Sunday, June 11, 2017

Back and Forth

I probably switch phones as much as anyone you know. I have loved my BlackBerry PRIV.

But...

It's big.

It's heavy.

And I don't use the physical keyboard.

So I crossed over again.

I found a refurbished carrier unlocked 64GB iPhone 6s on eBay for a great price. I Google-ized it and avoided the iMessage trap (so far).

The phone I got is model A1688. A1688 is known as the "everywhere" phone and supports all the LTE bands that the AT&T variant (A1633) does except that there is no LTE band 30. AT&T uses it as a supplemental band to increase capacity in urban areas.

It has worked fine for me on AT&T even supporting HD Voice. The A1688 also has CDMA so it supports Sprint and Verizon.

I really like:
  • Form factor
  • OS updates
  • Stability
  • Apple Pay
  • Mute switch
  • Not getting nagged about having a Android phone

BlackBerry PRIVApple iPhone 6s
DESIGN
Device typeSmart phoneSmart phone
OSAndroid (6.0, 5.1)iOS (10.x, 9.x)
Dimensions5.79 x 3.04 x 0.37 inches (147 x 77.2 x 9.4 mm)5.44 x 2.64 x 0.28 inches (138.3 x 67.1 x 7.1 mm)
Weight6.77 oz (192 g)5.04 oz (143 g)
FeaturesFull keyboardFingerprint (touch)
DISPLAY
Physical size5.4 inches4.7 inches
Resolution1440 x 2560 pixels750 x 1334 pixels
Pixel density541 ppi326 ppi
TechnologyAMOLEDIPS LCD
Screen-to-body ratio71.58 %65.71 %
Colors16 777 21616 777 216
TouchscreenMulti-touchMulti-touch
FeaturesScratch-resistant glass (Corning Gorilla Glass 4), Light sensor, Proximity sensorPressure-sensitive, Oleophobic coating, Scratch-resistant glass, Light sensor, Proximity sensor
CAMERA
Camera18 megapixels12 megapixels
   Aperture sizeF2.2F2.2
   Focal length (35mm equivalent)
29 mm
   Camera sensor size
1/3"
   Hardware
   Features
Optical image stabilization, Autofocus (Phase detection)Sapphire crystal lens cover, Autofocus, Back-illuminated sensor (BSI)
   Software
   Features
Touch to focus, Face detection, Digital zoom, Geo taggingTouch to focus, Face detection, Self-timer, Geo tagging
Camcorder3840x2160 (4K) (30 fps), 1920x1080 (1080p HD) (60 fps)3840x2160 (4K) (30 fps), 1920x1080 (1080p HD) (120 fps), 1280x720 (720p HD) (240 fps)
   FeaturesOptical image stabilization, Continuous autofocus, Video calling, Video sharingTime-lapse video, Continuous autofocus, Digital image stabilization, Video calling, Video sharing
Front-facing camera2 megapixels5 megapixels
HARDWARE
System chipQualcomm Snapdragon 808 MSM8992Apple A9 APL0898
ProcessorHexa-core, 1800 MHz, ARM Cortex-A57 and ARM Cortex-A53, 64-bitDual-core, 1840 MHz, Twister, 64-bit
Graphics processorAdreno 418PowerVR GT7600
System memory3072 MB RAM2048 MB RAM
Built-in storage32 GB64 GB
Maximum User Storage

Storage expansionmicroSD, microSDHC, microSDXC up to 2000 GB
BATTERY
Talk time
14.00 hours
Stand-by time
10.0 days (240 hours)
Capacity3410 mAh1715 mAh
Not user replaceableYesYes
Wireless chargingBuilt-in (Qi, Powermat)
MULTIMEDIA
Music player
   Filter byAlbum, Artist, Genre, PlaylistsAlbum, Artist, Genre, Playlists
   FeaturesAlbum art cover, Background playbackAlbum art cover, Background playback
SpeakersEarpiece, LoudspeakerEarpiece, Loudspeaker
YouTube playerYesYes
INTERNET BROWSING
Built-in online services supportYouTube (upload), Picasa/Google+YouTube (upload), Picasa/Google+
TECHNOLOGY
CDMA

GSM850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz
UMTS800, 850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz
FDD LTE700 (band 12), 700 (band 17), 700 (band 29), 800 (band 20), 850 (band 5), 1700/2100 (band 4), 1800 (band 3), 1900 (band 2), 2100 (band 1), 2300 WCS (band 30), 2600 (band 7) MHzBands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29
DataLTE-A, HSPA (unspecified), HSUPALTE-A Cat 6 (300/50 Mbit/s), HSPA, HSUPA
micro-SIM

nano-SIMYesYes
PositioningGPS, A-GPGPS, A-GPS
NavigationTurn-by-turn navigation, Voice navigationTurn-by-turn navigation, Voice navigation
CONNECTIVITY
Bluetooth4.14.2
Wi-Fi802.11 a, b, g, n, n 5GHz, ac802.11 a, b, g, n, n 5GHz, ac
   Mobile hotspotYesYes
USBUSB 2.0Yes
   ConnectormicroUSBProprietary
   FeaturesUSB chargingUSB charging
HDMI

OtherNFC, Tethering, Computer sync, OTA syncNFC, Tethering, Computer sync, OTA sync
OTHER FEATURES
NotificationsService lights, Haptic feedback, Music ringtones (MP3), Polyphonic ringtones, Vibration, Flight mode, Silent mode, SpeakerphoneService lights, Haptic feedback, Music ringtones (MP3), Polyphonic ringtones, Vibration, Flight mode, Silent mode, Speakerphone
SensorsAccelerometer, Gyroscope, CompassAccelerometer, Compass, Gesture
Hearing aid compatibilityM3, T4M3, T4
OtherVoice dialing, Voice commands, Voice recordingVoice dialing, Voice commands, Voice recording
AVAILABILITY
Officially announced25 Sep 201509 Sep 2015
FCC Approval22 Oct 201509 Sep 2015
Source: phoneArena.com

While my BlackBerry PRIV supported Android Pay my bank didn't support my debit card on Android Pay. Apple Pay is supported and works great.

As I mentioned before I struggled to get my photos off the iPhone. What I'm doing this time is letting Google Photos back up the photos. Google Photos actually seems to upload sooner on iOS than on Android. I can't explain that.

I use Air Transfer to download the photos to my PC from the Camera Roll then delete them from the Camera Roll. More on Air Transfer in a future post.

Given that Google is fumbling their messaging solutions I had already separated my carrier's SMS messages from my Google Voice text messages. I still can't set a custom notification tone for Google Hangouts.

GasBuddy updated their Android app and made it less friendly than on iOS. No loss there.

Google has ported their keyboard to iOS so that's familiar. Apple still is insistent on not using an alternative keyboard for password or lock screen widgets but it's better than the Swype problems I had before.

I found Call Friends to create direct dial icons  This works fine. If you hit the limit of 2 free icons just uninstall and reinstall.

The iPhone 6s' Touch ID works much better than the iPhone 6's.

In the above chart, notice in Camcorder Features the iPhone has Digital Image Stabilization. Here's an example of that.


As I related my iOS experiences with a friend who is making the same journey I shared with him my boss' statement:
iPhone users just don't understand what they're missing.
My friend laughed and said "Yes I do!"

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