1 Month Review (Note 5 to iPhone 7 Plus)

OptiPrime

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It's been a month since I left Android for Apple so I'll give a detailed, honest review for any Android users lurking about who are thinking of switching.

What prompted me to switch? I used Android exclusively except for a iphone 4s for a year or so when it first came out. I would always be on the lookout for the latest, most feature rich offering from Android, from the HTC One, to the Samsung Notes 4 & 5. However, when it was time for an upgrade there was nothing that really made me feel like I'd be getting a huge upgrade from my note 5.
The Note 7 had already been recalled twice and honestly even with the waterproofing and improved camera it didn't feel worth upgrading to from a Note 5, nor did the LG V20. I loved the Note series and wanted my next phone to be a Note (used the S Pen constantly). The Edge's 5.1 screen seemed a bit too small for me and also not a big enough upgrade.
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So I started researching Apple/iOS to see how far they'd come since my 4s days and I was impressed!!
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Settled on a beautiful gold 128g 7 Plus and after having wait a few weeks for delivery (>_<) it's been a pleasure thus far

Hardware: Beautiful device and form factor. Just as attractive as the Notes & Galaxys, better looking
than the Pixel Xl and with more refined detailing. Feels good in the hand, comfortable to hold in landscape or portrait (even for my small hands). The silent switch is a nice convenient touch. No true notification light took a few weeks to get use to but raise to wake is nice and I just set my notifications to repeat until I check them so I don’t miss anything.

The home button works extremely well and under Accessibility you can change it so the phone can be unlocked just by resting your finger on it, no need to even press down.

Speakers are very loud with no distortion that I've noticed thus far.

Battery Life is excellent. One charge lasts me one full day and into the evening on the next especially since I'm on wifi the majority of the time and keep my brightness down. And for that reason I've never run into any trouble with wanting to use headphones during the same time I'd need to be charging my phone. I charge overnight if the phone is at 50% or less and that's it.

Fast charging would be nice but wireless charging never appealed to me so that didn't matter.

Overall iOS: Very fast and seamless

Apple really does take a lot of the tweaking out of using your device so you can simply focus on the apps and content. The silent switch is useful and I love night shift so much that I keep it on most of the time. The search function (for web, phone, & apps is extremely helpful.

Being able to clear all notifications quickly is also a nice convenience.

Widgets are lacking but I knew this would be the case. Samsung offered widgets such as Places that would change settings like Bluetooth, Wifi, based upon location that I do miss. Overall, the widgets are not bad though (Calendar Music, Weather, & News all work effectively enough). Also, where Apple lacks in widget functionality they make up for it with Force Touch. Press firmly on messages to send quickly to favorite contacts, or on your Twitter icon to go straight into crafting a new tweet. Press firmly on message notification banner and you can read recent texts from that contact and reply right there. Switching between apps is a breeze, just press firmly at the left edge of the screen and you'll be able to see/switch between all open apps in card like format.

I do miss multi-window from the Note 5 and the minimize screen function is lacking. On my Note 5 I could press the home button 3x quickly and reduce the screen to the bottom right or left corner and use the phone one-handed while maintaining near full functionality. However, with iPhone you can only reduce the screen size to half vertically and once you open the keyboard the screen returns to full size.

The camera takes amazing pictures and I have no complaints here. I've used the depth effect many times for portraits of my husband and dog lol. Panorama mode frequently during the holidays for group photos and just yesterday to film the wintry landscape.

Messaging: On my Note 5 I'd go back and forth between stock messages and Messenger, and both were ok but the community behind iMessages leaves both of those in the dust. I'd say 85% of the people I text with have iPhone or at least an iPad. All the cool effects for the screen and bubbles, highlighting texts with suggested emojis. I love it all. I'm constantly playing Connect 4 with friends. Real nice to be able to access a few apps right in Messages. Also, as a person of color it's pretty cool to have access to various emoji shades. Nice touch and I don't see why it can't come to android. I'm a girly girl so I loveeee finally being able to put emojis next to my contact's names.

Keyboard: The keyboard is very nice, spacious, and comfortable. The first day adjusting I had a lot of typing errors but since then I hardly ever make any. I do miss being able to long press keys to access symbols and I don't understand why it's not included in 10.2's keyboard since they capability is there to press and hold to access diff key options just as we can with emojis.

