Decisions, Switch to iOS?

[Nick A]

A little history. I owned pretty much every iPhone from the 3G to the 5 however when I saw the Galaxy S4 with its big (at the time) and beautiful screen I jumped ship. I enjoyed the S4 a lot and the following year switched to an HTC One M8 which was great, besides the camera. 2015 rolls around and my phone of choice this year was the LG G4. Hardware is great, removable battery, expandable storage, great screen, phenomenal camera.

Last Monday I was casually using my phone and it decided to turn off and not turn back on past the "LG Life's Good" screen. AT&T sent me a replacement but I was without a phone for 2 days which is hard especially having school and work to deal with.

Received the replacement phone filled with all the AT&T junk apps, it "synced" messages for 4 days for some reason I can't figure out. And I'm still on Android 5.1.1 MONTHS after 6.0 is released. Which I find unacceptable.

Anyway I thought to myself, hmm maybe I'll swing by Apple and check out the 6S, maybe it's time to go back to my roots and see what's new/changed since the iPhone 5.

What I learned was, there's no such thing as $200 upgrades anymore with AT&T and this device is stupid expensive.

My options are:
A) Apple's new program which would be $37 monthly plus $95 upfront for tax and first month payment. Plus a hard credit check that I'd rather avoid as I'm working on improving my credit score.
B) AT&Ts Next plan, same boat, except it's a soft credit check and not a hard credit check. Plus with these options I can't upgrade until at-least 12 months.
C) Buy the phone full price. I'd have to get the 64gb model + NYC tax would come out to about $815. I can sell the G4 on eBay and maybe walk away with $250 bringing the cost of the phone down to $565. Although I'm not sure if I want to sell the G4 right away, suppose I dislike the iPhone?

Not sure if it's worth jumping ship, especially for these prices. Can't get a phone for $200 anymore unfortunately. Switching carriers isn't really an option as I'm on a family plan.

Options, advice..?

 

[Elisha]

See if you can get a used one. Btw Marshmallow was only released in October. The European G4 already has it. Only a matter of time before the other regions get it.

 

[CNeufeld]

If you're happy with Android, but not your phone, why not look at the latest Nexus phones? They look pretty sweet, even if they eliminate the benefits of removable battery and upgradeable storage...

If you're going to switch, the idea of getting a 6 instead of the latest 6s isn't a bad one. Functionally, they're much the same. And if you decided to upgrade to the 6s in a month or two, you likely wouldn't lose much depreciation on a 6.

C

 

[bufffilm]

A little history. I owned pretty much every iPhone from the 3G to the 5 however when I saw the Galaxy S4 with its big (at the time) and beautiful screen I jumped ship. I enjoyed the S4 a lot and the following year switched to an HTC One M8 which was great, besides the camera. 2015 rolls around and my phone of choice this year was the LG G4. Hardware is great, removable battery, expandable storage, great screen, phenomenal camera.

Last Monday I was casually using my phone and it decided to turn off and not turn back on past the "LG Life's Good" screen. AT&T sent me a replacement but I was without a phone for 2 days which is hard especially having school and work to deal with.

Received the replacement phone filled with all the AT&T junk apps, it "synced" messages for 4 days for some reason I can't figure out. And I'm still on Android 5.1.1 MONTHS after 6.0 is released. Which I find unacceptable.

Anyway I thought to myself, hmm maybe I'll swing by Apple and check out the 6S, maybe it's time to go back to my roots and see what's new/changed since the iPhone 5.

What I learned was, there's no such thing as $200 upgrades anymore with AT&T and this device is stupid expensive.

My options are:
A) Apple's new program which would be $37 monthly plus $95 upfront for tax and first month payment. Plus a hard credit check that I'd rather avoid as I'm working on improving my credit score.
B) AT&Ts Next plan, same boat, except it's a soft credit check and not a hard credit check. Plus with these options I can't upgrade until at-least 12 months.
C) Buy the phone full price. I'd have to get the 64gb model + NYC tax would come out to about $815. I can sell the G4 on eBay and maybe walk away with $250 bringing the cost of the phone down to $565. Although I'm not sure if I want to sell the G4 right away, suppose I dislike the iPhone?

Not sure if it's worth jumping ship, especially for these prices. Can't get a phone for $200 anymore unfortunately. Switching carriers isn't really an option as I'm on a family plan.

