Thinking about breaking out of my iChains...

Keepcalmanddontblink

I currently have the iPhone 4s and while I do love it, I've always been envious of the Galaxy Note. I am due for an upgrade since my contract is up. Like a good little iSheep, I love my phone and I am excited about the new iPhone 6 and 6 plus, but in doing research, I am kind of blown away by the Galaxy Note 3.

The camera features look awesome, and I am a picture snapping fool, so having a good camera is important to me. The battery life seems way better than the iPhone.

My only major concern is the ease of switching from a IOS system to Android. Has anyone done this? Is it easy to switch, or is there a long learning curve?

The other concern was losing all my music, but I suspect, I can get the iTunes app from Android and access my music from the app. Correct me if I am wrong on that.

Any insight would be appreciated. I have two months left, so just trying to do some research before getting stuck with a phone I might regret. Thanks!

ew_david

I remember when I would walk into the store and grab the free phone. Now, it's like trying to name your first born.

Raynne413

I've been thinking about switching to Android as well, but I just don't want to lose my apps. :sad: Good luck on making your decision!!!

tquill

I've been happy with android, but my experience with apple is limited. Apple phones are similarly priced to the competition, but the cost of everything else in their "ecosystem" is stupidly high.

Guns_N_Buns

I switched from an iPhone to the Galaxy S5...best decision ever.

tquill

I switched from an iPhone to the Galaxy S5...best decision ever.

I have noticed that most anyone I know that has switched, has been happy... although there have been a few exceptions.

Vortex_ConQueso

I currently have the iPhone 4s and while I do love it, I've always been envious of the Galaxy Note. I am due for an upgrade since my contract is up. Like a good little iSheep, I love my phone and I am excited about the new iPhone 6 and 6 plus, but in doing research, I am kind of blown away by the Galaxy Note 3.

The camera features look awesome, and I am a picture snapping fool, so having a good camera is important to me. The battery life seems way better than the iPhone.

My only major concern is the ease of switching from a IOS system to Android. Has anyone done this? Is it easy to switch, or is there a long learning curve?

The other concern was losing all my music, but I suspect, I can get the iTunes app from Android and access my music from the app. Correct me if I am wrong on that.

Any insight would be appreciated. I have two months left, so just trying to do some research before getting stuck with a phone I might regret. Thanks!

iWhatever = Trendy
Android = Useful

You will be happy with any of Samsung's current offerings. The Galaxy Note 3 is large, perhaps too large to be practical as a phone, but check one out and see if you like it. If you do, great! If not, there's always the Galaxy S5, which is IMHO, the best phone currently available.

You absolutely can get your iTunes music loaded into an Android system. It's how I load mine for the gym.

Keepcalmanddontblink

I've been happy with android, but my experience with apple is limited. Apple phones are similarly priced to the competition, but the cost of everything else in their "ecosystem" is stupidly high.

This is kind of why I want to leave. I hate how none of their products will work with anyone else's products and you are stuck buying their stuff. They are leaving a bad taste in my mouth at this point and I am sort of over it, but I know I can get really frustrated when trying to learn how to use a new phone, so if its not a huge learning curve, I am down with switching over.

Guns_N_Buns

The learning is fun with the Galaxy S5.

I'm sure I have no clue how to do at least 30% of what the phone is capable of (still haven't figured out that 3D photo taking capability), but the phone is awesome nonetheless. My main reason for the iPhone was that I got caught up in the hype and fad of it and, at the time, I loved the pictures it took. This phone takes just as good, if not better photos with some pretty cool photo options. I once took a series of photos of me rock climbing and -- without me doing anything -- it composed a GIF of those images by itself. It was pretty cool.

tquill

This is kind of why I want to leave. I hate how none of their products will work with anyone else's products and you are stuck buying their stuff. They are leaving a bad taste in my mouth at this point and I am sort of over it, but I know I can get really frustrated when trying to learn how to use a new phone, so if its not a huge learning curve, I am down with switching over.

