iPhone or Samsung?

[SpiderLegs]

My 6 year old iPhone 5 is starting to show it's age and I need to shop for a new phone. Not an Apple fanboy, but most of the products around our house seem to be Apple. But open to change. This will honestly be the first smartphone I've ever shopped for, every other phone I've had I inherited or had supplied by my employer.

I don't stream videos, have zero songs stored on my phone and other than Instagram, do not have any social media apps on my phone. The things I use the most are taking pictures, using RouteScout and Strava.

When I do make the change, our family will probably take our service over to Verizon.

So what are the pluses and minuses to each?

[hikerdw]

When I was working I was supplied with a Samsung. Their camera seems better than what I've seen on the iPhone. Their battery life wasn't too impressive. When I became unemployed I inherited an iPhone 5s from my daughter. She replaced it when the battery wasn't holding a good charge. I replaced the battery and it is like a new phone, although the camera is only "fair" in my opinion but it is an older phone so I can accept that. RS works great on it.

[CannondaleKid]

Tracey and I have had Samsung S5's for 4 years and would go with another Samsung if/when we need to replace them, which may be a long time.

Battery life? Far better than expected, with only Tracey's starting to lose a bit in the last month or so, yet not bad enough to replace the battery over. (And far better compared to her daughter's various iPhones, of which she always has the latest model).

Although we have nothing to compare it to, having been on Verizon for over a decade with absolutely no complaints and excellent cell coverage, we wouldn't even think of changing.

[hikeaz]

I thought my S5 was 'on its way out', but with the feature of a replaceable battery I thought I would take a chance; so I purchased an Acevan 2950mAh Li-ion Battery ($13) for it and it works like new.
re. your comparison - As far as I know, no microSD card on iphone - on board memory 'bumps' are expensive and cannot be easily added after-the-fact.

https://www.reddit.com/r/iphone/comment ... es_before/

[AZLumberjack]

I had a Samsung for several years and was quite satisfied with it... Then I bought the Pixel 2 XL and wondered what happened to the rest of the cell phone world. I'm not a fan of cell phone cameras but this one has some truly unique features... In short, I love it.

[chumley]

Huawei. Give all your data directly to the Chinese government without using Google as a middleman. Much more efficient. Better targeted advertising through all aspects of your digital life!

[Tough_Boots]

Or stick with the iPhone. They'll slow down your phone to let you know when it's time to buy a new one.

[CannondaleKid]

I purchased an Acevan 2950mAh Li-ion Battery ($13) for it and it works like new.

How is the replacement battery working out so far?

After reading numerous reviews of the various replacement batteries for the S5 it's a gamble no matter which brand you buy.
Will the battery I end up with be from the good batch or be one of the bad batch... will it be great, be a DOA, or last only a month or two?

Thanks!

[hikeaz]

@CannondaleKid
Still holding a 2.5 to 3 day charge. High drain apps notwithstanding.

[RowdyandMe]

Phones keep coming out all the time. I am looking at a Blackview BV 9500Pro. I do like the 10000 mAh battery. It should last longer than any other phone.

[Thoreau]

I'm an Android junkie. Had the iPhone 5c briefly for work (it was halfway decent for the limited task of phone calls and email) but I despise Apple with a passion for a lotta reasons I won't go into here. Some company-related, most tech-related.

That disclaimer aside, I've had the Galaxy S3, S4 (work), S5, S6 (current work phone), S7 Edge, S9 Plus, and later this week will be swapping the 9 for an S10 Plus. From the S7 forward, the camera has been one of the biggest driving forces for me to get the Galaxy. Autofocus was game-changing in the S7 generation, and image quality has only improved from there. No phone can compare to an SLR, and if feasible, I'd much rather have my Canon 80D and 70-200 f/2.8L IS. But more often than not, I don't have that option and find the Samsung-of-the-week to be an acceptable stand-in. =) The latest Galaxy has, predictably, perched itself at the top of the DXOmark ranks yet again.

Gigantic battery (4100mAh if memory serves) is a major bonus too, especially when paired with the latest power optimizations in Android 9/Pie.

Otherwise, just about any modern smartphone can handle Strava duties.

[Jim_H]

Motorola G6? It was cheap. Met my needs.

[rcorfman]

I am looking at a Blackview BV 9500Pro.

I carried a BV 500 through the Sierra. I was mostly able to fit my resupply in it. The BV 9500 must be huge! Oh, I also carried a Samsung Galaxy S7.

[RowdyandMe]

@rcorfman
I had to many problems with it and It was huge and heavy.