Why did you buy an Android phone?

[Octagoncow]

In no particular order:

-Not being tied to iTunes and being able to drag and drop my music and videos onto my phone. 

-Having real file management. 

-I still use headphones on a somewhat regular occasion and I like not having to use a dongle.

-I like that I can hide my unused apps easily. I like having very few apps on my home screen. 

-The wide range of prices are a huge plus. The most I've ever spent on a phone is $600 and I don't think I'll spend that much again.

-Cheaper repair costs. 

-This isn't widely available anymore, but I love having a removable battery. 

-Having expandable storage through Micro SD cards. It's super nice that I was able to add 64GB of storage for $10 for music. 

-I like most android phone manufacturers more than Apple. 

 

[GoldenLag]

1 minute ago, firelighter487 said:

that is true. but i was adressing the claim that there is only 1 model, which is false. there are big differences between the Xs and the Xr, so 'one is big and one is small' doesn't cover it either. 

except the Xr is essentially what the X should have been....... sooooo there is that. 

[Subway]

1) I aint rich

 

2) Apple is overrated and expensive as fuck

 

3) I don't want to trade in my body parts to get one Apple phone

 

 

[Emberstone]

I use Android because I can download and install custom apps.

 

Additionally, I don't need iTunes to do something as simple as putting music or photos on my phone, or to transfer downloads off of it. It literally works like a USB flash drive.

 

I don't have Apple telling me how to use something I paid $700 for. I can do what I want with my own device.

 

Oh, and the glorious headphone jack. Praise be to it.

[hobobobo]

Oh, and another thing, Poco, Mi and 1+  are a great answer to why Android>IOs. No matter what you thing about the phones themselves, the quality, finish and polish or whatever, you might hate them or consider them shit, but they are keeping the market "honest" for now and there would be no way for them to do so at this price point if they had to develop their own os or use firefox os or what other open source mobile systems there are (and it would inevatably be unusable unsupported shit)

 

Who knows, another year or two of great releases at great price points and perhaps even Apple will have to rething their business outlook, as they are already doing, not in a huge way though, in India

[Ashley MLP Fangirl]

Just now, GoldenLag said:

except the Xr is essentially what the X should have been....... sooooo there is that. 

well the Xr doesn't have 3D touch for one thing, which is something i use daily so that is already a dealbreaker for me. the X did have it... 

[Curufinwe_wins]

Generic Pros:

Proper file management

Actual UI Customization

Better App Selection (particularly among game and non-game, ie calculator, emulators)

Interaction with any computer without some first party bloat/malware (iTunes on Windows is a literal cancer)

Multiple ways to do things so that you can actually optimize your device usage

Dedicated back button and one-touch app swap

Cost efficient repairability

 

 

Specific to s9+ (or similar phones):

Headphone Jack

Simultaneous use of facial rec, fingerprint, iris, and pattern unlock

Expandable storage

Samsung Pay (MST is ludicrously more convenient than any other phone payment system)

 

Also Apple's business practice and rampant anti-consumerism is unacceptable.

[S w a t s o n]

I buy android because:

 

1. Apple's business practices hurt my soul (sure long device OS support but good luck on hardware defects or out of warranty repair)

2. Being able to use my device the entire ecosystem rather than the apple ecosystem

3. Actual competition between OEM's means that each flavour of android gets different features that push the industry forward

4. Pricing/Sales (I got a brand new S9 for $210, $0 up front)

5. Repairability

6. Apple normies actually trigger me and I don't even want to be associated with them now

7. I have the option to side-load apps, not locked down nearly as much as iOS

[Salv8 (sam)]

you could quite literary google how android is better and get so many reasons that the video length would be inconceivable...

i run a google nexus 5x because

a. it was my first phone i got

b. i've had it for 2 years and it's never failed on me (both software and hardware)

c. it still gets security updates even though google doesn't support it anymore (last one was 5 of December 2018)

d. it's ruining android 8.1, it will be a while before it's impossible to run it with newer apps and services.

e. all it does is receive texts and calls, check my emails, watch the occasional video on plex, check discord and twitter and thats it, oh yea and have notes on my home screen to remind me to do things...

and thats basically it because, well, it's cheap, easily expandable, can do a lot more than IOS and also be less restrictive as a whole, run the most powerful and least powerful devices in the world, and have an entire community back it up with third party rom's and the like...

i like android, it's nice...

[GoldenLag]

i almost forgot. 

 

last time i checked multitasking is present on Iphones. which is a dealbreaker for me. 

[Sfekke]

Short Version :

• Customization
• Price <-> Performance
• Shier amount of choice

 

Long version :

 

I like to be able to choose the exact phone that suits me.

With features I care about and a price that I can comfortably take it with me without the constant fear of dropping/losing it.

Hardware wise I look for battery life, good camera, screen size, a headphone jack and to top it off a fingerprint scanner.

Spec wise I aim to just be able to watch YouTube/Play Music and use apps like snapchat/steam/facebook messenger to chat while occasionally playing a simple game to pass the time.

 

Android also allows me to use it the way I want.

I don't like the default Music player on newer iOS versions, Play Music or whatever Samsung/Huawei throws on there.

PowerAMP is my go-to.

 

Homescreen/launcher wise I also don't want clutter.

No folders with "Default Apps" or anything, Nova Launcher just let's me hide that stuff.

 

At last with Android I get to upgrade every year or two.

As I don't pay much and don't try to get the latest flagship.

I don't want the bleeding edge in my pocket, I'd rather spent less to get more in the long run.

 

That is why I buy Android phones and specifically mid-range ones.

They do what they need to do and so much more, they lack some of the latest features but .. do I really need AI in our camera app or that latest flexible display?

