[SmartCat]

I shifted from Nokia 8 to iPhone 8 plus recently:

PROS:

- Excellent battery life (lasts for 2 days).
- Good camera photos, especially in low light/indoor/night conditions
- Apple Maps works quite well. Having an alternative to Google Maps is a definite plus.

CONS:

- Bulky & ungainly to hold compared to lightweight/slim & "nice to hold" Nokia 8
- App icons are too large. Only 4 apps in a row. Placing the apps where I want on the home screen too is irritating.
- Managing/storing/transferring photos using iCloud Photos is clunky and confusing. I have disabled it and am using Google Photos and OneDrive app instead.

[mvadg]

Originally Posted by ani_meher

... The iOS ecosystem is too suffocating to go back to. Too bad pixels are no longer available in India officially.

I'm hoping that someone will find a way to install Android on Apple hardware. The latest iPads with Android would be awesome. Maybe the EU will pass a law to force Apple to allow other OS installs on their hardware.

[TorqueyTechie]

I moved to IOS long back but have been using Android (my wife's) regularly. She had oneplus before moving onto S10+. OS updates for the flagship phone of 2019 stopped in Dec 2020 itself but once in a while gets security patch updates. But have to say battery life is good. She gets close to 1.5 days with a full charge which is including lot of video streaming (YT kids).

I have iphone 6, X and now 13 pro. OS updates for 6 stopped recently while for X I guess can get update for 2 more years atleast. Though battery health of X was showing as service (~80%) I used to get atleast 16 hrs of battery life for my usage. I am more comfortable (and feel safe) on IOS platform than on android and will never move unless ios goes away.

Also as someone mentioned earlier, I feel this thread is not required. Instead can be moved to the iphone thread itself. One for mods to decide.

P.S : I see this thread soon to become an ios vs android one!

Originally Posted by mvadg

I'm hoping that someone will find a way to install Android on Apple hardware. The latest iPads with Android would be awesome. Maybe the EU will pass a law to force Apple to allow other OS installs on their hardware.

I seriously wish/hope this doesn't happen ever.

[FrAgile]

A tech ques regarding the pics clicked on iPhone.

It is not easy to transfer the files from iPhone to windows. Also, the default format in which iPhone shoots is HEIC/HEVC which cannot be read by windows default photos app yet (not in win 10, not sure about win 11 though). So if you want iPhone to click JPGs, you need to change the setting of the camera from high efficiency to most compatible.

Has anyone noticed a difference in quality in real time between these 2 formats? Also, iPhone does not allow to shoot 4k videos in non HEVC formats.

Lastly, is there any way to view AAE or HEIC files on windows by using some software?

[sangam_mm93]

Originally Posted by veyron_head

My primary phone until a week ago was the Galaxy Note 10+ which is seriously a marvel of a phone. Offers incredible customization opportunities that other phones can only dream of.
There is no battery indicator by default. You cant call someone by typing their name on the phone app (why do they have those alphabets in the number pad anyway?). You must choose a contact or from recents. I am discovering more annoyances everyday.

I hate those little inconveniences on iOS like T9 is not present, need to go to settings and Privacy to turn on/off the location services etc.

I use the spotlight search, It is similar or faster than opening a dialer and calling someone. For GPS I ask Siri to do it sometimes.

All these would be solved with jailbreak. But whether we want it or not, warranty etc is another thread to discuss.

[RYP]

Originally Posted by AutoConsultant

Here I’ll share my thought process from moving from an Android (OnePlus 7T) to IOS (iPhone 13 Pro Max)

Elimination of these left me with only one option – iPhone

I can easily say you are a big time gadget enthusiast. You have gone down to the nitty gritty details like Japanese iPhones having unmutable shutter sound, OnePlus being in bed with Oppo and so on. I'm exactly on the same boat with the exact same dilemma and conclusions. Currently i'm on a 2.5yr old OnePlus 7, was on OnePlus 3 for 3 years prior to that and Xperia ZL for 2 yrs before that.

