10 Reasons the iPhone Beats Android

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Mark Spoonauer

Editor-in-Chief
Jan 21, 2014
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Thanks for your comment. First, this isn't Tom's Hardware. It's Tom's Guide.

Second, this article has been updated with the latest information and benchmarks. It's not recycled. And information that can help people make a buying decision isn't clickbait. For those who prefer Android, there is a good counterproint here. https://www.tomsguide.com/us/iphone-is-better-than-android,news-21307.html That was updated in Sept.



 

stavlocker

Prominent
Dec 16, 2017
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1. While the A11 is better, you won't notice the difference between an A11, A10, Snapdragon 835 or a Snapdragon 821. Because it's all more then enough even for the above-average phone user. Talk to me when you on a daily basis / normal use do things that you find slow on the, let's say the Pixel 2 XL, S8, or the Oneplus 5t.
2. While iPhones have excellent cameras, so do top notch android phones. While if you inspect the picture you might find that the iPhone 8 might take a shot that's a little better looking than the S8's (for example) camera, you won't be unsatisfied with the S8's camera. The top android phones, S8/S8+/Note 8/Pixel 2 XL all have cameras that might even be better than the iPhone 8/8+/X 's cameras. (Sidenote: Google iPhone X vs pixel 2 xl camera on tomsguide (yes, this website) and see which is better. It's a tie, but in the important categories that you use everyday like group shots, selfies, food & outdoors the pixel 2 xl won).
3. If you actually presented an actual argument here instead of a broad statement I could argue with it. The only example, the Face ID, is unnecessary. It's literally the difference between putting your finger on the scanner to instantly open the phone (without having to look at it), and looking at it then swiping the screen. Plus, you keep hearing about twins opening each other's phones, kids opening their parents' phones, colleagues opening each other's phones. This just proves it's not as safe as the reliable fingerprint scanner.
4. I'd love to argue but there's nothing to argue about since it's just a plain wrong claim. The modern Android (let's not bring up the old android which just looked... bad) is beautiful and easy to use. The consistent material design is beautiful. Not to mention that you can change everything. You don't like the launcher you got with the phone? Install one from the play store, such as Nova Launcher, the sexiest & best launcher ever (IMO and many others' opinions aswell). Don't like the Icon Pack you got? Just change it to the system icon pack, or install one. It's really really that easy.
Not to mention the fact you have to use iTunes to transfer a file, the simplest operation ever, from your computer to your phone. Not to mention that because Apple wants it's users to only buy products made by them it doesn't have sleek support with Windows, the most popular (and best (IMO)) operating system. Not to mention the awkardly jammed back button on the top of the screen in apple VS the universal, easy to use, effective & intuitive back button on all android phones. Not to mention the fact that the notification center looks exactly like the lockscreen for some odd reason. Not to mention the fact that you can only toggle settigns via the control center and not actually control them (I enabled my Wi-Fi from my control center, but now I want to connect to a network. I can't just long-click - I must exit the notification center and enter the settings). There are just too many examples to prove this statement wrong that I won't bother continuing.
5. iOS upgrades usually contain as little as new emojis. Leaving that aside, it's a pain to upgrade. You get this agressive screen that keeps asking you to upgrade. On Android it's as easy as letting update overnight and you just wake up with a new version. And, it's quicker. Plus, OS updates come as quickly as the provider can adapt them to the phones, sure, but that won't happen anymore thanks to Project Treble that Android Oreo gives us. Even without Project Treble, OS updates come in a sufficient rate. Think otherwise? You can install official/unofficial ports of specific OS versions & ROMs thanks to the extremely large Android developer community.
6. Uhh.. No. Like, just no. Some apps come first on iOS, some on Android. It doesn't even matter because you won't ever notice it. I'm an android user and I never found an app I wanted missing. Never. Neither does a lot of people I know the use android never complained about this. So I guess it's just a false claim, and if there is some true in this claim then it's just a stupid claim because it doesn't matter. Really. You don't have to make up reasons you may prefer iPhones over Androids, you can just find some. They exist, because android isn't perfect.
7. Nope. Like, no. It depends on which phone and where you're getting it from. Just because T-Mobile put a bunch of bloatware on some of the phones they provide it doesn't mean there's a problem with Android, it means theres a problem with T-Mobile. Plus, unlike iPhone not all installed apps have to be on the home screen so you won't notice it. On the slight chance that they exist, bother you, and you still want to remove them and you're feeling a little geeky just root the phone and remove them.
8. Well duh. But Macs are awkward to use and it's widely agreed that Windows is the operating system everyone uses. Android also have nice integration with computers. Not to mention that it's extremely unnecessary. It's just an example of how Apple likes to trap it's users in it's Apple world, never letting them out. "Oh, I'll just buy the mac because I already have the iPhone and I want it to connect to my computer" unlike "Woohoo, I have an Android and I can do whatever the hell I want".
9. What? Google Wallet. Android Pay. Samsung Pay. Apple Pay. All the same.
10. On the Android device you can just add another account and install their apps. If you still want this unnecessary feature, create an account for the entire family and pay through it.
11. Well no. It doesn't have the best support & help. It depends on which phone you're using. But your provider will probably love to help an Android phone out just like they would with an iPhone. Not enough? Just google your problem and find the solution over the huge Android community.
 
