iPhone 6 or Samsung galaxy?
January 8, 2015 10:06 PM Subscribe
I've had an iPhone for as long as I've had a smart phone but I don't like certain things about it (The inability to replace the battery yourself and not being able to add on storage size) which is why I'm considering switching to a Samsung android phone. I'm just concerned that I won't like it because I'm so used to the iPhone. I currently own all things Apple (MacBook, iPad, iPod) and am used to iTunes. Is it worth it to switch to a Samsung android phone or should I just buy the new iPhone 6? How's the learning curve on switching to an android phone when you've always used an iPhone?
FWIW I switched from Android to iOS about 18 months ago after swearing I'd never get an iPhone, in large part because you couldn't change the battery or add storage. But when I thought about all the time I'd had my Android, I realized I never actually did either of those things.
posted by asterix at 10:20 PM on January 8, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by asterix at 10:20 PM on January 8, 2015 [2 favorites]
Stick to the iPhone. Go with the 128gb model and don't worry about adding on storage space. If you do need an insane amount of space, some external drives are coming on the market soon.
What are your concerns about the non-removable battery? There exist external battery packs and charging options if you go a long time without access to an outlet to charge.
I market, test and support a successful mobile app. I never look forward to using an Android (even the newer models).
Just an overall less pleasant experience in my opinion.
posted by paulcole at 10:23 PM on January 8, 2015 [4 favorites]
What are your concerns about the non-removable battery? There exist external battery packs and charging options if you go a long time without access to an outlet to charge.
I market, test and support a successful mobile app. I never look forward to using an Android (even the newer models).
Just an overall less pleasant experience in my opinion.
posted by paulcole at 10:23 PM on January 8, 2015 [4 favorites]
Samsung isn't exactly Android, though... Given the choice, I would choose an iPhone (I have a Nexus 5 with stock Android - Lollipop - and there is no way in hell I would ever buy a Samsung phone).
posted by Nevin at 10:31 PM on January 8, 2015
posted by Nevin at 10:31 PM on January 8, 2015
I switched from an iPhone to a Samsung Galaxy S5. While I like android more than iOS, I seriously hate this phone. It is glitchy, its battery life is only marginally better, it is ugly, it has a terrible flap thingy for the charging port, its camera is awful and it cannot accurately capture colour and the list just goes on.
Android is somewhat more convenient for me, but the Samsung Galaxy S5 is just a terrible phone. I would stick with the iPhone if you don't want to consider other android phones.
posted by cyml at 10:33 PM on January 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
Android is somewhat more convenient for me, but the Samsung Galaxy S5 is just a terrible phone. I would stick with the iPhone if you don't want to consider other android phones.
posted by cyml at 10:33 PM on January 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
FWIW I'm in a similar boat, looking for an Android device that I like enough to switch off of iOS. I was hoping I'd like the OnePlus One, but it turned out to be bigger than I was into. An unlocked Nexus 5 still seems like a good route, but those are also getting somewhat long in the tooth. Yesterday Amazon was selling Fire phones for dirt cheap so I'm going to play around with that (seems pretty easy to get Google Play store working on it) for a couple of months until the next iPhone comes out.
posted by homesickness at 10:38 PM on January 8, 2015
posted by homesickness at 10:38 PM on January 8, 2015
I have a friend who had only ever owned Mac products and she recently switched to android (nexus 5 though, not Samsung). She loves it so much she has become annoyingly evangelistic about it, and is working on all her iPhone-owning friends to switch too. But she's a tinkerer at heart and I think what she loves most is how customisable the android system is.
posted by lollusc at 10:40 PM on January 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by lollusc at 10:40 PM on January 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
Android phones are pretty quick to pick up for iphone users. Instead of pressing the center button in complicated patterns, you get three buttons or icons. interactions are either short or long presses. I see like my folks having more issues switching to iphone
If you don't like something, you can also usually get a different version of it. home screen, dialer, browser, file manager, music player, whatever.
posted by gryftir at 11:06 PM on January 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
If you don't like something, you can also usually get a different version of it. home screen, dialer, browser, file manager, music player, whatever.
posted by gryftir at 11:06 PM on January 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
Personally, if I had all Apple devices, I'd stick with iPhone.
A guy I was with for a while was an Apple fanboy. His laptop was Apple, they had an AppleTV, iPhone, the whole shebang. The great thing about it was how everything just worked together in a really effortless way. So like, we'd be out for dinner and talking about what we wanted to watch when we got home; a few little taps on the screen, and when we got back to his place the movie would be downloaded in iTunes and ready to watch on the TV. The only reason I'm not an Apple person is financial--there's something to be said for the walled garden approach in terms of usability between devices. The simplicity of all devices more or less acting solely as different portals to a unified experience is a good thing, to me.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 11:11 PM on January 8, 2015 [2 favorites]
A guy I was with for a while was an Apple fanboy. His laptop was Apple, they had an AppleTV, iPhone, the whole shebang. The great thing about it was how everything just worked together in a really effortless way. So like, we'd be out for dinner and talking about what we wanted to watch when we got home; a few little taps on the screen, and when we got back to his place the movie would be downloaded in iTunes and ready to watch on the TV. The only reason I'm not an Apple person is financial--there's something to be said for the walled garden approach in terms of usability between devices. The simplicity of all devices more or less acting solely as different portals to a unified experience is a good thing, to me.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 11:11 PM on January 8, 2015 [2 favorites]
I have switched... several times and am right in the middle of switching back to iOS from a OnePlus One (5.5" phablet) and previously from a Nexus 4.
Switching is pretty easy these days - most popular apps are cloud based and don't really store anything on your local device. They sync to the cloud, the app on iOS or Android devices sync with the cloud and no data is lost. For the best results on Android you'll probably have to change your email / contacts / calendar provider to Google (Gmail). I do this already with my iPhone. Apps are pretty much the same except for games, where most will come out a few months on Android and some won't come out at all.
There are more buttons (home / back / multitasking) and the notification pulldown also doubles as the wifi / bluetooth toggles and settings. It's no big deal either way.
Stock Android doesn't have privacy controls, which is a huge annoyance when some random app decides it's going to continually grab your location and spam your contacts. You can reflash with CyanogenMod or root and use XPrivacy or similar to get the same behavior as in iOS. These things aren't perfect and often introduce small, minor bugs in things. All the cool Google stuff (Google Now) requires you to give them all your information and track you / listen to you all the time.
You can customize a lot of things. If you like to tinker or you really want icon packs, Facebook popup bubbles, auto-magically changing home screens and widgets, or background automation (ITTT, Tasker) then Android is for you. I have tried a lot of them and most are not worth the effort.
