Why did you buy an Android Phone?

[AlTech]

So, I saw Linus' "Why did you buy an iPhone?" post and I watched videos criticizing his iPhone XS video.

About half of my friends use iPhones and half use Android.

 

Although I've seen many Uni students using iPhones.

 

And I figured I'd make a post in response for Android.

 

Why did you buy an Android Phone?

 

I'll start with my reasons:

* Android AOSP is Open Source software - I fundamentally dislike proprietary software and if given the choice between something which is open source and something which is propreitary, 9 times out of 10 I would pick the open source choice if it was as good as the proprietary choice.

* Android is customizable - I can change things to suit my liking and I have complete control over my phone.

* Android is just so much more intuitive - When I want to do something on Android, it's simple and intuitive. On IOS it takes me several times as long in order to do something and just is inefficient and not intuitive.

 

Other than Android OEMs not providing inadequate android OS support with most lasting 2 years officially with many being possible to support for many years unofficially, and Google's data collection, there's not much wrong with Android imho.

 

And yet so many pick IOS over Android.

 

*** I'd love to hear from current Android users - For bonus points, please list what Android Device(s) you're currently using and why you are using that particular one *** 

[voiha]

Because there is no other alternative except Apple's iOS

[Morgan MLGman]

I bought a Samsung Galaxy S9 after switching from iPhone SE. I've used both iPhones and Android devices and I was tired of Apple's iOS, buggy updates and battery issues. Apple also had no direct competitor to the S9 as iPhone's 8 design is outdated and the iPhone X is ridiculously priced (along the new X-line phones).
I'm super-happy with my S9.

I now ordered a Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 as my work phone and I'm waiting until it ships to the company for me, we'll see how the Snapdragon 835 device fares against the Exynos 9810 S9. I've also never had a chinese phone so I was curious about the build quality and software.

[minibois]

My phone is just a handy piece of machinery that I, all things considered, don't use a lot. It's basically an internet/meme browse machine.

Keeping that in mind, it would be foolish of myself to spend at least 600 USD or more on an iPhone (or a high end Android device). 

 

That is why I have been using a Moto G4 from Lenovo/Motorola for little over a year now and it works good. Even if I don't get updates, it still lasts me long enough to get the value out of it.

[XxMLGMASTERxX]

Just now, Minibois said:

My phone is just a handy piece of machinery that I, all things considered, don't use a lot. It's basically an internet/meme browse machine.

Keeping that in mind, it would be foolish of myself to spend at least 600 USD or more on an iPhone (or a high end Android device). 

 

That is why I have been using a Moto G4 from Lenovo/Motorola for little over a year now and it works good. Even if I don't get updates, it still lasts me long enough to get the value out of it.

i have a g5 plus

[minibois]

Just now, XxMLGMASTERxX said:

i have a g5 plus

I have recommend the regular G5 to a couple of people and they all have been happy with it  

[jiyeon]

Customisation, diversity of products, unique features, technology ahead of its time, and not being restricted to one ecosystem.

[voiha]

3 minutes ago, Morgan MLGman said:

I bought a Samsung Galaxy S9 after switching from iPhone SE. I've used both iPhones and Android devices and I was tired of Apple's iOS, buggy updates and battery issues. Apple also had no direct competitor to the S9 as iPhone's 8 design is outdated and the iPhone X is ridiculously priced (along the new X-line phones).
I'm super-happy with my S9.

I now ordered a Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 as my work phone and I'm waiting until it ships to the company for me, we'll see how the Snapdragon 835 device fares against the Exynos 9810 S9. I've also never had a chinese phone so I was curious about the build quality and software.

People and benchmarks claim that Exynos variant is slower than the Snapdragon, don't know if it's visible in real world use.

[Morgan MLGman]

6 minutes ago, voiha said:

People and benchmarks claim that Exynos variant is slower than the Snapdragon, don't know if it's visible in real world use.

It's more complicated than that. The Exynos 9810 is a more powerful CPU than the competing Snapdragon 845 (at least the CPU part), but because of that it draws more power so it has a scheduler that works differently and doesn't boost the core clocks as fast as it happens on the S845 to save power, and thus battery life.
So it's less responsive, it's still not noticeable at all in daily use, but when all cores are loaded with a heavy workload, then the 9810 can outperform an S845.
The battery life is a bit worse on it though.

It should still be faster at pretty much everything than the previous flagship Snapdragon 835 found in the Mi Mix 2.

[seon123]

OnePlus 3. A reasonably priced (€390, IIRC) high end phone with top of line specs (for the time), lots of storage, an OLED screen, a headphone jack, very fast charging, a USB-C port, a customisable UI, and not a glass back. 

