Technology

I was a lifelong android user, mostly pixels, and switched to a an iPhone 14 pro 4 years ago. This is the first phone I've had that's lasted 3+ years, that's never crashed, and still runsas quickly and smoothly as when I bought it. Apple would have to seriously fuck something up for me to ever go back to an android.

I have both. iPhone 16 Pro Max (2024) and Galaxy S10 (2019).

Okay so the iPhone 17 Pro is kinda pointless vs the regular iPhone 17. There's a reason the 17 is the hot seller. It got ProMotion and it has a virutal 2x telephoto (by cropping into the regular cam) so it's good enough for most people.

Pixel 10 Pro is worth considering, but try the camera first. You'll love it or you'll hate it. I love how when dialing into the 100X zoom, you get a little preview in the corner so you see where you're going! That's helpful. But it uses AI to hallucinate what it can't make out, so be advised the 100X is kind of an illusion. But it's also a 100X zoom! That's awesome.

P10P has roughly the same compute power as an iPhone 11, and that's sorry as hell, given the price, and given that Google sells your personal information. It's borderline inexcusable, but if you're considering Android, you're not getting away from that. Also, benchmarks can be misleading. The Tensor CPU may be a few generations behind in raw compute power, but the P10P package makes up for this in other areas, like camera compute and battery life. It is NOT like having an iPhone 11 in 2025 (not that there's anything wrong with that, I rock a 2019 S10 in 2025 and I still love that phone). The phone is not much slower (if at all to a layman's perspective) than any 2025 flagship.

Speaking of benchmark shenanigans, the Galaxy S25 gets the highest benchmarks (not sure if this counts the iPhone 17 line, they were benching against the 16 series), but it loses more when thermally throttling. So if you're playing high-end games, the Galaxy S25 will become weaker than the 16 Pro because it slows down more. But in day to day tasks? Kicks the iPhone's ass... in benchmarks. Both phones will perform admirably!

If I had to replace my S10 right now, I'd get a base Galaxy S25. I like Samsung. It gets the best of Android and you generally get a year or two before Google's more controversial decisions (removing the buttons, removing the headphone jack) come to Galaxy. Galaxy phones are fun. They've always had good energy to me.

If I had to replace my 16 Pro Max, I'd get a base 17 in a heartbeat.

I don't hate the Pixel phones. I want to see Google step up the power of the Tensor chip a bit. I like Apple's lax approach to AI. Samsung tries to make it fun and I think Google does too much, but I can't point to any one thing with AI that really bothers me that Google does. I just think Samsung is better here, and they use more powerful chips.

I've always said that no matter what side of the iOS/Android fence you're on, you really can't go wrong with either Apple or Samsung. That goes for platform loyalists and those considering switching. Samsung isn't really the Apple of Android, that'd be Google, but Apple is kinda boring and so is Pixel, and Samsung... isn't.

What's your reasoning for wanting to switch?

you should get pixel 9 pro, its almost identical to pixel 10 pro, but much cheaper now, my girlfriend recrntly switched from apple xs and she's quite happy. its comfortably sized phone 6.3", cameras are great, battery is ok. I own pixel 8 but i constantly lack telephoto camera. Theres new oneplus coming out, they have new type of battery that is almost twice the size of most phones.

GrapheneOS is nice, and a way to keep your phone going even longer. Also supereasy to install.

I'd go with the pixel. Even if they might be the worst on battery life 🤔

In my honest opinion Sony Xperia (1 or 5) lineup is best Android has to offer, especially with LineageOS.

Nothing is good if you like the design, but it is expiriencing enshitification at a rapid pace.

Samsung is a no go (at least flagships) for their size, AI bullshit and forcing Samsung garbage on you (Samsung account, Samsung appstore, Samsung pay, etc.) .

Motorola is ok imo, just not much support from Lenovo.

Pixel is huge, underpowered and google is ruining it day by day.

I am nearing the end of my rope with Android, I might suggest hanging on with your iPhone for another cycle. My P9 Pro is feeling more and more like just an advertisement data collection machine, and core features like speech to text and notifications have never been worse.

I don’t own an iPhone, but got an iPad in 2024, and most of what I do on my iPad feels more refined. I was floored this morning when speaking out a comment on the iPad that the text to speech didn’t add a bunch of random periods/caps alongside half a dozen incorrect words. iOS also has basic things like consistent first party podcast, payment, and chat apps that they don’t continually switch out every few years like what Google just did (looking at you Google Podcasts, GPay in USA, and Hangouts). We’re also losing the ability to install apps from outside the walled garden that is then play store at some point soon. I’m not looking forward to learning what that means for my Retroid/Android gaming handhelds.

If you do jump to Android, consider the Pixel 9 Pro. I hate it the least of anything I’ve tried in then Android universe. Battery life is very respectable, I can actually get 2 full days from a charge. The cameras have somehow fallen in their standard shooting mode, but the pro/high res mode is crispy AF, just a bummer that the file sizes are bigger than they are on my Sony mirrorless. Samsung makes nice hardware but the skin they put on Android is truly terrible. If you use Microsoft work apps on your phone, you’ll appreciate being able to shut them off with one button, and your employer’s limited visibility into your phone will be further reduced to what’s installed in the work container.

I like my Samsung phones. I've mostly had the Note line up until the S24 dropped it in favor of the "Ultra" line. So that's what I've got.

Big question for me, in order to make any sort of educated suggestion: what are the reasons you're considering switching ecosystems?

My advice is to go to https://gsmarena.com/ and find a phone with 4nm octa-core chipset for $400. Who needs those four cameras, you'll probably use those fisheye lens maybe three times in your phone's lifetime. It's better to buy a phone with some useful gimmick like 6000 mAh battery and have 1.5 day life on a single charge.

I made the switch from iPhone to Samsung Galaxy several generations ago and I've been very happy with it. I just got the S25 Ultra a few weeks ago, coming from the S20+ I got in 2020. These phones don't slow down over time, the S20+ felt very usable despite being 5 years old. And I upgraded from S8 to S20 without being forced to because the S8 became slow.

The bloat situation is great, you can uninstall Facebook and the other crap on day one and never see it again. There's a lot of features I'll never use on this phone but they don't get in my way.

I've never had a Samsung account. I'll never accidentally use any of the AI or other Samsung cloud features because they require a Samsung account.

You may want to use the Samsung account for their backup and other features and that's fine, it's just impressive how optional it is.

I use a oneplus 8 and their phones are quite good. I highly recommend them.

I've not needed to upgrade cause this thing has been excellent since I bought it.

All devices are going through enshittification. Android and iOS alike.

Feature wise, you can pretty much get everything on both. One is maybe a bit more bouncy and the other a bit more squishy when you pull from the edge. But that's about it.

Android provides a bit more customisation, iOS has better defaults and more embedded ecosystem.

Apple will now be forced to allow "side loading" (installing apps, actually) which Android had for ages. Google, on the other hand is making installations from non-Google Play sources more difficult.

Everybody will have their own preferences, but in the end on the Pro spectrum, differences are minimal.

Basically: pick your poison.

I've personally had Samsungs for a while and quite happy with them, even with some a annoyances. Still miss my S3. Others might have had different experiences.

There are Fairphones, PostmarketOS and other alternatives. Unfortunately though, if you're looking for a premium phone, these are not there yet.

TL;DR Both suck about the same. Differences are in details. You'll be about the same miserable with both.

get yourself a refurbished note 5 and flash it with LineageOS.

flagship phone, zero google bloat, and runs just as well as a new phone. cost; $150 and an hour of your time.

Why make the jump to android? What prompted the consideration?