The difficulty of switching will probably depend on how much crap of theirs you currently have... but no matter what, I don't think it will be that bad. Most things works fine independently anyway. I'd say it's worth a try... it's probably not too difficult to switch back (sell your phone and buy another iphone).

tquill

rjmudlax13

I have an iPhone 5c (used to have a 5 but lost it and got a 5c through insurance). After listening to all the Apple disciples for years about how amazing and better life is with an Apple product I finally drank the Kool-Aid and bought an iPhone (as well as an iPad). I am now sick of the whole Apple thing. They are great at locking you into their little world. And whenever something goes wrong (wait I thought nothing ever goes wrong with an Apple product!?) they usually deny it's their fault and blame the customer for not operating it right. I had that stupid iMessages glitch where text messages would be sucked into a black hole somewhere. Also, trying to sync music and photos was a pain (although it did get better in the last year or so). Most of there standard apps suck too.

My contract is up in November. I already decided I am getting an HTC One with Android. Most of the apps I use are Google anyway. Their mail app is better. Their map app is WAY better. So it just make sense for me to be a Googler.

Keepcalmanddontblink

So thank you everyone for your advice! I went to do some homework and the Galaxy s5 did some sort of mojo on my iTired brain and I got the phone. It has a better camera the Note 3 and its smaller. I love how easy it is to use. No learning curve at all with this phone. It is bigger than I am used to using, but I will get the hang of it soon enough.
This sucker has a heart rate monitor on it and a pedometer too! Plus a finger print scanner and its water resistant. I am super excited to have this phone. Will be putting the 4s iPhone up for sale on Craigslist.

Timshel_

I am getting the iPhone 6 in the next few weeks. Battery life has always been fine and the iPhone camera is always a better choice for photos and videos, which is key for me. It is taking a lot to pry my 4S out of my hand because it has been rock solid for years, but looking forward to the upgrade. Check out Amazon Trad-in if you want to see how much you can get for your 4S.

N2Couture

All I know is Droid. Because of that I'm better off?I have read countless
complaints and seen reviews that were less favorable just based
on the interchangeable/compatibility issues with each version of
the same product. I have 2 diff Nanos and hate that about them so
for me Droid is where I will stay.

Incidentally my cousin and a friend left IPhone for Samsung model
phones. I am more thrifty, mine is LG.

krawhitham

At one point I switched to a Samsung Galaxy from an iPhone 4, I think the Samsung Galaxy is a far superior machine. As long as your music is on your computer, you can just drag and drop it all onto your Samsung phone (same with other files, videos, PDFs etc...)

The reason I switched back to the iPhone is that I couldn't handle the battery life. My phone needs to last for 8+ hours without dying, and the Galaxy would only last 4-5 MAX if I wasn't using it much. So, while I prefer Galaxy, I will be using my iPhone 5 for a while simply because of the reliable battery life.

gmallan

Following, I'm just out of contract with my iphone 5 and considering switching. I had one of the defective batteries in my 5 that apple have only just decided to admit and replace a full 2 YEARS LATER. 2 years of missing stuff because my battery wouldn't last more than half a day. Oh and I've been into the store that is supposed to do the replacement 4 times now and can't get the battery replaced unless I'm prepared to leave my phone there in store for 4-7 days. Right - thanks for nothing apple.

Okay rant over - felt good to get that off my chest

newdaydawning79

I switched from iPhone to a Galaxy S3 a couple years ago. There were so many glitches in that phone it wasn't even funny. The bad thing about Samsung is that they release new ones so fast they've never worked out the issues in the firmware of the last one before the next one is being promoted.

My Galaxy S3 caught on fire at the charger port. When I went in to upgrade my favorite sales guy told me a couple weeks after I went in there with mine to find out what to do about the insurance, another person came in with the same issue.

