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Three weeks with Evo -- detailed Evo vs. iPhone comparison (updated 10/5/10)

I got my Evo on August 2nd and after about  two months it's definitely a keeper .  I had been trying to decide between it and an iPhone4 and decided on it mainly because Sprint's network is superior to AT&T's.  Now after three weeks of heavy use I'm ready to make an informed comparison of the Evo to an iOS device, as my wife has an iPhone 3GS and I have an iPod Touch running iOS4. So let the overly detailed comparison begin:

Where the Evo is better

(in no particular order)

1. Superior 3G network coverage.  Works just about everywhere, including many places my wife can't get any data or calls on her iPhone. Note that even though Sprint supposedly has a 4G network in my area, I've found the 4G network to be mostly a  nonfactor. It doesn't have coverage most places I try it, including in my office right in the heart of RTP. So I usually keep 4G turned off to save battery.  That said,  Sprint is just a better network than AT&T, and it's cheaper. My desire to stay on Sprint and avoid AT&T was a huge factor in choosing the Evo over the iPhone 4.

2. Screen size:  The bigger Evo screen is nice.  I wear glasses for nearsightedness and I often had to take them off to do anything on the iPhone's screen. I usually don't have to that with the Evo.  The screen isn't that much bigger on paper, but it reads much bigger and clearer during real world use, in my opinion. It's more comfortable to use than the iPhone's smaller screen, no matter how much better the iPhone's screen supposedly is.

3. Google integration: Google has an excellent Gmail client for Android, and also the phone integrates with Google Voice so I can automatically have my calls made with Google Voice.  There's a Google search widget, Google maps, etc. They all have native Android clients instead of the inadequate  HTML 4 substitutes that Google provides for iOS.  Also when I configured the phone for the first time it automatically downloaded and synched with all my Google contacts and calendar, which I had previously synched from my old Blackberry.  It was the easiest migration of contacts and calendar from one phone to another ever.

4. Facebook integration:  When I gave the Evo my Facebook login, it went out and grabbed Facebook information (including profile picture and additional phone numbers and email addresses) for all of my contacts who are also Facebook friends. It also allows me to link contacts together so I can tell it, for example, this contact is the same person as this Facebook friend  and is also the same person as this Gmail contact (useful for cases where the names aren't spelled exactly the same in each place).  Then the Facebook profile picture is displayed where-ever that contact is used on the phone, for example in text messages and call logs and incoming calls and in the Gmail client when displaying an email from that person, etc. Incoming calls also show the person's facebook status under their picture.  This seems like minor window dressing, but it's pretty cool.  I would love to show a screen shot of this, but see Evo disadvantage #3 below.

5. Integration between apps: It surprised me that this is better on the Evo than on the iPhone.  On the Evo, if one app calls another (for example clicking a link in the Gmail client that launches a browser, or going to the Amazon mp3 store from SoundHound), the "back" button returns from the called app to the calling app, and puts you back where you were in the calling app.  This isn't possible on iOS devices -- on iOS a trip from one app to another is one-way.  To return to the original app on iOS, you have to do it manually by clicking the home button and then relaunching the calling app -- and many times, it relaunches from scratch instead of returning to where you were in it when it called the other app.   Also on Android, holding down the home button brings up a menu of the last several apps you were in.  These two features make interactions between apps much smoother and intuitive on Android.

6. Removable battery and SD card.  'nuff said.

7. Haptic feedback.  I didn't think I would like this but I do.  This just means the phone vibrates to let you know when it finishes something.  For example when Soundhound identifies a song it vibrates slightly, nice to know when holding the phone up to a speaker in the Miata with the top down.  There are a lot of other small events that cause small vibration which I've found to be very handy.

8. Open architecture. I almost put this in the "wash" category because in my opinion it's mainly a religious war between adherents of one company vs another.  As a regular user I don't really see much difference except one -- no decent Google apps on iPhone. Since Google integration, especially Google Voice and Gmail, are an advantage for Android, and Apple blocks those Google features from iPhone, there is a real world advantage to the  more open platform.  Maybe. After all since Google owns Android, even if it weren't open it would probably have those Google apps I depend on.