Most branded phones from Samsung or HTC come pre-customized, usually for the worse. They'll push their own customized homescreens, camera apps, or keyboards on you, and you'll probably want to replace them immediately. Phones from big carriers will have even more bloatwear, apps trying to get you to pay the carrier more money.
Battery life can be better or worse depending on what you install on it. All those cool things running in the background suck down battery life. You'll spend more time managing and messing with settings on your phone than on iOS. If you like doing that sort of thing you can end up with great results. If you would rather not you can end up with a very bad experience.
Resale value on Android devices is worse, and the market is more crowded. To avoid some of the problems above I'd recommend a Nexus 5 or any of the Moto X / G devices, with a small nod to the OnePlus One or last years Galaxy Note if you want a huge iPhone 6 Plus-sized device. Check out Swappa.com.
posted by meowzilla at 11:12 PM on January 8, 2015 [2 favorites]
Switching is pretty easy these days - most popular apps are cloud based and don't really store anything on your local device. They sync to the cloud, the app on iOS or Android devices sync with the cloud and no data is lost. For the best results on Android you'll probably have to change your email / contacts / calendar provider to Google (Gmail). I do this already with my iPhone. Apps are pretty much the same except for games, where most will come out a few months on Android and some won't come out at all.
There are more buttons (home / back / multitasking) and the notification pulldown also doubles as the wifi / bluetooth toggles and settings. It's no big deal either way.
Stock Android doesn't have privacy controls, which is a huge annoyance when some random app decides it's going to continually grab your location and spam your contacts. You can reflash with CyanogenMod or root and use XPrivacy or similar to get the same behavior as in iOS. These things aren't perfect and often introduce small, minor bugs in things. All the cool Google stuff (Google Now) requires you to give them all your information and track you / listen to you all the time.
You can customize a lot of things. If you like to tinker or you really want icon packs, Facebook popup bubbles, auto-magically changing home screens and widgets, or background automation (ITTT, Tasker) then Android is for you. I have tried a lot of them and most are not worth the effort.
Most branded phones from Samsung or HTC come pre-customized, usually for the worse. They'll push their own customized homescreens, camera apps, or keyboards on you, and you'll probably want to replace them immediately. Phones from big carriers will have even more bloatwear, apps trying to get you to pay the carrier more money.
Battery life can be better or worse depending on what you install on it. All those cool things running in the background suck down battery life. You'll spend more time managing and messing with settings on your phone than on iOS. If you like doing that sort of thing you can end up with great results. If you would rather not you can end up with a very bad experience.
Resale value on Android devices is worse, and the market is more crowded. To avoid some of the problems above I'd recommend a Nexus 5 or any of the Moto X / G devices, with a small nod to the OnePlus One or last years Galaxy Note if you want a huge iPhone 6 Plus-sized device. Check out Swappa.com.
posted by meowzilla at 11:12 PM on January 8, 2015 [2 favorites]
I once switched from iPhone to Android, but the lack of a decent music player was a deal-breaker and I switched back. That was the Nexus 5; I'm not sure if Samsung does any better on that front, but if you listen to lots of music on your phone and you're already plugged into the iTunes ecosystem and, like me, accustomed to it in all its flaws, you might find this aspect to be the biggest disappointment.
Generally, I found the android system generally less intuitive user-friendly, but that was surely because I'd been using the iPhone for so long is was practically an extension of my body. People who are used to android have the same feelings switching to iPhone.
posted by moorooka at 11:13 PM on January 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
Generally, I found the android system generally less intuitive user-friendly, but that was surely because I'd been using the iPhone for so long is was practically an extension of my body. People who are used to android have the same feelings switching to iPhone.
posted by moorooka at 11:13 PM on January 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
The problem I had with Samsung was the incredibly shifty software. I never could back my phone up successfully despite half the programmers in the building getting involved. If you look online it's beyond a common problem, basically their software doesn't work. That's a deal breaker for me. Very happy with HTC phones though.
posted by fshgrl at 12:26 AM on January 9, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by fshgrl at 12:26 AM on January 9, 2015 [2 favorites]
Short answer - Stick with iphone. I am a senior IT Professional that has used everything under the sun including Blackberry, Andriod, Apple and even --- Windows Mobile phones.
The simple truth is that when you have other apple components and an iphone as well, everything just works. I do like Andriod but it is a pain in the ass and you will be a bit disappointed.
The other thing which no one has mentioned but is really important is that you will lose iMessage and Facetime. Facetime might not be big to you, but iMessage service is awesome!! It automatically routes SMS/MMS via internet to other iphone users and has an enormous amount of secondary features.
For iMessage and Facetime alone I would keep to the iphone 6. Also because you really don@t get any advantage switching to Android. How many times are you going to replace a battery? Or better yet - you do realise that on Android phones even though you can add a SD card, the max space tops out at 128GB anyway!
posted by Funmonkey1 at 12:54 AM on January 9, 2015 [3 favorites]
The simple truth is that when you have other apple components and an iphone as well, everything just works. I do like Andriod but it is a pain in the ass and you will be a bit disappointed.
The other thing which no one has mentioned but is really important is that you will lose iMessage and Facetime. Facetime might not be big to you, but iMessage service is awesome!! It automatically routes SMS/MMS via internet to other iphone users and has an enormous amount of secondary features.
For iMessage and Facetime alone I would keep to the iphone 6. Also because you really don@t get any advantage switching to Android. How many times are you going to replace a battery? Or better yet - you do realise that on Android phones even though you can add a SD card, the max space tops out at 128GB anyway!
posted by Funmonkey1 at 12:54 AM on January 9, 2015 [3 favorites]
I really am pretty taken aback to see people giving you definitive "stick with the iPhone" answers backed with "I am a _____" statements. This is NOT like "I am a lawyer" or "I am a doctor." The preference is entirely subjective.
The only way to get a feel for how easy or difficult the transition may be for you is to put your hands on some phones.
PS: My Galaxy battery life is awesome.
posted by DarlingBri at 1:22 AM on January 9, 2015 [6 favorites]
The only way to get a feel for how easy or difficult the transition may be for you is to put your hands on some phones.
