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kshitijshah

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 13, 2012
225
293
For the first time in 10 years of owning an iPhone I feel defensive about owning one. The most expensive phone on the planet should be the best phone too as it has always been. However this time around the competition has significantly caught up and one could easily make the case of the competition surpassing the iPhone X. In almost every aspect the iPhone is behind an Android counter-part

Camera - the Pixel XL beats the iPhone X in most real life use cases - portrait mode, indoor lightinf, low lighting and sharpness. Yes the iPhone X is the only phone capable 4k at 60fps but you would eat up that 256GB fast. The unlimited free storage on Pixel is the added cherry on the cake.

OS - iOS 11 has fast earned the reputation of the buggiest and clunkiest iOS ever. Compare this with the increasing polish and ever improving feature set of Android Oreo - Google Lens, better stock apps, better notification systems, better AR and Google Photos. Having a beast of A11 is of no value of it is hamstrung by a buggy OS

Design - one has to agree the Galaxy S8 is the best designed phone of the year and has been ahead of the iPhone for a few years now.

Assistant - Siri vs Google Assistant - no contest. Google assistant is getting better by the day as more people continue using it

Software innovation - I'll pick Google Lens over Animoji any day. MotionStills and Photos an are a few examples of genuinely useful apps. An average iPhone user is far more dependant on the Google and has at least 5-6 Google apps.

Battery Life - heard instances of far better battery life on the pixel vs the iphone

Payment system - Samsung Pay is a far better and wider accepted payment system globally than Apple Pay and they have been very pro-active in introducing this to countries where Apple Pay isn't present.

Screen - Yes the iPhone X has the best OLED display (made by Samsung) but there are people who prefer the Samsung colour pop and not having the notch is an added bonus.

So in almost every area which matters the iPhone X is second best. Having to pay first class prices for a second class phone makes me defensive. It is no wonder that almost none of the tech publications in the year end flagship smart phone round-up mention the iPhone as the winner.

It won't be long before a single Android phone incorporates all the best features into a single phone for a much lesser price.

Owning an iPhone meant owning the best phone money could buy which sadly isn't true any more.
 
That wont happen sorry.
Another exaggeration . . . .
iPhone 7, just over a year old - https://www.geekbench.com/blog/2017/12/iphone-performance-and-battery-age/

iPhone%207%20-%2011.2.0.png
 
For the first time in 10 years of owning an iPhone I feel defensive about owning one. The most expensive phone on the planet should be the best phone too as it has always been. However this time around the competition has significantly caught up and one could easily make the case of the competition surpassing the iPhone X. In almost every aspect the iPhone is behind an Android counter-part

Camera - the Pixel XL beats the iPhone X in most real life use cases - portrait mode, indoor lightinf, low lighting and sharpness. Yes the iPhone X is the only phone capable 4k at 60fps but you would eat up that 256GB fast. The unlimited free storage on Pixel is the added cherry on the cake.

OS - iOS 11 has fast earned the reputation of the buggiest and clunkiest iOS ever. Compare this with the increasing polish and ever improving feature set of Android Oreo - Google Lens, better stock apps, better notification systems, better AR and Google Photos. Having a beast of A11 is of no value of it is hamstrung by a buggy OS

Design - one has to agree the Galaxy S8 is the best designed phone of the year and has been ahead of the iPhone for a few years now.

Assistant - Siri vs Google Assistant - no contest. Google assistant is getting better by the day as more people continue using it

Software innovation - I'll pick Google Lens over Animoji any day. MotionStills and Photos an are a few examples of genuinely useful apps. An average iPhone user is far more dependant on the Google and has at least 5-6 Google apps.

Battery Life - heard instances of far better battery life on the pixel vs the iphone

Payment system - Samsung Pay is a far better and wider accepted payment system globally than Apple Pay and they have been very pro-active in introducing this to countries where Apple Pay isn't present.

Screen - Yes the iPhone X has the best OLED display (made by Samsung) but there are people who prefer the Samsung colour pop and not having the notch is an added bonus.

So in almost every area which matters the iPhone X is second best. Having to pay first class prices for a second class phone makes me defensive. It is no wonder that almost none of the tech publications in the year end flagship smart phone round-up mention the iPhone as the winner.

