Are Android phones so imperfect?

[G+_Marlon Thompson]

Are Android phones so imperfect?

 

With the launch of Nexus 5 I am seeing a trend return that I see every time a flagship Android phone launches, a very prevalent highlighting of the flaws. Whenever a new iphone launches the blogs pull out all the positive adjectives they can to describe the phone, on social networks everyone professes their love for their new device and how it has changed their life again. All the good things are highlighted even though as with all tech the iphone is a flawed device as well.

The basic takeaway from any review for the Nexus 5 is its a great phone but flawed. They complain about the battery life (which seems to be about the same as the iphone), they talk about the camera (I have seen some great pics from Nexus 5 phones) and on and on. Is it that we on Android are realist, pessimists or just never satisfied. 

 

Maybe I just wish that on Android we had a reality distortion field as well.

[G+_Matt Lyons]

Right, because no one ever criticizes iPhones. Give me a break. ?

[G+_Gregory Benn]

There's a reason that many people use Android versus iOS- they want something better.  We can argue what "better" is, price, features, options, etc. However, these very same people are going to be critical and hence the reviews you are reading.  

[G+_Marlon Thompson]

Sigh Matt Lyons I wasn't saying that no one criticizes the iphone but my feed is filled with people complaining pointing out  this and that flaw with the Nexus 5. Its not a bad necessarily a bad thing but my question was really about why do we do it, is it becasue we know the next big thing is only a few months away or are our expectations so high. With the iPhone you know its once a year so the fans of the iphone initially praise the device ad nauseum  and the critiques come much later, with Android it seems to be the reverse, I have seen a lot of persons who were initially very critical of the nexus 4 , declare it their favorite phone, and same has been happening with the moto X

[G+_Jason Meyer]

Matt Lyons I think what he is saying is that everyone finds flaws in android flagship phone while only non-iPhone users see those same flaws in iPhones. Try to find a negative review of any iPhone on general tech sites. The criticism isn't there but the flaws are.

[G+_Matt Lyons]

People praised the Nexus 5 ad nauseum for a few days too, then they started to critically take a look at it. The same exact cycle iPhones go through.

[G+_Jason Meyer]

The only ad nauseum praise I heard was from android sites. Which is understandable from android fans and it happens with iOS devices too. However "general" tech sites, ie The Verge or CNet grasp at these flaws from the beginning and try to pound then in your head before even using the phone?

[G+_Marlon Thompson]

Matt Lyons from day one, minutes after it was announced, the verge (yeah I know bad example they are always overly negative) bad mouthed the camera without even taking a picture. Popular Android websites as well like Android Central and Android Police focused their initial praise on Kit Kat not so much the device. Hey I think its good that we don't have a reality distortion field, but I am muting people left and right for showing me another screenshot of their battery life on their new Nexus 5

[G+_Jason Meyer]

Jeremy Petzold while that may be true and I doubt anyone will argue against it, they claim to be unbiased. What I was saying was how odd it is that majority of "unbiased" tech sites only bash android right from the gate.

[G+_Michael Bowen]

That actually seems to be the case about anything that isn't an Apple product these days. They're doing the same thing with the iPad Air. Declaring all other tablets now deficient in comparison.

[G+_Joseph Hurtsellers]

I get Marlon Thompson 's point. I think part of the challenge has been that there have been many disappointments before - and everyone is  kind of conditioned to look for something wrong. (I actually hate Apple) but generally they release a product fully baked - in areas that the consumer fully understands. (Ie rock solid camera, good speaker, and excellent screen).

It's the Software that makes Android great - and now we finally have a crop of devices that will support the tweaks that can and always do come.

Android is about choice - and to me part of the fun is griping about this product, that screen, or some other implementation. I hope that never changes; because it is the sure sign that Android always gives us OPTIONS.

[G+_Michael Bowen]

Joseph Hurtsellers I agree with you. I see past the reality distortion fields to the facts about a product. Granted that is more difficult with an Apple product than just about any other but I am glad that Android doesn't seem to have that layer to get through before I can get to the facts. I have an Android device for a similar reason as you, choice. I don't like being locked in to any one particular way of doing things. Whether that is device, software, store for applications or what have you. It's a little troubling to me that Google is moving closer to the locked down model. But as long as the option exists to side load and choose from a varied number of devices, I will stay put. ?

[G+_Joseph Hurtsellers]

Michael Bowen I'm with you. The other thing about Android is that it's about the FUTURE. It's about not only what I can do with my device today; but what will it do tomorrow and the next day and the next. I tell people if you you want a phone just to take pictures and get on Facebook - and don't care about all this technology stuff - then GET AN IPHONE!

On the other hand if you want your imagination to be your limit - Android is the way to go - as long as you do your research.

 

I do totally agree that there is a double

standard when it comes to the way Android is judged. I remember a few years back the Galaxy Nexus was criticized for not having "accurate colors" like the Iphone. (true btw). Now I'm hearing tech bloggers criticize the N5 because the colors seem "washed out". I want to scream that that is what ACCURATE colors look like! And this screen blows away the retina and is probably the BEST for being outdoors to boot. 

 

Just one example among many others

[G+_Michael Bowen]

Joseph Hurtsellers We agree again. I've got nothing against iOS devices. They serve a purpose. In the right circumstance, they fill a need or at least serve in a casual role for me. I have an iPad. But my phone is on Android. As my daily driver, an iOS device stops me from doing what I want in a lot of instances. Purely for consumption is how I use my iPad. I bump up against limits too. Some sites don't work, access to some things that I have on my laptop aren't accessible from my iPad. Even my iPod tries to limit how I can access or move my music around. It's why my daily driver, my phone, is on Android. Pretty much whatever I want to do with my things I can. In fact, limits on my access to my own music is what had me looking for another solution to iTunes in the first place. Then came Android and Amazon and now a whole host of others that allow me to get to my stuff from any device, save for an iOS device. You're also right about the future. I have done things with my Android tablets and my phone now, that I had no idea I wanted to or was able to do at the time I bought them.

[G+_Marlon Thompson]

Thanks Michael Bowen and Joseph Hurtsellers for getting what I so ineptly was trying to say and even Jason Howell said on this week's show that he initially approached the phone from the point of seeing the flaws and it was just something I noticed with a lot of Android enthusiasts. 

[G+_Joseph Hurtsellers]

Here's a great opinion piece about the Nexus 5 that fits this discussion perfectly: 

[G+_Marlon Thompson]

Thanks for this Joseph Hurtsellers 

[G+_Michael Bowen]

Joseph Hurtsellers You're right. Great piece. I really appreciate the car analogies. I think he is also right that Nexus wasn't meant for mainstream. I think Samsung catapulted Nexus into the mainstream consciousness with the Nexus S and then building their Galaxy line on top of that.