After using an iPhone 7 Plus as my primary phone for the last few months, and Android phones for the last few years, I want to give my opinion as to which is better.

I Love My iPhone

I could not give up my iPhone now, if only because of the camera’s “Portrait” feature. Using the dual lenses with the portrait mode in the iPhone 7 Plus results in photos I thought were only possible with my Canon DSLR camera! The phone is also incredibly FAST. It unlocks instantly with my thumb on the home button, and everything after that is zippy. The battery lasts nearly 2 days.

I Miss my Android

I do miss the Back button from my Android devices. I’m constantly searching for a way to back up to a prior screen. Sometimes there is a tiny arrow in the upper left, sometimes in the lower left, and sometimes there is no way at all. I miss my Samsung’s ability to voice control the camera. That is so handy when you’re stretching to hold the camera for a selfie! And, I couldn’t travel without my Samsung’s ability to provide a Wi-Fi hotspot with FoxFi.

The Best Phone is the Newest

When my Samsung Galaxy S5 got old enough to replace, I planned to get a Samsung Note 7. But, since I didn’t want an exploding phone, I went with the iPhone instead. Because, you see, the best phone is the newest one! Jim’s next phone (real soon now)  will be Google’s Pixel, an Android phone. Since it will be even newer than my iPhone 7 Plus, I’m sure we will consider it the best phone in the family. They keep leapfrogging each other.

If you’re able to pay the big bucks ($750 – 1,000) for the high end models, you’ll find very little difference in quality or capability between iOS and Android. But, you will find lots of differences between models/price levels. For example, the iPhone 7 does not have the iPhone 7 Plus’ dual camera lens.

If you don’t want to pay for high end, you’ll find better options at lower prices in the Android world. The Moto G phone, starting at $150 has gotten some great reviews.

Learning is the Key

There is a difference in how they operate. Apple iOS is a little bit simpler and more consistent, Android is a little bit more complex and flexible/capable. The best phone will be the one you can operate. If it’s your first phone, I recommend you get whatever most of your family and friends have because you’ll be asking them for help. If you don’t like the challenge of learning something completely new, stick with the same operating system when you upgrade to a new phone.

Take our Class: What Does This Button Do?

Whatever phone you have, it gets better the more you learn! Take our weekly class on using smartphones and tablets at TheButtonShow.com. This is not a class with a beginning and end, it’s ongoing. We post every Wednesday. It really works well if you watch it with someone else who also likes to learn. Make it a weekly meetup with friends or family! If you are a Geeks on Tour member, you have access to the show notes. Print them out in advance and follow along, taking your own notes and pausing the show video whenever you want to try something out on your own phone.

The weekly show is completely free, and it’s recorded on YouTube, so you can set any time that works for you to watch it. Just go to TheButtonShow.com and watch the latest posting. We usually do the recording on Sundays at 2pm. If you’d like to watch during the live-streaming, you can ask questions that we may answer on air. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel, and click the little bell icon to check that you want notifications of our new videos.