iPhone 11 Pro Max. Midnight Green.
The Note 10 I was considering isn't appreciably cheaper, has a number of the same compromises, has a shorter software support window, and the iPhone has the besterest camera. Hence, iPhone. Also, a 36GB plan*.
First impressions: Face ID is fast, but for payment the double-tap on the power button is a bit less slick than my Note, which simply requires a biometric unlock. The fingerprint reader on the Note 9 is lightning fast.
Random observations and impressions re: hardware:
The phone display is very nice, but is very different if you're used to Samsung AMOLEDs. The Note has a much more vivid display. Like, LSD-trippy more vivid. Not sure how I feel about true tone yet. The colour temperature is appreciably warmer than the Note, too, but that's no problem.
The mute switch remains one of Apple's best ever ideas.
The frosted glass rear is one of those "why hasn't everyone done this since forever?" things. Also, midnight green is almost the best colour I've seen on a phone since I had almost exactly the same colour (albeit on metallic plastic) on a Sagem phone in about 2002. (The absolute best colour on a phone was my yellow polycarbonate Lumia 920)
No headphone jack, no expandable storage - I could just buy a Note 10 - oh, wait. Moving swiftly on...
The phone is massive and heavy. Prior to purchase, I read a review in The Guardian actually complaining about this, and I was ready to do damage to consumer electronics, such was my rage. Of course it is! The selling point of this phone is that it has a massive battery and a huge screen! What the fuck did you expect, you semi-sentient Camden-dwelling micro-scooter-riding shitcunt? Apple will sell you a smaller, lighter phone that is otherwise exactly the fucking same, you monumental shitballoon.
Of course the build quality is first-rate, and everything is pleasingly flush and smooth and nice. Fast charger in the box, and wireless charging is also very good.
I added a couple of quid to the monthly and got some AirPods. Pairing these is awesomely easy, and I like how I can see battery levels for the pods and the case separately. I do not like how I now have a USB-C to lightning cable, and a USB-A to lightning cable, and an Apple charger with USB-C output only.
Software:
iOS 13 is very different from the iOS I remember from my 6S+ :)
First: Praise Cthulhu, we have dark mode! And it's quite good.
Of course the home screen is still 2007-era nonsense, and that I cannot hide apps altogether without uninstalling them, or put an icon in an arbitrary place on my screen, or sort them alphabetically, or have widgets - these are all crapnesses that Apple (a) should fix immediately and (b) cannot fix without breaking the mental model of millions of users.
No-one needed the Stocks app in 2007, and they don't need it now.
I like that Apple has a built in credentials manager, and I like how it doesn't kerbstomp Lastpass - you get to see both, and the UI for this is well-done.
I'm still finding my way round the gestures. I'm particularly un-fond of the multitasking one - it requires a bit more precision than a gesture should. And when you get there, you can't close all apps at once. I don't do this for resource reasons, but because when I'm trying to see what I was doing in that other app, it's easier when there isn't every app I've used in the past 24-48-72 hours also in the list. No biggie, really.
The control panel seems a bit random, and I dislike how the wifi toggle works. Most people won't care, I suspect. The settings are less-well organised than on Samsung's version of Android. Search is your friend.
The camera is actually a bit of usability fail, although it's technically incredible - the ultrawide lens offers some wonderful opportunities (remember kids, wide angle isn't just (or even mainly) for fitting it all in, it's for getting real close). Google's Night Sight has some real competition in Night Mode, and although I've yet to exercise Deep Fusion, I'm going to be looking forward to that. The high-key background for portrait shots is going to get some use.
The app, though, is minimalistic to the point of absurdity, with no text labels on anything, an inscrutable up-arrow thing at the top that does... something?, and getting to any adjustments is just fiddly as fook. Also, it doesn't shoot raw, which is just dumb - but also fixable in software, so I look forward to seeing this.
CarPlay is a massive honking fail if you don't have a supported veerhickle, which I don't. I can't put my phone into car mode, like I could with the Note (via Android Auto). If I'm wrong, please let me know because this actually matters to me.
Everything else: the keyboard's fine, all the apps are fine (although Facebook is upside down with the shortcut icons at the bottom), the store is OK, Google Maps is still a million times better than Apple Maps, Outlook is still the best mobile mail and calendar client, etc. etc.
I'll figure out how I feel about notifications after I've dealt with a few.
ETA: Moving my stuff to this phone was massively eased by Apple's Move To iOS app for Android, which I recommend for anyone doing similar.
