Thoughts after switching from Samsung Note 7

[maxsix]

Android has become a long way since then. They have some very nice handsets now. However I don't see myself using an android phone for the foreseeable future.

Your statement is the first honest, intelligent comment I've read on this forum in a long time.

It's refreshing to see someone admit they simply have a preference for Apple over the competition... without making up stories about how bad other phones are, using examples that no longer hold true or that they've picked up from others old posts. Why so many forum members are obsessed with bashing Android in order to make their Apple choice look good is quite revealing.

I happen to enjoy both concurrently. As such, my first hand experience is priceless, quite interesting and very enjoyable. That's why I'm more than happy to spend the huge sum of money it takes to maintain multiple active phones each with their dedicated lines. I've been a multi platform smartphone enthusiast for years, it's been fascinating and satisfying.

 

[bigjnyc]

Why can't iPhone users admit when there is a hardware advantage on an Android phone? Fast charging is awesome and as soon as iPhone users get it they will be singing the praises of fast charging. Since you don't have it now, you say it doesn't matter or isn't good. Next year when you have it, you will be singing a different tune.

Just like when you get an AMOLED display next year you will be all saying how great it is.

The Samsung flagships have significant hardware advantages over iPhones. PERIOD. iPhones do a better job of integrating the hardware/software and that has its advantages no doubt but it is ridiculous to say things like fast charging isn't great. It's freakin' awesome. And you will say so next year when you get it.

Starting with the iPhone 6S if you use the bigger charging brick that comes with the iPad the battery charges much faster. I had the note 7 for a month and a half and the difference is about 5 minutes

 

[mrex]

yes, iphone 4 and 6 had issues. no one denies that but it is far from impacting usage/experience.

Really? I dont remember seeing any statement from apple about the touch issue in iphone 6. But i have seen many articles about it, law action and some gets their phone replaced while some wont.

https://9to5mac.com/2016/10/08/apple-touch-disease-hardware-flaw/

No impact to the usage or experience??

 

[KillaMac]

Starting with the iPhone 6S if you use the bigger charging brick that comes with the iPad the battery charges much faster. I had the note 7 for a month and a half and the difference is about 5 minutes

It's more than that. I had the 6s plus and charged it with the iPad vs the iPhone and it almost cut the time in half.

 

[normanfox]

Except it probably can be done using software only, since that is what it is especially doing... And I was talking about right now, which is pretty much for 2x optical zoom. Except it can't do it, unless you're outside in bright light cause of the f2.8 aperture. So at the moment, it's gimmick, and I doubt every day users are going to find it useful.

However the f1.8 is in fact a great improvement and many people will notice that in low light conditions, which is mostly where people are using their phones - indoors.

not true. Bloke feature uses dual lens to measure depth, identify background to blur, and uses software to process the image in real time without lag. Hence this feature is only available on 7+.

 

[JAG21979]

Packed up my Note 7 to go back after all the mess. Now if I can locate an iPhone 7 plus as it seems everyone is sold out.

Get the matte black once it becomes more readily available, you won't regret it!

 

[normanfox]

Your statement is the first honest, intelligent comment I've read on this forum in a long time.

It's refreshing to see someone admit they simply have a preference for Apple over the competition... without making up stories about how bad other phones are, using examples that no longer hold true or that they've picked up from others old posts. Why so many forum members are obsessed with bashing Android in order to make their Apple choice look good is quite revealing.

I happen to enjoy both concurrently. As such, my first hand experience is priceless, quite interesting and very enjoyable. That's why I'm more than happy to spend the huge sum of money it takes to maintain multiple active phones each with their dedicated lines. I've been a multi platform smartphone enthusiast for years, it's been fascinating and satisfying.

you are not a typical consumer. not many people want to spend that kind of money to pay for multiple phones just to play around. they want just one phone and have to decide what phone that fits their need. hence there are threads like this.

I have android devices (Nvidia Shield TV and Google Nexus Player). user experience on Android is terrible and unpolished. updates take months to be available. So many features are available but few work correctly. many features take some effort to get to work correctly. many major app support touch ID. you are lucky if you can find these same apps that support finger scanner on android.

