Well i had a funny Xmas.... My sister bought a Samsung 4 Mini, had a go of her phone over Xmas and i must admit i loved seeing all the emulators and after playing a few (Quake 2/Gameboy) i was extremely jealous that i couldnt get those on iOS easily or the emulators werent as good. I then got home and ordered a Samsung phone ! Theres me, Mr iOS joining the 'enemy' !! I love my iphone but i've only got a 16 gig phone, its an iphone 4 which seems quite slow now and the prices of new phones (i dont want to swap contracts) are huge. So Samsung it was ! But i had the phone for 2 days, perhaps i'm sooooo engrained with iOS i just didnt enjoy Android. Problem is as well with soooo many iOS apps i've bought (Spent £2000+ over the years) i just couldnt really switch. Plus iOS vouchers for Xmas didnt help ! Had 7 days to swap the phone back so i did. I'll probably buy a cheap Android tablet JUST for retro gaming emulators. I've spent so much on iOS over the years, i have an ipod touch/ipad as well but i just love gaming on my iphone, just wish it had an SD Mini card like some Android devices do !
Don't go for a cheap Android tablet; if you want a good one, the pricepoint rises significantly. All the reviews I read boil down to "cheap for reason". These are low-price because their manufacturers save on the hardware. From what I remember, mostly on the display and the processors; low RAM and storage is only an issue with the bargain bin ones. Also, I recall that the SD cards do not work properly on many Android devices, because they are not integrated well into the filesystem. Last, make sure to get a model where the manufacturer has a history of providing OS upgrades at all: many don't do any, to "encourage" you to buy a new device instead. Timely upgrades is another matter, usually they come with huge delays (months) if at all.
Using an s4 mini myself although with a 64gb Micro SD + Nova launcher prime installed and I've also a lot of the google/samsung stock apps disabled. I think I'll use this as a chance to show off my homescreen just for the heck of it basically just Nova Prime and the Cyrcle Icon Pack. It's actually my favourite android device out of the 2 or 3 I own, I especially like the IR blaster with an app called smart IR it's basically always with me now and controls everything from my Tv, Music System, Bedroom fans. Downside is I've a large selection of apps on both iTunes and Google Play and I'm still using both to a certain extent I've definitely been spending more with Google recently though. So I can certainly understand why you don't want to walk away from iTunes if you have a lot invested there but theres no harm in having a few devices to choose between if you can afford to.
I'm glad you said you could disable a lot of those apps. I was disappointed it only had 16 gig, but only about 7 seemed to be available. Some apps were fine installing on the SD card but some seemed like they had to install on the phone itself which was a pain. Might have been hasty sending it back but i had a 7 day grace period and with New Year etc i had to make sure it was back in time. I've read a lot of reviews for the cheap Tescos Hudl tablet, i think for what i want it for (Just old emulators) it should be fine
I think it differs by carrier I'm in the UK so I have found I can disable pretty much everything I want, I was surprised to read recently some Americans can't unless they root the phone. To be honest while Samsung phones can install things to the MicroSD it's not really worth doing your better of using that space for files like videos, music, movies, ebooks, etc as you don't seem to save that much space even when the apps transfer. Yeah I'd say the hudl could likely handle emulators fine I've an older Nexus 7 and it does fine.
Thought so myself too. Got a note 2. Still have it. In some drawer collecting dust I think. Worst piece of tech I've owned in almost a decade. Never again. Even my dumb phone is better than note 2 or S3. Atleast I don't need two hands just for dialling a number (or doing anything else for that matters) or put a brick next to my ear & face just to talk. And then there's android. It's not as bad as I feared but it's nowhere near as great as some people claim it to be. I'd rate android as 5/10 OS compared to 7/10 iOS 7 (would have been 8/10 if it wasn't so buggy and crashy on my ipad 3). The additional features like "true" multi tasking, widgets, customizations and "open'ness" all ended up being useless in the end. Didn't care the tiniest bit about any of them. Couldn't find the least bit of interesting use of any such features. It's just a freakin phone. Just be great at being a mobile phone and I'll be satisfied. Unfortunately most android devices are neither great at being mobile nor at being a phone. Atleast not IMO.
A bit offtopic: "It's just a phone" is exactly why I went lowtech with mine: http://www.emporia.eu/en/products/overview/emporiaeleganceplus I briefly considered the ruggedised version http://www.emporia.eu/en/products/overview/emporiasolidplus but the bigger buttons on the Elegance won out with my big fingers For fun stuff like games I have my iPad. Phone really only needs to make calls, I don't even need SMS these days.
Funny you should say that. I haven't even touched my iPad since getting a Note 3 in October. I bought Oceanhorn, played it until the 6% left in my battery drained out and I haven't bothered charging since. I love my iPad and it totally ruined iPhone gaming for me, but I doubt I'll ever get one again. It's too big and bulky. I'd pick up a mini, but not having a phone is a pain in the ass...and that's where the Note 3 comes in. It's everything I need and the size is perfect. Sure, the fact that I don't get all the games I want to is annoying, but in every other aspect, I'm enjoying Android more than I did iOS. Hell, I have God of War: Chains of Olympus and Ghost of Sparta running on my ****ing phone. EDIT: Oh, I should probably mention that this doesn't mean I've given up on iOS. Once it's time to move on from the Note 3, I'll be getting an iPhone. But yeah...not an iPad.
