5 Reasons Why I Can't Ditch Android For iPhone

There's no denying Apple is on top when it comes to smartphones.The anticipation for the newest version is always a blockbuster compared to competitor's initial sale. The iPhone is a real worldwide phenomenon and deserves respect from all angles, from the design, the material, and technology within. Enough credentials to make users switch specially when budget is not a problem.

I like apple products but I am still using an Android phone and I know, I might be the odd man out when I am with my co workers and friends.  I do not have the guts  to tell them exactly why I am still stuck to my Android device and not jump aboard the apple boat, so here is the list my Android can only do!

Removable Battery.

Over time, the life cycle of a rechargeable battery decreases with every charge, until it finaly reject any incoming power. Android do not have a problem with this, a new battery is always available and can be replaced without special tools and hours of watching tutorials. A flick on the plastic cover is all it needs. Though some metallic cased android phones can suffer the same fate as apple.

Removable Memory.

Buy Micro SD

Like the removable battery, expandable memory should be a must. 16GB might sound much 5 years ago, but the advance in hardware, like the camera, HD features, LTE's, internet contents etc., mean your files are much easier to obtain and bigger in size. And these need a bigger "container". The removable memory is the simpliest and cheapest solution to this, which android phones provide. It could be a marketing strategy to provide apple users the minimum GB's to buy cloud storage, but man, the cloud could only be accessed using internet protocol. And why do you need to connect to the internet to access your files?

Easy File Management and Connectivity.

Transfering of files is as easy as drag and drop when using Android. The device is always dicoverable and files ready to be processed whilst USB connected to a computer. Apple would lead you to download itunes before you can do anything. Transferring a file to and from the device needs this piece of  software to work. It seems like it defies the logic of simplicity, the drag and drop, which is one of the computing features that makes things easier.

The bluetooth feature is not optimised with apple. It only supports in and output interfaces like external mouse/keyboard input and external speaker output. It does not support bluetooth file transfer even to an apple product. Androids do not have this problem. Anything can be paired and transfer can be initiated, except with apple products. 

USB Compatibility.

Buy Micro USB

Androids can be charged with any micro USB tipped charger, which happens to be almost any mobile brands. Apple as always, needs the propriety lightning connector to do the job. Micro USB's are also used by other electronics like cameras, tablets, navigators and others. These means you have a better chance to get charged when you forgot your charger.

Infra Red Blaster.

This could be the earliest human interface device to remotely control the power button of a machine but still we can not live without it. Almost all remotes rely on this old technology which the newer device makers have already ditched infavour to the modern internet protocol controlled. Though this technology is far more sophisticated and can control a device from the other side of the globe, the IR blaster is still irreplaceable. Like when the apple TV remote is lost, my Samsung NOTE saved the day, in fact, I have it configured to control the SKY TV, the Philipps DVD and the Sharp TV at home. At work, it can turn the TV at the staff coffee room on and off, flick it's channel and turn down and up it's volume. It can also play a frank at the apple store  by controlling the apple TV there!

Always Win On Any Mobile Tariff

Mobile phone tariffs are expensive specially with the latest handsets. This could cost you at least £30 a month to have one. If you are not ready to pay for the introductory price  then it is best to wait until it drops which could take at least two years for an apple product, and one and a half  for the samsung. This is because this is the usual time for the new variant to fill in the shelves.

If you can't wait and want to have the top of  the line phone now but want to haggle for a better price, then what you can do is to maximize the discount you thought never exist. Here's a "streetsmart" list of how you can do this.

1. Pre Order Offers

Carphonewarehouse is generous in offering free items and special prices when a new variant is about to go on sale. Watch out for offers at least 3 months before the release of a new product. They are  usually generous in giving samsung tablets or other related products for samsung new releases.

2. Cash Backs and Free Gifts

After the preorder season, most mobile phone resellers will follow with cash backs and free gifts. You can find them from Dialaphone, Phones 4 U, Carphonewarehouse and so on. Freegifts can range from game consoles, laptops and the popular tablets.

3. Discount Codes

Google discount codes and the search will bring up results with specialist sites offering usable discounts. Look for the code you can use for your favourite mobile site and it is only a matter of typing or copy and pasting it to the voucher code space when you check out. You can save from £3 up to £100, depending on the tariff and product using these sites.

Try typing voucher codes or discount codes to the search engine below.

4. Join Cash Back Sites

Joining cash back sites give you another freebie with your normal order. Just like affiliate sites that give commissions to click on a link, they like you to use their links for you to get a cashback in the form of money. These sites are better that affiliate sites as you can usually withdraw anything payable in your account rather than waiting to accumulate threshold payment from affiliate sites that could be somewhere between £30 to £60 before you can touch it.

Like discount codes,  there are generous offers from £30 to £100 or more per transactions. Here are two of the best paying cashback sites.

• Topcashback
• Quidco

5. Haggle With Your Existing Operator

If you are renewing your contract, you can haggle with the network to give you a better deal from your old contract or to give you something in return for you to continue there services. Discount tariff of up to 50% or going unlimited calls without paying extra are only some of good offers.

Here's the list of contacts for the top UK operators.

