I’ve owned an iPhone since I was 15 years old and I’ve always sworn I would never turn to Android. People have tried to sway me by saying things like the camera is better, you can get better apps and they don’t cost as much but honestly, say what you like, you won’t change my mind - and I am more sure of that now than ever.
I recently was unfortunate enough to have my iPhone 11 stolen. It was snatched out of my hand by a ballsy opportunist and before I could even process what happened he was out of sight. Other than it leaving me phoneless in London, my thoughts quickly turned to how I would replace it but I knew I had an Android phone at home that would tie me over for now.
• Read more: iPhone 12 Pro vs Samsung S22 Ultra
I’m currently using an Honor 50 which don’t get me wrong, isn't a bad phone. It’s got a bright, high-res display, the speaker quality is pretty good, it’s thinner than my iPhone and it’s got a decent camera with lots of features. The battery life on it is much better than my iPhone (but that’s largely due to the fact it’s never been used) and since I use Google services a lot, it’s handy having them already installed. There certainly isn’t anything wrong with it - the famous “it’s not me it’s you” saying comes to mind because the phone really isn't awful - I'm just a slave to Apple.
The features on it I just can't get used to include the touchscreen which seems so much less sensitive than my iPhone’s screen. Last night I was going through the Glastonbury App trying to add artists to my lineup and was getting so frustrated as when I went to ‘star’ an artist - nothing would happen. It looked and felt like I was tapping in the right place but it took me an unholy amount of attempts to lock my choices in. In general, I find the screen to be quite unresponsive and not very accurate.
Tasks that are so simple on my iPhone quickly frustrate me using this Android phone. The spacing between the letters on the keyboard and the way it's configured, I hate the style of the emojis and I can't get used to the alert sounds it makes. Another thing I really don’t like about Android phones is that they don’t automatically fill in verification codes for you - or at least I haven't found a way you can set it to do this. It gives you an option to quickly copy but iPhones will automatically fill in one-time-use passcodes and verification codes for you which saves so much time.
Despite all of this I’m not saying phones with Android operating systems are bad - they’re just not for me. I’ve seen photos from the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra and they’re incredibly good. I really love the look and finish of the Honor 50 with its sparkly casing and twin-lens reflex-inspired camera and for a similarly specced camera, you can save yourself a pretty penny. But for me the Android operating isn’t as intuitive, things aren’t where you expect them to be AND you have to download an app for notes - what kind of joke is that.
I am incredibly grateful to be able to use a smartphone as a replacement while I figure out what to do about my iPhone. Annoyingly, I've paid for insurance for it for two years but when the contract ended, so did the insurance and I didn't realize. Now I’m trying to decide to replace my iPhone 11 which I was perfectly happy with or upgrade to something more recent such as the iPhone 13 or wait for the iPhone 14. But one thing is for sure, I won’t be switching to Android any time soon.
Read more:
Best camera phone
Best budget camera phone
Best phone for video recording
Best iPhone for photography
