iPhone 4s --> Galaxy S3. A penny for your thoughts?

[Nashstruck]

What's up guys/gals,

Tomorrow I'm planning on making the shift, and would love to know just a little bit about what your experience has been making this transition. I've been a BB user for years, and only been on the 4s for just 2 weeks... but with the horrid battery life, I'm hoping the S3 would be my good long term solution.

Would appreciate any advice really...

Thanks!

 

[Splange]

Well I've never owned an iPhone, but I transitioned from blackberry (bold 9700). I think it's a very good phone. The battery life might not be as good as an os6 blackberry, but I hear it beats os7. It easily lasts a full day on moderate use (for me this means typical background tasks like email, Facebook and twitter, a lot of Web surfing, one or two downloads, and a lot of music playing). Lasts till I get home on heavy use (watching video at lunch time, reading books in addition to the aforementioned moderate use tasks).
I like it a lot more than I ever liked my blackberry. Also prefer it to the iPhone due to its customizable nature, widgets, ability to play files of any format. You may find itunes synchronization harder than on iphone or blackberry, but apps like isyncr and easy phone tunes will make it less painful.

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[anon(692098)]

If you consider the 4s to have horrid battery life you may not be impressed by the S3. I just made the switch from a iP4 (not s) and yesterday was my first day with no charging. I started out with 100% at 7am and plugged it in with right around 20% at 10pm. Typically on my iP4 on the same schedule I'd plug it in with 50% or more battery.

Other than battery...

Holy crap the S3 is fast! The screen is amazing and the LTE speeds are outrageous. I'd give advice for iTunes etc. due to switching from an iPhone but if you only had your 4s for 2 weeks I'm betting you didn't get very heavily invested in the Apple ecosystem.

 

[jcp007]

If you consider the 4s to have horrid battery life you may not be impressed by the S3. I just made the switch from a iP4 (not s) and yesterday was my first day with no charging. I started out with 100% at 7am and plugged it in with right around 20% at 10pm. Typically on my iP4 on the same schedule I'd plug it in with 50% or more battery.

Other than battery...

Holy crap the S3 is fast! The screen is amazing and the LTE speeds are outrageous. I'd give advice for iTunes etc. due to switching from an iPhone but if you only had your 4s for 2 weeks I'm betting you didn't get very heavily invested in the Apple ecosystem.

I couldn't have said it any better. You will be glad that you made the switch to the GS3.

 

[Johnly]

Had the 4s since day once. This phone obliterated that old bar. Battery life is the same, everything else is literally a year beyond iOS. I still give apple the edge with signal, but this is the first Sammy I have owned where signal has not been a issue.

 

[Nashstruck]

Thank you all for your responses!

If you consider the 4s to have horrid battery life you may not be impressed by the S3. I just made the switch from a iP4 (not s) and yesterday was my first day with no charging. I started out with 100% at 7am and plugged it in with right around 20% at 10pm. Typically on my iP4 on the same schedule I'd plug it in with 50% or more battery.

Other than battery...

Holy crap the S3 is fast! The screen is amazing and the LTE speeds are outrageous. I'd give advice for iTunes etc. due to switching from an iPhone but if you only had your 4s for 2 weeks I'm betting you didn't get very heavily invested in the Apple ecosystem.

No I haven't, which is why I'm itching to start buying apps that would enhance my experience with my mobile phone. However, the apps on iOS don't allow a great deal of customisation so that's why I've been just trying to tell myself to make the move to s3 and be done with it.

I will struggle with syncing, etc. because I use a Mac. Photo Stream is sucha time saver, but I'm sure I"ll figure out means just as quick on the s3 to get stuff done. A day's battery is all I expect though. Atm, my ip4s dies right about 6pm. That aint enough, considering my working hours at 7am to 7pm daily.

