Why is everyone planning to switch their iPhone 4 or 4S to Samsung?

[ixodes]

On topic, I enjoy both iOS & Android. My current preference is my Galaxy S III. One of the reasons I prefer it is the ease of typing Texts, Emails, and Forum Posts when away from my laptop. The large screen provides so much more room for the keyboard & free whitespace.

I also do lots of research on the web, work that is so much more easily accomplished with a large display.

Going forward, I'm eagerly awaiting my Nexus 4 that I will be taking delivery of next week. It's the first Android phone that's 100% wireless including charging. That's of great value to me.

Overall being self contained and wireless has been a strength of Android for some time, there's a lot of advantages in that.

Finally & perhaps best of all for a long time Apple enthusiast like me, is the promise of Androids competitive pressure on Apple motivating them to get back to work & get a leading edge smartphone in the works. That's what competition does.

 

[shurcooL]

It's interesting to note there are still people (like my mom) who think technology changes too fast, and find it hard to use.

It's even more crazy to think that people like that are probably the majority. While some of us get bored of tech and switch just for the sake of playing with something different, the average consumer is probably very happy with how stale iOS is.

 

[phobox]

As others have said and as I said recently in another post, the problem isn't with the iPhone itself, Apple still make great hardware. The problem is iOS. Its way too limited, too stale and leaves no room for expansion. And this is coming from someone who's been a devout Apple and iPhone user since day 1. Apple have got to work on that OS and bring it back into the headlights.

 

[onthecouchagain]

As others have said and as I said recently in another post, the problem isn't with the iPhone itself, Apple still make great hardware. The problem is iOS. Its way too limited, too stale and leaves no room for expansion. And this is coming from someone who's been a devout Apple and iPhone user since day 1. Apple have got to work on that OS and bring it back into the headlights.

Completely agree except for the screen size. Would love to see Apple go larger. I've always said, screen size isn't an iOS vs Android argument. iOS would be glorious on a larger screen. Of course, we know that won't happen because Apple is somewhat stuck in their resolution framework for fear of fragmentation.

Regarding iOS, though, 100% agree with you. Can you imagine if iOS opened up just a little bit, and offered a slightly more degree of control and faith in people to learn deeper features?

I'm looking forward to iOS 7 with cautious optimism. Early indications point that the "major overhaul" will primarily be aesthetics. :\

 

[moargolems]

Those that go from iOS to android coke back once they see all the flaws and how crappy the Samsung hardware are

Yeah! The company that manufactures Apple's mobile chipsets!

Oh wait

 

[cynics]

It's interesting to note there are still people (like my mom) who think technology changes too fast, and find it hard to use.

It's even more crazy to think that people like that are probably the majority. While some of us get bored of tech and switch just for the sake of playing with something different, the average consumer is probably very happy with how stale iOS is.

I agree with this but I think ICS was a massive leap forward. If anything I find it more intuitive compared to gingerbread while at the same time delivering more. I still think the multitasking bar in ICS+ is far superior to the icons on my iPhone.

I recently have had 3 close friend switch from iPhones to S3's and 2 of which are not technically inclined (at all). Regardless they love them and the way their phones are set up is pretty cool and perfectly tailored to their needs. The other one of my friends is very technically inclined and although he loves his S3 I wouldn't be surprised if he switches back since he's had every iPhone plus has an iMac, mbp, and iPad.

 

[F123D]

Yeah! The company that manufactures Apple's mobile chipsets!

Oh wait

And those screens on previous i devices were definitely crap as well.

 

[REM314]

I had a 3GS and got an S3. The only thing I miss about the apple ecosystem is easily syncing music with iTunes but once I found an alternative its much better. I was bored with iOS and tired of Apple. I honestly don't really like the way they're going with their laptop line either. You dont always need to make your products thinner and I dont like the idea of disposable laptops. Customization options are important to me.

