It’s not because they thought my Samsung was cheap, rather they believed Android is inelegant or tacky compared to iOS. Another part of it was the lack of interoperability with FaceTime and iMessage.
Honestly, it's probably just small talk. Normal people tend to try to have opinions on things to signal worldliness to other people. It's akin to when a coworker mentions hating a teenage pop star, or a sport. The vast majority of the time, they aren't expressing deeply-held conviction: They're just trying to fill the air with noise in a way that provokes a sense of comradery.