I’ve been a happy iPhone user since 2007, so my recent purchase of an Android phone was not a decision I took lightly. In the end, the lure of a larger high resolution display was enough for me to seriously consider making the switch. Now that 3 weeks has passed since my Nexus 4 arrived in the mail, here is a list of my personal pro’s & con’s on the switch.

Nexus 4 Pros:

• The larger 4.7” screen great for reading; it makes a huge difference. My iPhone 4S screen was 3.5” and the new iPhone 5 screen is 4”. I can get literally twice the amount of text on the screen of my Nexus 4 than I could on my iPhone 4S.
• The Android “Return” navigation button great for getting right back to original app after linking out to the browser or another app. It also returns you to the original tab in Chrome after a link opens a new tab for you.
• The Nexus 4 keyboard larger, haptic feedback is nice, and it suggests 3 different words as you type for auto completion
• Chrome password syncing & tabs from your desktop Chrome browsers.
• I really like Google Now. It does a good job of anticipating what info I’m going to need, and displays it on my “Start Page” for me.
• Notifications are much better with the swipe down and little icons on the top left bar.
• I like how the voice recognition works in real time rather than waiting until I’ve pressed the stop button.
• Apps running button nicer than iOS double press of home button.
• Better collaboration between apps, especially for sharing links.

Nexus 4 Cons:

• I haven’t been able to find a podcast client not as good as Downcast on iOS.
• Some apps are not quite as polished on Android than iOS. Facebook & Navionics for example.
• As a teaching tool in education I miss apple TV screen mirroring. I can always use my iPad for that.
• Scrolling seems slightly less responsive… Not a big deal, but its different. I might get used to it with time.
• I miss the physical mute switch, although I just found an app that asks you how long you’d like to put your phone in vibe mode when you use the volume buttons to mute.
• I miss being able to use the volume control on my Apple headphones, and haven’t been able to find android equivalent headphones with volume control.
• More tinkering with setting required to reign in apps that are using too much power.

Verdict:

I do miss some things from my iPhone, but the larger screen for reading, and the better browser experience in Chrome are the things that will keep me using an Android phone for the foreseeable future. That said, I’d probably still recommend and iPhone for my less tech savvy friends who have the money to spend on a more expensive device… at least the ones who I might end up doing tech support for 😉

Andy Ihnatko from the Chicago Sun wrote an excellent article, on why he made the switch from iOS to Android recently: http://www.techhive.com/article/2030042/why-i-switched-from-iphone-to-android.html