Says someone who hasn't used Android in 10 years clearly 🤣
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple's iPhone 16e vs. Google's Pixel 9a
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
All that and Google ecosystem is still vastly inferior and Android apps quality compared to iOS apps.
Nah no thanks.
So I have used Android since 2009 up until present day. lol this the same tired rebuttals Android users on MR give anytime someone criticizes Android bc you all seem to not be able to understand that people (especially on an apple site) can’t stand Android lmao
i mean when you get an android phone or tablet for $15 I imagine so.
Premium Android phones don’t even make up the majority of Android devices in use lmao.
That’s what happens when your product is cheap.
Lmao camera is subjective. And once you include the os and ecosystem , then it becomes no question of what phone to use.
Price is also subjective bc I’d just spend $100 for a better operating system and package.
That’s the thing with Android vs iOS. For every one thing Android can do better the overall package sucks.
As someone at Coachella, the pixel 9- would be terrible.
I ask myself this daily 😂🤣
all jokes aside it always cracks me up when people criticize Microsoft for monopolistic behavior or not playing fair but these are the same people who use Google and their product and services who are arguably worse than Microsoft ever was 😬
funny because the only thing saving Apple iPhones sales right is the lowest priced economy model the 16e..
Most of the world uses Android phones..... iPhones are the minority..
So far in 2025 smartphone sales total 304.9 Mil units. Only 57.9 was iPhones and most of those were the cheapest iPhone the 16e.....
That's what happens when the cheapest iPhone is also the best seller....
How is the iPhone 16e even currently a discussion and the phone has barely been on the market for a month and a half.
You do realize Samsungs shipments are largely due to its A SERIES not the S series and certainly not the foldable which proves my point that Android is largely popular due to the entry level CB cheap models.
If you look at another global stats for market share or models being sold, iPhones usually occupy 5-6 of the top 10 total devices and you may see one Galaxy s model lmao.
You literally proved nothing except what I said. Android literally only succeeds bc it is on cheaper hardware.
I never denied Android was more popular. You’re trying to overlook the fact of why it is popular.
Look again at the data...this by PLATFORM...... IOS versus ANDROID data pulled on 4/14/2025 so it does include the iPhone 16e.....
You do realize that you say Android only sells because of its price point yet ignore in 2025 the best selling iPhone is the 16e BECAUSE of its price point! Oh the irony.....
You always make like Android phones are cheap....yet overlook the the cheapest iPhone is the best seller right now.
Then lets look at AI.......how is that working out for Apple right now? Even lower priced Android phones have better AI than the iPhone 16 "built from the ground up with Apple Intelligence"
You keep saying that android only sells because it's cheap, but at the end of the day let's see the average Joe justifying an iphone 16e other than the cost and maybe the form factor. Because let's just say that most people don't really care about smartphones, and those who do tend to not care about brand loyalty.
Pound for pound, iphones (and the pixel 9a) have nothing on the Brock Lesnar of mid range phones, the poco X7 pro. Honor just released a phone with a darn 8000 mAh battery, Realme has one with 7000 mAh and a strong CPU for only slightly more money. Your rhetoric is outdated and surrounding yourself with people who don't really care about what tech you use is good for your mental health.
Samsung A56 and S24 FE are also there in case you had a Samsung before and don't feel comfortable changing the software.
Lol I could respond to each point but we would be here all day. The ecosystem is Apple's biggest strength, no question, but most products other than Macs are not superior to the competition, especially smartphones at midrange and above. At premium level China are knocking it out the park, with much better tech than iPhone Pro models, at midrange there are many better value Androids with faster and better displays, smooth software, more modern designs and so on. Anyone who can seriously say the iPhone 16e is better value than the Pixel 9a with a straight face must have a sense of humour 🤣
Me. I prefer the features of the S25U and One UI 7 to my 16 Pro Max. I hope Apple catches up soon, I love my Macs and Apple TV but the phone is just a dog lately. So it's nice to have both. Best of all worlds if you can afford it
And you seem to think that the iPhone 16e is the bulk of iPhone sales for that time period.
I’ll even give you a small “maybe you’re right” but you’re still wrong. Even if the iPhone 16 e was a large contributor To sales common sense would tell you that’s probably bc it’s a newer iPhone so therefore people are buying the newer iPhones.
Still doesn’t change the fact Android is largely popular due to its cheaper phones.
This is what we called false equivalence lmao.
The cheapest iPhone is still more expensive than the cheapest Android lmao.
So you’re still not disproving me wrong.
I live in America and I literally walked into dollar general an hour ago to get a Pepsi.
As I passed the coolers, there was literally an android in phone being sold for $19.99. Some tcl phone.
Please show me where an iPhone ANY GENERATION is being sold for $19.99
Ironically that same phone that has been on the market for five years. I only remember that specific phone bc it was during Covid and I lost my iPhone and I bought that same phone five years ago 😂🤣😬
most of them are lmao.