 

[C DM]

Oops... must've hit a nerve

So basically nothing more to it all to begin with since we are quickly down to nothing more than ad hominems.

 

[normanfox]

Really? I dont remember seeing any statement from apple about the touch issue in iphone 6. But i have seen many articles about it, law action and some gets their phone replaced while some wont.

https://9to5mac.com/2016/10/08/apple-touch-disease-hardware-flaw/

No impact to the usage or experience??

I was referring to bendgate. if touch disease is widespread, apple should response. I am not going to defend them.

I had a iphone 6+ replaced due to bad speaker. The replacement phone got this touch disease. I took it to apple store, and they replaced right away.

 

[C DM]

Your statement is the first honest, intelligent comment I've read on this forum in a long time.

It's refreshing to see someone admit they simply have a preference for Apple over the competition... without making up stories about how bad other phones are, using examples that no longer hold true or that they've picked up from others old posts. Why so many forum members are obsessed with bashing Android in order to make their Apple choice look good is quite revealing.

I happen to enjoy both concurrently. As such, my first hand experience is priceless, quite interesting and very enjoyable. That's why I'm more than happy to spend the huge sum of money it takes to maintain multiple active phones each with their dedicated lines. I've been a multi platform smartphone enthusiast for years, it's been fascinating and satisfying.

That is a very interesting statement coming from someone that is often involved in the exact opposite of all of that. Very interesting indeed.

 

[Gathomblipoob]

That is a very interesting statement coming from someone that is often involved in the exact opposite of all of that. Very interesting indeed.

I haven't really followed the conversation you're referring to, but in general I've found that "biased" often means "not in accordance with my personal views". Of course, "fair" or "non-biased" often means the opposite.

 

[Shanghaichica]

Your statement is the first honest, intelligent comment I've read on this forum in a long time.

It's refreshing to see someone admit they simply have a preference for Apple over the competition... without making up stories about how bad other phones are, using examples that no longer hold true or that they've picked up from others old posts. Why so many forum members are obsessed with bashing Android in order to make their Apple choice look good is quite revealing.

I happen to enjoy both concurrently. As such, my first hand experience is priceless, quite interesting and very enjoyable. That's why I'm more than happy to spend the huge sum of money it takes to maintain multiple active phones each with their dedicated lines. I've been a multi platform smartphone enthusiast for years, it's been fascinating and satisfying.

I do prefer Apple overall as I'm heavily invested in the ecosystem but I won't deny that hardware wise there are some phones that are just as good and even better than the latest iPhones. Android as an OS has some functions which are not available on iOS which I find useful but are not deal breakers. My first android phone was a Samsung galaxy Y which I used for a month after my iPhone 4 was stolen and then I upgraded to the original galaxy note. Even the galaxy y which was a budget phone in 2012 was perfectly useable as has every android phone that I've used since. Maybe I didn't use any of the devices from the 'dark ages' of android but some times I find it hard to be believe it when people cite some old android phone and paint it as a piece of junk.

 

[2298754]

I really wanted to buy a Note 7, but the issue is that no one else offers the same experience as Samsung when it comes to phablets. The software and hardware are so deeply integrated with the S-pen and WACOM digitizer. I guess a Note 5 would be something to pick up for cheap?

 

[KillaMac]

Get the matte black once it becomes more readily available, you won't regret it!

As long as it doesn't buzz and pop like my first one. I had the 7 plus matte black and loved the color, it just sat there making all types of noises.

Just got back from AT&T and had ZERO issues. The lady was nice and knew about the issues of the replacements. She actually entered it all in the system and thought she had to get a code for the no restocking fee like she had to do for the last two days and this morning it automatically did it as it knew what phone. So AT&T did something over night to program the system for returns. My account is already reset and taxes were reimbursed to my checking account.

 

[maxsix]

I do prefer Apple overall as I'm heavily invested in the ecosystem but I won't deny that hardware wise there are some phones that are just as good and even better than the latest iPhones.

