Today I dropped my Google Nexus S for the last time. I called around to a couple of repair shops and learned that it would cost me at least $200 to fix the shattered screen/LCD. Time to shop for a new phone! I would have happily spent $200 on another Android phone, but after spending too much time trying to figure out which Android phone is the best/almost as great as an iPhone, I decided to bite the bullet and make the switch.
Less than 12 hours in, a few thoughts on the switch from a Google Nexus S running Android 4 to an iPhone 4s:
What I miss about the Nexus S:
- Having gone through a few Android phones (2 Nexus Ones, 1 Nexus S), the setup on Android is a breeze if you have a Google account. Everything just works -- your mail, contacts, calendars, and apps are all there automagically. I would hope migrating iPhones is just as painless, but I don't know (yet).
- Not surprisingly, I really miss the Gmail integration. It all worked for me, and well. Most common email actions are one click in Gmail on Android (reply, archive, delete). All are 2 in Mail. Support for multiple accounts works really well. I've downloaded the Gmail app and I like it more than Mail, but there doesn't seem to be support for multiple accounts. Is there a better iOS email app out there?
- Android 4.0 is very swipe-y. I falsely assumed that was something copied from iOS. I actually miss the swipey-ness.
What I like about the iPhone 4s:
- It's very responsive and feels fast.
- Much better keyboard. I read a lot of email on my Nexus S, but didn't write a lot because the keyboard sucks. It's much better in 4.0, but it still sucks.
- More apps, duh. What are some of your favorites? So far I've installed: Gmail, Twitter, Foursquare, Instagram, Rdio, Pepperplate, Kindle, Readability, Strw, Chase (banking), Facebook, and iTransNYC.
- I haven't used it much yet, but I think I'm going to love the camera.
- Siri might grow on me, I don't know yet.
What I don't like about the iPhone 4s:
- Why can't I get rid of Newstand?!
- Unread email counts are very prominent. I always have a lot of unread messages, so this isn't a useful indicator for me.
- iTunes
