Still a great phone, here are my thoughts…

It’s been a month since I made the decision to switch back to iOS after being on Android for around 2 years and what a month it’s been!

Switching back to iOS was something totally unplanned as I love my Google Pixel 7 Pro, but my mobile contract was up for renewal and I decided to go for it after receiving a pretty good deal.

I’m not usually big on mobile contracts, I tend to prefer going sim-free and either buying the phone out or getting it on finance, which is what I did with the Pixel 7 Pro.

However, this time around I was offered a pretty good deal and it was for the iPhone 14 Pro Max.

I know that this may surprise many of you, but it was almost £20 cheaper per month compared to the iPhone 15 Pro Max they had on offer at the time.

It just goes to show that sometimes it’s better to go in-store as some providers can customise deals to match your usage, and my honesty isn’t massive. On average, I don’t tend to use over 10GB of data per month, so I opted for a smaller data package. My previous package had 60GB of data which I was never using.

This is the thing with mobile tariffs, it’s important to understand your usage as it can save you a lot of money!

Anyway, it’s been around a month since I moved to the iPhone 14 Pro Max and I decided to share my opinion, particularly as it is 2024 and the iPhone 14 Pro Max was released in 2022.

What I like about the iPhone 14 Pro Max

I wanted to start with the things I like about the phone because it’s actually still a really nice phone.

A lot has changed in iOS since I last used an iPhone full time and I absolutely adore the always-on display. I was always concerned about using this feature as I was worried about the battery life.

But the iPhone 14 Pro Max proves that you can use it without, it affecting much of your battery life. To be fair, it is early days, but it will be interesting whether I think the same in 6 months or even a year’s time.

Based on my usage, I think that the phone performs incredibly well, I don’t tend to be a heavy user or play games on my phone, but I do use it to record footage for my YouTube channel.

Battery life

I’ve already mentioned that I’m satisfied with the battery life and the always-on-display. But on an average day of my life, when I travel into the office the phone copes incredibly well and I don’t have to charge it at any time during the day.

Just to give you an idea of how a day of my life looks, I usually charge my phone during my morning routine. I then head out to the train station where I catch a train to the office. Depending on which office I go to, the train ride can take anywhere between 45 minutes and 1 hour and 45 minutes.

During this time, I usually listen to music and podcasts on my phone. As my train goes through the beautiful British countryside, I like taking photos, especially during sunrise and sunset, so I guess that also eats into my battery.

Throughout the day, I use my phone for communication as well as paying for things during break. Speaking of which during my break I tend to go on social media and occasionally watch videos on YouTube.

Then I repeat the train journey back home. Speaking about the train, I also store my train tickets on my phone, so it’s important that it remains charged.

On the Pixel 7 Pro, I would have to top up the charge on the phone at some point throughout the day, but I haven’t had to do that on the iPhone 14 Pro Max yet. In all fairness, I didn’t have to do that initially on the Pixel 7 Pro either, but we will see how that goes over the next couple of months.

Camera

When it comes to taking photos and recording videos, I don’t class myself as a professional, I’m far from it, but the iPhone 14 Pro Max takes some incredible pictures. Unfortunately, I haven’t got any worth sharing, but I do tend to share them on X when I take them, so feel free to give me a follow.

Where this phone really does shine is in videos. As a part-time content creator, I don’t tend to own any professional camera gear, especially as the footage and photos that smartphones produce are incredible.

But as an example of the difference between the camera quality, here is a YouTube video I mainly recorded with the Google Pixel 7 Pro and here is one I mainly recorded with the iPhone 14 Pro Max. Not sure if the video quality difference is noticeable, but in my view the video seems to be slightly better on the iPhone 14 Pro Max.

The ecosystem

I guess one of the main reasons I switched was the ecosystem, after getting a MacBook, I just couldn’t resist.

But in all seriousness, I know that for many, the ecosystem isn’t important, but once you experience it and start making good use of it, it can be difficult to let go.

I too once wasn’t convinced about it until a friend demonstrated some of the things it can do. I mean I love that Apple devices are designed to work together seamlessly without any issues as it improves productivity.

I know that Android ecosystems are a lot better than they used to be, but I guess you have to experience that for yourself to understand.

Speaking about devices working seamlessly together, I love the idea of a shared clipboard as I am able to copy text from my phone or iPad and paste it to my MacBook.

I also like the idea of focus modes and automation. For example, I can set up a Focus profile that activates when I reach the office and I can set awesome things such as watch faces on my Apple Watch, home screen and lock screen based on the apps and widgets that will be most beneficial to me at that time.

The list just goes on and I will probably have to write an entire article about it!

What I don’t like about the iPhone 14 Pro Max

Traditionally, there are a few things I don’t like about the iPhone 14 Pro Max, the good news is that the things I like outweigh the things I don’t like!

Starting with the charging port…

It doesn’t have a USB-C Port

To many, that may be a deal breaker, but I don’t mind and to some extent, I actually prefer the Lightning port, I mean it’s smaller and feels more sturdy.

But at the same time, it would be nice if I could charge my AirPods Pro with my phone or be able to easily borrow a cable when USB-C becomes the main charging cable.

I know that there are people out there who don’t like carrying extra cables with them, but there are solutions for that. For example, I tend to carry the CAFELE USB-C 3-in-1 retractable charging cable, which I honestly think was a good buy. It features a USB-C, Lightening and Micro-USB cable making it the perfect accessory for your everyday tech carry.

It lacks the Pixel experience

Over the last two years, I’ve become a massive fan of Google Pixel. Having owned the Google Pixel 6 Pro and still owning the 7 Pro, I think that Google has done amazing things to their phones, especially when it comes to taking photos.

But the one thing I really miss is the At A Glance feature, which is basically a widget that tells you useful information at the time you need it. For example, it shows you calendar events, flight details, and weather, the list is endless!

There is a Google app on the phone, but unfortunately, it doesn’t have the At A Glance widget which I think is a shame as it would have been a great addition to my home screen.

In all fairness, I haven’t taken many photos with the Android 14 Pro Max, but in terms of taking photos, I actually prefer the Pixel experience, it may be because I’m more used to the app, but I just feel that something is missing when taking photos with the iPhone, which I think is strange.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I’m very satisfied with the iPhone 14 Pro Max after using it for a month.

I think it will take a while for me to get used to the experience and to make more use of it after using a Google Pixel as my main phone for around 2 years.

During that time I used an iPhone SE from 2020 as my secondary phone, but I never really used it to the full, which is kind of odd, but the entire experience of the iPhone 14 Pro Max is just so much better.

But is the phone worth it in 2024?

That depends, I mean I was able to get a pretty decent deal on it and the model is only 1 behind the current model so I guess it’s not that bad.

I mean as a phone, I think it’s a really good phone, especially in terms of performance and camera quality.

But what you have to bear in mind is that Apple will likely release a new iPhone this year.

Therefore, if you are looking for a decent phone for a bargain, the iPhone 14 Pro Max may be a great choice!

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