Anyone here used both webOS and Android?

[AstroManLuca]

I just got a Palm Pre on Sprint about a week ago and while I like it, I don't like the keyboard. Since I bought it from Best Buy I'm thinking of taking advantage of the 30-day return policy and swapping it for a Samsung Moment instead, which has a much better keyboard.

My concern is that I'll hate Android after having gotten used to Palm's webOS over the past week. I've heard it criticized for being sluggish and slowing down over time. On top of that, the Moment has the problem of running Android 1.5 and it won't be upgraded to 2.0/2.1 until sometime in spring. The Pre is very smooth and slick; not super fast, but now slow either.

On the other hand, Android seems to have more room for future growth than webOS. It's being supported by many different phone manufacturers and there are thousands, rather than hundreds, of apps available. The fact that it's written by Google, a thriving company, rather than Palm, which seems like it's been on the brink for years, makes me feel a little more comfortable.

So has anyone used both for any length of time? Better yet, has anyone owned both of these specific phones? Also, how good is Best Buy about honoring their exchange policy? Would it be an issue if I were to swap the Pre for a Moment and then back again if I end up not liking the Moment?

 

[zerocool84]

I've used both. On the OS it's practically no comparison that WebOS is awesome and looks great and slick and does so many things great. Android is ok but nothing special but like you said but Android has tons of support, more apps will get made, the phones will be hacked more since more people have them. I had a Palm Pre through a job I had for a while but don't work for them any more and am getting a new Android phone cus there's just so much more support for it.

 

[boomhower]

I currently own a Pre and a Hero. I prefer the Android software but the Pre form factor. Don't be confused, I am not saying the Pre hardware as it is a utter joke. The Pre hardware down with correct quality materials is what I want.

At any rate....

WebOS is great at multitasking but it is very slow and lags a lot. It can be customized but not to the extent that Android can. My biggest knock against it is speed(with the hardware it has there is no excuse, 1.4 should help with GPU acceleration coming on board). Another major thing I don't like no homescreen.

Android

In short I love it. After using WebOS for a few months I forgot how much I missed having a homescreen, no less multiple. And widgets, man I love widgets. Customization is pretty much endless, homescreens, lockscreens, taskbars, icons, etc. I have a hero but am using a custom ROM that has Sense stripped out. Multitasking is very easy and with the correct ROM memory management isn't an issue. I would take a long hard look at the Hero due to this fact. Between custom ROMs and kernals I would estimate I have seen a 50% increase in general speed. Add to the fact it has a much better app support and it's a no brainer to me.

Just MHO. I really need to get around to selling my Pre, I was holding out for 1.4 but at this point I don't think that will bring me back.

 

[AstroManLuca]

I might try to hold out another week or two in case WebOS 1.4 is released before my 30-day return period is up, but given what you guys said I think I'll have to at least try the Moment. I'll have to ask Best Buy if it's okay to exchange phones multiple times (just in case I want to go back to the Pre).

 

[Spoooon]

I bought my wife a Palm Pixi a few days ago. webOS is pretty slick. I like the cards for switching tasks and what not. Haven't had a chance to really dig into it yet.

So far though, it ain't no Droid.

The inductive charging is pretty sweet though.

edit: Wouldn't it be cool if we just bought the hardware and could pick what OS we'd like on our phones?

 

[Slick5150]

I have a Palm Pre and have extensively used the HTC Hero and the Droid. In my opinion, WebOS is hands down better than Android. The way it handles multitasking with the card system is just an excellent way of making it easy to switch back and forth between apps.

It's app catalog is growing quickly too which is nice.

 

[Spoooon]

I have a Palm Pre and have extensively used the HTC Hero and the Droid. In my opinion, WebOS is hands down better than Android. The way it handles multitasking with the card system is just an excellent way of making it easy to switch back and forth between apps.

It's app catalog is growing quickly too which is nice.

Recommendations for useful/must have apps?

Is Samsung Moment the best Android device you can get on Sprint?

edit: After playing with the Pixi some more, I really like the cards for multitasking. However, I keep wanting to launch stuff from the "desktop." It feels a little sluggish (not sure what's up with that as I didn't really notice it while playing with the one in the store). Very polished though.

 

[AstroManLuca]

I guess one thing that makes picking a phone on Sprint difficult is that none of their phones are outstanding. The Pre, Hero and Moment all have their tradeoffs. Neither Android phone runs 2.0 yet. If Sprint had a truly killer phone I'd just get that, but they don't. So I have to choose between the Moment and the Pre (not interested in the Hero's touch keyboard).

 

[foghorn67]

I currently own a Pre and a Hero. I prefer the Android software but the Pre form factor. Don't be confused, I am not saying the Pre hardware as it is a utter joke. The Pre hardware down with correct quality materials is what I want.

