Apple iPhone4S vs. LG Esteem Android (4G LTE network). Which one should I chose ?

[AppleUser]

I've been an Apple fan for 20 years. My girlfriend gave me an LG Esteem for my birthday, and will pay 60 dollars a month for unlimited talk and data on MetroPCS's 4G LTE network.


My Apple friends said I should reject her gift, and get an iPhone 4S on Sprint, Verizon, or AT&T. Verizon for the fewest dropped calls, Sprint for unlimited data, and AT&T if you want your iPhone to surf and talk simultaneously.


Problem: I tried a demo of each phone for 15 minutes, and cannot decide what to do. Help !


So far the following seems true:


iPhone is more expensive than Esteem (Esteem is $250) and the iPhone has a mandatory two year contract for at least $100/month. Metro's Esteem has no contract and is 60 dollars month-to-month for unlimited talk and data on 4G LTE in the Bay Area. iPhone is only 3G, not 4G. iPhone has a much longer battery life and is a little smaller and lighter. Esteem has a larger screen and surfs faster on the web. iPhone will back up everything to your computer, whereas only parts of the data can be backed up with the Esteem, but I have no idea how to back up the Esteem. iPhone's battery is built in, whereas the Esteem has a replaceable 1500 mAH and 3000 mAH battery. I forgot to try "Siri" on the ipHone, but the Esteem's talk to text seemed good, but failed on capitalizations and punctuations. iPhone had a better camera, but the Esteem pictures on the screen looked better. Apple's iPhone has up to 64GB of built in internal memory, whereas Esteem has less even if you add a card.


Apple users say Android is not good, and Android users love their Android phones. Can't find anyone who has used both often.


So which should I chose, the Esteem or iPhone4S, and why ?

 

[jpcamaro70]

I've been an Apple fan for 20 years. My girlfriend gave me an LG Esteem for my birthday, and will pay 60 dollars a month for unlimited talk and data on MetroPCS's 4G LTE network.


My Apple friends said I should reject her gift, and get an iPhone 4S on Sprint, Verizon, or AT&T. Verizon for the fewest dropped calls, Sprint for unlimited data, and AT&T if you want your iPhone to surf and talk simultaneously.


Problem: I tried a demo of each phone for 15 minutes, and cannot decide what to do. Help !


So far the following seems true:


iPhone is more expensive than Esteem (Esteem is $250) and the iPhone has a mandatory two year contract for at least $100/month. Metro's Esteem has no contract and is 60 dollars month-to-month for unlimited talk and data on 4G LTE in the Bay Area. iPhone is only 3G, not 4G. iPhone has a much longer battery life and is a little smaller and lighter. Esteem has a larger screen and surfs faster on the web. iPhone will back up everything to your computer, whereas only parts of the data can be backed up with the Esteem, but I have no idea how to back up the Esteem. iPhone's battery is built in, whereas the Esteem has a replaceable 1500 mAH and 3000 mAH battery. I forgot to try "Siri" on the ipHone, but the Esteem's talk to text seemed good, but failed on capitalizations and punctuations. iPhone had a better camera, but the Esteem pictures on the screen looked better. Apple's iPhone has up to 64GB of built in internal memory, whereas Esteem has less even if you add a card.


Apple users say Android is not good, and Android users love their Android phones. Can't find anyone who has used both often.


So which should I chose, the Esteem or iPhone4S, and why ?

I used both, just got the 4s, came from the htc droid incredible. If the new great android phones were just a little smaller then i probably would have stayed with it. The droid incredible 2 was the biggest i wanted to go, but that didn't have a dual core.

Voice to text was better on the droid, it didn't need the network for dictation like siri does, and siri is hit or miss. At this point, you can't rely on her.

There is way mre customization on the droids, you can change just about anything, and it also comes with google nav which is the best free nav hands down.

Iphone has the most incredible screen, it's quite impressive, rivaled only by the new samsung. Icloud is pretty awesome.

This may not be a case on the big phones, but the keyboard on iphone (even though it's small) is much better than droid ( at least the one i had).

And most importantly, the iphone is a beautiful piece of glass / steel in your hand.

 

[Col.bris]

Frankly you are the one to make the decision you must try both phones then go with what you like.... We have noises what you can afford or what your future plans are personally I would go with the iPhone as lg does not interest me resale value alone would justify it but that is me. Best of luck

 

[Deckyon]

Verizon for the fewest dropped calls, Sprint for unlimited data, and AT&T if you want your iPhone to surf and talk simultaneously.