The screen, while it's a Samsung OLED, isn't quite as good as the screens on Samsung's own phones, the camera isn't as good as the higher end flagships, the speaker is downward firing and not great and it has no microSD card slot. But no option has all of that at a similar price point. 

[RejZoR]

Because there are no other options and Apple products are stupendously expensive.

[Bouzoo]

Better suits my needs. Is there a different reason?

[TacoSenpai]

Currently using a S8+.

 

I went from S3 (first smartphone) ->S8+  (replaced the battery a couple of times RIP removable backs)

 

My reasons:

 

1) At first I got a S3 since at the time I believe AT&T was still the exclusive carrier of the iphone and I was on my family's plan with sprint so we all got galaxies and thats how I got familiar with android os.

 

2) Having a easily accessible file manager to get to media and files and easily transfer them via direct USB connection or sd card.

 

3) Expandable memory

 

4) With the S8+ the display is simply gorgeous and I for one actually quite like the edge display

 

5) Price.  I'm not going over $850 for a smartphone.

 

Spoiler

6)  Because my Nokia broke.............

 

Spoiler

jk

 

 

Those are my top reasons anyway.  Though recently I have been considering switching to Apple just because of Google's dodgy privacy and data practices.

 

 

 

[Morgan MLGman]

1 minute ago, Bouzoo said:

Better suits my needs. Is there a different reason?

I believe the point of the thread was to explain those needs a bit, to specify what exactly made you choose an Android device. I'd say that the explanation that you gave would apply to >90% of Android phone users.

[SpaceGhostC2C]

Because I wanted a small device that would let me:

• check email
• check weather
• view a map
• check flight statuses
• check mass transit timetables
• call & text
• listen to mp3s (on my wired  or wireless headphones)

Getting all of the above for EUR 70 made me tolerate android.

[voiha]

2 minutes ago, SpaceGhostC2C said:

Because I wanted a small device that would let me:

• check email
• check weather
• view a map
• check flight statuses
• check mass transit timetables
• call & text
• listen to mp3s (on my wired  or wireless headphones)

Getting all of the above for EUR 70 made me tolerate android.

That's a good point, Apple don't have budget solutions, seems they don't want to margin a device for the lower class. Which push low earning people to buy expensive devices and be in credit for years.

[Nexxus]

BEcause windows phones are no longer a thing.













jk nobody wants/ed that in the first place.

[Drak3]

iOS is so simplified that some aspects of it are harder to use effectively.

The cluttered home screen is hideous.

iOS's UI has a persistent slightly blurry look.

iPhones have always had worse reception in Idaho, and LTE speeds are usually slower.

[seon123]

2 minutes ago, Nexxus said:

jk nobody wants/ed that in the first place.

Several of the Lumias got good reviews, though. Iirc, the 920 and 928 were good multimedia phones. 

Good microphones, good cameras, good durability, the Nokia brand name, all let down by Microsoft's attempt at a mobile OS. 

[Bouzoo]

24 minutes ago, Morgan MLGman said:

I believe the point of the thread was to explain those needs a bit, to specify what exactly made you choose an Android device. I'd say that the explanation that you gave would apply to >90% of Android phone users.

Fair enough.

 

Let's see:

1. Far better customization to my liking. Launchers, widgets, skins, you name it. 
2. I can buy the phone depending on my needs, and get far more in departments that matter to me, for less. 
3. Open source - more free apps to test, if I like them I pay for them, if they have that option. Also far better community support. 
4. Much better ROM support, per se. 
5. Not locked so hard in one ecosystem. Google pushes their stuff, but you can mostly get away with it. So much easier to transfer file with other PCs. Just f****** drag and drop. 
6. Chargers. I am not kidding. 
7. Freedom to explore the literally whole phone. 

Hence why I bought the LG V30. Amazing design (except glass back), no notch, very small bezels, headphone jack, amazing DAC, AMOLED (I got a good batch, very good panel), IP68, above average battery life, good SoC for me - SD 835, USB-C, very good camera if you use GCAM for auto mode, wide camera, SD card slot if I need it.

 

While we're here, cons on android. Software updates. Even worse, I got an LG phone which might be the worst OEM in that regard. But I got the unlocked international version H930, and have been getting security updates every 2 months. We'll see when I'll get Pie. So far it's been good, in android standards. This is my biggest problem here. 

 

19 minutes ago, voiha said:

That's a big point, Apple don't have budget solutions, seems they don't want to margin a device for the lower class. Which push low earning people to buy expensive devices and be in credit for years.

You pleb, XR is budget, didn't you hear?! (I apologize for calling you pleb, it was in the context)

[GoldenLag]

I was tired of windows phone OS, which i bought cuz i was tired of IOS.