• 3 mobile or 333
• EE/T/mobile/Orange  or call 150
• O2 or call 202 
• Vodafone or call 191

How to Choose Winning Mobile Tariffs

There are thousands of mobile tariffs out there that can confuse someone on choosing the best tariff. Sometimes, it is not just because the contract is cheap, it is already a winning tariff. The way to win is to maximize the function we really use and avoid the additional allowance we do not need. If we do not consider our calling habits and the amount of data we use whilst using the network's signal, we might be better off with a more expensive one with sufficient allowance to accommodate our usage.

According to Usage

Calling habits is easier to track than using data calls or in other words, going into the internet using the network provider's signal. This is tricky when users do not know how to distinguish between using their network's data signal and the network's free Wi-Fi. A friend of mind ended up in paying  £200 on his daughter's phone as a consequence. If your network's Wi-Fi is not accessible where you usually use internet outside your home and you use the internet a lot, it is better to get a deal with more data and take off the  free Wi-Fi deal however attractive the deal is like the picture below. The deal on the right is then better in this situation.

Adverts:
White iPhone4S £25/month

Consider the Price of the Handset

Other way to determine if your tariff is a winner is to consider the stand alone price of the handset. Subtract this to the total amount of the contract and the remaining figure shows the amount of what you pay for the service. If this amount is sensible when compared to the number of minutes and data within the contract then it is a winner. Let's take for example the deal below. 

The iPhone 4s has a standalone price of £449. The cost of the contract for 24 months is £630. This means a difference of  £181 that is equivalent to the contract allowance of 100 minutes, unlimited texts, 100MB data and 2GB of Wi-Fi.

Whilsts the Galaxy Note 2 is priced at £549.95. The cost of the contract for 24 months is £696. The difference is £146.95 which is the cost of  600 minutes, unlimited text, 500MB data and 1GB of Wi-Fi. If you do the math before you buy in here, you will know that this deal got the star buy.

Advert:

GalaxyNote2 £29/month

Win on Pay As You Go

If you do not use your phone too much and just use it mostly for emergencies, the best deal for you is pay as you go. Aside from no monthly contract to worry about, there are also additional benefits of having it, depending on which network you're on. I myself is a pay as you go customer and I am connected to these three networks for different reasons.

I choose orange to primarily avail of their Orange Wednesdays deal. Two cinema tickets for the price of one. 

O2  gives me 10% cash back on top ups and unlimited texts and calls to any O2 mobiles when topped up with £15.

Vodafone international sim gives me 100 minutes of international calls for £15. The top up credit will only be deducted if I call UK numbers or countries that are not included, or when I finish the 100 minutes international allowance. Click here for countries that are excluded.

And to win more from pay as you go tariff, if you are already 6 months with your network, you can get a discounted phone pay as you go upgrade from carphonewarehouse. The phone they provide as an upgrade is unlocked! You could save half the price compared to the standalone price of an unlocked phone. Click here for more details!

Smart Way to Choose Mobile Tariff

There are thousands of mobile tariffs available out there which is useful and good. But sometimes they are confusing and not easy to compare and making it hard to decide to choose which one is the best mobile tariff according to one's needs. Tailor fit tariff might not be really attainable but by choosing it simply according to what you do most can trim the thousand choices into a manageable and clearer level.

Just by jotting down what do you do with your mobile, your personality and the way you communicate and other  factors like the number of friends you have which are your regular contacts and the nature of your job also contribute to the decision which contract to have. Considering all of these factors will reduce your monthly out goings and that means savings for your pocket.

If you are a light user who doesn't fancy flashy smartphones and texting is the primary means of communication you make, opting for 500 texts with minimum amount of voice calls, usually 30 minutes in a month, and 100MB of internet will be sufficient. You can get this tariff cheaply for at least £4 a month. See deals here.

If you are a heavy voice call user, say at most 500 min per month usage, then add at least £5 to the £4, around £9 a month, can get you through without surcharges. You still get the unlimited texts and 500MB of internet in a month. See more deals here.

For internet on the go users the least price to pay per month for a 500MB of data, unlimited texts and 100 minutes voice calls is £7.13 cost effective. Cost effective means the total round off price of the total amount of contract less the discounts. The discounts usually are in the form of a cashback where in you need to send by post your monthly bill to a designated address and at a specific date. See more deals here.

If you are a smartphone conscious person and you are always looking for the best deal on smart phones, there are deals that can offer you free for a top of the range products, starting from £25 a month contract. There are also gift giveaways with these like laptops, tablet computing, games console, TV's and many more. Even if the effective costs of these purchases will be the same if you buy these separately, it is still a win situation because, it is like you have paid by credit card, paying on monthly basis but without the interest. Not like when you have paid by a credit card in one go and paying the balance every month plus the interest or by a debit card with no option but to splash the cash in one go.

See smart phone deals here.

 Choose your free gift here.

Practical thoughts

The cheapest tariff may not always be the cheapest deal to everyone, depending on the user's usage. A more expensive deal may still be cheaper in the long run considering what's bundled within the contract. Make sure that the voice call you take and other built in bundles with the contract is sufficient to avoid surcharges. Internet data could be very expensive when you have gone beyond your limits!

Look out and be careful for cheaper tariff on new fancy phones as they are usually bundled with the least voice and data bundles.

When a new device is on sale, it is the best time to grab the former best seller like the phones above. It pays  to wait until the new arrival comes.