Is Android in trouble?

[poofyhairguy]

tbh, Qualcomm screwed up -- hopefully they will be better next time.

Next year they will be selling custom cores again and everything will be fine.

 

[pauldun170]

Honest question--do any current Android users here plan to upgrade their phone this year? If you are (and you're sticking with Android)...which phone are you getting?

I was looking to upgrade, but I don't really want any of the new phones launched in 2015. Right now, the best devices (perhaps just IMHO) are the Galaxy S6/S6 edge. I'm not ready to ditch SD support and pay a hefty premium for 128GB of storage. I have a perfectly good HTC One M8...except I wish it had a better camera and a bit more speed. The M9 just doesn't seem like a worthy upgrade.

I'm sure there are a bunch of Galaxy S4 and S5 owners who'll upgrade, but there are other issues I'm seeing that make me wonder about Android's growth this year (at least in the US):
- Snapdragon 810 is a mess
- The Nexus program is stalling (seriously, Verizon *just* launched the Nexus 6...6 months late--and whatever happened with Android Silver?)
- Lollipop is still <10% of the base...and even fewer have Android 5.1 (or 5.1.1)...yet Android M is just around the corner...
- Android tablets are still going nowhere, and Android Wear 1st gen is getting a little old...

Looking at Apple, the iPhone 6/6+ are the best phones they've ever put out, and good enough to get Android users to switch (I just got an iPhone 6 for work so I'm speaking from experience.) Anyone thinking of switching over, or are you waiting it out for Snapdragon 820 and the next generation?

Nope.
Sticking with my S4. No need to upgrade at all since it still works great.
I've used the iPhone6 and there is no way I'd jump over to Apple. My wife's phone is a 5S and I have to deal with that thing from time to time. No thanks..

As for the latest android phones, none have really given me an upgrade itch. Maybe I'll jump on the Galaxy Note bandwagon next year.

 

[sweenish]

So, just because YOU own an S4 and won't be upgrading means that all the other S4 owners (of which there are millions) also won't be upgrading their 2 year old phones?

Sounds legit.

 

[elitejp]

And the op stating that the s4 owners will upgrade is a fact? Sweeinsh, I dont think Paul was trying to state that no s4 owner would upgrade. No need to pick fights when there aint one.

OP, I dont get your reasoning that you dont want to pay a premium for 128g storage but then are content with using apple and paying a premium for storage.


In my opinion what apple has going for it is that the os isnt being copied by other brands. With android any phone can apply that os and people will accept it. So currently there are plenty of chinese phones that are coming out with very good specs using the android os. Nobody considers these types of phones to be knock offs. With apple if someone comes out and copies the design and os everyone would call it a fake even if it did have a different name and specs. In this case apple still has that premium emotional feel to it even when android produces a better phone.

In any case as I am in the market for a new phone I will say this. (im in china) I just went out the other day and tried out some phones. The first being samsung s6, beautiful screen, great camera and very responsive. I just dont know if I want to pay that off contract price. I test out out a few chinese brands, huawei,meizu,oppo all running android. Guess what none of them were as responsive as the s6 but neither was the note 4 compared to the s6. However they were all still very responsive had good cameras on them and had a decent screen. Is the s6 better, yes. But it shouldnt diminish how well the other android phones currently are. One other thing that ive began seeing in the chinese market is that people are now looking at price per value alot more closely rather than popularity of the phone. Anyways buy what you like but current phones really are offering alot for less.

 

[Artdeco]

And the op stating that the s4 owners will upgrade is a fact? Sweeinsh, I dont think Paul was trying to state that no s4 owner would upgrade. No need to pick fights when there aint one.

OP, I dont get your reasoning that you dont want to pay a premium for 128g storage but then are content with using apple and paying a premium for storage.


In my opinion what apple has going for it is that the os isnt being copied by other brands. With android any phone can apply that os and people will accept it. So currently there are plenty of chinese phones that are coming out with very good specs using the android os. Nobody considers these types of phones to be knock offs. With apple if someone comes out and copies the design and os everyone would call it a fake even if it did have a different name and specs. In this case apple still has that premium emotional feel to it even when android produces a better phone.

In any case as I am in the market for a new phone I will say this. (im in china) I just went out the other day and tried out some phones. The first being samsung s6, beautiful screen, great camera and very responsive. I just dont know if I want to pay that off contract price. I test out out a few chinese brands, huawei,meizu,oppo all running android. Guess what none of them were as responsive as the s6 but neither was the note 4 compared to the s6. However they were all still very responsive had good cameras on them and had a decent screen. Is the s6 better, yes. But it shouldnt diminish how well the other android phones currently are. One other thing that ive began seeing in the chinese market is that people are now looking at price per value alot more closely rather than popularity of the phone. Anyways buy what you like but current phones really are offering alot for less.