Just a note on "unlimited data." If you are losing signal, or have sketchy coverage, guess what. You could have all the unlimited data in the world but no way to access it.

As to you question as to which one to get - most places will have a "try for 14 days" and bring back if you dont want policy. I know Verizon does. Give them a real try, not "15 mins of handle time"

I finally went iPhone 4S because of the apps I have from my iPad and not wanting to repurchase them on a different OS (Android).

 

[Ashenor]

I have had Sprint for awhile and i like them a lot. I had the HTC Hero, HTC Evo, then HTC Evo 3D. I just switched last week to a iPhone 4s 32g on Sprint. I love it so far, and as far as the bill goes i get 20% off my Sprint bill so i pay $73.06 with tax monthly for unlimited everything but calls to land lines which i have 700 mins a month for those. I would say check out Sprint, see if you can find a 10-20% discount off on your bill, if you search the web i am sure you can find something. Even without a discount you are probably around $90 bucks with Tax.

I liked the Droid, but i have had a iPad and now a iPad 2, and i like having all my apps the same now and can sync them. I did like the bigger screen of my Evo's, but the higher ress and more polished apps make it worth it for sure. Now that Sprint has the iPhone and for what i pay for unlimited service i could not be happier.

 

[AppleUser]

I've using this Esteem on MetroPCS now for over 24 hours. Surfing is amazing fast, faster than any iPhone on any of the three networks. And I can talk when surfing, just like the iPhone on AT&T. But there are a few things about this Esteem that are no so friendly.

So far, the 4G LTE network has been everywhere I travel. Only $60/month and no contract. Phone was $250.

 

[iCrank]

anything android I don't consider a rival..lol

Plus one. 😝

 

[AppleUser]

IPhone 4S Battery Issue: Apple Investigates Why Battery Drains Quickly - ABC News

 

[Deckyon]

no quicker than the average Android phone out there. Everyone I know keeps power cord next to them at all times. My 4s will keep me going all day with an average amount of use. I plug in at night and that is all.

 

[AppleUser]

no quicker than the average Android phone out there. Everyone I know keeps power cord next to them at all times. My 4s will keep me going all day with an average amount of use. I plug in at night and that is all.

Yes, but

a) there is a 3,000 mAH battery available, and

b) the 4S is having it's own battery issues, and it is built-in. The Esteem is consumer-replaceable, and

c) you pay more than $60/month for unlimited voice & data.

 

[Deckyon]

Yes, but

a) there is a 3,000 mAH battery available, and

b) the 4S is having it's own battery issues, and it is built-in. The Esteem is consumer-replaceable, and

c) you pay more than $60/month for unlimited voice & data.

a: there are battery extenders available for the iPhone as well. Incipio has a nice one that is very thin and works also as a back protector.
b: iOS 5.0.1 is in beta and addresses these issues - is there an Android fix in the works for their battery issues?
c: Depends on the service - this is not based on the phone maker/OS...

 

[AppleUser]

a: there are battery extenders available for the iPhone as well. Incipio has a nice one that is very thin and works also as a back protector.
b: iOS 5.0.1 is in beta and addresses these issues - is there an Android fix in the works for their battery issues?
c: Depends on the service - this is not based on the phone maker/OS...

So where can one use the iPhone unlimited voice and data for 60 per month ?
Don't know what fixes LG has, but will ask and get back to you.

Love surfing on 4g, but too often it fails to connect to 4G, so loving it is semi-moot.

 

[Deckyon]

So where can one use the iPhone unlimited voice and data for 60 per month ?
Don't know what fixes LG has, but will ask and get back to you.
Love surfing on 4g, but too often it fails to connect to 4G, so loving it is semi-moot.

Dunno - but service is based on provider. I have mine set up nicely - don't need unlimited talk, only txt/data and with the family plan I am on there are 5 phones set up and we are paying $205 with unlimited data/txt across them all.

As for the 3G/4G fight - the lines are too blurred between them to get a good, accurate definition. And like you said, "too often fails to connect to 4G..."

 

[Deckyon]

And I didnt know LG programmed Android. Thought that was Google.

 

[Skull One]

And I didnt know LG programmed Android. Thought that was Google.

LG doesn't write the Android OS. You were correct to think Google does. All LG can do with Android is write "add on" or what we old timers call "bloatware".