 

Currently using a Huawei Mate 9 Pro

 

Reason of purscase: good phone at its selling price with pretty good specs

 

I wanted the option to customize a bit more even though it wasnt the main reason

 

It was one of the few phones with an Oled panel at my pricepoint

 

It had an headphonejack and no notch

 

Plenty of storage even at the cheapest option (though no expandable storage)

 

Overall Android was more free and open in terms of Phone selection, Roms, flavors of Android and so fourth. Iphone was nice, but it was lacking in most departments. The iphones had too much of a liniar upgrade path with no branching. Something i was dissatisfied with.

[SpaceGhostC2C]

12 minutes ago, voiha said:

That's a good point, Apple don't have budget solutions, seems they don't want to margin a device for the lower class. Which push low earning people to buy expensive devices and be in credit for years.

Well, I don't think Apple specifically is pushing anyone to do that. Why so many people end up buying things they don't need with money they don't have is an interesting, but more complicated topic.

I mean, there are no cheap helicopters, but people isn't getting a mortgage to buy one. And in the late 80s - early 90s days of brick phones and expensive mobile services, very few people had one or cared. At some point cheaper cellphones and mobile plans made them massive, and somehow at a later point people got convinced that they needed to pay late 80s prices again instead of getting as much as early 2000s prices can buy.

[porina]

I need to open with Android isn't just Android. To me, stock is best and anything else detracts from that to varying degrees.

 

I'm after good enough at a moderate price, and the mid range (stock) Android devices fit that well. Ignoring my 1st smartphone which was just the cheapest rubbish I could find as I didn't know better, my main phones were Nexus 4, Nexus 5X, and now Xiaomi Mi A1 since google are now only focused on the high end. I've also owned a variety of 7"-ish tablets. Having sold my soul to Google, I want Mail, Maps, and... that'll do 99% of my 1st party phone needs actually.

 

My work phones include a Samsung S6 and iPhone 8 plus. To me, Samsung isn't Android enough, it is some horrific hybrid thing I end up fighting with. iOS is another beast altogether, and I don't claim to be familiar enough with it to give a detailed comparison, but I do miss having a back button. Even if we take cost out of the equation, I think Android is better to navigate than iOS. It does make me wonder in part how much the OS matters, since I can install the Google apps on an iPhone and get most of the way there, but that's a discussion for another thread...

[Spotty]

I'm a very light user when it comes to my phone, and I always buy my phone outright and go with a pre-paid plan, so I wanted a cheaper option for the handset.

 

First "Smartphone" was a cheap <$100 LG or Samsung something. Screen was probably 3". Was pretty basic but all I wanted was something to text and call on.

 

After a few years I decided to spend a bit more on a phone, and went to the Google/LG Nexus 5, which I purchased for AUD $399 (USD $285) from the Google Play store back in 2014. Absolutely loved it.

Then after a few years I ended up experiencing that fault where the power button would be come stuck being pressed and turn off - apparently a common issue on LG made phones at the time. Was pretty drunk that night so after watching a youtube video I thought it would be a good idea to break out the tools and try to fix it myself. All went well and I actually fixed the issue... Up until I realised I forgot to put the sim slot back inside when I was putting it back together. Opened it up again and had to take half of it apart to be able to get the sim slot bracket back in, but I'm pretty sure I lost a spring that pushes the sim slot out when you put a pin in the hole to swap sims, so the bracket never worked. Additionally I think I damaged one of the ribbon cables to the battery or such, and after that the device was bricked. Moral of the story is sober up before attempting any phone repairs.

 

Replaced the Nexus 5 with a Nexus 5x, which I bought around the time of the launch of the Pixel 1 just before Google removed the Nexus 5x from the Play Store, so again I was able to get it for a really good price for it on sale. Checking my email receipt for it, it was AUD $480 (USD $340) for the 32GB model back in 2016 - which was substantially lower than the launch price of AUD$739. What I paid for the Nexus 5x would have been less than half the price of the equivalent iPhone model at the time (iPhone 7 32GB was AUD $1079 upon release).

 

The Nexus 5 and Nexus 5x were such great value options for what you got, and the stock android experience is pretty good.

 

Now that Google has moved away from the Nexus devices and to the much more expensive Pixel devices, I honestly don't know what phone I will go with next. Hopefully I can get another year or two out of my Nexus 5x before I need to think about upgrading.

[voiha]

13 minutes ago, Bouzoo said:

You pleb, XR is budget, didn't you hear?! (I apologize for calling you pleb, it was in the context)

(Apology accepted) Oh yeah I forgot, that's why it doesn't has 1080p screen.