Considering an Android conversion...

[cloak.n.dagger]

Hi everyone. I am currently an EVO/Androind user and stumbled upon the $.01 Arrive offer today. I love my EVO and the Android OS because I can tweak it and mod it in just about any way possible. However, I was playing with a coworkers WP7 phone and was very impressed with the UI. I am now eligible for my new phone update and was holding out for the EVO 3D or possible Motorola Atrix-like phone, but this $.01 offer has be second guessing. I was hoping to hear from the community about things you really like and things you really dislike with this phone and OS. I am especially interested in hearing from those of you that may have come from the Android OS and/or the EVO. Thanks for sharing!

 

[oldpueblo]

Being a current user (and lover) of Android but really wishing I could switch to WP7 for various reasons I can answer your questions or at least give you additional perspective. I haven't messed a lot with WP7 since it came out but I've steadily followed it, so someone correct me if I get something wrong. Things that I immediately missed (ymmv):

*Speech to text anywhere you can type, WP7 doesn't have it everywhere. Maybe they will, or maybe they'll just have it for texting and Bing voice search as they do now I don't know.

*100% Customizable home screen. Not a huge thing but it sure is nice, I've always enjoyed the "Sense" look. I think I could get over this though as I assume MS will allow the tiles to be modified more in the future (e.g. wish I could see all day calendar agenda from the home screen via a larger tile)

*Think of what apps you use every day and make sure there's an acceptable equivalent, this can be a big deal since you'll go from doing something regularly to just not having that ability. In my case there were a few apps that hadn't hit yet though many have by now.

*No custom ROMS, likely few tweaks available. Then again if stock is so awesome this is unnecessary and of course there are benefits to things being more controlled. However in Android you almost always had someone fixing something that bothered someone.

I'll add more later as they come to me. My eventual plan is to switch to WP7 for my phone and just have a nice solid reliable device, and then get an Android tablet for all my android love/tweaking. Best of both worlds.

 

[Skycop]

I just switched from the evo last week to the arrive. Just some thoughts from the top of my head that might help you with your decision. For the record I like android, sense and my evo for the most part. I just got tired of managing the battery life and I have a tablet now so I don't need such a huge phone in my pocket. Was going to get nexus s 4g but I played with an arrive at the sprint store and fell in love with the metro ui experience.

Things I miss so far from evo:

Desk/alarm clock was better than the arrive stock clock or anything I've found in the store
4g a little
Kickstand
Tight Google integration
My usaa balance widget
The pulse
Customization
Camera even thought evo camera is nothing to write home about.
Better multitasking for now.


Things I like better on the arrive:

Dedicated camera button.
Battery life is waaaaay better.
Better games, love xbox live
Zune, nice having a real music service.
Office
User experience, also love how most apps follow the metro ui style.
Arrive Hardware is better quality than evo. Love the brushed metal back.
Ui is very slick, fast and more responsive than my evo.
Live tiles
Fits in my pocket.
Marketplace is a better experience.

Overall even though my arrive is missing some features I liked having on my evo none of it is a deal breaker for me. This phone has taken me by surprise and I'm not giving it up anytime soon. I'm really excited about mango,upcoming nokia phones and possibly a windows tab.

I showed my arrive to two die hard apple fanboys at work and they were very impressed with it.

Hopes this helps. I don't know what your needs are in a phone so I can't tell you what to get but I can say that the arrive has been a win for me over the evo so far.

 

[disposed]

Check the return terms. Normally you have 30 days and if you dont like it you pay a $35 restocking fee. Im not sure on the terms from third party retailers but its worth looking into.

 

[oldpueblo]

Just remembered another, I miss the separate volume controls in Android. I can live with it though when I switch.

 

[anon(26204)]

I'm coming from a variety of Android phones and I switched the Arrive. In all honesty I can say I DON'T miss android at all. Don't get me wrong, Android phones has had some nice features and it's great to customize and everything. But that gets old really quick. The battery life on all the Android Phones I've had was really horrible with the exception of the Atrix that phone had great battery life.

Another thing about Android is the lagginess of the devices even on the Nexus S 4G. When you slide from screen to screen it kinda hesitates or lags.

It seems as though to make Android phones right and battery life manageable, you have to flash roms and different kernels.

