My friend recently bought a Note 3, and he let me try it out for a week. The only Android phone I had ever owned was a terrible Motorola Flipside, which really got me off on the wrong foot with Android. That phone was laggy and awful. Anyway, with me having to restore my iPhone and losing my 7.0 jailbreak, I was beginning to be frustated again with stock iOS. The lack of customization, no quick reply (thanks iOS 8!), better notifications, better lockscreen, widgets (thanks iOS 8!), I could go on and on. I had been looking into an Android phone, particularly the Note 3 to replace my iPhone when my ATT contract was up.
The first thing you notice about the phone is that it's huge. For someone with smallish hands like me, you have to use the phone with two hands. The phone measures 5.95 x 3.12 x 0.33 inches, and once weighs 5.93 ounces. The 1080p screen looks absolutely gorgeous. The faux leather removable back is slightly slippery, but still provides a good enough grip. The battery, 3200 mAh, is huge, removable, and lasts for up to 21 hours of talk time. Having a battery with all day battery life was awesome, as my iPhone 5, despite my battery saving techniques, never lasts me through 3/4 of a day. Having a removable back to upgrade storage and remove and swap batteries is a great feature.
Once you powered on the phone, the Note 3 I was using ran Jelly Bean with the TouchWiz skin. The animations were smooth, without a hitch. I liked that I could change default apps right out of the gate, and could install biteSMS as my message client to quick reply to texts. Almost all of the apps I used on my iPhone (MLB At Bat, Facebook, ScoreCenter, etc) were there, with the exception of Tweetbot. I never found a Twitter client I fell in love with on Android. I loved all the apps on the huge screen, and I enjoyed the split screen feature, which was great for multitasking. I went through a full day of heavy usage without having to charge the phone. It was a great feeling to not have to worry about carrying around an external battery or looking for an outlet.
The bad part about Android is scrolling. All I do all day on my phone is scroll. Whether it be on MacRumors, Twitter, or another app, I scroll and scroll and scroll. On iOS, scrolling is buttery smooth. On Android, it is jerky, even with the Note's 3 GB of RAM. Ex-Googler Andrew Munn explains why it will never be smooth as iOS here. The scrolling was terrible, but that was one of the only cons for me. I did miss iMessage, and the unity of Mac and iPhone. I also missed how updates would roll out for iOS, as opposed to being fragmented and taking a long time on Android.
If I had to choose between one phone or the other, I would probably choose the Note. The battery, customization, and screen size are great, but it would be hard to say goodbye to the ease of use of iPhone, and the buttery smooth scrolling.
The first thing you notice about the phone is that it's huge. For someone with smallish hands like me, you have to use the phone with two hands. The phone measures 5.95 x 3.12 x 0.33 inches, and once weighs 5.93 ounces. The 1080p screen looks absolutely gorgeous. The faux leather removable back is slightly slippery, but still provides a good enough grip. The battery, 3200 mAh, is huge, removable, and lasts for up to 21 hours of talk time. Having a battery with all day battery life was awesome, as my iPhone 5, despite my battery saving techniques, never lasts me through 3/4 of a day. Having a removable back to upgrade storage and remove and swap batteries is a great feature.
Once you powered on the phone, the Note 3 I was using ran Jelly Bean with the TouchWiz skin. The animations were smooth, without a hitch. I liked that I could change default apps right out of the gate, and could install biteSMS as my message client to quick reply to texts. Almost all of the apps I used on my iPhone (MLB At Bat, Facebook, ScoreCenter, etc) were there, with the exception of Tweetbot. I never found a Twitter client I fell in love with on Android. I loved all the apps on the huge screen, and I enjoyed the split screen feature, which was great for multitasking. I went through a full day of heavy usage without having to charge the phone. It was a great feeling to not have to worry about carrying around an external battery or looking for an outlet.
The bad part about Android is scrolling. All I do all day on my phone is scroll. Whether it be on MacRumors, Twitter, or another app, I scroll and scroll and scroll. On iOS, scrolling is buttery smooth. On Android, it is jerky, even with the Note's 3 GB of RAM. Ex-Googler Andrew Munn explains why it will never be smooth as iOS here. The scrolling was terrible, but that was one of the only cons for me. I did miss iMessage, and the unity of Mac and iPhone. I also missed how updates would roll out for iOS, as opposed to being fragmented and taking a long time on Android.
If I had to choose between one phone or the other, I would probably choose the Note. The battery, customization, and screen size are great, but it would be hard to say goodbye to the ease of use of iPhone, and the buttery smooth scrolling.