The iPhone SE has always existed since 2016 and Apple still sells its older models and now the iPhone 16e and their premium models still outsell the cheaper iPhones.
Because it’s a newer iPhone Lmaoo.
it has little to do with the price bc that’s the main complaints everyone has was the price.
I really need you all to get a new argument bc this is tired.Then let’s look at AI.......how is that working out for Apple right now? Even lower priced Android phones have better AI than the iPhone 16 "built from the ground up with Apple Intelligence"
The average joe does not care about Apple intelligence lmao. Or Ai since most ppl don’t even trust it lmao.
I consider myself a power user and well verse in all Os and AI is literally nowhere in the top 10 of things I care about in a phone.
Macs are superior.
iPads are definitely far superior than any Android tablet. Idk how ppl use them for any sort of productivity.
iPhones are superior (largely thanks to its ecosystem and support)
Fitness watches— not a fan of android watches.
AirPods vs others- there are some good non Apple wireless earbuds so this is almost a wash but once again that integration is why it’s better.
There is no equivalent integration on Android.
The only thing Google will truly has not true equivalent is YouTube and search. And truthfully I just use TikTok nowadays to get 80 percent of what I watch on YouTube and I’d rather use bing than Google 😂🤣
They are. No denying that. They’re killing it with Android phones. But I’d never buy an Android phone from china.
The lack of intentional support is terrible.
Ehh subjective.
Lmao again Os preference.
iOS is generally seen to be smoother and definitely have more longevity than Android as updates go.
The average consumer couldn’t care less about 60hz vs 120hz no matter how much Android fans try to ride on Apple.
Modern designs? Almost every phone including the iPhones have the same slab design lmao. Just different colors and as we’ve seen in the past Android OEMs do like to borrow from the iPhone design (Samsungs galaxy line literally was made as an iPhone knock off lmao)
There are a few androids with “radical” designs but even then they are not even wildly sold or available so it’s irrelevant.
Midrange devices also don’t eat software support compared to iOS devices. My old as heck iPhone 11 has been rocking since 2016 with the same Os as my iPhone 16 pm
Thank you for proving my point that for every one thing Android can do better on its own the overall package aka the ecosystems sucks.
You literally admitted that yourself.
Android is a jack of all trades and a master of line.
In the value is subjective and yes for me, the 16e is superior in every way than the pixel 9a and the 9a OS is why it will never be a contender for me.
Anyone who is on an SE or older iPhone looking to upgrade but stay on an iPhone isn’t looking at the price difference between iPhone 16 e or pixel 9a.
They’re looking at the iPhone 15/plus or the base iPhone 16 vs the 16e.
What makes me laugh even more is you’re comparing the price of the phone full retail amount.
At least in the states nobody is buying their iPhones or pixels at full price.
In fact I can easily walk into Verizon or Tmobile and get both for free monthly.
Ah the anti android troll returns.
For camera, how is having a super wide angle lens i.e. another camera lens subjective?
Image processing is subjective and I think my pixel 9 pro Does it better than my iPhone 16 pro. Video aside.
"As some one at Coachella the pixel 9 would be terrible" what does that mean? My pixel 9 pro runs cooler than my iPhone. And I switched back to the pixel as the weather is warming up here in the UK.
Just one person's opinion: My wife likes the simplicity of IOS so I switched to an iPhone but after 2 years with IOS I ran back to Android as fast as I could.
Because that’s fact lmao. Do you really think that in African countries by or India, that the highest selling smartphone is a galaxy s25 or for the fact an iPhone lmao.
Idk why you all can’t accept facts. Android is largely popular because it’s more accessible and cheaper to get lmao
I used to be a huge windows phone fan and there were countries windows phone literally outsold iPhones.
Not bc it was better. It was simply cheaper and they didn’t want android lmao.
I know facts Can be difficult for android fans but that’s fact.
And they’re still Android phones so they are largely irrelevant to me. And this inferior to me
If for some reason I had to use Android again as a daily driver, it definitely wouldn’t be one of those devices
Thank you for making my point about how Samsungs cheaper a series is more popular lmao.
And unfortunately over the last 16 years I have owned well over 20 Samsung devices. I’m well versed.
That Same energy should be applied to android fans on Mr. lol
Indeed. It's a purely subjective exercise with no right answer, with people putting weight on different aspects and coming to their own conclusions.
Not a troll lol I forget you all are touchy about android criticism.
Lmao and video quality is just as part of the camera as well.
You can’t just put the video capabilities aside to try and have a point.
My friends boyfriend has a pixel 9 pro and I cringed seeing the quality of the pics he took of us day 1.
My phone had died so he was the only one with a working phone at the time. I made sure day 2 and 3 my phone was cheered lmao 🤣
Lmao who said anything about the weather?
Video is literally why the pixel sucks compared to the iPhone
That’s unfortunate.