Yes indeed, I too am heavily invested in all of Apple. Hardware: computers of every model, peripherals, iOS devices. Software: apps & software beyond the imagination. Admittedly it's all the years of exemplary experiences I have had that cause me to be rather irritated with the current state of Apple today. It's not expectations of perfection from them, but simply that they're current propensity to deliberately choose cruising and profit taking over staying hungry and innovating with a vengeance, that's off putting. No one has Apple's experience, deep pockets, vision and highly skilled staff. To waste that by not pushing themselves to use their highest capabilities is very disappointing. If Apple pulled out all the stops and went for it, they'd decimate the others.

I really wanted to buy a Note 7, but the issue is that no one else offers the same experience as Samsung when it comes to phablets. The software and hardware are so deeply integrated with the S-pen and WACOM digitizer. I guess a Note 5 would be something to pick up for cheap?

I've enjoyed every Note since the original. Drawn to large screen smartphones from the beginning, the handy advantages of a stylus as implemented by Samsung has been wonderful. My Note 7 was just stellar, hands down the Note to have... until the sad turn of events.

Not only was the recall situation damaging to Samsung, its damaging to the entire smartphone industry. Nothing keeps things healthy like fierce competition, just when Samsung looked stronger than ever, poised to kick some sense into Apple, tragedy struck. One that causes everyone to lose. A lose/lose situation of epic proportions.

Yet it'll pass and the next big thing will still appear...

 

[aka777]

So does mine but sometimes I forget to charge it at night and fast charging is great. Other times I am using my phone an extraordinary amount of SOT with full brightness and streaming music, tethering, bluetooth on and fast charging is great then too.

As soon as the iPhone gets fast charging, you will be peeing your pants saying how great it is. This always happens - iPhone users say that they don't need something that they don't have that Androids do have and then they get it and all they can do is talk about how great it is, lol!

Wireless charging is awesome too. You will love it once you get it!! When I do charge at night, I just plop it on the wireless charging pad, its so nice to be able to do that.

Androids need fast-charging because their battery usage is extremely high. Not to mention, fast-charging does shorten the life of a battery versus safe trickle charging. My Notes are practically dead after two years of usage and good luck trying to find a genuine Samsung battery. The manufacturer has already moved on to the next model and cannot give two ***** about the previous phone, that you just paid iPhone pricing for.

I had wireless charging on my galaxy s6 and it was pita. You literally had to position it in x spot otherwise it would not charge. And lets forget my favorite wireless charging feature of them all. Lets say you set it down (correctly) to charge overnight and it reached 100% at 3am in the morning. One would assume that it would start to recharge itself as it dropped throughout the night. Nope! I would often pick up a handset in the morning and see that it had dropped to 89%. Why? because it doesn't to recharge itself, you have to literally lift it and place it down again to re-start the charge.

The other Yuge problems I have with my note is that the T-Mobile version is flashed to tmobile. I cannot use any of AT&T's advanced features on this phone - like VoLTE or Wifi calling. One would think that after my warranty runs out or my handset is unlocked I would be permitted to flash to stock android or even another carriers ROM - Nope. It's basically quasi-locked to the original carrier. With the iphone on the other hand, I am free to take it to any global carrier and utilize and of their features.

I recently upgrade the software on a Note 4 to 6.0.1. I thought I had backed everything up, since it told me so, so I proceeded with the clean install. When I went to re-install everything via Samsung and Google, my photos were gone. Apparently, this was a separate feature that was disabled, so I have now lost all of my photos. It's nonsense like this as to why I stick with my iPhone.

Speaking of software upgrades, these are at the mercy of the carrier and manufacturer. Apparently my note 4 model will not receive 7.0 and this is barely a 2 year old phone. Whereas, 4 year old iphones still receive updates and on the day of release. It took 9 months for the note 4 just to get version 6. And BTW, it's slowed down the phone and enhanced the dreaded Samsung GUI lag.

But, as you were saying about cherry-picked specs and new gimmick features that won't be used and are half-baked anyway....

 

[Will22]

Androids need fast-charging because their battery usage is extremely high. Not to mention, fast-charging does shorten the life of a battery versus safe trickle charging. My Notes are practically dead after two years of usage and good luck trying to find a genuine Samsung battery. The manufacturer has already moved on to the next model and cannot give two ***** about the previous phone, that you just paid iPhone pricing for.

