Such a struggle - need help choosing new phones for me and my kids.

[moopdog]

I used to be on top of this stuff, but I'm behind this time around. I don't know what's good, what to avoid, etc. We all are overdue for upgrades and I am telling the kids no, but we would like to have new phones for them under the tree.

I have a co-worker who just bought the Edge and I think it's the coolest thing ever, then my husband went to the store to look around & the employee there basically talked him out of it saying they are very susceptible to breaking compared to other phones. I trust myself, but not my 14 year old. So...my daughter says that if she can't get the edge, she'd like the note 6. Keep in mind, that we are both avid iphone users and this will be our first time with anything different. My son (16) on the other hand has only had the Galaxy phones and this time he's asking for an iphone 6 Plus (since I talked him out of the 7, as I have another coworker who hates her 7).

Does anyone have any insight? Is the Note 6 a good phone? Anything I need to be aware of, or is there anything out there that I may be overlooking. Once upon a time, I was curious about the Google phones, are they still a thing? I feel like I'm 100 years old!

** also, if anyone has any creative ways to give them their new phones, let me know. I have done the thing where I wrap the present and then call the number to make the present ring and they have to find it, but that was their first ever phones they got.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

If you have always had iPhones, you may find it hard to get used to Android phones.

Use Google; you can find phone reviews and lots of relevant information.

 

[wenrob]

What is it your coworker doesn't like about the 7? There is not a whole lot of difference between the 6 and the 7. We like our 7s a lot. I wonder if it's iOS 10 she doesn't like. The 6 is a great Phone as well so you can't go wrong either way but if you were able to get a good deal on the 7 I wouldn't shy away from it, the 7 is a great phone.

I don't know much about Android phones, there are so many of them it makes me kinda cross eyed reading about them. The Pixel by Google is the latest and greatest from my understanding.
https://www.cnet.com/products/google-pixel-phone/preview/

One thing, if you get everyone new phones you're going to have to hold off on activating them until Christmas or you're going to render their current phones useless and the jig will be up. We are an Apple family and buying from Apple I've never had an issue waiting to activate but most carriers will insist on it so I'd make clear you don't want to activate just yet.

 

[moopdog]

If you have always had iPhones, you may find it hard to get used to Android phones.

Use Google; you can find phone reviews and lots of relevant information.

I'm just sort of bored with the iphone. And no matter how I try, I cannot get the same photo quality as my son has always gotten with his Samsung phones. Using google has been overwhelming. LOL

 

[moopdog]

What is it your coworker doesn't like about the 7? There is not a whole lot of difference between the 6 and the 7. We like our 7s a lot. I wonder if it's iOS 10 she doesn't like. The 6 is a great Phone as well so you can't go wrong either way but if you were able to get a good deal on the 7 I wouldn't shy away from it, the 7 is a great phone.

I don't know much about Android phones, there are so many of them it makes me kinda cross eyed reading about them. The Pixel by Google is the latest and greatest from my understanding.
https://www.cnet.com/products/google-pixel-phone/preview/

One thing, if you get everyone new phones you're going to have to hold off on activating them until Christmas or you're going to render their current phones useless and the jig will be up. We are an Apple family and buying from Apple I've never had an issue waiting to activate but most carriers will insist on it so I'd make clear you don't want to activate just yet.

Honestly, I am thinking she got a lemon. She can't get her touchscreen to work half the time and she has trouble getting messages to send, where she normally has gotten great service. She should probably take it back, but she's stubborn and just claims to "hate the iphone 7". It's enough for me to avoid it though...just in case.

 

[moopdog]

Oh, we were thinking a) we'll activate ourselves from home - this is still an option right, I've done it before, or b) have them deactivate their phones on 12/23, and they will have one day of no-service. Truthfully my kids don't call or text a lot, so they may not even notice. They'll just be at the house using wifi for snapchat, etc. We may have to make a show of calling AT&T and lying about service issues for a day. I'm not sure

 

[wenrob]

Honestly, I am thinking she got a lemon. She can't get her touchscreen to work half the time and she has trouble getting messages to send, where she normally has gotten great service. She should probably take it back, but she's stubborn and just claims to "hate the iphone 7". It's enough for me to avoid it though...just in case.

Well, three here and no such issues. Apple stands behind their products, a trip to an Apple Store would have her walking out with a brand new one though honestly it sounds like she just needs to reboot it. I get why you would be hesitant though.

 

[wenrob]

Yes, it should still be an option.
Ha, tried to quote but it's all messed up. Putting off activation shouldn't be an issue. There are just some salespeople who try to insist on it.

 

[moopdog]

Yes, it should still be an option.

Okay - I'm all ears, why choose the 7 over the 6 plus? Honestly, I will consider it, I just don't know what it has that makes it better.