At any rate....

WebOS is great at multitasking but it is very slow and lags a lot. It can be customized but not to the extent that Android can. My biggest knock against it is speed(with the hardware it has there is no excuse, 1.4 should help with GPU acceleration coming on board). Another major thing I don't like no homescreen.

Android

In short I love it. After using WebOS for a few months I forgot how much I missed having a homescreen, no less multiple. And widgets, man I love widgets. Customization is pretty much endless, homescreens, lockscreens, taskbars, icons, etc. I have a hero but am using a custom ROM that has Sense stripped out. Multitasking is very easy and with the correct ROM memory management isn't an issue. I would take a long hard look at the Hero due to this fact. Between custom ROMs and kernals I would estimate I have seen a 50% increase in general speed. Add to the fact it has a much better app support and it's a no brainer to me.

Just MHO. I really need to get around to selling my Pre, I was holding out for 1.4 but at this point I don't think that will bring me back.

The Pre Plus is the answer to that. The increased RAM really helped with responsiveness. Almost a completely different animal.


Anyway, as a Droid owner...I prefer webOS to Android. However, there are many factors that got me into the Droid instead. More apps and better hardware.

 

[Spoooon]

FWIW, at howardforums there are some complaints about battery life on the pre. The lack thereof I suppose.

Some individuals are saying that, depending on usage, they barely make it through the work day.

 

[AstroManLuca]

The battery life isn't great, but is there a smartphone that does have a good battery? Anyway, in the week I've had it, the battery has not been a big issue. There are a few things you can do to greatly increase battery life. One is not turning on IM unless you need it. Another is using WiFi if it's available (supposedly the Pre actually gets better battery life on WiFi than on 3G). And another is using push notifications to get emails instead of having the phone check the server every 15 minutes, which is the default behavior. I usually have about half my battery left by the end of the work day, although that is without heavy use.

You can also get extended batteries. The stock battery is only 1150 mAh. There are 1400 mAh batteries that can fit without any modifications and a 2600 mAh extended battery that comes with a replacement back. Makes the phone kind of fat but it more than doubles battery life. I haven't found the need for those yet, though... a car charger is enough.

 

[Gooberlx2]

I've had the Hero and now have the Pre. While I miss some of the Android features (like the home screen), the trade-offs for WebOS are much better. Multitasking is simple awesome. App support may be behind the others but, in my experience, I'd rather have a few hundred decent apps in the marketplace vs thousands of absolute shit apps to have to dig through. Definitely load up preware. A lot of the patches are awesome and really add efficiency to using the phone. Themes add some customization. I haven't really played around with any of the homebrew apps.

I don't get people with Heros calling the Pre laggy. It certainly has its moments of lag but the Hero's hardware is, imo, completely incapable of running current Smartphone operating systems. It was the laggiest phone I've ever used. Homescreen and the weather widget are about the only things I actually miss.

I find I get about the same life on the stock Pre battery as I did with the Hero, perhaps because there aren't widgets running all the time? My Pre does pull better signal at my work as well.

If I were looking for an Android phone on Sprint, I'd wait until better hardware is released...something with snapdragon.

 

[Deeko]

I bought a Pre, and returned it. I've owned both a G1 and Droid.

WebOS is, in general, a better OS than Android. Smoother, better browser, better multitasking, etc.

However, Android phones are generally better hardware. The Sprint Pre has some issues (some of which were fixed w/ the Verizon pre Plus), and the battery life is absolutely abysmal. Yes, all smart phones have poor batty life, but the Pre is especially bad. You can do things like turning off IM and push email, but you shouldn't have to....I have those things enabled on my other phones, why should I make tradeoffs?

So basically, while I did love WebOS, the Pre's hardware made it not worth it. The Moment is not the best Android handset out there, but its not a bad phone.

 

[Phobic9]

I bought a Pre, and returned it. I've owned both a G1 and Droid.

WebOS is, in general, a better OS than Android. Smoother, better browser, better multitasking, etc.

However, Android phones are generally better hardware. The Sprint Pre has some issues (some of which were fixed w/ the Verizon pre Plus), and the battery life is absolutely abysmal. Yes, all smart phones have poor batty life, but the Pre is especially bad. You can do things like turning off IM and push email, but you shouldn't have to....I have those things enabled on my other phones, why should I make tradeoffs?

So basically, while I did love WebOS, the Pre's hardware made it not worth it. The Moment is not the best Android handset out there, but its not a bad phone.

I pretty much agree with everything here. I was dying to try WebOS so I bought a Pre Plus and within 2 days I was back to my Droid. WebOS really is nice but the actual phone was lackluster. The battery life was abysmal, I missed having LED notifications (since I run my phone on silent a lot)and although the keyboard was better than the Droid's, having to open it all the time got old since I was used to the Droid's on-screen keyboard. I also have several other gripes with the phone but I will say I did like the form factor.