Pjs3809, might I make a suggestion? If you want really good and varied emulators but aren't really worried about it not being that portable, I'd recommend an Ouya. Before you shoot me down in flames I have to say I'm an emulation nut, I tried emulators on my ipad (gridlee etc) and the touch screen controls sucked, so I bought an 8-bitty made it better but obviously the amount of emulators on iOS was very limiting. I read the Ouya was good at emulation so I bought one and I use it purely for emulation purposes, it's brilliant and emulates so many of my favourite systems, just off the top of my head, I have games installed for the:- Gb, nes, snes, gbc, gba, N64, Atari 2600, C64, BBC micro, Mame, Sega ms, Colecovision, PC Engine, Dos, Genesis, PSP, Amiga, Playstation 1, MSX, and others that I can't remember atm. For a pure retro emulation system IMO it's well worth the price
I gave my iPhone 4S to my wife and switched to a HTC One about 8 months ago... haven't looked back since. It's fast as lightning, has a bigger screen (not HUGE like the Note), and dare I say, looks/feels a LOT better than any iPhone i've used. Granted, I also use an iPad Mini daily (upgraded to Retina Mini last month) so i'm pretty happy with the combination. If I had to choose between phones had I not owned an iPad, it would be the iPhone hands down... but the Mini Retina more than satiates my hunger for iOS gaming / apps / etc
I have never had an iPhone but I've worked with plenty. I like the iphone ok, but the screen is simply too small for me. I'm using a Nexus 5 now and have the S3 also. I'm a big guy, the S3 and Nexus are perfect for me, but I tried he note for a month and thought it was too big. IPhone is too small. 4.9 inch or so is the Goldilocks zone for me I guess. My nexus 5 gives me two days battery life on average and it is super fast. I do hate the new email client and some of the lack of a text messaging client. Plus, when you go to type an email now the address book shows me every single person I've ever emailed. Yeah, every single person I've ever sent one single email to via outlook on my computer shows up as a contact. Thousands of people. I'd try an iPhone if it were larger, but my perfect iOS device is what I'm typing this on, my ipad mini. Absolutely my perfect device and I use it daily. I've also used windows phone and enjoyed it too actually, used one for almost two years recently with no major complaints with how I use a phone anyway.
I just don't think I could ever get passed the phablet size of the Note. It's like we regressed to the 80's. I'm a big guy myself, 6'4". But using both hands to dial instead of just one and taking up all of your pockets space... Not for me. Although my 3 siblings have Android phones, I'm the black sheep it seems. As I tell them, if I want customization, I have my PC for where it matters, I just want my phone to be stable, dependable, and play decent games. That's exactly what I have in my 5s. I have pondered getting a Nexus 7 for my tablet needs but I fear it may feel cheap. Oh and yeah, I'm not a pro Apple kind of guy, never have been. But damn they sold me on their tablets and iPhones.
Phablets like the 5.7 inch note 3 are good for people who use the web alot on the road, or even at home like watching tv. It's great for reading news, sports, forums, etc. I actually use it alot watching tv at the same time. Also use it now as a video server cause it has good hdmi at 1080p, with unlimited memory (sd cards) and batteries (replaceable), it is a great DV player like machine. Gaming is perfect at 5.7 inch, never could play on an iphone cause the screen is so small. But prefer the ipad for gaming.
Yeah it's funny as I prefer the iPhone for gaming. Think that's due to playing on a gameboy for years and then a pocket PC. Plus I find it more discreet playing a game on my iPhone rather than an iPad on the train or bus
I'll be honest the only games I play on Android are Sentinel 3, Galaxy on Fire 2 and I've toyed with a few emulators but I want to get a bluetooth gamepad before I can really take that seriously. I know mogas are very popular on android and meant to be the best so far but I want one of these little impulse gamepads Just think it's cool to have a little gamepad you can keep on your keyring.
Moga joystick with a note 3, 5.7 inch screen feels like a Vita, so it is really cool. Hope someday they make a big iphone, maybe I would go back. But maybe not. I think up to 6 inches might be perfect for me. Actually this note 3 is about right, though it is a little big for use as a phone, use earbuds with mic for that. But the funnest thing for me is playing shmups with the spen. So much fun playing Danmaku 2 and Raiden Trilogy with the spen. Funny, don't really use it for handwriting, but it rocks for playing shmups. And the colors on amoled are so amazing. Shmup heaven.
If it's mostly emulators you're going to run on that device, you might consider getting Xperia Play. It's ancient, underpowered, but simply awesome to run NES/SNES/N64 and other emulators. The highest Android version available is 2.3.4. Most PSX games run acceptably, but some stutter because of low performance. For retro gaming - I can recommend it more than any tablet. The original Contra plays better than the new one on the iPad
