iphone 4 vs 4s vs 5 vs Android

wmrcomputers

Stafford PC & laptop repair specialist
Any comments please?

Despite my usual "i hate apple" approach, I'm now in a position where i am forced to upgrade from my blackberry, as I need to be able to use "PayPal Here" to accept debit card payments on the move - which requires an iPhone and app!

I'm sticking with o2 as i'm a loyal customer and know it wont be refused, and have the choice of
iphone 4 - £27 a month
iphone 4s - £32 a month
iphone 5 - £37 a month
(all with unlimited calls and texts)

Cost DOES matter and i'm therefore edging towards the iphone 4, but if anyone has any experiences that should make me think otherwise I'd love to know please.

Thanks muchly! :)
Additional info - i'm not likely to be bothered about watching a movie on the bus, face-timing uncle bob in Jamaica or such like. General googling whilst out and about - a bit of ebay maybe, and my emails. A few photo's and videos but even then I'm quite happy I think to have the 720p video of the iphone 4.
 

wmrcomputers

Stafford PC & laptop repair specialist
Another thought, i've been messing with my SIL's galaxy S3 mini (android), which apparently is more of a similar spec to the iphone 4S but I can have one of those for the same price as the iPhone 4. I also like the fact that it supports flash, which unless you jailbreak it an iPhone 4 doesn't.
Am I likely to have a bit more freedom with apps on an android phone than an iPhone?
 

John Marwood

I ♥ cryptic crosswords
Any comments please?

Despite my usual "i hate apple" approach, I'm now in a position where i am forced to upgrade from my blackberry, as I need to be able to use "PayPal Here" to accept debit card payments on the move - which requires an iPhone and app!

I'm sticking with o2 as i'm a loyal customer and know it wont be refused, and have the choice of
iphone 4 - £27 a month
iphone 4s - £32 a month
iphone 5 - £37 a month
(all with unlimited calls and texts)

Cost DOES matter and i'm therefore edging towards the iphone 4, but if anyone has any experiences that should make me think otherwise I'd love to know please.

Thanks muchly! :)
Additional info - i'm not likely to be bothered about watching a movie on the bus, face-timing uncle bob in Jamaica or such like. General googling whilst out and about - a bit of ebay maybe, and my emails. A few photo's and videos but even then I'm quite happy I think to have the 720p video of the iphone 4.

But your contract will be for two years so what you want a phone for now is bound to change

Why not the Galaxy Note? It's half man, half biscuit and still fits in your 32 inch waist Hi Karate denim jeans...

:yay:
 

wmrcomputers

Stafford PC & laptop repair specialist
o2 now do contacts called "refresh", which allows you to pay off the phone at anytime and upgrade ;)
 

wmrcomputers

Stafford PC & laptop repair specialist
Could a member of admins please ammend title for me to what it is now + "vs Android" please? Tanking you
 

wmrcomputers

Stafford PC & laptop repair specialist
Thanks proactive. You're helping to sway me towards choosing an s3 mini aswell now. :)
 

Jonah

Spouting nonsense since the day I learned to talk
iPhone 4 is now 3 year old technology and is only available in 8Gb capacity which is nowhere near enough.

iPhone 4S is now 2 year old technology but still a mightily capable phone (I have one) but I think it's only available in 16Gb.

iPhone 5 is 1 year old technology but is lighter, faster and has a longer screen than the other two.

I'd buy a 5.


But, there is supposed to be an Apple event very soon which is likely to see the launch of the 5S and another model called the 5C which will be available in 5 colours. If you can wait a couple of weeks it may be worth seeing what is announced.
 

wmrcomputers

Stafford PC & laptop repair specialist
I went against it. The wife has had an iPhone 4 (and believe me 8gb is more than she'll ever use), and I went with a Sony Xperia SP android phone. So far i'm extremely impressed!! :)
Still only 8GB, but even in my profession 8GB is ample. Any important pictures etc will be offloaded to my PC asap, and I stream all media from my Livedrive backup account via an app, so dont need to store large movie files either.
As for an iPhone 5, whilst they are no doubt a good bit of kit, I think you may have missed the bit where I said that cost DOES matter ;)
 

Jonah

Spouting nonsense since the day I learned to talk
Not so much missed it but was concentrating on phone capabilities really.

How anyone can survive with an 8gb phone I just don't know. I have a 32gb 4S and only have 7gb free and I've had to take lots of stuff off.