I'd look at the other brands for a value phone, there's some very good ones in your domestic market.

 

[elitejp]

Nothing with 4g ram. But I will look around.

edit: I was thinking this was the zenfone 2 thread when I responded. My point being that the zenfone 2 has very good specs.

 

[Megatomic]

Nothing with 4g ram. But I will look around.

Huawai P8 is going to have a 4GB model, there were others announced recently as well.

 

[soulcougher73]

No, Android is not in trouble. However, smartphones are starting to reach that "good enough" plateau that PCs reached a couple years ago. Software demand for hardware resources has levelled off for daily use applications. The average user will hold on to older handsets longer because they're still "good enough".

Even Apple is facing this issue. The phones still sell like hotcakes but iPad sales are trailing off.

This. Were at a point even low end phones are pretty darn fast vs. phones of 5 years ago. Sales will slow as people wont really perceive an increase in phone performance.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Huawai P8 is going to have a 4GB model, there were others announced recently as well.

That is the coolest Chinese smartphone at the moment. Beautiful design, a SoC better than what the LG G4 is getting, the right balance of resolution and size. Only problem is the same problem with most of those Chinese phones- the stock OS is disgusting.

 

[OrionMaster]

Nothing with 4g ram. But I will look around.

dude, you want to use a phone or play Crisis

 

[elitejp]

Huawai P8 is going to have a 4GB model, there were others announced recently as well.

The current huawei ascend p8 is 3g and double the price of the asus model. For just a little more i would just get the galaxy s6

 

[elitejp]

dude, you want to use a phone or play Crisis

I would do both if possible.

 

[sm625]

Android has a couple serious issues. The biggest one is the fact that the OS apparently will consume 2GB of RAM like its nothing. The very idea that 3GB of RAM can be consumed so easily is simply mindboggling. This indicates extremely poor coding, potentially on the catastrophic level. If it is consuming that much memory then the OS is so poorly coded that it really cant even be trusted.

Another serious issue is the display resolutions creeping ever higher even though there is clearly zero value in going beyond 1080p. It even actually becomes a detriment. It makes it so that newer phones offer no improvement in battery life, and no improvement in gaming performance. Luckily, not every phone will have a ridiculous panel, even 7 years from now there should still be 1080p options available.

 

[poofyhairguy]

The very idea that 3GB of RAM can be consumed so easily is simply mindboggling. This indicates extremely poor coding

Lollipop did have a memory leak, but that is fixed in 5.1. Many ROMs fixed it in 5.0 as well (like on Samsung devices).

3GB of RAM is needed because, unlike the other major mobile OS, Android has real multitasking. I find that to be good coding, I love downloading things in the background. Of course that doesn't mean the other OS doesn't want more, I can use more than 2GB in a web browser in iOS pretty easily.

I mean heck other major OSes (OSX, Windows) use that much ram, no reason Android can't. It is pretty fully featured at this point.

 

[sweenish]

And the op stating that the s4 owners will upgrade is a fact? Sweeinsh, I dont think Paul was trying to state that no s4 owner would upgrade. No need to pick fights when there aint one.

People upgrading a 2 year old phone at the end of a 2 year contract is a much safer assumption.

 

[LtMikePowelll]

I upgrade at least once a year, and I'm using Galaxy S6 right now, but probably do not have the desire to go to Note 5 (I use my T-Mo Jump from Note 4 to S6).

 

[Geekbabe]

Waiting for the next Galaxy Note..

 

[jumpncrash]

I'm actually looking at Sony's Z3 line, maybe a compact, seems like a good product. I"m on my third Sony and they've always offered good performance and longevity. As well as much better camera and stereo options than the competition.

 

[Fingolfin269]

I may have been a bit premature but it was a year or so ago when I posted that the mobile space was getting boring. Could be that time is actually hitting now. I come into this sub-forum occasionally now and nothing is going on that interests me at all. Nothing noticeable is changing on the cell phone front and I'm not slapping a watch on my wrist.

This isn't really an Android thing though imo.

 

[mrochester]

I may have been a bit premature but a year or so ago when I posted that the mobile space was getting boring. Could be that time is now. I come into this sub-forum occasionally now and nothing is going on that interests me at all. Nothing noticeable is changing on the cell phone front and I'm not slapping a watch on my wrist.

This isn't really an Android thing though imo.

The market is well and truly commoditised now. It's simply been sped up considerably by Android.