It won't be long before a single Android phone incorporates all the best features into a single phone for a much lesser price.

Owning an iPhone meant owning the best phone money could buy which sadly isn't true any more.


What about customer service? In my opinion Apple customer service is the best, I can't complain on that. They are ready to solve any problem with my devices as long as they are in the policy time frame..
 
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Reminds me of myopic PC users who proclaim they have the best computer because it has the highest GHz processor.

Google is doing what Apple did so well. Make software features with integrated hardware that people will actually use on a day to day basis.
[doublepost=1514311526][/doublepost]
In my opinion Apple customer service is the best, I can't complain on that. They are ready do solve any problem with my devices as long as they are in the policy time frame.
Comes at a heavy price of USD 199 for AppleCare ! Samsung and Pixel come with 2 year warranties and fast chargers out of the box. The Apple tax isn’t buying bragging rights anymore
 
For the first time in 10 years of owning an iPhone I feel defensive about owning one. The most expensive phone on the planet should be the best phone too as it has always been. However this time around the competition has significantly caught up and one could easily make the case of the competition surpassing the iPhone X. In almost every aspect the iPhone is behind an Android counter-part

Camera - the Pixel XL beats the iPhone X in most real life use cases - portrait mode, indoor lightinf, low lighting and sharpness. Yes the iPhone X is the only phone capable 4k at 60fps but you would eat up that 256GB fast. The unlimited free storage on Pixel is the added cherry on the cake.

OS - iOS 11 has fast earned the reputation of the buggiest and clunkiest iOS ever. Compare this with the increasing polish and ever improving feature set of Android Oreo - Google Lens, better stock apps, better notification systems, better AR and Google Photos. Having a beast of A11 is of no value of it is hamstrung by a buggy OS

Design - one has to agree the Galaxy S8 is the best designed phone of the year and has been ahead of the iPhone for a few years now.

Assistant - Siri vs Google Assistant - no contest. Google assistant is getting better by the day as more people continue using it

Software innovation - I'll pick Google Lens over Animoji any day. MotionStills and Photos an are a few examples of genuinely useful apps. An average iPhone user is far more dependant on the Google and has at least 5-6 Google apps.

Battery Life - heard instances of far better battery life on the pixel vs the iphone

Payment system - Samsung Pay is a far better and wider accepted payment system globally than Apple Pay and they have been very pro-active in introducing this to countries where Apple Pay isn't present.

Screen - Yes the iPhone X has the best OLED display (made by Samsung) but there are people who prefer the Samsung colour pop and not having the notch is an added bonus.

So in almost every area which matters the iPhone X is second best. Having to pay first class prices for a second class phone makes me defensive. It is no wonder that almost none of the tech publications in the year end flagship smart phone round-up mention the iPhone as the winner.

It won't be long before a single Android phone incorporates all the best features into a single phone for a much lesser price.

Owning an iPhone meant owning the best phone money could buy which sadly isn't true any more.

Yawn, so sell it and get one of those superior phones
Then you won't have to be defensive at all, you can be offensive
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
Google is doing what Apple did so well. Make software features with integrated hardware that people will actually use on a day to day basis.
[doublepost=1514311526][/doublepost]
Comes at a heavy price of USD 199 for AppleCare ! Samsung and Pixel come with 2 year warranties and fast chargers out of the box. The Apple tax isn’t buying bragging rights anymore

Not really, I have never in my life bought insurance for any of my devices.
 
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OP, sounds like you'd be a lot better off with an Android phone. I'd suggest returning your X (or, if you're past your return period, selling it) and getting a Pixel 2 XL or a Samsung of your choice. You will then have what you clearly view as a superior device and the need to feel defensive will disappear.
 
If you think that there's a better phone for you, you should have bought that one.

If the iPhone X is your phone of choice then what do you have to defend, and to whom?

I don't understand why people feel that they need to justify their phone choice or criticize others'. It requires no more justification than your choice of underwear. Go with what you like. Let everyone else do the same. Don't care what others think. End of story.
 