PS: My Galaxy battery life is awesome.
posted by DarlingBri at 1:22 AM on January 9, 2015 [6 favorites]
I made one of the worst impulsive decisions of my life, when after a series of problems with my iPhone 5c, I abandoned it and bought a motox android on the spur of the moment. For this iPhone user the android experience was overly complicated and not intuitive. There was no easy way to solve problems as verizon and google approached tech support differently. In other words, there was no applecare to call and sort things out. I counted the months and days until the iPhone 6 came out, bought one, and am now blissfully happy with it.
posted by Xurando at 4:44 AM on January 9, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Xurando at 4:44 AM on January 9, 2015 [2 favorites]
I just got the iphone 6 last week after having an android for a few years before. I don't really notice much of a difference, and I pretty much do the same things on my new iphone as i did on my old android. I only made the switch because I have an ipad which I use a lot and wanted things to work together a little easier.
posted by unreasonable at 4:47 AM on January 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by unreasonable at 4:47 AM on January 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
If you're going to decide based on what we say here, then I think you should stick with iPhone. It's a good phone, you know how it works, and you're heavily into the Apple ecosystem. The things you mentioned don't justify switching.
That said, what I think you really should do is find a way to get your hands on some phones to play around with. Test drive a Galaxy, and then decide.
posted by J. Wilson at 5:47 AM on January 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
That said, what I think you really should do is find a way to get your hands on some phones to play around with. Test drive a Galaxy, and then decide.
posted by J. Wilson at 5:47 AM on January 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
Do you listen to music with your phone? OSX doesn't natively deal well with Android devices, so syncing/loading music is a pain, and you need a third-party application to do it.
I switched a couple years ago to a Moto, but have since come back to the iPhone fold. I'm no dummy, and I actually found a few things that Android does not handle elegantly or intuitively, to say the least. First day I had it, spent 15 minutes trying to figure out how to add a contact.
I personally think Samsung's iteration of Android is sh*t, and would recommend that if you wanted an Android phone, you look at HTC, Moto X or a Nexus device. That said, I wholly recommend getting an iPhone 6.
posted by General Malaise at 6:02 AM on January 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
I switched a couple years ago to a Moto, but have since come back to the iPhone fold. I'm no dummy, and I actually found a few things that Android does not handle elegantly or intuitively, to say the least. First day I had it, spent 15 minutes trying to figure out how to add a contact.
I personally think Samsung's iteration of Android is sh*t, and would recommend that if you wanted an Android phone, you look at HTC, Moto X or a Nexus device. That said, I wholly recommend getting an iPhone 6.
posted by General Malaise at 6:02 AM on January 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
Wirecutter recommend the iPhone 6 over Android devices - and they have attempted to say, objectively, why. If you doubt their neutrality- or are just not convinced - then they also recommend various Android phones. They actually recommend 6 different models according to your specific needs - so that could be worth paying attention to.
posted by rongorongo at 6:35 AM on January 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by rongorongo at 6:35 AM on January 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
I just recently upgraded to the iPhone 6 and I love it. It is great for taking pictures, especially of the fish I catch!, but all the functions are pretty nice! The ability to remove oneself from a group text is amazing alone, voice messages are great for when you need to say a lot, rather than typing, etc. I also really like the call feature where you can make calls on wifi and then it seamlessly transitions over to the mobile/cell network. This allows me to take calls in the basement of my house, where I don't get much of a signal, but now I can use Wifi, if I have to leave the house, the phone will switch over to the cell service when i get out of Wifi range. It's pretty awesome!
posted by MMiller3669 at 6:36 AM on January 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by MMiller3669 at 6:36 AM on January 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
Do you create music with your phone? If you're using your phone for any kind of music production work, you don't want to leave the iOS world. For years I've been hearing that all kinds of great synthesizers and such are just around the corner for Android - but it hasn't happened yet.
I'm a software developer and not an especially big Apple Fanboy - they screwed me years ago on my Apple ][e+ and I've never completely trusted them since - but for all the evils of Apple's "walled garden", it still makes life simpler for me. If I was 15yo and just loving anything and everything 'computer', I'd love Android, you can spend hours and days tweaking it. But 15yo was a looong time ago for me - these days, I really just want some kind of "app engine" that simply runs apps I need to focus on a higher-level task. I don't want to waste my time setting permissions flags etc.
posted by doctor tough love at 6:37 AM on January 9, 2015
I'm a software developer and not an especially big Apple Fanboy - they screwed me years ago on my Apple ][e+ and I've never completely trusted them since - but for all the evils of Apple's "walled garden", it still makes life simpler for me. If I was 15yo and just loving anything and everything 'computer', I'd love Android, you can spend hours and days tweaking it. But 15yo was a looong time ago for me - these days, I really just want some kind of "app engine" that simply runs apps I need to focus on a higher-level task. I don't want to waste my time setting permissions flags etc.
posted by doctor tough love at 6:37 AM on January 9, 2015
I sort of have to go with the iPhone 6 people here. I have used apple products for years, from computers, iPads, iPods and of course the iPhone. They have quality stuff and the support has been awesome so far. No issues with anything!
The point that MMiller made about the Wifi to Cell network call transitions is great. When I heard about this feature, I watched the Apple Presser, I thought, wow!
The only drawback I have is the size. I have a 6 Plus and the thing is gynormous. We are talking epic size here. I do a lot of "dudely" activities, like outdoors stuff, hockey, sports, etc and it's really tough to have that thing in your pocket. In the wintertime I can put it in my coat, but I can only imagine how its going to be when I'm wearing shorts or something in the summer. Only time will tell I suppose.
posted by SCarey at 6:41 AM on January 9, 2015
The point that MMiller made about the Wifi to Cell network call transitions is great. When I heard about this feature, I watched the Apple Presser, I thought, wow!
The only drawback I have is the size. I have a 6 Plus and the thing is gynormous. We are talking epic size here. I do a lot of "dudely" activities, like outdoors stuff, hockey, sports, etc and it's really tough to have that thing in your pocket. In the wintertime I can put it in my coat, but I can only imagine how its going to be when I'm wearing shorts or something in the summer. Only time will tell I suppose.
posted by SCarey at 6:41 AM on January 9, 2015
Recent iPhone to Android convert here. I went in to look at the iPhone 6 a couple times and was unimpressed- I don't care for its design, the camera lens that sticks out, etc. The price is overkill. And perhaps I'm an immature rebel, but I'm turned off by the fanboys who stand in line, and by being lumped in with the typical wool sweater wearing, ovepriced wine drinking, cheese eating, Whole Foods shopping, REM listening, slightly balding, rich, middle aged, suburban, typical iPhone user that was swarming the stores I went to.
Anyway, my new phone is a blast. What I like is how much more customizable the phone is. The fact that Apple hasn't incorporated widgets into their design yet is just silly, for example. I also liked the price. My OnePlus One cost me $360 off contract, including taxes and shipping, where an iPhone 6 Plus would've been at least $900 for bigger storage and a comparable screen size. My battery life is tremendous. Almost every daily driver app I used before I can use now, with only a couple cases where I've had to find alternatives. CyanogenMod is excellent as are its privacy features.
