On the iPhone the keyboard does some things real well, but I hope you like it, because it’s your only choice.

There were more things that landed on my annoying list, for example, in Android almost every app has a refresh button, this is not the case in iOS5, and I found myself missing this feature.  Apple doesn’t just always work, I had apps freeze and had to reset my phone a couple times.  Not as many times as I have on Android, but I did have to do it.  In the end, while the phone size was very good, the screen is too small.  This needs to be overcome in the next version of the iPhone.  It was fine for a while, but I couldn’t use it permanently, the screen is great, but too small.

Over all I did like the iPhone, I used it exclusively for over 2 months.  The primary reason I stayed with the iPhone for so long was the hardware aspect of the iPhone, it just seemed great, but I couldn’t overcome the screen being so small.  In the end though it really came down to the software, in which Android wins hands down.  When I switched back to an Android phone so many things just felt right.  The ability to customize the look and feel of the phone including things like the keyboard, widgets, apps, email, contacts, calendar, and GPS became things that I use daily, and it was becoming impracticable to not have them.

There are many people that love and use iPhones and I say great.  For me I have to use the tools that fit me best.  At this point that is Android.  Without being biased or mean towards Apple, their iOS5 really feels like it is several years old.  I repeatedly found myself settling for things that I haven’t needed to do for multiple years.  After using the advanced technologies for several years, I just couldn’t justify going backwards.

Make sure to sound off in the comments section!  I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the Apple iPhone 4s!

{ 3 comments }

Matthew's Mind: The thoughts of a renowned Philosopher...Who is only renowned unto himself.

The thoughts of a renowned Philosopher…
Who is only renowned unto himself…

Sometimes these thoughts are really provoking or challenging, sometimes they are just something to chew on…

 

A few years ago I heard Jerusalem – Swisha House Remix by Matisyahu, that was it, I was hooked – on that song.  I played it over and over while my kids would dance to it – though they don’t know the name of the song, so they call it boncha boncha.  Even though I love that song I still haven’t bought any Matisyaho CD’s, just that one MP3.  Tonight I heard One Day (below) and it effected me too much, I had to post about it.  Please take a second and listen to the words to the song, even if you know it take a second to listen to it again please.  Pay close attention to his passion in the song.

This won’t sound like the most manly thing ever, but the song just about moved me to tears, to be honest it was tearing me up inside – and not for the reasons why you may think.

Matisyahu is Jewish, I love the influence of the Jewish culture in his music.  I love how he integrates his faith in his music, and I think as you listen to his music you can hear his passion for what he is singing about.  It’s in One Day that you can really hear his passion for there to be no wars, no violence, and for people to stop fighting.  That’s a noble goal for anyone, but for Matisyahu it is more than that.  I have never met the man, but for Jews everywhere, this is what they are seeking.  Jews throughout the world and especially in Israel, they don’t want to keep fighting, they want peace, this is what they have wanted for a long time, and you can hear that as Matisyahu sings.  The Jews have a long history of being rejected by those who surround them.  Just look at the Holocaust.  This is why his song breaks my heart, Matisyahu is not going to get the peace he is looking for.

Many Christians have differing views on end time eschatology (theology).  However, having spent some time studying this matter during my internship at the Orlando House of Prayer (OHOP), there is something that stuck out to me.  Many believe, based on Biblical prophecy, that Israel will enter into a 7 year peace treaty with the Anti-Christ.  This treaty is prophesied to be broken at 3 1/2 years.  Now depending on your eschatology, how you view the Jews today (Are they still God’s chosen people?) will determine the significance that you see in the role that the Jews will play during the end times.  But, it’s my belief that they will strike the treaty with their enemy because of their desire for peace.  What many Jews don’t understand is that there will be no peace for them until after the Messiah returns.  However, the Jews will be so desperate for peace that they will sign this treaty anyway.