Your assessment on OnePlus was spot on. It lost its spirit when Carl Pei left. Now its just another mega corporation with no passion or say a fancy overpriced clown of Realme & Oppo phones. My current OP7 will last another year if squeezed or atleast till BBD in Oct/Nov, WFH has certainly made battery shortcoming livable.

I myself being a hardcore nerd, loved tinkering around with Android - Overclocking, Forking and what not. But as years rolled on the tinkering was reduced to mere media transfers from a laptop, mostly mp3's & Piratebay as the phone's themselves were getting better. Post Jio boom and dirt cheap data, mp3's gave way to Spotify/AmazonMusic/YT Music and Piratebay to Netflix/YT/Prime/Disney+. So there's literally nothing to tinker around.


And there's literally no Android which makes sense to buy south of 40k. Only honorable mentions are Pixel 4a (underpowered and crap battery) and S20FE 5G (OneUI is not my cup of tea). All I want now is a workhorse which can last for 4-5 years, which leaves me with no other choice than an iPhone.

Never liked Apple and was a borderline hater, only due to their OS restrictions. My only other Apple product is a 2017 iPad bought in Japan. The shutter sound is mandated by Law as perverts in subways and buses take pictures of underage girls without consent and most of the Japanese school uniforms are skirts.

Since my usage requirements are very different from say 5 or 6 years ago Apple makes the most sense. I'm not too concerned with latest and greatest, even a iPhone 12 would suffice. A14, A15 bionic processors cant really be differentiated in real world usage. Hoping for an iPhone around 40-45k during BBD. Fingers crossed.

[COMMUTER]

I have never used an iPhone for the following reasons.

Poor battery life
Lack of water resistance

My preference has been shaped by two of the phones I have had in the past. A 10k Galaxy 3(2011) which was my first Android and had a decent 6+ hour screen time which felt woefully inadequate inspite of multiple battery changes. I wanted the next phone to have better battery backup as the first priority. Next phone was a 23k Lenovo P70 which had a tremendous battery and hardware but succumbed to water when it rained unexpectedly when we were rushing to the train station(300 meters from home) with my 3 month old toddler in tow. We all got drenched and the phone which was inside my raincoat (which I wore to ward off mosquitoes and keep myself warm for the journey) died from a little bit of water that seeped in,the quantity was so low that I didn't suspect water seepage when I first started facing trouble. This made me fixate upon the future phones being waterproof.

Big Battery Phones.

My next purchase was an Oukitel K1000 with a 10000 mah battery. The 'dragontail' glass broke unexpectedly when I dropped it flat on the floor when brushing(thinking I was placing it on a ledge )and I wanted to make sure that the next phone is a rugged device.

I used a Lenovo A36(?) which my wife had left lying around after upgrading with a 10,000mah power bank plugged in all the time while searching for my next device. It got stolen later.

The next purchase was an Ulefone Armor 3 IP68, IP69k, 10300 mah battery in March 2019. This had served me extremely well albeit me managing to getting the screen cracked after I swapped out the tempered glass for privacy guard and dropping a few times. I use it on my long cycling rides, long drives with the GPS navigation being left on for over 12 hours without a qualm about battery and hold up to my binging sessions too. I once had to drive around for a few days ina row and had to resort to charge the
phone from the car socket which was running the dashcam. It slipped from seat and the fall must have damaged type c socket. I have to twist the wire a few times for the socket to be under some pressure to charge it nowadays. I hope to do an operationon this phone myself when it really stops charging.

Next purchase - I had already bought an Oukitel WP15 15600mAh through a friend in US, and will be getting it in April. I hope to relegate Ulefone Armor 3 to WiFi duty at home. I have decided to use a neck strap(soft nylon rope type used for cameras) when using it at home or on road to reduce the chance of falls with the WP15. A test involving playing a video in loop at full brightness saw it last for over 30hours and got charged in 4 hours after that.

