This article is 6 years old. I wonder how much smaller the difference between a $100 Android and a $1300 iPhone (or Android flagship) is now? Especially if you were to choose a Chinese brand like Oppo instead. I guess the $100 display and camera will be massively better than 6 years ago, while the top end will have had only incremental changes.
We use the Galaxy A15 as a test device for entry level phones in our lab. I get to spend a lot of time with it while testing and debugging. There is absolutely no difference compared to a more expensive phone.
Of course, there is the occasional lag (and by lag I mean that you have to wait a couple of ms/s for things to happen), and maybe you won't see the camera used on a movie set... but beyond that, you can live your life and never miss anything from that iPhone.
Using such a device, you also immediately become aware of apps and websites that were released a bit too quickly - heavy, clunky things take longer to load, and you're more likely to abandon a heavy app/website.
So once again, I ask you to optimise your front-ends (both web and 'native').
i used to get phones in the $100-$150 price range. and i'd usually buy a new one after a year or so because the old one became unusable. screen damage (not cracks, but mostly defective touchscreens or lines appearing), bad battery, etc, things that are expensive to repair, and not worth it for a cheap phone.
but for my last phone a year ago i got a refurbished phone that would have cost $300-$500 new. and the difference was massive. this phone has a way better battery life than i can remember from any of my previous phone. it has a better camera and more ram, and is faster (when previously i felt that more ram and faster cpu would affect the battery life negatively)
now this is just an anecdote, and it is very subjective, but i came away with the impression that spending more in a phone can be worth it.
the downside is that for my usage this phone doesn't last any longer than my previous ones. i broke the screen and had to replace it, which wasn't cheap, and the new screen also has some cracks already, which means my average spending on phones will go up if i replace this one with something similar next year.
It been a couple years since I was testing, but as a game developer I can tell you the performance difference is significant (altho I wonder if it’s due to driver quality or middleware being less optimised for android hardware).
I believe it was around 2021-22 when I was thoroughly testing but at the time even a 5 year old iPhone was faster than a brand new mid-range android (one of the Chinese brands that had good specs on paper).
And by faster I mean an integer multiple higher FPS, not just a little faster.
My guess would be that popular software like Unity and Unreal is much better optimised for iOS GPUs.
One interesting point he made in there was that with his phone costing only €99, he doesn't feel like he needs a case. Who cares if it gets damaged? Just buy another €99 phone.
Any phone that requires a case is going to be bulkier than one that doesn't so this automatically means that the iPhone will be bulkier in the pocket than his budget Android.
If you go the budget phone route you'll probably buy a new phone more often because why not. They're cheap. If next year's model is a decent upgrade you'll probably get it.
I run into people with iPhones that look like they've been through hell despite the case, glass cracked in three places, edges scuffed, outdated model... because frankly they can't afford a new phone all the time so they have to live with this one. But they'll say they just HAVE to have an iPhone and would never consider Android.
Personally I'm somewhere in the middle of the two extremes with a Samsung A5 that costs a couple hundred bucks. Maybe I should ditch the case.
I use an old cheap android but do choose to use a case, not because of the cost of a replacement, but because I don't want to spend time and effort in finding and setting up a new phone.
And personally, I find it better ergonomically with a little more thickness. One auxiliary benefit is that I can throw it around without caring.
One drawback of the smartphone ecosystem is that as far as the aftermarket is concerned, there are two smartphone brands: Apple and Samsung. I broke the display on a Pixel 3a XL in New Orleans, looked around for a repair shop, and found one -- that refused to fix my phone if it wasn't one of those two brands.
iPhone users can walk into Target and find all manner of cases and other accessories with a variety of styles designed to fit their phones. Samsung users enjoy almost as much diversity. For my replacement Google Pixel, I had to go to Amazon and get a plain case from China that almost looks 3D printed.
I used to think so but my current android has terrible heat management. Maybe bad battery or I may have doomscrolling for too long. The battery got bloated without me noticing it.
AppleCare and better materials all but obviate the need for a case.
These days, dropping an iPhone is unlikely to result in cracks or display damage. The glass on these phones is really strong. However, if that does happen and it gets bad enough to need replacement, with AppleCare, you basically tap a few taps in the Support app and a new phone will be at your front door the next day.
Totally different story if you don't have AppleCare, but I think that it's a no brainer given the cost of these devices.
I think this depends on you as a person. I say this as someone who swears by apple care as I have managed to break 2 phones without taking them out of my pocket:
1. Setting up some light deck and resting it on my thigh, heard a crack, phone smooshed
2. Intoxicated managed to bump the corner of the railing for my mum’s stairs slap-bang in the middle of the phone screen, through my jeans. Phone looked like it had been hit by a bullet
Apple care is a lifesaver for this sorta stuff but AFAIR you can only get it for the first three years of a device. After that you’re on your own
I do have my phone in an apple silicone case, and a cheap screen protector. However, my previous phone a 12 pro in the same setup survived flying out of my pocket at 65 mph on a motorcycle with 0 damage. (I think it got very lucky, and landed flat, screen side down, where the edges of the case somehow protected it). Thankfully it narrowly avoided being run over by a car when I turned around to find it.
I’ve been amazed at what iPhones after the 6 have been able to survive. My 7 which I have kept as a backup is still kicking except for the camera being destroyed by vibration.
However, I do keep my phone in a back pocket usually and mostly take it out of my pocket if I sit down.
> AFAIR you can only get it for the first three years of a device. After that you’re on your own
They have a monthly plan now that renews indefinitely. It's pretty recent so I wonder when they will start cutting those off (like I can't see them still supporting phones that have entered their "legacy" status)
I have a Samsung that was less than $100 USD new. The only things that bother me are that it only has 2.5G WiFi, the camera is average, and it is slow to boot up.
It still costs more than a screen replacement, but at least if I buy a new one, I know I'm not getting a dodgy screen.
The gulf is even wider now. The flagship will have significantly better cameras, faster SoCs, better materials (though this has always been the case) and better screens (top notch OLED with ghosting mitigations and ultra low latency touch response vs a cheapo LCD).