Went back to iPhone that day...didn't like any of the other Android ones that were out at that point. I'm not loyal to either OS really, but I did miss some of the iPhone apps that I couldn't get on my Droid. I definitely will NOT get another Samsung which makes me sad - back before the whole smartphone thing, their phones were fantastic.

Sabine_Stroehm

I tried to like Android OS. I really did.

jyogit

i have both a galaxy s5 and an iPhone 5s ..i use them both for different things but i still prefer the iPhone to the galaxy..i really can't get on with how the galaxy is set up..it takes me forever to find settings that i can go straight to on my iPhone.
Bluetooth on galaxy won't even connect to my bluetooth headphones,luckily my iPhone does..i end up taking out 2 phones when i go cycling/jogging etc for 2 different reasons.. i will head for the iPhone 6 when the second version comes out in a yrs time probably but i won't go with samsung again in a hurry.. i barely use the galaxy except for the music.. which is much easier than iTunes..hate iTunes
The cameras on both are different but much of the same quality if you ask me.. i have a CAMERA that i take photos with..i don't really need one on my phone.
The power socket on the galaxy is a real ***** to get in in the dark whereas the iPhone is simple and only one socket to play around with.
i hate that the galaxy flashes n farts n beeps every time you get a message or notification and I'm sick of turning them off only to be turned again the next time is use it..so frustrating.Its getting as bad as all the windows updates on pcs .. i changed to apple macs etc a while ago and id never go back to a windows machine again..too much hassle..
I'm sure that samsung are good enough for some people but thanks..ill stay with the herd a while longer.

brewinggirl_butskinnier

I switched from an iPhone to the Galaxy S5...best decision ever.

I have noticed that most anyone I know that has switched, has been happy... although there have been a few exceptions.

My brother switched (and he has like 4 phones and works for a major cell company) and he loves his S5. I love my S5 but I've always been an android girl.

Kevalicious99

iPhone for me ... and I will not change. Love my iPhone. However I believe that Apple charges way too much for their products.

The cost of materials, assembly and testing on the iPhone 6 Plus 16 GB model is $242 according to recent reports and they are charging $859 for that model and up to $1079 here for the top model. Profit margin's for the new iPhone are in par with past iPhones .. so that means that Apple has been ripping people off since day one.

The cost that Apple is charging for an increase in memory is about 50x the going market rate. So you know ..
someone is paying too much. Yes .. consumers.

I sure would love the ability to add a memory card to an iPhone .. that is about the only thing that I think they could do better. Otherwise .. no complains on my iPhone.

Oh .. I will not be buying a new one til hell freezes over .. :flowerforyou:

Triplestep

For anyone considering switching to the android platform from iPhone, just make sure you purchase a phone that has a good deal of internal storage, or the ability to store apps on the SD card. I have used android for years, but was very unpleasantly surprised after I purchased a phone that did not have this ability. Many of the newer ones do, and all of the older ones do, but if you're like me and you shop around for late model technology, you might end up with one that was introduced a year or so ago when it was not always possible. (I think the idea was to eliminate this option, but users clamored so much that it's been brought back.)

Essentially, I have a phone on which I can store very few apps. Not exactly a "smart" phone. (It's a Sony Xperia ZR)

Timshel_

I tried to like Android OS. I really did.

Same here. I use a lot of Samsung products and wouldn't mind owning one of their phones, but having tried Android so many times over the years, it just was not for me. It has come of age lately, but the UX is still clunky and I find I had to do more clicks to find settings and such. Now part of that is I have used IOS since the first beta so I know it better, but like you, I really tried to use and like Android. I think I was just spoiled.

Triplestep

It has come of age lately, but the UX is still clunky and I find I had to do more clicks to find settings and such. Now part of that is I have used IOS since the first beta so I know it better, but like you, I really tried to use and like Android. I think I was just spoiled.

I have used both, and found Android to be more customizable so you don't have to endure all the clicks for repeated tasks and often-used apps. And I agree, it often comes down to what you're accustom to.