Samsung S25/ S25 Ultra

[jamezr]

If you quit drinking but were having strong urges to relapse, you would not keep a few beers in the shed, a flask of whiskey in the toilet tank and go into a pub with a mate. Yet you are doing this with Apple

so so true! You are not wrong! BUT...I have done this before in past and sold my iPhone...only to buy it again and again.
The Apple addiction is so strong.....

But I have to say...I love my S25U...it is by far the best phone i have ever had.

Last week I turn on my 16PM and put on my AW2...all my friends and family celebrated that my messages were not green anymore! Then FOMO set in and I knew i was missing out on more features and technology on my S25U.
So i switched back.....

 

[aggie99]

If you quit drinking but were having strong urges to relapse, you would not keep a few beers in the shed, a flask of whiskey in the toilet tank and go into a pub with a mate. Yet you are doing this with Apple

Can't relate. I'd never consider quitting drinking 😄

Honestly my tech obsession is winding down a bit. If it wasn't for already having 7 Apple TV's throughout my house and a couple Homepods and frequently using my MBP it would be easier to just let it go and use just the S25U. Samsung is getting really close with the ecosystem for sure but I've been so invested in Apple all these years. Also, the communications aspect and all the family being on iPhones. If they kill it with the folding iPhone that might be my sweet spot

 

[mjschabow]

Can't relate. I'd never consider quitting drinking 😄

Honestly my tech obsession is winding down a bit. If it wasn't for already having 7 Apple TV's throughout my house and a couple Homepods and frequently using my MBP it would be easier to just let it go and use just the S25U. Samsung is getting really close with the ecosystem for sure but I've been so invested in Apple all these years. Also, the communications aspect and all the family being on iPhones. If they kill it with the folding iPhone that might be my sweet spot

That's been my biggest help throughout this. Other than preferring Apple Music, I have zero other ties to Apple anymore. All my tvs are Roku now. No home pods. Nothing. I am full escaped from the ecosystem other than Apple music and my massive iTunes movie library, which I can access on every TV via the Apple TV Roku app.

 

[MaskedCarrot]

I still have green bubble issues with people. I know the argument and what the consensus is.

All my wife's family and all my friends have iPhones. Only a few of my co-workers have Androids. And the last time I was using an Android, I had a S23U and then I got a Pixel 8 Pro, which I still have that I use only on WiFi. Anyway, when I was using Android, everyone started asking me why my bubbles were green. My teenage daughter told me she got scared when I texted her and it was green. lol

So as silly as it sounds, people still have green bubble issues.

 

[mjschabow]

I still have green bubble issues with people. I know the argument and what the consensus is.

All my wife's family and all my friends have iPhones. Only a few of my co-workers have Androids. And the last time I was using an Android, I had a S23U and then I got a Pixel 8 Pro, which I still have that I use only on WiFi. Anyway, when I was using Android, everyone started asking me why my bubbles were green. My teenage daughter told me she got scared when I texted her and it was green. lol

So as silly as it sounds, people still have green bubble issues.

I think a lot of that depends on your friends and what they use. My group of Friends and Family are literally split down the middle, so most group chats I was in prior to switching were all green bubbles based on the mix.

 

[mjschabow]

That's been my biggest help throughout this. Other than preferring Apple Music, I have zero other ties to Apple anymore. All my tvs are Roku now. No home pods. Nothing. I am full escaped from the ecosystem other than Apple music and my massive iTunes movie library, which I can access on every TV via the Apple TV Roku app.

Coming back to this, the only real complaint I have with Apple Music is that Gemini can't communicate with Apple Music and my assumption is that this is all Apple's doing.

So if YouTube Music can improve in a few glaring areas, I'll gladly migrate.

 

[psp123]

It's been about three weeks since I sold my 16 PM and it's been OK. I have truly enjoyed the S25U.

Ran into a basically brand new 16 Pro that someone had returned to the store. The price was extremely good and I couldn't resist. A little embarrassed to admit, haha.
Will use it as a second phone and to sync my AWU2 that I couldn't get rid of. Also appreciate the immediate notifications and how smooth it is to scroll on when I'm tired.

Feels good to have access to both worlds after all

 

[jamezr]

Coming back to this, the only real complaint I have with Apple Music is that Gemini can't communicate with Apple Music and my assumption is that this is all Apple's doing.

So if YouTube Music can improve in a few glaring areas, I'll gladly migrate.

I am going to give a serious look at Spotify this weekend to see if I can get away from Apple Music...

 

[mjschabow]

I am going to give a serious look at Spotify this weekend to see if I can get away from Apple Music...

I do like Spotify too. And it does definitely work with the Samsung devices the best as well.

 

[keithop]

I do like Spotify too. And it does definitely work with the Samsung devices the best as well.

yeah spotify feels to be the player of least resistance. I feel like they're trying to ruin it by shoving more things in it but yeah it works well for me.

 

[Harthag]

it's really weird isnt it? I know the 16pm is boring, AI is far worse on it, camera white balance off, camera lens glare bad, animations slow and cant be turned off (that I know of), having to scroll through screens to see all apps painful v swipe up anytime on s25...

I could go on and yet... somehow the 16pm feels... comfortable :/ argh.

