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Comment by leoedin | Hacker News Reader

I think I've had 3 phones in the time my wife has had 1 iPhone 7. Every time I buy a new phone I'm like "but Android is cheaper", but I'm fairly sure the lifetime cost of "phone" is in her favour at this point. I think my next phone will be an iPhone.

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I only ever had one smartphone, and that's Samsung Galaxy S7 (bought in the year it hit the market: 2016). I will have to replace it very soon though because my banking app is going to stop supporting the Android version it has, and Samsung doesn't provide upgrades.

But... it's not really Android's fault anymore than this is Samsung's fault. The phone itself is in a good condition. The battery holds the charge for almost as long as it used to when bought. Maybe I'm not a typical user, or have very modest use patterns that allowed this phone to survive this long. Whichever this is, it shows that it's not really a problem of Android (I don't like the system for other reasons).

Before replacing, I'm going to try to install LineageOS on it, and, we'll see, maybe I'll get another couple years out of it.

At the same time span, my wife burned through 4 smartphones. All of them died for reasons unrelated to the operating system they have (i.e. were dropped, stolen etc.) It's possible that being, in general, cheaper and more disposable, Android phones don't live as long as iPhones, but this doesn't mean they shouldn't or cannot live just as long.

>Whichever this is, it shows that it's not really a problem of Android

It kind of is though because Android allows for phone brands to tweak the stock OS and stop updating even if the OS itself is getting updates.

If Android forced all manufacturers to use the stock OS with updates, the phone could still get updates, no?

At least when I still used Android, some SoC manufacturers made unmaintainable hacky patches for one specific kernel tree (and sometimes the manufacturer would then add more customizations to make it even worse) and you'd be stuck on that kernel forever.

My iPjone XS will turn 4 years old in 2 months. I see no reason to change it.

Maybe in 2 more years…

As for hardware repairs should I need them… there are 3rd party shops. Dont care what Apple says about genuine parts or approved parts or whatever.

I have two teenagers. One has an iPhone and he needed a screen replacement already three times. The other is on android and he just had his screen broken and bought a new one, a cheap Samsung phone. Screen replacements are just as expensive on both ecosystems. But sometimes it is nice to be able to get an affordable, fresh phone, and not have to worry as much about loss or theft

Also the top tier Samsungs are more expensive than iPhones nowadays

Don't forget AppleCare+ if you do. Not worrying about broken screens ($200/each replacement without vs $30 service fee, with $100 one time AppleCare fee for 2yrs) and getting replacement phones on the spot for other damage is really a huge anxiety relief and comes with more savings than the initial cost. That what helps turn a "phone a year" into 3yrs.

Does Google offer something equivalent to AppleCare for Pixel phones? I guess there's think like Best Buy extended warranties but I've never had to use one for a phone. I'm curious how it compares.

They do, with uBreakIFix providing fulfillment: https://store.google.com/us/magazine/preferred_care?hl=en-US

Nice looks like it's the exact same service fees for broken sceens and accidental damage. They copied it wholesale to be competitive. Which is a good idea.

AppleCare will hand you a new phone if you break a new, flagship model before they have spare parts. I suspect “UbreakIfix” will not do this.

Re the AppleCare+ point. If you are unlikely to break a screen more frequently than every 2 years on average, it's more economical to just not get the service. This is ignoring other benefits the AppleCare+ may provide.

I used to never break screens, but the newer larger phones crack, at least on the corners.

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