It’s been three days with my new smartphone, a Samsung Galaxy s24 Ultra, and I confess that it’s been pretty boring.
Well, the phone is fast and responsive compared to my old iPhone 11 Pro Max, but my learning curve has been slower than I antecipated, given that I haven’t had any contact with Android for at least 6 years. Unlike iOS, there are many layers of customization (which is a positive point), but my mindset is still geared towards a simpler, more objective interface, which has been causing me some mental confusion.
I’m still learning how to customize app permissions, and I’ve organized the Home Menu to resemble what I was used to on my old phone. I’ve migrated almost all the possible apps and replaced those that didn’t have Android versions like NetNewsWire.
What I like so far:
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I’m using the original (Samsung) keyboard, which seems infinitely better than the Apple one. The number of mistyped keys has been greatly reduced and there are other built-in functions that make typing easier;
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The screen is gorgeous. I dare say it’s better than the screen on my wife’s iPhone 15 Pro Max, especially outdoors;
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I can install apps from stores like F-Droid, which is inconceivable on iOS;
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Fingerprint reader is amazing, especially for unlocking the phone at night;
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One battery charge gives me around 10 to 12 hours of screen-on time. This point is a double-edged sword, since my iPhone with a battery of less than 3000mAh and 80% of its capacity allowed me 6 to 7 hours of screen-on after almost 5 years of use. Historically, Apple phones optimize battery use much better than any other manufacturer;
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File management seems more fluid and functional, especially with Nextcloud files;
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The Firefox and Brave browsers use, respectively, Gecko and Blink as engines, which provides a desktop-like experience;
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The promise of 7 years of software and security updates.
What I didn’t like or didn’t adapt to:
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I couldn’t find an easy way to configure carddav and caldav in the standard system applications. This was only possible with 3 or 4 different apps. On the iPhone it was possible with a simple profile configuration.
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Autofill password, either with Bitwarden or KeepassDX, works very badly.
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I don’t get notifications as quickly as on iOS.
What I miss about iOS
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Everything I mentioned under “didn’t like” above.
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Apple Pay. Here in the US, almost every establishment accepts Apple Pay, and it’s very convenient.
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Airdrop (due to the ease of sharing files with my wife).
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Clean and simple interface.
Final thoughts
My decision to switch devices was due to the fact that my iPhone - although I still consider it to be an excellent hardware-wise device -, due to recent software updates, provides a less fluid experience and screen stuttering in some applications, even with just 4/5 years of use.
The choice of an Android device over iOS it is philosophically a more open system, allowing better interoperability with other operating systems, such as Windows and Linux, whereas Apple devices only work well (and perfectly well) between their ecosystem.
I considered buying the Ultra model because of the $200 credit I got on the pre-order and the storage upgrade to 512GB. Added to the 5% Credit Card Cashback, the phone cost me a whopping $1115.00. The value didn’t exceed my Budget of US$1200. If I manage to use this device for its entire planned life, it will cost me around US$14 a month, whereas the iPhone has cost me around US$23 a month so far. I did took a look at a Pixel phone, but it seems like the Samsung hardware is better.
Not that I’m not happy with the new phone, but if I were to make a decision with the information I have today, I would buy the s24 or the s24 plus. I’m not a photographer, I don’t really understand all the camera settings and I don’t see the difference between a 200MP photo and a 50MP photo. Besides that, I can’t see myself using the S-Pen, even though I think it’s amazing. I don’t know if the extra $300 on top of the S24 Plus is justifiable.