iPhone or Android - which one???

[cambsno]

My son is at the age where he wants a smartphone, rather than his Nokia brick! The plus point to the nokia is that it lasts around 3 weeks on a charge and is small in his pocket for when he does round his mates or out playing football. As an Apple family, an iphone would be 1st choice but they are not cheap (although we may look to give him wifes SE and she has my 8 and I get an X which I quite like the sound of), so may look at a 6S or something.

Now, there are quite a few android phones out there at less money, such as the UMIDIGI, Honor 9 or Huwai P20 all at 249 or less. It appears from a quick look he could still play apple music on it via iTunes (we have a family apple music subs), and it should be easy to set up his iCloud email. Not having FaceTime would be slightly annoying but am sure there are other similar apps there. Most of the apps he uses on iPad are free so won't necessarily need to pay loads to download them. He wont though have access to photos with family sharing or videos I guess.

I am not a techie, I cant be bothered with faffing with stuff which is why I like Apple. Will I be better off paying a bit more for an iPhone or less for a well spec android? Any drawbacks to the cheaper end ones especially the apple music stuff?

 

[Caerus]

I cant be bothered with faffing with stuff which is why I like Apple

It is true in most cases that Apple are good in that way.
However recently I found out the hard way that moving FLAC music files from my PC to my iPhone was a nightmare.
Never managed it and I am usually good with computers and phones.
Easy as ABC on Android phones.

 

[sphexx]

Stick with iPhone for the reasons you give. iPhone SE is £199 on giffgaff though out of stock at present or get used from them for a lot less.

 

[sep9001]

Yep as above as you are invested in the apple eco system go an iPhone, I am sure you can pick up a used one cheap if needed.

If you do decide on Android have a look at the mi A2 Lite, I bought this for my daughter and she is happy with it, cost me £100 as it was two weeks old.

 

[ancient_mariner]

If you think not having facetime is difficult then you need an iPhone. However you're also offering him a chance not to be trapped in the apple ecosystem as you have been, so an android phone would be more of a favour FOR HIM.

I personally quite like Xaiomi right now. Well made, and several come with 4000mAh batteries (mi A2 Lite, Redmi Note 5 etc) giving longer times between charges.

 

[Nawty]

For me it’s simple (being heavily invested in the Apple ecosystem, much to my begrudgement).

If you or people you communicate with aren’t in the Apple system then go Android, if you are then suck it up and go Apple.

 

[cambsno]

Decided on the Honor9lite. not too expensive, will rarely use FaceTime.

 

[Nawty]

Decided on the Honor9lite. not too expensive, will rarely use FaceTime.

I have the Honor 8 as a work phone, it’s a nice phone

 

[Neilc28]

My son had an iPhone for the reasons you mentioned and facetime/iMessage with the family. To my suprise he wanted a change to Android this year and requested a Xiaomi Mi6 (same as me), it seems that all the native Apple stuff isn't being used much by the younger generation, they prefer the likes of WhatsApp and such where there are no platform restrictions..

The iPhone is now gathering dust in the drawer for the moment

 

[Craikeybaby]

One big plus that hasn't been mentioned for the iPhone is Apple Family sharing. It gives a lot of control on what is installed etc and you don't need to pay for Apps for each user, you can share content within the family.

 

[Neilc28]

Family Sharing (Family Library) is also available on the Google Play Store

 

[NickTB]

For face time, you can always use WhatsApp video calling. Covers all platforms

 

[RichardC27]

For face time, you can always use WhatsApp video calling. Covers all platforms

Or Facebook Messenger, or Google Duo which also both offer video calling and are available on all platforms.

 

[Ricardodaforce]

Or Facebook Messenger, or Google Duo which also both offer video calling and are available on all platforms.

Or even Instagram

 

[sphexx]

Decided on the Honor9lite. not too expensive, will rarely use FaceTime.

Which means that all his contacts will be shared with and sold by Facebook etc and you will be plagued with “you may know” messages from LinkedIn etc etc (which happens less with Apple) because all your family contacts will be in common with his :-(.