If you’re in the market for an affordable phone, an iPhone is probably not your first thought.There are several reasons why a lower-cost Apple device is better than an entry-level Android phone, so here are the three top reasons you should go team iPhone when saving money.iPhones are supported longer than most Android phones Apple has a great track record for supporting older devices.
Apple just released iOS 26 a few months ago, and it is available on devices all the way back to the iPhone 11—which came out in 2019.By comparison, the Pixel 4 is Google’s flagship smartphone from 2019, and it stopped receiving updates in 2022, just three years after release.As surprising as it is, Apple has a fantastic track record for supporting devices the longest.
Modern Android manufacturers are trying to catch up to Apple in this regard, offering six years of updates, but we’ve yet to see anyone actually deliver on this promise (or how well performance is after six years).The iPhone 11 isn’t a powerhouse in 2025, but it’s still a phone that’s plenty good enough to use.My aunt still has an iPhone 11, and only upgraded to an iPhone 14 Pro recently because her 11 broke, and it would have been more to fix than it was for the replacement 14 Pro.
Related I Used a Phone From 2017 for a Week, Here’s How It Went The experience was much better than I expected.Posts 6 By Goran Damnjanovic Meanwhile, using an Android phone from 2014 would be a bit of an abysmal experience.There’s a chance that the Play Store might not even run well on it.
My uncle had a Galaxy S9+ (released in 2018) up until early 2025, and many apps would no longer work on it because it was on such an old version of Android.He eventually had to replace the phone (even though it still ran just fine) because he couldn’t use some of the apps that he needed on a daily basis.If my uncle had an iPhone from 2018 (the iPhone XS), it might not be on iOS 26, but he could absolutely still use his phone normally, download the latest version of most apps, and not have to upgrade when he wasn’t ready to.
On a more modern note, the Samsung Galaxy S22 was released in 2022, and it received its last major update in late 2025.Yes, you read that right, a 2022 smartphone was marked no longer supported in 2025.In October, Samsung rolled out Android 16 to the Galaxy S22 lineup of devices, fulfilling its three-year promise of major software support for the line.
Cheap iPhones are often better-built than cheap Android phones Even Apple’s cheaper devices use premium materials like glass and metal.Apple’s entry-level phones might be made of aluminum, but so are its 2025 flagship models.Apple has used aluminum and glass as its building materials for all models of phones for many years.
It’s something Apple is simply known for.Android manufacturers, on the other hand, are known for stuffing their cheap smartphones with plastic and more plastic.Most phones these days at least have glass screens, which is a big upgrade from the cheap phones of 10 years ago.
But the actual housings of many low-end phones are still plastic.Right now, Apple’s cheapest iPhone is the iPhone 16e, which costs $599 and has an aluminum bezel and glass back.To compare that to other companies: Google’s Pixel 9a is $499 retail and has a plastic back, while the Samsung Galaxy S25 FE is $650 and has an aluminum bezel and glass back.
Apple is landing right between the two mainstream “budget” devices price-wise, and offers better build quality than Google and the same build quality as Samsung.You can also go back a generation or two of phones and get a good deal on a used iPhone that still has many years of life left in it.Compare that to picking up a use Android phone, and you can definitely score a good deal, but support is still somewhat shaky when it comes to anything but the latest flagships.
Apple puts decent specs in its cheap phones Have you ever tried taking a picture with a cheap Android phone? While Apple’s cheapest iPhones are definitely best out by the cheapest Android phones, the entry-level iPhones still have pretty great specs all around—most notably in the camera.I’ve used entry-level and mid-range Android phones, and they have almost always left me wanting more from the camera.Meanwhile, Apple’s mid-range devices still offer stellar sensors for the price.
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Not only that, but Apple’s entry-level iPhones now have OLED screens, HDR support, and great processors.Meanwhile, most lower-cost Android phones have decent specs, but you really have to be careful when choosing a device.If you go for a few-year-old phone, there’s a good chance your pictures will look washed out, video recording could be lackluster, and the actual performance will likely make you frustrated.
iPhone 16e Brand Apple SoC A18 The iPhone16e is an affordable addition to the iPhone 16 line, costing $200 less than the base iPhone 16.$600 at Best Buy $600 at Apple $600 at T-Mobile Expand Collapse At the end of the day, Apple just makes a better cheap phone than most Android manufacturers.Cheap Android devices are becoming better in modern times, but Apple still rules the roost when it comes to budget devices, in my opinion.
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