Apple iPhone 12 Pro is miles ahead of Android phones and that is a FACT

 

Apple iPhone 12 Pro is miles ahead of Android phones and that is a FACT

There was a time when I did not like the iPhone. This was the time when the iPhone was more of a rage because it was good to have the Apple in pocket. Like a status symbol. At that time, the iPhone was living in the shadow of the moment it created in 2007. It had a small screen, LCD panel, software that hindered people instead of helping them, and it had none of the chutzpah that its Android competitors possessed.

The Android phones were more exciting. They were doing crazy things. Like using large OLED screens. Or pushing boundaries of cameras like Google Nexus did. In 2020, it has been reversed and the iPhone is miles ahead of the Android phones.

I do not like Android phones anymore, not to the degree I used to like them, though I can see that some of them, like the OnePlus 8 Pro and Google's Pixel phones, are excellent devices with unique character. But if you go look for a phone that is going beyond the obvious and doing it with a consistency that can delight casual users as well as pros, there is no other phone that does what the iPhone 12 Pro is doing.

Android phones are a compromise

All Android phones are a compromise nowadays. Some of them have a fast processor but they are saddled with software that is not appealing, either in terms of how this software looks and works, or in terms of the advertisements and bloatware that come with it. Some phones like the Pixel 4a have good software but the hardware is just not in the same class as an iPhone. Some of them, like the OnePlus 8 Pro, get a lot of things right but they are not at the bleeding edge of technology like the iPhone 12 Pro. And some like the Galaxy S20 Ultra with their gimmicky cameras are nothing more than pretenders.

Huawei is doing some interesting things with cameras in its phones, but Huawei has its own set of problems.

Google is not even launching a proper high-end smartphone this year. It has stopped at Pixel 5, which by the way is not available in India, believing that Pixel phones don't need anything more. Hampered by its own limitations, it believes that the Pixel fans don't dream of a truly cutting-edge smartphone.

Vivo talks of various technologies in its phones but they rarely all come together cohesively to make the phone more than the sum of its parts. Xiaomi keeps talking of specs but there is little imagination beyond the hardware, which, once you have removed the marketing hyperbole from it, is fairly regular. I can go on and on. Android phone makers are either doing mundane stuff or just don't have an ultra-premium market in their sight.

iPhone 12 Pro leaps ahead

This is where the iPhone 12 Pro phones, and in particular the iPhone 12 Pro Max are different. Yes, they are extremely expensive phones. But Apple is not shy about their prices. It also does not feel guilty about these prices. The iPhone 12 Pro costs Rs 119,900 in India and the iPhone 12 Pro Max starts at Rs 129,900. But at these prices you also get phones that are in every single way better than what competition offers. More significantly, you get to share into the vision of the company, which seems to be creating the best phone possible without focussing on gimmicks. Sure, it also helps Apple make money but then remember that Apple is not a charity.

With the iPhone 12 Pro, Apple is again pushing what is possible. The A14 Bionic is definitely, without doubt, the fastest smartphone processor in the market. The display that Apple puts in the iPhone Pro is among the best ever put in a phone. The design is slick although Max does seem a bit large and the materials made to create the phone are top grade. The HDR 10-bit 4K video recording in a phone is a big deal. The way iPhone 12 night mode works is best in the business. The software is clean. There is focus on privacy and security. There are no Bhabhi Ji ads in the iPhone notification shade. The iPhone 12 phones may not have 6000 mAh battery but they will easily last one full day. That 1/1.7 image sensor in the iPhone 12 Pro Max is Apple saying "darn it, we want the best camera in a phone."

I can go on and on.

The simple fact is this: The iPhone 12 Pro, particularly Max because its image sensor, has the best hardware put in a phone ever. They are better in every way that makes an actual, real difference, when you are using them. And it has software that is now as good as clean Android in most aspects. In areas like privacy it is better than what Google is giving to users.

With their high-prices the new Pro iPhones are not the phones for most consumers, and definitely not in India where if we translate the iPhone 12 Pro Max price to US dollars it comes to something like $1770. But if you want a phone without compromises, a phone that will last with you for three to four years, and a phone that is a piece of shiny and sublime engineering, you don't have any other option than the iPhone 12 Pro. And that speaks volumes about the current state of Android phones.