Android phones are amazing, but is there a dowside to having one?

Just battery life for me.

If I feel that some apps are too invasive, I uninstall them. No problem.

What @seekingwolf said is good policy. Just be aware that your standards of what is “too invasive” might slowly and subtly change. That may not be a bad thing, but just something to think about.

Battery life sucks balls. You can mitigate this slightly by using apps like Advanced Task Killer and Auto Memory Manager.

Yes, but not really any ones that you don’t have with iPhones as well.

Actually, ever since the update, my battery life has doubled. The newest OS’s ability to quit apps and save RAM/power is a big improvement over the last version.

A great battery saver is to put your phone on Flight Status, turn Automatic Update/Synchronization off, put Screen Brightness low as possible and disable Wifi/3G/4G when not needed.

I went from Android to iOS and I am still trying to adjust.

Once you own an Android phone, it’s nearly impossible not to think of iOS as the Fisher-Price toy version of a smartphone.

Here is the one downside to Android (and the only reason I’m sitting here with a used iPhone 4 in my hands right now):

You cannot walk into Verizon and purchase an Android phone that actually runs good old stock Android. Each manufacturer gets its hands on Google’s OS and, in my humble opinion, completely ruins it.

My original Motorola Droid ran vanilla Android, and it was amazing. I can’t even look at HTC Sense or any of that crap without thinking that some asshole with a 6-month certificate course in programming was hired to create it.

@tom_g – that’s why you root the phone, and put a custom ROM like CyanogenMod on it. Doing this strips the original OS out and puts a very well-optimised OS on the phone that you can do a great many more things with.

Besides, the default UI for CM7 is AWD Launcher, which is available through the Market – it’s free, open source, stable and runs well on most phones.

The only downside to Andriod is that it makes me want to spend money on things I never wanted to before, like a tablet or a smartphone instead of a significantly cheaper standard phone.

@the100thmonkey – re: rooting. I know about rooting, and have had some experience with CyanogenMod. However, the idea that you have do this is sad. I work full-time and have 3 kids. I just don’t have the time to keep up with the latest CyanogenMod build.

Costs $30 a month for the smartphone data plan on US carriers is my main downside.

@dverhey So does the iPhone.

Smartphones in general are battery hogs. I have blown through two full charges in a day while my old phone got three days per charge.

You also have to put up with derisive comments from Apple fanbois.

@jerv: “You also have to put up with derisive comments from Apple fanbois.”

True. I have known my share of Apple/iPhone fanboys. After years of wondering how iOS could be without a notification system, and having the fanboys claim that they wouldn’t even want a notification system, they are now coming out and talking about how incredible Apple is for building this into iOS 5.

The one thing iOS does better than Android is the responsive scrolling and feel of the UI.

I’m glad to find out I’m not the only one with battery issues. I have chargers everywhere, and I just have to remember to plug it in when I’m playing music or navigating or something. Surfing the web does not seem to bother my battery.

Downside? There are too many apps? Or not enough? Speaking of which, is there an app to download songs onto the phone? These are MP3 songs attached to an email. I don’t seem to be able to save them to the phone. I have to save them to a computer and then transfer them. This seems really stupid. What am I missing?

@jerv I just mean smartphones in general. Monthly data costs is really the only reason I don’t have one.

Not meaning to make a iPhone/Android comparison there.

I work full-time and have 2.6 kids; if one really wants to do something, one finds the time. Root it! :)

I appreciate what you say, though – I use Ubuntu on my laptop and am generally a fan of the n00biness of it all – I used to be far more ‘in’ to Linux (before my kids were born!), but I have other things I’d rather spend my – very limited – free time doing.

Perhaps the biggest downside of Android is the pace of development from Google, and the varying degrees of investment in the OS from the hardware vendors.

All things considered, I find that an easy root > custom ROM is well worth the boost in performance and features.

@the100thmonkey – Thanks. I am embarrassed to admit that I tried (for fun) to root my OG Droid and ended up bricking it. Spent days and eventually got it back to stock. Not even sure why I had tried to root other than I thought I could.

I’m just not that good at this stuff. I’m a software developer who is way too dependent on my IT staff to handle any hardware/OS issues I have. Not proud of it.

Any suggestions on a good Android phone available on Verizon right now that has the 4+” screen, decent battery life, and is easy to root? This iPhone I have is killing me. I try describing to iOS people what I used to have setup with Tasker when I had my Droid, and they just look at me like I’m crazy.

@tom_g – Sadly, I’m a Briton in Japan – I have no idea about good Android phones on Verizon! However, I understand that HTC (previously the ‘best’ choice for customisable phones), and the other major Android manufacturers, have started encrypting their bootloaders (which is where all the devs do their magical gubbins). Rather surprisingly, from the Xperia Arc, Xperia Play and onwards, Sony-Ericsson have promised easily decryptable bootloaders.Make of that what you will.

I don’t like that my keyboard doesn’t have an ”<” symbol. Yes, that’s my only gripe.

I don’t have a problem with battery life at all. At the end of the day even after using my phone a lot (or what I think is a lot) I still have about 70% left. How often do you guys use your phones? And what for? (Maybe I’m just lucky?)

re: keyboard – Swype is amazing.

@Allie Gaming eats batteries, as does streaming. I average just over 2 gb per month on 3G plus whatever on wifi to give you an idea of how much I use mine.

@tom_g Yeah, I love Swype too. I switch back and forth between both. I just found the Speed v. Accuracy bar and changed my setting. So. Much. Better.
@jerv Maybe that’s it. I use Angry Birds, Abduction, Ww/F and Cordy but only sometimes. And I watch stuff like YouTube videos even less frequently, though I do use it.

@Allie One of my games will take almost 30% of my battery in an hour, and loads the CPU and graphics chip up to where my phone gets pretty warm. When doing things like surfing or playing simpler games like Sudoku, I have no problems going all day.
After using Swype, I can’t imagine using a regular touchscreen keyboard. Swype rawks!

@jerv Somehow I feel as though I’m not using my phone to its full potential.

@Allie I don’t either, though I do use it to run AutoCAD, and occasionally as a wireless keyboard/mouse for my desktop PC. Todays phones are powerful!

I don’t know if any of you are using a 4G Android phone but I am and the battery is really, really bad.

I got an extended battery and now a full charge gets me through the day.

Cost is another issue. I pay 29.99 for unlimited data. When the plan comes out for unlimited hotspot/tethering, i’m going to have to pay another $30. Yuck. But I guess you have to pay to play.

@seekingwolf What service do you use?

@wundayatta

I am on Verizon Wireless, a USA carrier.

Due to coverage issues where I am, it’s really the only service I can use. Sprint is bad here, as is T-Mobile, and AT&T doesn’t even have high speed data in my area at all.

@seekingwolf Yes, coverage is a big deal. I live in a T-mobile area and I use them, so I can go overseas and have service. On vacation I was out of area, so no service. But I was on vacation, so who cares?

@wundayatta Considering that modern phones (cellular and landline) have a neat feature called “Caller ID” and can also be configured with “white lists” and “black lists”, I don’t see that as an issue. The people I don’t want calls from are either ignored or (as per my settings) kicked directly to voicemail. Problem solved!

BTW, where I used to live had no T-mobile coverage except for occasionally a bar or two in the city a half hour’s drive away. Kind of useless if you really need a phone and there are no houses around to use theirs.