Each year, I use an iPhone as my primary phone for a month or two for EFTM purposes. After that, I continually had to go back to my Android phone because I missed certain functionalities that I found only on Android.
Although there is not all that much difference between using an iPhone and a good Android phone these days, it has just always been too much of a difference for me to get past. There were many things I had gotten used to being able to do on Android that you just could not do on an iPhone.
But not any more.
After using an iPhone 16 Pro for the last couple of months, I can honestly say that virtually anyone could use either iOS or Android and get basically the same experience. Of course, there are a few exceptions to that, but I’ll discuss those later.
Read on to find out why I could now see myself with an iPhone in my pocket year-round.
The good (there is no bad here)
Let’s be honest: The iPhone design has not changed much in the last few years—and there’s no reason it should have. It was and is probably the best-looking smartphone on the market, so much so that you will see many parallels between its design and that of the Samsung Galaxy S24 and Pixel 9 phones.
Other smartphones now have metallic rails around the sides, which still give the iPhone a premium look and feel. This year, the bezels around the display are much smaller, and I’m here for it—who doesn’t want smaller bezels?
The rear of the review iPhone 16 Pro is made of white matte glass that looks amazing and does not show a single fingerprint. The camera island is also glass and blends beautifully with the rest of the glass.
Of course, the bottom of the phone now has a USB-C charging port, and although we all know that the EU dragged Apple into the present to implement this, it is a truly great addition to the iPhone.
The good
Face recognition is great and works mostly with a mask on, which is incredibly handy for me as my job requires me to wear a mask 90 percent of the time. Even with my thick lead-lined glasses, P2 mask, and face shield on, it was still able to recognise my face and unlock. Incredible.
There are third-party logic apps on Android, such as Llama and Tasker, that allow you to create multiple shortcuts, etc., using logic. However, Apple has included Shortcuts as part of the OS, and I love it. Although I am still only scratching the surface of what is possible, I have found it incredibly useful.
Using Shortcuts, you can automate certain functions that you need to perform at any time, in any place, and in any condition. Add this to the Action Button’s capabilities, and you have a very powerful tool at your fingertips.
The iOS solution for password managers is also great with the ability to use as many password managers as you want — I use Bitwarden, the iOS keychain and Google Chrome, and they are all easily accessible from the keyboard by tapping the key next to the password prompt. Unfortunately, Android does not play this nicely with passwords and password managers.
The bad(ish)
The basic UI software on which all the iOS bells and whistles are built has not changed in a long time, and it should have. It is outdated and much more challenging to use and navigate than the default on Android.
There are so many instances where a back gesture would be appreciated. The inconsistency of apps, both third-party and Apple apps, regarding how to go back a step is mind-boggling. I tend to only use a few apps in general, so I got used to which gesture to use each time, but Apple really needs to fix this. Add a back gesture like Google has included in Android. Especially in this world of larger phones, it would come in extremely handy and useful.
Although the home screen includes the ability to add widgets, it is also subpar compared to that on Android. With Android, if you don’t like the manufacturer’s home screen, you can install a third-party one to add functionality and use it how you want.
I’m not going to go into notifications again like I did last time because they are basically the same. Pop-up notifications are good but the lack of any real useful functionality with said notification is incredibly shortsighted and/or pig-headed. I got used to just manually checking the notification drawer each time I opened the phone (which is a lot as I used my phone all the time for work) but I shouldn’t have to do this. It shouldn’t take so long.
Scrolling in browsers, including Safari and Chrome, is nowhere near as smooth as that on Android phones, and the navigation between open tabs in Safari is hit-and-miss.
One gripe I have about using the phone every day is that the hotspot keeps on having to be toggled when it loses connection with my laptop. I do this maybe a dozen times a day, and waiting for it to reconnect is a major pain. Guess how I solved it—with a Shortcut a friend gave me that somehow turns on the hotspot and makes it stay on.
Apple CarPlay is more useful than Android Auto in some ways – you can use the keyboard while driving, which I am not sure how legal this is given the road laws, or more importantly, if it’s a good idea even if it’s legal.
In other ways, it is far behind Android Auto, especially in layout options, app functionality, and more. Apple hasn’t changed CarPlay much recently, but it needs to. It’s getting old and stale and is now far behind.
Win after win here
Do I really need to say any more? We are only just seeing Android phones begin to be released/announced with Qi2 (the equivalent of MagSafe) so this monopoly on magnetic charging/accessories will end soon but Apple was the first with this and is still the best – at this stage.
Hopefully, Apple will continue to innovate. However, they often seem reticent to take chances, preferring to be the best marketer rather than the first to market. So far, they have been—their upcoming AI release may well prove that once again.
I use MagSafe for everything: a car phone holder, charging on the go with a portable MagSafe power bank, a home charger, and more. Why wouldn’t you? It’s the best thing to come to smartphones in a long time.
There are only good vibes here.