The Note 10 I was considering isn't appreciably cheaper, has a number of the same compromises, has a shorter software support window, and the iPhone has the besterest camera. Hence, iPhone. Also, a 36GB plan*.
First impressions: Face ID is fast, but for payment the double-tap on the power button is a bit less slick than my Note, which simply requires a biometric unlock. The fingerprint reader on the Note 9 is lightning fast.
Random observations and impressions re: hardware:
The phone display is very nice, but is very different if you're used to Samsung AMOLEDs. The Note has a much more vivid display. Like, LSD-trippy more vivid. Not sure how I feel about true tone yet. The colour temperature is appreciably warmer than the Note, too, but that's no problem.
The mute switch remains one of Apple's best ever ideas.
The frosted glass rear is one of those "why hasn't everyone done this since forever?" things. Also, midnight green is almost the best colour I've seen on a phone since I had almost exactly the same colour (albeit on metallic plastic) on a Sagem phone in about 2002. (The absolute best colour on a phone was my yellow polycarbonate Lumia 920)
No headphone jack, no expandable storage - I could just buy a Note 10 - oh, wait. Moving swiftly on...
The phone is massive and heavy. Prior to purchase, I read a review in The Guardian actually complaining about this, and I was ready to do damage to consumer electronics, such was my rage. Of course it is! The selling point of this phone is that it has a massive battery and a huge screen! What the fuck did you expect, you semi-sentient Camden-dwelling micro-scooter-riding shitcunt? Apple will sell you a smaller, lighter phone that is otherwise exactly the fucking same, you monumental shitballoon.
Of course the build quality is first-rate, and everything is pleasingly flush and smooth and nice. Fast charger in the box, and wireless charging is also very good.
I added a couple of quid to the monthly and got some AirPods. Pairing these is awesomely easy, and I like how I can see battery levels for the pods and the case separately. I do not like how I now have a USB-C to lightning cable, and a USB-A to lightning cable, and an Apple charger with USB-C output only.
Software:
iOS 13 is very different from the iOS I remember from my 6S+ :)
First: Praise Cthulhu, we have dark mode! And it's quite good.
Of course the home screen is still 2007-era nonsense, and that I cannot hide apps altogether without uninstalling them, or put an icon in an arbitrary place on my screen, or sort them alphabetically, or have widgets - these are all crapnesses that Apple (a) should fix immediately and (b) cannot fix without breaking the mental model of millions of users.
No-one needed the Stocks app in 2007, and they don't need it now.
I like that Apple has a built in credentials manager, and I like how it doesn't kerbstomp Lastpass - you get to see both, and the UI for this is well-done.
I'm still finding my way round the gestures. I'm particularly un-fond of the multitasking one - it requires a bit more precision than a gesture should. And when you get there, you can't close all apps at once. I don't do this for resource reasons, but because when I'm trying to see what I was doing in that other app, it's easier when there isn't every app I've used in the past 24-48-72 hours also in the list. No biggie, really.
The control panel seems a bit random, and I dislike how the wifi toggle works. Most people won't care, I suspect. The settings are less-well organised than on Samsung's version of Android. Search is your friend.
The camera is actually a bit of usability fail, although it's technically incredible - the ultrawide lens offers some wonderful opportunities (remember kids, wide angle isn't just (or even mainly) for fitting it all in, it's for getting real close). Google's Night Sight has some real competition in Night Mode, and although I've yet to exercise Deep Fusion, I'm going to be looking forward to that. The high-key background for portrait shots is going to get some use.
The app, though, is minimalistic to the point of absurdity, with no text labels on anything, an inscrutable up-arrow thing at the top that does... something?, and getting to any adjustments is just fiddly as fook. Also, it doesn't shoot raw, which is just dumb - but also fixable in software, so I look forward to seeing this.
CarPlay is a massive honking fail if you don't have a supported veerhickle, which I don't. I can't put my phone into car mode, like I could with the Note (via Android Auto). If I'm wrong, please let me know because this actually matters to me.
Everything else: the keyboard's fine, all the apps are fine (although Facebook is upside down with the shortcut icons at the bottom), the store is OK, Google Maps is still a million times better than Apple Maps, Outlook is still the best mobile mail and calendar client, etc. etc.
I'll figure out how I feel about notifications after I've dealt with a few.
ETA: Moving my stuff to this phone was massively eased by Apple's Move To iOS app for Android, which I recommend for anyone doing similar.