What I don't like is that Android phones are MUCH glitchier. I'm a PC power user so this is no big deal to me, but I could see this bothering a lot of people. The settings are more complicated (though of course there is much more you can customize). Apple has also don't a better job with iPhone cameras.
One note about Samsungs. I've played around with them quite a bit as several family members have them. Personally I will never buy one for two reasons. First, their OS is full of bloat- junky Samsung and carrier apps you'd never use, et cetera. Second, I don't care for the build quality. The iPhone 5s I came from had an all aluminum body- a heavier duty feel. My phone now has a plastic back, but the frame is a magnesium alloy- again, heavier duty. The Samsungs I've tried are all plastic, except for the glass touchscreen. When I hold them they feel cheap to me. Personal preference though, plenty of people like them.
Anyway, if you want to go Android, I would only suggest 2 phones... the OnePlus One (cheap and an amazing value but very hard to buy, awful customer service, a total power user phone) or the Nexus 6 (much more expensive, but excellent customer service from Google that rivals or exceeds Apple, a little easier to use). Both of these are monster phones the size of a 6 plus, and neither have expandable memory or replaceable batteries. Samsung is really the only major Android manufacturer that is still pursuing those two features, I think.
So given all that, though it pains me to say it, just stick with iPhones.
posted by Old Man McKay at 7:00 AM on January 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
Anyway, my new phone is a blast. What I like is how much more customizable the phone is. The fact that Apple hasn't incorporated widgets into their design yet is just silly, for example. I also liked the price. My OnePlus One cost me $360 off contract, including taxes and shipping, where an iPhone 6 Plus would've been at least $900 for bigger storage and a comparable screen size. My battery life is tremendous. Almost every daily driver app I used before I can use now, with only a couple cases where I've had to find alternatives. CyanogenMod is excellent as are its privacy features.
What I don't like is that Android phones are MUCH glitchier. I'm a PC power user so this is no big deal to me, but I could see this bothering a lot of people. The settings are more complicated (though of course there is much more you can customize). Apple has also don't a better job with iPhone cameras.
One note about Samsungs. I've played around with them quite a bit as several family members have them. Personally I will never buy one for two reasons. First, their OS is full of bloat- junky Samsung and carrier apps you'd never use, et cetera. Second, I don't care for the build quality. The iPhone 5s I came from had an all aluminum body- a heavier duty feel. My phone now has a plastic back, but the frame is a magnesium alloy- again, heavier duty. The Samsungs I've tried are all plastic, except for the glass touchscreen. When I hold them they feel cheap to me. Personal preference though, plenty of people like them.
Anyway, if you want to go Android, I would only suggest 2 phones... the OnePlus One (cheap and an amazing value but very hard to buy, awful customer service, a total power user phone) or the Nexus 6 (much more expensive, but excellent customer service from Google that rivals or exceeds Apple, a little easier to use). Both of these are monster phones the size of a 6 plus, and neither have expandable memory or replaceable batteries. Samsung is really the only major Android manufacturer that is still pursuing those two features, I think.
So given all that, though it pains me to say it, just stick with iPhones.
posted by Old Man McKay at 7:00 AM on January 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
I can't think of any reasons not to suggest the iPhone 6. If you can afford it, buy it. Get the 128 GB size. Who is competing against 128 GB?
posted by oceanjesse at 7:00 AM on January 9, 2015
posted by oceanjesse at 7:00 AM on January 9, 2015
I was you a few months ago, and couldn't, at the end of the day, find a really compelling reason to switch to Android. The 6 is really a marked improvement over previous models (don't get the plus, it's unwieldy and you look like a tool using it). Everyone I know who was in a similar position and stuck with the iPhone has been satisfied. Those who made the switch have been a mixed bag.
Yesterday Amazon was selling Fire phones for dirt cheap so I'm going to play around with that (seems pretty easy to get Google Play store working on it) for a couple of months until the next iPhone comes out.
The Fire phone is a terrible UI laid on top of a crass, cynical marketing strategy (its sole purpose seems to be to encourage you to walk into stores and use the phone to find+buy the product on Amazon). Its product manager deserves to be hung from the gallows.
posted by mkultra at 7:32 AM on January 9, 2015
Yesterday Amazon was selling Fire phones for dirt cheap so I'm going to play around with that (seems pretty easy to get Google Play store working on it) for a couple of months until the next iPhone comes out.
The Fire phone is a terrible UI laid on top of a crass, cynical marketing strategy (its sole purpose seems to be to encourage you to walk into stores and use the phone to find+buy the product on Amazon). Its product manager deserves to be hung from the gallows.
posted by mkultra at 7:32 AM on January 9, 2015
If you are buying a $750 phone, you should probably go with the 64GB iPhone 6. Android lets you choose much cheaper options though, so if you don't need a flagship phone, you can save quite a bit of money.
posted by smackfu at 7:36 AM on January 9, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by smackfu at 7:36 AM on January 9, 2015 [2 favorites]
Do you like tinkering and customising settings and reconfiguring settings, and can cope with Samsung and Google fighting over what apps you have and can't remove and which handles what (like prompting you what application should open web pages...)? Seriously, some people love this: I probably would have done as a teenager.
Otherwise, you should stick with your iPhone, especially as you have everything else in the ecosystem. And I say this as a big Windows fan: I've been sad to move from my lovely HTC Windows Phone to a Samsung recently, and I have a Surface RT tablet, and despite all this... the iPhone really is better.
Unless you like fiddling. Which is cool, but not what I'm into. How nerdy do you self-identify?
posted by alasdair at 8:33 AM on January 9, 2015
Otherwise, you should stick with your iPhone, especially as you have everything else in the ecosystem. And I say this as a big Windows fan: I've been sad to move from my lovely HTC Windows Phone to a Samsung recently, and I have a Surface RT tablet, and despite all this... the iPhone really is better.
Unless you like fiddling. Which is cool, but not what I'm into. How nerdy do you self-identify?
posted by alasdair at 8:33 AM on January 9, 2015
I switched from iPhone to a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 a little over a year ago and I loved it so much right off the bat. Having the SIM card means I have way more storage for cheaper, and there's so much more you can do with the Android. And the swipe typing feature KICKS ASS.
