[array_key_first]

1. Not cheaper.

2. I think it's better, I like the UX but that's subjective.

3. Not open source. AOSP is open source. Android is not open source.

[stronglikedan]

It's certainly cheaper when you compare phones with like specs.

[dangus]

Not by much these days. The Pixel 10 actually gives you half the storage as the iPhone 17 at the same price.

The only Android phones that are significantly cheaper than equivalent iPhone tend to come with some kind of compromise (and don’t forget that Apple’s phones start at $600 - the iPhone 16e exists).

[Aachen]

Storage needn't be expensive. Any 150€ phone will let you put in a 2TB sdcard. It's specifically the premium brand phones that squeeze you out

The specs that you can't just plug and play are a bit more relevant to look at I'd say

[dangus]

That’s an irrelevant aside because we are already comparing apples to apples here. The reality is that there are very few phones with SD card slots in them.

I’m personally fine with it at this point. It’s not ideal and it’s not consumer friendly, but SD cards are slow and failure prone compared to internal storage, and I find that multiple storage volumes introduces management friction (moving apps and content between two locations).

[vbezhenar]

Try Xiaomi.

[all2]

I did. I cannot recommend it. There is no real way to unlock bootloaders on these. They've locked it down so much that you can't really do anything but run what they give you.

[gkbrk]

Xiaomi phones have built-in ads, that's one of the reasons it gets to be cheaper.

[dangus]

The Chinese phone ecosystem is basically unavailable in the US. Huawei was banned, and none of the other brands sell products officially besides OnePlus, which has iPhone-adjacent pricing.

[dangus]

Not sold in the US officially, no warranty service.

[array_key_first]

Ehh, I'm unconvinced. A lot of these cheapo Android phones have bizarre restrictions and really short lifespans. A used iPhone might last longer and therefore be cheaper in the long run.

[Rohansi]

You can definitely get cheaper Android phones than an iPhone. There will be compromises but it will be cheaper. Many people are fine with a $200 or less phone.

[Aachen]

1: citation needed

2: yeah okay with that logic "I just subjectively feel that way", there's no point having a conversation

3: Android is short for AOSP. You're probably thinking of things like Google Play or OneUI?

[array_key_first]

> citation needed

Most android flagships are about the price of iPhones.

> Android is short for AOSP.

This actually made me laugh out loud.

Uh, no. AOSP is a showcase project which currently cannot run on any phones produced on Earth.

Android is the most popular mobile operating system.

AOSP does not include code to run almost any viable hardware and also does not include code necessary to run android applications. Everything that is Google play services is not in AOSP.

Bear in mind Google play services isn't the Google play store. It's basic device functionality, like cellular service and GPS.