iPhone XR vs Samsung S9 plus Looking For Guidance

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Time for a new company phone.

I have a choice to make. Currently using an iPhone 7 after three generations 6-7 years of Galaxy S, S3 and S5. I prefer Android but would have to switch carriers as the S9+ is only offered with Verizon. Verizon is the only carrier with the option to pick a phone, the other two carriers are iPhone only for our corporate plan. If I go with the iPhone XR, I can stay with AT&T.

I don't have to decide today, and will go to a Verizon store and try them both.

Of course I'm concerned about having my number ported properly if I choose Verizon/S9+

For me, the pluses with staying with an iPhone is I stay with my carrier and have my WiFi on Verizon, giving me two different carriers for my travels. The downside is (to me) that I'm using an iPhone.

The pluses of going with the S9+ are it's not an iPhone and it seems to have some advantages in areas I find appealing such as adding an SD card, better battery life and higher screen resolution. But I have to switch carriers to go this way.

So what does the BITOG brain trust think about this?
 
Me personally, I would go with iPhone. OS and hardware are much better with Apple. My wife currently has a galaxy S9+ and I have a iphone 7 and I never have any issues with iPhone but her Galaxy is always glitchy. Actually she wants me to sell her S9+ and get her an iPhone.
 
I've had an iPhone Xr for maybe like 4 months now and it's been great. I only upgraded after my toddler got a hold of my old iPhone 5s and brought it to me with a cracked screen. I'm not loyal to any particular brand and have always used Samsung tablets at home. I also use all the various Google services (photos/drive/gmail) instead of the Apple ones and have no issues with those apps on the iPhone.
 
OP,

You being a 30+ years Unix wizard, I would normally recommend the S9.
But seeing the 2 carriers req. on travels and work sponsored, I would stay with AT&T and Iphone if the Apple apps work OK with your needs.
Also if AT&T coverage OK in your travel spots. I did see(hear) about some Verizon number and phone problems touhg....
 
Originally Posted by pandus13
OP,

You being a 30+ years Unix wizard, I would normally recommend the S9.
But seeing the 2 carriers req. on travels and work sponsored, I would stay with AT&T and Iphone if the Apple apps work OK with your needs.
Also if AT&T coverage OK in your travel spots. I did see(hear) about some Verizon number and phone problems touhg....


And AT&T is one of my customers
smile.gif


The two carriers is more of a preference, but it is an important factor. Sometimes I can turn on my Verizon MiFi to make WiFi calls on my AT&T phone when the customer has a Verizon repeater in their building, but not AT&T. (I.E. I have Verizon service in the basement or other location, but not AT&T) So it gives options for staying in contact.

Thanks
 
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Originally Posted by javacontour
Originally Posted by pandus13
OP,

You being a 30+ years Unix wizard, I would normally recommend the S9.
But seeing the 2 carriers req. on travels and work sponsored, I would stay with AT&T and Iphone if the Apple apps work OK with your needs.
Also if AT&T coverage OK in your travel spots. I did see(hear) about some Verizon number and phone problems touhg....


And AT&T is one of my customers
smile.gif


The two carriers is more of a preference, but it is an important factor. Sometimes I can turn on my Verizon MiFi to make WiFi calls on my AT&T phone when the customer has a Verizon repeater in their building, but not AT&T. (I.E. I have Verizon service in the basement or other location, but not AT&T) So it gives options for staying in contact.

Thanks

lol.gif
Even better. That means if problems you skip directly to level 4 support... or you cut their connection
15.gif
 
Originally Posted by JohnnyJohnson
I'm staying with my Samsung S4 I bought for $200 and can change the battery in myself. They can keep those $700 and $1000 phones.

OP works with multi-million $ communications equipment and he is on-call 24/7.
I think his phone is a business write-off....
 
I'd stick with AT&T and the Xr because it is a very good idea to have 2 carriers. We use Tmobile for phones and ATT for hotspots at work, Tmo is almost always faster but ATT has better coverage in rural areas and in buildings. Under worse case (where A&T is too slow) we use the phone hotspots.

Both are pretty nice phones so really no downside to either. Xr screen has lower contrast but is more visible in sunlight. We use ours outside a lot and that outweighs the not as nice video for us.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by JohnnyJohnson
I'm staying with my Samsung S4 I bought for $200 and can change the battery in myself. They can keep those $700 and $1000 phones.


Why does every smartphone thread turn into I need to justify my low end or older smartphone people carry around.
 
Your input really doesn't help since I have two phones from which to choose provided by my employer.

