iOS | Android

Why I Truly Switched from iPhone to Samsung (After 10 Years)

Reasons, benefits, and my 6-month experience.

Are you in the same boat that I was?

You have an iPhone that turned into a landline phone. Apart from the battery issue it has numerous other disabilities. That’s just how it goes with a phone you’ve enjoyed using for years. Now, you’re looking for a new electronic buddy.

What to do?

I’m excited to share what I’ve found out and hope to help you with making a decision.

My aim here is not to make it super technical. I’m giving you honest and straightforward insights into why a smartphone user would make this switch (or a switch to any other Android/Galaxy device). Where necessary, I give the specifics of the phones.

In short. The reason for switching to Samsung boils down to what I value in a phone, and with that the price/quality ratio.

You’ll find:

• Why I started looking for a new smartphone
• 4 Benefits I got (and you can get) from the switch to an Android phone
• My experience after 6 months of using the Android phone
• To conclude

During the 10 years I’ve used an iPhone, Apple’s operating system and I became good friends. The relationship started out with the iPhone 4s, and later the iPhone SE (2016 edition).

Those iPhones lasted me about 5 years each. And I have to admit: I really enjoy basically everything about an iPhone. You might think: why switch?

Why did I start looking for a new phone?

This is a good question to ask because I’m not the kinda person that buys new devices regularly. The phone basically wore off. Of course, that’s how it’d go with any phone.

The lack of any battery life made it a stay-at-home version of itself. If it’s below 5 degrees outside, the phone dies at any moment at any percentage. Two apps running at the same time? Forget it. The line cuts, the camera crashes. I can’t ‘get to the call’ while being on a call. Sometimes my phone shows I’m calling while I’m not, and texts or websites aren’t displayed correctly. Oh yes, and it’s ultra slow.

It’s actually insane what smartphone development has been through over the past years.

The good part: The Switch

These are the specifics that pulled me over the line to buy an Android phone. Needless to say, there can be other specifics that are more important to you that iOS is better at. But these are the specifics that convinced me to buy an Android instead.

Which benefits would convince you?

Benefit 1 — Battery life

This is an enrichment in life. I know smartphone production develops over time in general, for all phones, but this is an undeniable huge difference when changing from an old phone.

Value for money A mobile device from Apple that has a similar battery capacity as the Samsung A52 is the iPhone 13 Pro Max with 4.352 mAh.

It costs at least 3.5 times (!) the price of the Samsung A52.

Benefit 2 — Camera

As a photographer (and just being a human being in general) I enjoy having a good camera.

When circumstances allow it, I love to travel and visit family and friends. I’m happy if it’s possible to make decent enough photos with my phone. I don’t need the best of the best, but a good one would be nice. One which can make amazing photos and videos is even better.

Value for money Samsung A52 has 4 cameras: 64 MP f/1.8+ 12 MP + 5 MP + 5 MP

Buying an Apple phone with the same megapixels and light sensitivity (the f-number, aperture): there is none.

The max amount available on an iPhone is 12 megapixels. It’s the same as in the iPhone SE 2016. I’ve looked everywhere to find counter-evidence, but this is according to the website of Apple.

Yes, you saw this correctly, over the past 5 years Apple has not increased the number of megapixels in all of their phones. Megapixels are not the only criteria for a camera to take amazing pictures, but it does help. Especially if you’re looking to edit and/or print your pictures. The megapixels decide the size of your print!

Benefit 3 — Water resistance

I’ve had multiple accidents where water + and electronics were combined. They’re not a good combination.

How happy was I to find out that my new Samsung gem is water resistant! It’s not recommended to use it at the beach or under a hard water stream, but potentially, I could use it for a meter underwater for 30 minutes!

Value for money This is not the reason you would switch from an iPhone to a Samsung (or any other brand) phone because they both have it, and there are numerous iPhones with better water resistance than Samsung. But, Samsung phones with the same feature are cheaper.

Benefit 4 — Customization possibilities

An iOS device has something comfortable. It’s neat, practical, logical. Honestly, I love it. This was my least favorite factor in switching to a new phone.

But… after having used my new Samsung friend, I can say: it’s so comfortable to customize it in any way you want.

The freedom.

The notifications make more sense and are easier to tweak. You can change the size of the keyboard (!), the font used in the menus, where apps are positioned, the number of icons that are visible on one screen, the look of the icons, and much more.

iOS, you can’t beat this with your design.

The bottom line: Value for money

It all boils down to one underlying reason.

The above features would cost 3.5 times more if I’d bought an Apple phone, without having a similar quality camera and the possibility to do all the customizations I want. (So basically, it’s not with the above features).

You pay at least 3.5 times more when not switching from iPhone to Android, for fewer features.

At the moment there is no Apple phone available for the same price as this Samsung model, even if you were willing to give up the battery thing, camera, and customization possibilities.

Experience with a Galaxy phone (for the first time)

I have never used a Galaxy phone before and don’t have any other Samsung electronics in use.

All the apps that I used on the iPhone are the same on my current phone, and I have added a few new ones that come in handy. You can download apps in the Google Play Store and the Galaxy Store. It’s basically the same.

There are plenty of Google-based apps available (and already installed when reinstalling the phone), such as Google Play Store, Google Play Music, Google Photos, and all sorts of other apps that need a Google account.

A few handy technical tips (to transfer data and such) to keep in mind if you make the switch from iPhone to Samsung will follow in a separate post.

To conclude

The above reasons were so obvious to me, that I couldn’t not switch to a different make.

I admitted to myself that if I’d buy an Apple phone, I’d do it because of the design, feel, or name.

Not because of what I was buying it for: functioning as a phone with features that (I find) are great to have.

When ‘walking over’ from iPhone to Android, it can feel like a long road to go.

I promise you, you will get used to the new system very soon along the way. Yes, of course, you need some time to get familiar with it all, and there are so many possibilities for customizing it exactly how you like it! It’s okay if it takes a bit of time.

I’d say, enjoy making it yours :)

If you’d like more information about my experience, feel free to reach out to me!

You can now become a Medium member to read all stories on Medium.