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From nexus to iphone 5?

B

Briax

macrumors member
Original poster
Hello,

I've lately considered moving to iOS, in this case the iPhone 5. I've been using a Galaxy Nexus for the past year, and I simply can't decide whether it's a good decision or not. I've been looking at the nexus 4 as well and I honestly think it has the advantage regarding design. Anyway, has anyone in here switched from a stock google phone to an iPhone? Thoughts? Downsides? Positives?

Would really help me, thanks!
 
Briax said:
Hello,

I've lately considered moving to iOS, in this case the iPhone 5. I've been using a Galaxy Nexus for the past year, and I simply can't decide whether it's a good decision or not. I've been looking at the nexus 4 as well and I honestly think it has the advantage regarding design. Anyway, has anyone in here switched from a stock google phone to an iPhone? Thoughts? Downsides? Positives?

Would really help me, thanks!
Click to expand...

Well it really depends what you want...the i5 is a very fast smooth device (Nexus 4 is fast aswell) with a fantastic selection from the App Store and iOS is very secure as a OS. It takes fantastic pictures both front and back( better then Nexus 4 cameras)

Processing power is really about on par although I will give the graphics department to the i5 because it has the fastest mobile GPU in a smartphone on the market right now
 
Last edited:
How does the whole "Photo-Stream" work? Same as using dropbox on an android? What about syncing music? Is that something that can be done automatically, like Play Music? Does iCloud actually sync everything i need? Mail, contacts, photos, music, video and so on?
What about battery life? Does it last a whole day (even with 4G enabled)?

Sorry for all the questions!
 
I am on Verizon and was using galaxy nexus for past year. I have always used android and finally decided to go to the iPhone 5 due to always having signal issues on android. My daughter had iPhone and places where I had no signal she had signal. I do miss the bigger screen, I was tossed between note 2 and iPhone but I think I made a great decision to switch and actually thinking of selling my nexus 7 tab also and just stay with apple

----------

Battery life is amazing on iPhone 5. I was on for 6 straight hours yesterday with heavy use and I still had 50% left.
Are you a root user or stock? I assume gnex so root. The new jb is supposed to come today or shortly for i5 so might be good time to make move.
 
Yup - always root! 😛
The i5 hasn't been jailbroken yet?! Yeah, sorry I am not up to date with the iPhone! I thought that was months ago. Can the i5 be used as a remote control for macs and apple tv?
 
In regards to PhotoStream yes it functions kind of like Dropbox but not as well.

On the phone side it works by uploading every pic you take automatically to PhotoStream, and on the PC side you can enable PhotoStream to download to your PC as well via the iCloud Control Panel (in Windows anyways).

The PC side of PhotoStream is kind of lackluster though. It's not as efficient or fully featured compared to Dropbox.

I personally just use the iOS Dropbox app. Whenever you tap into it, it queues up your recently taken photos and uploads them to your Dropbox.
 
I'd recommend giving the iPhone 5 a try to draw your own conclusions. The UI is completely different and there are features/limitations on both OSes.

That said, I made the opposite choice, but spent quality time on both devices to form my own opinions. Ultimately, I enjoyed the Android experience more 🙂
 
I just made the switch two weeks ago to an I5 from a Gnex that I have had since release.
Why did I make the switch. Basically it's the iPad Mini to blame. I had a Xoom, and had been wanting to buy a Nexus 7, but after looking around, and playing with the mini at the Apple store, I defected, and bought the mini 😱
I liked the mini so much, that I bought a Mbp... It's like an addiction 😀

I started to build roms on the Mbp for the Gnex, and was liking Osx so much better than Windows (I really like Linux as well) that I was really starting to like Apple. A lot.

So next thing I know, I'm at Verizon buying an I5 😎
So far, I am more than happy. The battery life has been so much better. It really blows me away to be able to use my phone all day, and not worry if I need to plug in to the charger or swap the battery for a spare. I thought my battery life was better than average on my Gnex as well.

The iOS is a little boring compared to Android, but everything works, and works well. No lag, no FC's. It just works.

The size was weird for a day or two, but I have now adapted and like the smaller size and lighter weight. I also like the feel.
I like the screen colors a lot better as well (anyone that has had a Gnex will understand this 😀)

You can download the remote app from the app store to control AppleTV. I have it on the I5 as well as the Mini. It's easy to use and gives a more modern feel than just using the included remote.

Photostream has been pretty cool, but as was stated, I prefer dropbox as well.

I would recommend giving the iPhone a try. I still have my Gnex, and will keep it as I still build roms for it, and may pick up an N4 for dev work (once they become more availble to purchase 🙁 ), but for now, the I5 will be the daily driver for the future, till the next iPhone arrives 😎
 
Normally I would say if you've been an Android user then you might find iOS a little bit lacking in comparison, but since the jailbreak is supposed to come out today then it shouldn't really be a problem anymore.


