Had an Affair with HTC One, Ran Back!

[pavvento]

Hello,

I have been using a Windows Phone since December of 2011. As you can tell from my device history I tend to sample different devices from time to time. After reading reviews of the HTC One I decided I wanted to give Android another chance (my last phone was the Evo when it came out). After only two days I am returning it and happily going back to my 920. For those considering a similar switch (either way) I wanted to provide a quick synopsis of my thought making process.

Why I want to Stay With the One

Feel: This device is gorgeously crafted. The way they made it is beyond compliments, it is light, thin and feels strong.

Screen: Photos and text look amazingly crisp and clear.

Sound: The dual speakers aren't a gimmick, they really do sound amazing.

Extra integration: I absolutely love Google Now. I also love that when a calendar event comes up for someone's birthday it gives you the option of reaching out to them by whatever means you have in your contact list. It could be a text, call, email or Facebook/twitter message.

Apps: Obviously there are a ton of apps on Android that aren't on Windows, but I will miss GameCenter, AtBat, SideCar and Square Wallet. These apps are amazing and I pray they will come to WP sometime soon

Why I'm Happily Returning


Camera: The camera on the One is amazing, but I feel like the low-light on the 920 is much better.

Battery: I couldn't make it through a day with the One even with battery saver.

Lockups: Several times the One would become sluggish and I'd have to restart it. I've had to do this maybe 5 times with my 920 since November.

Integration: I don't know if it is due to my unfamiliarity with Android or the slickness of WP but it seemed that many things were an extra step or two more on the One than they are with my 920.

Emotional?: I'm not sure how to categorize this, but I genuinely believe in Nokia and Windows Phone. I believe it will gain marketshare and apps and want to enjoy the ride!

 

[freestaterocker]

Welcome back! But based on my experience with HTC, you're not giving Android a fair shake unless you try a different OEM. Motorola has done a great job recently with the software, and made great strides towards a near stock experience. HTC Sense is widely hated by Android users for good reason...

 

[b23h]

That HTC One, she is mighty purty alright. Might tend to make a fellow stray. I'm hoping for a purty phone like that with our OS on it, might help me keep my grubby hands where they belong.

 

[clbarker10]

That HTC One, she is mighty purty alright. Might tend to make a fellow stray. I'm hoping for a purty phone like that with our OS on it, might help me keep my grubby hands where they belong.

+1 for vault boy

 

[FinancialP]

I thanked only because of Vault Boy

 

[Kevin N Smith]

Really wanted the One, but sticking with my 8X. Once they make a WP8 version of the one, ilk buy it for the build quality and looks alone. I just CANT get scroogled with android. No way.

 

[Geddeeee]

The HTC One is a case of style over substance.

Looks and feels gorgeous. Good specs, but as always Android holds any specification upgrades back.
Android is showing it's age. It doesn't matter how many 'new' versions of Android there are, it is flawed. Take away all of the tweaking options, and you have a bland, boring, slow OS.

I'm sure all the fanboys will disagree. I develop for Android, WP etc. I loathe developing for Android. Even with the new octa-core S4, apps sometimes lag. This is not down to any bad programming practices as such. Android is based on the Linux kernel. Linux is the same. Creaky and laggy. Horrible!!!

My personal phone is a Lumia 920. I chose it because WP is superb. Fluid and modern.
I had my pick of any Android based device through work, and declined. I'll stick with WP... It works!!!

 

[Mystictrust]

Sluggish performance? I keep reading over and over again that Jelly Bean fixed all the lagging and slowness issues, and that a high end device would fix all those problems. Surprised to hear that the opposite is true here... Unless HTC Sense software itself is bring system performance down.

Having been through a laggy "high end" Nexus with Gingerbread I think way back when, I've been led to believe that was an old experience that would never crop up again with Android. I was even told that on these forums. Hmmm...

The battery life thing sucks.

 

[Laura Knotek]

Sluggish performance? I keep reading over and over again that Jelly Bean fixed all the lagging and slowness issues, and that a high end device would fix all those problems. Surprised to hear that the opposite is true here... Unless HTC Sense software itself is bring system performance down.

Having been through a laggy "high end" Nexus with Gingerbread I think way back when, I've been led to believe that was an old experience that would never crop up again with Android. I was even told that on these forums. Hmmm...

The battery life thing sucks.

I chatted with someone on Twitter last night, and he said that his Nexus 4 lagged both stock and with Cyanogen Mod 10.

 

[Highdefjunkie]

Hell, I just had a user order a Motorola (I work in It) and couldn't believe the lag. Also, the powerplug is on top of the phone? Really bad placement.

 

[neo158]

Same thing happens with my Galaxy Nexus, slow and laggy even though it's stock Android. That's why I'm back to Windows Phone to stay this time with my ATIV S!!!

 

[ag1986]

I chatted with someone on Twitter last night, and he said that his Nexus 4 lagged both stock and with Cyanogen Mod 10.

That's strange. I have a stock N4 as my primary phone and it is devoid of lag (only lags slightly in Chrome with 9gag.com but to be fair that site lags even on an SLI gaming box...)

 

[eric12341]

That's interesting that JB still lags even with the advancements in hardware. So it must be either a placebo or just down to a few rogue apps or microSD cards.

 

[christenmartin]

Hell, I just had a user order a Motorola (I work in It) and couldn't believe the lag. Also, the powerplug is on top of the phone? Really bad placement.

I had the exact reaction when my buddy bought a Motorola razr maxx. Jittery and laggy, but even worse my 920 lasts much longer. The battery life is what that phone was supposed to excell at. Maybe a bad unit but the os is the same on every android devise jittery.

 

[freestaterocker]

That's interesting that JB still lags even with the advancements in hardware. So it must be either a placebo or just down to a few rogue apps or microSD cards.

N4 doesn't have expandable memory.

 

[Bee Mon]

I thanked only because of Vault Boy

I only liked because of Vault Boy. Makes me want to play Fallout 3 again!

 

[FinancialP]

I only liked because of Vault Boy. Makes me want to play Fallout 3 again!

original or New Vegas?

I hated those dang Super Mutants in the original.

 

[Portsider]

Odd. I currently use the Lumia 920 as my daily driver, and I absolutely love everything about it. And I came from a rooted Galaxy S3 running CM 10. But even the 'stock' device, out-of-the-box, was buttery smooth, without the slightest hint of lag. And though I'm staying with the L920, the one feature that comes native on almost all high end android devices, that I wish WP8 would implement, is that incredible USB host (OTG) functionality. Wow!. And the funny thing about that feature is that I've had to tell every AT&T employee ive ever dealt with, that it even Exists! It's not an advertised feature, and it's not on the spec sheets. They don't even know about it. What an incredible selling point that functionality would be for any device.

 

[omniusovermind]

That's strange. I have a stock N4 as my primary phone and it is devoid of lag (only lags slightly in Chrome with 9gag.com but to be fair that site lags even on an SLI gaming box...)

Ditto. The Nexus 4 doesn't lag any more than any current wp devices or iPhone. I wanted to give wp a shot but although Nokia nav is pretty decent, googles is better. I'm really getting a lot of mileage out of Google Now as well. I'm not a big app user but there's a few apps I use heavily that don't have viable alternatives on wp. And the rate of future progress and innovation seems to be with Google Android right now. The integration between apps and the core OS is tighter and deeper. Music playback was another reason.

I'm going to give wp another look this fall though before I try a nexus 5 or that X phone

 

[raycpl]

I know where you're coming from. My old C7-00 had USB OTG, and I wished it was on my L920, one big convenience I really miss. It would have negated some of the complains of the lack of external SD storage.