Transition from Samsung to Pixel

[rpdc]

I have been using an S10e as my daily for about a year and a half and just got the Pixel 4a a couple of days ago. I set it up with an eSIM and will be comparing cameras this week. I am currently pairing my original Galaxy Watch and Active 2 with the Pixel 4a to see how well they work on a non Samsung phone. Should be an interesting week as I have a mix of Samsung and Google products.

I'm anxious to find out what you think.
Keep us posted.
Thanks!

 

[rpdc]

Morty2264

I've been using the Pixel 4a exclusively for the past 3 days. I have to say this is a lot of phone for $349. I'm very impressed. Much smaller than I anticipated but I'm getting used to it.
I don't know if it's my imagination but my native Google Apps seem to respond much faster. Very smooth experience. Now I'm waiting for the case I ordered from Amazon.

 

[captainkirkw]

So I have been using the Pixel 4a for a week now and I have to say that I am quite impressed with it. I am not one of those who needs all of the bells and whistles and definitely do not want a huge phone, so this little guy is a keeper. I have not done any back to back photos with my S10e yet, but plan to this weekend, yet so far, the pictures that I have taken seem to be pretty comparable. I did have one day of heavy usage where I ran the battery down top just under 12% before I got home, but that was a lot of picture taking, shooting videos in some old muscle cars with no A/C on a 100 degree day, plus texting, phone calls, and typical regular use.

I should be able to make my decision on the phone after the image comparison test this weekend, but I am pretty sure I will keep the Pixel 4a regardless as it is just too good of a phone, especially for the price. And like Morty2264, I too seem to be experiencing better performance with my Google devices and have all of the lights that I use through my Samsung SmartThings Hub, now controlled through Google home as well. That goes for my Google Wi-Fi mesh system and I am sure all will go smoothly when I install my two new Nest Cam IQ Indoor's this weekend. No problems using the Pixel 4a with my original Galaxy Watch nor my Active 2 either.

I do wish that it had wireless charging just because I am used to it with my S10e and have a double charger for the phone and watch. I also wish it was IP67 or IP68 rated. I am careful with my phones and have never dropped them in water, but it is a nice bonus. Case in point, when I was snorkeling in Kauai a couple of years ago, I had my Moto X4 in my pocket and swam around for about 10 minutes before realizing it as I was filming with my GoPro. As soon as I did, I got back on the boat and dried it off and never had any issues with it after that. Still works to this day.

 

[Morty2264]

Morty2264

I've been using the Pixel 4a exclusively for the past 3 days. I have to say this is a lot of phone for $349. I'm very impressed. Much smaller than I anticipated but I'm getting used to it.
I don't know if it's my imagination but my native Google Apps seem to respond much faster. Very smooth experience. Now I'm waiting for the case I ordered from Amazon.

That's so awesome! I'm so glad you are loving it! I'm sure you will get used to the smaller size in time!

You know, I too wonder sometimes if my native Google apps "performed better" on my Google Pixel than on my S10. It's not that they're "slow" on my S10 by any means, and yet...

 

[neil74]

I still have both and spend most of the time wishing I could put the Pixel software on the S20+.

There are some things I like with the Samsung software like being able to schedule the always on display or set a volume limit for example but mostly I far prefer the Pixel software and the camera is just (for me anyway) way better if maybe not quite as versatile.

For those missing wireless charging do not overlook the Pixel 3, yes it is 2 years old but still benchmarks better than the 4a and ticks a lot of flagship boxes.

 

[rpdc]

For those of you that have two or more phones, how do you juggle them? I feel like a child with 2 great toy's (Galaxy S8 Plus and Pixel 4a). Which one should I play with today.
Also, how do you store the phone you are not using?

Thanks!

 

[Morty2264]

For those of you that have two or more phones, how do you juggle them? I feel like a child with 2 great toy's (Galaxy S8 Plus and Pixel 4a). Which one should I play with today.
Also, how do you store the phone you are not using?

Thanks!