Apple iPhone is great but, with the screen on time being the first thing I look up when choosing a device, would never be in my pocket for a long while now.

This is my batter status on my 3 yo device.

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by FrAgile

It is not easy to transfer the files from iPhone to windows.

I have a PhD degree on this topic. It was so damn frustrating trying to figure out what to do with iTunes and iCloud photos.

SOLUTION:

1) Just connect your iphone to USB slot in your desktop/laptop. Your windows 10 will recognize the phone as "Apple iPhone". Go to DCIM folder using your files explorer and copy the JPEG/MOV files to your computer



2) If you have GOOGLE DRIVE or MICROSOFT ONEDRIVE account, download the app on your iphone. In settings, opt for synching of photos/videos taken on iPhone. As soon as you take a photo, it will show up in your OneDrive/Google Drive account. Use your desktop files explorer to transfer these files.

3) Install Google Photos and sync all photos taken on iPhone. To download full resolution photo, click on a photo, click on "More Options" (3 vertical dotted lines) and select DOWNLOAD. Note that if you just right click/save as on an image in Google Photos, you get only a low resolution pic.

Has anyone noticed a difference in quality in real time between these 2 formats?

I see no difference as such. By the way, HEIC is high efficiency (meaning, low file size), not better quality.

[dragonfire]

I almost desperately want to move to an iPhone 12 or 13 (don't need the pros). But there are two things that are holding me back:

1) No truecaller - live caller id is a boon in Android.
2) No call recording - Its not illegal in India to record a call. You are only prohibited to record third party conversations. Still I don't know why Apple does not allow this in India.
3) Price - It is VFM if you keep it for 3-4 years. But I generally get bored in a year. Or more like there is an itch to buy new stuff. If I buy the iPhone I'd be stuck.
4) Apps - Some apps do not have iOS versions. So I would have to keep a secondary Android phone. Hard to move around with two phones.

Still am just a deal away from getting an iPhone.

Originally Posted by mvadg

I'm hoping that someone will find a way to install Android on Apple hardware. The latest iPads with Android would be awesome. Maybe the EU will pass a law to force Apple to allow other OS installs on their hardware.

This is actually possible - except that its a bad choice. I had installed Android in a very old iPhone some time ago and half of the sensors did not work.

Just do a google search.

[fhdowntheline]

Ok- here is someone who migrated virtually lock-stock-barrel (mobile + personal laptop) to the Apple world for 4 years and then came back last year to Android+Windows !
I moved on from a Moto X-Style to an IPhone 8 Plus and onwward to 11 Pro (still have it). But somehow started feeling a bit inside a gilded cage. Samsung S21 Ultra came, and I made a move back and have been quite happy since. I still have the 11Pro though, and may sell it off after all the possible data is moved out (been a bit lazy about it).
My thoughts are:- Its not that cumbersome in terms of UI experience while moving from Android to Iphone and vice-versa. You do get used to it soon enough. Oddly enough, I have used Siri more than Google Assistant although I think the Assistant is capable of a lot more. Samsung UI 4x interface is fast, never had a stutter through v11 or 12 or even a hang up-which I did have in some of IOS 13/14 x releases.

[RaceHorse]

I have been using Android phones since the "Galaxy 2" days. And immediately shifted to Google eco system with Nexus 5,
and upgraded to Pixel 2 and then to Pixel 3.
From here on it all went downhill since there is no proper service or support for Google phones and it was a bitter experience.
Then shifted to back to Galaxy eco system and all the while I have a iPhone as second phone.

My biggest gripe with iPhone is, there is no integrated Spam call filter support like "True caller "similar to Android.
I know True caller is a privacy intruding app, but in country like India where TRAI or other organization unable to stop spammers
and Tele marketers from harassing people daily, it is compulsory to have True caller like app to prevent this big headache and block the spammers.