The iPhone’s camera has always excelled, and this year is no different. Although we awarded the Pixel 9 Pro the best smartphone camera at this year’s EFTM awards, the iPhone was not far behind.
This year, the iPhone 16 Pro has the same camera setup as the larger 16 Pro Max. This includes:
This year, Apple has included a Camera Control button, and although I’m not entirely convinced of its various functions as a default setting, I think it’s a big win for iPhone users. The button can be used to open the camera app and then, within the app, to quickly adjust settings with a single swipe.
It can adjust Exposure, depth, zoom, cameras, styles, and tone. However, these settings can also be adjusted in post-processing, so I’m not entirely convinced of the need to include a button for them. You can also revert this setting/style in post-processing. I keep it on the exposure setting, but you can easily choose and change it to others on the fly if you want.
The night mode is good but not up to the standard of the Pixel 9. Google seems to use a lot more AI processing on the Pixel 9, and the results show. Hopefully, we will need to revisit this when Apple AI is released later this year. As you can see below, though, the imagery is still amazing, with some stunning shots, no matter the light levels.
Yet another win
Apple’s vertical integration of the entire iPhone hardware and software, all in-house, has resulted in not just a fast operating system but an incredibly efficient operating system. Some of this is because the background app functionality is lower on the iPhone, but in my everyday life, I did not notice much difference at all.
The big difference was the battery life, which was much better than any equivalent Android smartphone I have used. Even accounting for the smaller battery of the iPhone 16 Pro (as opposed to the Max or the XL of the Pixels), the battery life was incredibly impressive.
I have always struggled to use smartphones for more than a full day during a workday, but with the iPhone 16 Pro, I was closer than ever. Weekends were a piece of cake.
Charging is still not as fast as nearly every single premium Android smartphone on the market but the MagSafe options make it easy to charge wherever you are.
Was on Android for years but already more successful on the iPhone
The Action Button debuted on the iPhone 15 Pro last year and this year makes it to all iPhone 16 models, not just the Pros.
I love the idea of a button that you can program to do whatever you want. They have come and gone on Android phones with some manufacturers using them to call up their assistant (either Google’s or Samsung’s) but ended up being general action buttons. While they have disappeared from the Android landscape, now may well be the time to reintroduce them with the new AI functionality.
I use the Action Button on my iPhone to run a shortcut, which changes its actions depending on what else is running at the time, where I am, etc.
There are subreddits dedicated to just iOS Shortcuts if you wish to learn more yourself, or even just download some that others have made (1,2)
Of course, it can do other simple things pre-programmed into the iOS software, including:
Will it be actually useful?
Based on the rumours we hear and see online, Apple AI is expected to be a game-changer. It is unknown how much of this will be performed onboard, but we are excited to see what Apple does with AI.
We have yet to see examples of generational AI that are truly useful. Apple has the reputation of ‘Doing it right.’ Well, I’m waiting to see actual use cases for AI. I don’t trust it to summarise which of my emails are important, etc.
Will we see Apple use AI behind the scenes in the camera app just as Google do so well? I think so. Do I want more AI in my camera app – not by default, thanks, but in post-processing that you can manually perform afterwards? Sure. eg. Google’s Magic Eraser.
I don’t want AI to try to figure out what I’m taking a photo of and alter the image to look like what it thinks it should. I want the image to portray what I am taking a photo of, complete with darkness, shadows, etc.
The iPhone 16 Pro is AI-ready, and with its imminent release, we can’t wait to test it out. However, at this stage, it is still mostly unreleased to most iOS users and we won’t see it fully released until next year – and so we need to temper our expectations of Apple ‘getting it right’ with AI, and the existing lacklustre offerings from other manufacturers’ Generative AI experiences.
In the end, even as a long term Android user I cannot see anything holding me back from switching easily to iOS and an iPhone. Sure there are small differences where iOS does some things better and some Android does better so in the end you have apositive whichever you choose.
You would need to choose which one does the things you want most the best. For many users, either of the platforms will fulfill all of your needs, which, as consumers, is great because it give us much more choice.
The iPhone 16 Pro is a great little phone which is compact but extremely powerful, offering a high-end camera with unmatched videography in a build qaulity that all other companies strive towards. The software in parts could really do with an overhaul but I can’t see Apple changing their UI any time soon which means that the Android user experrience will continue to pull ahead.
Apple does have many tricks up their sleeves and are trying to incorporate many changes into their old, clunky system. Once you get your head around how you want to use the phone though it can work well for you. If you are an Android user and are curious I’d say give it a chance and give yourself a few weeks to get around the UI idiosyncracies before making any snap decisions (same goes for iOS users heading to Android too).
No longer is iOS something pure Andorid users will hate. They can be easily interchangeable and for that I give the iPhone 16 Pro two massive thumbs up.
Scott is our resident open technology expert. If you can mod it, or want to use it your way, Scott has probably done it. From Laptops to phones, headphones and game consoles, he’s played with it and wants to see the next generation.
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