I emphasize with all of you! I feel the tug from my 16PM all the time, even though it is turned off in a drawer!
My son and I were in an Apple store last night to schedule a screen repair for his 15PM. Man it was like my heart rate went up a few notches..... all the new products like new MBA and new iPad Air.....that blacked out MBP looks sweet!
But i was able to keep strong and didn't buy anything!

If I were a conspiracy theorist, I'd start one that they put some kind of chemical in their devices that releases serotonin. 🤣

I agree and think about this quite often. The pull from Apple is so strong, I can't explain why. They rely on marketing, big time FOMO, keeping up with the Jones's, ecosystem "lock in", and familiarity (iOS has been the same for 99% of users for many, many years). It's all a masterclass in marketing and psychology. It probably partly is a chemical reaction in us, that's not entirely far-fetched.

My wife's 16PM has "sos" in our hotel and my S25U has near full 5G UC and pulling 400-500 Mb/s down. Using Dex right now for work with just my phone and a small usb-c display cable connected to my travel screen/keyboard. Love it.

I am going to give a serious look at Spotify this weekend to see if I can get away from Apple Music...

You should check out Z2u site, they actually are legit sellers on there. I used xManager for Spotify until Spotify lowered the hammer and stopped it. I bought a 12 month Premium subscription for $26 USD. It's a legit account purchased in India, that's how they sell it for so cheap. All of my recommendations are Indian and I needed to manually add all of my favorite stations / artists, but that's one and done and worth the cost.

 

[mjschabow]

I agree and think about this quite often. The pull from Apple is so strong, I can't explain why. They rely on marketing, big time FOMO, keeping up with the Jones's, ecosystem "lock in", and familiarity (iOS has been the same for 99% of users for many, many years). It's all a masterclass in marketing and psychology. It probably partly is a chemical reaction in us, that's not entirely far-fetched.

My wife's 16PM has "sos" in our hotel and my S25U has near full 5G UC and pulling 400-500 Mb/s down. Using Dex right now for work with just my phone and a small usb-c display cable connected to my travel screen/keyboard. Love it.


You should check out Z2u site, they actually are legit sellers on there. I used xManager for Spotify until Spotify lowered the hammer and stopped it. I bought a 12 month Premium subscription for $26 USD. It's a legit account purchased in India, that's how they sell it for so cheap. All of my recommendations are Indian and I needed to manually add all of my favorite stations / artists, but that's one and done and worth the cost.

This actually convinced me to make a list of all the things my phone does better than iPhone and look at that list anytime I get that pull. Because that list is growing by the day.

 

[mjschabow]

I am going to give a serious look at Spotify this weekend to see if I can get away from Apple Music...

One cool thing you can do with Spotify too is create home screen shortcuts. This is an example.

 

[Ludatyk]

One cool thing you can do with Spotify too is create home screen shortcuts. This is an example.

No icon pack?

 

[mjschabow]

No icon pack?

Haha I decided it was a stock kind of day.

 

[psp123]

I hope Samsung implements something similar to Apple’s Standby mode.
There are apps for this but I don’t think they work quite as well.

 

[NUFC2025]

I hope Samsung implements something similar to Apple’s Standby mode.
There are apps for this but I don’t think they work quite as well.

I have tried one called standby mode pro but it's not that good.
Are there any others I don't know about?

 

[psp123]

I have tried one called standby mode pro but it's not that good.
Are there any others I don't know about?

That's the one I tried. There are some other ones on F-Droid but they seem to lack many features.

 

[yui4]

I must admit, a few weeks back I saw the Apple Watch Ultra 2 in black and loved it. Ended up buying 1 and have been mainly using my 16PM ever since.

Some years I sell my apple stuff but I literally always end up buying again and thus wasting money.

 

[jamezr]

I must admit, a few weeks back I saw the Apple Watch Ultra 2 in black and loved it. Ended up buying 1 and have been mainly using my 16PM ever since.

Some years I sell my apple stuff but I literally always end up buying again and thus wasting money.

same here...exactly the reason I keep my 16PM and AW2. But i have managed to sell off my iMac, MBP, iPad and ATV

 

[mjschabow]

For how I use smartwatches, I find my 6 Classic just as good if not better than the AW Ultra 2. Battery is the same. Sleep tracking is better. Rotating bezel is better than the digital crown.

Oh and I can actually see my steps as a complication, something Apple has never offered.

 

[yui4]

For how I use smartwatches, I find my 6 Classic just as good if not better than the AW Ultra 2. Battery is the same. Sleep tracking is better. Rotating bezel is better than the digital crown.

Oh and I can actually see my steps as a complication, something Apple has never offered.

I can add steps distance as a complication but not an individual step figure

 

[yui4]

@mjschabow did you sell your Apple gear in the end?

 

[mjschabow]

@mjschabow did you sell your Apple gear in the end?

I did. Other than my work iPhone 11, there are no Apple products in my house. 😀

 

[Technerd108]

I did. Other than my work iPhone 11, there are no Apple products in my house. 😀

How do you honestly like Windows instead of MacOS? Do you have a Samsung tablet? If so how do you like it to an iPad. And how do you like the different ecosystem and integration of Android and Windows compared to iOS, iPadOS and MacOS?

Might need another thread to answer but I am really curious on how you feel about all of that, specially after the newness wears off.