Contemplating moving from iPhone/IOS to Android

[silvagti]

I've stuck with IOS since I bought an iPhone 3G in 2008 and my moved onto my current iPhone 4S when it was released. The 4s is starting to get a bit long in the tooth and is running slowly plus the battery has seen better days. Also, I'm increasingly finding recent apps run slowly on it or don't support it's non standard screen aspect and the smaller 3.5" display .

I've been fairly happy with the last 2 iphones I've owned in terms of the hardware and overall experience. However, I tend to use Google services for most stuff in general (email/calendar/photos/file storage/etc) so moving away from it wouldn't really be a big deal for me. Windows is my main PC/desktop/laptop OS and I have no intention of buying a Mac anytime soon and the Google browser based apps work really well alongside it so I'd wondered if perhaps moving to an Android based device might be a better fit for me? I have a 2012 Google Nexus 7 tablet so I'm not unfamiliar with the OS.

Size wise I'd ideally want a smaller phone around 5" as I'm not a fan of phablets that cant be wielded with one hand. Probably something around the same dimensions as an iPhone 6 (or the 4.7" 6S which I'd likely buy in a couple of months if I don't see a suitable android handset). I thought about buying something like a cheap secondhand Google/LG Nexus 5 so I can try out android first without excessive cost but would running it on a 2 year phone just put me off and give me a poor experience?

I like the idea of a native Google device so android phone wise I'm favouring the upcoming 2015 revised Google Nexus 5 when it's out in a couple of months time. One of the main things that's put me off android in the past is the OS bloatware/customisations that manufacturers insist on bundling plus the general fragmentation and lack of timely updates as a result.

http://bgr.com/2015/08/07/lg-nexus-5-2015-features-android-pay/

Anyone made the switch from IOS/iPhone to Android? Did you stick with Android or go back to IOS? Would love to hear your thoughts and opinions.

 

[silvagti]

Thanks for the heads up on the Sony Xperia devices. The issue I have with most of the mini/compact devices are that they seem to be slightly more mid-range than the flagship devices and scrimp on some components. For example some of the stories I've read suggest that the xperia Z5 compact will likely have a slow processor than the regular Z5. One thing I like about the 4.7" iPhone 6s is that you don't feel like you're having to go with a lesser spec because you don't want a phablet sized phone.

On a side note most anecdotes I've heard have been from people moving from android to iPhone saying that they'd never switch back again! Anyone moved from an iPhone back to Android and stayed there?

 

[silvagti]

get a phone with stock Android, less crap ftw

Are there any manufacturers, other than Google, that sell stock android phones or would you need to root/flash them with a custom image to get a standard version of android? I haven't really used any non-standard version of Android recently from other manufacturers. I remember a few years ago playing with Samsung Touchwiz handsets and absolutely hating it but that might be improved now?

Orcvader suggest that the Sony ones these days are pretty close to stock. Any other manufactures who are pretty close to stock?

 

[silvagti]

Motorola offers stock Android with decent update speeds but they may be too large for you. Samsung TouchWiz, LG UI, HTC Sense still feel completely different from the stock Google Android.

I'd never really paid much attention to Motorola but it sounds like the Moto X might be worth a look. Size-wise I could possibly tolerate a 5.2" display phone (providing the bezels were thin) but wouldn't want larger than that.

Annoyingly, following the trend, the 2015 moto X seems to have changed to larger 5.5" and 5.7" displays in the moto x play and style varieties!

 

[silvagti]

The z3 compact is an absolute gem, if you like the size you wouldn't be disappointed comparing it to an iPhone, the only thing that's better on the iPhone is the snappy camera app. I'd personally wait until September before you make the jump and look at the new Sony

I'll definitely be waiting until September as I want to see what the iPhone 6S/7 is like before making a decision. I suspect it'll basically be a spec bumped iPhone 6 with an upgraded CPU/GPU/camera/etc however the 'force touch' functionality sounds interesting as it could make for some cool new features and is a potentially a lot more intuitive than having to hold down for a couple of seconds to select stuff.

http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/133...-apple-s-haptic-feedback-technology-explained

Coming from a 3.5" iPhone 4S I still find it funny that we're at the stage where a phone with nearly a 5" screen is referred to as a compact or mini version!

 

[silvagti]

Thought about getting a Moto G to try out Android but it's slightly low end in terms of overall specs so I'm gonna hold off a month or two to see how the Nexus 5 turns out seeing as it isn't long to wait and the iPhone 6S will be out around the same time.

Good to know that Motorola are offering phones that are pretty close to stock Android. They really should punt that more in their advertising as I'm sure a lot of people would be see it as a USP given how badly most other manufacturers butcher Android.

I really wish Google hadn't nerfed the Android Silver program as it seemed like a great idea to put an end to unnecessary fragmentation

http://www.techradar.com/news/phone...-smartphone-makers-weren-t-interested-1269800