I've been a long time Android user for as long as I can remember, but with my S7 Edge reaching the end of its life after a solid two and a half years of daily service, I fancied a more dramatic, Apple-shaped upgrade.
Don't get me wrong: I still like Android, and will defend it to the naysayers. But after three Android phones on the trot, I wanted a new experience to play with - mostly just so my new device can be satisfyingly 'different'. With that in mind, I dive-bombed straight into the deep end of the pool and plunged into the depths of the Apple ecosystem with the 256GB XS Max.
To save you time, my overall impression is that the XS Max is a damn nice phone, but the price Apple want for it is just absurd. You have to pony up £1,100 for the base model, which comes with only 64GB of non-expandable storage. Applications these days are pretty fat in size: your staple social media apps are approaching half a gig each, and of course the phone is capable of data-heavy 4K 60fps video recording. All of this means that 64GB is just not enough, and Apple know this better than anyone else.
Instead of offering up a sensible 128GB option (which in 2018 would be the sweet spot for a high-end phone), Apple makes you jump straight to 256GB. While nice to have, it means you're now paying £1,250 for a phone just to make it unrestrictive. But hey, it makes for a juicy profit margin for the trillion-dollar behemoth of a company.
Despite the insane pricing, people are still buying these phones at a consistently strong rate. I suppose that's what piqued my curiosity to switch to iOS; these phones must be amazing if they're still pulling in all these customers with that price. So, coming from Android, how is it for me?
Well, there's absolutely no denying just how much more smoother and well-optimised things are in the iOS world. In Android things can feel a bit disjointed with inconsistent UI and app designs (though it's miles better now than what it used to be), but iOS is undeniably on another level with fluidity. That comes at a double-edged sword, however, since the only way to achieve such consistency is to make the software incredibly closed off. So yes, the 'It Just Works' mentality is nice, but the lack of customisation can make iOS feel soulless.
Am I an iOS convert? Definitely not, though I do appreciate it for its own merits. I think if iPhones were similarly priced to Android flagships then I'd be swaying towards Apple more routinely, but at the insane price of the XS Max, I am unfortunately seriously considering a return.