I was forced to switch from iPhone to Android. I lasted a week

Although, as a tech journalist, I spend most of my time testing and reviewing the latest Android phones, I use an iPhone as my daily driver. Ever since the iPhone 12 Mini, the Apple ecosystem has had its hooks in me. But when I was recently required to return the iPhone I was using, I was faced with a choice: move over to Android or try to find an iPhone cheap enough for my budget.

I spent a long time deliberating over what to do. Right off the bat, I knew I’d lose access to key apps that I depend on, such as Find My, not to mention the fact that successfully transferring WhatsApp chats from one ecosystem to another is about as likely as removing a limb and using the power of positive thinking to grow it back.

However, as a new dad with bills to pay, the financially sensible part of my brain kicked in, telling me that there was no point forking out for an iPhone when I had plenty of the best Android phones already in my possession. In the moment, this argument won out.

So I said goodbye to my iPhone and transferred everything over to my Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra. I felt comfortable and completely justified in my choice – but I have to admit that my thrifty decision lasted a week.

What Android does best

To its credit, and this is something I absolutely want to highlight here, the S25 Ultra is a phenomenal phone. Moving up to the larger 6.9-inch display was a lot of fun as it felt like carrying around a mini tablet, perfect for streaming and gaming, not to mention having more room for reading apps such as Kindle or PressReader.

The camera set-up on the phone is also emblematic of the fact that, if you really want a smartphone that goes all-in on giving you the best experience for photography on the go, then an Android is essential. I also have the Oppo Find X9 Pro on hand and the photos that phone takes are enough to make even the Pro-level iPhones hang their heads in shame.

Luke Baker

It also needs to be said that Android has a far better system when it comes to notifications (although this won’t be a surprise to fans). Being able to see little icons in the top left-hand corner of the screen for various messages or alerts that have come in, particularly as you’re using the phone, is a huge win. I’m far more likely to remember that they’re there. Instead, having notifications bunched together on an iPhone means that I’m constantly forgetting about things I need to respond to.

One feature that really did start to draw me in was Google Gemini. The way that you can quickly get answers to a series of questions is a huge win, and I never encountered any issues or misunderstood requests. That’s not something I can say about my time using an iPhone, even with the more advanced Siri AI now on the market.

There’s a lot to like to like about Android, and I would honestly argue that if you’ve never set foot in Apple’s ecosystem, then keep it that way. It’s only when you’ve seen what’s on the other side that the cracks start to appear.

Where it all falls apart

Apple users are often ridiculed for trotting out the line that everything “just works” as the main reason why they wouldn’t venture away from iPhone. There’s a lot of truth to it, especially when it comes to app optimisation.

For example, I use the Instagram Edits app for editing videos on the go – it offers up all the tools you could ask for, and on iPhone it works like a charm. But when using the Android version of the app, I found bugs aplenty, and a good chunk of the transitions were completely absent.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

Unfortunately, that buggy experience in Edits felt like a warning sign as I slowly started to notice that I wasn’t getting any Gmail notifications. Reader, believe me when I say that I tried every conceivable option to fix whatever was going wrong – but no matter what I did, those notifications just refused to appear.

Moments like these gradually became more apparent as I continued to use the phone and, by the time I reached the end of a full week, I decided that the hassle just wasn’t worth it. I switched back to a well-priced, refurbished iPhone 17e, and I haven’t looked back.

For video editing alone, having an iPhone again has made for a much smoother process, something that’s helped by the 256GB storage included on the 17e as standard.

As wild as this is to admit, it’s made me realise that depending on what you need your phone for, the cheapest iPhone can sometimes be a better option than a flagship Android.