The war between iPhone users and Android phone users continues. Everywhere you go, you always hear people debating about which one is better. There’s no definite way to tell. Both platforms have unique features and they both have their flaws. For price comparison, let’s look at the iPhone 5, and the Samsung Galaxy S3, the iPhone’s number one rival.
On the Sprint Network, to get a 16 GB Galaxy S3 you would pay $99.99. The iPhone 5 is $199.99. The unlimited data plan for both phones on Sprint will cost $109.99 per month. On Verizon, both the Galaxy S3 and the iPhone 5 cost $199.99 with a 2 year activation agreement. The service cost for Verizon varies depending on the amount of data you want to use each month. The unlimited talk/text/4GB data plan for both phones is $70.00 per month. On AT&T, the S3 and iPhone 5 both cost $199.99 and the unlimited talk/text/3GB data plan on both phones cost $99.99.
Pricewise, both phones are pretty even except for on Sprint, the S3 is cheaper than iPhone. But the service plan prices vary depending on how much data you choose to use.
Other than the prices, the two phones have so much more to offer.
“I love it. What am I supposed to think about it, it’s the best phone in the world,” said senior Noelle Scott, an iPhone 5 owner. Scott stated that he favorite features of the phone were iMessage, Siri, and the fact that it’s really fast. The iPhone 5 has an A6 chip processor that makes the phone twice as fast as the previous model iPhone and it makes things look crisp and clear on the screen.
“I like the Apps and Siri. I can have a conversation with my phone,” said senior Robert Haley, also an iPhone 5 owner. Apple has over 800 thousand Apps on its App store, most of which are free. iPhone also has Siri which is like a personal assistant. It understands when you talk or ask questions and it answers back. These are all great features but the Android users think otherwise.
“I just think it’s unorganized and it’s confusing,” said senior Niesha Wright, an HTC One X+ owner, when asked her opinion on the iPhone. Android has a lot of cool features as well.
“I like that it has a bigger screen and Beats Audio built in,” said Wright. The One X+ has a 4.7 inch super LCD screen and the Beats Audio makes everything you listen to sound better. It’s an even better listening experience if you have Beats by Dr. Dre headphones to go with it. However, Beats Audio isn’t the only one of its kind. There are other known sound enhancing Apps on the Google Play Store including Beats Audio, but Dr. Dre and HTC have teamed together so almost every new HTC Android phone has Beats Audio built in.
“I just think it’s simple,” said senior Socrates Montero, a Samsung Galaxy S2 owner. Android comes with a wide range of widgets and the freedom to customize it all the way you want to whereas iPhone just has Apps on its home screen. Widgets are big, animated Apps that display live information to you on your home screen. One widget that everyone has probably seen is the weather and clock widget on the Galaxy S3 and most HTC phones. That’s just one example.
“It’s just the fact that its open source, Google has lots of people working to make the product better,” said Montero. If you didn’t know, Android is a product of Google and according to android.com, Android is open sourced to make sure there is no central point of failure and to keep individual industries from restricting and controlling each other.
In other words, there are thousands of small companies that work with Google to create the final product. If one company makes a mistake, then there are thousands of others who can cover it and fix the problem and no one company can take over the whole Android platform because there are so many companies working on it.
So which one is really better, iPhone or Android? It all kind of depends on what kind of person you are. According to CNN, people who use Android are people who want control, organization, and personalization whereas people who use iPhones are people who want everything in one place and easily accessible.