Also, my Samsung is T-Mobile, so I've got the wifi calling feature too -- almost all T-Mobile phones have it -- it's totally necessary where I live since there's no cell reception at all, and it's seamless. I can use my phone at home just like I can in town, calls and texts are routed over the wifi and work great.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 8:44 AM on January 9, 2015
Also, my Samsung is T-Mobile, so I've got the wifi calling feature too -- almost all T-Mobile phones have it -- it's totally necessary where I live since there's no cell reception at all, and it's seamless. I can use my phone at home just like I can in town, calls and texts are routed over the wifi and work great.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 8:44 AM on January 9, 2015
A few months ago I started a new job where my company gave me the choice of an iPhone 6 or Samsung Galaxy s5. Being a lifelong iOS user I decided to try the Galaxy to see what the rest of the world's experience is like. BAD IDEA. After three days I scrambled my ass to IT and begged them to let me switch to the iPhone. The learning curve was really high, apps crashed frequently, and the hardware just felt cheap compared to the iPhone.
Get the iPhone.
posted by joan_holloway at 11:58 AM on January 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
Get the iPhone.
posted by joan_holloway at 11:58 AM on January 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
... being lumped in with the typical wool sweater wearing, ovepriced wine drinking, cheese eating, Whole Foods shopping, REM listening, slightly balding, rich, middle aged, suburban, typical iPhone user that was swarming the stores I went to.
.... the hell? What was that all about?
You know you can order a phone online and have it delivered to your door, right? You never have to set foot in an Apple store, or Whole Foods, and you aren't even forced to listen to REM. (Now, if you'd said U2 ...)
I've used iPhones since the 3G, and I've been happy with my iPhone 6, even though I miss the 5S form factor. I wasn't going to respond here since I have no personal experience with Android, but from all the second-hand stuff I hear, battery life is not a reason to move *to* Android. If you're straining your iPhone battery life, consider getting one of those Mophie Juice Packs or something like that.
External storage ... if extensive storage is important to you, get the 128 GB version, I guess? Or figure something out between DropBox, OneDrive, iCloud drive, and Google drive?
posted by RedOrGreen at 2:03 PM on January 9, 2015
.... the hell? What was that all about?
You know you can order a phone online and have it delivered to your door, right? You never have to set foot in an Apple store, or Whole Foods, and you aren't even forced to listen to REM. (Now, if you'd said U2 ...)
I've used iPhones since the 3G, and I've been happy with my iPhone 6, even though I miss the 5S form factor. I wasn't going to respond here since I have no personal experience with Android, but from all the second-hand stuff I hear, battery life is not a reason to move *to* Android. If you're straining your iPhone battery life, consider getting one of those Mophie Juice Packs or something like that.
External storage ... if extensive storage is important to you, get the 128 GB version, I guess? Or figure something out between DropBox, OneDrive, iCloud drive, and Google drive?
posted by RedOrGreen at 2:03 PM on January 9, 2015
You can pry my Galaxy Note 2 from my cold dead hands...or get one on Swappa.com for $175.
posted by sexyrobot at 2:45 PM on January 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by sexyrobot at 2:45 PM on January 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
I am a recent convert to the iPhone, and my BF joined me a couple months ago. I am happy with the tradeoff between the Android's customizability for the iPhone's call and camera quality. My BF was completely fed up with the shoddy construction and OS of his Android, and is quite sold on his 6.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 6:52 PM on January 9, 2015
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 6:52 PM on January 9, 2015
The learning curve is entirely dependent on how you choose to use your phone. If you're happy with the iOS launcher, for example, you can make your Android phone work exactly like that. By default since somewhere around 4.1 it drops any newly installed apps right on your desktop.
The main difference for the basic user is that there is more than one button, so rather than long pressing the single button to switch tasks, you press the separate app switcher button. The other main difference is that there is a much wider variety in UIs in the various apps. Not everyone bothers to use Google's guidelines, so there is often inconsistency.
Personally, I'd never be happy on iOS simply due to the lack of real multitasking and widgets, but I'm a power user who needs the things to keep running in the background even if they aren't doing one of the Apple sanctioned things. I also appreciate that I can install other keyboards for those times when the default isn't giving me what I need. (I do a lot of remote command line work, so Hacker's Keyboard is like manna from heaven for me)
However, I would heartily unrecommend Samsung phones in general. If I had to pick a phone from a major manufacturer it would be either a Motorola or HTC. I prefer the Nexus phones, but Google has decided to not have swappable batteries or SD cards any more, so that wouldn't work for you given your requirements.
Definitely do check out sites like Anandtech and As Technica, which both have stanardized battery tests, as some phones do have utterly abysmal battery life. Others easily make it through a day and can be stretched to two, but be aware that on any phone if you let it get near death all the time the battery will degrade quickly. I've known quite a few people whose iPhones don't hold a charge worth a damn after less than a year because they constantly run them near dead and rarely plug them in long enough to get a full charge.
In the end, I think anyone who isn't heavily tied to Apple by iTunes or an Apple TV or what have you can be just as happy with either OS. (And vice versa with Google services or the few remaining Android-only features) At this point they are pretty much equivalent. Both have their share of annoying bugs from time to time and both have their strong points now that Apple has seen fit to include most of the killer features that once made Android light years better for power users. If you do have a large library of paid apps and a preference for iTunes, however, stick with iOS.
posted by wierdo at 10:41 PM on January 9, 2015
The main difference for the basic user is that there is more than one button, so rather than long pressing the single button to switch tasks, you press the separate app switcher button. The other main difference is that there is a much wider variety in UIs in the various apps. Not everyone bothers to use Google's guidelines, so there is often inconsistency.
Personally, I'd never be happy on iOS simply due to the lack of real multitasking and widgets, but I'm a power user who needs the things to keep running in the background even if they aren't doing one of the Apple sanctioned things. I also appreciate that I can install other keyboards for those times when the default isn't giving me what I need. (I do a lot of remote command line work, so Hacker's Keyboard is like manna from heaven for me)
However, I would heartily unrecommend Samsung phones in general. If I had to pick a phone from a major manufacturer it would be either a Motorola or HTC. I prefer the Nexus phones, but Google has decided to not have swappable batteries or SD cards any more, so that wouldn't work for you given your requirements.
Definitely do check out sites like Anandtech and As Technica, which both have stanardized battery tests, as some phones do have utterly abysmal battery life. Others easily make it through a day and can be stretched to two, but be aware that on any phone if you let it get near death all the time the battery will degrade quickly. I've known quite a few people whose iPhones don't hold a charge worth a damn after less than a year because they constantly run them near dead and rarely plug them in long enough to get a full charge.
