My first iPhone was the 3GS in August 2009. By December 2011, I believed all the hype about the Samsung Galaxy S2 and was a bit underwhelmed by the i4S so I got an S2 after my 2 year 3GS contract expired. Second biggest mistake I made as far as a phones is concerned. Crap phone. So I begged and grovelled to my phone provider and it agreed to replace the S2 with the 4S. Apparently in the USA you have a period of time where you can change your mind if you want to, like a cooling off period. Not so in Australia, once you sign on the dotted line, the scumbags hold you to it, unless you can grovel to the right person.
Turned out the 4S was a great phone.
My 4S contract expired in December 2013 and once again I fell for all the Samsung hype...this time the Note 3. This time I was more diligent in my research, hours and hours youtubing the Note 3, reading reviews and blogs, trying it out in the store, so I got one. Biggest mistake I've made as far as a phone is concerned. I went back to my trusty 4S and sold the Note 3 to a mate. The 4S is still serving me well but it's starting to struggle with the more power intensive apps and I've had it for 27 months so now pretty much hanging for the i6 to come out.
If you're an iphone user and you're looking at getting a Samsung Note 3, some words of warning.
1) Kiss goodbye one handed use you're so accustomed to. This may not sound like much but believe me, the saying you only value something once it's gone rings true here. Never again will I take for granted Apple's claim that one handed use is the best use. The bigger screen of the Note was great for watching videos and games but not worth it IMO having to take up both hands for pretty much everything you use it for.
2) Google Play Store s.u.c.k.s. No other way to put it. Sure it has all the popular apps, but every iphone user has their favourite apps which are not well known, mine just happens to be this yahtzee app and a few others. Cheap and nasty imitations can be found, if you're lucky, on the Google Play Store. And I found alot of apps on the Play Store were simply there to make up for the deficiencies of the Note itself. And the variety nowhere near as good as the iTunes store. But credit where credit is due, one thing I liked about the Google Play Store is you could return the app and get your money back. But I guess with all the crap that can be found on the Google Play Store, it is probably as much a necessity as it is a one up over the iTunes store.
3) Android software and Samsung hardware trying to work hand in hand, enough said. Expect your Samsung to freeze a couple of times a day.
4) If you rely on an alarm to get you up in the morning, don't trust the Samsung. A couple of times the alarm would beep once, a one syllable beep, and stop. Sometimes it worked, a couple of times it didn't. Random.
5) No dedicated weather or email app. I downloaded an email and weather app from the Play Store and these apps were juicing about 100mbs a day on my 3G network whilst I was at work away from my wifi.
6) If you're outside and it's either too sunny or too overcast, the screen is ummm, well crapola.
7) Music player jumped alot.
Alot more problems I won't bother mentioning.
Whilst I was researching the Note 3 I got sucked in by all the hype about the gizmo stuff it apparently could do. Don't get me wrong, it's ability to multitask, I mean real multitasking with 2 or more apps open on the screen at the same time, is second to none, the note pad function is pretty cool and the screen for watching movies is great. But after using the Note 3, I realised what I really wanted is just a smartphone that works well, pushes through my emails (which I get alot of for work), takes good photos, has a good music player and something you can use with one hand. All the other stuff is just a bonus.
Really looking forward to the iPhone 6 and without trying to be a fanboy which I don't believe I am, given that I went to Samsung twice, I'm never leaving the iPhone again.
Turned out the 4S was a great phone.
My 4S contract expired in December 2013 and once again I fell for all the Samsung hype...this time the Note 3. This time I was more diligent in my research, hours and hours youtubing the Note 3, reading reviews and blogs, trying it out in the store, so I got one. Biggest mistake I've made as far as a phone is concerned. I went back to my trusty 4S and sold the Note 3 to a mate. The 4S is still serving me well but it's starting to struggle with the more power intensive apps and I've had it for 27 months so now pretty much hanging for the i6 to come out.
If you're an iphone user and you're looking at getting a Samsung Note 3, some words of warning.
1) Kiss goodbye one handed use you're so accustomed to. This may not sound like much but believe me, the saying you only value something once it's gone rings true here. Never again will I take for granted Apple's claim that one handed use is the best use. The bigger screen of the Note was great for watching videos and games but not worth it IMO having to take up both hands for pretty much everything you use it for.
2) Google Play Store s.u.c.k.s. No other way to put it. Sure it has all the popular apps, but every iphone user has their favourite apps which are not well known, mine just happens to be this yahtzee app and a few others. Cheap and nasty imitations can be found, if you're lucky, on the Google Play Store. And I found alot of apps on the Play Store were simply there to make up for the deficiencies of the Note itself. And the variety nowhere near as good as the iTunes store. But credit where credit is due, one thing I liked about the Google Play Store is you could return the app and get your money back. But I guess with all the crap that can be found on the Google Play Store, it is probably as much a necessity as it is a one up over the iTunes store.
3) Android software and Samsung hardware trying to work hand in hand, enough said. Expect your Samsung to freeze a couple of times a day.
4) If you rely on an alarm to get you up in the morning, don't trust the Samsung. A couple of times the alarm would beep once, a one syllable beep, and stop. Sometimes it worked, a couple of times it didn't. Random.
5) No dedicated weather or email app. I downloaded an email and weather app from the Play Store and these apps were juicing about 100mbs a day on my 3G network whilst I was at work away from my wifi.
6) If you're outside and it's either too sunny or too overcast, the screen is ummm, well crapola.
7) Music player jumped alot.
Alot more problems I won't bother mentioning.
Whilst I was researching the Note 3 I got sucked in by all the hype about the gizmo stuff it apparently could do. Don't get me wrong, it's ability to multitask, I mean real multitasking with 2 or more apps open on the screen at the same time, is second to none, the note pad function is pretty cool and the screen for watching movies is great. But after using the Note 3, I realised what I really wanted is just a smartphone that works well, pushes through my emails (which I get alot of for work), takes good photos, has a good music player and something you can use with one hand. All the other stuff is just a bonus.
Really looking forward to the iPhone 6 and without trying to be a fanboy which I don't believe I am, given that I went to Samsung twice, I'm never leaving the iPhone again.
