So I bought a Samsung Galaxy S8 a few weeks ago. As a long time Windows phone user I thought I'd jot down some of the differences I've noticed so far. Some of these comments are regarding the OS, others regarding Samsung's implementation of the OS and others regarding the hardware but since all these things come together to form a single experience I didn't bother splitting them into those categories.
Pros
Cons
It's also got wireless charging and USB-C which I'm happy about but since I had those on my old phone too I didn't list them as "pros". I don't care about the fingerprint scanner on this phone just like I didn't care about the Iris scanner on my old phone because I never lock my phones. That's just annoying.
Overall I was quite happy with the phone initially but the more I use it the more I miss Windows mobile. I would say the best thing about switching to Android is the ability to install the swift key keyboard. That is probably the only thing I would miss.
Bottom Line
Even though I bought the most expensive Android phone money can buy, I miss my Windows phone. Being able to install various apps is also nice, but I would gladly give that up for a better phone experience with Windows.
Pros
- The phone looks great and the build quality is high.
- The camera is on par with my Lumia 950 XL
- Samsung's "Always On Screen" is better than Windows "Glance Screen". Same basic functionality but more customizable and smarter notifications.
- The OS is very customizable, with plenty of options for me in Settings
- I can finally use the equalizer when using head phones (in Windows the equalizer only works when connected via Bluetooth for some reason)
- Samsung's "Game Launcher" is reminiscent of Windows Phone 8 "Games Hub", which was a nice feature before they took it out.
- I like Android's "app switching" interface. (switching between open apps). Very intuitive.
- I can choose distinct ring tones for each sim card (I have a dual sim phone). With Windows I was able to choose distinct colours, but not ring tones.
- Connecting to a guest wifi network is super quick. Not sure if it's just the speed of the processor or the way Android manages it.
- Most of the apps I'm used to are also available on Android, plus some apps I wasn't able to get on my Windows phone.
- I can finally install the swift key keyboard again. Although it's owned by Microsoft, they never released a Windows version which I find strange. This keyboard is far superior to the default Windows mobile keyboard.
Cons
- Long alphabetized lists in Windows give you the option to select a different letter of the alphabet to easily move down to the pertinent part of the list. See Windows start menu for example. The Android version of Groove music doesn't give me this feature and so I have to scroll through my music manually.
- Playing music with Google assistant is less intuitive. On Windows phone I could just say "Play me some music". On Android I have to say "Play me some music on Microsoft Groove" and I've tried other variations of the same command but that's the only exact phrase that works.
- Google Assistant doesn't do location based reminders. (for example, "remind me to deposit that cheque the next time I'm near TD Bank")
- There are no live tiles. (My first Android phone had widgets but I don't know where to get the widgets on this phone)
- I can't pin individual contacts to the start screen, and Samsung's "People Edge" doesn't work with contacts stored in Outlook.
- There is no alphabetized list of "All Apps". Just a wall of icons.
- The phone feels the same on both sides and there are buttons on both sides, so pulling it out of my pocket I have no idea which buttons are which and which is the front of the phone until I look at the phone, meaning I can't adjust the volume without looking at the phone. I'm sure over time I'll learn to distinguish between the various button simply on touch but putting all buttons on one side, would've made that easier.
- Double tap to wake only works on the home button, not the entire screen. Presumably they've done this because there is the option to tap on a notification icon on the "always-on" screen, so this may not be fair to list as a "con".
- When the phone rings there is no visual indication as to which sim card is ringing, so if it's on vibrate I have no way of knowing if it's a personal call or a business call.
- The Android version of Outlook is slightly less convenient/intuitive.
- The Android version of Groove doesn't play music videos.
- Despite the customizability of Android, it doesn't make use of custom colours the way Windows does and there are generally less personalization options in terms of look and feel.
- No sms auto-reply during "quiet hours"
- There is no dedicated camera button.
- No Edge browser available in the store.
- I can't reply to text messages without opening the messaging app
- Text message popups are much too short (only shows a few words) and disappear much too quickly (two seconds) and are not clickable.
- If I'm reading a text message and another message comes in (from another person) there is no popup notification so I can't tell who it's from until I back out to the main message list and manually scan down the list to look for a little red number 1.
It's also got wireless charging and USB-C which I'm happy about but since I had those on my old phone too I didn't list them as "pros". I don't care about the fingerprint scanner on this phone just like I didn't care about the Iris scanner on my old phone because I never lock my phones. That's just annoying.
Overall I was quite happy with the phone initially but the more I use it the more I miss Windows mobile. I would say the best thing about switching to Android is the ability to install the swift key keyboard. That is probably the only thing I would miss.
Bottom Line
Even though I bought the most expensive Android phone money can buy, I miss my Windows phone. Being able to install various apps is also nice, but I would gladly give that up for a better phone experience with Windows.
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