In the end, I think anyone who isn't heavily tied to Apple by iTunes or an Apple TV or what have you can be just as happy with either OS. (And vice versa with Google services or the few remaining Android-only features) At this point they are pretty much equivalent. Both have their share of annoying bugs from time to time and both have their strong points now that Apple has seen fit to include most of the killer features that once made Android light years better for power users. If you do have a large library of paid apps and a preference for iTunes, however, stick with iOS.
posted by wierdo at 10:41 PM on January 9, 2015
If you get the iPhone6, be aware that it's a lot more delicate than previous incarnations. It's really smooth and its larger size makes it easier to drop than the iPhone 4/5.
I accidentally dropped mine on concrete from only two feet up, resulting in a shattered screen and a bend in the aluminum frame that compressed the earphone opening so that it was unusable. With Apple Care + it only cost me about $80 for a compete replacement.
posted by Kevtaro at 10:47 PM on January 9, 2015
I accidentally dropped mine on concrete from only two feet up, resulting in a shattered screen and a bend in the aluminum frame that compressed the earphone opening so that it was unusable. With Apple Care + it only cost me about $80 for a compete replacement.
posted by Kevtaro at 10:47 PM on January 9, 2015
Best answer: Battery life on iphones are muuuuuuch better.
Yea, really, this.
I'm a huge computer nerd. I got a job in IT because i love tinkering with computers. I have since i was a little kid.
I've given android multiple chances since it came out. I've had the G1, nexus 5, and an LG G3. I've also had various other things that run android(tablets, media boxes, etc) and still use a modded to hell firetv every day.
There's a few things that always bring me back to iOS on my phone.
1. Apps. Yea, there's android versions of pretty much everything now... and they're all shittier. I'm completely serious. Really basic stuff like tapping a notification from facebook not bringing you to the actual thing the notification was about consistently, or crappy laggy interfaces even if you have a high end phone. Everything either feels like an afterthought, or just designed for the lowest common denominator $40 prepaid hunk of junk phone. A lot of apps also just lack features the iOS versions have. The car2go app in particular was just really shitty and missing lots of obvious stuff, and many others were the same way.
2. Battery life. The iphone 6 has amazing battery life. I can easily get two full long days out of it. Like get up, go to work, eat dinner, go out to a bar until 2am, hang out at a friends place for several more hours, go to sleep, wake up, work, go out and do other stuff, and at 2am i'll still have like 40%. Android phones vary from "eh, it gets through a day" to crap. There's a few models that notably have good or great battery life(oneplus one, xperia Z3 compact off the top of my head) but for the most part every android phone i used seems to get about half the battery life a new iphone does. They were worse than my 2 year old tired iphone 5 with an actually bad battery.
3. Somewhat related to above, i just want the damn thing to work. There are no android phones with as good of a camera as the iphone, not even close. I got pissed at the camera of every phone i tried. Even ones with "good" cameras like the note 4, G3, etc. I also, even on my stock android-equipped nexus 5 had random app crashes, launcher reloads, and other fuckery. Samsungs ridiculous android skin seems to cause more fuckery. It's also tasteless, with neon colors and stupid sound effects. To get back on track though, i just had too many moments of just needing to use the thing and having some glitch/etc get in my way, or just a shitty version of an app that's perfectly usable on iOS, or the battery being inexplicably low, or... None of this kind of stuff ever bothered me or pissed me off on an iphone.
4. Apple support. I went in to an apple store once and said, no shit, "i jumped in a swimming pool with my phone in my pocket shitfaced drunk, so uh, it's ruined". They gave me a new phone for free because my story was funny and i was honest. I've had experiences like this over and over, for years. The fact that you can walk in to an actual meatspace store rules too. LG is apparently nice about fixing their phones, for example, but you have to mail them your phone... and they take like 3 weeks. I might be a bit veruca salt here, but i use my phone all day every day. If that shit breaks, i need a new one or a repaired one right now this same day. No one can really match apple on that one, ever. Hell, if you're in NYC you can get a new phone at 3am.
The bottom line ended up being that i wanted real battery life, a real camera, and apps i use every day that weren't shit. Android now is a lot like windows. Everything is there, and it gets the job done... but i can't think of a single measure of normal every day stuff i do where the iphone isn't just better. Either an app is much more well made, the battery is holding up, something just works really smoothly/quickly, etc.
I like android for some things i can do with it. I'm definitely going to pick up some sort of tablet or secondary device just for android things... but i just can't put up with it as my main, "daily driver" phone.
And most notably, there's maybe 3 things i actually haven't found a way to do or change to my liking on iOS that i was doing on android. And it was pretty niche/nerdy stuff(like the variety of emulators, popcorntime with chromecast support which i think the iOS version has now, etc).
Oh yea, and EVERY keyboard on android is shittier than the default iphone one. I never found, or tweaked one that i could actually type as fluidly or quickly on. They're just all crappier. A lot of things are like that. Everything is just, not quite as good. And a lot of things are just ugly, even if they work ok. I gave it more than enough of a chance, every time, to verify that this wasn't a me not being used to it thing with android in general. Just let the muscle memory build up with everything. And no, it just kept annoying me with its inconsistently and general unfinished feeling of everything. A lot of the OS is good, and googles 1st party apps are excellent. The problem is that it just feels like no one else gives a shit. Samsung and other companies skins are generally irritating and disjointed from app to app, as are most other manufacturers. And as i said, the apps.
Another thing is that there's no great-at-everything android phone. They're all a tradeoff. This one might have good battery life, but it has a mediocre camera or crappy audio output. This one might have a great screen and generally be nice, but the battery life and camera suck. Etc etc to infinity. The iphone is good to great at everything except for being breakable as hell.
Oh, and you can change the battery in an iphone in 20 minutes with a screwdriver, suction cup, and a prybar for like $12(and it'll probably INCLUDE those things with the battery, too). The 6 batteries might not be that cheap right now, but they will be when you need one.
Shit, my iphone 6 is bent, and i still wholeheartedly recommend it. I don't have a single complaint about it... besides it bending. And i know i'll get them to replace it.
Buy a nexus 7 or something if you're bored and want to play around with android.
posted by emptythought at 3:07 AM on January 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
Yea, really, this.
I'm a huge computer nerd. I got a job in IT because i love tinkering with computers. I have since i was a little kid.
I've given android multiple chances since it came out. I've had the G1, nexus 5, and an LG G3. I've also had various other things that run android(tablets, media boxes, etc) and still use a modded to hell firetv every day.
There's a few things that always bring me back to iOS on my phone.
