[jcbama85]

Last year i carried an iPhone 5 for my personal phone and had an iPhone 6 for my work phone. When my personal phone became upgrade eligible, I went for the Note 7. All of my family are iOS users, so my work phone allowed me to keep the advantages of iOS.

I really liked the Note 7, the screen, stylus, etc made it a really good personal device. Then we know what happened with the Note 7, I had two of them plus a S7 Edge, which was a major pain. I went to the iPhone 7 Plus. Fast forward to last January and I was laid off from my job and started my own business. As a result, I purchased a 128G iPhone 7 Plus for my work phone. It is a great phone.

However as a former Note 7 owner, Verizon offered me a really good trade in on the 7 Plus. Considering Verizon allows (as I suspect most carriers do) a 14 return I thought I’d give it a go.

The Note 8 arrived Thursday evening and I worked in transitioning to Android for much of Friday afternoon and during college football games yesterday. Samsung does a good job helping transition to the Note 8, and I had it up and running quickly.

The phone itself is amazing, especially the screen. I felt like I was watching 4K TV. The camera is also very good, although I didn’t find it any better than the 7 Plus. I really liked the ability to use an SD Card, as I had a 256 card available.

The big issue for me was finding similar apps to iMessage and Find Your Friends. Life 360 seemed to be very good, so that wasn’t an issue. I used textly , which made it feel like iMessage, but not the same. I tried WhatsApp, but I’m using the iOS 11 beta on my iPad, taking away my ability to easily use my iPad for texting. So that meant while watching TV with my iPad in my lap, I also had to have my phone next to me. I know there are other options, but my lovely bride of 34 years as well as my kids are all deeply intwined in the iOS world, so it’s easier to just stay with it.

After a couple of days, I’m glad I am back in iOS.

Things I miss from the Note 8:

The Screen! It’s amazing; the infinity display is so cool

Ability to add storage with an SD card

The Sylus. Yep, I liked it. Not to doodle or write notes, but to be precise with apps, web browsing, etc.

Being able to select the apps I wanted to use rather than stock apps (ie. Life 360 vs Find Your Friends)
Google Assisant is slightly better than Siri in my option

What I missed:

The simplicity and clean interface of iOS. It is just a more crisp and clean experience

The ease of use for iMessage across devices; I realize I was also once attached to BlackBerry Messenger, so I thought I could overcome it. Wrong

My Apple Watch; I was planning on trading for a Galaxy Gear Frontier, which I think looks so much better, but I found I missed the interaction of my Apple Watch.

So my flirtation with the Note 8 is over. I truly gave the Note 8 a fair shot. I hope some of it’s features show up in the iPhone 8/X/Pro (whatever it’s called). But at the end of the day, iOS simply is a better ecosystem and the fact my entire family is also part of it, so it just makes sense to return to the 7Plus.

It was a good exercise and it made me appreciate the ease of use of the iPhone 7 Plus as well as the features I hope to see during the Sept 12 keynote.

I don’t post often, but I really appreciate the tips and info I get from iMore and the forums.

[Robert90221]

It happens I did the same thing used the 8+ but I missed my 7+ and came back to iOS

[Jude526]

I lest Samsung and Android Jan of this yr. very happy

[Jude526]

Left

[MizWylie]

I left Samsung after the Note 7, and have since handled a few Android phones and actually fell in love with the Moto Z series. I've has an iDevice since last October and intend on upgrading to the newest iPhone (the one with the big screen/small form factor) when it's on preorder.

Welcome back. We missed you!

[TripleOne]

Welcome to iMore!
Thank you for sharing your story.
I myself have tried Android a few times and always end up going back to iOS. It’s simple and it just works!

[anon(5630457)]

I'm doing the opposite. I'm planning on purchasing the Note 8 on Friday, but I may consider the new iPhones if they "wow" me tomorrow, but I don't expect them to if the rumors turn out to be true.

[jcbama85]

I'm doing the opposite. I'm planning on purchasing the Note 8 on Friday, but I may consider the new iPhones if they "wow" me tomorrow, but I don't expect them to if the rumors turn out to be true.

Good luck. Great phone. If that phone had iOS it would be no question, a keeper.

[chezm]

Oh and I agree with your point about google assistance, it exceeds Siri...I wish we had the option to use google OS level on iOS. Using Siri with CarPlay instead of using google assistance is my only con for iOS.

[clouds0222]

Questions about the Note 8....how big in form factor is the Note 8 compared to the iPhone 7 Plus? Also how is the video quality on the Note 8? I mean if you make videos yourself? I have had some Galaxy devices in the past and I hated the video compression issues....just wondering if video quality is better on the Note devices? Thanks for your input!

[jcbama85]

Questions about the Note 8....how big in form factor is the Note 8 compared to the iPhone 7 Plus? Also how is the video quality on the Note 8? I mean if you make videos yourself? I have had some Galaxy devices in the past and I hated the video compression issues....just wondering if video quality is better on the Note devices? Thanks for your input!

Hi. The Note 8 is taller than the 7 Plus, seems about the same width. I can handle the 7 Plus with one hand pretty well, but it was a bit of a struggle with the Note 8 and I have big hands.

The video quality was AMAZING, when I watched videos on YouTube, especially 4K videos. It was considerably better than my home TV. I didn’t make any videos myself with it.

It was difficult to send the Note 8 back today, especially after seeing the keynote. But the Apple ecosystem simply works better for me.

After seeing the keynote today, I will definitely be keeping the 7 Plus for a while.

[TheLegoJoker]

I am also one who mainly uses iOS but flirts with Android from time to time. Last year's note 7 was one such time. Loved the phone. Recall ended the affair early. Decided to give my son my 7 plus and traded his 6s for the Note 7 owners trade in deal and I have been incredibly impressed so far with my Note 8. Some things aren't as smooth as on iOS but mostly it's the same experience for the apps I use. I miss Siri a bit but I'm getting used to Google Assistant and even Bixby, which I think has some serious potential. Siri wasn't a rock star when it was introduced either, so I'm willing to forgive the lack of abilities with Bixby.
Battery life is similar to my 7 plus running iOS 11, which is not great but not exactly awful either.
Also picked up a Gear S3 and that's what really sucked me in. I just prefer it over the Apple watch. Everything about it seems to work better than the Apple watch me.
Barring some crazy, unforeseen software glitch, I'll most likely stick with the Note for a while. Samsung pay is brilliant and the screen is amazing.
Not totally ditching Apple, though. I'm keeping my iPad. Just going to play in the Android yard for a while.

[TheLegoJoker]

And 4 days later Google Assistant has started really acting silly in my car and I'm strongly considering a return to either the 7 or 8 plus. I use hands free a lot so this is important to me and it was working (not as well as Siri) but now I have to physically unlock the screen to get it to work even though I've set up my voice as a trusted voice for ok google. Very frustrating. Samsung makes the coolest devices in my opinion but man iOS just runs better.

[Jude526]

Issues arrive on my Samsung devices before first yr is up
Apple has been great so far.10 months in