Motorola Atrix vs WP7 (I hope this isn't too bloody)

B

BlondeBabe909

New member
I will try to give you all an idea of what I am looking for and why I am favoring WP7 at this moment and see if you all can convince me that the Atrix is the smarter choice. I am with AT&T, and have a company discount and unlimited data plan, so I prefer to stick to devices that AT&T offers.

I am a Netflix subscriber, and have been for over a year. And I've had a Blackberry for all of this time, unable to to take full advantage of my Netflix service while my friends with iPhones have been enjoying it for quite some time. Why don't I just get an iPhone? Well...believe me, I've thought about it. I think that the UI is extremely well done, and it seems as if every app comes out for it first, but 2 things are bugging me about it. You can't remove the battery (and this bugs me to death), and the fact that in just a few months there will most likely be a new iPhone that would make me regret my purchase.

I also own an Xbox 360 + Kinect, and as if the Xbox live integration into WP7 wasn't enough, they are talking about making WP7 devices act as controllers to interact with Kinect...which sounds like a lot of fun.

I love games, and the Xbox live selection for WP7 seems to be growing quickly, with several games I am really looking forward to coming out in less than a month (Angry Birds, Plants vs Zombies, Hydrothunder Go (I owned a Dreamcast)).

The WP7 interface is so smooth, responsive, and natural...I felt more comfortable using it than either Android or IOS when I touched it for the first time.

Now, the negatives about WP7 that I'm aware of and am mostly willing to let go:
Copy & Paste isn't in yet (but should be in less than 2 weeks) Multitasking isn't in yet (supposed to come sometime this year) No mass storage USB mode (this bugs me coming from a BB) No HDMI out (the Atrix has this, but the LG Quantum has DLNA so maybe I can get by without it?) The hardware seems ancient in Smartphone terms, but it still manages to appear faster than every Android I've used...even the Atrix. I understand that the Android UI in general doesn't take advantage of GPU acceleration while WP7 does, so this may be where that whole impression comes from. Game wise, I've not seen the exact same game played on both OS's so I can't say which one wins, but every game I've seen on WP7 and the Atrix have played smoothly. The browser doesn't support flash, but after seeing how flash performs on an Android tablet running 2.2 I borrowed for the weekend, I am almost happy about this feature being absent. WP7 is new and it's Microsoft. While I don't think they are going to give up on it like they did the Kin (and now apparently the Zune devices, not the service), it kinda makes me nervous....because it's Microsoft, lol. Android has been around for a while now, and it's app market is booming but the security/malware issues are a little unappealing.
Now, on to the good things that I've learned about the future of the Atrix that are making this decision difficult: Tegra Zone: Nvidia has already released this app and some games specifically aimed at Tegra 2 hardware. I'm a long time purchaser of Nvidia graphics cards, and this tempts me. Playstation Suite: I'm a PS3 owner as well, and Sony has announced that the Playstation Suite is coming to Tegra based devices. AT&T seems to be hinting that they will be fixing the speed issues with their "4G" devices soon.
The thing about the Atrix that is really bugging me right now is that I won't be able to take advantage of Netflix for who knows how long. While the Netflix app has been announced for Qualcomm based devices, there hasn't really been any official message saying that the Atrix will ever support it. I really don't want to have to go another 2 years without Netflix on my phone.

Let the battle commence...
 
WP7 is simply based on an outdated spec. Its basic spec is no better than the Nexus One introduced early last year. Being a closed system, Microsoft decides the specs and this does not allow one manufacturer to build more powerful phones than the other. The UI indeed is very smooth but I feel it involves too much swipes, is very limited in presentation and information, and gives me vertigo. The projected multitasking isn't really multitasking but task switching, and its hard to know whether an app would be closed or remain when the lockscreen comes down.

I'm a Gold XBL member but quite frankly the company I keep in XBL isn't one I like to keep on my phone. I'm not interested in the kind of mobile games I see around (Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja). I am far more interested with Japanese RPGs and which I believe the Playstation Phone is more likely to serve up.

In Android its an open race where sky is the limit. When you get the Atrix, you are definitely getting more spec, more phone, more power, more technology for the money. Far more customizations, allows you to do far more things to do with it, not to mention an app market heading to the 300,000 mark. Its a dual core device with 1 gig of memory, with a HSPA+ connection that is three times faster, and there are kinds of apps that you simply won't see on WP7 such as Google Earth. There are things you can do on Android like no other, such as Foursquare GPSing on your location while Pandora is streaming on the background. Furthermore, there are killer services that is going to be far more worth it than any other, such as Google Voice which has features that are deeply integrated to the phone.