I've tried Android and its ok but don't like the fact that I can't sync my Contacts and Calendar and other things without using Google.

iOS or Android is down to personal choice really. The both do the same thing.
 

wmrcomputers

Stafford PC & laptop repair specialist
It is indeed, just like Windows or Mac. I personally prefer the freedom that Android gives with regards to software / apps, just like Windows. Whilst it doesn't by any means mean that they are the best operating systems ever, far more programs are written for them by various software developers. Apple tie you to apple, and every now and again I like a banana - if you catch my drift ;)
 

wmrcomputers

Stafford PC & laptop repair specialist
Well, a week later and i thought I would update the thread. I'm LOVING my Sony Xperia SP android phone. Can't fault it in any way whatsoever.
My wife has already discovered that she can't even set one of her songs as a ringtone on the iPhone 4 - and yes I know theres a way to make them on a PC first etc, but it's this whole "Its our way or no way" approach of Apple that makes me really glad I went with an Android device. :)
Our score so far, iPhone 7 / 10, Android 10/10
 

tek-monkey

wanna see my snake?
Not so much missed it but was concentrating on phone capabilities really.

How anyone can survive with an 8gb phone I just don't know. I have a 32gb 4S and only have 7gb free and I've had to take lots of stuff off.

I've tried Android and its ok but don't like the fact that I can't sync my Contacts and Calendar and other things without using Google.

iOS or Android is down to personal choice really. The both do the same thing.


I have a 16Gb S3 with a 32Gb SD card, total used is 2Gb on the phone and 4Gb on the card. I could easily live on 8Gb really, not sure what people store on their phones that takes it so high? I have some games on it, but I stream all my media.

I'm not sure what you mean by the synching bit, I thought Apple and Google worked the same in that respect?
 

Jonah

Spouting nonsense since the day I learned to talk
I have a 16Gb S3 with a 32Gb SD card, total used is 2Gb on the phone and 4Gb on the card. I could easily live on 8Gb really, not sure what people store on their phones that takes it so high? I have some games on it, but I stream all my media.

I'm not sure what you mean by the synching bit, I thought Apple and Google worked the same in that respect?
My iPhone 4S is a 32Gb and I have 21.8Gb of the capacity used. I have 7.4Gb of photos on it, 6.0Gb music, TomTom takes up 390Mb, Instagram takes up 274Mb, Dropbox takes up 170Mb etc etc.

As for syncing Calendars and Contacts. I use those two applications on my iMac and synch them using iCloud to my iPhone and iPad. I cannot do this on an Android phone (as far as I know) unless I use Google Mail/Contacts/Calendars which I do not want to do.
 

Jonah

Spouting nonsense since the day I learned to talk
Well, a week later and i thought I would update the thread. I'm LOVING my Sony Xperia SP android phone. Can't fault it in any way whatsoever.
My wife has already discovered that she can't even set one of her songs as a ringtone on the iPhone 4 - and yes I know theres a way to make them on a PC first etc, but it's this whole "Its our way or no way" approach of Apple that makes me really glad I went with an Android device. :)
Our score so far, iPhone 7 / 10, Android 10/10
Ringtones need to be 30 seconds or less on iPhone. It's a pain to be honest but I make them myself using iRingtone on my iMac. That way at least I can get the exact section I want to have as the ringtone. Or sometimes I buy them from iTunes.
 

tek-monkey

wanna see my snake?
My iPhone 4S is a 32Gb and I have 21.8Gb of the capacity used. I have 7.4Gb of photos on it, 6.0Gb music, TomTom takes up 390Mb, Instagram takes up 274Mb, Dropbox takes up 170Mb etc etc.

As for syncing Calendars and Contacts. I use those two applications on my iMac and synch them using iCloud to my iPhone and iPad. I cannot do this on an Android phone (as far as I know) unless I use Google Mail/Contacts/Calendars which I do not want to do.


I rarely use my google mail/calendar, I hook it all through my exchange box at work. I assume you are using the apple calendars and contacts then? Any particular reason they are OK but the google ones aren't? I know a few people that use the google ones and none have mentioned an issue.
 

Jonah

Spouting nonsense since the day I learned to talk
Calendar and Contacts are native applications on my iMac, iPhone and iPad and I prefer to use them rather than having to use Google through the web. And they work perfectly for me.
 
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