 

[hsmamato2]

howard forums is a good source of tech info, forums grouped by type,etc. FWIW, my ds bought a Samsung galaxy 5s a few months back.....I love that phone! it has a lot of nice features,and since it's older it only cost about 115.00 (somewhere online,maybe groupon) I use an iphone 5s,and wish I had his galaxy. Androids definitely allow the user to make the phone very personalized, the iphone is simple and streamlined for ease of use.

 

[Jaime4004]

Another iphone 7 fan. No idea what's different about it from the 6s. I had a 6 before it. No problems, we have 5 iphones in our family so might be a little biased. Not a technical person, but I love the live pictures. Or whatever it's called. How you can press down and see a few seconds before the photos were taken. Reminds me of the photos in Harry Potter...

 

[wenrob]

Okay - I'm all ears, why choose the 7 over the 6 plus? Honestly, I will consider it, I just don't know what it has that makes it better.

I was trying to quote your post about activating but something went afud.

There is not a huge difference between the 6&7. I'd get the 7 if he plans on keeping it more than two years as it's life would be longer, the base model has more storage than the base model of the 6 etc. I'm not trying to convince you to get one though, haha. Was just pointing out that the 7 is a solid phone, your friends issues are not common and could be easily solved. For close to the same price I think he'd be thrilled with a 6 Plus.

 

[pigletto]

Honestly, I am thinking she got a lemon. She can't get her touchscreen to work half the time and she has trouble getting messages to send, where she normally has gotten great service. She should probably take it back, but she's stubborn and just claims to "hate the iphone 7". It's enough for me to avoid it though...just in case.

She needs to take her phone in. That or she needs to adjust the sensitivity on her actual phone. Regardless, if millions of Iphone users were having this issue you would know. I would caution you against taking one or two peoples anecdotal opinions. Most, if not all, of the major phones will be just fine.
I switched between Iphone and Android pretty easily. Was there a learning curve? Yes. And it was annoying at first, but it got easier and easier and I was totally loving my android phone by the time I dropped it in the toilet and had to go back to my old Iphone.
So my biggest piece of advice is to not have your phone in your back pocket when you use the restroom after an eye exam. I couldn't even see to fish it out.

In all seriousness, I would narrow it down to 3 or 4, and then go into a store and pick it up and poke around and see how it looks and feels in my hand and make my decision from there. And then I would go home and order online because there is nothing I hate more than being hounded by the cell phone salespeople.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Okay - I'm all ears, why choose the 7 over the 6 plus? Honestly, I will consider it, I just don't know what it has that makes it better.

If you are concerned with photo quality, the camera on the 7 got a big upgrade. I currently have a iPhone 4s. It is time to upgrade and I am planning to get a iPhone 7. DH plans to get a iPhone 7 plus. We looked at the Samsung phones and DH was very seriously considering one, but we weren't thrilled with Android OS. And we don't really want to move away from iOS because lots of money invested in apps and iTunes music. And after playing around with the iPhones at the Apple store, we were really impressed.

 

[mjkacmom]

Well, three here and no such issues. Apple stands behind their products, a trip to an Apple Store would have her walking out with a brand new one though honestly it sounds like she just needs to reboot it. I get why you would be hesitant though.

Two years ago, my dd's 2 month iPhone 5 wasn't working properly. It took 3 hours on the phone, and 2 visits to the Apple Store for them to finally replace it with a refurbished one. It was a nightmare.

 

[kimj88]

I have the Galaxy Note 6 and I love it. I have always had Androids though, so I can't do a comparison with Iphone.

 

[wenrob]

Two years ago, my dd's 2 month iPhone 5 wasn't working properly. It took 3 hours on the phone, and 2 visits to the Apple Store for them to finally replace it with a refurbished one. It was a nightmare.

Our Apple Stores here go above and beyond. Make an appointment online, go in and they take care of it. I'm sorry your experience wasn't like that, it should have been. The 7 is barely two months old, if the OP's coworker is having major issues she should take it in, it's under warranty.

 

[moopdog]

UPDATE: I should've mentioned we are also shopping carriers (keep in mind we have 2 choices where I live: AT&T and Verizon, lol). We have had AT&T forever. I am currently on the phone with Verizon as they're having a big sale this weekend on both the Edge, iPhone 6 Plus and the Google Pixel. Funny those are the 3 exact phones we're considering. They're phones are basically $15 per month for 24 month contract. I think I'm going with Google Pixel for the photo quality!!

 

[mjkacmom]

Our Apple Stores here go above and beyond. Make an appointment online, go in and they take care of it. I'm sorry your experience wasn't like that, it should have been. The 7 is barely two months old, if the OP's coworker is having major issues she should take it in, it's under warranty.

Ours get pretty horrible ratings, it takes a while to even get an appointment, and then you wait forever. Yelp has them at 2 1/2 stars.

 

[wenrob]

Ours get pretty horrible ratings, it takes a while to even get an appointment, and then you wait forever. Yelp has them at 2 1/2 stars.

Wow, that's crazy. Sounds like they need some retraining.