[Shreyas1]

There’s one type of phone that runs iOS, and many that run android 

[Thaldor]

With HTC U11, probably not all specifics but mentioning:

-More choice in smartwatches with full features (example: I have used Polar Loop, Samsung Gear Fit 2 and currently Gear S3 Classic and Polar A370 with notifications and everything working (at least Polar A370 doesn't get notifications on iOS and IIRC Samsung Gears have abysmal support on iOS))

-Storage expandable with microSD card (HTC uses Androids less used choice to seemlessly expand storage with SD card while at least Samsung and Google use SD card as separate storage)

-More choices to unlock the phone (pin, trusted BT-devices and trusted locations in my use)

-No need for specific program to manage files in the phone with PC

-Customisable UI

-More choice in apps (like camera apps, media players, browsers, email apps and so on, the essentials)

-USB-C OTG

 

E: Also sideloading apks, because reasons

[givingtnt]

Because I can use it for network security with Kali Nethunter

 

Something impossible on an iPhone.

 

Also cheaper.

[iLostMyXbox21]

To be truthful, the main reason I use android if for development, I make android games (never released, I just make them for practice) and I need a way to test it without uploading to google play, so I will make an APK, plug in my phone to my laptop, and drag the APK into system files, then I would go there and do what I need to do to download it, then it was all good, i can test it within minutes, but it is a much more complex thing on IOS, something about MDM profiles 

 

edit: plus, headphone jack 

[suits]

I switched from iphone to android 90% for a headphone jack. And 10% for apple changing almost everything I used on ios (and macos for that matter) for the worse. As an original iphone user, I watched apple go from cool tech, to top of the game, to losing its way and it just drove me nuts; once having a stable, convenient, easy to use product, to having some of those things, some of the time.

[soldier_ph]

-Customizability of the launcher and the UI

 

-Headphone Jack

 

-Google Services are embedded into the OS

 

-Batterylife, Dash Charge (OnePlus)

 

-USB C

 

-You can get very Cheap Android phones like the Alcatel 1X that just do the Job

 

-Open Source, no Stupid walled garden

 

-Apps look better on Android, for example WhatsApp is just grey on iOS, eww

 

-You can download whatever you want onto it

 

-Many different price and performances classes, every budget is covered

 

-Easy to use

 

-Wide range of accessories

 

-No Stupid expensive Dongle life

 

-Many different Brands

 

 

 

[duncannah]

It was the other option, basically.

[Epic Wink]

Cheap, and I have so much more control over pretty much anything on my phone. In addition, Android has better integrations with my PC

[MattLifewalker]

I just moved from iPhone to Android last month. I went from a 5s to an S9. I had been wanting to make the jump for a couple years. Apple just hasn't excited me with anything they have been putting out and i especially don't agree with their anti consumer practices. I didn't enjoy owning a device that required me to live within an controlled ecosystem. I am a customer not livestock! Freedom to use the device how I see fit is such a huge advantage. Owning an Android phone is like a breath of fresh air. I can customize it to my liking and load whatever apps i want. The things i can do with this phone out of the box would require me to jailbreak my iPhone, but even then i still wouldn't be able to do everything my S9 does. Apple would have to change their entire game for me to switch back.

[XR6]

I got my Galaxy S7 because Android is more customizable and there's more apps. My iPhone SE just felt too restrictive.

I don't want to pay upwards of £600 on a phone unless I can make it look and feel how I want it to be.

 

 

[Fetzie]

Most important reason: I still get a headphone jack on Samsung phones.

Seriously. I don't want bluetooth headphones because

1. you have to charge the damn things at least once per week,

2. I will forget to charge the damn things at least once per week,

 

I don't want USB-C headphones or a USB-C to 3.5mm adapter because I like to be able to charge my phone while listening to music or watching a video and not annoy everybody around me. Watch a couple of movies on a longer train ride and see what that does to your phone's battery.

 

I can buy a brand new last year's flagship for a third of its price new (Apple still hasn't dropped the price of the iPhone 6/6S)

 

I can plug it into my computer and transfer files as if it were a USB stick

 

Expandable storage. If the 64GB on my S8 isn't enough, I can add another 256GB to it.

 

I prefer finger-print authentication over face or iris detection (I wear glasses)

 

 

I don't give a rat's arse about installing custom roms or other app loaders, that's not as important to me.

 

[GameOverman]

I have an s8+. i love the form factor. the battery life is great and the camera is not that bad. expandable storage is nice to have even tho i dont use it.

Who ever releases a phone with a decent battery and a high refresh rate screen im in. Rog phone/ razer phone are tempting 

[linkboy]

For me, it came down to a few things. The last iPhone I owned was a 4S.

 

I hate the fact that Apple restricts what you can and can't do with your phone. Want to set a different default web-browser, you can't. Want to use a 3rd party keyboard (this was back in 2012), once again, you can't.

 

I hated the fact that I had to jailbreak my phone just to get the functionality out of it that I needed. It just turned into a huge ass headache every time a new iOS update released, waiting for the next jailbreak.

 

I'm also not a huge fan of how iOS is layed out. I'm so use to having an app drawer.

 

I bought a Nexus 4 right before the Nexus 5 released and I've been on Android ever since, and I don't see myself leaving. My current phone is a Note 8 and it does everything I need my phone to do. I have my homescreen setup how I want, I have the default apps that I want, I have a 200GB SD card in it and the S-Pen is freaking awesome.

 

Basically, in a nutshell, Android allows me freedom to use my phone how I want to use it. I don't feel like I'm fighting my phone.

[LinusOnLine]

Cheap has never been the answer for me since Sonys flagship models costs the same or more than other brands. Mostly been about the camera, design and android mainly because it is open and not locked like Apple. Apple has never been an option for me because of bad value and their entire business idea.