Briax said:
How does the whole "Photo-Stream" work? Same as using dropbox on an android? What about syncing music? Is that something that can be done automatically, like Play Music? Does iCloud actually sync everything i need? Mail, contacts, photos, music, video and so on?
What about battery life? Does it last a whole day (even with 4G enabled)?

Sorry for all the questions!
Click to expand...

Photostream is good for quick automatic backups without requiring any action on your part, but I'd suggest every so often opening up the iOS Dropbox app and backing up your photos with that. IMO it's easier to access the phone photos on your computer that way.

If you buy your music from iTunes, then there's an option you can turn on which will automatically download any new purchases to your iPhone (for example, if you use iTunes on your computer to buy a song/video/app, it can automatically be downloaded to your iPhone). I'm not sure if this is what you meant by that music question or not. iCloud will sync all that stuff you listed. If you have a Mac it shows up a lot more seamlessly on your computer. You can download an iCloud control panel for Windows, but I don't like it as much as the integration on the Mac. But it does work, so there's that.

As for battery life, since I don't actually own an iPhone 5 (I have a 4S) I can't really comment on battery life. But based on the people I know with the 5, they seem to have their devices last all day even with 4G/LTE enabled.
 
The Nexus 4 is half the price of the 5S. Something to keep in mind.

It's an amazing phone for the price.
 
I myself turned from Nexus S to iPhone 4s a year ago. It was definitely a wise decision for me. I saved a lot of time in selecting and trying different apps or widgets. (yeah, maybe some people like that, but I just hate to feel like being controlled by a cell...)
So iPhone is more like a smart and behaved child while Android takes a lot of time to cultivating...
 
aarif2012 said:
I myself turned from Nexus S to iPhone 4s a year ago. It was definitely a wise decision for me. I saved a lot of time in selecting and trying different apps or widgets. (yeah, maybe some people like that, but I just hate to feel like being controlled by a cell...)
So iPhone is more like a smart and behaved child while Android takes a lot of time to cultivating...
Click to expand...

So you didn't like the freedom of setting your phone the way you want and went to a phone that doesn't let you do anything but how it says you can and you say you didn't like being controlled by a cell?

I think you may have it backwards. Android let's you be an adult and make smart choices to meet your needs. Apple treats you like a child and tells you what's best for you and if you don't like it tough.
 
Briax said:
How does the whole "Photo-Stream" work? Same as using dropbox on an android? What about syncing music? Is that something that can be done automatically, like Play Music? Does iCloud actually sync everything i need? Mail, contacts, photos, music, video and so on?
What about battery life? Does it last a whole day (even with 4G enabled)?

Sorry for all the questions!
Click to expand...

Photostream - Better than Dropbox in my opinion. It automatically syncs photos across ALL of your devices, including automatic archiving on your computer. You can easily create a Photostream gallery that syncs everywhere, you can then send it to others (think of it as a private Facebook gallery), even if they aren't using an iPhone. If you have a Mac it integrates amazingly with iPhoto and Aperture.

Syncing Music - You can setup iTunes to automatically sync music to your phone if it's been put in a specific folder, then setup your phone to automatically sync to your computer via Wifi every night. Very seamless. If you sign up for iTunes Match, you can easily sync up to 200GB (25,000 songs) on your phone, much more than the phone's capacity.

iCloud syncs a lot, but not videos.

The iPhone 5 has the best LTE battery life of any phone ever released.

I recommend just getting it. You have 14 days to return it no questions asked, so why not try it out? It's like a free rental 🙂
 
marc11 said:
So you didn't like the freedom of setting your phone the way you want and went to a phone that doesn't let you do anything but how it says you can and you say you didn't like being controlled by a cell?

I think you may have it backwards. Android let's you be an adult and make smart choices to meet your needs. Apple treats you like a child and tells you what's best for you and if you don't like it tough.
Click to expand...

Well. I should have put it more clearly.

Yes, you have your point right. Android does give freedom freedom of setting mobile. But, what if I spend too much time and energy with my phone, instead of my frds and children? While I bought a mobile from Apple, they give full service. Then I can concentrate on other things that attract me and please me more.
 
I was in this exact situation. I had a Galaxy Nexus and the transition to a ip5 was pretty smooth. I was always flashing roms but with the ip5 i'm set leaving it stock. I'm on Verizon and just the battery life that i'm getting from my iphone is well worth the upgrade! I love the nexus 4 but just the fact that they're a pain in the rear to buy from the Google Play Store and that the glass back is prone to breaking is a turn off. I LOVE the nexus but Google needs to work out their quirks. I love my iphone, its been a great phone.
 
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