I had wireless charging on my galaxy s6 and it was pita. You literally had to position it in x spot otherwise it would not charge. And lets forget my favorite wireless charging feature of them all. Lets say you set it down (correctly) to charge overnight and it reached 100% at 3am in the morning. One would assume that it would start to recharge itself as it dropped throughout the night. Nope! I would often pick up a handset in the morning and see that it had dropped to 89%. Why? because it doesn't to recharge itself, you have to literally lift it and place it down again to re-start the charge.

The other Yuge problems I have with my note is that the T-Mobile version is flashed to tmobile. I cannot use any of AT&T's advanced features on this phone - like VoLTE or Wifi calling. One would think that after my warranty runs out or my handset is unlocked I would be permitted to flash to stock android or even another carriers ROM - Nope. It's basically quasi-locked to the original carrier. With the iphone on the other hand, I am free to take it to any global carrier and utilize and of their features.

I recently upgrade the software on a Note 4 to 6.0.1. I thought I had backed everything up, since it told me so, so I proceeded with the clean install. When I went to re-install everything via Samsung and Google, my photos were gone. Apparently, this was a separate feature that was disabled, so I have now lost all of my photos. It's nonsense like this as to why I stick with my iPhone.

Speaking of software upgrades, these are at the mercy of the carrier and manufacturer. Apparently my note 4 model will not receive 7.0 and this is barely a 2 year old phone. Whereas, 4 year old iphones still receive updates and on the day of release. It took 9 months for the note 4 just to get version 6. And BTW, it's slowed down the phone and enhanced the dreaded Samsung GUI lag.

But, as you were saying about cherry-picked specs and gimmick half-baked features....

You had a crap or fake charger then. When I had my S6 Edge it was so easy to charge and yes it would start charging again after it hit 100%

BTW fast charging does not affect batteries lifespan.

 

[Steve686]

Androids need fast-charging because their battery usage is extremely high. Not to mention, fast-charging does shorten the life of a battery versus safe trickle charging. My Notes are practically dead after two years of usage and good luck trying to find a genuine Samsung battery. The manufacturer has already moved on to the next model and cannot give two ***** about the previous phone, that you just paid iPhone pricing for.

I had wireless charging on my galaxy s6 and it was pita. You literally had to position it in x spot otherwise it would not charge. And lets forget my favorite wireless charging feature of them all. Lets say you set it down (correctly) to charge overnight and it reached 100% at 3am in the morning. One would assume that it would start to recharge itself as it dropped throughout the night. Nope! I would often pick up a handset in the morning and see that it had dropped to 89%. Why? because it doesn't to recharge itself, you have to literally lift it and place it down again to re-start the charge.

The other Yuge problems I have with my note is that the T-Mobile version is flashed to tmobile. I cannot use any of AT&T's advanced features on this phone - like VoLTE or Wifi calling. One would think that after my warranty runs out or my handset is unlocked I would be permitted to flash to stock android or even another carriers ROM - Nope. It's basically quasi-locked to the original carrier. With the iphone on the other hand, I am free to take it to any global carrier and utilize and of their features.

I recently upgrade the software on a Note 4 to 6.0.1. I thought I had backed everything up, since it told me so, so I proceeded with the clean install. When I went to re-install everything via Samsung and Google, my photos were gone. Apparently, this was a separate feature that was disabled, so I have now lost all of my photos. It's nonsense like this as to why I stick with my iPhone.

Speaking of software upgrades, these are at the mercy of the carrier and manufacturer. Apparently my note 4 model will not receive 7.0 and this is barely a 2 year old phone. Whereas, 4 year old iphones still receive updates and on the day of release. It took 9 months for the note 4 just to get version 6. And BTW, it's slowed down the phone and enhanced the dreaded Samsung GUI lag.

But, as you were saying about cherry-picked specs and new gimmick features that won't be used and are half-baked anyway....

Good breakdown and there are many more examples that could be noted.