Specific Apps:

I was heavily into Google Apps since they work so seamlessly with Android but most of them are crippled on Apple. I get it but still annoying.

Chrome: I ended up switching to Safari because Chrome would crash constantly, but I've grown to like Safari. The reader view for articles is nice.

Chromecast: Functionality is crippled and I should've researched this before I purchase my 7plus but I use Chromecast almost every day. For my TV apps like Hulu, Netflix, and Hulu but I cannot stream content I'm watching purely from a browser. I'll have to use my laptop and cast from a Chrome tab.

Google Play Movies/TV: Can watch but not buy directly from app. I guess you'd have to go to the website.

Google Play Music: Works the same except, I can't access my Podcasts, I guess Apple wants me to switch to Itunes for this or Apple Music. I loaded some of my music into Apple Music but I have too many playlists already built in GPM to switch my streaming service now. But I may upgrade to a family plan on GPM and add one of my iphone friends in exchange for a spot on their Apple Music account to have the best of both worlds.

Oh, also the Apple upgrade program was a huge plus.
• Not committed to any particular carrier (I have a Sprint phone but it can switch to any of the other majors)
• AppleCare is included for a flat fee rather than pay my carrier $11/month ($132/YR.) as long as my phone is in service and then a $200 deductible on top of that

Overall I'm enjoying the iPhone experience immensely. I don't think one is better than other per say, the operating systems are just different.
 

stsullivan

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I will be coming from note 5 also still deciding but will make the jump next month will miss the note 5 as far as from the work side sending files ect
 

Rob Phillips

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Great review! Changing ecosystems always comes with adjustments and sacrifices but I'm glad you're enjoying your experience overall. Get yourself an AppleTV and call it a day.
 

cwbcpa

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Great review. There are definitely positives and negatives to both. I bought the 7 Plus after the Note 7 debacle and it is a great device and I really enjoy using it. I do miss the Note functions a lot though having used the Note 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7. My biggest issue is not being "all in" with Apple. Like you, I use Chromecast a lot, my kids have Chromebooks and I use Window's PC's. On the plus side, most everyone I know has an iPhone or at least an iPad so iMessage and FaceTime are great. In all honesty those two things are the biggest draws to the iPhone for me, but they are both a huge deal.

I really enjoy tech and have always used iOS and Android along with Blackberry and WP at times. I am less interested today in bouncing around than I have been in the last 5-6 years. I am really enjoying the 7 Plus for the most part. We will see what comes this year. It seems like people are expecting a lot from Apple this year. I will say that I am cautiously optimistic.
 

iphone5s

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OS
- i Tunes is my biggest bug-a-boo with ios. So conversely, file directory management is my favorite feature of Android.

Hardware Form
- The Note 5 feels fantastic in my hands, where my iPhone 6s+ feels quite heavy and large.

Power Management
- No other device can beat the iPhone 6s+ for power management, imo.

Quite a dilemma on our hands...lol
 

italodance

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Who cares/uses Google Play Movies/TV / Google Play Music nowadays? Google is dead, most people using iTunes for their digital purchases and the quality of iTunes is WAY better than anything digital on earth.
 

metllicamilitia

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I was heavily into Google Apps since they work so seamlessly with Android but most of them are crippled on Apple. I get it but still annoying.

Chrome: I ended up switching to Safari because Chrome would crash constantly, but I've grown to like Safari. The reader view for articles is nice.

Chromecast: Functionality is crippled and I should've researched this before I purchase my 7plus but I use Chromecast almost every day. For my TV apps like Hulu, Netflix, and Hulu but I cannot stream content I'm watching purely from a browser. I'll have to use my laptop and cast from a Chrome tab.

Google Play Movies/TV: Can watch but not buy directly from app. I guess you'd have to go to the website.

Google Play Music: Works the same except, I can't access my Podcasts, I guess Apple wants me to switch to Itunes for this or Apple Music. I loaded some of my music into Apple Music but I have too many playlists already built in GPM to switch my streaming service now. But I may upgrade to a family plan on GPM and add one of my iphone friends in exchange for a spot on their Apple Music account to have the best of both worlds.

