Comparisons of Samsung Galaxy 5S with my iPhone 4S

With the New Year came a change of phones. I wanted a chance to try out a Samsung Galaxy since so many of my customers had them and I wanted to change service providers. I have had ATT since I have had my first iPhone. It was required in order to get an iPhone at the time. 




Here are my first impressions

1. I hate all of the different - proprietary - plugs that each phone has!! My iPhone has a plug which is the same as the one on my iPad.  Now the Samsung Phone has a different one. My husband updated to an iPhone 6 and so he also has a different one.
2. The cord is not as smooth for the Samsung Phone. I am guessing that Apple has some patent on the cords it uses. They are so wonderfully smooth.
3. The plug into the phone for the power cord is not as smooth on the Samsung as on the Apple.
4. I learned the hard way that Samsung has a removeable battery that needs to be put in before you can start it up. I thought that maybe my Samsung was bad and I would have to send it back. Clear proof that I am not a Geek.  After a call to the help desk, all I had to do was to put the battery in and the Samsung started.
5. Now that it has started up I like it. The screen is bigger and the picture is so clear. It feels like it floats, it is so light. My husband got the iPhone 6. I think they are similar.

Just a cool side discovery was that I could take one picture that did BOTH a "selfie" and a picture of what is in front of the camera.

SYNCING
What I have learned is that whereas the iPhone, the Mac and iPad all use iTunes to sync their information using iCloud, Samsung uses various things. The first thing I had to do was to download an app onto my Samsung phone called Smart Switch Mobile. With that app and an updated iCloud back up of my iPhone I could transfer most of the content from my iPhone to my Samsung phone.

Calendar, Contacts and eMail use Google
The Smart Switch took care of my calendar, my contacts and my email. Now I keep all of these synced using Google. My email was a gmail account, so that made it easier. If you don't have a gmail account you can easily create one for free and have your current address forwarded to it so that you get all of your email through gmail. You don't have to switch email addresses or tell your contacts that you have changed, because your mail is all forwarded.

Now my contacts are synced to the phone through Google rather than through the Contacts app. When I add an address to my computer under contacts it does not show up on my phone, although it does show up on my iPad. If I add it using Google it shows up on my phone. Another way to say it is that the Samsung does not talk with my Contacts on my Mac or Apple devices and they do not talk with the Samsung. I guess, for me, that means that my up to date contacts will now be on gmail and I will have to export them from gmail and import them to my Mac contacts every once in a while if I want that updated.

Pictures
The pictures are another issue. Before, using the iPhone and iPhoto, I plugged the phone into my computer it opened iPhoto. I could name and download the photos on my phone to my computer. The Samsung can be set up to use different methods. Mine is set up to use Dropbox. The photos I take are automatically loaded to Dropbox. I do not have to plug my phone in for that. 

To set it up this way I had to enter my Dropbox username and password into my phone. Now any picures I take on the phone automatically go to Dropbox. I can then move them to whatever photo organizing program I want to use. Some common ones are iPhoto, Flickr and Picasa.

A warning about using Dropbox. In dropbox you can share your folders or files with someone else, but you need to remember that if you take anything out of the Dropbox it is no longer available to the other person. I think that what I will do is to always copy the photos I have in Dropbox to somewhere on my computer so that even if they are deleted from Dropbox I still have them.

FREE OPINIONATED EXPERIENCE: SWITCHING PROVIDERS

For me ATT always worked. I don't have complaints about their service. At first (5-6 years ago), getting good help on the phone was impossible, but that has changed. Recently I have noticed that they have bent backwards to make sure your needs are met. The main thing is that I don't think that they, in general, support the same issues that I do and SO much of their money is going to make a few people rich. In years past ATT has compensated its five top executives (with equity, cash, and benefits) at about $47 million dollars a year. Credo Mobile, who I switched to has given $78 million to charities.

I chose Credo for those reasons. I am happy about that, however, the connection has not been as good. We have had bad connections and dropped calls. It has been easy for me to talk to a person and get help at Credo and the last phone call they said they were going to send out an AirRave Access Point for us to use for free. We will see how that goes and hopefully not have to switch to another company.

Finding a Perfect Phone

The market for a new cell phone is daunting. There is not one best solution for everyone one. This article is a list of questions that you can ask to help you narrow down what type of cell phone to look for with a few suggestions of each one.

• What type of phone do I want? Smart Phone vs. Not so Smart Phone (Basic Phone): Many people who have older flip phones feel pressured to upgrade to Smart Phones. Everyone seems to have them and it seems embarrassing somehow to flip your phone open in order to call. Why should a person switch phone types?
  

