More Android users switch to iPhones than the other way around, and this is a trend that remains unchanged after years of competition between the two platforms. Of course, iMessage is no longer the only reason to ditch your Android phone. Recent surveys show that people appreciate the overall iPhone experience more than Android. Moreover, teens and young buyers are predominantly looking to get an iPhone rather than an Android device.
Then, we have the recurrent accounts of Android users who have switched over to iPhones, most of them filled with praise. The most recent one I’ve read is the story of a former Pixel 7 owner who switched to the iPhone 15. He now says he no longer wants to throw his phone out the window. He added that, “as the saying goes: Apple just. Works.”
“Switching has in the most literal possible way increased my mental health. Thank you Apple,” Reddit user DarhkTear wrote in a recent post.
The Pixel 7 is one of Google’s 2022 flagships, which should still be a great device this year. That should be the case with any recent flagship. I’m still rocking the iPhone 14 Pro, and I’m not going to upgrade to the iPhone 15. I will get an iPhone 16 next year, most likely. But the iPhone 14 Pro could easily last another few years if I wanted it to.
Back to the Pixel 7, the handset should still deliver a great experience this year, but that’s apparently not the case. Not according to DarhkTear, who says the Pixel 7 had a slew of bugs and was quite slow at various tasks:
I switched from the Pixel 7 to the iPhone 15, and now I don’t want to throw my phone out the window on a daily basis (I’m literally not exaggerating, I drive a lot and have to use my phone a lot for my job and it was tempting many times xD). That phone had so much lag, slow charging/not charging issues, network connectivity problems, glitches, and random power drain; it drove me insane every day. I love how I can now just turn on my phone, and everything works immediately. I don’t have to wait for everything to boot up and load. It absolutely blows my mind that a phone made by Google, with an operating system made by Google, sucks so bad… It’s downright comical.
The Pixel 8, or any other 2023 Android phone was not even a consideration for this user. That’s how bad the Pixel 7 experience must have been for them. I’m only speculating, of course. But, as you’ll see below, this Pixel 7 owner ended up buying two iPhone 15 units.
The Redditor wanted to pass the Pixel 7 to a friend after switching to the iPhone 15, when he encountered additional issues, with the Android handset becoming unresponsive:
I recently pulled my old Pixel 7, which I stopped using just last week, out of a drawer to clean it up and let my friend use it. Only to deal with the screen not responding to any touch whatsoever. It persisted through three hard resets and then randomly started working while I was on the phone with T-Mobile for a warranty claim. Screw Google, screw Android.
DarhkTear said he ended up trading the Pixel 7 for another iPhone 15 to give to his wife. Apparently, she had noticed that his “mental state and random aggravation” subsided after moving to the iPhone:
Ended up just trading it in to get my wife an iPhone 15 as well. She switched from an old S21 she had a death grip on and refused to upgrade or join the light side with me, until she said she noticed how my mental health and random aggravation (road rage, getting annoyed at minute small things in day to day etc) has improved an incredible amount. Her words lol.
The Redditor was a longtime Android user, too, given his criticism of Google that concluded his iPhone switch experience. That’s an important detail here:
In my opinion, Android is getting worse because Google has become too greedy and focuses more on gaining analytics and ads than the user experience. It’s frustrating how many glitches and stupidly simple-to-fix bugs Android has now compared to 5 years ago.
At the end of the day, this is a subjective experience, as are all smartphone opinions. There must be plenty of happy Pixel 7 owners out there. But, again, this is a recurring theme here. More Android users are unhappy with their chosen mobile platform than the other way around.
If it’s not already doing so, Google should probably keep an eye on this type of feedback from the r/iPhone subreddit. It might help the company improve the Pixel experience in the future.