Note 5 vs iPhone 6s

[anon(9144744)]

Re: Aggravated with iOS /Android back and forth

Today is the last of the 14-day return window and last opportunity to return this device and get another.

Note in my house!

So did you make it? Lol

 

[WeAreAllUnique]

So did you make it? Lol

I did make it. So it's official. But I knew I was going to keep this bad boy. I have been having a lot of fun with this smartphone. The only complaint I had was battery life. But I was able to set my phone to power save mode in certain locations during the day and that drastically improved my battery life. So all is good now. This smartphone is just insanely good.

Note in my house!

 

[Eddster]

Re: Aggravated with iOS /Android back and forth

As a confessed tech geek and habitual mobile phone junky, I have follwed this thread with great interest. Since 2012 (had every iPhone prior to then back to 2007) have moved from HTC One X to iPhone 5 to Note 2 to Moto X to HTC One M8 to iPhone 6 to iPhone 6 Plus to (currently) iPhone 6s Plus. I have been strongly considering the Note 5 (I had considered the Note 2 to be the best device I owned prior to the iPhone 6 Plus) and even more recently the Nexus 6P. I strongly believe that Android does a few things much better than IOS, specifically notifications and sharing (the share sheets in IOS still leave much to be desired, in my opinion). In past years, I would have switched without a second thought however here's my current quandry- As a father and husband and the Tech Admin for our household, breaking free of the IOS stronghold seems daunting. My children have iPads and iPod touches. My wife has an iPhone 6s and a MacBook. I find great value in being able to monitor all devices (including location of those pre-teens!), supervise purchases and iMessage with my younger kids. Additionally, both sets of grandparents have iPhones and the ability to create shared photo albums has been a terrific way for us to keep the grandparents up to speed on the family activities. And, I bought Apple Watches for my wife and I and we really like them. I'm certainly invested in the Apple ecosystem but would consider switching back if there were usable Android alternatives. Sadly, I don't believe there are.

I'm convinced at this point that the Note 5 or Nexus 6P would be better phones for ME but currently seems like being an iPhone owner is better fit for me within my family dynamic. First world problems- to be sure- but it's almost sad that I can't really switch phones whenever I want to!

Your use case sounds like you should probably keep your iPhone. It's hard to get out once you get sucked in, especially if most people around you (your family) is also in the ecosystem. I was wooed by the Note 5 recently and while it's a fantastic phone, in the end I knew I did't want to deal with not being in the ecosystem. Sounds like a cult. LOL But the seamless integration with other Apple devices is unmatched.

 

[WeAreAllUnique]

Re: Aggravated with iOS /Android back and forth

I don't know. That is odd though. Definitely an annoyance along with not being able to download apps over a certain amount of megabytes unless your on wifi

This is an annoyance.

Note in my house!

 

[WeAreAllUnique]

Re: Aggravated with iOS /Android back and forth

Your use case sounds like you should probably keep your iPhone. It's hard to get out once you get sucked in, especially if most people around you (your family) is also in the ecosystem. I was wooed by the Note 5 recently and while it's a fantastic phone, in the end I knew I did't want to deal with not being in the ecosystem. Sounds like a cult. LOL But the seamless integration with other Apple devices is unmatched.

And this is interesting. I have been trying to figure this out for years. And it has become increasingly more confounding as service models change. The only reason I have owned iPhones in the last two years is because of the Apple ecosystem. However, that means less today, but the perception of this seems to be more substantial. Let me explain. So I had the iPhone 6S. Before then, the iPhone 6. Moving over to Android and the Note 5 was easier than ever. Why? I had a subscription to Apple music. I cancelled it, moved to Google music. These are cloud services, NO issue. Many or most of the apps I use are free. So I'm not losing anything there. For movies and TV, I use Netflix and Crackle. These are cross platform services. I easily downloaded my iCloud documents and uploaded them to Google Drive, along with my pictures and videos. Transferring the necessary things took less than 15 minutes. But yet, I had this feeling that I was tied to the Apple ecosystem. In reality, the only feature there was to overcome was iMessage. And that was strong enough to keep me with iOS. Why? Because everyone else was using it. And that's the mentality that has contributed to my aggravation about myself.

