My upgrade time has come up, and it's about time to put my old HTC Hero away (finally...).

But I have a problem when looking for phones, especially in the Android OS phones. There are a huge number phones from the manufacturers using Android OS, but it seems like in the end...None of them are properly refined to work as phones, as in, they will all have some sort of problem that will affect them immediately or make them worse in the long run.

Lets look at the Samsung Galaxy SII line of phones for example, especially the epic 4g touch (since Sprint's my provider). It has great specs, but it has awful hardware and software issues (LOS, no GPS pickup, Wi-Fi not working properly, 3G Issues, etc..). A patch has come out for it earlier this month, but people are reporting the patch made the problems worse. Of course, it has an amazing processor and a huge amount of RAM, but how does that matter if it can't work properly as a phone?

My HTC Hero for example, has a ton of problems. You can say that the reason is because it was an earlier android phone, but I had the Nexus S 4G for a brief period of time during this summer, but returned it due to the fact that is has the same exact issues as the epic touch 4g (bad signal in areas where my Hero would have full bars, freezes, bad GPS pickup, 4G connectivity was pretty bad, etc..). I use my phone a lot for managing my day, and neither phone did a good job. I always ran into issues when I needed them to work the most.

Although the Android OS is great (much, much better than iOS) the phone manufacturers really need to step up their refining of the final product. The iPhone has a smaller processor and RAM, and can run it more efficiently, and that's what matters. It's getting to the point where I may even need to switch to the iPhone 4G (I know...:x), just because the best phone on sprint is the epic 4g touch, and I just can't risk running into problems again. I rely on my phone a lot, and I can't afford to run into serious issues, no matter if it has a bigger processor and RAM. Let's not forget the consistency of updates either. It seems like you never know when your OS will be updated (my Hero hasn't been updated in a very long time because HTC just decided not to care anymore). I need my phone to work, and I need to know the phone I buy won't be forgotten by the manufacturer by future updates.

In the end, it's great they can have such great specs come out for the phones, but would you guys agree that they need to focus on a more refined product?

[QUOTE="UssjTrunks"]

I have not encountered a single problem with my Android phone in the 4 months that I've owned it. Everything works flawlessly. If you want a single refined product line, then just buy Nexus phones. Any phone will look bad if all you do is look up problems on Google. I can search up iPhone 4S issues, and get hundreds of pages of people reporting similar issues. You'll never find reports of how awesome a phone is because people typically only post on forums when they have problems with their phone, and not a single phone is immune from problems. The VAST majority of GSII owners have had none of the problems you listed.

[/QUOTE]

I already mentioned I had a nexus phone, the nexus S 4G, and it was nowhere near "refined".

Of course you hear a lot of reports about how awesome a phone is. Look at the reviews. But a lot of those also come from people who've owned the phone for a couple days and then post about how great it is.

There will be problems for phones, but some will have more than others. Go to the sprint community discussions for examples. Most phones will have normal discussions, but both the epic 4g touch and the nexus s 4g have many conversations that deal with telling Sprint and Samsung to hurry up and fix the issues.

If that isn't enough, I went to both the Sprint store and Best Buy today and tried connecting to Google Navigation on the epic 4g touch and it just stayed on *Searching for GPS*, and during the wait, I tried it on my Hero, which picked up GPS signal immediately.

Sure the iPhone 4S has it's fair share of problems, but not to the extent of many Android phones. Am I saying it's a better device? No, because it really isn't. But when it comes to the point of it working properly as a phone (which seems to be put aside nowadays..), from what I've seen, the iPhone runs into less problems.

[QUOTE="semianonymous"]

I haven't really heard about the epic touch having any sort of software related issues. I'm not wholly surprised, but the majority of android phones have a couple bugs to them, its the nature of these devices. Most are pretty minimal though.

[QUOTE="Kid-Atari"]

i feel you. hope you find a good solution soon.[/QUOTE]

Oh, I missed you and your nonsensical posts so much. Go back to the iPhone board, we leave you alone, kindly return the favor.

[QUOTE="taj7575"]

If that isn't enough, I went to both the Sprint store and Best Buy today and tried connecting to Google Navigation on the epic 4g touch and it just stayed on *Searching for GPS*, and during the wait, I tried it on my Hero, which picked up GPS signal immediately.[/QUOTE]

Maybe...its GPS was turned off?

[/QUOTE]

It's just the nature of the devices? Why does it have to be that way? Those small bugs ruin the overall quality of the product and makes you wonder if you can go the usual two year term with the phone.

If GPS was turned off, you would get a notification telling you GPS was off. With that aside, I obviously made sure GPS was on.

[QUOTE="mystic_knight"]

I know im biased but try a sensation XL, HTC are always refined with their products, the hero won phone of the year for a reason. I would say get a HTC sensation XE but that phone is a little imbalanced. The rezound seems to be a top notch phone too.

There is also the RAZR (be weary though cause the RAZR maxx is nearing its appearance so i might hold out for that) and there is also the Galaxy S 2 which i predict will be the phone of the year 2011.

[/QUOTE]

Although I did mention my problems on the Hero, it definitely was a quality phone. I would get another HTC phone, but honestly, I think HTC sense uses too much memory, and I've gotten bored of the look of the UI. I have sprint by the way, and I just can't imagine moving to another provider right now (especially since sprint will be getting LTE by the summer).

I think I will end up sticking with the Galaxy S2 (epic touch 4g). Hopefully by the time ICS comes out, most of the bugs will be gone. and besides, after seeing how ICS performs, it looks like the proper, refined Android OS I've been waiting for.

[QUOTE="Rikusaki"]

The Galaxy Nexus is coming to Sprint. I'd get that. When it comes to software, nothing beats it. Ice Cream Sandwich is a million times better in every way imaginable.

I flashed CM9 on my Atrix and I fell in love with my phone all over again.

[/QUOTE]

Do you know when it will? I'm guessing it will when Sprint finally sets up their LTE towers, which will most likely be finished in the Summer.

I was thinking of getting a 4S now and selling it in the summer and switching to the Galaxy Nexus when that finally coms out. I would do that..but I don't like switching around with products over and over again, especially with phones.