Pro's and cons to both platforms, no need to bash either. There's plenty wrong with each ecosystem as well. Whatever device you use, enjoy it in good health.
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Galaxy S8 plus or keep 7plus
- Thread starter richxps
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Same story as with the Note 7 I suspect.
I'm a bit taken aback as to how few of the professional testimonials take key things into account. The Note had an incredible design and look, and the screen popped. However, it became apparent very quickly why I'm now an iPhone guy after being with Android for so long.
Major apps were way better on iOS, sometimes being several revisions ahead of their Android counterparts. It had me wondering how the Android versions could even be greenlit in comparison. These were apps were hundreds of thousands of daily concurrent users.
Additionally, Apple pays more attention to the user experience vs Touchwiz, and it shows. The smoothness, lack of stutters, and quick updates for years down the road are very important to me. And while the point of specs is to provide is a good user experience, Apple still is ahead there, with the A10 fusion besting not only the Note 7, but also the 835 likely to be in the Note 8 and even the 2018 Qualcomm flagship. Per core performance lead is now getting silly.
In the end it's up to you. Customization is nice, but I didn't mess with my phone like I used to. The user experience was just better on iOS, and a beautiful design won't change that.
I'm a bit taken aback as to how few of the professional testimonials take key things into account. The Note had an incredible design and look, and the screen popped. However, it became apparent very quickly why I'm now an iPhone guy after being with Android for so long.
Major apps were way better on iOS, sometimes being several revisions ahead of their Android counterparts. It had me wondering how the Android versions could even be greenlit in comparison. These were apps were hundreds of thousands of daily concurrent users.
Additionally, Apple pays more attention to the user experience vs Touchwiz, and it shows. The smoothness, lack of stutters, and quick updates for years down the road are very important to me. And while the point of specs is to provide is a good user experience, Apple still is ahead there, with the A10 fusion besting not only the Note 7, but also the 835 likely to be in the Note 8 and even the 2018 Qualcomm flagship. Per core performance lead is now getting silly.
In the end it's up to you. Customization is nice, but I didn't mess with my phone like I used to. The user experience was just better on iOS, and a beautiful design won't change that.
Wait for the hype to die down and make your decision then. Often, people have this honeymoon phase where they absolutely love their device. When that wears off is when to see what people are saying.
Seems like "apps way better on iOS" is a recurring theme. But most posts always stop short without giving any details or examples how/why.
Top of my head, I know Google apps are definitely better on android with more functionalities. Most major apps are quite similar on both platforms (not sure how ios version is way better). In fact, some do have more functionalities on Android than ios due to more capable o/s like sharing, integration and background multi-tasking. Of course there are also a wide range/category or superset of apps that are only available on android but not on ios due to ios limitations.
App quality is subjective-- I can provide examples in where iOS is better, or vice versa.
Tennis Temple on Android is FAR better on Android-- iOS allows full screen advertisements where you have to wait before the close button appears. With Android, you're able to hit 'back' to close the ad. Not only that, but Tennis Temple occasionally freezes on iOS after the ad plays, so you have to re-watch another ad.
Reddit apps are WAY better on Android than iOS. I have yet to find an app as intuitive as 'Reddit is Fun'. Narwhal is close, but no cigar. It still takes too many steps to enter a subreddit, and viewing comments on Narwhal is quite annoying.
On the other hand, I definitely feel that app developers are utilizing the TouchID API on iOS mores than the fingerprint API on Android. When I switched back to iOS late last year, Mint still didn't have fingerprint authentication ready for Android, whereas iOS has had it forever.
Some games are just smoother on iOS than on Android. There's a jitteriness on my S7 Edge that is enough to bother me.
I don't expect everyone to use these apps, but these are some examples where I can't definitely say one platform is better than the other. Major apps aren't usually an issue as they have enough developers working on both platforms.
Tennis Temple on Android is FAR better on Android-- iOS allows full screen advertisements where you have to wait before the close button appears. With Android, you're able to hit 'back' to close the ad. Not only that, but Tennis Temple occasionally freezes on iOS after the ad plays, so you have to re-watch another ad.
Reddit apps are WAY better on Android than iOS. I have yet to find an app as intuitive as 'Reddit is Fun'. Narwhal is close, but no cigar. It still takes too many steps to enter a subreddit, and viewing comments on Narwhal is quite annoying.
On the other hand, I definitely feel that app developers are utilizing the TouchID API on iOS mores than the fingerprint API on Android. When I switched back to iOS late last year, Mint still didn't have fingerprint authentication ready for Android, whereas iOS has had it forever.
Some games are just smoother on iOS than on Android. There's a jitteriness on my S7 Edge that is enough to bother me.
I don't expect everyone to use these apps, but these are some examples where I can't definitely say one platform is better than the other. Major apps aren't usually an issue as they have enough developers working on both platforms.
