My first Android phone was the original Motorola Droid. Loved that phone and actually learned to root it. I wasn't planning on getting an iPhone but virtually all my friends/family had it, so I figured two years wasn't too long and got an iPhone 4S. At first, I really liked it, mainly because the camera was far superior to the Droid. iMessage was also nice and the retina display was unmatched at the time. However, even from the get go my iPhone was plagued with issues. Battery life was horrible. The phone would freeze when I got multiple text messages in quick succession (I got the false impression from friends/family that iPhones never have software issues). Finally got a 4S replacement using my Squaretrade warranty but although the battery issue wasn't as prominent (I could get through the day now, even though I noticeably use my phone less), the freeze issues continued and now the camera seems to be operating more slowly. Maybe I got two bad iPhones but whatever the reason, iOS left a bad taste in my mouth and I longed to go back to Android.
I'm getting my GS4 in two weeks when my upgrade is available and here are the things I'm most looking forward to:
1. Screen size - The 4S is way too small for someone like me (big hands, fat fingers, bad vision). The retina display on the iPhone is nice but now there is something just as sharp but bigger too.
2. MicroSD card - Huge plus for me. Having a 16gb iPhone was such a limiting factor. I take a ton of pictures and after two years, those add up. I know I can just save it to the cloud but I find it infinitely easier to just store everything on an card, and just copy the files to my computer when it's full. Plus, I have a program that can rip DVD's to watch on my tablet and/or phone, which is nice but takes up a lot of space.
3. Android experience - Having tried both iOS and Android (I've had a Asus Transformer and a Nexus 7 in the past two years), I prefer Android. It may not be as simple as iOS but it certainly is more capable and infinitely more customizable. For a nerd like me, that's important.
4. It's different - Maybe it's a minor thing but I kind of like not having the same phone as every other person on the train seems to have. If I had to give a rough estimate, I'd say at least 7 out of every 10 smartphones I see are iPhones.