Here are my main preferences to the S3 instead of the iPhone

-The S3s screen is a much nicer size for me
-expandable storage
-ability to replace/use extra batteries
-file system
-swiping away notifications and quickly turn on and off wifi and bluetooth + more from the notification center
-ability to customize things like keyboard and stock apps (music, mail etc)
-widgets are so nice and breaks up the boring iPhone grid which honestly looks outdated (more below)
-Great TouchWiz features like voice control for certain apps (saying stop or snooze to an alarm), bringing the phone to your ear to call someone, swiping your hand to take a screenshot, using tilt to move apps to different screens (so amazingly useful)
-LED Notifier
-Back button and menu button
-Google search right from the home screen
-better lock screen
-WIDGET THAT CAN EASILY TURN ON THE FLASH LIKE A FLASHLIGHT! This is so unbelievably useful.
-Shortcut widgets to contacts and certain settings (or to something like Soundhound which has a widget to immediately start listening to figure out what song is playing).
-Ability to see statistics like battery use and data usage and see a graph breakdown.
-Ability to kill applications easily.
-multitasking


Theres more but ill stop there. I love the Galaxy S3 and think Apple has a lot of catching up to do in terms of features. This is only ICS too so when I get the JB update there'll be even more advantages like Google Now. I'll still say though that if you dont understand technology or dont like playing with your phone the iPhone is better out of the box.

 

[LA Harrison]

I have had the Samsung Galaxy S3 since Sprint had it in the first week of July, then ended up dropping Sprint because of my moving and finding it difficult to get good reception and data. I tried out the S3 on AT&T for the 30 days, then ended up with Verizon with the S3 because I wanted the LTE. I like the phone, but after all this time, I am going back to my iPhone 4S. I will also be getting the iPhone 5 in 2 weeks.

I started using Android when they first came out, as well as using the iPhone. So I am no spring chicken with Android or iPhone.

I have had some problems with the S3. After using the Samsung for this long, my home button has times where I press it to go back home and nothing happens. Also the more apps I put in, the slower the phone gets. I have also had signal reception issues and 3g/LTE hand off problems. Am on my 3rd replacement with Verizon. Also, I would hold the phone in my palm, and my signal would drop quite a bit, enough to take me out of LTE and put me into 3g. The other devices that Verizon had me send back, were sent to Samsung, and they checked out and it was found that there was issues. The Samsung rep told me that there were phones out there with these issues, and were thinking about a fix for them in an update.

I just seem to be more comfortable still when I use the iPhone. I use to mess around all the time with the Android, but as I get more busier in life.. with work, my wife and children, I just find myself just texting, phone calls, surfing the web now and then for reading, and looking at the nature photo's. I never use NFC, SBeam, and many of the other functions on the S3. I thought they were cool, but just never really used them.

Is a great phone for those who love and use the many features of the phone, and who like to customize, or who want a big screen for games, photo's or who have trouble with seeing well. The iPhone and Samsung are great phones, and I see nothing wrong for anyone who chooses one or both of these devices!

Quite amazing to see the changes made since the beginning of smartphones! And I anticipate that this coming year will see some amazing changes too!

 

[syxthelement]

Just like everyone stated, I too am getting bored of iOS. It got really stale to me once iOS 6 was released. I put ICS on my HP Touchpad months ago and saw the potential with Android OS. I don't use the device too much now since I rely mostly on my current Iphone 4S and laptop for personal/mobile computing. I will most likely end up getting a Nexus 4 and throwing a prepaid T-mobile sim in there to get HSPA+ 42Mbps that T-mobile provides in my area.

 

[thekev]

Or the headphone ad with iPhone 5 that are designed for ears?!? Wtf have you been selling me since the OG iPod?!?!?

I know apple probably didn't create the round earplugs but they been pushing them for so long they might as well have. Then to tell me the new ones are designed for ears unlike the old ones?!

I found that silly too. They're marketing this as the right way to do it when they've been packaging horrible ones for years without even marginal improvements.

Going forward, I'm eagerly awaiting my Nexus 4 that I will be taking delivery of next week. It's the first Android phone that's 100% wireless including charging. That's of great value to me.

Have they done anything to improve the efficiency of wireless charging? It was pretty terrible.