Current Events > Should I go Apple or Samsung?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Looking to get myself some new fashionable tech gadgets while the sales are going on. I can't decide if I want to plunge into the Samsung or Apple ecosystem though. I've used both at different times and I know Apple has dropped in quality recently, but they're still pretty good from what I've heard.

The two things I want are headphones for work and a smart watch. Both the Apple Watch and the Samsung one come in 2 flavors and hover around the $300 price point. This would be my first smart watch so I have no idea what must-have features smart watch owners typically have. I like the idea of being able to use it as a HUD while keeping my phone in my pocket though.

I also am interested in headphones, probably either some Beats or Airpods. Again, floating around the same price point. Not sure which people typically enjoy more.

Finally there's the phones themselves. Kind of a tossup between the S10 and whatever made-up number Apple is pushing their iPhones at these days. I'm using an S7 at the moment and it works just fine, but it stopped getting software updates so its time is short.

Which of all these, in CE's opinion, looks the best and works the best for the money?

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Impressive you've lasted this far with being agnostic.

I'm 99% in the Apple camp now. It's just easier, works better with work stuff, and my family is invested in it too. Not all the Apple stuff have been hits (eg the HomePod was a waste of money) but for the most part, I'm happy with everything else eg iPhone, Airpods, iPad Pro, Watch, etc. I don't use a Mac (but I bought my wife a Macbook given her use case it works well). I also appreciate the support from the perspective of if something breaks, Apple is really good at fixing it or replacing it even after the warranty period.

At least with the Apple stuff you can easily resell it and get some value whereas I've found Samsung stuff tends to depreciate much quicker given the lack of ongoing support and how significant each "new" product is.

If you're worried about Google, most Google stuff is pretty good on iOS eg smart speakers.

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Apple.
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gloBal enemy posted...

Impressive you've lasted this far with being agnostic.

I'm 99% in the Apple camp now. It's just easier, works better with work stuff, and my family is invested in it too. Not all the Apple stuff have been hits (eg the HomePod was a waste of money) but for the most part, I'm happy with everything else eg iPhone, Airpods, iPad Pro, Watch, etc. I don't use a Mac (but I bought my wife a Macbook given her use case it works well). I also appreciate the support from the perspective of if something breaks, Apple is really good at fixing it or replacing it even after the warranty period.

At least with the Apple stuff you can easily resell it and get some value whereas I've found Samsung stuff tends to depreciate much quicker given the lack of ongoing support and how significant each "new" product is.

If you're worried about Google, most Google stuff is pretty good on iOS eg smart speakers.

I used to be in the Apple camp rather firmly but my S7 has been flawless. I use an old Macbook Pro and have an old iPod Touch and iPhone 3GS laying around, but I haven't bought anything from them after Jobs died. I also know the new Macbooks are horrendous to use, those keyboards are terrible beyond anything I've experienced before. However... that's their computers, not their phones/gizmos.

Price is also a factor, the Apple lineup will be a bit more expensive. I could mix and match, get the Beats Solo and the Apple Watch/iPhone combo, but if I'm going Apple it seems to make more sense to go all in. There's also the appearance thing. I used to be an Apple fanboy but that isn't the case anymore. They still have clout though, but I've become fond of the S series. Also I have a Gear VR which is pretty fun to play around with.

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I'm firmly in the Samsung camp. My phone is a Galaxy S10+, my tablet is a Tab S4, and I'm wearing a Galaxy Watch Active2 LTE. My wife is in the Apple camp with her 11 Pro Max, Apple TV, AW Series 3, and some iPad.

I'll focus a little on the smartwatch since that's one of the two things you mentioned. The GWA2 I have is the most recent one, but there are several older ones that are still available if price is a factor. Samsung supports them pretty well as even the 2016 Gear S3 is on the current One UI interface. It has basically everything you would want and expect of a smartwatch (offline Spotify is a favorite feature of mine), it has top notch hardware, and the touch bezel (or mechanical bezel depending on the watch) is a nifty way to navigate the interface.
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Super Saiyan 3 Goku posted...

I'm firmly in the Samsung camp. My phone is a Galaxy S10+, my tablet is a Tab S4, and I'm wearing a Galaxy Watch Active2 LTE. My wife is in the Apple camp with her 11 Pro Max, Apple TV, AW Series 3, and some iPad.

I'll focus a little on the smartwatch since that's one of the two things you mentioned. The GWA2 I have is the most recent one, but there are several older ones that are still available if price is a factor. Samsung supports them pretty well as even the 2016 Gear S3 is on the current One UI interface. It has basically everything you would want and expect of a smartwatch (offline Spotify is a favorite feature of mine), it has top notch hardware, and the touch bezel (or mechanical bezel depending on the watch) is a nifty way to navigate the interface.

As far as price is concerned, I just want to make sure I'm getting the most bang for my buck, even though these things are basically just functional fashion accessories. For instance if there is a substantial difference in functionality and quality between a Samsung and Apple Watch for only a small step up in price, then I'd pick one over the other.

It's good to know that Samsung is still supporting their older wearables. I'm hoping that this purchase, if done all at once, will last a good 3 years before I need to re-buy everything again. My S7 is about that old and is still fine.

I guess another question is, what's the difference between the Airpods/Airpods Pro and the Beats Solo and Solo Pro?

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I prefer Apple but when you can get a used very good item with scratches S9+ on amazon for like 280 it's hard to choose an iphone

Why not Sony or Google?

