Time to upgrade. Note 20 Ultra is my hopeful plan...

So, my Note 8 is about to trip 3 years old. It's on an irregular monthly cadence of updates. Given Samsung's promise of 2 years of OS updates, and then a rather unspoken year of security updates, that puts this device at retirement age.

I'm on Sprint. No, wait I'm on T-Mobile, on Sprint's towers, or towers that were Sprint, but are now T-Mobile.

I do enjoy my Note series. I've had the Note 2, 4, 5, and now 8. They've been a solid performer for the most part. Weirdness with the GPS on both the 4, and now my 8. Granted, I'm not really going too many places currently, but when I do... I need it to work!

I'm likely to go for the Note 20 Ultra. Don't you just love those flashy terms.. Ultra, Pro... No thanks, but they didn't ask me. I want this model, as they took out the microSD slot on the regular note. Given all the video recording I'm doing for my better half, there's no way I'd want to subject my internal storage to the constant recording we're doing. I'm equally annoyed at the loss of the headphone jack. You can dongle a jack, but again... *grumble*

I was looking at discounts I could snag.
* By myself through T-Mobile, with no trade in value, I think I'd get $50 off for $1249. *choke*
* BestBuy with a BestBuy visa. 6% reward off $1299 + additional %5 (total 11%) capped at $50 reward for a total of $125 off. Better than nothing.
* My dad found that if you buy one Note 20 Ultra or regular Note 20, and buy another of equal or lesser value, you get 24 monthly bill credits totaling $1000. A grand off... that's... impressive.

So... then there's the lovely Mrs. HC. She's sporting an iPhone 8+. She's shattered her 2nd screen protector, and recently demolished her Otterbox case. The phone is still intact, but her carrier is confusingly weak up here. She can't make or receive calls in her office (not a big deal at the moment, but at some point...). Her phone bill for her line comes in around $72 all said and done, with phone paid off.

If she moves her number to my parent's family plan from VZW, her line would be $25 a month. 2 lines for $50. $1000 off the purchase of two devices. She could get the regular or ultra. We'd pay my parents for the devices upfront, and automate payment for the monthly line charge.

If my math is right, I'm thinking that's a pretty decent deal.

If my gut is right... Mrs. HC is willing to make the switch, but she's going to really miss her iPhone. I'd love the discount, but for as much as I rail against all things Apple... I do want her to be happy. She thinks it makes financial sense to do the $1000 discount. Admittedly, I'm disappointed you can't pair an iPhone into this deal, just to give her the option, even though my mental health would take a hit.

She's contemplating... I want her to be really committed to this before I tell my parents to pull the trigger. If she agrees, it will be a bit of a learning curve for both of us. Have to figure out how to get Apple to stop grabbing text messages into iMessage, and then get her setup with equivalent apps, and setup family sharing of my purchased apps for her. Then there's the whole getting her acclimated to Android environment. That's going to be the really hard part. I've tried to get her to use my Note 5 which I've setup for Google Voice on her account, but it mostly frustrates her and has sat idle for a few weeks now. That doesn't bode well for the sudden and forced change should she upgrade with me.

If there's one thing in our marriage that separates us...it's our phones. She hasn't taken to Android, and I'm no fan of Apple.

 

I'd be cautious. I think this is a very dangerous solution. (I'm only half kidding). Understand the wanting to save money, but... you know, happy wife, happy life, and all that.

 

Yep. That is certainly true! She needs to decide for herself if she can really do this. If she can't I will figure something else out.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 8 using Tapatalk

 

I'm with Hook on this one. There's a lot of risk moving her onto the Android platform, especially with an expensive phone. But....I have an idea.

Buy 2 Note Ultras for....what....$1600, plus the added line? Drop your insurance -- that'll pay for the second phone and you'll have a backup. After a week or two, port her iPhone over to T-Mobile onto that added line. She'll be happy with the familiar phone and better service (get her a new case and screen protector).

What could possibly go wrong with this plan!

 

I've only once had to swap in my phone, and that was under warranty as my Note 4 could not get GPS. Samsung pushed some sort of bad update, and hosed the GPS. The store I went to, ultimately upgraded me to a Note 5 without any extra expense or modification to my plan. I've never busted a phone... *knocks feverishly on wood* So, if I managed it right, I'd have a pristine Note 20 Ultra at the end of it's life-cycle as I'd never use it. A good insurance plan...

This decision is like buying a house, or a car. I can't push her. That jump from one ecosystem to the other is a doozy. And if she really doesn't like it... I'll be the one hearing about it for the next 4 years. That would serve me right, as she's heard about her phone from me for just as long. Paybacks can be a...

Did you hear? Samsung changed their policy starting with the S20 and Note 20 series. OS upgrades for 3 years, and unofficial security for another for 4 years of support. That puts it on par with Google's Pixel phones. They also made it retroactive to the S10 and Note 10 series.

 

my unsolicited advice, stay a 2 OS household. Hook is wise, although I've never successfully followed that bit of wisdom. I'm not sure if switching to android would be easier than going the other way; I suppose if I wasn't just playing around with my hand-me-down iPhone 6s on occasion, but had to get used to using it as my only device, that the pain would subside quickly...maybe.

 

I don't want to push one way or the other. I've pushed against iOS for too long. Pushing back against Android is just going to compound it. I've planted the idea. Whether or not it grows is entirely up to her now. She's a wise person and I trust her judgement. If she wants iOS... that's what she'll get. She does want to move to T-Mobile though at the very least. Verizon just isn't cutting it for signal strength. Moving to AT&T doesn't make sense as she'd still be paying far more than on a family plan and would be off by herself on a personal plan yet again.

I'm letting the idea marinate. Dad may ask what we want to do, as he's gearing up to upgrade to the S20, and move my mom to that model as well. Similar deal on those devices. I'll let her answer if he asks. Whatever she decides, we'll make the best of it.

 

HC - I hear your pain, being a 2 OS family, a strong dislike on your part for Apple, wanting to save $ and her happiness.

I also can understand how she must feel switching from iOS to Android. It is a dilemma & it is really real. It was so difficult for me to switch to Android from Palm but I had to. I stuck with Palm about as long as possible but that road came to a dead end. I think it would have been impossible for me to switch if Palm was still alive & thriving while trying to use a new OS. For some of us our phones have become an important tool for our trade & life.

As much as it pains me to say it - I would not have her switch - it simply is not worth it IMHO.

Good luck!

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S4 using Tapatalk

 

I'm with Hook on this one. Better let Mrs Hc remain in the dark side, but try to frequently flaunt your new Note 20 Ultra in her proximity. Who knows, maybe she'll decide to give it a try. If not, well, iOS ain't that hard to figure, right? I mean, the answer to any support question is usually "no can do", right? <dons helmet and duck>

I considered the Note series when I was buying my new phone, but settled on the S10+ mostly because of the SD slot (available only on the Note 10+ but that model was too expensive for my budget) and 3.5mm jack. Now that Samsung has dropped the jack across all its flagship series, I think I could consider a Note for my next phone, hopefully not before 2 or 3 years.

I had read about the 3 years of support promised by Samsung. It's great news, even if they did say "up to 3 years". But they did include the S10 series, so I can hope to see Android 12 some day

 

Somewhat off the topic of the thread but related (in my mind): did you know that sharing a link from something in Photos (Google app in Android) requires the recipient to have a Google account to see the photo or video? I did not…but now I know how long it takes to use MMS to share ~130Mg of video (quite a while)