Not having direct integration similar to Android for Caller ID Apps (True Caller) is the biggest issue with iPhone for me.
Otherwise it is a superior phone in all other aspects compared to my primary phone (S21)

[yashg]

My first smart phone was a Windows phone (iMate JAMin) back in 2007. Then I briefly had a Nokia and then jumped to Android. Have almost always been a Nexus phone having used Nexus S (made by Samsung), Nexus 5 (made by LG) and Nexus 6P (made by Huawei). For last 3 years my main phone is Poco F1. It's such an amazing phone for the price. After 3 years it still hasn't slowed down significantly, battery still lasts a day. I also have a second phone - an iPhone 6S now in its 4th year and doing just fine. The iPhone is my navigation device while I drive because its small and fits in my Aspire's phone holding space on the dashboard. I am casually looking to upgrade my main device the F1 and honestly for the first time, iPhone is in the contention.

I was hoping to get my first OnePlus, but was kind of underwhelmed by the OP 9 series of phones. Actually smartphones in general have stopped exciting me. They have evolved to a stage where can't be meaningfully improved any further. Just bigger and bigger numbers on all specs. It's more of a utility now. Beyond a certain price point, all phones are pretty much the same. They are all powerful, have very good cameras, enough memory and storage for a regular (non-gamer) user. Where Apple devices stand out are longevity and build quality. I have a 10 year old iPad that still works. My iPhone 6S still works perfectly after 43 months and will continue to work for another couple of years I am sure. Another thing about Apple devices is the entire Apple ecosystem. The devices work just so seamlessly with other devices in the ecosystem, it's like magic. I have a Mac and another iPad.

My 10 y.o. daughter shoots a selfie video on my Macbook Air, records the screen while playing Roblox, I transfer the recording to Mac via AirDrop, merge them in iMovies and post on her YouTube channel. I can do the same thing on Android phone and a Windows laptop but it involves cables, additional software and more efforts. Not only am I contemplating iPhone, I may even switch to a Mac as my main computer in near future.

[brt_mhn]

Originally Posted by AutoConsultant

Here I’ll share my thought process from moving from an Android (OnePlus 7T) to IOS (iPhone 13 Pro Max)

[

As a tech enthusiast as much as a car enthusiast, I loved reading this thread.

Honestly, I loved One UI when it first came out. I thought it was one of the best skins in the market. But the way it works with Samsung is, they start off clean and then slowly clutter everything up, then it reaches the tipping point and then they take it back to the drawing board and form a whole new one. Also, I knew that a Samsung phone would slow down over time owing to the heaviness of their skin, but I did not expect by how much!

Regarding the Pixel 6, they hit the nail straight on the head with the price. Even the design looks stellar to my eye. The only possible blemish for me is the Fingerprint scanner. Bugs are something which I never expected from a Pixel too! Initial reviews suggest that battery life was a problem but I believe Adaptive Battery has fixed the problem though still not at class best levels.

Also, I believe Pixel 6 sold via Amazon has one year of dealer warranty (not to be confused with manufacturer) in India. But still, not worth the added risk that comes with it.

WhatsApp messages are certainly a pain while switching. My mom switched to iOS a year and a half ago and her WhatsApp messages are still in limbo. But since she was fine with it, I didn’t really pursue it further. If you need it and sew willing to spend some time, I recommend this tool by WonderShare: https://mobiletrans.wondershare.com/...p-restore.html

Touch ID vs Face ID. Ah, the great debate. Face ID on my iPad is awesome because I open it, tap the space bar once, and I’m in. But on my phone, I’d still love both.

I too was a non-Apple guy just until two years ago. But then, I saw light. I saw not to buy the company but the product (let me know if you know where this is from). I was in this weird position where I didn't need a full fledged laptop but needed something for myself. So, I got a 2020 iPad Pro with a Logitech Folio Touch. It definitely has its Quirks (and features ) but I’ve loved it for everything I’ve done so far, including Video editing!

Why not iPad Air? I knew it was coming but I needed it urgently because my laptop breathed its last. But also, 64 GB definitely wasn't enough for me. And bumping up the storage put it at just 3000 bucks less than the Pro. Decided ProMotion was worth it and splurged that extra bit.