Yeah, if the 17 Air rumors don’t pan out, I’m likely going to keep my 15 Pro Max but pick up a Pixel 9 Pro XL or S25 Ultra. The new Android hardware and even software is quite impressive. The iPhones feel relatively stale.
I don't get the feeling that software features are artificially gated for new hardware on the android side (especially Pixel and Galaxy), it moves so fast year to year. And there's a lot more activity surrounding Android handset hardware innovations as opposed to Apple's slow drip-feed. I like and use the stylus quite often, and have always felt Apple should have offered pencil support for the phones. It's a bit of a self own.
I hope the 17 slim or whatever it will be is compelling, I really want something groundbreaking like the 10 was. I just can't get behind the "innovation" of a fiddly camera control button that's half baked.
and you seem to not be able to read the data that is front of you.....like the sales go up after the release of the cheaper iPhone. The data doesn't lie.....People are buying the cheapest iPhone....data don't lie....
Still doesn't change the fact that the most popular iPhone in 2025 so far is also the cheapest iPhone!
here I will make it easy for you....
First quarter of 24 sales was 52.6 MIL
First quarter of 25 sales was 59.9 MIL
what was the only difference? Cheaper iPhone.....
See that wasn't so hard now was it....
Proves the fact that sales are up because of cheaper iphones....
It’s the fact you’re trying so hard to prove a point and failing to prove it is hilarious to me.
q1 is literally January 1st to march 31st. The iPhone 16e was released on February 28. If you truly think that apples sales only came from one month of sales you truly are not getting it.
Cheaper iPhones have been sold in q1(2024). The iPhone SE literally existed lmao and was cheaper than the 16e.
You’re also comparing a sales increase between q1 2024 to q1 2025.
most of apples sales aren’t from the 16e. It was from the existing iPhone models that were already in the market. Keep in mind that (especially in America), this is coming directly off holiday promotions and tax seasons.
The iPhone 16e sales won’t have any meaningful impact until q2 which ends on June 31 bc by then the iPhone 16e would have been in the market for a full for months.
The lowest cost iPhone at $599.99 still doesn’t compete with the accessibility of the $29.99 android phone at your local gas station
Which again proves my point. Android is largely popular bc it’s easily accessible at a cheaper price point.
My brother went to metro by Tmobile to get an iPhone 16e recently. They were trying push an Android tablet. I guess bc they want they want the line for commission.
He literally got a free Android tablet(some pos Samsung tablet) for free. Please show me where they are giving iPads away for free.
Android is popular largely bc it is essentially being given away for free or dirt cheap.
Even if apples iPhone 16e was selling
1. It’s the newest device Apple offers
2. Apple no longer offers the SE so it’s the only entry level iPhone available.
That still doesn’t change the fact that Android is popular bc it’s so cheap.
If you take iPhones out the equation the highest selling android phone isn’t a galaxy s or a pixel.
The most popular android phones are the phones you get for under $250 lmao.
Windows is still the most popular desktop operating system bc you can still get a laptop for $200 lmao(not to mention that chromeos sucks). Doesn’t mean it is better. It’s just easily accessible bc it’s cheap.
Accept it and move on.
With how dumb the average consumer is along with carrier credits and deferred payments you'd think iPhones would be more popular since they're a status symbol. I see plenty of ads for free iphones
I agree with many of you that, at the end of the day, it's a matter of preference between two operating systems. And people are often so used to one (or fond of its brand) that they won't switch to the other even when it's objectively superior for their specific type of usage. For example, many people will stick to macOS or Windows even if the other system is clearly better adapted to their needs. To convince themselves, they will tend to read or listen to those opinions that focus on (or even exaggerate) their preferred system's advantages and the other system's liabilities. And unlike federal politics, where the two parties alternate in power and you can see the difference for yourself, most people have never owned (or at least seriously tried for a reasonable amount of time) the competing OS before making a judgment.
I don't care if an Android phone has better hardware than an iPhone. I would rather use an older low-end iPhone (that is still compatible with the latest iOS) than the newest and most technologically advanced Android phone because Android is an awful OS.
You're making it look like that $20 tcl phone you found in a gas station is a bad thing lmao
India has their own smartphone market, same with Africa, you can get brands that don't exist in the US like Infinix, Realme, Tecno and the list continues, this is a hard piece of evidence brand loyalty is dumb and American protectionism is a bad thing for the consumer, with competition entering the market I assure you apple/samsung share would drop sharply.
The fact that people in 3rd world countries don't sell their kidneys getting an iphone is another proof you live in a bubble. Dare I say it, your take sounds outright classist.
And your personal experience means jack because even though you owned 20 samsung phones you are still only one person, that's not how the market works, a person is more important than a phone and samsung knows it.
In your opinion which means nothing outside your home and maybe even in your home if you have family members who use Android.
Yes that’s what people tend to share on forums like these. Both sentences in his post also start with “I”.