Last week I replaced my Droid with an iPhone 4s. Yes, I know the iPhone 5 is coming out in a few months. Because I have never used an Apple device before, I viewed the relatively inexpensive older iPhone as less of a commitment. Plus, I really needed a new phone. My original Droid Incredible was over 2 years old and it’s age was becoming apparent. Here are some of the headaches I was experiencing
- ‘Out of Memory’ Pop-ups: Every time I did anything, I needed to click through an “Out of Memory” pop-up. You can clear this alert, but when you really don’t have much memory, they come back quickly.
- Camera Sucked: My phone is my only camera. The Incredible was nearly incapable of taking a picture that wasn’t blurred, and I was getting sick of my photos being as foggy as my memories.
- My Microphone Stopped Working: Voice to text was an important feature to me. That stopped working about 6 months ago.
- Bluetooth Was Shaky: My car has hands free calling capabilities. When my droid was linked to my car, I would answer a call on my phone, and a minute into the call, the Bluetooth would start working and switch over to my car speakers. Couldn’t get this to work right to save my life.
I had an upgrade available, so I went to Best Buy after work to check out the new phones. The new Samsungs, which I was also considering, were $299. The iPhone 4 was $99, and the iPhone 4s was $199. These were basically the three phones I was considering.
I decided to try an iPhone. Here’s why I got the 4s:
- The iPhone 4s Is A Lot Better Than The iPhone 4: Voice to Text is only on the 4s. This functionality came along with Siri (which I don’t use, ever). Also, the processor is twice as fast, and the camera is twice as good. Those three features were enough for me to justify the extra $100.
- Apple’s Apps Are Better: The best apps are built for iPhone. Android is obviously catching up, but iPhone is still the top choice for developers because it’s standard, where Android has hundreds of different phones and multiple user interfaces to deal with.
- FaceTime Video Calls: I live a ways away from my family, and they all have an iPhone or iPad. I liked the idea of being able to FaceTime with them.
It’s been a couple weeks now, and here’s the story after the switch:
- The Camera IS Great: I find myself taking a lot more pictures because they actually turn out!
- Voicemail Is Also Awesome: It’s way different and it makes sense. Just click on your messages in list form and they play. No more listening to every message to hear the one you want.
- No Built-in Turn By Turn GPS: I miss Google Navigation. Google maps gets me where I need to go, but I miss the convenience of turn by turn directions. However, iOS 6, which will be available in the next couple months, does have a supposedly sweet navigation app built in. Fingers crossed it doesn’t suck!
- iCloud Is Pretty Cool. Blue Tooth Works Great. iTunes Integration Also Nice: The main thing people say about Apple is, “their stuff just works.” After two weeks, I’d agree. I know there are ways to make an Android do everything an iPhone does. With Apple though, they make it easy. Setting up iCloud was easy. And it works. Same with iTunes. I went 2 years with a jumbled mess of music on my phone. Now, I have all my music organized in playlists. And when I get in my car, if someone calls me, it rings over the speakers and I answer the call by pushing a button on my steering wheel….it just works!
All-in-all, I’m happy I made the switch. I’m definitely not an Apple fanboy yet, (most of their stuff is still too expensive!) but I do like my new iPhone, and I should like it even more once iOS 6 is released.
~Bryan