9. Can start using immediately.  iPhone requires you to download and install iTunes on a computer to even activate the phone.  This can be a lengthy and annoying process. Evo works out of the box.

10. Flash support.  I had originally said this was a wash because for the first few months I owned this phone, I never found any websites where the Android Flash support actually worked.  Since then I have found several, usually imbedded videoes on news sites, so this is starting to show as an Android advantage so I moved it here


Where the iPhone is better

1. Music:  The iPod music player and iTunes store are  better than the DoubleTwist app and Amazon app store, though as I use DoubleTwist more and learn its capabilities, the gap is narrowing.    DoubleTwist is a significant improvement over the basic Android music player and it  tries to make the experience better on Android by importing your iTunes library, but it's much slower and has several bugs and limitations.  Hopefully it will be improved as time goes on but for now there are several areas where it is deficient:

• DoubleTwist finds and uses all the .mp3 files in your system, and  it doesn't discriminate.  So you can be shuffling songs on DoubleTwist and it mixes in voicemail messages, podcasts, etc.  Anything that's an .mp3 file.  It's pretty annoying to be rocking out in a song shuffle and then you get an old voicemail message or a 1 hour podcast mixed in! Note: this problem is not as bad now that I've installed a separate podcast catcher program (see below) that keeps the podcasts separate.   Still happens with voicemail and other sound files though. 
• on the iPod player, you can pick an artist and have all that artists' songs listed and played with one command, regardless of which album a song is on.  DoubleTwist only does the listing by album, so if I have 2-3 songs per album for an artist (which I often do), I can't list all that artist's songs.  I can play all of an artist's songs by  pressing on and holding down the name of the artist, but there is still no way to list all of an artist's songs. 
• iTunes store is much easier for navigation and exploring albums, artists, etc.  On the Amazon .mp3 store I can see the average user rating of an album or a song, but there's no way to view the actual reviews!  
• iTunes does a better job with podcasts.  For podcasts on Android, it's necessary to load a separate podcatcher, and I use Google Listen.  It's pretty good, but not as good as iTunes built-in support.

2. The iOS devices are "walk up and use" friendly.  Except for the requirement to download and install iTunes first.  I did a lot more work over the last two weeks to get my Evo configured to work the way I want it to.  And in more cases than on Android, the iPhone "just works."

3. It's easy to get screen shots on iOS devices, and requires a convoluted procedure on Android that includes installing an software development kit and being plugged into a PC.  This may be a minor consideration, but it's why you probably won't be seeing any Evo screen shots on this blog.

4. The iPhone build quality is better.  All the connectors are solid.  I was googling to figure out what kind of connector the Evo has (it's micro-USB) and I found instead a bunch of reports of the charging port breaking, and Sprint refusing to fix them under warranty. Considering this phone hasn't been out that long and I have a 2 year contract this is a concern.  The iPhone charging port may be proprietary, but it's strong and durable.

5. The iPhone has better PC integration and backup.  I'm still surprised to see that there is no PC client to help manage and back up the  Evo.  With iTunes you can completely back up an iPhone, reset it to factory defaults (or replace it with another) and then completely restore it as if nothing had happened (except for wifi passwords, those don't back up for some reason).  On the Evo the data is stored on an SD card which is removable, so data can easily be moved  but there's no way to back up the whole system in one swell foop, including settings and apps in phone memory.

6. Web Browsing.  Even though there are about 10 browsers to choose from on Android, none of them are as good as Safari on iOS.  It does everything well.  Of the Android browsers, they all have strengths and weaknesses but none of them works as well as Safari.   I find I have to keep at least two browsers available on my Android phone, Opera mini for most of my browsing, and the default browser for the few sites Opera can't handle.   Opera is pretty close to all I need but every once in a while I find a site where it just can't handle the sign-in forms and have to switch to the default browser to use them. And neither browser supports pinch zoom like Safari, as there are only a couple of sizes to choose from. And I have yet to find a browser on Android that handles java hover menus, while Safari does it with aplomb.

