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There are several who have done that (I would assume in the thousands across the country). I'm one. Haven't moved back since 2016. My parents (both) happily shifted to mid-tier large sized Android options after spending half a decade on iPhones (mom still loves hanging on to her iPad in addition to the mobile). It all depends on the individual's core requirements - depending on the model/brand, there are several top & middle tier Android phones that can give an existing iPhone user a run for his money if s/he is not particular on which ecosystem s/he wants to stick to.

P.s. It applies the other way too (Android to Apple).

Run for the money, sure. That is the reason Android devices sell more. In terms of stability and reliability over long term, I am not convinced that Android is there, yet. There are too many things that can go wrong and it takes just one small firmware update to ruin it. Not that iOS is averse to such issues. Apple are careful with it and there aren't hundreds of different hardware combinations for it to go wrong. I use a flagship Android device. There are some minor flaws with it that my old iPhone 6 never had, in the time I used it. It works well. I won't say its as flawless a device as my iphone was. With the Apple device, everything worked reliably, all the time and till the day I retired the device. Thats my personal take on the matter. Not that everyone has 100K to blow on a phone. You got to make peace with the next best that is available and affordable for you, which was the reason I switched.

Haha - as I said it varies from individual to individual. My previous employer gave me a iPhone XR for office work; this was in addition to my 5 year old Samsung S8 which was my personal device since '16. Both are IP67 rated - I used both interchangeably for running & cycling & biking (with a phone carrier on the handle) under the sun, dust & rain. About ~6 months of usage, the iPhone camera started shaking - apparently this is a known issue faced by iPhone users on their bikes/cycles over bad roads faced globally. Apple is known (googled it) to refuse warranty claims over it. Thankfully the office folks didn't have a concern when I returned it. The S8 has been working flawlessly since 2016 (till I retired it last year) with everything thrown at it.

Everyone has a different experience. Don't think anyone can assume anything with either ecosystem options.

If you read my post. Am talking with data across 4 phones across 2 users. Surprisingly the most abused S2 (root, custom ROM) lasted the longest.

I never had problems with battery. But performance tapers off. Apart from my S2, remaining phones have been bone stock and not really subjected to abuse.

Oneplus with Android 11+ seem to be problematic. My Oneplus 5 on Android 10 is running fine. My wife's Oneplus 7 one Android 11, two other colleagues on 7 Pro+Android 11 all seem to have some sort of performance hit. Though none are unusably bad, it is not how they were with Android 10.

Besides after Oneplus married Oppo, am not sure how their phones will be.

Stability can also be affected by app updates too. All these years, I have used android and found that while the basic functionalities work as they are supposed to, the apps that you run can make or break the experience.

And regarding the software thing, it was not long ago that Apple was caught seeding updates, which deliberately slowed down their older devices.
Link

Guys my relative is looking for a new phone. Budget is max 45k. Current phone is Samsung A70S. I'm confused between Galaxy A73, Oneplus 9RT, Realme GT2. Which one among these would be the best pick. Usage primarily consists of YouTube videos, scrolling social media, few calls. If there are any other options also then let me know. Hope to hear soon.

Thanks

Surprised by not seeing Google Pixel 6 in your list which is currently selling at well within the mentioned budget. Though its unlocked international variant and warranty will not be there.

If service and warranty are concern then you can wait for a month for the official launch of Pixel 6a. Pixels are good choice for some state of the art Google AI features.

Or maybe you can look at Motorola Edge 30 series for its 144hz 10bit display and ster0o speakers to make the media consumption pleasant.

Even last year's Edge 20 Pro is good choice with it's SD 870 SOC which is available at discounted price. Even though camera does not seem to be a priority, the Edge 20 Pro got a 108 MP Samsung sensor as main camera which is capable of producing fine detailed shots using some third party camera apps, Edge 30 series is also surprising launch by Motorola as camera phones given that you ditch the stock camera app on very first day (Motorola stock camera apps never did justice with the hardware they provided).

Rest pick anything, all are same bloated things which come with lot of preloaded duplicate apps which keep running in parallel with Google apps.

As ninjatalli mentioned, it varies from user to user and device to device. My current phone is a oneplus 6 which was bought at launch. Battery is still at 80% capacity with more than 4 - 5 hrs active use every day. The phone itself is as snappy as new. So, I'm entirely satisfied. Of course, I have installed LineageOS on it and am on the latest Android (12). The images from Gcam are better than the stock Oneplus camera app. In terms of stability and reliability, there are no issues at all.

