Alrighty then I have my fire-retardant flight suit on.

I have an iPhone - and yes it’s an iPhone 7s. I moved to the iPhone 5 and got rid of my Motorola Startac. The reason was because of work.

Now that I’m mostly retired I don’t really need the latest and greatest iPhone. But I do need a new one. The 7s is showing its age and connectivity seems to be a big issue over the past year with dropouts and poor coverage.

Is an Android platform any better or worse than the iPhone.

I’ve not been able to definitively determine if it’s my phone, the carrier or the location if my house that’s causing poor connectivity.

My gut feel is that it’s the location of my house.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: nhtagmember,

If you already use iPhones, I would stick with them

You can get good deals on iPhone 14 models right now

Your issues could be numerous different reasons ranging from your carrier (do they have adequate coverage in your area? maybe switch to a new carrier) or your Wifi router in your home. That iPhone is pretty old and just may be ready to give up.

I second the opinion to stay with an iPhone.

I have used both systems and have been a hardcore Samsung Note and now Fold enthusiast.

Having said that, I recommend you stick with iPhone. My dad switched because it was so much cheaper and he still bitches about it.

The older 7's, may be just having a modem (they do degrade and can even quit) issue do to its age. Another was that they really are not putting money into the 4gLTE systems anymore and have turned off the 2g and 3g systems (both of which the 7s used). 5g is what they are putting everywhere.
iirc the 7 still gets security updates at least through OS 15 but will not moving forward.

Anyway, that is my 2cnts.

Tried the Android thing after being on Apple and the switching of operating systems, is a PIA, nothing other than touching an Icon to open an app is the same.

You are retired though, so have plenty of time to watch utoob videos and learn all the nuances of Androidia....

However if you are comfortable with the iPhone system, moving to a newer phone would be easier, and as was said there are some good deals on the 14's.

quote:

Originally posted by nhtagmember:
The 7s is showing its age and connectivity seems to be a big issue over the past year with dropouts and poor coverage.

This is far more likely to be your provider than the phone itself.

quote:

Is an Android platform any better or worse than the iPhone.

If you can define "better" there may be an answer to your question. If you are talking about connectivity, you are not likely to see much difference between the platforms. However, because of its popularity, you will see far greater third-party support for iPhone models than any single model of an Android phone. If you are talking about user-configurability, it's the opposite. There are only a few models of iPhone and hundreds, if not thousands of Android phone implementations so this is really unanswerable even if "better" gets defined without specifying a particular phone model.

quote:

I’ve not been able to definitively determine if it’s my phone, the carrier or the location if my house that’s causing poor connectivity.

The last is easy to determine. There are apps that make tracking signal strength easier, many of these are free. Move around, see what changes. It is also possible that your phone's radio has lost some juju over the years. Mobile service is radio, and you have to have good signal both sending and receiving. Find a local cell tower and park beneath it.

quote:

My gut feel is that it’s the location of my house.

This is very likely to be the case. Since you can't easily move your home, replacing your phone may be the most effective option. There are also devices that allow you to place a cell in your home. These connect to your provider over WiFi (or mobile service) and repeat the cell signal at an amplified level. Most of these are carrier-specific, so you will need to contact your provider. The WiFi ones require that you have some sort of terrestrial Internet service at your location.

Mobile providers can differ greatly in their coverage areas. This is becoming less of a factor with the various companies merging, sharing cell towers, and building out their infrastructure. Asking family and friends in your locality what provider they use and what their experiences are can be very helpful. The phone repair guys at the local mall can be quite knowledgeable on this topic.

Finally, mobile services are ever-changing, the specific technology your phone uses to connect may be inn the process of being deprecated in favor of more recently-described protocols, this is the LTE/4G/5G stuff you see in ads. So pretty much any newer phone design has a better chance of being compatible with these changes than older models.

You can probably rent a newer phone if you don't want to commit on a purchase. Just swap your SIM into the rental (or have them do it at the agency) and use it for a few days.

Whatever happened to "counting bars?" Is this a lost art?

quote:

Originally posted by nhtagmember:
I have an iPhone - and yes it’s an iPhone 7s.

You apparently are not a technophile.

I have a Google Pixel 8 Pro. I try my best to stay current on as many platforms as possible.

Do yourself a favor and stick with Apple. As I previously stated, you are not a technophile. You will not enjoy "tinkering" with an Android phone to get it to work the way you want it to.

For you, I would recommend the iPhone 13. It uses the same A15 processor chip as the iPhone 14. Apple is still selling the iPhone 13 new. But you can also look on Apple's Certified Refurbished section of it's website and maybe save 15%.

Wi-Fi calling may help with around the house. I use it all the time at home and a couple of other places.

Ask your service provider for a booster you can install in your house. When I moved into my new house, I was either 1 bar or on emergency. Now, I have full bars anywhere.

thanks all

going to stick with Verizon

going to see if I can get an iPhone 13

also going to take DanH's advice and see if I can get a booster

quote:

Originally posted by SigSAC:
Wi-Fi calling may help with around the house. I use it all the time at home and a couple of other places.

this. if the house has good wifi to begin with.

of course this won't help if you are away from the house and the older cellular radio in the phone is indeed having age related problems as they clearly can.

iPhone if you want to be entertained or play.

Droid when you're serious about doing stuff and playing and cutesy is secondary.

I own an I 13 pro (personal cell) and a S 22 Ultra for work..I will say the ultra is just a ridiculously good fast intuitive phone, the I 13 gets way more points for being "cool" as my daughter says. For me, the android is much easie rto navigate but the I13 has a lot of cool niche features. I would stay with the I phone if that is all you are used to.

quote:

Originally posted by Flashlightboy:
iPhone if you want to be entertained or play.

Droid when you're serious about doing stuff and playing and cutesy is secondary.

this 110 %

quote:

Originally posted by Flashlightboy:

iPhone if you want to be entertained or play.

OK

You just love to troll here don't you?

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:

quote:

Originally posted by Flashlightboy:

iPhone if you want to be entertained or play.

OK :rolleyes

You just love to troll here don't you?

Oh, I see you wear a turtleneck.

I recently switched from lifelong android to the latest iPhone 15 Pro Max. I feel pretty confident that my last Samsung (S22?) was a better phone than this iPhone as far as speed and antenna strength (wifi and LTE.) I also prefer a few other things about it but those just come from being in that ecosystem for so long.

The iPhone does a lot of thing very well, of course, and plays very well with others since so many people have them. The battery is much better on the iPhone than any android phone I've ever had and that is a big positive.

Overall, I don't regret switching and probably won't switch back but I do think the high end androids have better hardware than the top end iPhone. In the end, it's just a phone and a browser. If you want to do "serious stuff" you use a computer.

Yeah that serious vs cutesie phone comment made me laugh.

You blasting through spreadsheets, coding, doing design on your phone bro?

No you aren't

Hey, I don't make the rules.

You had a Motorola StarTac? That’s one phone I miss, but that was like 25 years ago! Happily in the iPhone camp the past decade or so. More like decade and a half.