If you’re shopping for a new smartphone in 2026, making the choice between Android and iOS can be quite daunting. On one hand, you get virtually endless options with Android — yet, the iPhone sells better in the U.S. This can largely be attributed to Apple’s streamlined lineup of smartphones or just the fact that switching from iPhone to Android means untangling yourself from a well-crafted ecosystem of products and services.

Both operating systems have their fair share of ups and downs, but it’s really unlikely you will have a lackluster experience regardless of which smartphone you end up buying. Yet, there are loyalists in both camps that defend their platform of choice fiercely. Some even go as far as dissing the other side, and that’s exactly what we will be taking a look at today.

As someone who has made the jump to the Apple ecosystem after a lifetime of using Android, I now have a better understanding of how it is to be on the receiving end of snarky remarks. Here are a couple of them that do sting a little — maybe because they might not entirely be incorrect.

We get it, iPhones aren’t as packed to the brim with software features or unique hardware inclusions as many Android phones are. Heck, many software features that Android users consider staple often take years to make an appearance on the iPhone. For instance, always-on display made its way to iOS with the iPhone 14 Pro series and is still reserved for higher-end ProMotion displays. Luckily, the base model iPhone 17 this time around also features an LTPO 120Hz screen, and as a result, comes with the always-on display feature. Android phones as old as the Samsung Galaxy S7, released in 2016, offered this functionality.

It also took an awfully long time for Apple to get rid of its proprietary Lightning connector in favor of USB-C. Despite the MacBook being one of the first consumer electronic products to have made the jump to USB Type-C, we had to wait until the launch of the iPhone 15 series in 2023 to enjoy the same convenience on Apple’s smartphones. The same goes for countless other features like wireless charging and being able to pin widgets to the home screen.

Though Apple likes taking its sweet time with feature additions, it’s also true that they mostly end up being more polished than they are when Android phones first receive them. Would we have liked all these tidbits a decade ago? Yes, but modern iPhones have mostly caught up in terms of hardware and software features.

Android is an open-source platform, which means any manufacturer can build on top of it and ship their phones with a tried-and-tested operating system. This is why the number and variety of Android phones you can choose from is an order of magnitude larger than what’s available with iOS. Manufacturers like Samsung, Google, and Oppo design and sell smartphones with cutting-edge hardware and great optics at prices that sometimes even exceed the premium Apple charges for its top-of-the-line iPhones.

More often than not, though, Android phones can be picked up for cheaper. There is fierce competition in the mid-range, where manufacturers like OnePlus, Xiaomi, and Nothing keep pushing the envelope in terms of value. When a $300 Android phone gets you a 120Hz display and a battery that’s nearly twice the capacity, the $600 iPhone 17e suddenly doesn’t look like a good deal. We can’t deny it though, if you’re on a strict budget, Android phones go a long way in offering better bang for your buck.

However, Android being so widely adopted also leads to fragmentation. Short of the latest Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel smartphones, you’d be hard-pressed to find Android phones that offer more than three or four years of software support. iPhones, on the other hand, enjoy up to seven years of iOS updates. Moreover, since Apple controls both the hardware and software, iPhones tend to age a lot better than many mid-range or budget-oriented smartphones do. 

Another thing we iPhone users have grown tired of hearing is how Android phones have the better spec sheet. It’s true that, when comparing phones of the same generation, Android phones pack in more raw horsepower. For instance, the iPhone 17 Pro series comes with 12GB of RAM, while many current-gen Android phones can be topped up with up to 16GB of memory. Some gaming-centric devices like the Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro can even be decked out with 24GB of RAM. 

I fondly remember the strange sense of superiority of owning a OnePlus 5 with 8GB of RAM in 2017 — at a time when the then-latest iPhone 8 only shipped with 2GB of RAM. Perhaps the silver lining, partially due all the AI slop, is that iPhones are now equipped with RAM and storage capacities that aren’t too far off from what Android flagships offer. Meanwhile, the OnePlus 15 that we reviewed features a 1.5K AMOLED display that can hit refresh rates of up to 165Hz when gaming. It also features a touch sampling rate higher than most smartphones available. 

In reality, though, iPhones have always been some of the best-performing phones. The A19 Pro chip that Apple cooks in-house is powerful enough to run console-quality titles like “Death Stranding.” Even with comparatively less RAM, modern iPhones never feel sluggish in day-to-day use or have trouble holding apps in memory.

Apple doesn’t tend to introduce design overhauls with its products too often. After all, it took Apple a decade to ditch the physical home button and introduce a bezel-less display to the iPhone. Though there have been smaller modifications like the slimming down of the notch and the switch to the Dynamic Island since, the iPhone has largely retained a familiar design language. The Pro models still house their cameras in the same stovetop-style layout on the back. This has left iPhones as an easy target for criticism, with many people claiming how difficult it is to tell newer models apart.

Samsung’s Galaxy S lineup has also received similar remarks. Personally, as long as it doesn’t stand out like a sore thumb, I don’t necessarily see why carrying the same design language forward is a bad thing. If anything, Android smartphones that feature wildly different aesthetics just a year apart make it harder for a brand to build a strong visual identity over time. Also, the irony of Android manufacturers being inspired by the iPhone 12’s flat edge design or the iPhone 15 Pro’s titanium frame hasn’t gone unnoticed.