I thought I would give some updates on my switch from my iPhone to the Galaxy SIII for you all who are contemplating the same. If I mention speed or such it is not based on actual diagnostic tests, but rather my own personal experience and how I perceive things – because frankly how we perceive things really is what matters to us. Just like the temperature, it doesn’t matter what it actually is – if we feel hot, it’s hot, if we feel cold, it’s cold.
 Samsung Galaxy SIII |
 iPhone 4 |
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| Speed in loading websites | I have used this phone on both Verizon and AT&T – both 4G and 3G. This phone is fast! For me it is noticeably faster than the iPhone 4. | This phone I have only used on AT&T 3G – but it is considerably slower than even the Galaxy SIII on 3G. The iPhone seems to “hang” often when browsing the web. |
| Ease of overall use | Hard to judge totally since I’m switching to Android based device. What I have noticed is that some of the Samsung apps and features though are very intuitive and are helping me enjoy the phone (I will have a later post about these) | You still have to give it to the iPhone for being user friendly. It just is. Very intuitive for so many people. It does have fewer customizations than an Android based phone which I think helps give that feeling of ease of use also. |
| Syncing with Outlook Calendar | I’m using the Samsung Kies program to synchronize the Galaxy SIII with my Outlook calendar on my desktop. It took me a bit of fiddling with configuration since it wants to use my Google account as a default (even though I don’t use Google Calendar) – but now that I have it set up sync is fine | The set up was much easier initially to sync my iPhone with Outlook Calendar within iTunes. It was a no brainer to keep it synchronized. |
| Sync Programs | Samsung Kies I find to be sluggish. Some of the wording is not very clear. I am also having problems getting contacts synced correctly for some reason. I’m going to ask Samsung support about this. It is interesting that my music files were much quicker to sync to phone than things like contacts though. | iTunes is not the greatest program either – but since I have been using it for many years it still feels easier right now. It is the least intuitive of any Apple product that I have ever seen though. I have enough ongoing annoyances with it that I was not bothered to have to switch to Samsung Kies. |
| Comfort in hand | The Samsung Galaxy SIII is considerably larger than the iPhone, for this reason it is a tiny bit harder to hold since I have small hands. I’m adjusting though. My biggest issue is the placement of the volume keys on the side and how easily they are accidentally pushed with my hand while I’m holding/using the phone. I do find the overall feel of the phone in my hand nice though – it is light but not “cheap” feeling, very smooth feeling. | The iPhone 4 has always done well for comfort and feel in your hand. The small size does make it easy for woman especially I think. The smooth glass and sleek design has always been great. I would really score both phones pretty equally, all things considered. |
| Availability of Apps | Thousands available – free and paid. However, I do find the percentage of “junk apps” for Android based phones much higher. This makes it less fun to browse the app stores. I promise I will share the good ones that I find though to help you! | Thousands available – free and paid. There are a few apps that I have on my iPhone that I cannot get on my new Android sadly. My biggest one to miss is a game, Bejeweled Blitz. |
Disclosure: Verizon provided a Samsung Galaxy SIII with 4G LTE service to me for a time. The opinions are totally my own.
© 2012, Robyn Wright. All rights reserved.