1. Apps. Yea, there's android versions of pretty much everything now... and they're all shittier. I'm completely serious. Really basic stuff like tapping a notification from facebook not bringing you to the actual thing the notification was about consistently, or crappy laggy interfaces even if you have a high end phone. Everything either feels like an afterthought, or just designed for the lowest common denominator $40 prepaid hunk of junk phone. A lot of apps also just lack features the iOS versions have. The car2go app in particular was just really shitty and missing lots of obvious stuff, and many others were the same way.
2. Battery life. The iphone 6 has amazing battery life. I can easily get two full long days out of it. Like get up, go to work, eat dinner, go out to a bar until 2am, hang out at a friends place for several more hours, go to sleep, wake up, work, go out and do other stuff, and at 2am i'll still have like 40%. Android phones vary from "eh, it gets through a day" to crap. There's a few models that notably have good or great battery life(oneplus one, xperia Z3 compact off the top of my head) but for the most part every android phone i used seems to get about half the battery life a new iphone does. They were worse than my 2 year old tired iphone 5 with an actually bad battery.
3. Somewhat related to above, i just want the damn thing to work. There are no android phones with as good of a camera as the iphone, not even close. I got pissed at the camera of every phone i tried. Even ones with "good" cameras like the note 4, G3, etc. I also, even on my stock android-equipped nexus 5 had random app crashes, launcher reloads, and other fuckery. Samsungs ridiculous android skin seems to cause more fuckery. It's also tasteless, with neon colors and stupid sound effects. To get back on track though, i just had too many moments of just needing to use the thing and having some glitch/etc get in my way, or just a shitty version of an app that's perfectly usable on iOS, or the battery being inexplicably low, or... None of this kind of stuff ever bothered me or pissed me off on an iphone.
4. Apple support. I went in to an apple store once and said, no shit, "i jumped in a swimming pool with my phone in my pocket shitfaced drunk, so uh, it's ruined". They gave me a new phone for free because my story was funny and i was honest. I've had experiences like this over and over, for years. The fact that you can walk in to an actual meatspace store rules too. LG is apparently nice about fixing their phones, for example, but you have to mail them your phone... and they take like 3 weeks. I might be a bit veruca salt here, but i use my phone all day every day. If that shit breaks, i need a new one or a repaired one right now this same day. No one can really match apple on that one, ever. Hell, if you're in NYC you can get a new phone at 3am.
The bottom line ended up being that i wanted real battery life, a real camera, and apps i use every day that weren't shit. Android now is a lot like windows. Everything is there, and it gets the job done... but i can't think of a single measure of normal every day stuff i do where the iphone isn't just better. Either an app is much more well made, the battery is holding up, something just works really smoothly/quickly, etc.
I like android for some things i can do with it. I'm definitely going to pick up some sort of tablet or secondary device just for android things... but i just can't put up with it as my main, "daily driver" phone.
And most notably, there's maybe 3 things i actually haven't found a way to do or change to my liking on iOS that i was doing on android. And it was pretty niche/nerdy stuff(like the variety of emulators, popcorntime with chromecast support which i think the iOS version has now, etc).
Oh yea, and EVERY keyboard on android is shittier than the default iphone one. I never found, or tweaked one that i could actually type as fluidly or quickly on. They're just all crappier. A lot of things are like that. Everything is just, not quite as good. And a lot of things are just ugly, even if they work ok. I gave it more than enough of a chance, every time, to verify that this wasn't a me not being used to it thing with android in general. Just let the muscle memory build up with everything. And no, it just kept annoying me with its inconsistently and general unfinished feeling of everything. A lot of the OS is good, and googles 1st party apps are excellent. The problem is that it just feels like no one else gives a shit. Samsung and other companies skins are generally irritating and disjointed from app to app, as are most other manufacturers. And as i said, the apps.
Another thing is that there's no great-at-everything android phone. They're all a tradeoff. This one might have good battery life, but it has a mediocre camera or crappy audio output. This one might have a great screen and generally be nice, but the battery life and camera suck. Etc etc to infinity. The iphone is good to great at everything except for being breakable as hell.
Oh, and you can change the battery in an iphone in 20 minutes with a screwdriver, suction cup, and a prybar for like $12(and it'll probably INCLUDE those things with the battery, too). The 6 batteries might not be that cheap right now, but they will be when you need one.
Shit, my iphone 6 is bent, and i still wholeheartedly recommend it. I don't have a single complaint about it... besides it bending. And i know i'll get them to replace it.
Buy a nexus 7 or something if you're bored and want to play around with android.
posted by emptythought at 3:07 AM on January 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
Both the Nexus 6 and the Note 4 have cameras that beat the iPhone 6 and 6+ in blind comparisons. The software on the Nexus 6 leaves a lot to be desired, though. The shutter lag is not good, although there are apps on Google Play that work better, for a price. The options for editing the pics once taken, on the other hand, are fantastic.
posted by wierdo at 9:32 AM on January 10, 2015
posted by wierdo at 9:32 AM on January 10, 2015
FYI, iOS8 supports third-party keyboards, including swiping. Here is a good roundup.
posted by mkultra at 9:32 AM on January 10, 2015
posted by mkultra at 9:32 AM on January 10, 2015
I've used smartphones for over a decade now, and PDAs since the 1990s. I got a Note4. I like it because of its insanely lush screen - it can become amazingly bright, dynamically and in response to direct sunlight, or dial it back in dim light. And it has, AFAIK, the highest resolution/pixels-per-inch of any phone available. Since I read a lot, I prioritised this, and its screen makes reading extraordinarily pleasant. So for ebooks, I'd say this one is a winner. Also, it records and plays back amazingly nice videos, including 4K, and slo-mo or rapid modes. It also has optical zoom and some same rapid focus pixel thing that makes taking burst shots exciting.
I also like the big screen because I can resize and attach a bunch of useful dynamic widgets to each screen. So I can swipe through a complex workflow pretty cleanly and without having to actually click and open apps, wait for them to launch, find their state, etc. The Note4, and I think other large-screen Android phones as well, have a lot of multi-window and tiled/overlapped app settings that can make using the screen more like a laptop. This may or may not be to people's taste. With screen widgets so easily available, I haven't found the Samsung skin's ability to window-ize apps especially useful. But the latest Google 4.4 and 5.0 have a lot of nice split-screen multiwindow modes that make it easy to, say, launch a browser and your email in parallel and work that way in landscape mode. The recent Google Inbox app lends itself to working in a kind of "social flow" way of keeping up with contacts/updates etc, and so it's nice to have a browser side-by-side instead of flipping back and forth.
One of the benefits of Android is that if you don't like the default Launcher (ie, desktop), you can switch it out. I use Nova Launcher, because I've used it for years, I can install it on all my Android devices to get a consistent UI, and I like its speed.
