I have been life long android user. I started with Samsung C3300K when I was a kid. I got that phone as a gift from my parents. I used it for a few years. After some time, I remember the screen started to lose its responsiveness. In the era of the first smartphones, we all expected those phones to break so fast. Everyone knew deep down those were the prototypes.
Next was Sony Xperia U which I also received as a gift, this time from my brother. I remember it had an LED light at the bottom, which I liked because I always have my phone on silent mode. The LED light would emit different colours if someone called. It was the perfect solution for me.
That phone also lasted a few years. The phone met its end in mandatory military service due to excessive humidity. Despite everything, it worked very well. I do not remember any lags or what so ever. Apps launched very fast & the screen unlocked in an instant. The only complaint was that it had quite a small screen.
The next phone was Xperia Z3 Compact. I also like the phone the same as the previous one. It had a slightly bigger display, and it worked very well. But as far as I have read feedback afterwards, then mine and quite a few Z3-s had bad screen glue-related problems.
As my Z3’s screen came off, it finally reached the unusable point. Also, I remember that I felt let down that another Sony phone fell apart again from the screen. So I was not keen to buy another Sony’s phone.
At that time, I did not have money because we were making company with friends. I had limited income at the time. I barely had money to buy food and pay my bills. So I asked my sister, who at the knick of a time had her first Xiaomi phone. She said they sell good phones at affordable prices. So I found one, Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus, which was about 150 euros. It was very cheap considering the time.
At first, I was happy with the phone. It worked well, but then something changed. After a few months, the new MIUI update got released. The lags started to emerge after the update. The entire system started to freeze frequently. It frustrated the most when I was typing to someone. At first, I thought “they probably will fix it in the next update”. But when then the year passed and then another I lost hope. Until the power/screen-unlock button started to act up and by the time I started to get more free money. So I noted all things I liked about Xiaomi and things I did not liked.
The main complain was Xiaomi’s lag and power button malfunctioning. Secondary issue with the Xiaomi phone was it was too wide for me. It was kind of uncomfortable to hold in hand. So I knew I wanted phone which was small. I searched for slim phones and saw that I had pretty much two options. Sony 1, 5, 10 Mark (I, II, III) phones or iPhone SE series. As I only had android phones and despised Apple products for no reasons then the choice was obvious.
Then I though last Sony phones did not had those problems. Also, I have not heard that they would have the same screen issues lately. So I bought the Sony 10 II. It was older model by the time, and I liked it a lot at first. After about a year, the android version reached 12, the entire phone gradually slowed down, or the lag started to get on my nerves more as the time passed. I cannot really tell as I do not remember the start very well because of the rapid life period.
After a while I felt even more comfortable that the phone did not sit well in the hand. You see, the 10 II is a tall phone so the phone’s center of gravity leans a bit over the hand. It made typing with one hand a bit unstable. As I had more free money, I started researching for a new phone. I quickly realized by watching Dave2D and Linus Tech Tips Media Group videos that most android phones these days are struggeling under the lag problem. Event Google own phones apparently had those issues. Apps open up slowly and so on. It reminded me the Ubuntu snap program problem (example: firefox opens 10 seconds or so). So I realized, which I did not want to admit at first, was the time had come to migrate to Apple ecosystem. As I bought Macbook Air M1 the year before I had even more reasons to try one of Apple’s phones. I told the idea to my wife and she said that lets wait a bit with that and buy the things we need first.
Fast forwarding a few months, it was Christmas Eve and my lovely wife got me a present, it was iPhone SE2022, the one I was drooling about all those months (sorry boys I do not care about your faceID or dynamic island – I prefer physical buttons).
Now, about a month later with the iPhone. I can say for certain that it’s the best phone I have ever used. Everything just works.
The screen unlocks as I grab my phone (yes, I know android can do it too, but it lagged on my Sony & frustrated me). The screen unlocks as I press the button. With the last Sony the screen sometimes woke up after 3-5 seconds. The apps execute two thirds faster than on my Sony and it fits perfectly to my hand – I can reach to the left upper corner of the phone with my thumb without straining. Plus the iPhone’s keyboard is a whole lot more responsive somehow.
So if you are like me and fed up with android phones problems, then I recommend trying iPhone. You’ll be surprised as I am.