Embracing the Dark Side (or Why I Bought an iPhone)
This week, I did something that I considered close to blasphemy for the past five years: I bought an iPhone for myself. Fair warning: geekiness and first world problems ahead.
TL;DR version: Lollipop made my Moto gogo so slow. For baby photos, that's a no-no.
I've been an Android user, as well as a proponent/fanboy/enthusiast since 2010, when I bought my first - a Nexus One. I loved that phone...and I cut my teeth on what can be done with a good Android device. So much versatility! I rooted and ROM'd it regularly. It survived nearly three years of use without so much as a scratch, and then a one foot drop cracked the screen (which I replaced). I also managed to convince my wife to get a G2 (she wanted the keyboard). Not long after that, Android had evolved, and it was time to enjoy some Ice Cream Sandwich, via the Galaxy Nexus.
I had some experience with tablets in between, in the form of a Galaxy Tab (8.9 & 10.1) that left a bad taste in my mouth for Samsung.From what I can tell, the abomination called TouchWiz hasn't improved significantly. Then there's the issue of size. I liked the 8.9, but it was just a bit too big. The 7-inchers available were too small (and entirely unimpressive). The original iPad was just...no. Its second generation won me over, however. We still have two, their age on full display. Still, it was heavy and cumbersome to carry around casually. More on this later.
Back to phones. Galaxy Nexus. Android evolved. Had to have it - but really? A 4.7 inch display? That's huge! I didn't think I could bring myself to use it, but it grew on me - which is good, because as we all know, you can't find a phone with a smaller screen than that unless you get a cheap one. All the flagships are at least that size, and usually larger. I liked my G-Nex, but it got slow after a few months, and there was a shiny new Nexus to be had for only $299!
I bought my wife the Nexus 4 first, since she was due for an update. The G2 was still OK, but the keyboard was rarely used, and it was bulky and outdated. After a couple of months, I decided the N4 was much better than my current model, so to Swappa I went. About this same time, I attended Mobile World Congress in Barcelona for work. It's happening again this coming week. For the outing, I bought a 32GB iPod touch (5th gen). I had a Blackberry (Torch...ugh...such an awful device) for work, and decided that the iPod would capture better pictures, videos, and notes with far better battery life than anything else I had on hand...and it did! It also made me wish that my Nexus 4 camera was as good, even though the Nexus was a rocket in comparison.
Later that year, the Moto X arrived. There was so much to like! The size (still a 4.7 inch screen, but with svelte packaging), the customization, the voice control! Had to have it. Had to wait...thanks to AT&T exclusivity (a most unfortunate marketing decision). During this time, my former employer finally realized that Blackberrys were not smart phones, and allowed me to get a real one, but they only allowed iPhones. The 5S had just been released, so I opted for that in Space Grey, 64GB (I took a lot of pictures and videos for work activity; I needed the space). I also acquired a Nexus 7 LTE (2013 model) that I still have today.
Finally, by Cyber Monday, the X was available on other carriers, so I Swappa'd my 4 and acquired this new Google-approved device, and I was happy - very happy. There were cases, and docks, and screen protectors, and skips aplenty.
After having the two devices for several months, I could finally say that neither Android or iOS was better, they were just different. That is still true, in my opinion. What began to be apparent, however, was the difference in hardware execution. I still like the Moto X, because at half the price of an iPhone, it performed admirably. Until it didn't.
I noticed it occasionally for a few months, but it didn't really bother me until after our son was born. Sometimes I wanted a moment captured, so out came the phone, which proceeded to stutter, slow down, and often crash. Motorola support is great on the front end; you can easily access them, and they can be pretty helpful. After a couple of tries, their suggestions weren't working, so it was time for the phone to go into service. That was around October 18.
A month later, I still didn't have a phone. Well, I had my iPhone from work, but the replacement device I was promised in a week never arrived. After a few calls, finally, I had an answer, but my reaction was mixed. They were giving me a new phone, but since they had no stock of the older model, I was getting a new Moto X (2014 version) at no charge. Hurray! Except I knew before it arrived that I wasn't going to like it as much. Yes, it had better hardware, higher resolution screen, improved camera, and it was free(ish)! Remember that screen size thing? Yeah, 5.2 inches on this one. Sure, it's in some slim packaging, but that's phablet territory.
I tried to like it. I just couldn't bring myself to do it, when the previous one was much of what I wanted. Plus, the 5S was doing everything I needed. Or, it was, until I lost my job and had to give it back. There was a period when I didn't have either one, and I ended up using my Nexus 7 to make and receive calls over LTE (thank you Hangouts!) but I didn't want to do that forever. Then Lollipop arrived. If you didn't know, major Android versions are named after desserts, in alphabetical order. This is very well documented.
Lollipop (5.0) was supposed to usher in a new design language (it did, and it's quite impressive) along with lots of other niceties (it did, some long overdue, others are arguably a step backward). What it wasn't supposed to do was make your devices less usable, and make you want to launch them into orbit (it did, at least for me, and maybe a couple of other people). It made my phone's camera barely usable. Videos were constantly out of focus, and the camera app was so slow - if it opened at all (oh, the crashes)! At this point, I was done. Done with big phones, done with waiting for fixes, done with "your software is up to date (no it isn't)" and "sign up for the Android waiting list" and the revelation by a Garmin engineer that Bluetooth stacks are different on every Android device, hence the spotty compatibility with other devices.
Swappa, here I come again. Sold the new X, and for the same price, bought a brand new 5S with double the storage. I've had it for a couple of days now, and it's a much better device than many other ones out there. Here it is next to my trusty old Nexus One:
I'll keep dreaming of my 4.3-inch Nexus phone, 8-inch Nexus tablet, and 12-inch Nexus laptop, all running Android apps on top of Chrome OS. Maybe next year they'll finally get it right.