Hero to Optimus S

So why did I switch to an Android phone with the name like an old Radio Shack speaker brand? My brother likes to get new phones especially since we’re on a two-year family plan contract from other phones, so he grabbed one of the LG Optimus phones. He played with it for a few days, then dumped it on me, and I kinda like it.

The LG Optimus S is about the same size as the Hero, same screen, slightly different buttons and no roller pad which I never really used any way except to activate the Hero camera. The HTC sense interface is much fancier and has much better eye candy, but I like lots of space for apps and a clean look, and with the new android 2.2 I can now install apps on to the SD card. the hero has a 5.0 megapixel camera, the LG only 3.2 megapixel. Better not forget my camera. The Optimus also seems much zippier, menus open and close faster, and the phone just seems more responsive. Not sure if that’s the 2.2, or better processor. It also has the Swype keyboard, with which I played with a little bit and am still trying to get used to. Battery life seems reasonable; I am not a power caller, but it will hold a charge with a few calls for a day or day and a half, and I just plug it into the computer.

So now I have to take inventory of the apps on the Hero.

Airhorn, Dan’s Blocks, SoundHound, Graffiti and 8pen keyboards, Dex Mobile, Barcode Scanner, KeePassDroid, Google Maps, Wi-fi Ruler, Dog Whistler, Skype, Instant Heart Rate (finger on the camera – neat trick), Dictionary.com, Twitter (unused), Compass, Dolphin Browser, Yelp, Pandora radio, Whoopie Cushion, My Tracks, Color Flashlight, GPS test, Bluetooth on/off, Advanced Task Killer (not needed, I guess, especially for android 2.2), Any Cut, ASTRO File Manager, Ringer Toggle Widget, WBEZ radio, and Curvefish GPS on/off. Holy cow, I guess one of those backup utilities would be a good idea. Yesterday when I started replacing the apps I’ve found that a lot of them were not compatible with Android 2.2. This included the Graffiti keyboard by Access, which I enjoy, except now I’m starting to see advertisements on the finger pad. Just charge me already. Also, some of the apps that I bought are on a different e-mail address. One is the London Journey app, which was really nice, but is only useful in London, and then only with a wi-fi connection because my phones are CDMA, not GSM. And I just went with the stock power control widget, and left a few out, since I did not use them.

Google account sync went flawlessly, contacts are imported from two different Google accounts, manually entered from phone contacts on the Hero, and calendars are ready to go. they use the navigation app from Google, and I do like the way it works much better than Sprint one, except the Sprint may have voices are much clearer and easier to understand. So far, so good.

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1 Response to Hero to Optimus S

  1. dave says:

    As of 18 Nov, 2010, the Graffiti keyboard is now available for 2.2. Nice.

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