Why not Magic Keyboard? It was my first time spending that much on tech so I thought I'd bring down the budget instead. Folio Touch costed $159 which we brought into India via my uncle.


Logitech Folio Touch


My iPad Pro 11” 2020 Silver

I too feel that iPhones are actually good value now. You're telling me the A14 in an iPhone 12 Mini at 50,000 /- is on par with the 8 Gen 1 in most respects? It's a deal!

Regarding High refresh rate, I definitely did not notice it for the first week but then, something clicked. I literally cannot go back now. I'm glad my phone has high refresh too!

Happy Ownership!

[vsbabu]

I switched from Android to iPhone SE in 2020 (employer at that time had discounts) because of only one reason - this was the only phone that could fit in the pocket! I hate these 6"+ phones. My needs are simple - no bloatware, good call quality, decent battery (that is missing in SE), reasonable build, decent camera. Also, I really don't believe in paying more than 30K for a phone. Things I like so far - physical buttons for DND, unlock with finger print and the customizable back button (3 taps for torch is my favourite). I am not that thrilled with the UX (I still think Windows phone had the best UX for my needs) - so no problems switching back to Android if I want to.

Probably will upgrade next year to 12 or 13 mini (or SE 2022) - 5" max is a hard criteria for me.

Smart phone History:
From iPhone 3GS, moved (reason below) to a Micromax Canvas in 2011. 1.5 years later, it just froze one day. Then got a Nokia Lumia 800. Loved it so much that wife (and mother-in-law) switched to Windows phones. I still've this as my backup phone - though it is 3G, I charge it once a month and keep it. Personally, I found the UX and the voice recognition in this to be best - unfortunately, can't even transfer music to this now due to lack of any support.

When Xiaomi launched in India, bought a MI3 during the first sale. Really liked that phone. Build quality was great (it even fell from my Innova's roof and barely had a scratch). After 2 years, rooted it and played with various ROMs.

Then switched to Lenovo Note. Decent phone. But larger and way too much plastic. Changed it in a year to Nokia 8. Loved the design and I still use it for my secondary number and as a hotspot router. Unfortunately, Nokia is no longer giving upgrades to OS - but I plan to keep as long as it runs.

Apple History:
I'm neither a fan-boy nor an Apple basher, but have some beliefs about how much one should pay for a product based on one's needs and not based on product's quality.

Of the Apple products I owned, nothing comes close to the iPod with click wheel that I bought in 2009. Was such a joy to use it and it was a benchmark for mechanical build quality and design. It lasted till 2017 till my 2 year old son decided to practice throwing with it.
iPhone 3GS -> got it from the employer as a gift. Worked for 2 years. Then a problem - for some contacts, when they call, the slider to take the call just wouldn't work. Once those problems started appearing for wife, manager and manager's manager, was forced to switch using this as an iPod. This still boots up after 13 years, but charge is retained only for an hour or so.
iPad 2nd Gen -> Pretty good. Exchanged to 5th gen after few years. Then got an iPad 6th gen for extended use in the family - this is still going fine, but the dreaded black spots on display has started appearing. Probably will upgrade to iPad Air M1.
MacBook Air 2012 -> was good for travelling. But for coding, I used it for about 7 months and couldn't stand the sharp front-end that used to pain the palms after an hour of typing. Kept it aside only for travel and bought a refurbished Dell. 3 months ago, exchanged MBA for a Xiaomi Ultra laptop - that is surprisingly good even with i5. Ergonomics are spot on.

[dicor]

So, it's me who switched from Samsung S10+ to an iPhone 12 mini 4 months ago

Requirement
My requirement was simple
Get a small beater phone which fits into the pocket. Android was preferred for a number of reasons.
The phone will be primarily used for having only baking apps and should support Android Auto (would have gone for featured phone if they would have supported UPI)

The contenders were

• Samsung S10e (discontinued a few years ago)
• Samsung Z Flip 3. Was getting it in introductory offer of Rs 58000
  (introductory offer + exchange value + exchange bonus)

Buying process
As S10e was not available new in the market and OLX did not have very decent options, so gave up on this idea.