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Hexenherz posted...

Why not Sony or Google?

They don't have the same appeal.

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non contract phone if you have few contacts.
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Gonna bump for daytime CE opinions.

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Wait until next year if you're interested in switching to Apple. The 2020 iPhone is supposed to bring a number of big changes.
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Perhaps a half-informed opinion since I've never used Apple devices before (but know some stuff from forums):

• You're gonna have a better experience with Apple smartwatches. They have better battery life and in general a lot smoother. Google's App store for Android smartwatches might have more stuff than Apple's but it's a smartwatch, you're not gonna do a whole lot with it. Samsung's smartwatches run on a different OS and doesn't have access to Google's App store but in exchange, it's smoother and has better battery life than their true Android counterpart. Probably still loses to Apple though.
• Features for a smartwatch. I use a Fossil smartwatch and from my experience, you only need the basic stuff; notifications, agenda, activity tracker (i.e. Google Fit), etc. However, you want to have these information at the ready. Android WEAR has a skin called Bits that allows you to display up to six types of information at the home screen. Not sure about Apple. If you workout a lot, GPS and heartbeat sensor to track your runs are useful.
• Headphones. Since you're using wireless, the experience is probably going to be identical.
• The Smartphone themselves. Depending on your priorities, but for me, I prefer Android. Apple is touted as being very smooth and responsive, but with the Android camp getting beefier and beefier hardware, the gap is closing. Plus, Samsung allows MicroSD (I think, may need to double check). Apple is simpler to use, but if you can deal with the slight added complexity of using Android, you'll get more for your money.

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davidg4l posted...

Perhaps a half-informed opinion since I've never used Apple devices before (but know some stuff from forums):

* You're gonna have a better experience with Apple smartwatches. They have better battery life and in general a lot smoother. Google's App store for Android smartwatches might have more stuff than Apple's but it's a smartwatch, you're not gonna do a whole lot with it. Samsung's smartwatches run on a different OS and doesn't have access to Google's App store but in exchange, it's smoother and has better battery life than their true Android counterpart. Probably still loses to Apple though.
* Features for a smartwatch. I use a Fossil smartwatch and from my experience, you only need the basic stuff; notifications, agenda, activity tracker (i.e. Google Fit), etc. However, you want to have these information at the ready. Android WEAR has a skin called Bits that allows you to display up to six types of information at the home screen. Not sure about Apple. If you workout a lot, GPS and heartbeat sensor to track your runs are useful.
* Headphones. Since you're using wireless, the experience is probably going to be identical.
* The Smartphone themselves. Depending on your priorities, but for me, I prefer Android. Apple is touted as being very smooth and responsive, but with the Android camp getting beefier and beefier hardware, the gap is closing. Plus, Samsung allows MicroSD (I think, may need to double check). Apple is simpler to use, but if you can deal with the slight added complexity of using Android, you'll get more for your money.

Great advice. That's why I'm avoiding standard android stuff and looking at pretty much an Apple vs. Samsung ecosystem. Samsung has made some really good stuff, but I know Apple is the reigning champ.

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personally i think, from a consumer perspective, apple phones are generally a better choice (excluding price), however im very against buying into phone "ecosystems" b/c then it locks you into a phone choice regardless of how good the phone is.

so say you have a bunch of apple-only devices, and when it's time to replace your iphone you find you hate the new iphone for whatever reason. well, tough shit, you have to get it otherwise you lose all your connected things.
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I've used the Apple Watch since 2016 and there's quite nothing like it. If you don't want to spend an exorbitant amount then get the Series 3, which now hovers around $200 new but has pretty much all the same software features as the Series 5, minus a few watch faces. I'm sure Samsung watches have their merits, but I honestly can't think of one person who bought a Galaxy Watch who uses it regularly anymore.

I have the iPhone 11 and as someone who rocked the OLED X phones, it's really quite nice. The screen is still plenty sharp and the battery lasts forever. Took it off the charger yesterday around 6 before going to a school event all day, when I came back around 9 it barely cracked 50%. Camera is probably the best in the game since the Pixel 4 goofed up a little, and the crazy part is that the $700 iPhone 11 has the same camera as the $1000 iPhone Pro, it's just missing the telephoto lens.

Sure, you're trading off some personalization with the iPhone, but the amount of things you gain in exchange are invaluable. Android doesn't have a solid backup method anyway unless you flash a kernel to save everything at one given point and even then it doesn't work with more recent phones.
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Hit up a best buy to check the things out in person. They have a black friday deal on the S10 line of Samsungs, $400 off the price of the phone. That's a hefty chunk of change since that and the iPhone 11 pro are so close in price otherwise.

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tigerslashII posted...

Hit up a best buy to check the things out in person. They have a black friday deal on the S10 line of Samsungs, $400 off the price of the phone. That's a hefty chunk of change since that and the iPhone 11 pro are so close in price otherwise.

The S11 is coming in February which is why the price is so low. They're trying to get rid of them.

The resale value will plummet shortly afterwards too, so if you go that route then be prepared to make back pennies if you try and sell it
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AvantgardeAClue posted...

The S11 is coming in February which is why the price is so low. They're trying to get rid of them.

The resale value will plummet shortly afterwards too, so if you go that route then be prepared to make back pennies if you try and sell it

Thanks for the insight, that'll help me make the choice but tbh $600 for a soon-to-be last gen flagship is still not bad.

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