I think that the most important reason might be the many features that the SmartPhone has that are easier to access than on the flip (or earlier) phone. Here are some of the features that might make you want to switch:


• Camera - if this is important to you check the quality of the camera. You want at least 5 megapixels.
• Map and GPS
• Possibility to do email and chat easily
• listen to radio, pandora, podcasts
• stop watch, alarm clock, timer
• weather
• download other apps 
• contacts - I always have them with me to remind me of someone's address when I forgot to look ahead of driving. I can also click the address and it opens up in the map!
•  some I use regularly: flashlight, DMD (360 degree panorama camera), angry birds game, grocery IQ (keeps my grocery list), Yelp (reviews of restaurants), Facebook (good while waiting in a Dr's office or some other place). 
• some I use occasionally, but am glad I have: twitter, fandango to find movies and buy tickets, register-works with my phone to make it a cash register, calculator turns my phone into a calculator, inigma allows me to read QR codes, Google Earth, Nasa, etc...

• Do I want to change carriers? 
Be sure to check first what phones are carried by each company. They all


have different possibilities. If you have a plan that connects you for free with family members using the same company you may not want to change. If you are in the middle of a 2 year contract you need to find out how much it will cost to get out of the contract. 

• What size of phone do I want?
Some phones have larger screens which are easy to see (Samsung Galaxy series), but they are a bit larger and may not fit in your pocket or where ever you are used to keeping your phone. Basic cell phones are the smallest ones, but may not have the features you are wanting. It is a good idea to try out different phones to see how you like the touch screen if you have never used one. They tend to be more sensitive to wet or dry fingers.  They are difficult to use for people who have issues with small motor movements. For some people they are easier to use than a basic phone especially for things like taking pictures.

• Do I want WiFi?
Smart Phones can communicate just like a basic phone using connections

with the cell phone towers OR they can use WiFi if you have it in your home, in coffee shops, or other places that have WiFi. The benefit of WiFi use for your Smart Phone is that when you use the Cell Phone towers for searching the Internet and other data functions it uses up the amount you are paying for your data plan. My plan began by giving me 200 mb and I kept using more than that. When I used more they charged me $15 for every increment of space used.  When I am in a location with WiFi I make sure to get online (SETTINGS>WiFi>choose a network and put in the password). That way I use less Data space.

• What type of keyboard do I want?
Basic phones use the letters on the number pad when you want to text something. For example, 1 is abc, so if you want a c you press 1 three times. There are also basic phones that have a full keyboard that slides out and has small buttons. Smart Phones have full keyboards which most people use with their thumbs to type messages. If you want to use your phone as a phone and nothing else this does not apply to you. If you text along with talking on the phone a full keyboard can be helpful.

• How much do I want to spend?
There are so many variations of the cost of cell phones that I cannot even go into it. SmartPhones will cost a bit more for the phone and then the monthly service is more. They also require you to pay for a data plan every month even though you may not use it. The data plan covers anything that uses the Internet or email rather than basic phone calling. Another possibility is to get a "pay as you go" phone where you pay ahead of time a month or so at a time instead of signing a 2 year agreement. This concern will vary from person to person. If you do not need or want the extra features of a Smart Phone you should not feel pressured into getting one. The cost is much higher.

• Does battery life matter?
Different phones have longer and shorter battery lives. The length of battery life is also dependent on what you are doing with the phone. The battery goes down fast on certain programs that are power hogs. One example is finding your location. If you are using the Map feature and getting directions from the phone you will find the battery running out. Another power hog is watching YouTube or DVDs. 

This article has a chart of different cell phones and how long they keep power if they are just used for calling and talking. http://reviews.cnet.com/2719-11288_7-290-1.html

Some Resources

I used some of these websites for guidance as I wrote. They might be helpful for you to look at directly.

http://cellphones.about.com/od/buyersguides/qt/best_cell_phone.htm - ABOUT.COM has a list of questions that lead to suggestions. This list of phones may be outdated, but the questions can be helpful.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2347798,00.asp  - PC Magazine offers a more up to date list which is mostly about SmartPhones. At the end of the article are links to more specific articles on different types of phones and different carriers.

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cell-phones-services.htm - Consumer Reports is always a good place to look for info before purchasing. You must register to get some of the information.

http://www.trustedreviews.com/best-smartphone_round-up#disqus_thread - If you want a Smart Phone this is a good summary of the different phones. It is written for a British audience, so it uses Pounds rather than dollars, but the descriptions are helpful.