Been to the store, to see Z Flip 3. The phone was a huge disappointment. The SQ and display was not as decent as my Samsung S10+. Even salesperson was also surprised to see the brightness of S10+ when I played 2 songs at the same time on Z Flip 3 and S10+.

Finally, I went to Apple Store, they were offering freebies on iPhone 12 series, so I was getting ear buds for free (Total 68K for 128 GB variant). I was still not convinced to buy apple.

I came back to Samsung store and asked me to give me Z Flip 3 and Watch 3 classic, but he said it will take 2 days to deliver Z Flip 3.

I came back home and during evening checking Flipkart, I found iPhone 12 mini 64GB was available at 42000 on Flipkart. That was steal. I tried finding 128 GB variant and after credit card discounts, I managed to order it in Rs 45000.

The next day I got my iPhone 12 mini 128 GB

Initial impression

• The phone is super pocket friendly.
• Phone is not light weight. It's 150 gms, iPhone SE wins the game here.
• Lack of charger means, you shell out another 2K but luckily, I had powerful wireless charger, so I never bought the charger. My laptop also contains type C port and that can also charge phone quickly. So never bothered to buy a charger even after 4 months.

Long term review
It's been 4 months and now I am in love with phone.

Things I do enjoy in iPhone mini

• Small size. I love love love it. Ergonomics are just right.
  
• Siri is amazing in recognizing the voice commands. Google is best, Bixby is worst. Siri sits in middle. I have stopped searching apps, finding contacts. Just say Hey Siri, Call / text XYZ or open PhonePe. You are done.
  
• Bixby sounds robotic, Siri sounds more humane.
  
• Security, oh man, I am sold on this. This should be the sole reason for every iOS hater to switch to iPhone. Every app runs on its own box. To make it simple, Android apps share the storage. Apple apps have their own dedicated storage. They can't see anything beyond their own boundaries. Samsung had knox security too but it does not compensate Android's design principles.
  
• Face Id - Love it. It works in pitch dark as well. Samsung's face recognition was done from camera and in iPhone this is done from IR sensor (The reason we see a big notch on iPhone). Though POCO F1 face recognition was great too.
  
• Sound quality is super.
  
• Endless customizations on phone's accessibility. Customization of home screen is not available, but I don't care much. I am no longer in my 20s, where I would love to keep comic fonts.
• Airdrop is breeze when it comes to sharing files between two apple devices. My wife use iPhone 11 (given by her office)

Things I miss in iPhone mini

• No real time caller identification (True caller)
  
• Restricted automation. Bixby routines was best when compared to iPhone shortcuts.
  
• The oximeter which is there on my S10+
  
• Camera is decent, but nowhere close to Samsung S10+. When it comes to photos / videos / editing, S10+ is the king.
  
• Limited app options and all good video editing apps are paid. Though I don't want to put lot of apps, so it's not restricting me.

Things I hate in iPhone mini

• No Apple Pay for India, I was so addicted to use Samsung Pay.
  
• Severely restricted compatibility with non-apple smart watches. You can't find your phone from smart watch, you can't get notifications religiously on smart watch. It's inconsistent.
  
• Lack of Android Auto, my car does not have car play. So, if I use my Samsung for Navigation (as Android Auto), then can't connect my iPhone to XUV.
  
• Sync - A big pain point. Somehow not all my contacts are synced from Google contacts. There is limitation on syncing other than iCloud.
  
• Atrociously priced spares, accessories and services. Apple care cost me 18000.
  
• Massive app size - 200MB is a norm. I mean you install or update any app, it's 350 MB+. On Samsung, whenever I wanted to order the food / take ride, I downloaded Swiggy/Uber and uninstalled it after getting the food / completing the ride.