I never thought I’d do it. Honestly, the Google Pixel was the best phone I had ever owned. Hands-down.

It took the best photos. I loved having the fingerprint unlock button on the back of the phone instead of the front. It integrated Google apps incredibly well. My phone would creepily tell me when to leave to go home to make it to daycare before closing time. Data privacy issues aside, I loved it.

So why did I switch? Two reasons: work and family.

Why work?

As it turns out, when you go work for a massive law firm that likely deals with a lot of sensitive info, the email apps you use have to be a lot more secure. On an Android phone, that meant having two separate apps for email and my calendar, living independently of all my other apps. I couldn’t integrate with the Outlook mobile app or anything like that. Security settings wouldn’t allow it.

I learned that wasn’t the case with iOS. All of my coworkers with iPhones were able to use the native calendar and mail apps with their phone. No separate apps needed. Out of pure convenience and seeing all my stuff in one place, it made going to an iPhone an easy decision.

So how does family play a role?

Both sets of our parents have iPhones. My 85 year old grandmother knows how to FaceTime on her iPad. All of the above live at least 6+ hours away from their grandkids. Sure, we could use something like Facebook Messenger or a host of other video chatting options. However, FaceTime makes things much easier. Nothing additional to download. It just works. And makes a big difference for the family.

Worth it?

Absolutely. I went with the iPhone 11 and have been surprisingly happy with it. I very much underestimated how well the FaceID works. Even if I look at my phone in the middle of the night in the dark, it still unlocks. Way better than having to make sure my fingers are smudgy to unlock my phone.

I’ve also been genuinely impressed with the battery life. The 11 has had the longest battery life of any phone I’ve had. Not even close.

The wife also got me a pair of Airpods for Christmas to go with it. I used to make fun of them but have grown to like them quite a bit. They’re surprisingly awesome. I haven’t had a risk of them falling out of my ear yet and appreciate that the case charges the earbuds (and that the case charges wirelessly).

So far, so good. I thought I’d never go back from Pixel but I haven’t been let down so far.

For those of you who have been on both sides of iOS and Android, what do you like better?