Feb 27, 2018
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Look no matter what they say on how much they like Android they are still iFans. It plays well will Mac, iTv, iUnderware whatever. I have owned iPods they were the first real mainstream MP3 player but I have never signed on the this buy everything Apple thing.

If Apples are so easy why do people need to find support ?
I never had to find support for Android devices because ..... the OS is easy.

Some parts of the rant make semi sense but only if you buy devices like the Galaxy S9 and I do not recommend them. Buy Google Products you get zero bloat and you get updates a year before they are blessed by your carrier and Samsung.

Apple Pay ? What makes that any better than Google Pay. Any place that has contact less pay takes Google Pay "In Canada this means most places" . Latest Google Pay update allows you to send money too, though found no reason to use this yet. Yes Samsung Pay if you want supports MST but really magnetic strips are not safe, and this is why they are no longer supported in Canada. You remember the fraud stories where fraudsters have two machines one to read your strip and the other to create a duplicate ? In Canada all cards have chips and require PINs. Besides people are you going to spend an extra $500 to get your iPhone X.


Yes I agree buying anything other than a Pixel is something I would not do, but I am not going to sell my Windows machines and spend a premium on Apple machines.

They actually said iTunes is a good thing ????
 

jeffc73oc

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Sep 14, 2017
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This article is highly subjected. Iphone easier to use? I will give you that. For out of the box no frills for like teens and kids or less technical people it's great. But for power users who truly want to push the envelope of utilizing a smartphone, Android is king. Why have a smartphone if you don;t use it to it's full potential. Bloatware on Android? Yes this is a problem and the manufactures should put their foot down and tell these carriers if apple can get away without, then we should have that option. Or at least make the bloatware apps uninstallable not just disable. But then again, just buy direct from the manufacture like Samsung. No bloatware. Also Samsung pay is just as easy and works almost everywhere and definitely in more places that Apple/Google Pay. Oh and family share for apps? Google has that now also. Most people don't edit high end video with their smartphones enough to factor in the speed thing. Most high end phones are plenty fast enough. That is like saying I will take the Ferrari over the Lambo because it can do 220 vs 200 when you probably will never get over 90. Camera quality? I won't go there. Most people don't have a good enough eye to be subjective and the true photographers opt for DSLRs anyways. And better with MAC? Yes but my wife never utilizes this feature.
 

KilluaXGod

Commendable
Feb 18, 2016
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I can agree with some of the points, but the argument of apple pay is not that relevant. Android has had a pay option since android 5, which was released in 2014, just after apple. Android pay also works on basically any android phone running a verified version of android since 2014, including Samsung, and is really simple to use; You unlock your phone and just scan on the terminal and your default card gets charged, or you open the app and slider over to change the card being charged. The reason samsung pay exists is because Samsung has implemented MST (Magnetic secure transmission) into it's phones, which allows their phones to work at nearly every card reader that doesn't have an NFC tag in them, but however Android pay can't utilise this feature as not all android phones can have it.

Also the screenshot for the bloatware is using a screenshot of a 3 year old version of Android on a smartphone, and it isn't their fault for having the bloatware: T-mobile is the one that put it there. Recently Samsung bloatware has gotten much, much better, even with carrier phones.

As for the app store argument, it's a mixed bag really. Yes, some apps come out earlier, but it's more up to the developer to do so, since it takes less time for an app to be released on Google play store than Apple store due to apple's extensive checkups of the app. It's also cheaper to release an app on Google play, but I guess that the fact that it's easier to optimise apps for a small amount of iOS compatible devices still keeps developers coming in.
 
May 21, 2018
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Apple overpriced nonsense (great Business Model) which ties you down to ridiculously-priced units and accessories
Apple lock-down users to expensive hardware and add-ons
Apple is basically for morons/geeks/juveniles who watch fantasy films and live in a fantasy world, who don't wish to 'think' about anything, apart from which character to masturbate over in Game of Thrones

Android has its faults no doubt, but:
Much, much cheaper to add-on hardware and accessories
Easier to personalise
Bottom-line is that if you can be arsed spending a few moments optimising Android, the end game is paying nearly 50% less for a comparative system
 
Jun 7, 2018
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Great blog Mark. I too believe that iPhone is much better than Android as its more classy and sturdy than any other android phone, it got better hardware quality (as you mentioned) whether its camera or the touch. The new face id in iPhone X is more precise than Samsung galaxy series. Kudos Mark.
 
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