People who say 'I don't use the SD Card" on my Android. Well, if you take a lot of photos/videos, you can usually click a single toggle to save to the card instead of the device memory. Same with audio recording or downloads. And in an app manager, you can move some or all of large apps to run from the card. This means I can get a "cheap" 16GB phone and spend $50 to add 128GB of storage. And I see 256GB cards are also available, but for a premium. I may get one later. With SD Cards available and basically halving in price or doubling storage annually, I've found I'm on more of a 3-4 year upgrade cycle instead of 1-2 years - I never run out of storage on the device, but after a few years it just starts getting a little beat up and the CPU is relatively slow and struggles with a lot of new apps.
I don't use the battery swap-out thing, because the battery seems to last 8-9 hours, and rapid charges. I did use battery swap outs before, with smaller phones, and in one case I swapped out the back of the phone for a new back which doubled the battery capacity and added a fetching hump to the back of the phone that was useful for propping it up on a desk.
Many Samsung phones come with this "panic button" for battery saving. On mine, it switches into what I like to call "Commodore 64 Mode" - meaning it goes monochrome green, everything gets blocky and pixelated, and the Launcher is something DOS-like. All nonessential services get switched off. But when I do that, it tells me I have ~18 days of stand-by and ~3 days of talk time. So if I was in a natural disaster or lost in the wild, that would be nice to have. Haven't really needed to use it in day-to-day.
A friend got the 1+1 and likes it a lot. The screen looks nice, but not as nice as the Note4.
I use the installable Google Keyboard, with swiping action. After several years, it's learned my typing habits pretty well and means I can manage2 20-30 wpm with one hand. So that's nice. i did use Swype, but then they started charging, so I went with a free option.
Also, the Note4 comes with an IR blaster, that lets it work as a universal remote. I'm not sure how many Android phones come with this, but it's a nice bonus.
I know a friend of mine recently switched from iOS to her first Android and it went smoothly. If you're willing to install and sync with the Google ecosystem,including Google+/Drive/Voice/Hangouts/Chromecast etc, first on your iOS machine, and then on your Android, it's pretty painless. One thing she told me that surprised her, coming from Apple's scheme, was how many more options there were on Android to actually share/copy/send files. Like, you can send data to cloud apps from most apps, as you can with iOS. But you also have WiFi, Bluetooth and NFC direct file transfers available with other Android phones. And a lot more beaming/synchronizing/screen sharing options. For some people, this can prove a little confusing. But for many of the options, they are just manufacturer-specific skins or reworks of basic Android/Google services, so you can ignore them.
posted by meehawl at 5:02 PM on January 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
I also like the big screen because I can resize and attach a bunch of useful dynamic widgets to each screen. So I can swipe through a complex workflow pretty cleanly and without having to actually click and open apps, wait for them to launch, find their state, etc. The Note4, and I think other large-screen Android phones as well, have a lot of multi-window and tiled/overlapped app settings that can make using the screen more like a laptop. This may or may not be to people's taste. With screen widgets so easily available, I haven't found the Samsung skin's ability to window-ize apps especially useful. But the latest Google 4.4 and 5.0 have a lot of nice split-screen multiwindow modes that make it easy to, say, launch a browser and your email in parallel and work that way in landscape mode. The recent Google Inbox app lends itself to working in a kind of "social flow" way of keeping up with contacts/updates etc, and so it's nice to have a browser side-by-side instead of flipping back and forth.
One of the benefits of Android is that if you don't like the default Launcher (ie, desktop), you can switch it out. I use Nova Launcher, because I've used it for years, I can install it on all my Android devices to get a consistent UI, and I like its speed.
People who say 'I don't use the SD Card" on my Android. Well, if you take a lot of photos/videos, you can usually click a single toggle to save to the card instead of the device memory. Same with audio recording or downloads. And in an app manager, you can move some or all of large apps to run from the card. This means I can get a "cheap" 16GB phone and spend $50 to add 128GB of storage. And I see 256GB cards are also available, but for a premium. I may get one later. With SD Cards available and basically halving in price or doubling storage annually, I've found I'm on more of a 3-4 year upgrade cycle instead of 1-2 years - I never run out of storage on the device, but after a few years it just starts getting a little beat up and the CPU is relatively slow and struggles with a lot of new apps.
I don't use the battery swap-out thing, because the battery seems to last 8-9 hours, and rapid charges. I did use battery swap outs before, with smaller phones, and in one case I swapped out the back of the phone for a new back which doubled the battery capacity and added a fetching hump to the back of the phone that was useful for propping it up on a desk.
Many Samsung phones come with this "panic button" for battery saving. On mine, it switches into what I like to call "Commodore 64 Mode" - meaning it goes monochrome green, everything gets blocky and pixelated, and the Launcher is something DOS-like. All nonessential services get switched off. But when I do that, it tells me I have ~18 days of stand-by and ~3 days of talk time. So if I was in a natural disaster or lost in the wild, that would be nice to have. Haven't really needed to use it in day-to-day.
A friend got the 1+1 and likes it a lot. The screen looks nice, but not as nice as the Note4.
I use the installable Google Keyboard, with swiping action. After several years, it's learned my typing habits pretty well and means I can manage2 20-30 wpm with one hand. So that's nice. i did use Swype, but then they started charging, so I went with a free option.
Also, the Note4 comes with an IR blaster, that lets it work as a universal remote. I'm not sure how many Android phones come with this, but it's a nice bonus.
I know a friend of mine recently switched from iOS to her first Android and it went smoothly. If you're willing to install and sync with the Google ecosystem,including Google+/Drive/Voice/Hangouts/Chromecast etc, first on your iOS machine, and then on your Android, it's pretty painless. One thing she told me that surprised her, coming from Apple's scheme, was how many more options there were on Android to actually share/copy/send files. Like, you can send data to cloud apps from most apps, as you can with iOS. But you also have WiFi, Bluetooth and NFC direct file transfers available with other Android phones. And a lot more beaming/synchronizing/screen sharing options. For some people, this can prove a little confusing. But for many of the options, they are just manufacturer-specific skins or reworks of basic Android/Google services, so you can ignore them.
posted by meehawl at 5:02 PM on January 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks everyone for all your input! I really appreciate all the information and it has helped a lot to factor into my decision to stick with the iPhone. I'm going to be buying the iPhone6 64 GB (really want 128gb but it's just way too expensive!).
posted by CheeseAndRice at 8:26 PM on January 12, 2015
posted by CheeseAndRice at 8:26 PM on January 12, 2015
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posted by primethyme at 10:17 PM on January 8, 2015