Iphone 4 vs. Droid Razr Maxx for Youtube

[JDgreen227]

Got a query for the communications experts here:

My girlfriend has a 3 year old Iphone 4, and I have a nine-month-old Droid Razr Maxx, with both devices connected to my home wireless DSL router, after the initial pause to view the same YouTube video, her device will permit viewing to the end without pause, while my newer Droid has to pause about every 20 seconds to continue loading, then it will play another 20 seconds, pause to load again....

For the life of me I cannot understand why my much newer phone takes so much longer to play the same video...and the situation is pretty much the same for anything else. Got a clue? Thanks for any input.

 

[WilliamBos]

The crappiest OS in existence - Android is why!! Apple's IOS and the new BB systems have it beat hands down,

 

[aczlan]

Are you both watching at the same quality level? Her watching at 640x480 while you are watching at 720p would do that.

Aaron Z

 

[JDgreen227]

Are you both watching at the same quality level? Her watching at 640x480 while you are watching at 720p would do that.

Aaron Z

Good point, but her device has a 3.5" screen with 640X960 resolution while mine has a 4.3" screen with 540X960 resolution. We have no way to change the fixed resolution the displays have.

 

[aczlan]

Good point, but her device has a 3.5" screen with 640X960 resolution while mine has a 4.3" screen with 540X960 resolution. We have no way to change the fixed resolution the displays have.

I was speaking more of the amount of data that the phone has to download in order to display the movie and thinking that your internet connection could be the limiting factor.

Aaron Z

 

[s219]

Historically, iOS devices have been more polished for media delivery/playback, so it could simply be that the player on the iPhone is doing a better job loading and buffering the content. Remember, even though its an older iPhone, it's most likely running the most recent OS that continues to get improvements. That model is still sold today (free on contract now I believe). On top of that, iOS devices have contained hardware video decoding for many years, where other devices/platforms rely on software decoding. That makes a huge difference (it's like video acceleration on a PC by analogy).

On the flip side, certain Android devices do have a mind-boggling piss-poor media experience, likely due to crap software the phone maker or cell company put on there. I recently used a stock Android device with the "pure Google" Android install, and it was so much better than the garbage UI/software that Samsung, HTC, and Moto (to name a few) have been inflicting on customers. So you could be a victim of that I suppose.

But I agree with Aaron -- the first step would be to make sure both devices were downloading the exact same content before benchmarking.

 

[aczlan]

But I agree with Aaron -- the first step would be to make sure both devices were downloading the exact same content before benchmarking.

To do that, I would go to Youtube (from a computer) and find a video that ONLY has a certain quality. So, try the following videos:
240P: Tractors Plowing Field - YouTube
360P: National Geographic - Megastructures - Money Factory - YouTube
480P: The insides of my Homemade Tractor (Pictures + Video) - YouTube
720P: Dampf -Traktor pflügt - Steam Tractor plowing - YouTube

Aaron Z

 

[jejeosborne]

I will have to perform this test with my iphone 5 against my sons galaxy s4. I have been an iPhone user for years but after playing with my sons droid, apple better do some amazing thinks with the new phone to keep me. His phone is light years ahead of mine. Being able to split the screen and do two things, IR sensor, removable battery, and the biggest thing.....a memory card slot!

 

[JDgreen227]

To do that, I would go to Youtube (from a computer) and find a video that ONLY has a certain quality. So, try the following videos:
240P: Tractors Plowing Field - YouTube
360P: National Geographic - Megastructures - Money Factory - YouTube
480P: The insides of my Homemade Tractor (Pictures + Video) - YouTube
720P: Dampf -Traktor pflügt - Steam Tractor plowing - YouTube

Aaron Z

Thanks for your input....my sigificant other will be done with teaching for the summer today and will be here later tonight...we will do a test of one or two of those videos and I will post the results.