# iPhone v. other smart phones **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 4, 2017, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-v-other-smart-phones/781393 "2017-03-04T16:43:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2017, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-v-other-smart-phones/781393/21 "2017-04-08T15:13:11Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > When it came time to finally get a phone, the whole idea of “You can customize it!” totally and utterly turned me off Android. I did not want another computer, I wanted a _device_. The whole “it just works” thing completely sold me. Granted, I’ve only owned four Android phone and two tablets in my time but all of them worked immediately out of the box with no additional customization required after the initial setup (Google account, time zone, etc). Being able to change things is a feature and is optional. ---
**Author:** ![Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Throatwarbler_Mangrove)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2017, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-v-other-smart-phones/781393/22 "2017-04-08T18:05:21Z")
iPhones seem to have consistently better battery life than even the best Android phones, beyond what might be reflected in the wattage rating of the batteries themselves. Someone once explained to me how it was because the entire Apple operating system was just better optimized, but I don’t know enough about it to explain. Apple hardware is also quite well built, much better than most android phones. I will say that after trying a couple of brands, I have found Huawei phones and devices to be consistently the best built, certainly compared to most other android phone makers. All the Huawei devices I have bought are still working well, while every single Lenovo(as an example because I also have a couple of those) device has crapped out within a year of purchase. their software is still a bit clunky in places and they are more expensive than the cheapest Android phones but they are still much cheaper than Apple and certainly do the job for me. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-v-other-smart-phones/781393/23 "2017-05-21T22:18:12Z")
> [@Krouget](#): > > … > Taking a look at the [Google Pixel](https://store.google.com/config/pixel_phone), one of the top Android phones at the moment: > > * * * > > ## _“The new Google Pixel and Pixel XL certainly don’t come cheap, easily costing as much as Apple’s iPhone 7 and Samsung’s Galaxy S7, and it seems that there’s plenty of profit to be made with these high end phones. **The production cost of a 32GB Pixel XL is just $285.75** , including $7.75 in basic manufacturing costs, according to IHS Markit.”_ > > They directly matched the [retail price of iPhone](http://www.apple.com/shop/buy-iphone/iphone-7#01,20,31), because they figured the market would go for it. They were right, as the thing is consistently sold out. However, I think this mainly works because Google is the one doing it, while manufacturers like Samsung and Apple are big enough household names to get away with it, too. I’m definitely taking a good look at this myself. On my previous smartphone, a Samsung S2 E4GT, I flashed a Google-based custom ROM, which effectively turned it into what a Pixel would have been like at the time. The absence of OEM bloatware made for a remarkable improvement in performance. The only reason I haven’t done that for my S5 is because I haven’t found a suitable corresponding ROM for it. ---
**Author:** ![Yodalicious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yodalicious/32/8195_2.png) [@Yodalicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yodalicious)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-v-other-smart-phones/781393/24 "2017-05-22T00:25:09Z")
> [@](#): > > Are they better built? Not necessarily. I’ve known people who crack every screen on every device they get. > [@](#): > > Longer battery? Honestly, depends on how you use your phone. > [@](#): > > Better apps? Again, not necessarily. 98% of what you’ll do on a phone, you can do on iOS or Android. > [@](#): > > Better operating system? Neither is better than the other. It’s user preference. > [@](#): > > What makes the iPhone so expensive as opposed to other smart phones? Marketing. All manufacturers have high end phones. iPhones, Samsung, and the Google Pixel can all get into the $800+ range depending on what features the devices have. Other manufacturers make very competitive high end phones, but don’t have nearly the marketing cost. This keeps the consumer cost low. Asus is brand that comes to mind right now. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-v-other-smart-phones/781393/25 "2017-05-22T05:26:19Z")
> [@Krouget](#): > > I think those are things a company can use to market their product, but in the end, the price seems to directly relate to what the market is willing to pay for a particular brand. It’s pure profit. > > * * * > > \*"The bill of materials (BOM) for an iPhone 7 equipped with 32 gigabytes (GB) of NAND flash memory carries $219.80 in bill of materials costs, according to a preliminary estimate from IHS Markit. > > ## After $5 in basic manufacturing costs are added, **Apple’s total cost to manufacture the iPhone 7 rises to $224.80**."\* > > Taking a look at the [Google Pixel](https://store.google.com/config/pixel_phone), one of the top Android phones at the moment: > > * * * > > ## _“The new Google Pixel and Pixel XL certainly don’t come cheap, easily costing as much as Apple’s iPhone 7 and Samsung’s Galaxy S7, and it seems that there’s plenty of profit to be made with these high end phones. **The production cost of a 32GB Pixel XL is just $285.75** , including $7.75 in basic manufacturing costs, according to IHS Markit.”_ > > They directly matched the [retail price of iPhone](http://www.apple.com/shop/buy-iphone/iphone-7#01,20,31), because they figured the market would go for it. They were right, as the thing is consistently sold out. However, I think this mainly works because Google is the one doing it, while manufacturers like Samsung and Apple are big enough household names to get away with it, too. Have you looked at Apple’s profit lately? That profit comes from the iPhone, which means you are paying for it. On the other hand, because of Apple’s volume and limited number of models, Apple has better economies of scale than anyone else on the planet for smartphones. I cracked my last Window’s phone screen and gone for the ZTE to learn the Android OS. Most of my family has iPhones and I want to compare. No matter what you use, learning a new phone OS is a pain in the ass. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-v-other-smart-phones/781393/26 "2017-05-22T07:32:05Z")
For me the selling point for iPhone is software support; with Android you are pretty much on your own when you walk out the store. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-v-other-smart-phones/781393.md?page=1)