Snapchat. Hugely popular and something I used everyday. The Android version was way slower, missing lots of animations, stuttered. It was to the point that even snapchat themselves acknowledged that they had some catching up to do with their Android app. Tinder (something I no longer use lol) was the same story. Notable difference.
Hell, iirc iOS even got g-board earlier than Android. Lol.
At the end of the day, it definitely depends on which apps you use and is definitely a subjective judgement.
Really? Of ALL the things you could fault Android for and this is what you bring up? The reason for this is because G-Board was previously known as Google Keyboard.
Third party keyboard support on iOS still SUCKS.
Difficult question to answer. The S8's hardware is superior but iOS still beats Android all day long. Sometimes it's just nice to have a change though if you've had a series of, let's be honest, similar iPhones.
This is an Apple forum so you will find members cheerleading for Apple products. Try a Samsung or Android forum and see what they have to say
I have the S8+ and the iP7+. You can't lose with either. Only way to find out what you will like better is to try it out.
I would choose the S8+ if I had to choose just one.
I consume a decent amount of video content on my phone, and the display on the S8+ is clearly better at that.
Gaming is also a plus on the S8+. Yes the iP7+ loads most games faster, but the game play looks better on the S8+ display. And you also have the option to block notifications while playing.
The camera software has a great manual mode, and Bixby within the camera you can scan bar or QR codes, translate text, image search, and etc.
In the US, SamsungPay is so much better than ApplePay. And Samsung regularly pays me to use it.
Google Assistant is just so much better than Siri.
And of course there are the endless hardware and software features the S8+ has, but I'm not going to ramble on & on about that.
Some downsides are .....
Can't use my Apple Watch with it.
No iMessage or Facetime.
Only 50% of my apps use the FingerPrint sensor on Android vs iOS.
No mute switch/button
I have one of each an Android and an iPhone. The purpose for me is I get the best of both worlds. Android may not be for everyone, but there is nothing wrong with it if you understand all of it's possibilities. Same with iOS. iOS is great in it's own way as well, simple and easy and I like that at times. Besides having two flags always gives me a backup device since I have no landline. Switching out is fun and the variety is refreshing, never boring. For me it's a def win/win. YMMV
And then again there are apps available only in ios, probably due to penetration of the o/s. Additionally functionality can be defined in infinite ways.
Just curious...did you buy your S8 outright or did you just add it to your account? Thinking about getting the S8 (I love my iPhone but holy hell do I miss android) So I'm debating on the best way to go about getting it
What do mean penetration? Most part of the world iPhone users are in the minority.
Maybe you are in a handful of countries where iphone users are still substantial. And maybe you only think that apps developed for the US are what everyone will ever need. There is nothing further from the truth. In china/asia there are so many popular apps which come out on Android first. Some are inferior on ios. Some don't even make it to iphone.
Well the US does have a good penetration of iOS. On the other hand to your point what's developed in china probably isn't relevant either in the US.
Get the S8 Plus if you want a truly mesmerising experience with the display. The 7 Plus display is just no match for the Galaxy
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Precisely.
Not taking into account regional/country differences, in general even at it stands now, to the average (neutral
) users, except for Apple apps, there is so little difference between App and Play store selection/quality that any talk about how big an advantage App Store has is just making a mountain out of a molehill.Nowadays factors like stability, apps selection, performance or ease of use have more or less equalized between iphone and android.
Stability: Android since lollipop has been very stable. Debating which O/S is more stable is quite pointless since the difference is so minute in everyday typical use
Apps Selection/quality: There are so many now in both stores that nobody bothers to even compare anymore. Unlike years ago when app release always lagged on android, nowadays it is not the case anymore. Sometimes the Android version get new functionalities/updates first. Suffice to say any comparison is just academic
Performance: We have come to a point where hardware speed has exceeded the need of software (just like the PC platform). I am using a phone which has benchmark half the value of the top phones but it feels little or no difference in performance compared to an iphone / galaxy every use.
Ease-of-use : Most chinese phones mimic the iphone UI. Latest Touchwiz give you option to set it up like iphone. Even if your mind is burned in with iphone UI, I don't think you have trouble transitioning to Android.
I may still stick to iPhone and iOS ecosystem because of wider support of apps in my world. Yes, my world.
There is only one reason: my game on iOS is always better than the one on android, always. Either performance wise or stability wise , plus I am less worried about being unable to play a game due to incompatible hardware chips or so.
There is only one reason: my game on iOS is always better than the one on android, always. Either performance wise or stability wise , plus I am less worried about being unable to play a game due to incompatible hardware chips or so.
Agreed. The new Galasy S8 Snapdragon SOC is already down to 10 nanometers. At this point the hardware has exceeded the software by a large margin. We're at the point where you really can't do much more to smartphones to make them much better than the previous versions. At some point you're going to have to go into VR, or AR land to advance the technology for every day use. I think AR is probably the next step.