7. iPhone is smaller and lighter.  This is simply the flip side of the Evo advantage of a bigger phone

8. iPhone battery life is better. I guess after three years and with restricted multitasking, Apple has figured out the battery puzzle.  But brand new, the Evo can barely get through a day without a charge.  It can,  but by the time I get it home at night, it needs to be plugged in.  This might be more of a problem as the battery gets older (but at least I can replace it on the Evo!). I don't think I really do much more battery intensive stuff with the Evo than I did with my iOS device, for example I don't talk that much on it, mainly using data and music playing.

Where it's a wash

1. App selection.  There is only one app on the iPhone that I really wish was nearly as good on Android, and that's ForeFlight. But I use ForeFlight mostly on an iPad anyway.  Except for that I haven't found apps lacking at all on Android like I feared I would.



Conclusion

I'm happy with the Evo and would have been just as happy with an iPhone4.  The tie breaker is the network.  It's worth any Evo disadvantages to stay on Sprint.

That can't be good for the transmission (or the suspension!)

This picture was captured on US 64 today on my way home from work.

Yes, this is a Mazda Miata towing a trailer with a riding mower.  That's not something you see every day!  I wish I could have got a better picture but when on the road photography conditions are far from ideal.

I have a Miata and it actually looks a bit like this one.  But I wouldn't tow something like this with it! I once saw a Miata website where someone had modified a Miata to tow a motorcycle trailer.  That's probably about the kind of weight a Miata can handle, not this!  You can't really tell from the picture, but the rear of the Miata was riding pretty low.

iPhone vs. Evo, decision made (for the most part)

Continuing my series on my overthinking of what phone will replace my Blackberry when the Sprint contract expires.


I'm getting an Evo

From my earlier entries on this you can see that as far as I am concerned, these two phones are basically equivalent in most ways, and in ways they aren't each has different strengths and weaknesses.  What really tips the decision for me is the quality of the network. The bottom line is I'm getting an Evo because I want to stay on Sprint and not switch to AT&T.

This past week I was up in Wisconsin for the annual airshow.  Because of rains the week before we had to stay in Watertown, 60 miles south, and drive up each day instead of camping on the field of the Oshkosh airport like we usually do.  Watertown is your basic midwestern small town, population 25,000 or so.  And its AT&T coverage everywhere except the very center of town is the Edge network.

One person in our group had an iPhone and we were in a restaraunt trying to look at weather maps.  The iPhone on Edge is simply useless.  My Blackberry with its terrible browsing software can do better.  The fact is that the Verizon ads are right: AT&T's 3G coverage is inadequate.  Before, people would put up with it to get an iPhone.  But now that there is an alternative that is at least almost as good and very well may be as good, there is simply no reason to put up with AT&T's inadequate network to have a great phone.

The advertisement that Verizon runs is so devastatingly effective because it's correct.  I detailed before why I don't want Verizon, so it's fair to ask how Sprint's map compares to AT&T and Verzion.  Well the Sprint picture is to the left, I screen captured it from Sprint's website coverage tool.  The yellow and the dark grey are the 3G service area on the everything plans, and you can see it falls in between Verizon and AT&T, though definitely superior to AT&T.  And Sprint also has 4G in some cities, including the Raleigh area where I live.   But most importantly, in my experience Sprint's network is far superior to AT&T.

Not fully locked in yet

However that may not be the end of the story.  One other reason I decided to try the Evo first is that Sprint has the most generous trial period, 30 days.  I've ordered my Evo, it's expected to arrive Monday, and I will use the heck out of it to see if it really does meet my needs.  If not I can still return it, get out of the contract, and get an iPhone. 

