I've been using iPhones since the first model. Occasionally, I'd play with an Android tablet here and there. I was even given one from work, and I used it for a short time (original Nexus 7) and ended up giving it to a friend.
I had the 5S, and when the 6 and 6+ came out I really wanted a bigger screen. I didn't really want a new contract (I still had a year left on my AT&T 5S contract), and also really didn't want to spend $950 on a phone.
A coworker had purchased the OnePlus One, and I managed to get in on the deal. $350 for a 64GB 5.5" Android phone, fully unlocked...
The device itself is really nice. It's a simple elegant design, feels well built in your hand. The camera is "OK", it's high MP, but the SW is what keeps it not quite as good as the iPhone's. I don't mind much, as I carry a Fuji X100s with me most times.
Switching to Android wasn't too bad, but not completely painless either. For the most part, you use your phone to run your apps, and most apps are available on both platforms, so it's a wash. I found a few apps that were not of the same quality as the iOS equivalent.
The phone has the CyanogenMod firmware, which lets me configure a bunch of options, and it doesn't come with any vendor specific crap installed on the phone, which is a big plus.
I had major issues trying to get the phone onto the corporate network. We use a mobile device management system, and because of the differences in all the Android variants, it wasn't able to provision the certificates correctly to get on the corporate services until I and the IT department played with it... a lot!
But, now that it's been a couple of months, it's actually not a bad experience at all. There are things I like about Android, the customizability and the way the apps have more control of the OS. The notification systems does seem to work a bit better, I really never used them on iOS, or not in the same way. On Android, I constantly check the notification drawer.
One surprise was iTunes syncing. I thought this would be a pain, but I installed iSyncr, and it lets me sync to my iTunes library, right from my phone. I think it actually works better than syncing with iTunes directly. Fortunately I don't have a lot of video content in iTunes, because the Apple formats don't seem to be playable on the OnePlus.
Things I miss? I do miss the touch ID. The OnePlus has a "double tap to wake" feature which is nice, but you still have to put in your pin code. I also miss iMessage. I am now using MySMS so that I can respond and send texts from my desktop and laptop, but it's not as well integrated and I need to run two programs (Messages and MySMS) to keep in touch.
Some things that are native on iOS require additional apps to do in Android. Take a photo and want to e-mail it? It'll be full size unless you get a "reszier" app, unlike iOS where it prompts you to resize automatically. Things along that line...
I haven't tried out Google Pay yet, though it's set up. I think iPay seems to be deployed much better and it more advertised as to where you can use it.
I figured I'd share my experience in case anyone else is lured by this phone. I think it's a nice phone at a great price. The issues I faced are common with any android device, and provided you are patient the switch can be relatively painless.
I had the 5S, and when the 6 and 6+ came out I really wanted a bigger screen. I didn't really want a new contract (I still had a year left on my AT&T 5S contract), and also really didn't want to spend $950 on a phone.
A coworker had purchased the OnePlus One, and I managed to get in on the deal. $350 for a 64GB 5.5" Android phone, fully unlocked...
The device itself is really nice. It's a simple elegant design, feels well built in your hand. The camera is "OK", it's high MP, but the SW is what keeps it not quite as good as the iPhone's. I don't mind much, as I carry a Fuji X100s with me most times.
Switching to Android wasn't too bad, but not completely painless either. For the most part, you use your phone to run your apps, and most apps are available on both platforms, so it's a wash. I found a few apps that were not of the same quality as the iOS equivalent.
The phone has the CyanogenMod firmware, which lets me configure a bunch of options, and it doesn't come with any vendor specific crap installed on the phone, which is a big plus.
I had major issues trying to get the phone onto the corporate network. We use a mobile device management system, and because of the differences in all the Android variants, it wasn't able to provision the certificates correctly to get on the corporate services until I and the IT department played with it... a lot!
But, now that it's been a couple of months, it's actually not a bad experience at all. There are things I like about Android, the customizability and the way the apps have more control of the OS. The notification systems does seem to work a bit better, I really never used them on iOS, or not in the same way. On Android, I constantly check the notification drawer.
One surprise was iTunes syncing. I thought this would be a pain, but I installed iSyncr, and it lets me sync to my iTunes library, right from my phone. I think it actually works better than syncing with iTunes directly. Fortunately I don't have a lot of video content in iTunes, because the Apple formats don't seem to be playable on the OnePlus.
Things I miss? I do miss the touch ID. The OnePlus has a "double tap to wake" feature which is nice, but you still have to put in your pin code. I also miss iMessage. I am now using MySMS so that I can respond and send texts from my desktop and laptop, but it's not as well integrated and I need to run two programs (Messages and MySMS) to keep in touch.
Some things that are native on iOS require additional apps to do in Android. Take a photo and want to e-mail it? It'll be full size unless you get a "reszier" app, unlike iOS where it prompts you to resize automatically. Things along that line...
I haven't tried out Google Pay yet, though it's set up. I think iPay seems to be deployed much better and it more advertised as to where you can use it.
I figured I'd share my experience in case anyone else is lured by this phone. I think it's a nice phone at a great price. The issues I faced are common with any android device, and provided you are patient the switch can be relatively painless.
