Are Samsung phones worth the hype?

Last Friday, I made the bold move of purchasing the Samsung Galaxy Note 2. I have been an iOS guy for the past couple years, I've been using the iPhone 5 since it's release, and I've been perfectly happy. With all the hype out there about these Samsung devices I had to see for myself. I would consider myself a power user, I really get into the details of the OS, so in my opinion, my opinion really matters!

Here is the bottom line, iOS used to have a huge lead on Android, but that gap has now closed. There are pros and cons to each device, but at the end of the day both devices are on par with each other. I believe we have finally come close to perfecting the smart phone! Below you'll find my list of pros and cons of the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 vs. iPhone 5.

Pros of the Samsung Galaxy Note 2

• Huge awesome screen (I have barely used my iPad since purchasing this phone)
• I am a google Apps user, and the Gmail App as well as the Calendar is a far superior experience
• Widgets (obviously), calendar, weather, contacts etc.
• The motion gestures, for example, I can just swipe my hand across the screen to take a screenshot, or tilt the device to zoom in on a webpage.. very convenient!
•  When I take a picture, then click share, it gives me a list of all the apps I have the ability to share with, as opposed to iPhone, I have to go directly to the app, then image gallery, then select the photo
• I like the blinking light that lets me know there is a notification
• This is due the large screen but, Google Docs and Dropbox are unreal, so easy to view, read and share documents, still not a fan of editing documents outside of the desktop
• Note: I Have not gotten around to using the Stylus yet, but I am sure it's awesome
• The ability to pull down from the top of the screen, and see all the latest notifications, cannot beat this, it's perhaps the best feature, to have everything centralized

Cons of the Samsung Galaxy Note 2

• Occasional bugs/slowdown - for example I'll be in the Gmail App, and clicking through emails, and suddenly it just closes out, same for Skype. Gmail most disappointing since this is an Android phone, the OS built by Google
• I love on the iPhone how I can access my Starbucks App, or Boarding passes right from the lock screen without logging in,  as far as I know can't do that on the Note 2
• I am so used to the back button in iOS in the upper left on almost all Apps, so all the navigation is up top on most iOS apps, with Android, that is the case too, but most of time time you have to use the built in back button on the bottom of the Note 2 to go back, I find myself going to the top of the phone to navigate, then the bottom of the phone to go back, this is particularly annoying with a phone of this size, but I think I'll get used to it
• You have to go into each specific app to customize notification settings, as opposed to iOS where you have a central notifications section in settings, this is fairly annoying
• No iMessage :-)
• No integration with my Apple TV, loved how my photos automatically showed up on Apple TV

Conclusion: Samsung phones aren't worth the hype, but it's finally nice to have another Smartphone manufacturer that's on par with the iPhone. Competition is good for innovation, and pricing for the consumers!