3 ms·

What’s the alternative? You can buy cheap Android but if you go much below $399 you’ll be replacing it a lot more often. iPhones have been shipping with proces

by nxc18 7y ago

What’s the alternative? You can buy cheap Android but if you go much below $399 you’ll be replacing it a lot more often. iPhones have been shipping with processors a few years ahead of android performance for a while now, and that gives them serious staying power. TCO is very likely lower for even premium iPhone, and this new model is a steal for the specs.

sangnoir 7y ago
> You can buy cheap Android but if you go much below $399 you’ll be replacing it a lot more often. Not true - I've been using using a $100 Motorola G6 for the past 8 months with no issue. I bought it as a "temporary" replacement when I cracked the screen on my $399 X4 which I had used for 2 years with no issue (silly me, with a price that low I decided to self-insure). I ended up using the G6 as my primary phone because it's pretty good phone and does everything a modern flagship can but with expandable storage via microSD - the only downside is that the camera doesn't take amazing pictures
- nxc18 7y ago
  I’m wondering if I have an unfair bias against android. I think perhaps the ecosystem has evolved in the last few years and it sounds like even the more affordable devices are offering good performance now? I’m going to pick up a G6 and see how it goes.
- scarface74 7y ago
  I bought my son a Moto G in 2016. It was dreadfully slow. Not just for games, even simple apps. He was glad when he got upgraded to my hand me down 2014 iPhone 6s, in 2018. I had already replaced the battery. If high end Android phones are usually two years behind iOS in performance, can you imagine how bad a low end or midrange Android phone is?
  - sangnoir 7y ago
    Motorola's G-series is midrange at best - so not only was you assertion wrong; but you don't have to imagine what you experienced. Moto's high-end is the X-series, and frankly I saw no speed difference when I switched between the two (I don't play games, so it's possible my G6 has weaker GPU perf & I wouldn't have noticed).
    - scarface74 7y ago
      The parent post: “You can buy cheap Android but if you go much below $399 you’ll be replacing it a lot more often.” The Moto G is a cheap phone below $399. It was horribly slow. I was referring to that sentence. As far as high end phones Benchmarks comparing GPU and web performance for high end Android phones compared to iPhones are readily available. The iPhone 8 is now two and a half years old and is still faster than any Android phone. Also, compare the performance of the $329 iPad 6th generation to most Android devices. https://browser.geekbench.com/mobile-benchmarks https://browser.geekbench.com/mobile-benchmarks
rchaud 7y ago
The mid-range Samsung Axx range (A50, A70) etc. are in that range and have received very good reviews re: battery life and camera, the two key factors people care about. Samsung's about as reliable as it gets when it comes to Android OEMs.
- scarface74 7y ago
  Are they going to have OS updates for five years like the iPhone 6s?
  - rchaud 7y ago
    Android version updates for 2 years, Android/Samsung security updates for 4 years. As an Android user, I can live with that. My S7 is on Android 8.1. I have a newer Nokia on Android 10. I don't see any meaningful differences. The Nokia has something called "Digital Wellbeing" which I don't use. Everything else, like Fingerprint unlock and stuff like that has been around a few years now. The hardware makes most of the difference IMO. The Galaxy S7 camera handily beats the cheap lens of the Nokia.
    - scarface74 7y ago
      As far as security updates, Apple released bug fixes for iPhones back to 2011 last July....
ido 7y ago
I've had a lot of smartphones & especially with kids they wear out/break before their CPUs become obsolete. My last iPhone was the old SE and I had to replace it after it got so bent/broken after 2 years that it could no longer be reasonably repaired. These phones (android or iOS) tend to last ~2-3 years at our household (2 adults & 2 kids, kids don't have their own phones). I now have a Google pixel 3a I bought at a sale for €300 & it doesn't feel any less quality-wise than my old iPhone did. And unlike the old SE I don't have to suffer the too small screen (I got the SE cuz it was the cheapest iPhone at the time but 4" was really too small for comfort).

by nxc18 7y ago

sangnoir 7y ago

> You can buy cheap Android but if you go much below $399 you’ll be replacing it a lot more often. Not true - I've been using using a $100 Motorola G6 for the past 8 months with no issue. I bought it as a "temporary" replacement when I cracked the screen on my $399 X4 which I had used for 2 years with no issue (silly me, with a price that low I decided to self-insure). I ended up using the G6 as my primary phone because it's pretty good phone and does everything a modern flagship can but with expandable storage via microSD - the only downside is that the camera doesn't take amazing pictures

nxc18 7y ago
I’m wondering if I have an unfair bias against android. I think perhaps the ecosystem has evolved in the last few years and it sounds like even the more affordable devices are offering good performance now? I’m going to pick up a G6 and see how it goes.
scarface74 7y ago
I bought my son a Moto G in 2016. It was dreadfully slow. Not just for games, even simple apps. He was glad when he got upgraded to my hand me down 2014 iPhone 6s, in 2018. I had already replaced the battery. If high end Android phones are usually two years behind iOS in performance, can you imagine how bad a low end or midrange Android phone is?
- sangnoir 7y ago
  Motorola's G-series is midrange at best - so not only was you assertion wrong; but you don't have to imagine what you experienced. Moto's high-end is the X-series, and frankly I saw no speed difference when I switched between the two (I don't play games, so it's possible my G6 has weaker GPU perf & I wouldn't have noticed).
  - scarface74 7y ago
    The parent post: “You can buy cheap Android but if you go much below $399 you’ll be replacing it a lot more often.” The Moto G is a cheap phone below $399. It was horribly slow. I was referring to that sentence. As far as high end phones Benchmarks comparing GPU and web performance for high end Android phones compared to iPhones are readily available. The iPhone 8 is now two and a half years old and is still faster than any Android phone. Also, compare the performance of the $329 iPad 6th generation to most Android devices. https://browser.geekbench.com/mobile-benchmarks https://browser.geekbench.com/mobile-benchmarks

rchaud 7y ago

The mid-range Samsung Axx range (A50, A70) etc. are in that range and have received very good reviews re: battery life and camera, the two key factors people care about. Samsung's about as reliable as it gets when it comes to Android OEMs.

scarface74 7y ago
Are they going to have OS updates for five years like the iPhone 6s?
- rchaud 7y ago
  Android version updates for 2 years, Android/Samsung security updates for 4 years. As an Android user, I can live with that. My S7 is on Android 8.1. I have a newer Nokia on Android 10. I don't see any meaningful differences. The Nokia has something called "Digital Wellbeing" which I don't use. Everything else, like Fingerprint unlock and stuff like that has been around a few years now. The hardware makes most of the difference IMO. The Galaxy S7 camera handily beats the cheap lens of the Nokia.
  - scarface74 7y ago
    As far as security updates, Apple released bug fixes for iPhones back to 2011 last July....

ido 7y ago

I've had a lot of smartphones & especially with kids they wear out/break before their CPUs become obsolete. My last iPhone was the old SE and I had to replace it after it got so bent/broken after 2 years that it could no longer be reasonably repaired. These phones (android or iOS) tend to last ~2-3 years at our household (2 adults & 2 kids, kids don't have their own phones). I now have a Google pixel 3a I bought at a sale for €300 & it doesn't feel any less quality-wise than my old iPhone did. And unlike the old SE I don't have to suffer the too small screen (I got the SE cuz it was the cheapest iPhone at the time but 4" was really too small for comfort).