Note in my house!

 

[Eddster]

Re: Aggravated with iOS /Android back and forth

And this is interesting. I have been trying to figure this out for years. And it has become increasingly more confounding as service models change. The only reason I have owned iPhones in the last two years is because of the Apple ecosystem. However, that means less today, but the perception of this seems to be more substantial. Let me explain. So I had the iPhone 6S. Before then, the iPhone 6. Moving over to Android and the Note 5 was easier than ever. Why? I had a subscription to Apple music. I cancelled it, moved to Google music. These are cloud services, NO issue. Many or most of the apps I use are free. So I'm not losing anything there. For movies and TV, I use Netflix and Crackle. These are cross platform services. I easily downloaded my iCloud documents and uploaded them to Google Drive, along with my pictures and videos. Transferring the necessary things took less than 15 minutes. But yet, I had this feeling that I was tied to the Apple ecosystem. In reality, the only feature there was to overcome was iMessage. And that was strong enough to keep me with iOS. Why? Because everyone else was using it. And that's the mentality that has contributed to my aggravation about myself.

Note in my house!

Yeah the impact is not so much to him, but more to Imjrb3's family. From what I read, the family including grandparents are used to using things like iCloud photo sharing. His wife and kids probably send him pics and videos via iMessage all the time. So, he could very well take the time to move his photos and documents from one cloud service to another. But guess what, he now has to ask everyone in his family to change the way they are used to doing things because he wants to leave the ecosystem. Imagine going to the grandparents and saying I'm going to download these other apps and you'll now look at photos using them. Then remember hows the kids used to quickly "text" those high resolution pics and videos? Nope, can't do that anymore because he's not on iMessage, and regular SMS won't cut it. He could ask the kids and parents to download Hangouts, but you can't send video through Hangouts. My point is, there are ways around these things, but it might not be worth the hassle of asking everyone to change their habits. But then again, it could be. That's a personal decision. If I had the grandparents comfortable with using all the Apple services baked into their iPhones, I wouldn't dream of asking them to change. But that's just me and these things may not matter to others.

 

[WeAreAllUnique]

Yeah the impact is not so much to him, but more to Imjrb3's family. From what I read, the family including grandparents are used to using things like iCloud photo sharing. His wife and kids probably send him pics and videos via iMessage all the time. So, he could very well take the time to move his photos and documents from one cloud service to another. But guess what, he now has to ask everyone in his family to change the way they are used to doing things because he wants to leave the ecosystem. Imagine going to the grandparents and saying I'm going to download these other apps and you'll now look at photos using them. Then remember hows the kids used to quickly "text" those high resolution pics and videos? Nope, can't do that anymore because he's not on iMessage, and regular SMS won't cut it. He could ask the kids and parents to download Hangouts, but you can't send video through Hangouts. My point is, there are ways around these things, but it might not be worth the hassle of asking everyone to change their habits. But then again, it could be. That's a personal decision. If I had the grandparents comfortable with using all the Apple services baked into their iPhones, I wouldn't dream of asking them to change. But that's just me and these things may not matter to others.

That's my point exactly. He has to use an iPhone because that's what others have and use. So its not about what he wants or likes. It's about conforming so he can communicate with those around him.

Note in my house!

 

[anon(9144744)]

Re: Aggravated with iOS /Android back and forth

I did make it. So it's official. But I knew I was going to keep this bad boy. I have been having a lot of fun with this smartphone. The only complaint I had was battery life. But I was able to set my phone to power save mode in certain locations during the day and that drastically improved my battery life. So all is good now. This smartphone is just insanely good.

Note in my house!

