Don't be loyal to tech companies!

When talking to some friends and family, I find there are a lot of people who feel there is only one brand to buy. It’s as if there were just one line of products that works perfectly fine for everyone’s needs, wants and budget. To them, buying an alternative to their lineup is just simply buying something inferior for no reason. However, it’s always a good idea to take a step back and look at this from another perspective.

First of all, stop saying “they’re the best”. I once was asked by a couple of confused teens why on earth I didn’t own an iPhone. “Why do you guys like iPhones so much?” I asked. They replied, “Because they’re the best phones ever.” So I questioned, “Best at what?” To which I got the reply, “They’re the fastest and have the best sensitivity and stuff.” I had a feeling these teens didn’t really have a clue of what they were talking about.

The whole iPhone vs. Android is not at all about what phone is the best at everything. Companies like Apple, Samsung, Google, and Microsoft will try to make people think they have the fastest, bestest, mostest greatest-est-est-est products in the world. But the reality is, like everything, they have their pros and cons, and a lot of what these companies say in their marketing is just hype and half-truths. They will often show charts of how their products are 3 times faster and 10 times more capable than some alternative out there, with no real indication of what exactly they are 3 times faster than or 10 times more capable at, or in what circumstances, or even concretely what other product they are being compared to. These charts and claims are, more often than not, designed to confuse watchers into believing that the product being featured in the ad is the ultimate best and greatest device in the universe, when it really isn’t.

At the same time these companies also hide their flaws. Take for example the beautiful moon photos many new Samsung phones take. After investigating how the phones were taking pictures it came out that Samsung had added software to basically copy and paste details onto these moon pics, details the phone had no way of actually taking in the first place. Oh great! So you take a photo and it’s not really your photo. Of course Samsung never said anything about this.

Another example: Apple has finally added USB type C to their iPhone lineup. But you could say that their change is almost a hoax. Take for an example, data transfer rates. The ol’ Apple Lightning connector had a maximum theoretical speed of about 480Mb per second. USB-C has a maximum theoretical speed of 40,000Mb per second with many Samsung Galaxy phones doing up to 5,000Mb per second. So now that iPhones have USB-C they can also transfer at these blazing fast data rates, right? Only if you get the Pro version. You heard me, only if you get the Pro version. If you get the regular iPhone you’re locked at that 480Mb maximum theoretical speed. So basically the USB-C is mostly just for complying with the European Union’s new law that all handheld consumer electronics must have a USB-C port, except for the iPhone Pro, which claims to have data transfer speeds of up to 10,000Mb per second.

And don’t even get me started on charging speeds. The ol’ Lightning connector on iPhones was limited to about 20W of charging, with the correct charger and cable. But even with USB-C, all iPhones are still limited to 20W of charging, whereas the Samsung S23 Ultra can charge at 45W. Even the iPhone 15 Pro Max only charges at a maximum of 20W! So, great! Apple finally adds USB-C, but it still runs just as slow as the ol’ Lightning connector that was based off of technology from the year 2000!

Now I’m not trying to make Apple and Samsung out as being the worst. In my opinion, they are two of the best smartphone manufacturers in the world. But you got to understand that they are not always as nice and perfect as they make themselves out to be. It’s much better to buy a phone, or tablet, or laptop, or desktop based on what your needs, wants and budget are, and if that device meets all those requirements.