Ridiculous, my 2yr old 6S with original battery isn’t throttling. Fake news, replace your battery

A) Apple won't replace it if it's over 80% health (ie. "Healthy") despite throttling well above it.

B) You wouldn't even know that this was being done if it weren't for 3rd party testing breaking the news

C) There is plenty of evidence of even iPhone 7 models from this year being throttled, so it's hardly "fake news"
 
A) Apple won't replace it if it's over 80% health (ie. "Healthy") despite throttling well above it.

B) You wouldn't even know that this was being done if it weren't for 3rd party testing breaking the news

C) There is plenty of evidence of even iPhone 7 models from this year being throttled, so it's hardly "fake news"
All with degraded batteries. If you charge the crap out of your battery, I could care less if it’s a year old, it gets worn out. It is a wear item period.. How do you know these people don’t have 750+ cycles in a year?
 
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A) Apple won't replace it if it's over 80% health (ie. "Healthy") despite throttling well above it.

B) You wouldn't even know that this was being done if it weren't for 3rd party testing breaking the news

C) There is plenty of evidence of even iPhone 7 models from this year being throttled, so it's hardly "fake news"

Hard to explain how my three year old 6 plus (backup for foreign travel hotspot) still runs fine. Hell even my Five runs fine.

It’s fake news.
 
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OP, sounds like you'd be a lot better off with an Android phone. I'd suggest returning your X (or, if you're past your return period, selling it) and getting a Pixel 2 XL or a Samsung of your choice. You will then have what you clearly view as a superior device and the need to feel defensive will disappear.

Might just do that and I suspect many already are.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...e-x-shipment-forecasts-citing-lukewarm-demand

The point of the forum is users bring forward their experiences, likes and dislikes forward. Healthy competition and criticism only helps to bring out better products for consumers. Is it wrong to demand a best in class phone for top dollar ?
 
I am coming from a long line of Android phones. In the last year I’ve used:

OnePlus 3
Galaxy s7
Galaxy s7e
Galaxy s8
Galaxy s8+
Moto Z Play
Galaxy Note 5
iPhone X - Wife currently
iPhone 8 Plus

There is no substitute. Android has a lot of advantages over iOS, but it also has some deal breakers. There’s not much doubt that the pixel xl2 camera is top of the line. iPhone owns everyone in terms of video, but if you want to take selfies or pics of your food for Instagram, pixel wins. Androids also allow micro usb storage. The first thing I got for all of my androids was a 128gb sd card for $40. My s8+ came with 64gb and I was able to triple the available storage for just $40. Going from 64 to 256gb on an iPhone is an extra $150. They took away the best option of 128gb in order to cash grab. Fast charging is in the box in a $300 android, but a 256gb X that you paid $1300 for will still require an additional purchase. More money in Apple’s pockets.

But at the end of the day I’m happier with my 8 plus and my wife is happier with her X than we ever have before. Add in the Apple Watch and I’m not going back to android, even though the s9+ and note 9 will be very nice. Pixel 3xl could be the phone of the year for 2018, but I’m an iOS guy now. As long as apple doesn’t throttle the 8 plus and X, I don’t see myself or my wife needing to upgrade for 3 years or so. For how much we paid, that’s only fair. A $500 OnePlus 5T can do 90% of what an iPhone 8 Plus can do, for nearly half the price (256gb) There are very reasonable reasons for an iOS lifer to leave Apple right now, but I’m here to stay because my needs have changed and I value stability and smoothness over features and value.
 
All with degraded batteries. If you charge the crap out of your battery, I could care less if it’s a year old, it gets worn out. It is a wear item period.. How do you know these people don’t have 750+ cycles in a year?

Because they generally post their battery health stats. It isn't device age, it's battery health.

And you're ignoring entirely that Apple throttles devices with batteries their own diagnostics show as "Healthy - no need to replace".
 
Every year differences in performance become less and less, yet the articles and posts make them seem like night and day, buy what you want and be happy with it and don't worry if the next guy's camera has a bit better contrast, you will never take the same picture at the same time!

As far as the "throttling", it is based on the performance of the battery, not the model, be thankful your call is not dropped at a critical time because the battery failed unexpectedly.
 
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