Android 2.2 Froyo isn't completely optimized for the Tegra 2 (remember, Android has to run with far more different processors than WP7), but Android 2.3 Gingerbread is much more multithreaded so it can take advantage of dual cores and is more graphically accelerated. My experience with Gingerbread is that its UI is so smooth, its difficult to tell from WP7 or IP4. The soon to come 2.4 revision is going to harness much more of the dual core architecture.

As far as games go, the ones I'm seeing on WP7 seems fairly simple they are going to run smooth even on modest hardware. The kind of graphical power used on the Snapdragon isn't going to come close to console level games. However, the dual core GPUs on the Tegra2 will. You basically have a scenario where mobile games are going to look much more Xbox360 or PS3 like. We are talking about games that are intense on 3D and vector graphics.
 
If you are hung-up on specs then maybe Android is for you.

However, WP7 is much much more than that. They are going to have deep integration with every service they offer and the 1.0 devices are just scratching the surface of what they will have to offer by xmas.

I wouldn't trust B00ble to host my Spam account...
 
Anything I heard about WP7 is always about future tense like "will", "going", "next year", "2012" and so on.

The difference is that Android does everything now and has been for quite a while. Twitter integration, for example, was so last year. Thus the only direction is has to go is forward and ahead of everybody, not catching up.
 
I agree that there's a lot of "coming soon" going on with WP7, but the things that are there already are what really appeal to me. I don't even have a Twitter account, and I'm not sure I've ever actually visited twitter.com once in my life. I also have never used Foursquare, and really don't like social networking as a whole. I have a Google Voice account and had the app on my BB, but have only used it once...ever. Google Earth and Google Sky are two things that I would like to have though, and I would be jealous for those apps if I do choose WP7. I do however have a Netflix account, and Android doesn't do that yet unless you count PlayOn, which costs extra and requires you to leave your home PC running all the time if you want it to be available at all times. PlayOn would mean paying an extra $40-80 on top of the $200 more the Atrix would cost over a free WP7 device.

I hear you on the Xbox live chatting as well. I never talk to anyone on Xbox live, but I like the achievement points and the fact that Xbox live games can be easily brought over to WP7 with little effort.

It does bug me that the hardware is so far behind and that none of the recently announced WP7 devices appear to be trying to improve in any way other than screen size and battery size. I really don't want to wait another 6 months for a new device and it may be that long or longer before WP7 hardware evolves to a level anywhere near the Atrix.



Which device did you use with Gingerbread? Thanks for your help and for all of this information by the way.

I'm going to go to the AT&T store again and try out the Atrix for the 3rd time. It just bugs me to pay $200 more for a phone that can't do something a free WP7 can do.
 
You have to decide on your own personal preference.

For me, even though I am a Gold XBL member, I don't see the point of "achievements" and things like that. I am not earning more money or gaining more friends from those false "achievements". Don't tell me you just buy Xbox games just to get more achievements. In fact, quite frankly if the equivalent game happens both on the PS3 and XBox 360, I get it on the PS3 because I prefer the quality of the visuals and audio of the PS3. I prefer to enjoy my game title over getting artificial points with no real world value.

For me though I depend greatly on my GMail account for business, and GMail on Android is the best possible form it has on mobile although you can GMail on any phone. Another thing I depend on is Google Sync, which is not really an app but a service because it allows all my Android and iOS devices to sync together so I have identical contacts and identical calendars on both, with real time on the cloud backup for free.

Real XBL games are not going to WP7 regardless of the API used. There is such a huge difference on the XBox and WP7 hardware. The analogy is more in common with PS3 and PSP. Don't expect things like Halo or Dead Space. Don't expect console state of the art games on a mobile, especially with the Snapdragon hardware, you won't graduate much beyond the Bejewelled, Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja caliber of games.

Netflix is coming to Android and already an APK is leaked out. I don't really see the value of having NetFlix on a phone regardless whether its WP7 or Android or iOS, given you're going to have your data tiered anyway. Unlimited isn't going to last long. Even assuming you still have unlimited, 3G ain't exactly the smoothest way to watch a movie, and I would prefer doing it with LTE or HSPA+.
 
People go with Xbox for Xbox LIVE in addition to great titles - its the network and premier gaming experience no contest...

The dev tools are light years ahead of anything else and games are being ported all-of-the-time because its easier with their tools - and no, not Angry Birds, actual games like Assasins Creed and Need for Speed.

I wouldn't be taken very seriously if I used a gmale account for business - good thing WP7 has Exchange or and something else that may be useful for productivity like OFFICE with Skydrive (25GB) cloud storage...

