What phone to get if not buying Apple

prowla

I'm coming up to phone replacement time.

My current phone is an iPhone 13 Pro with 256GB storage.

What are my options for a comparable phone?

Pocket-sized, not folding, plenty of storage (music, pictures).

Plus, can I easily transfer my content from the iPhone?

flaneurs_lobster

Budget?

Tell us why you are not wanting to continue with iPhones - might point towards features/phones that go towards meeting your requirements.

jbrassy

Switching from iPhone to Android (and vice versa) is a pain in the bum. There is an app which allows you to transfer stuff from iPhone to Android called 'Switch to Android'. I've never used it myself, but would seem to do the job. 

I used Android phones for quite a while before switching to iPhone. However, I always bought Samsung Galaxy S phones as they were considered the best. I don't know if that's still true today, but if it was me, I would get either the Samsung Galaxy S24 or S24 Ultra (depending on your preference for phone size, price, etc). 

What I would avoid are these Chinese manufacturers like Huawei, Honor, Xiaomi, OnePlus, Oppo, Vivo, Realme etc. I don't want to sound like one of these people who wears tin foil hats, but I just wouldn't trust what they're doing with your personal data. It's bad enough that Google etc harvest your data, let alone (potentially) the Chinese government.

Emmia

I've got a Pixel 8 currently following a succession of Samsung's I think the Pixel is great! Excellent battery life nice and responsive... I've always had android phones though from a personal perspective.

I've got an iPhone for work and that's also fine, but I've never done the switch between these systems.

Why do you want to move away from iPhone?

MoneyDany

I've got a Samsung now, and I'm loving it. The big plus for me is the microSD support, Samsung is the only major phone manufacturer that I know that still supports microSD now that LG has ceased operations. Plus, transferring from iPhone isn't as scary as it used to be. If you want pocket-sized, the old Samsung Galaxy S10e I think is the last small phone in the Galaxy lineup. If you're big on camera quality, Google Pixel is the one to pick. My buddy has one and the photos are insane. Let us know what you end up going with!

prowla

So, I bought an S24.

I used the Samsung app on my iPhone to transfer the data over from my outgoing iPhone.

I did have to login to all my apps and sites again, which was a bit of a slog.

Usability-wise, there were a couple of things which weren't obvious, like (i) you swipe to answer a call rather than pressing the green incoming call button, (ii) dragging icons into folders has to be done quickly or it flips to addinng them to the home screen.

I also had to go onto my Apple account and de-register my phone number in iMessage, as it was intercepting my messages and they weren't coming through.

The S24 is the same size as my iPhone 13 and I've got a similar (non-)leather case for it.

In use it's just like-for-like on functionality & features, has some differences on layout and usability (which are just differences not rights or wrongs), and it feels similar quality to the iPhone.

It's also got a dual-SIM holder; though I've no need for it now, it could be handy if travelling.

Money-wise it costs a lot less than the iPhone, plus I'm due a £150 cashback (which I didn't know about).

Overall, I'm happy with the decision.

ballyblack

Google Pixel 8  either 8, 8a or 8 pro depending on your budget. 

https://store.google.com/gb/category/phones?hl=en-GB


Put the Google suite of Apps on your iphone & sign in with a google account...............  it will make it easier to switch eventually to any Android phone

DullGreyGuy

prowla said:

It's also got a dual-SIM holder; though I've no need for it now, it could be handy if travelling.

The iPhone 13 also supported dual sim its just one was an esim and one physical (in the UK - in the US both are esims and in china both are physical)


The OS' are generally just different and it comes down to personal preferences and with apple, how deep you are into their ecosystem.


One key difference however is lifespan, Samsung only promise 4 years of security updates from the date of release whereas iPhone 6, released 2014, has received security updates this year a decade later. 

flaneurs_lobster

DullGreyGuy said:

One key difference however is lifespan, Samsung only promise 4 years of security updates from the date of release whereas iPhone 6, released 2014, has received security updates this year a decade later. 

The Galaxy S24 that the OP has bought (3 posts ago) will get Android OS updates for seven years (and security updates possibly beyond that).

DullGreyGuy

flaneurs_lobster said:

DullGreyGuy said:

One key difference however is lifespan, Samsung only promise 4 years of security updates from the date of release whereas iPhone 6, released 2014, has received security updates this year a decade later. 

The Galaxy S24 that the OP has bought (3 posts ago) will get Android OS updates for seven years (and security updates possibly beyond that).

Are you sure? You're right in that they have extended it to 7 years but cannot see any promise of it being more? Obviously anyone can go beyond a promise but it's a little speculative to say the least. Obviously 7 years is still less than 10 years but they have reduced the gap. 

Whilst personally a notable apple user as per the rest of the original post you only part quoted, its not that one is significantly better or worse than the other but it is harder to extract yourself if you are deeply embedded in Apple. 

prowla

DullGreyGuy said:

prowla said:

It's also got a dual-SIM holder; though I've no need for it now, it could be handy if travelling.

The iPhone 13 also supported dual sim its just one was an esim and one physical (in the UK - in the US both are esims and in china both are physical)


The OS' are generally just different and it comes down to personal preferences and with apple, how deep you are into their ecosystem.


One key difference however is lifespan, Samsung only promise 4 years of security updates from the date of release whereas iPhone 6, released 2014, has received security updates this year a decade later. 

Yep - it also supports an eSIM.

As for support, it looks like it's that 7 years support; that said, Apple build-in obsolescence to encourage you to upgrade.