Originally Posted by JohnnyJohnson
I'm staying with my Samsung S4 I bought for $200 and can change the battery in myself. They can keep those $700 and $1000 phones.
 
Engineer at work really loves his iPhone X … and pushed me to get a couple (one for me, and one for an FLS) …
In reality I have so many chargers and stuff at home and work for many Apple devices … easier to not start over …
Pretty cheap upgrades …
 
Another +1 for the iPhone. I have the 8 right now, I hated my Galaxy S8 so much it's put me off Android permanently.
 
Originally Posted by diyjake
Me personally, I would go with iPhone. OS and hardware are much better with Apple. My wife currently has a galaxy S9+ and I have a iphone 7 and I never have any issues with iPhone but her Galaxy is always glitchy. Actually she wants me to sell her S9+ and get her an iPhone.



I spent 3 decades in IT. I can state with some certainty that when the same company controls both the HW and the SW, the experience is much better. My 1st 2 phones were Samsungs, and it was always one problem or another.

I am only on my 2nd iphone in 5 years, and will never go back to Android or Samsung, etc.
 
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Originally Posted by javacontour
Time for a new company phone.

I have a choice to make. Currently using an iPhone 7 after three generations 6-7 years of Galaxy S, S3 and S5. I prefer Android but would have to switch carriers as the S9+ is only offered with Verizon. Verizon is the only carrier with the option to pick a phone, the other two carriers are iPhone only for our corporate plan. If I go with the iPhone XR, I can stay with AT&T.

I don't have to decide today, and will go to a Verizon store and try them both.

Of course I'm concerned about having my number ported properly if I choose Verizon/S9+

For me, the pluses with staying with an iPhone is I stay with my carrier and have my WiFi on Verizon, giving me two different carriers for my travels. The downside is (to me) that I'm using an iPhone.

The pluses of going with the S9+ are it's not an iPhone and it seems to have some advantages in areas I find appealing such as adding an SD card, better battery life and higher screen resolution. But I have to switch carriers to go this way.

So what does the BITOG brain trust think about this?



The Samsung Android will have tons of bloatware. I have none on my iPhone. Samsung is slow rolling out OS updates and stops after 2. If you want Android get a Pixel. It will have native Android and little bloatware and OS updates beyond 2. Also, a lot more free apps than Apple. The XR iPhone has great battery life, unlike XS and XSmax that have power eating but beautiful OLED screens
 
I have the S9 from work; nice phone. The iPhone is a great phone as well, both are top of the line.
The Apple people like their phones and the Andriod folk like theirs. All good.

AFAIC, $900 (or more) is too much for a cell phone, especially every 2 years.
I like Pixels and OnePlus if I were gonna spend big bucks on a cell phone.
 
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I may just get the AT&T iPhone and let oilBabe choose an Android of my choosing and then swap SIM cards.

Of course, when I have to turn in my phone, she has to give it up.

Best of all worlds. She gets a new phone to replace her 8 plus, and I will choose the phone I want.

It's not like we cannot afford it. I just don't want to pay more than I have to to have a phone.

Someone made the point about the Bloatware and that is a good point. I've always had to disable or remove a bunch of stuff on my Android phones.
 
Happy with my S8+ but I did have to tweak it to get it to where I want it. That included disabling the bloatware for my username so that it doesn't run in the background or receive updates. Did it without root access.

Very solid experience after that. But if you're not into customizations and want the best out of the box experience, an iPhone is hard to beat. A pure Android such as pixel is close to iPhone experience as well.


As to the comments that run something like "I'm an IT guy... and I use iPhone" well, what can I say? I'm not an IT guy and I quickly figured out how to make my S8 work best for me. What does a career choice have to do with phone experience?
 
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I requisitioned the Xr, sticking with AT&T and will keep it as it's not worth the hassle of having to ask why it doesn't work, doesn't have the corporate nanny software if it's in my wife's purse.

She can wait another year and get whatever Apple is offering in April-June of 2020. Maybe they should call it the iPhone MMXX
smile.gif


Thanks to all who responded. I'll give my thoughts on the phone when I set it up next weekend. I have work scheduled through next Saturday, so I probably won't get to it for about a week as I'm not swapping my phone in the middle of my on-call week.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by javacontour
I may just get the AT&T iPhone and let oilBabe choose an Android of my choosing and then swap SIM cards.

Of course, when I have to turn in my phone, she has to give it up.

Best of all worlds. She gets a new phone to replace her 8 plus, and I will choose the phone I want.

It's not like we cannot afford it. I just don't want to pay more than I have to to have a phone.

Someone made the point about the Bloatware and that is a good point. I've always had to disable or remove a bunch of stuff on my Android phones.
 
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