Sure, Windows Phone has an unbelievably slow dev cycle and h/w refresh but it just came out...it is still a fantastic O/S!
 
Actually, people won't take you seriously if you got a Hotmail or Yahoo address for business email. That's why I got a GMail and so does everyone. Please note the number of institutions worldwide heading for Google Docs. By the way, GMail and your Google account can have a paid maximum storage of 16 TB. You already got 8Gb to start with, additional $5 gets you another 20Gb and on and on.

Assassin's Creed and Need for Speed are Gameloft's, and its not unique to XBL. In fact its also found in other smartphone platforms (ergo iOS, Symbian and Android), just like most Gameloft titles.
 
I actually do use Gmail and Google Sync. But I never use my Google calendar, I only used Google Sync as a contacts backup method for when I swap devices.

As far as game graphics are concerned, have you seen Revenant, Harvest, or videos for some of the upcoming games like Hydrothunder Go? They look better than any DS game I've seen and are comparable to my PSP's graphics.
Now, I don't believe that the current WP7 hardware will be able to produce as high of quality graphics as what may appear on the Tegra Zone and Playstation Suite, but they will be leaps and bounds better than anything I currently have on my BB, and I'll get Netflix on day one.

The leaked APK for Android isn't streaming videos on any device that it has been tried on. And if Qualcomm has a monopoly on Netflix for Android, the Atrix will never get it.

I know Netflix doesn't mean anything to you, but for me it would give me something to watch while I'm on the treadmill or some cartoons for the kids to watch when we are in the Doctor's office, car, etc.
 
The problem of smartphone games, they lack the subtle and complex input systems used in the DS and PSP. Please note, when you play those games a lot of the times your fingers are touching some graphically drawn buttons in the surface, reducing your view space and blocking your view.

Another thing. PSP and DS games store big. And I mean big. Many of these iPhone games are proud they are storing as much as 150mb of data. I got Spectral Souls on my Android. Spectral Souls is a Japanese RPG ported from the Sony PSP. How much space did it occupy on my SD? 1 freaking GIG. For one APP only. And that's among the smaller PSP games when it comes to footprint. There is a reason why these games use external media. When you move on to real console games like the PS3, the latter is already playing games that require storage on dual layer Blue Rays which means reaching as far as 50gb in sheer data.

But of course, we are not expecting full blown PSP deep Japanese RPGs to be headed to any WP7, though very likely to appear in the Android Playstation Phone aka Xperia Play, in the future.

As for Netflix, you're spending rent money to watch a substandard experience on a mobile. If I am going to spend money renting a video, it better be on a big 42" screen, 1080 resolution and running completely uninterrupted with the best possible framerate. If you want a big full blown steak dinner, enjoy it in a comfortable restaurant and in the best place possible. Mobile is like fast food. Watching video on a smartphone is like eating a McDonald's on the run---the food will never be as good as a full blown steak dinner. It simply is a crappy experience. Its probably smarter to just buy an iPad for god sakes and watch in on a thread mill and wait in a doctor's office. Heck if I am on a thread mill I would rather use my phone as a audio streaming device, and if I'm wanting on the Doctor's office, I would rather tweet. Geez man, if you actually watched a movie on an iPad or at least a tablet, you know its way way better experience than watching it on a smartphone with a mere 3.7" screen. And then when you compare an iPad against a full blown Regza or Bravia TV, the TV is on an entirely different level.

A smartphone as a distraction tool for kids is in my view, an overkill device, not to mention there is always the real risk they are going to seriously screw your phone up, or like someone important called your phone while they are playing on it. Worst yet, your boss called and your 5 year old will answer it.

You probably get better results giving them an iPod Touch, or a PSP Go or a Nintendo DS.
 
I had a long response typed up, but I really didn't want the focus of this thread to be defending my choice to be a Netflix subscriber and the desire to have it on my phone. I really want to hear about some comparable video services that are available for Android, or at least about some more killer apps that are available for Android that aren't for WP7.

I appreciate the things you have mentioned, I'm just wanting to hear more about some of the lesser known things Android is capable of that WP7 isn't. Maybe about some obscure app that I've never heard of and how wonderful it is.
 
There are lots of streaming video apps on Android, plus the fact that Android can watch videos directly from any web page like a PC. I've been viewing real time live streaming videos from news organizations for example. And naturally, there is always YouTube and the YouTube implementation on Android is the best I've seen on any phone with abilities like being being able to watch in a window while viewing and creating comments at the same time.