Palm either needs to put out some quality hardware or just start licensing their OS to other phone manufacturers IMO.

 

[Falloutboy]

I have a moment and my GF has a pre. the pre is a great phone, and it just works. but I went the way of the moment because the os is a lot more flexible and customizable. and now that its getting a decent hacker community backing it alot of cool things are happening with it. once it gets android 2.1 in a few months its going to be a very nice phone, one of the fastest ones as well.

you can't really go wrong with either phone though.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Yeah I ended up going to Best Buy and exchanging the Pre for the Moment just now. So far Android is pretty good - not quite as slick as webOS, but still good. And the hardware is much better. I can actually type now and the slider has a nice "thud" reminiscent of a new car door.

My fiancee might end up getting a Pre (or the Pre's successor) when her contract is up in September and she switches onto my plan. But by that time I'm guessing all the current phone models will have been replaced so she'll have plenty of new options.

 

[zerocool84]

Yeah I ended up going to Best Buy and exchanging the Pre for the Moment just now. So far Android is pretty good - not quite as slick as webOS, but still good. And the hardware is much better. I can actually type now and the slider has a nice "thud" reminiscent of a new car door.

My fiancee might end up getting a Pre (or the Pre's successor) when her contract is up in September and she switches onto my plan. But by that time I'm guessing all the current phone models will have been replaced so she'll have plenty of new options.

If you are in to modding the phone, there are ways to get the latest Android OS on it.

 

[Gooberlx2]

If you are in to modding the phone, there are ways to get the latest Android OS on it.

Also, for Pre phone modders, there's preware and WebOSQuickInstall via precentral. I use the LED notifications patch, along with several others. I've haven't used it, but there is an on-screen keyboard patch as well. Themes are cool too.

 

[FerraraZ]

I went from Iphone to Nexus One.

I will say that Android is NOT a better OS than Iphone but with the tools and community and support that it will not take long at all for it to be a better solution. There's just more android handsets out there and an open source platform for developers to do whatever they please.

I know this doesn't include the Palm OS but personally I would be hesitant to support WebOS because Palm stock is going down even after bringing their phones to Verizon. I just dont see how the OS could flourish as well as Android.

 

[dguy6789]

For me, the lack of multitasking completely destroys any chance of comparison the Iphone OS has to Android. I can listen to music, web browse, and talk on Aim at the same time. I can copy and paste links and discuss articles that I'm reading. It's really cool. Iphone may have more Apps and may have a better look(opinion) but in terms of raw OS capability, the lack of multitasking alone puts it down more than a couple of notches.

 

[Slick5150]

Also, for Pre phone modders, there's preware and WebOSQuickInstall via precentral. I use the LED notifications patch, along with several others. I've haven't used it, but there is an on-screen keyboard patch as well. Themes are cool too.

WebOS 1.4 (supposedly coming today) should add LED notifications in natively as well, so you won't need the patch. Why that wasn't in from the start I don't really know.

 

[Gooberlx2]

I just dont see how the OS could flourish as well as Android.

If palm had licensed it from the start to other handset manufacturers, I think it would have done very well. As it is, and especially with the thumping their stock is taking, I have a feeling the wife and I will be back on the Android platform next upgrade.

WebOS 1.4 (supposedly coming today) should add LED notifications in natively as well, so you won't need the patch. Why that wasn't in from the start I don't really know.

Yeah, that'll be nice. I'm eager to learn what else it may fix....still no update available for my phone though.

I still need voicedialing via bluetooth. I dunno about Android 1.6/2.0/2.1, but 1.5 on my Hero didn't do that either. I don't understand why that's been left out. I've had (fairly) reliable voice dialing since my old Moto v360, and all subsequent phones until I got a smartphone. Makes no sense.

 

[Falloutboy]

If you are in to modding the phone, there are ways to get the latest Android OS on it.

not on the moment, there is a 2.01 version being done by the community but its no where close to ready. you can flash the kernal and root it really easily which allows you to theme and do some other jazz though

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

I went from Iphone to Nexus One.

I will say that Android is NOT a better OS than Iphone but with the tools and community and support that it will not take long at all for it to be a better solution. There's just more android handsets out there and an open source platform for developers to do whatever they please.

I know this doesn't include the Palm OS but personally I would be hesitant to support WebOS because Palm stock is going down even after bringing their phones to Verizon. I just dont see how the OS could flourish as well as Android.

Android is less polished. And even after all these revisions, you'd expect it to get more polished right? Well, we're fortunate to at least get all these upgrades because S60 users are stuck in hell.

 

[Xenon]

WebOS 1.4 is out. Includes video recording/editing finally and flash support. Now we wait for adobe to put it out.