Three Weeks Without my iPhone and so far, no regrets!

As a wireless analyst, I've focused my energies on iOS over Android for a number of reasons. Market share, simplicity, reliability and security were among the most obvious considerations. One equipment manufacturer versus a dozen,  one Operating system versus various versions of OS, combined with carrier bloatware made Androids  far more difficult to trouble shoot. On the other hand, Androids seem so much further advanced feature-wise, compared to Apple. After all, Apple's making a huge deal about their latest Amoled bezel-less screen and Facial recognition? Samsung has had this stuff for years. 

This all seems like a Deja Vu. Half a dozen years ago, I traded my iPhone 3 and T-Mobile to an HTC EVO on Sprint. That was back when Sprint was first, not worst, having recently launched the very first 4G network in the USA in conjunction with Clearwire, called 4G WiMax. The HTC EVO was the first device to support this technology and was awesome, except for the fact that it's battery life seemed to get worse by the week. Between that, and Sprint not getting any other carriers to buy in to 4G WiMax, it fizzled. I even tried a SAMSUNG S3 but eventually went back to Apple with an iPhone 4s. I still have an iPhone 6s+/64GB that I never gave up for the 7 or 8 series because I valued my 3.5mm headset jack too much to give it up. Well, a funny thing happened. After reading mixed reviews for the iPhone X and some stellar reviews for Samsung's S8+, I asked my SmartPhone repair tech if he had any demo deals on either. He had just taken back in a Samsung S8+ in new condition that was too confusing for one of his users who went back to her iPhone.

I looked at the device carefully and quickly realized that I could keep my 3.5mm jack, my biometric finger print unlocking and still get nearly all of the benefits of the iPhone X. Sorry Apple! My Galaxy S8 still has my 3.5mm jack, my biometric fingerprint unlock and is also still waterproof, something that you guys said was not possible. Did I mention that my S8+ also has a bigger Amoled screen (6.2") and supports facial recognition. This was not surprising to me since Samsung actually makes Apple's Amoled screens.  

I thought I would miss SIRI but was I wrong. I ended up getting a whole team of virtual assistants who, unlike SIRI, all get my commands right the first time. Alexa, Bixby, Cortana, and Google's Assistant all work great with my voice commands. While I wasn't crazy about Samsung's Facial Recognition, they have something far better anyway.  IRIS Scanning is the bomb and the easiest unlock solution I have ever used. 

At this point, by getting the S8+ instead of the iPhone X, I was able to save enough $ to buy a brand new custom made surfboard. When Apple makes a Bezel less iPhone SE model with all the features of the 8, I might consider going back. I loved my 4s and 5s because they could be used so easily with one hand. The only draw back was the small screen which could get bigger without a bezel. Until then, I think I may stay with the S8+.

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Samsung's S8+

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