My Old Android Phone Was Better Than My New iPhone

But here’s why I switched anyway

The Samsung Galaxy A70 (vector from Wikimedia Commons) and the iPhone 12 (vector from Wikimedia Commons).

Last week, I said goodbye to my (fully functional) Samsung Galaxy A70 and unboxed the iPhone 12 Pro. I would be lying if I said I didn’t look forward to it. Even though transferring data across platforms is a painstaking process, I was positively giddy: I couldn’t wait to see what I’ve missed during the past two years of iOS upgrades.

However, it’s fair to say that the iPhone fell short in several ways.

Android’s Main Long-Term Strengths

Price Point

I shouldn’t even have to say this, but I paid a fraction of the price for my Galaxy A70 smartphone. Using a cheap phone is incredibly liberating: I didn’t even bother with a screen protector and used the same low-protection rubber case for two years straight. After setting up an automatic backup for the contents of my phone, I didn’t really care about it. It was just a vessel for accessing my data, a terminus of little consequence.

I stopped being afraid that my phone would break, or that I could lose it, or that it could get stolen. Que sera, sera, I thought, for two long, wonderful years. Even so, I didn’t get any notable wear signs and I didn’t drop the phone more than usual. It is still in pristine…