Also Android can download videos directly from the browser to the phone like any PC and you don't have to sync those videos to the phone. Of course, these stuff involves piracy and the same goes with Android apps that are Bit Torrent and YouTube downloaders. As such I personally don't condone them.

Among the lesser known things but its very important for me is that Android has the ability to share a link, information or picture from one app to another. And I'm not talking of copy and paste. I'm talking of being able to open _parts_ of other apps directly from the foreground app to share information. For example, from a Twitter app to the Facebook app. Or I can send the picture link from one Twitter app to be opened with the picture viewer of _another_ Twitter app, with the picture component directly overlaying the foreground app. I don't know if that is important for you though. But its mighty convenient browsing webpages then sending the pages to Delicious, Twitter, Facebook, Instapaper, Evernote, and so on.

There are categories of apps that WP7 doesn't appear to have due to socket and API restrictions. The first are BBM like apps, like Beluga, WhatsApp, Kik Messenger and so on. These sort of apps have become immensely popular with Android and iPhone users and are often used to communicate in groups of users of both platforms. Another is VOIP apps, especially in particular, Skype. Even in Android, you already VOIP either built into the phone like the Galaxy S i9000, or through apps, such as Yahoo Messenger (there is a plugin for video talk). Another is augmented reality apps, specifically things like Layar. These has to do with gyroscopic APIs as well as access to camera hardware.

I'm also fond of using lockscreen apps and shells. Lockscreen apps can improve security for example, by requiring a special pattern gesture to unlock the phone. Or they can make it more convenient to wake the phone. For example, I have converted the side volume buttons of my phone to wake the screen up. Note, when you grab a phone with the right hand, its easy for the index and middle fingers to fall on the volume buttons. This makes it superbly easy and convenient to wake the phone using the volume controls.

Also with lockscreen apps I can also read and interact with my email, SMS without opening the lockscreen, Again, very convenient.

Then there are things that are unique to Android, such as the ability to add services to the OS via the app, This includes things like the ability to sync contacts, adding sharing (like the example I told you above), or create new forms of push notifications. For example, I got Earthquake notifications on my Android. I got all sorts of apps that create their unique notifications. My notifications are sky's the limit --- its not limited to SMS, calls, and email. If an app for example, is successfully downloaded and installed, I get a notification for it. If it fails to install, I get a notification for it too, which when I click on it, will bring me directly to the Android Market so I can download it again.

And then there's widgets. I got widgets that turn data off and on right in the homescreen. That makes it very convenient when you're data rationing with a prepaid data SIM or if you're in a tiered data plan. In addition to that, I am also able to turn wifi on and off right in my homescreen. Again, very convenient for rationing power and protecting the phone from intrusion so you don't forget.

There are many things I can still put and put but the post is getting already too long.
 
Thanks again Drillbit. You've given me a lot to think about. I went to AT&T today and spent some quality time with the Atrix and you are right about the Youtube experience. I watched an "HD" youtube video and it looked so good I had to pick my jaw up off of the floor. I also installed Tegra zone and watched one of the videos for Galaxy on Fire 2 and it was gorgeous.
Also, the phone seemed to be a lot less laggy than I had seen the first few times I tried it out. If Gingerbread is as good as you say it is, and it does make it to the Atrix, it would be a sight to behold.

Not 100% sure which way I'm going to go, but the Atrix is calling my name again, haha.
 
Actually, I'm pretty sure every business user has an Exchange account, not stupid gFail...what company would allow their e-mail transactions and documents be data-mined by a marketer - holy insecure...

BTW, everyone gets 25GB for free, and have always been able to and that comes with Office Live, not Office knock-off kinda live, kinda target-marketed live...

I didn't say they were unique but they are real titles...just like The Harvest...

Android is a great O/S for hobbyists, WP7 is great for everyone else...
 
No, not all companies use Microsoft Exchange. Lots use BIS, IBM Domino, etc,. And as time goes, more and more use Google Docs, they are seeing they're saving major money going to Google cloud services. In traveling I notice many expats and journalists for example, use GMail. Hotmail? I've been using it for many years since 2000. It's a veritable mudbed for spam and ads. I've switched many users from Hotmail and Yahoo Mail to GMail and they're all been very happy with the speed, clean interface and the feeling they are not being taken for a ride. As for myself, I only opened up a GMail account early in 2009 and its a breadth of fresh air. Been noticing that my daughter has been using GMail for years ahead of me...which is what I'm noticing more---more and more of the next generation are using GMail.

Today, having a GMail, Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn address is now increasingly more and more important for doing business. Exchange is a thing of the past.

WP7? Our local carrier can't even sell any... while they are continually sell out their Android models.
 
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