So, a couple weeks ago I got a couple of new phones: a Galaxy S2 and an iPhone 5. This pair is replacing the Nexus S and the HTC Legend. Why a Galaxy S2? Isn’t there an S3 and an S4 out there? Yes, and here’s why I got the S2.

First, I really like my Nexus S.  It’s the right size, has a nice display and does everything I need. But, it’s been doing these things at a progressively slower rate, and was becoming increasingly frustrating.  Initially, I took a look at the HTC One, Galaxy S4 and the Nexus 4 as replacements.  Both the HTC One and the S4 were way too big, and the Nexus 4’s somewhat dated specs and glass back didn’t seem like a great idea.  Like the S4, the S3 was also way too big, but the S2 and it’s 4.3″ screen seemed a bit more reasonable, at least at the time.

I don’t like the Galaxy S2.  Despite it’s comparatively small size, it’s too wide, feels bad in my hand, it’s corners are too squared-off and it’s generally terrible to use.  Believe it or not, the iPhone 5 is a great size and these monster Galaxy phones make it all the more obvious.  Specifically, the narrower form factor of the iPhone 5 really works well,  and with the exception of the Nexus S, makes these other phones look like poorly-designed, poorly-thought-out alternatives.  Thanks to the S2, I now have a chronically sore thumb from the too-wide screen and a slight scowl from repeated exposure to an offensive UI.

More complaints.  While Jelly Bean on the Nexus S offers a well-designed UI that both looks good and is easy to use, the Samsunged version of Jelly Bean offers almost none of this.  TouchWiz UX Nature is an awful name befitting an awful product.  Where Google’s Jelly Bean UI is clean, simple and nice, Samsung substitutes clutter, unnecessary crap and a UI seemingly designed by several groups unaware of the others existence.  What’s worse?  It’s very difficult and time consuming to remove most of this damage, and even then some of it remains.  In my efforts to make the phone tolerable, I’m using Holo Launcher HD, SwiftKey, Camera ICS+ and a few other small apps.  I tried a few other launchers (Apex, Go Launcher EX, Launcher Pro), but Holo Launcher HD is the most Jelly-Bean-like out of all of them. Like the rest of the Samsung software, both the camera app and the keyboard in the  TouchWiz UX whatever are terrible.  In both cases, the stock alternatives are much better, and their absence is stupefying.  However, the single most annoying aspect of the phone (and one that I get to look at dozens of times per day) is Samsung’s cobbled-together notifications layout.  Green buttons, blue sliders and randomly shaded buttons?  What’s the second most annoying aspect of the S2?  That would be the notification sound (that cannot be disabled) when I plug the charger in every night.  It often seems like Samsung went out of their way to make every little last detail of the phone make you dislike it that much more.

Almost done.  My experience with the S2 has convinced me that Nexus phones are definitely the way to go.  I have no idea how so many people tollerate Samsung’s needlessly ugly, awful and generally infuriating changes to Android.  Assuming the next Nexus phone isn’t fatally flawed, the S2 is going straight to eBay once the Nexus 4’s sucessor is available.

Finally, the iPhone 5.  There’s not much to say here.  It’s an iPhone, it works, it’s well made, and despite iOS’s shortcomings, it’s very nice to use.  The iPhone 5’s biggest letdown is iOS. When compared to stock Jelly Bean, iOS seems dated and boring.  However, when compared to TouchWiz Nature UX, iOS is both refreshing and so much nicer to use.  Yes, TouchWiz is that bad.  Anyway, iOS’s grid of icons and the lack of configurability (Why can’t I set Chrome as my default browser???) need to go.  If Apple can address this with iOS 7, the iPhone would become a great alternative to a Nexus phone.

Update: I switched to Action Launcher Pro and have been using it for the past couple weeks.  Not only is it very Jelly-Bean like in appearance, but it also has some very novel and useful features.  If you haven’t tried it, it’s definitely worth a look.

Update 2: Google recently released the stock Jelly Bean keyboard to the Play Store (Google Keyboard), and it’s a welcome improvement over both the Samsung keyboard and SwiftKey.

Update 3: Problem solved, I bought an iPhone 5s.

I like reviewing old, obsolete products, so here’s another.  The USB port on my Nexus S died recently, and I got this loaner HTC with the Nexus is in for repair.

While the HTC is a fairly recent phone, it still runs Gingerbread (2.3.3), and feels very dated when coming from my Nexus S running Jelly Bean (4.0).  HTC sense is also not much fun.

The HTCs most obvious feature is it’s fold-out physical keyboard.  I’ve heard that some people prefer ‘real’ keyboards, but I have no idea why.  Even the clunky stock-Gingerbread keyboard is better.   The keys on the HTC are too small, require too much force, and the layout is all wrong.  On the positive side, the ‘z-hinge’ is clever.  Maybe next time HTC can use it to conceal something useful.

Aside from the awfulness of the keyboard, it makes the phone awkward and heavy.  The weight, when combined with the sharp, cold metal edges, gives me the uncanny feeling that when I’m talking on the HTC, I’m actually holding a wrench to the side of my head.

I’m not done complaining.  Like the rest of the phone, the speaker is disappointing.  I’m not asking a lot of it, but I like to  listen to podcasts on my phone, and the HTC isn’t up to the task.

What’s good about the HTC?  The battery seems to last a long time, at least longer than my Nexus S.  Also, I like the notification LED.  Other than that, I’m looking forward to getting my Nexus S back.

Twice I’ve encountered Google’s attempts to keep me from accessing some apps for my phone. In both cases, the apps I wanted were restricted to the U.S. market. In both cases, I had to look up how to fix the problem. So, here’s the simplest solution I found:

1. Disable all location services on the device
2. Turn off the device and swap a compatible SIM for one from correct region
3. Turn on the device, connect to the store via WiFi and download the app
4. Turn off the device, swap original SIM back in
5. Turn on the device, reenable location services

There are some limitations when using this method.  First, you obviously need a SIM from the correct region/market.  Second, the restricted app won’t update unless you swap a compatible SIM back into the device.