Well I've never owned an iPhone, but I transitioned from blackberry (bold 9700). I think it's a very good phone. The battery life might not be as good as an os6 blackberry, but I hear it beats os7. It easily lasts a full day on moderate use (for me this means typical background tasks like email, Facebook and twitter, a lot of Web surfing, one or two downloads, and a lot of music playing). Lasts till I get home on heavy use (watching video at lunch time, reading books in addition to the aforementioned moderate use tasks).
I like it a lot more than I ever liked my blackberry. Also prefer it to the iPhone due to its customizable nature, widgets, ability to play files of any format. You may find itunes synchronization harder than on iphone or blackberry, but apps like isyncr and easy phone tunes will make it less painful.

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Android Central Forums

Os 7 was a major error for RIM.. I feel cheated to have stuck on for as long as I did with them. I enjoyed BBM but that's about it. But that's a different conversation. Glad to hear it lasts a day with moderate use at least, which is what I'm hoping for. Yes bigger screen = bigger consumption. But I will have just the light notifications on (like I did on my BB) for most notifications, with sounds and vibrate for calls and I'm sure it'll save me battery too. It was impossible to do that on the ip4s. Every damn Whatsapp msg that I used to get would ring out and vibrate. If I didn't have that turned on, I wouldn't ever know I received a msg. The LED is a MUST on any phone I use.

 

[epicness4G]

Before the s3 I owned a 4S since launch date.. I had okay battery with it but the s3 to me lasts much longer. I can Do so much more and the music sync to me is not an issue I just drag and drop. I love being able to download movies straight from my phone. Customizing it to my liking without the need to jailbreak. I also love the screen and resolution. I love having RSS feeds right on my screen as a widget instead of having to open an app for them. Fonts etc its a whole new world, I absolutely love it and when I pick up my 4S I go ewww..

I have Someone that wants to buy it for 500 USD so at least I'm getting something for that old brick

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[jontalk]

Well I'll chime in here since my GS3 is only a week old now, and I have been with Apple with the iP3G for 4 years.

Needless to say, the speed of the GS3, screen, flexibility, diversity and sheer horsepower makes the iP look like a toy. And even moreso, when you hold them side by side, LOL. That said, I installed Juice Defender and during the first full cycle of charging the battery did the calibration process you'll find here (Option 2): Calibrate Android Phone/Tablet Battery and Achieve Longer Battery Life I'm not a power user though I am on calls a few times a day, do some texting, browsing and playing with the phone, and I'm averaging well over 24 hours on a charge. We don't have many LTE towers here yet but tons of HSPA+ (14-16 mbps down). I use WiFi most of the time at home, and I also work from home.

My iP3G would go longer on a charge, but of course, the 3G network crawls and it won't draw down the battery as much as 4G. I'm VERY satisfied with the battery life, the screen is awesome (though it does taking some getting used to outdoors). There are SO many cool free apps, wallpapers, ringtones, music, games, etc. it's amazing. Apple's whole ecosystem is based on "how much can we squeeze out of you". Android is all about doing great things.

I couldn't imagine going back to an iPhone now. And these forums are filled with tips and tricks how you can enhance your experience with the GS3, too. Cheers!

 

[anon(692098)]

Thank you all for your responses!

I will struggle with syncing, etc. because I use a Mac. Photo Stream is sucha time saver, but I'm sure I"ll figure out means just as quick on the s3 to get stuff done. A day's battery is all I expect though. Atm, my ip4s dies right about 6pm. That aint enough, considering my working hours at 7am to 7pm daily.

As a Mac user as well I can suggest installing Picasa if you haven't already, then let Picasa find all your pictures. Once you have all your photos in Picasa upload the albums to Picasa Web Albums, when you open the Gallery app on your S3 all your photos will be there. You can also upload all your photos on the phone very easily to Picasa as well and then download them to the Picasa desktop app. It's not automated like PhotoStream but all the pieces are there.

Also if you have an extensive iTunes collection get iSyncr and don't look back. It allows you to continue to use iTunes for media management and then use iSyncr to sync music to your phone, it's very easy.

