I read so many comments here about the ecosystem and how hard it is to switch and you know what, guys? This is blown out of proportions.
I switched to the Note two weeks ago and tbh, it was a breeze. Samsung has this app smart switch where you connect your old iphone with the note and all the data are copied - including all photos, pictures, contacts and so on, to the point that when it was all done, my home screen on the note looked the same way it did on my iphone, the order of the apps and wallpaper included. I was really worrying about this switch, but it is really nothing bad. I found some nice apps which work well across all platforms - so I now use Microsoft's To-Do and One Note instead of the stock Apple apps as I also have an iPad and a MacBook. All the music I bought on iTunes over the last seven years was also transferred to my Note with no struggle whatsoever. I still can upload all the photos to iCloud - granted, I have to do this manually, but it works really fast and is reliable. I will for sure consider switching to Amazon's cloud, as I have prime and it would mean not having to pay Apple for 2TB of storage every month... But we will see.
Possibly the only thing which might be slightly inconvenient from my perspective is the lack of access to the iCloud drive with all the files from my Note. But then again, I almost always have my iPad with me, so this is really something which I do not care much about and which makes me actually happy that I am not 100% dependent on Apple now who will do everything to lock you in their ecosystem.
I do not use Watch, so no issue here, but I can imagine that for some this might be a bummer and an obstacle which cannot be overcome... But then again, this goes on to show me what kind of company Apple is and I am pretty happy I am no longer 100% in.
When it comes to other experiences... I have the exynos version, so the battery life is not amazing, if I am on wifi only, then it is fine for the entire day, but if I am on the cellular, then I prefer to have the charger with me. But as someone already pointed out, charging is so fast that it is not a serious issue, tbh, and now I can use the same charger for both my iPad and my phone, which is great. Design is amazing, I was considering how I would deal with a phone this big, but this issue does not exist at all. Actually, quite the opposite, my former iPhone X seems super tiny now. For a short moment I was considering also the S20+/Ultra, but the rounded edges seem so long in the tooth now and the Note is the closest we really get to a full screen display. As also pointed out by someone else, the 120Hz screen makes the difference and iPhones feel strangely slow/less fluid - just yesterday I was playing with the 12/12 Pro in the store and was negatively surprised with them, but I guess it is just the screen with a significantly lower refresh rate. On the other hand, however, I sometimes get the feeling that when scrolling very fast through certain websites/apps, there is little framing, but this really depends on the app/website, so I do not think this is Note's issue.
it's appreciated! I simply couldn't pass up this offer, I've also been intrigued by the Buds Live since they were announced, and how they would compare to the AirPods Pro (of which I have had issues with).
