Nick Pierno is a longtime Android user. What would make him even consider switching?
It just kinda bums me out how mediocre all my photos and videos are. Not to mention all the missed opportunities from slow autofocus, bad low light sensing, etc. I know, I know.. woe is me. But if I can, I’d like to look back on the next 5 years with a bit more fidelity.
I’ve also been stricken with a bit of a bum rap this past year. I have an illness that has kept me stuck at home and in beds/bathrooms/waiting rooms/etc. a lot more than usual. This results in increased phone use, and of course, battery drain. Well… turns out the Nexus 5, despite being a truly outstanding phone, isn’t a champion of endurance.
There’s a lot more to this piece. Interesting to see how an Android user views the iPhone. One thing that is quite clear is that the move to a larger screen has opened up the potential audience for Apple.
On the resolution difference between the Galaxy Note 4 (515 ppi) and the iPhone 6 Plus (401 ppi):
I haven’t overlooked the fact that the Note packs a crazy high res 5.7 screen into roughly the same form factor though. And if Apple doesn’t think I can see the difference between 401 and 515 ppi, then I guess they’ll never make a higher res screen than this and I’ll never have to upgrade!
Realistically the iPhone isn’t the winner on displays. The point is they offer bigger ones. And since I’m sure they’re still plenty pleasant to behold, they’re another reason I’m opening myself up to seeing other OS’s.
An interesting point. Is the Note 4 display better than the iPhone 6 Plus display because it has a higher pixel density? Are other factors at play? Pixel luminance? Pixel persistence/state change timing? Contrast? From Apple’s web site:
The size of the new, higher-resolution Retina HD displays on iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus may be the first thing you notice. But what you experience is so much more. With innovations that deliver higher contrast, dual‑domain pixels for more accurate color at wider viewing angles, and an improved polarizer, these are the thinnest, most advanced Multi‑Touch displays we’ve ever made.
Not sure that higher resolution is the final arbiter of screen quality.
UPDATE: Looks like the earlier math from one of our reader comments was wrong. Moving on.
On the camera and video:
As I mentioned before, this is a major reason I want to settle into a different device, regardless of OS. It’s not crystal clear who the king of cam is (certainly there are phones with an even greater emphasis on camera.. but not without sacrifices), but when Apple claims they changed mobile photography I can hardly argue.
The iPhone camera is consistently outstanding. And with features like time lapse, video stabilization, and 240 fps video done the Apple way, I’m sure these new devices will set another bar for convenient media-making.
There’s still more, but in a nutshell, this is a reasoned analysis from someone who spends a lot of time with his Android phone. To me, the bottom lines here are overall design and security. Response to design is very personal, but until Android solves their significant malware problem, I’m not letting my personal info anywhere near it.
The Note 4 doesn’t actually have a higher density than the iPhone 6 Plus. Samsung used a pentile display which uses two sub-pixels per pixel. That means every “pixel” on the note is either a Red Green pair, or a Blue Green pair, so a pixel on the note is unable to show the colour white without the assistance of the pixel next to it.
If you run the maths for the sub-pixel density, you actually get:
– Galaxy Note 4 SPPI: 1,030.6
– iPhone 6 Plus SPPI: 1,201.5
So no, the density of the Note 4 is not higher than the iPhone 6 Plus.
Thanks for adding in the update. For anyone that’s interested in how the iPhone 6 stacks up against the Samsung Galaxy S5:
– iPhone 6 SPPI: 976.8
– Galaxy S5 SPPI: 863.8
As long as I’m still satisfied with iPhone, Android is out of the picture. Not being a fan of big screen phone helps. (I guess you know what phone I’ll order)
I am planning on getting in line this Friday, but an android friend just sent me this article:
http://www.displaymate.com/Galaxy_Note4_ShootOut_1.htm
I was thrilled by the Apple sellout of the pre-order; even more so when I spent the weekend watching American football with those idiotic Samsung ads for the Note 4. Spot talks about being productive. Video showed idiot watching video.
Don’t forget the App Store as a reason to go for Apple. I review apps for a regular magazine feature I write — one week I review Apple apps for a particular topic, and the next I review Android apps for the same topic. I get to do side-by-side comparisons. The difference is huge. Apple’s App Store is simply full of more high-quality apps, and often contains many competing apps. Apple’s App Store is about doing interesting new things, and new ideas. In contrast, Google Play is an also-ran attempting to keep up but losing its breath — only the most popular apps end-up there, and they’re usually far less polished when they do. And there are MILLIONs of apps from Chinese and Indian developers aiming to make a quick buck, just like in the days of crappy Windows shareware.
Gruber put it best, if you didn’t hear there were new iPhones, and big ones, Samsung just let you know.
But yeah, the whininess of the commercial overall is extremely annoying.