 

[Ricky Babalu]

Blackberry Curve----->Droid X----->S3. The S3 is lightning fast, huge screen, very light/thin and currently has the best hardware. I would suggest one of the first things you do is to replace the native email app with Aquamail. I rely on my phone for business and was hesitant making the move to Android, but trust me you will not regret making the move one bit!

 

[jneusch]

I had an iPhone 3gs, iPhone 4 and an iPhone 4s since launch day. I moved over to this phone a month ago, and I officially gave up my 4s when I activated it on my wife's line last weekend.

Battery - if you feel that the 4s battery is bad then you will be disappointed. Like another poster stated, I end up with about 25% at bed time, where my 4s was around 50%. The good news is, you can buy extended batteries for this phone. Just watch out for the cheap knock off batteries. If it sounds too good to be true, IT IS!

You also must remember that both are true smart phones, unlike the BB. The high powered screens, 4g speed, multi-tasking, etc all lead to more demand and less battery life.

Apps - You can find almost all of the same apps on Android as on iOS. Many more are free, but some are of poor quality. Make sure you read reviews and always try free versions first if available.

Pictures - I had Photo Stream and don't miss it. I use Picassa / Google+. All phone pix sync with this service. Make sure you set it up and sync when on wifi. Mine used 2gb of data on day one from syncing pictures.

Music - I use iTunes and have no intentions of switching. I use an app called iSyncr with the wifi add on. This is not a free app, but well worth it. You can sync your entire music library and/or individual playlists wirelessly. I have mine set up to go at 2AM. It also uploads my photos to a folder that you can import into iPhoto. (Yes, I use a Mac) It is 2 way sync, so music purchased on your phone can be synced up to a folder on your Mac too. You simply have to add the songs to your iTunes library.

There are other apps as well, Double Twist, SyncMate, etc. that I have heard good things about. I tried SyncMate and it allows some additional features like iPhoto, calendar, music, video syncing, but I found it problematic.

After a month with the GS3 I am very happy. I actually cancelled an order for an extended battery just yesterday. I decided that I am getting by on this battery and it's too easy to top it off in the car or at my desk if necessary.

I hope this helps you in your decision or to answer your questions as you come over to Android.

 

[funkylogik]

I had an iPhone 3gs, iPhone 4 and an iPhone 4s since launch day. I moved over to this phone a month ago, and I officially gave up my 4s when I activated it on my wife's line last weekend.

Battery - if you feel that the 4s battery is bad then you will be disappointed. Like another poster stated, I end up with about 25% at bed time, where my 4s was around 50%. The good news is, you can buy extended batteries for this phone. Just watch out for the cheap knock off batteries. If it sounds too good to be true, IT IS!

You also must remember that both are true smart phones, unlike the BB. The high powered screens, 4g speed, multi-tasking, etc all lead to more demand and less battery life.

Apps - You can find almost all of the same apps on Android as on iOS. Many more are free, but some are of poor quality. Make sure you read reviews and always try free versions first if available.

Pictures - I had Photo Stream and don't miss it. I use Picassa / Google+. All phone pix sync with this service. Make sure you set it up and sync when on wifi. Mine used 2gb of data on day one from syncing pictures.

Music - I use iTunes and have no intentions of switching. I use an app called iSyncr with the wifi add on. This is not a free app, but well worth it. You can sync your entire music library and/or individual playlists wirelessly. I have mine set up to go at 2AM. It also uploads my photos to a folder that you can import into iPhoto. (Yes, I use a Mac) It is 2 way sync, so music purchased on your phone can be synced up to a folder on your Mac too. You simply have to add the songs to your iTunes library.

There are other apps as well, Double Twist, SyncMate, etc. that I have heard good things about. I tried SyncMate and it allows some additional features like iPhoto, calendar, music, video syncing, but I found it problematic.

After a month with the GS3 I am very happy. I actually cancelled an order for an extended battery just yesterday. I decided that I am getting by on this battery and it's too easy to top it off in the car or at my desk if necessary.

