The whole Samsung v Apple, Android v iOS debate is really quite stupid to be honest and is really just a way for fanboys to show how blinkered and stupid they are. I am a lover of technology and have no blind loyalty to either side. Both companies make fantastic products that appeal to different kinds of people. You just have to choose which one meets your needs.
My wife and I have lots of Apple products (iMac, Macbook Air, 2 iPad's) as we love the beauty and seamless integration of them. However, when our iPhone 4 contract was up for renewal, we didn't think the 4S was worth upgrading to so we decided to go for the Samsung Galaxy S3. Our thinking was that in the event that the iPhone 5 was a must buy, we could sell the S3 on for more money than the 4S. I must admit that it took a day or two to get used to Android and not being able to use iTunes to back everything up etc. but after we got used to it, we both fell in love with the S3 and decided that for our needs, it was a much better phone than the iPhone so never did upgrade to the 5. My biggest concern on the S3 was that it would be too big but honestly, once you go to the bigger screen of the Samsung, you're never going back to the small screen of the iPhone......
Anyway, I then upgraded to the S4 and again, I love it. The technology in the phone, the fact that you can install a micro SD card, replace the battery etc. was what won me over. Android is also now very stable, smooth and a much better OS than iOS is for those people like me that like to play around and customise things. I'm an IT guy by trade so Android brings out the inner geek in me. I love the widgets, the customisation settings etc. etc. I was also quite surprised to find out that the music player quality with Poweramp on the Samsung blows the iPhone away. You can customise all the equaliser settings and with a decent pair of headphones, the quality of sound is amazing. I'm surprised nobody ever mentions this. I know you can do some of these things with jailbreak but it's not the same. However, I also have an iPad with iOS 7 and for me, this is perfect as I use my iPad for surfing the net, watching movies and reading books. Would I buy an Android tablet? No as I don't need all the customisation options for how I use my tablet as it's for a very specific purpose whereby on my phone, I love to tinker.
Now, my wife has had a love hate affair with Android. She loves it's customisation but hates the fact that it's not so simple to use as iOS. She's constantly asking me to show her how to do stuff and gets frustrated that she doesn't know how to copy photos into our iPhoto gallery, sync music etc. which is so easy on the iPhone. Therefore, I have been thinking about whether to buy her an iPhone 5S to make her life easier so that she can just 'sync' and be done with it.
This is one of the great things about competition....we as consumers can pick and choose the products that we feel best suit our needs. Different products are better for different people. Would I recommend a Samsung S4 to my mother? No. I'd tell her to go buy an iPhone. Both are great phones but both are actually aimed at slightly different audiences and can happily co-exist. Hell, the competition makes for better choice for us consumers and avoids a monopoly situation which would be bad for all!!!
