this post was submitted on 26 Oct 2025
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So I'm actually a moderately tech-savvy individual. Software engineer, been using Linux since Karmic Koala (of course I've used many other distros since then, including Gentoo for a few years and now I'm using TumbleWeed on one computer and NixOS on another). I can even figure out how a printer works, believe it or not.
I just hate this whole "only stupid people who don't know about tech buy iPhones" rhetoric.
Samsung and Google have caught up in prices. I guess only Google is a tiny bit cheaper, Samsung is definitely right up there with Apple.
OnePlus was a good option if you wanted a cheaper flagship, but they both 1) ruined their OS and 2) went more expensive.
I actually bought an iPhone for 4 primary reasons:
Lightning port is easier to clean out than USB-C and I get a LOT of pocket lint for some reason.
Carplay used the entire screen in my S205 whereas Android Auto had the Android Auto logo on like 1/3 of the screen.
Back when I did it, Apple was the only one giving 5-6 years of major OS upgrades to their old phones and OnePlus only gave me 3, lagging far behind AOSP and the whole OxygenOS to ColorOS switch RUINED the phone for me. I did use a custom ROM for a while before that, but my bank app stopped working with that regardless of whatever I did, so I switched to stock ROM and then upgraded to ColorOS and the phone became nearly unusable. It was 3 years old (the model, anyway; the phone in question was 2 years old). Every single one of my iPhone using friends said that never has a major OS upgrade inconvenienced them in any way.
I just felt like I don't have time to play with custom ROMs and stuff anymore and since I don't, I might as well go with the option that works great out of the box, rather than the one that I can infinitely customize to my liking.
Now, this whole issue: It's not actually using user data AFAIK, so there are no privacy implications in this specific instance IMO. They just allow companies to pay to show up near the top in Maps. Not a move I'm a fan of, but I'm assuming Google has been doing this for a decade or 2 at least.
Does that mean I trust Apple? Fuck no. They're still a for-profit corporation. They still want to make as much profit as possible.
im tech savvy, but i also want to participate in society, so i just buy the best budget android phone i can afford. thats it. all i use are lemmy, my bank, and my phone to pay, and then browse for research
I used to do budget Androids but they got so slow in just a year or two. Mostly I blame eMMC degradation but there's also a massive difference in processing power between the high and low end.
I wanted something to last me multiple years so I got a Oneplus 7 Pro. That got slow because they ruined their OS so I gave up and went iPhone. No complaints so far.
iPhones are nice but their price tag ain't. I have a moto G stylus 5G 2025 and it's working great. 400 bucks and works like a flagship for my uses.
The Moto G I had a while ago was great actually. It only lasted a bit over 2 years though. Mine was the second gen. After that, I had two cheapo Chinese phones and then I started moving upmarket because of my sour experiences.
My Oneplus is still usable 6 years later, but only with a custom ROM and the battery life is shit. And the microphone is shot. If they'd kept OxygenOS and given longer support, I probably would have stayed with them to be honest. First 2 years of ownership were awesome.
i just buy whatever midrange i can afford (400 CAD ish) and call it a day.