So, the reason my heart breaks while I listen to this song is this: what Israel (and the Jewish people) want most – Peace – the won’t get until the Messiah returns.  In Matthew 23:37-39,

37  “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, andyou were not willing! 38 See, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’

When the Jews finally turn back to the Lord, then the end can come.  Until then, they will not experience that peace that they so desperately long for, the peace that you hear Matisyahu passionately singing about.  Like I said, I understand that different people have different eschatology, but based on my studies this is where I am.  I feel strongly that Christians are grafted into – being part of  God’s chosen people, and have not replaced God’s chosen people.  Anyway, this song effected me to much to not right about it.  I hope you enjoyed the post, sound off in the comments!

{ 1 comment }

CFA February: What should Christian’s Keep in Mind While Planning for Retirement?

by Matthew E. Parrott February 3, 2012

The Christian Financial Alliance was created to help readers.  The idea is simple: Create a panel of biblical finance gurus, who take seriously the call to teach the Bible accurately with grace and truth.  Once a month, we post a question with responses from our panel to provide you with well-rounded, sound, biblical advice.  For more information, or to join [...]

Read the full article → Christian Financial Alliance

Introducing SquawkTalk Wireless!

by Matthew E. Parrott January 26, 2012

For those of you who know me outside of the internet, you know that much of my adult life has been spent working in and around the wireless industry.  I spent nearly 5 years working in retail, starting off as a Blue Shirt Adviser (Retail Sales Representative) and working my way up to Assistant Manager, before leaving to [...]

Read the full article → Careers

4 Keys to Hearing God’s Voice by Mark Virkler – Review

by Matthew E. Parrott December 10, 2011

4 Keys to Hearing God's Voice DVD Package Recently I had the privilege of facilitating a group from our church through the 4 Keys to Hearing God's Voice DVD set by Mark Virkler.  Nearly 20 people from our church signed up to go through the class.  We took 13 weeks to go through this 10 DVD [...]

Read the full article → DiscipleshipGuy

Matthew’s Mind: The 50 Commands of Christ

by Matthew E. Parrott July 14, 2011

The thoughts of a renowned Philosopher… Who is only renowned unto himself… Sometimes these thoughts are really provoking or challenging, sometimes they are just something to chew on…   A while back I was on Lance Walnau's web site, LanceLearning.com, and he was promoting a free download if you registered for his free newsletter.  Since [...]

Read the full article → Faith

CFA July Question: Defining Biblical Generosity

by Matthew E. Parrott July 4, 2011

The Christian Financial Alliance was created to help readers.  The idea is simple: Create a panel of biblical finance gurus, who take seriously the call to teach the Bible accurately with grace and truth.  Once a month, we post a question with responses from our panel to provide you with well-rounded, sound, biblical advice.  For more information, or to join [...]

Read the full article → Blog Series

Rob Bell and Love Wins…

by Matthew E. Parrott July 1, 2011

First of all, I am a little bit late to the discussion, I know.  However, when I first heard about this book that Rob Bell was writing, called 'Love Wins', it was after reading a blog post somewhere on the topic.  Shortly afterwords people all over the web were giving their opinions of Rob Bell, [...]

Read the full article → DiscipleshipGuy

The Eighth Letter – Restoring Unity & Hearing My Voice

by Matthew E. Parrott June 28, 2011

In Revelation 1:4 John writes (through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit) to the seven churches in the province of Asia.  In October of 2010, there were 25+ authors who presented their own letters (the 8th letter) to the Church in North America.  The event was hosted by Andy Crouch, Sr. Editor at Christianity Today [...]

Read the full article → DiscipleshipGuy

Matthew’s Mind: God Wants to Give You His Anointing…

by Matthew E. Parrott June 17, 2011

The thoughts of a renowned Philosopher… Who is only renowned unto himself… Sometimes these thoughts are really provoking or challenging, sometimes they are just something to chew on…   While watching the Brennan Manning video below, I was thinking about a particular story he told.  He talked about having the opportunity to pray over someone [...]

Read the full article → DiscipleshipGuy