Options, advice..?

Out of the options you listed, I would go would B). So you locked in for one year...as you said you can't jump ship anyway.

 

[bufffilm]

.

 

[BeeGood]

I agree with C. it sounds like you have issues with the hardware and bloatware, so I would recommended that you at least consider pure android on the Nexus 6 or even the newest phone from OnePlus which would also come without the bloatware. This is coming from a pretty dedicated iPhone guy.

If you've already made up your mind, definitely option B. You can own the phone outright at anytime by just paying off so you can always "opt into" option C.

Apple's payment plan is a little pricey to me, even with the inclusion of AppleCare.

 

[VertPin]

I'd recommend waiting for the 7, if I were you. However, if you cannot wait definitely go for the 64GB 6S. The Next/JUMP! plans from AT&T and T-Mobile are actually pretty great.

As far as iOS vs Android...could you tell us in specifics what you actually enjoy from Android? That way we can compare and give you a better answer.

 

[takeshi74]

Plus a hard credit check that I'd rather avoid as I'm working on improving my credit score.

Hard pulls are a relatively small factor. If one pull drastically impacts your score then you have bigger issues with your credit profile that you need to address than hard pulls.

What I learned was, there's no such thing as $200 upgrades anymore with AT&T and this device is stupid expensive.

Thankfully the carriers are moving away from subsidies so people are aware what devices actually cost.

Not sure if it's worth jumping ship, especially for these prices.

...and you won't find out unless you try. Set up a trial period and if you want to stay then sell your current device. If not, then return the IOS device. Worth is always highly subjective regardless of topic. You can't poll others to determine what's worth it to you. For me there's no question that an iPhone is the way to go but YMMV. No one solution is a best fit for everyone.

 

[BentTable123]

You can still order an iphone for $200 with a 2 year contract. You have to do it online through at&t's website. Hopefully you still have unlimited data and a family plan because that's the best value you can get.

A little history. I owned pretty much every iPhone from the 3G to the 5 however when I saw the Galaxy S4 with its big (at the time) and beautiful screen I jumped ship. I enjoyed the S4 a lot and the following year switched to an HTC One M8 which was great, besides the camera. 2015 rolls around and my phone of choice this year was the LG G4. Hardware is great, removable battery, expandable storage, great screen, phenomenal camera.

Last Monday I was casually using my phone and it decided to turn off and not turn back on past the "LG Life's Good" screen. AT&T sent me a replacement but I was without a phone for 2 days which is hard especially having school and work to deal with.

Received the replacement phone filled with all the AT&T junk apps, it "synced" messages for 4 days for some reason I can't figure out. And I'm still on Android 5.1.1 MONTHS after 6.0 is released. Which I find unacceptable.

Anyway I thought to myself, hmm maybe I'll swing by Apple and check out the 6S, maybe it's time to go back to my roots and see what's new/changed since the iPhone 5.

What I learned was, there's no such thing as $200 upgrades anymore with AT&T and this device is stupid expensive.

My options are:
A) Apple's new program which would be $37 monthly plus $95 upfront for tax and first month payment. Plus a hard credit check that I'd rather avoid as I'm working on improving my credit score.
B) AT&Ts Next plan, same boat, except it's a soft credit check and not a hard credit check. Plus with these options I can't upgrade until at-least 12 months.
C) Buy the phone full price. I'd have to get the 64gb model + NYC tax would come out to about $815. I can sell the G4 on eBay and maybe walk away with $250 bringing the cost of the phone down to $565. Although I'm not sure if I want to sell the G4 right away, suppose I dislike the iPhone?

Not sure if it's worth jumping ship, especially for these prices. Can't get a phone for $200 anymore unfortunately. Switching carriers isn't really an option as I'm on a family plan.

Options, advice..?

 

[HEK]

Out of the options you listed, I would go would B). So you locked in for one year...as you said you can't jump ship anyway.

You are not locked in for a year, you can at any time pay ahead to the 12 month position with Next and that will make you eligible to upgrade. I believe it's the same with Apple plan, but confirm with Apple Store.

 

[aneftp]

FYI to the OP. Android 6.0 was just released mid October. And the nexus 2015 phone didn't ship to end of October. So it hasn't been "months".

And Lg G4 already is on android 6.0 in almost every part of the world except USA. I suspect USA carriers will get it updated within the next 4-6 weeks.