I'm so proud of you for sticking to your personal needs and likes. The note 5 is amazing, I was able to check it out at my local Verizon store. I actually just bought a 64gb micro sd for my Note 3 and loaded it up with 65 movies clearing up a lot of phone storage. One of these days I'll switch back lol

 

[anon(9144744)]

Re: Aggravated with iOS /Android back and forth

And I still stand by one of my statements where if the house was burning down and I could only go back in and grab one it would be my Note lol

 

[WeAreAllUnique]

Re: Aggravated with iOS /Android back and forth

I'm so proud of you for sticking to your personal needs and likes. The note 5 is amazing, I was able to check it out at my local Verizon store. I actually just bought a 64gb micro sd for my Note 3 and loaded it up with 65 movies clearing up a lot of phone storage. One of these days I'll switch back lol

I'm glad I did too.

Note in my house!

 

[Wildo6882]

Re: Aggravated with iOS /Android back and forth

I'm glad I did too.

Note in my house!

So forcing yourself to stick with Android and the Note for awhile? Why don't you grab a nice cheap Chromebook to kind of take the place of the iPad and just be fully entrenched in Google? That's what I'm doing (except I'm going with the 6P). I'm either getting the Asus Chromebook Flip or the new Dell Chromebook 13. Haven't decided yet.

 

[WeAreAllUnique]

Re: Aggravated with iOS /Android back and forth

So forcing yourself to stick with Android and the Note for awhile? Why don't you grab a nice cheap Chromebook to kind of take the place of the iPad and just be fully entrenched in Google? That's what I'm doing (except I'm going with the 6P). I'm either getting the Asus Chromebook Flip or the new Dell Chromebook 13. Haven't decided yet.

That's tempting. But probably the last thing I should do.

Note in my house!

 

[Kelly Kearns]

Re: Aggravated with iOS /Android back and forth

I envy those who buy a device and stick with it. It must be so gratifying when they do upgrade. For me, because I get new phones so often, the experience isn't that fulfilling anymore.

I stick with one device and I stick with Samsung. I did buy a Nexus 5 the other day just because I'm interested in playing with pure Android. So far, I like my Samsung best. Pure Android doesn't have some of the things I take for granted, the photo gallery, My Files that allows me to move files around and view, much like the computer. I'm finding things in the Play Store to use on the Nexus.. BUT.. "Vanilla" is a very good word for pure Android. For me, it is a little boring. Sure you can root and make it what you want, but I like that my Samsung already comes with all that.

 

[Kelly Kearns]

Re: Aggravated with iOS /Android back and forth

The screen on the note is sharper. The spen although I don't use it all the time. It doesn't freeze on rotation like my iPhone did. I like using Google now better than Siri. To me the build of the Note is better and more ergonomical than the iPhone and I think the camera is a tad better as photos come out sharper.

I do miss imessage though. I wish Samsung had something similar or at least we could pay to use imessage but I get along just fine without it.

Overall I like the note far better than the iPhone 6s plus. Now to be fair though my wife's iPhone 6s plus does not have the issues mine had. And my iPhone 6 plus had no issues either. But even if mine didn't have issues overall I like the note 5 more.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

Carriers are doing that. I know that T-Mobile is working on that and right now I only know of some of the flagship Samsungs that have it. From what I've read, all their customers will have it. It is advanced messaging and I expect now that all carriers will do it.

 

[WeAreAllUnique]

Re: Aggravated with iOS /Android back and forth

I stick with one device and I stick with Samsung. I did buy a Nexus 5 the other day just because I'm interested in playing with pure Android. So far, I like my Samsung best. Pure Android doesn't have some of the things I take for granted, the photo gallery, My Files that allows me to move files around and view, much like the computer. I'm finding things in the Play Store to use on the Nexus.. BUT.. "Vanilla" is a very good word for pure Android. For me, it is a little boring. Sure you can root and make it what you want, but I like that my Samsung already comes with all that.