I hope this helps you in your decision or to answer your questions as you come over to Android.

excelent advice man

 

[epicness4G]

I also think that if you got a mac. I got dropbox and every picture I take automatically goes in there and Into the one in my macbook. There's tons of options but hope you can come into the amazing side of android. This phone is remarkable honestly there is no cons on this phone..

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[enjamin]

If your sd card stores your photos or music on your new s3 then you will be fine mac accetps FAT32 file systems


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[MBSMD]

I'm a Mac user as well and I've found Google Play Music works quite well for keeping the phone and iTunes in sync. There's a small app you can install on the Mac which watches your iTunes library for any changes, then automatically uploads the songs to Google Play. Then they show right up on your phone's Google Play Music app.

As for battery life, I've found my iPhone 4S battery life to be excellent. I'm finding the VZW GS3's battery just a little weaker, but not significantly so. I use my phone heavily for email and text messages during the work day (about 80% of the time on wifi). I used to finish the work day with around 50% left on the iPhone. With the GS3, I'm at around 40%. Still quite satisfied. With my LTE GNexus, I'd have been lucky to make it thru the work day without having to plug it in.

 

[tripsbacks]

I get about 8-10 hours of battery life with heavy use. I bought a spare battery so it's never really an issue. My wife just bought a brand new iPhone 4s and it gets about the same. Actually a little less, but she bout an extended battery case and that has worked out really well. So my experience is that they have close to the same battery life.

 

[GalaxyOnyxWitch]

Thank you all for your responses!



<snip>

I will struggle with syncing, etc. because I use a Mac. Photo Stream is sucha time saver, but I'm sure I"ll figure out means just as quick on the s3 to get stuff done. A day's battery is all I expect though. Atm, my ip4s dies right about 6pm. That aint enough, considering my working hours at 7am to 7pm daily.


<snip>.

I recently learned of this on believe it or not MacRumours:

Sync photos from your Android device to iCloud's Photo Stream | How To - CNET

Most excellent and works like a CHARM!

Also to sync all music and videos I have within iTunes, I use iSync Wifi. Works seamlessly to sync all non DRM protected video and music to my GalaxyS3. You have to pay for the Wifi iSyncr but it is worth it.

Cheers!

 

[Nashstruck]

This is gonna sound so SAPPY! But i have NEVER met a forum quite as helpful as THIS ONE!!! (referring to AC in general)

THANK YOU ALL for the tips.

Took the plunge and now rocking the PB S3.
Turned on Automatic iPhoto uploads from the dropbox folder and now i'm photo-stream capable for my mac and ipad!!! SWEET!!!! (sidebar: not particularly impressed with S3 camera compared to the 4s, but hey, it's a wonderful trade-off!)

@MBSMD I'm going to attempt the Google Play Music syncing thing next week once I purchase my 64GB SD card so I'm just gonna google/youtube for a "how to" till then. If you have one already somewhere, please do forward the link and it'll be a huge help.

@jneusch I'm gonna look into isyncr. Would love something free instead (Obviously =P) but will def look into it's capabilities. I need a means of transferring all my existing photos already in my iphoto onto my s3 once I get my sd card but again, will spend some time researching best possible means of doing so.

And for some reason, Picasa automatically downloaded some pics I had uploaded on my gmail account many years ago, pics I thought didn't exist anymore (NO they're not THAT kinda pics) but they were just ones I though I had deleted lol. Will look more into what else picasa "knows" about me that I never realised.

 

[jneusch]

Congrats on taking the plunge. You will be happy with isyncr. It's well worth the money to make it work so well. The other app I mentioned is sync mate. It will do what you want with your photos right from iPhoto. It's not free either, but it has other features as well. I just didn't like it that much.


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[EvilMonkey]

And for some reason, Picasa automatically downloaded some pics I had uploaded on my gmail account many years ago, pics I thought didn't exist anymore (NO they're not THAT kinda pics) but they were just ones I though I had deleted lol. Will look more into what else picasa "knows" about me that I never realised.

Yeah, it syncs 'Google' photos, not necessarily just Picasa photos. I had some very old Blogger photos sync from a blog I had years ago and never took down.