So, this may not be for everyone. It is not this good out of the box like an iphone. Maybe google pixel devices would give an iphone-like experience. For other oems, pick one which has a good quality custom rom such as lineageOS and you are good to go.

All agreed. I use a flagship Android device and don't see myself going back to iOS, ever. I have no trouble with the device in 3 years of use. Its a testament to the reliability of Android and how the operating system and devices have evolved over time (Was horrible when I had a Motorola Atrix 2). However; if price was not a barrier, it would have been eyes closed iOS device again. There is a certain finesse to the operation and stability on iOS that I have not found with my Android phone. I have accepted the fact that it can't match iOS in certain ways and thats something I'm gonna have to live it.

When we shop around for an Android device, we generally look for user opinions (like we do here),internet, youtube reviews, etc. You won't have that confidence to go buy an Android device eyes closed. I must have watched every video there is before I bought my Android phone. This was to confirm I was buying the right device and it did not have any inherent flaws with. I don't have doubts when it comes to an iOS device, especially their phones, ipads. They work flawlessly out of the box. I have more confidence in the way Apple test their products before they put it on the market. There aren't too many hardware variations either so less chance of things going wrong.

Google, Motorola and Xiaomi devices (ancient, don't know about their latest devices) were horrible. Rooted all of them, they remain awful even with custom ROMs.

Custom ROMs too have become much better. Ancient N8013 Samsung 10.1 tablet is still usable with Lineage OS.

I have rooted every Android device except my current Samsung S10+. It's good enough that I don't need to tinker. The latest update even brought a feature to limit charging to 85% - great for aging phones.

I tried an iPad once, don't want to be part of their ecosystem. Hope someone will figure out how to install Android on their great hardware.

I mainly use an Android but I also have an old iPhone as my "call" phone. Currently it is a 6S and my primary SIM is in that. The 6S is much more reliable than even Android flagships - especially, when you want to make a call or take a quick photo. The large screen Android flagship is the go to device for media consumption, social media and office apps.

But then, I am increasingly becoming disillusioned with Android, so maybe when iPhone 14 comes along, I may shift to a 14 or max and make it my primary phone. The only reluctance towards that plan is that, I like to change phones quite often (1-2 years) and changing iPhones that often is an expensive affair.

ps: I don't use any of the iOS apps even in the iPhone. I use Chrome, Gmail, Google Photos, Google Maps etc. That way I can use both my phones seamlessly.

As I already have an iPhone 13, so I didn't want to spend a lot of money.

I have ordered Poco F4. My wife's Samsung M30s was also getting old. So, bought an iPhone 13 for her and then put Samsung M30s for exchange for the Poco. Effectively, the price came to 18 K. It's almost the same way that I had got K20 Pro for 14 K with an exchange. This is the smartphone that I kept for the longest. The only phone lasted longer than this with me was was Nokia N72 (2007-11). Those were the days!!

Lots of discussion on iPhone versus Android off late here. Carrying both of them and the truth is that I am not able to move from Android to iPhone entirely. For most the of apps, the experience on the iPhone is far better. But, many simple things just don't work like Walnut, SMS Organizer. So, iPhone remains a work + camera phone for me.

And at the last, Asus phones are really good but totally underrated in the mainstream. We have had Zenfone 5 and Max Pro M1. Loved the Max Pro M1 as long as I had it.

The Nothing phone is now available for reservation (sounds like a pre-pre-order) on Flipkart. I searched this thread and does not see anything on the Nothing phone. What do Android enthusiasts thing about this phone? Is it worth a pre-pre-order?

I think there is a lot of hype around it and going by the rumours if the phone comes with suggested specs for around 30-35k then it'll be value for money but since this is an entirely new company, I believe aftersales service will be an issue specially in the initial days. So if something goes wrong even within warranty, it'll be hard to find service point. Freshly baked product with new OS based on Android might have some issues as well. I'd avoid this one for the time being to be on the safe side.

Asus Zenfone 9 looks quirky and very promising and with the official video leaked, seems like it is close to launch. Wish Asus launches it in India along with other countries first up and not have a delayed launch. The Zenfone 8 launched here as 8Z had good specifications with good cameras and headphone jack in a compact factor. A compact flagship like Zenfone 9 would be great if they can offer 3 years of OS updates.

https://www.gsmarena.com/asus_zenfon...news-54963.php