I was a secret fan of the Galaxy Note ever since it was announced. Being a recent iPhone 4s owner, I didn’t think it was worth it to switch to the Galaxy Note so quickly – I already spent a lot of money on the 4s and I barely use it, so what more can I gain from having 2 phones? Long story short, I got a Galaxy Note as a graduation gift and ditched my iPhone 4s (for the time being). Want to know why? Read on.

I don’t want to go into details regarding the two phones because this is not an in-depth comparison. I merely want to point out the main advantages and disadvantages that influenced me to make the switch. When it comes to electronics, I focus more on functionality than style. Whatever device that does what I need, will most likely be the one I’m getting. At first, I went for iPhone because Android-based phones weren’t that well recognized and developed, so I stayed with it to be safe.

Let’s start with the iPhone 4s. iOS is a closed platform from both the hardware and software perspective. Therefore, there isn’t much customization you can do. To unlock extra features, an iPhone must be jailbroken; which can often cause instability and in some cases, compromise the device. In addition to that, keeping up with the latest jailbreaks is a headache and people end up going to a store and pay money for it. On the other hand, a device running Android OS like the Galaxy Note offers a wide range of tweaks, widgets and other fun stuff through the Play Store (previously named “Android Market”) right out-of-the-box. It’s little things like widgets, shortcuts and tweaks that matter to me as a power user. By the way, it’s true that there are more iOS apps than Android apps in general, but Android is getting more popular and developers are making apps for both platforms (More money for-the-win?).

[quote]More on hardware: The Galaxy Note has a removable battery, an expansion slot for a Micro SD card, can act as a USB storage device out-of-the-box, faster CPU, double the RAM and faster data speeds.[/quote]

In terms of hardware, the Galaxy Note is way bigger than the iPhone 4s and the 5.3 inch Super HD AMOLED 1280×800 display is definitely a charmer. However, the huge form factor comes at a cost; everyone can see that huge rectangular object in my pocket! Some people I know made fun of me because of the size of the phone, calling it a “tissue box” or a “brick” or even say things like “Does it come with a wall mount?”. I agree that the Galaxy Note is a huge phone, but that made me want it even more because the screen is just too good. Speaking of the screen, let’s not forget the popular stylus that comes with the Galaxy Note. I thought the whole “stylus” experience was going to be as bad as the one I had with the old iMate phone I owned a few years ago. Guess what, the stylus is responsive and does its job properly – especially when I want to make hand-written notes as opposed to typing on the keyboard.

The iPhone 4s’ screen comes nowhere close, in my opinion, to the Galaxy Note’s (except for the higher pixel count on the 4s) but it does have a slightly better touch experience. Swiping and typing on the 4s is much easier due to the more responsive touch screen. I’ve noticed that the Galaxy Note’s screen sometimes misses a few swipes and taps, but it’s not a significant problem because it usually happens when my hands are dry. One thing I’d like to point out regarding swiping and switching from app to app on the Galaxy Note is the fact that it is not as smooth as the iPhone – it stutters – but hopefully it will be fixed when the new version of Android called “Ice cream Sandwich” is released. It’s not a very big deal, though.

[quote]More on software: Developing an app for Android is much more straight forward unlike for iOS where a Mac laptop/desktop is required (costs a fortune!).[/quote]

In conclusion, the above advantages and disadvantages were more than enough for me to switch from my iPhone 4s to the Galaxy Note. Please, keep in mind that this article is based on my personal experience and therefore contains my personal opinion. So tell me, readers, what influenced you to buy an iPhone 4s or a Galaxy Note?

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About Ahmad

Ahmad T is X-cite’s techie with class. His level of commitment towards solving technical challenges is... worrying! Ahmad enjoys reading technology blogs and working on all things tech. A jack of all trades but he hasn't mastered anything... yet.

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