I agree with you about stock Android. And I too have settled on Samsung. The features are just awesome. And I love the s-pen.

 

[Kelly Kearns]

Re: Aggravated with iOS /Android back and forth

It has helped me see some of the good points of non-pure Android. I hate searching put simple things like a gallery app or a file explorer app. With OEM phones you get that basic stuff that has the bells and whistles but it is still customizable.

Is pure Android something I would want to switch to all the time? Probably not, that is more customizing than I even probably want to do. Also I like my physical home button and my other buttons off the screen. I can see a lot of the advantages with pure android, but like I said.. Vanilla, very vanilla and bland. For me, it is a good option sometimes and I like that you get all the functions of Android. It would be nice if carriers and/or OEMs didn't remove some of the features they always remove from Android. Yeah there are things I can do with the Nexus that some Samsung phones can't do, depending on the carrier, but it does give me more of an appreciation of Touchwiz because the stock things are things we take for granted and just not there or the same, on the Nexus.

Will a pure Android ever be my daily driver? Probably not..

 

[WeAreAllUnique]

Re: Aggravated with iOS /Android back and forth

It has helped me see some of the good points of non-pure Android. I hate searching put simple things like a gallery app or a file explorer app. With OEM phones you get that basic stuff that has the bells and whistles but it is still customizable.

Is pure Android something I would want to switch to all the time? Probably not, that is more customizing than I even probably want to do. Also I like my physical home button and my other buttons off the screen. I can see a lot of the advantages with pure android, but like I said.. Vanilla, very vanilla and bland. For me, it is a good option sometimes and I like that you get all the functions of Android. It would be nice if carriers and/or OEMs didn't remove some of the features they always remove from Android. Yeah there are things I can do with the Nexus that some Samsung phones can't do, depending on the carrier, but it does give me more of an appreciation of Touchwiz because the stock things are things we take for granted and just not there or the same, on the Nexus.

Will a pure Android ever be my daily driver? Probably not..

It's not just the software either. Nexus devices lack some hardware features too.

 

[kj11]

Re: Aggravated with iOS /Android back and forth

It has helped me see some of the good points of non-pure Android. I hate searching put simple things like a gallery app or a file explorer app. With OEM phones you get that basic stuff that has the bells and whistles but it is still customizable.

Is pure Android something I would want to switch to all the time? Probably not, that is more customizing than I even probably want to do. Also I like my physical home button and my other buttons off the screen. I can see a lot of the advantages with pure android, but like I said.. Vanilla, very vanilla and bland. For me, it is a good option sometimes and I like that you get all the functions of Android. It would be nice if carriers and/or OEMs didn't remove some of the features they always remove from Android. Yeah there are things I can do with the Nexus that some Samsung phones can't do, depending on the carrier, but it does give me more of an appreciation of Touchwiz because the stock things are things we take for granted and just not there or the same, on the Nexus.

Will a pure Android ever be my daily driver? Probably not..

Exactly. Pure Android enthusiasts will try to make you feel inferior for getting anything else, but in all reality it's just too bare bones for everyday use. I have a Nexus 7, and that's all the pure Android I need

 

[WeAreAllUnique]

Re: Aggravated with iOS /Android back and forth

Exactly. Pure Android enthusiasts will try to make you feel inferior for getting anything else, but in all reality it's just too bare bones for everyday use. I have a Nexus 7, and that's all the pure Android I need

Can someone explain to me the draw of "pure Android"? I understood why you would buy a Nexus when they were $400 or cheaper. But when you are paying flagship prices, I don't get it. But I'm sure someone else could explain reasons other than bloatware and fast updates.

 

[kj11]

Re: Aggravated with iOS /Android back and forth

Can someone explain to me the draw of "pure Android"? I understood why you would buy a Nexus when they were $400 or cheaper. But when you are paying flagship prices, I don't get it. But I'm sure someone else could explain reasons other than bloatware and fast updates.

Nope. That's all they got.