I would already have one my Evo, but no one has them in stock.  I tried two Sprint stores and a Best Buy today.  One of the Sprint stores offered to  put me on a waiting list which is currently 4 handwritten pages, and projected a 2 week wait.  You know things have changed when Sprint has the hot phone  no one can keep in stock while you can walk right into an Apple store and get an iPhone 4, which I confirmed with a call to the Southpoint Apple store.  By the way, both phones came out at about the same time.  However Sprint's shortage is not due only to popularity -- there is a shortage of a key part needed to make them.

So how did I get one promised for delivery on Monday?  First, we'll see if it actually comes.  But second, my Sprint contract is expiring in two weeks.  So I called customer service, innocently asked them confirm my contract end date and just like that I was talking to the retentions department which apparently has the ability to shake some of these phones loose from the supply chain.  Of course I assume this only works if you are off contract or about to be.

So we'll see if I still think this is the right decision after a month with the Evo.  If not, I can still switch. 

Obama's part in the Arizona immigration crackdown law

The Arizona immigration law has received plenty of comment and denunciation from Democrats and the Obama administration.  But President Obama should not forget that he made that law possible.

The law was signed by and is supported by Arizona Republican governor Jan Brewer.  But the way Jan Brewer got to be governor is that Obama made her governor, by appointing Arizona's then governor, Democrat Janet Napolitano, to be head of Homeland Security.  Jan Brewer was next in line so she  moved into the governor's mansion with the results we are seeing today. .

At the time I thought it was odd that Obama would turn over a hard-won governorship in the Southwest to the GOP like that.  And now it's come back to bite him.   I wasn't then and still am not sure that Janet Napolitano was such a slam dunk for Homeland Security causing this turnover in Arizona was worth it.

iPhone vs. Android, part 3: Music

Continuing my overanalysis of what phone will replace my Sprint Blackberry when the contract expires this August.... The choices I am considering are an iPhone 4 or an HTC Evo. 


I really hadn't got much enjoyment from music over the last several years, until I got an iPod.  Before the iPod I was primarily an FM radio music listener.  I would listen to CDs in the car, but the six CDs in the changer wouldn't be changed for months at a time.   Several years ago Deborah got me an iPod mini for my birthday which I enjoyed for a while but its poor battery durability combined with the permanent crash of the PC that I had used to manage it caused it to eventually be relegated to a drawer in the bedside table. 


This year Deborah got me an iTouch for my birthday and it's got me enjoying music again.  I spent a few days ripping my CD collection into iTunes.   Many were CDs that I'd had for 10 or 20 years and hadn't listened to in years.  But that was just the start, as I started using iTunes to fill in gaps in my collection.  


Music Player


That the music player on an iPhone is well implemented and well integrated goes without saying.  Is the music experience on Android as good?   The consensus of reviews is no.  The built-in Android music player is usually rated somewhere between worthless and barely adequate.  However there are other music players available, for example DoubleTwist is apparently well regarded and seems to be the player of choice on Android. 


One thing that's nice about iTunes is that the same PC application that manages the entire iPhone also manages the music.  It looks like with DoubleTwist a second application will be required on the PC alongside the application that manages the phone.  This is kind of awkward and annoying, but really how bad is it?  I don't really use desktop iTunes for much more than ripping CDs (and I've pretty much ripped my whole collection already) and backing up/upgrading the iTouch. 


Compatibility will also be important.  I have over 600 songs on my iTouch along with album art.  They would need to be imported seamlessly into a new app.  It appears from reviews  and experiences of friends who have Android phones that this is the case with DoubleTwist, but I wouldn't know until trying it.


I also like podcasts. I listen to a lot of National Public Radio and often hear only parts of longer programs like This American Life. I usually end up going to get the podcast to hear the parts I missed. I also often do the same with public radio shows Marketplace and Fresh Air.   All these programs have podcasts easily accessible in iTunes.  Reviews of DoubleTwist say that it supports podcasts, however looking at the podcasts I like they are all in iTunes but for other sources they are all over.  But it appears that DoubleTwist has a site where you can search for an organize podcasts so that may well covered. 