When people talk about specs and hardware, it's mostly chest thumping on each company's part.

The bottom line is that Apple makes the user experience multitudes better than other phones in the long run and overall and not just in one area of discussion.

 

[HEK]

Androids need fast-charging because their battery usage is extremely high. Not to mention, fast-charging does shorten the life of a battery versus safe trickle charging. My Notes are practically dead after two years of usage and good luck trying to find a genuine Samsung battery. The manufacturer has already moved on to the next model and cannot give two ***** about the previous phone, that you just paid iPhone pricing for.

I had wireless charging on my galaxy s6 and it was pita. You literally had to position it in x spot otherwise it would not charge. And lets forget my favorite wireless charging feature of them all. Lets say you set it down (correctly) to charge overnight and it reached 100% at 3am in the morning. One would assume that it would start to recharge itself as it dropped throughout the night. Nope! I would often pick up a handset in the morning and see that it had dropped to 89%. Why? because it doesn't to recharge itself, you have to literally lift it and place it down again to re-start the charge.

The other Yuge problems I have with my note is that the T-Mobile version is flashed to tmobile. I cannot use any of AT&T's advanced features on this phone - like VoLTE or Wifi calling. One would think that after my warranty runs out or my handset is unlocked I would be permitted to flash to stock android or even another carriers ROM - Nope. It's basically quasi-locked to the original carrier. With the iphone on the other hand, I am free to take it to any global carrier and utilize and of their features.

I recently upgrade the software on a Note 4 to 6.0.1. I thought I had backed everything up, since it told me so, so I proceeded with the clean install. When I went to re-install everything via Samsung and Google, my photos were gone. Apparently, this was a separate feature that was disabled, so I have now lost all of my photos. It's nonsense like this as to why I stick with my iPhone.

Speaking of software upgrades, these are at the mercy of the carrier and manufacturer. Apparently my note 4 model will not receive 7.0 and this is barely a 2 year old phone. Whereas, 4 year old iphones still receive updates and on the day of release. It took 9 months for the note 4 just to get version 6. And BTW, it's slowed down the phone and enhanced the dreaded Samsung GUI lag.

But, as you were saying about cherry-picked specs and new gimmick features that won't be used and are half-baked anyway....

Interesting little tidbits not often mentioned by others that seem to promote other phones on Apple forum.

 

[Will22]

Interesting little tidbits not often mentioned by others that seem to promote other phones on Apple forum.

Did you know Elvis was working in a chip shop in Ireland?

Just because I said it doesn't make it true, but 'some' apple shee.......(lovers) would believe it if it were to promote apple.

Saying that I wouldn't buy an android phone at the moment over my iP7 or the iP7+ that I have on the way but I still see how some android phones are far superior in many ways, but not overall as long as I can jailbreak!!!

I can stick with the limitations that apple inforce on their customers for a few months but any longer and the Note/S7 edge will be winging it my way.

 

[BootsWalking]

I've been running both iOS and Android for a while. I currently have a Galaxy S7 and just recently upgraded from a 6s to 7 (wasn't planning to but the free upgrade deal at launch was too good to pass up).

My primary reason for still running Android is the Opera browser. It has a few nice features that I've come to really appreciate and rely on. One is that it has on-screen arrows when you scroll that let you immediately jump to either the top or bottom of the current page (vs only a shortcut to get to the top of the page on Safari in IOS). The other nice feature is it has a double-tap zoom gesture that lets you zoom using only a single finger - you double tap then hold and drag to zoom in/out. Lastly, Opera now includes a built-in ad blocker when using their optimized data feature (all pages go through Opera's servers, which I don't like from a security/privacy standpoint but I limit my use to non-critical browsing due to this).

Another reason I like Android are the widgets, which are still much better than iOS even after the v10 improvements. I have a widget on my home screen that shows me the next 5-6 calendar appointments - it's an essential way to immediately see what I have coming up by just picking up my phone.

Lastly, one of my favorite features of Android is the Google Maps timeline feature, which records every place you've ever been and lets you go back and see that history forever. I've read this feature used to exist on the iOS version of Google Maps at some point but Google removed it and made it Android exclusive.

