The primary reason I switched to an Android phone was because of price. I wanted to get a new iPhone but the prices were just too high for me. My price point is around $300 or less for a lot of things that I buy, including cell phones. I might have been able to find an older iPhone refurbished/used for that or less. Since I felt that I would be facing this high price premium for Apple products on my future phone purchases I chose a new Android phone instead of a used iPhone. I felt I needed to jump off the iPhone train before I couldn't hold on anymore. I may regret my decision and run back to the iPhone but I want to at least give Android a fair try.
I have tried Android phones in the past but I always bought super cheap old Android phones. This wasn't a fair trial of Android and my quest for the $100 Android phone is over. After junking several I thought it was time to try something in a little more realistic price range. I didn't want to pay the same price for an Android as an iPhone though. Expensive Android phones like the Pixel or Samsung Galaxy 8 didn't really appeal to me because of price. I am not someone who is an Android fan who wanted the best Android phone out there. I settled on the Motorola G5 Plus which seemed to have the features I wanted at a sub $300 price tag after taxes.
The switch from my iPhone to the Motorola G5 plus has been fairly smooth. I had an old refurbished iPhone 4 (not 4S) so everything seems better with the G5. I am hoping to stick to "mid-price" phones like the G5 so that I can afford to replace my phone a little more often than I have been. I think I can handle a new sub $300 phone every 2 to 3 years as opposed to a $800+ iPhone. Since I am a basic phone user the G5 has more than what I need.
My G5 came with 64 GB of storage and I added another 128 GB (could have taken 256 GB) storage with a memory card. My old iPhone 4 only had 8 GB of storage with no ability to add more. The Old iPhone 4 was struggling to have any memory left after I downloaded my email! There are 8 GB and 16 GB Android phones out there but my experience with storage is that I don't want less than 32 GB on a phone and it would be nice to have at least another 32 GB of added storage. Also, I like my "cheap" 128 GB of added storage on my G5 for my music and pictures instead of using the built in storage that I would have to use on an iPhone for that. I feel that for at least storage the G5 will last longer as a viable platform than an iPhone would.
My G5 also came with the latest version of the Android operating system. Because I couldn't afford to upgrade I was a couple of operating systems behind on my iPhone. I don't want that to happen again. Staying with a cheaper platform will mean replacing it will be less painful and I will actually do it.
My new G5 "is so much better because my iPhone 4 was behind on operating systems, its storage was too small for today's applications and the hardware was so old. Comparing the iPhone 4 to a G5 is really comparing "Apples" to oranges. For me the orange won. So why did I stay with the iPhone 4 so long?
I consider myself a basic cell phone user. I make calls, text, check email, listen to music and occasionally check a website through a browser. The most complex app I used was Google Maps for directions. I don't play games or use my phone as a replacement for a desktop computer. My iPhone 4 did all of that I needed easily and reliably. I really didn't feel the need for a new phone because it did everything I needed. But then my iPhone would not update to the new operating systems. Then the memory usage maxed out. If it wasn't for those two things I would have just kept using my old phone. I actually use my phone mainly as a phone and not as a mobile computer. With my new G5 that may start to change but the only apps I am really loading are from web sites that offer an app experience like Facebook. I could easily get by with just a browser instead of going to a specialized app which is what I was doing on my old phone.
I don't think the computer industry will ever make a standard basic phone that lasts forever. The old flip phones were like that and the industry will not make that mistake again! My old flip phone lasted years and I didn't replace it every two years or fill it up with expensive apps. Some of this "upgrading" is really just planned obsolescence. There is some need for upgrading to patch security holes and fix bugs but most of the upgrading is to run a bunch of stuff that I don't need. Do I really need virtual reality on my phone? Okay, someday I will regret writing that but for now I really don't need that much from my phone. Hopefully my G5 will last a long time but there will come a point when I will have to replace it just to have the latest operating system for security reasons. You just can't browse the web with an old browser that is full of holes. So I guess I am on board with upgrading in the future but I'll drag my heels as much as possible by not buying into high prices and not upgrading until I really have to. I think the future will see a lot of consumers like me. Even people that use their phone a lot will get to a point that one more app or hardware feature isn't going to make a difference to them. I think the future for growth is in value not in performance or features.
So if I am right what does that mean for the future? Apple will always be able to sell a premium product to a luxury crowd. The challenge for Apple will be how much of the market share will they continue to loose to consumers like me who are pretty satisfied with what they have? Companies that make good and cheap phones will be the future. Motorola looks like it is going to the right side of the market with the G5 priced in the mid range. Will our phones become our new computer? Honestly, I don't think that will be happening for at least 20 years. Just give me a phone at a decent price and with basic features. I will use my phone as a phone and then use my computer for the rest of the things I want to do in the digital world.