SoundHound

Lately I've been a big user of Soundhound.  First I had to buy a cheap microphone for the iTouch since it doesn't have a built-in mike.   Now when I hear a song I like and want to get on my iTouch, I capture it with Soundhound and then use Soundhound's interface into iTunes to buy that tune. I usually end up buying a few other tunes from the same album or artist as well. This has helped me build a very enjoyable and varied (for me) music collection. 


So one of the first things I looked into was to see if SoundHound is available on Android.  It is, which is good.   However I did some research and found there are a few limitations.  Obviously the link to iTunes isn't there, instead it links to Amazon.com's music store.  I haven't used that store but reviews indicate it's more awkward to use than iTunes and has less selection. 

Soundhound on the iPhone also integrates with the iPod music player built into the iPhone.  Reviews indicate it does not do this on Android.  The main value of this integration to me is shown in the Soundhound screen capture to the right.  After it identifies a song, it tells me with a small iPod icon on the lower right corner of the album art if I already have the song.  It does this even if I have it from a ripped CD, not purchased from iTunes.  This has saved me from making a redundant purchase many times. 


Since the Android version doesn't integrate with the music player I assume this feature is missing, so I would have to leave Soundhound and check my music library before making a purchase.   Or risk spending an unnecessary 99 cents!


However I shouldn't overstate the value of this feature.  It does every once in a while miss a song I own,  for example if one of the songs is remastered, or I captured a live version but have the studio version in my collection.    


Also the Soundhound integration with iTunes isn't perfect.  It often indicates a song is not available for purchase, but when I go to iTunes and search for the song manually, it actually is.   And once inside iTunes and exploring music similar to what Soundhound sent me there for, there is obviously no safety against purchasing something I already have in my collection.  


So while Soundhound is undoubtably nicer on the iPhone than on Android, this probably would not be a major deciding factor for me. 


Conclusion


After looking into this, I realize the music experience gap between Android and iOS isn't as big as I thought it was, and it's getting smaller.  Before I started looking into it I assumed my large music collection and use of iTunes would lock me into an iPhone.  Now I'm not so sure. 

iPhone vs. Android, update to part 1 on apps

When I wrote my original post on apps I started from the premise of looking to see which of the iOS apps that I like and use are available on Android.  That may not have been a complete approach.

What about apps that are on Android but aren't on iOS?  I completely overlooked this because quite frankly I assumed iOS is the dominant app platform and there wouldn't be any.  The research I did based on that premise confirmed that Android is behind the curve on apps.

But then a fellow volunteer at Cat Angels had his new Evo at the facility yesterday and I played with it and realized that there are some key apps that are on Android but not on iOS: Google Voice, and Gmail.

I think it's pretty well known that Apple has blocked Google Voice on iOS.  And that Google worked around it by releasing a web-based version of Google Voice that used HTML4.   However the HTML4 version is not as powerful as a real app would be, as it can't make itself your default dialer and it also can't make itself a dialing choice from your contacts list, etc.   Also, you have to have decent web connectivity to use it, a significant weakness considering the quality of AT&T's 3G network.

Google has also implemented Gmail as an HTML4 web app on iOS, rather than do a native client like they have on Blackberry and Android.  Using the web Gmail on my iTouch I've found it significantly lacking.  The native app on Blackberry and Android handles multiple Gmail accounts well, and it also prefetches your most recent emails for quick viewing.  The HTML4 web version, on the other hand, goes to the web for every operation and often takes a couple of minutes to be usable when first invoked as it refreshes its view from the web.  And there is no provision for multiple Gmail accounts.

If Google Voice on iOS vs. native Google Voice on Android is analogous to web Gmail vs. native Gmail, it will also be lacking.  I am a big user of Google Voice, both for my personal use and for Cat Angels voicemail use, so a well-implemented Google Voice is a big plus for me.

Before I considered these it was my opinion that the apps factor favors iPhone by far.  I still think that consideration favors iPhone but not by as big a margin as I had previously thought.