For hardware-specific stuff the instant AF and zero-lag of the Galaxy 7's camera is miles ahead of the iPhones. Even my new 7 has terrible shutter lag vs the Galaxy.

Things I dislike about Android are the occasional UI lags, difficulty getting timely updates for non-Nexus devices, the inattention to security/privacy, and battery drain.

What I like most about iOS is Apple's attention to security and privacy. I would never trust my Android device to do online banking/paypal from my phone - I trust iOS to this. I also like Safari although my preference is Opera. I like the general fluidity of the UI and the more polished nature of apps vs those available on Android. I also like the exceptional stand-by battery life.

What I dislike most about iOS is the inability to fully disable the UI transitions - they slow down the phone horribly (and unnecessarily).

 

[JulesJam]

Your statement is the first honest, intelligent comment I've read on this forum in a long time.

Of course you would say that since the comment is pro-Apple, lol!

The reality is that both platforms have their pros and their cons. The hardware on the Samsung phones is bleeding edge and no other manufacturer comes close with displays. iPhone users can say they don't want useful hardware features like fast charge and wireless charging (neither of which you have to use if you don't want to) but the reality is that once iPhone users get them, they will be praising Apple for innovating.

Apple has great customer service and tightly integrated hardware/software, which can enhance the user's experience.

As for battery life, the Samsung phones drain their batteries quicker because the phones are doing more. If you don't want all of that software functionality, you can simply disable it and that significantly improves battery life. Apple allows far less customization and the phones just do less, which is a bonus for some people who don't want unneeded functionality to use up battery.

 

[mazdamiata210]

Watch it again. You will see the user transition between the wide angle and tele lense. Even puts a note on the screen to clue you in. These are on the outside shots. I particularly like a more normal 50mm style photo rather than always in the wide angle mode most phones are in all the time. Using software to simulate a 50mm lense style shot does not provide the highest resolution when shooting in daylight.

I do take issue with calling the 2x lense a telephoto. To my mind that denotes something like 75mm or 150mm or greater. We are so used to a wide angle image on phones that are like 28mm. All focal lengths I'm used to from my DSLR days.

And I question your experience in photography as your seizure comment referencing OIS obviously shows you can't even recognize when imagines are being shot with a tripod or steady rest as these were.

Yes because every normal user carries a tripod around.
[doublepost=1476048794][/doublepost]

not true. Bloke feature uses dual lens to measure depth, identify background to blur, and uses software to process the image in real time without lag. Hence this feature is only available on 7+.

Again... Could be done with software.

 

[HEK]

Did you know Elvis was working in a chip shop in Ireland?

Just because I said it doesn't make it true, but 'some' apple shee.......(lovers) would believe it if it were to promote apple.

Saying that I wouldn't buy an android phone at the moment over my iP7 or the iP7+ that I have on the way but I still see how some android phones are far superior in many ways, but not overall as long as I can jailbreak!!!

I can stick with the limitations that apple inforce on their customers for a few months but any longer and the Note/S7 edge will be winging it my way.

So wait.......you are saying you lied? You wrote that whole long thing, with all those details to get us to believe the Samsung wasn't all it's been made to appear it is.

Dang...that's cold.

Next you will be saying this whole exploding burning Note 7 thing along with recall and fire on plane is an internet hoax.

Walks off shaking head......now where will I go to find the truth? If the Internet lies that could mean Trump might not be the great guy he says he is. I mean if he isn't great and will save America maybe I just go back to voting Democratic.

Oh well.......
[doublepost=1476049249][/doublepost]

Yes because every normal user carries a tripod around.
[doublepost=1476048794][/doublepost]

Again... Could be done with software.

???? Who said everyone walks around with tripod. I said this video was made using some stationary holding device, most likely a tripod with individual head axis spin.

 

[mazdamiata210]

???? Who said everyone walks around with tripod. I said this video was made using some stationary holding device, most likely a tripod with individual head axis spin.

My original post where I said that the average person has no idea how any of it works and will NEVER use these features which makes it a gimmick. That was the entire point of my post.