Or as another title would be – from broken Android phone to iOS without any other choice.
This unwanted migration started while on second day of vacation when I accidentally broke my Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018) which I was using at that time. Phone broke that even service center wouldn’t service it without paying almost 150€ for display replacement. And what was weird coincidence phone broke on Sunday, which really fucked me up for a about 30 hours until I got Apple iPhone 6. Thank God that I used prior to breaking device 4G and Hotspot feature were enabled to get 2 files on friends laptop from his Google Drive which helped me to connect on my laptop and get to search phone for 100€ or less (used devices market was TBH 💩 at that time and near place I was plus almost everybody wanted way more then phones are worth).
I got that iPhone 6 with original packaging, unused EarPods, original cable (which I had to replace with some off-brand braided cable as soon as I got home because it was bit broken which annoyed me), some case and screen protector (that 2 items got for free because I said to guy, I can pay you 500 Croatian Kuna for device if you can get it to me and he got to me and gave me new case and new screen protector as gift as I paid what he wanted).
On day that I got device, most of time using it was spent on installing apps and configuring them (at least some basic apps like WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and banking applications). Thank God all apps that I use on daily basis were available on App Store.
During initial setup phone was still on iOS 11, but few days later and few gigabytes of mobile network later (because WiFi reception at another location where as family got to stay was really bad on all devices) it was updated to iOS 12.4.8 which is latest available version of iOS for this device.
Let’s talk about experience switching from Android 10 with OneUI 2.0 to iPhone 6 and iOS 12.4.8 – it was sort-of seamless. I mean, I have been using iPhone’s prior to this as work phones but only for brief periods of time (mostly weekends and once for a week while our Galaxy Note 8 got to Service Center). I missed few great features like Dark Mode and Android Back button, but not a big deal.
Now, let’s talk big fish in this sea – connectivity. It is fine for 4G (LTE), but for WiFi and Bluetooth is was horrendous. I mean seriously, with other phones I can get WiFi from my room where is router up to living room which is about 9m away with 2 walls between, but with iPhone I would need to use 4G just to get network in living room. Plus, even if I connected to sister’s AP (created as repeater for his room to have better network coverage) WiFi was horrible.
For a Bluetooth – well I had to be with receiver on (now old) SBox BT218 headset in visible positioning to iPhone otherwise it would be song – stop for a second (connection drop) – song for minute – move a bit to left with receiver and losing connection for a few seconds until I gave up and connected EarPods.
Otherwise stability of device was good, specs are perfect for this good old device.
Battery life wasn’t perfect but it was usable with Power Bank and cable near me at all times as device could survive about 7-8 hours with 1 to 2 hours of SoT with bit of 4G, photo shooting and regular calls. On plus side, still have original battery inside with 70% of Battery Life left in it.
In that week I shot almost 500 photos and got few videos too in 1080p 60FPS (which I enabled as soon as I got device, that was switch in smoothness from 1080p 30FPS that I used on Samsung).
Now, camera is just fine for normal shots in good lightning, I can’t say anything bad about it. But at night and darker situations it is, well, bit of dog 💩. Seriously, I had to edit photos later just to gain some brightness and ISO so photos can be shared to others from vacation.
Some examples of shots can be found in Google Photos Gallery
(mix of daily shots and night shots).
Here are some videos in various lightning situations, all shot at 1080p 60FPS.
View video examples on YouTube Playlist
Now here is conclusion in two parts – how it was to get back on Android and in part two I will say for what is now this device used.
Main conclusion is – this device served me well until I got Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro. Device despite age of it is still capable to be working phone for somebody who is careful with battery or replaced it. After switching back to Android I don’t miss any feature from iPhone to be honest.
And now, for what is now used after switching to Android phone back – it is used as music player and YouTube player prior sleeping. Yup, because of size it is perfect for those things at night.
Cover image is shot on Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro, this review was written on iPhone 6 and all other photos and videos are from iPhone 6 and are my work.
Updated as of March 19th 2023 as test YouTube videos are removed from my now old YouTube channel and will be uploaded later on new channel.