 

[Raduque]

I have a Note 4 and Moto360. I want to get an S6 128, but I'm not willing to pay $900 for it. The price gouging on memory is insane. I love my N4, but I'm seriously thinking about downsizing, which is why I'm considering an S6.

I also want to get a new watch, but nobody else is doing wireless charging - So I'm going to stick with the 360 till another good looking, round AW device comes out with wireless charging.

I also had an iPhone 6+ 128gb for about a week. My issues with it were: No easy way to move my music collection to it, no easy way to move my pictures to it, it didn't want to play with my truck's OS (myFord Sync) and it naturally didn't work with my Moto360. I took it back and exchanged it for the Note 4. I will say this, it was a beautiful and solid device.


Edit: As for tablets, well I have an Asus TF101, and I think it's running 4.3. I don't like the direction Android went with tablet. It went "phone UX on a big screen". I don't think that's a good way to deal with tablets. A different interface is needed. I love Windows 8 on tablets, I have a Surface 2, Venue 8 Pro and I want to get a Surface 3. I don't think I'll consider another Android tablet at any time in the future.

 

[jiffylube1024]

Honest question--do any current Android users here plan to upgrade their phone this year? If you are (and you're sticking with Android)...which phone are you getting?

I was looking to upgrade, but I don't really want any of the new phones launched in 2015. Right now, the best devices (perhaps just IMHO) are the Galaxy S6/S6 edge. I'm not ready to ditch SD support and pay a hefty premium for 128GB of storage. I have a perfectly good HTC One M8...except I wish it had a better camera and a bit more speed. The M9 just doesn't seem like a worthy upgrade.

I'm sure there are a bunch of Galaxy S4 and S5 owners who'll upgrade, but there are other issues I'm seeing that make me wonder about Android's growth this year (at least in the US):
- Snapdragon 810 is a mess
- The Nexus program is stalling (seriously, Verizon *just* launched the Nexus 6...6 months late--and whatever happened with Android Silver?)
- Lollipop is still <10% of the base...and even fewer have Android 5.1 (or 5.1.1)...yet Android M is just around the corner...
- Android tablets are still going nowhere, and Android Wear 1st gen is getting a little old...

Looking at Apple, the iPhone 6/6+ are the best phones they've ever put out, and good enough to get Android users to switch (I just got an iPhone 6 for work so I'm speaking from experience.) Anyone thinking of switching over, or are you waiting it out for Snapdragon 820 and the next generation?

The Nexus program hasn't stalled - they have released one every year like clockwork in the late fall for the past 5 years. It's just that they released a niche product last year; the first nexus Phablet. With the rumour of not one but two Nexus phones this year, those of us sticking to the Nexus 5 (or 4 in some cases) have a lot to look forward to.

As for the other points:

- yes the Snapdragon 810 is flawed
-I agree Nexus tablets are not very appealing right now; iPads are better. The tablet market in general has plateaued though. The whole industry seems to be converging on laptop/tablets getting more and more similar
-Android wear sucks but so does the iWatch. It's the best in a market of too-early-for-primetime devices.

-as for the Snapdragon 820; meh the 808 is fine. The 810 is good just for the heat/power problems. 808 is a cut down 810 that has no heat issues.

 

[stockwiz]

Keeping my S4 active for a couple years yet with cricket wireless. I clamp down on everything, shut everything off, don't download many apps... I'm very resistant to the bloatware, ad infested, in app purchase stuff that goes on these days.

Surfing the internet on random sites is a pain due to overlays and tapatalk spam so I mostly surf known sites for entertainment purposes that don't have tapatalk popup garbage, check the radar, use torque, the occasional game I've found that isn't bloated, things like that. NOT a desktop replacement... emulated console games of days gone by are superior to most of the android junk today and web browser can block ads better.

Still gotta block those overlays one by one and make sure I save the filters.

 

[StrangerGuy]

It's the high-end Android that is dying.

Pretty much anyone can slap a Snapdragon 410, 1080p screen, 2GB of RAM, 13MP camera into a phone and sell it for <$200 and its just as fast as a S6 to the average joe in reality. More and more consumers are aware of this fact. Apple knew the hardware trajectory for phones will plateau just like PCs which is why the iPhone is marketed as a status symbol device and they trying so hard to establish a distinct ecosystem.

 

[Anon_lawyer]

Android is the most successful mobile operating system ever, by every measure except profits. It is not dying by any means, however that profits issue undoubtedly gives Google pause. It seems like no one except Samsung can consistently make money with Android, and Samsung profits are falling significantly. Other players like Huawei and Xiaomi are profitable, but they use AOSP mostly. It is almost like Google has re-created the Windows hardware ecosystem except without the part where the OS maker rakes in huge profits.