Are iPhones better than Android phones ?
I was planning to spend my Sunday afternoon by sleeping on a comfortable bed, but life had different plans. I ended up having a heated argument with a friend on the typical iPhone vs Android topic.
To quote, his statement was:
“That’s a huge misconception. People buy it because it’s better than others”
Not just that this misconception is not true, there are misconceptions about Android phones being better than iPhones as well.
After that argument ended, I realized, you cannot really compare iPhones to Androids. Why you may ask ?
Because, there are usually 3–4 iPhones launched every year. How many android phones are launched in the same time gap ? Any guesses ?
As per reports, there are more than 1500 phones launched only in the year 2020. And that’s just the new launched phones by different companies. We’re not even considering the already-in-market phones that users are already hooked onto.
So for comparison we’ll have to compare two similar phones.
Are Android phones better ?
Generally speaking, NO.
When iPhone was launched, it was revolutionary , but android has innovated itself to a level that its on par with what the real concept was. To a point, where both the phones are visually same, using almost the same hardware components, and reducing the battle between them to just the Operating Systems.
Android works on Java, which works on Java Virtual Machine (JVM). It is basically an emulator working on a piece of hardware that just runs the emulator, compared to a framework that communicates directly with the hardware.
Its not tough to guess which other operating system communicates directly with the hardware? iOS.
As a result of this excessive processing requirement, android in general, needs almost 3 times the RAM compared to an iPhone to give similar performance.
So, are iPhones better ?
Well, NO.
Now if we compare any iPhone to an average android device, its definitely going to outshine it. But lets get onto the real deal here, iPhones are premium devices. You HAVE TO compare an iPhone to another flagship device.
Let’s pickup a Oneplus 8 pro for an example. Oneplus is a company known to squeeze as many good features as possible with the least profit margin there is.
Other than RAM, which is 3 times more than the best iPhone, which we’re considering equal,
The processor is better,
Screen is bigger,
Refresh rate is more,
Camera is better if not on par.
Then what makes iPhone better ?
Apple doesn’t sell iPhones.
Apple doesn’t sell iPhones, apple sells you a lifestyle. Apple in their entire history, never tried to sell a product as a product. They have always tried to sell you a lifestyle. iPhones in themselves are very normal phones. Good phones definitely, but not the best ones. They do what they’re supposed to do, and that’s it.
But when you buy an iPhone, you enter their ecosystem, and that’s where the catch is.
You buy an iPhone, you will get a seamless integration with their apple watch, airpods, macbooks, and other accessories. All your data will sync magically between all these, as if its just another extension.
Apple is shifting their entire business model from hardware to services, including;
- Apple music
- iCloud
- Apple TV
- Apple arcade
- App store
and they plan to make average of 50$ per user per month from these services.
That’s HUGE !
An iPhone, more than just being a phone, is an entry into these services and product lines, creating a bubble of apple ecosystem, which is easier to enter and almost impossible to exit.
Also, apple supports their iPhones for around 6 years post sales, which almost no android based phone company does.
And that’s what makes an iPhone great.
Android is for masses.
Android is an operating system ,which is built in a way that it can run on any machine, with any specs. More you give it, more it can consume. And that’s DIFFICULT TO DO.
For the same piece of code to run on all phones, with all different screen sizes, processors, RAM capacity, and giving a largely similar output is extremely hard to pull because of the way it is designed.
And JAVA was the key to it, its platform JVM ( as mentioned earlier ), is a weakness, and also its biggest strength. Only Java could let you do that when Android was being developed.
Android has allowed companies to focus on just the hardware requirements, without indulging too much into developing an operating system.
Nokia, a giant of a time, launched symbian, and failed.
Microsoft, an all time giant with maximum market share in personal computers, failed.
Blackberry, after being one of the most successful companies out there, failed.
Android is not a company, its not made to make profit, so it flourished.
Android is the reason why even the poorest of the poor has a smartphone today.
Being an open-source operating system, companies can easily tweak the code to their requirements and use it in their devices. This facilitates affordability and innovation.
If you can afford a flagship android phone, that will be the best phone in the market.
Now, which one should I buy ?
It eventually comes down to a personal preference mostly.
Can you think of a reason why you like a particular song? Then no, there’s no reason why you should buy the other one. They’re two different ecosystems designed for the same user.
They’ve grown so much parallel to each other that, from a user’s distant perspective, it all looks the same. There’s absolutely nothing you can do on one device that you cannot do on other.
Concluding,
If you don’t mind learning new UI every 1 or 2 years for brand new features, go for Android.
If you like consistency, and don’t get bored of similar looking interfaces or you own any apple products already, go for an iPhone.
fin.