I do have a couple questions here, and one answer for you. The questions, about Google apps. I'm curious as to what's crippled on iOS. I only ask because I see in so many places a lot of Android users complaining that Google apps are better on iOS than Android. I don't use Chrome myself because I believe Safari works better on iOS, and the built in Safari features are system wide anyway. As far as my Chromecast goes, when I was using it I had zero issues with streaming. Granted that was a while ago and I have an Apple TV now. I wish I could help you with Podcasts however I'm not subscribed to any via Google Play. Movies and TV on the other hand. Quite accessible, just not where you think, they're in YouTube. Movies at least, I haven't purchased any TV from Google Play. If you open the YouTube app and go to your profile then choose Purchased from the menu, there are the movies and I assume TV shows as well that you have purchased from Google Play.

EDIT: I apologize, it's called Library in YouTube now. Here's a screenshot.

988042138246e9d34705e11f3e70ade9.png
 

bakron1

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Nice balanced review and thanks for sharing it. I have had my iPhone 7 plus for about two solid months coming from a iPhone 7 and I find myself liking the device more and more every day.

The only downside is using it with one hand, but I have learned to work around that too. So far, I am a happy camper.
 

Jude526

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I have been on Samsung before smartphones. Have had all the Notes and was one that was part of the Note7 issue. Not liking the edge 7 or S7 I chose Note5 and only 32gig available. Had on order 64 gig and was cancelled Dec4th. Received email from Verizon. I have as well the S2 watch and I love that watch. The Note5. Not so much. Charging up to 3x a day and my other Notes weren't that bad on battery life. I had been thinking Apple when 7 plus was released. I was drawn to that phone. But my watch is on a plan and that's a lot of money to go down the drain. Then I read on Android central. Am a member the S2 and S3 compatible with Apple. My brother has Apple and he asked me because he wants the watch. Told him to hold off and will let him know. I called VERIZON. The rep said yes. I decided to take the plunge. Received yesterday. I had VERIZON put screen protector on it. I am not good at it.
Got it set up and the watch and tomorrow first day with the watch
I love the 7Plus. There are things I miss with Samsung but what I am learning about the iPhone and it's benefits and features are making up for it. I still have my Samsung tablet and windows laptops. I am still active on AC But learning another platform is great.
Battery life. Awesome. Maps voice is so natural sounding. Typing on it flawlessly
No LAG. And I want an Apple Watch. I haven't worn a non smartphone watch in over a yr
I think both platforms have their strengths and "wishes".
I am thrilled to dive deep into it. My associates love the fact I got an iPhone. My brother said I will love it. He jumped from Samsung because of his job. Mine uses too
Not leaving AC but glad to join iMore
 

NewYorkChic

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I think you just help me decide on the switch from the note 4 to apple.. Now my only debate is 128 or 256..i.play maybe 4 or 5 games plus. I have a lot of pics and music.. I don't want to spend the extra money for the 256 but i dont want to regret not getting it.. But thanks for posting your experience
 

jamstar35

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I think you just help me decide on the switch from the note 4 to apple.. Now my only debate is 128 or 256..i.play maybe 4 or 5 games plus. I have a lot of pics and music.. I don't want to spend the extra money for the 256 but i dont want to regret not getting it.. But thanks for posting your experience

I switched from the 64gb note 5 and went with the 128. When I looked at the storage used on my note, I was only about halfway through my storage.
 

iamdld

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Who cares/uses Google Play Movies/TV / Google Play Music nowadays? Google is dead, most people using iTunes for their digital purchases and the quality of iTunes is WAY better than anything digital on earth.

Google Play music is my streaming app of choice. The ad free youtube that is included at no charge pushes it to the top spot.
 

anon(10004440)

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No true notification light took a few weeks to get use to but raise to wake is nice and I just set my notifications to repeat until I check them

There isn't a separate notification light but you can set it to flash the LED Flash on the back light up for notifications. Just go to...

Settings -> General -> Accessibility-> LED Flash for Alerts

You can set it to to flash for alerts or flash when in silent mode.
 

joemd60

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I am going to revive an old thread. First off, great review thanks!
Lastly, I don’t get where Google apps are crippled on iOS?
I have a handful of Google apps on my 8 Plus, and they look and work pretty much flawlessly.
 
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