Now for WP7/ HTC Arrive

I love it! The UI is SWEET! and there's no lagginess whatsoever. The on-screen keyboard is the best I've ever used on any phone..including the iphone. battery life is amazing...and I consider myself a heavy user..internet, texting, downloading aps etc. Oh and the Zune Marketplace ..wow! It's what iTunes should've been. And Google doesn't have anything comparable to it yet. True Android has more apps then the Zune Marketplace but I think the Zune Marketplace has a better selection of apps. <aybe it's just meb but it sometimes seem as though most of the apps in the marketplace is apps that manage battery life or got something to do with managing how the phone operates whether it's an app that sets the time for the 3g to turn or an app to backup all your apps. those were the kinda apps that took over majority of space on my Android phones. So basically never had much space for legitimate apps.

Some downfalls on WP7 is that there's no multitasking and not all navigation apps are great or at least great when compared to google maps. But all that will change with Mango!

WP7 is a keeper in my book!

 

[kingp]

I have both the EVO and the Arrive. If the Arrive had 4G, I would be using it for my daily driver. I love everything about that phone. The UI is smooth and slick. The Media management with Zune is top notch. The Live integration is perfect. Google integration isn't too bad either. It pulls calendar, email, contacts as well. Google Voice isn't a big deal any longer, now that Sprint is integrated with the service, so calls/texts/voicemails all go straight to my phone's apps, instead of the GV app I had on my EVO.

I have to agree with the other posts in saying that the Arrive's build quality is FAR SUPERIOR to that of the EVO. My few nitpicks about the Arrive are:

3.6 inch screen is too small
Kickstand
4G

Otherwise, everything about WP7 is so simple, that it is a refreshing change from the overly granular, millions of icons and widgets world of Android.

As it is now, I use the EVO (which I also love to use, but it isn't as fun as the Arrive) and my Wife uses the Arrive. She loves it. It's her first smartphone.

The minute they bring a 4G version of the HD7S to Sprint, I'm on it like white on rice.

 

[cloak.n.dagger]

Thanks for all the feedback! I am still on the fence with this decision. I am in a new job role where travel is much more likely to happen. One of my concerns is not having a front facing camera for video chat apps. But, when traveling I would have a laptop with me that would be capable of this, so this is not a deal breaker. I'm not a big physical keyboard fan, as most of the Android phones with a keyboard are really poor. That being said, the rave review of the Arrive's physical keyboard and onscreen keyboard are a big plus in my book. 4G coverage is spotty where I live, so I really never have 4G turned on becasue it just drains battery life when scanning for a connection (and as we all know the battery life on the EVO is already bad as it is). The improved battery life that many of you are reporting is also a plus in my book. I guess my big hang up is that I am a gadget junkie. There is a ton of new HW coming to the Android community, so my decision seems to be between old (not new) HW with an improved UI vs. new HW (Tegra 2 dual core CPU) with the same UI that I have today (unless I go with the EVO 3D which will bring the new version of Sense). Decisions, decisions. Thanks again for all the feedback. Please keep the comments coming. They are very helpful in my thought process.

 

[foosball]

You say you are a hardware type so if that's the case then put your preference to a test. Take full advantage of Sprints 30 day trial period for a new device and see how your experience with WP7 compares with your preference for leading edge hardware. Since personal peference is also based on your experience having that experience will make the decision easier.

Sent from my HTC Arrive using Board Express

 

[cloak.n.dagger]

Yeah, so this offer is a little different that most. The $.01 deal is through Microsoft. So it's uncertain that if I jump on it then decide to return it, if my eligibility to upgrade would be restored or not.

Another question I have is, how are the free apps on WP7? 90% of the apps I have on my EVO are free and work quite well. Is there a good selection of free apps in the WP7 Market? Are the free apps good or bad, typically? As an example, there is a free geocaching app in the Android Market that is way better than all the paid apps. However, all the free geocaching apps I saw in the WP7 Market had very low ratings. I'm not trying to draw an across the board conclusion from this one example, but I was hoping that the users of WP7 would have some clearer insight into this.

 

[foosball]

Its hard to do an apples to apples comparison because the entire OS experience is better all around with WP7. Or lets put it this way, if the developer stays true to the Metro UI theme then 90% of the time the app looks better than any counterpart on another platform. Many of these apps also have free versions so that will give you the opportunity to see if you if think its worthwhile. At the end of the day you either love it or you don't and you'll be the best judge of that.

Sent from my HTC Arrive using Board Express