"I feel like a child with two great toys". Wow. GREAT analogy!

 

[Mike Dee]

I have a 3a, S20 5G, S10e that I switch between every couple weeks and I can't recall any type of adjustment period when I got the 3a. I love the call screening on the Pixel, clean UI, and the lightweight polycarbonate build along with the best cell reception of any phone I've had. I hope the 4a reception is as good and it looks like I'll find out Thursday or Friday this week.

I guess the biggest adjustment is that you will no longer have to wonder when, or if, the next update is coming and you won't have to worry about breaking glass on at least one side of your 4a.

I don't wonder when the next update is coming on Samsung unlocked on Verizon at all.

 

[rpdc]

My Pixel 4a was just updated to Android 11. I've had this phone less than 3 weeks. I've never been on the leading edge before. Feels kind of nice.

 

[Apple2Droid]

My Pixel 4a was just updated to Android 11. I've had this phone less than 3 weeks. I've never been on the leading edge before. Feels kind of nice.

I had no idea that Android 11 was even available yet until a friend with a Pixel 2 told me that his phone just updated. I just manually updated my Pixel 4 XL.

You might want to check this out if you haven't read it already:

https://www.androidcentral.com/andr...9.1870205064.1599621818-1154572855.1597875835

 

[Apple2Droid]

For those of you that have two or more phones, how do you juggle them? I feel like a child with 2 great toy's (Galaxy S8 Plus and Pixel 4a). Which one should I play with today.
Also, how do you store the phone you are not using?

Thanks!

My 2-phone use is probably very different from others. –I've had a Pixel 2 & 3 but have been using a Note 10 for a while. I bought a P4XL at a great sale price from my carrier at about the same time that I ordered a Note 20U with a Note 10 trade-in. I was pretty certain that I was keeping the Pixel and returning the N20, but i use the S-Pen a lot. I thought I could get over using it but...

i got a great deal on both and I think I'll keep both, primarily to have a backup. I desperately needed a backup about 9 months ago but have never had one. I think my plan is to use the Pixel as my "phone." and the Note as my "tablet." partially so that I can sign into the Note for the free 6 months of Spotify & YouTube (with a different account) so that I don't have to give Samsung all of my contacts, phone & text records, etc.

Then I'll use those creds to sign into Spotify on the Pixel because it has the AptX HD codec that I need to use my best set of headphones. Samsung still doesn't offer this for some reason.

 

[Medevac1]

For those of you that have two or more phones, how do you juggle them? I feel like a child with 2 great toy's (Galaxy S8 Plus and Pixel 4a). Which one should I play with today.
Also, how do you store the phone you are not using?

Thanks!

I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 9 and an LG V40. I switch daily driver duties between the 2 phones every couple of weeks or when the mood suits me. I use one device like a WIFI tablet while the other one is on the charger when at home. Also, with regards to the question about transitioning from a Samsung to a Pixel device I avoided that conundrum by porting the Google camera software apks to all of my devices starting with my LG V20 several years ago.

 

[Morty2264]

My Pixel 4a was just updated to Android 11. I've had this phone less than 3 weeks. I've never been on the leading edge before. Feels kind of nice.

Especially when you have a Pixel phone!

 

[rpdc]

Those of you who switch between phones, is the only way to do it by changing out the sim card or is there another way? I have heard of esim but I'm not familiar with it.

Thanks!

 

[Morty2264]

Those of you who switch between phones, is the only way to do it by changing out the sim card or is there another way? I have heard of esim but I'm not familiar with it.

Thanks!

Some will pop in their SIM card between the two devices. Or perhaps have different carriers and therefore have different SIM cards per phone.

 

[Kizzy Catwoman]

I have dual sim in my S10+ and a different sim in my iPhone 7

 

[captainkirkw]

Those of you who switch between phones, is the only way to do it by changing out the sim card or is there another way? I have heard of esim but I'm not familiar with it.

Thanks!

I tried the esim since I have not had a phone that does that. So far, so good.