iPhone or Android? Which is the best choice?

The next frontier of smartphone features and functionality will be driven by artificial intelligence and voice interfaces. On this front, Android has a clear advantage.

Google Assistant, the most prominent AI/smart assistant on Android, is incredibly powerful. It uses everything Google knows about you and the world to make your life easier. For example, if your Google Calendar knows you’re meeting someone at 5:30 and traffic is terrible, Google Assistant can send you a notification telling you to leave early.

Siri is Apple's answer to Google Assistant for artificial intelligence. It's getting better all the time with each new version of iOS. That said, it's still limited to fairly simple tasks and doesn't offer the advanced smarts of Google Assistant (Google Assistant is also available for the iPhone). 

Winner: Android

Older iPhones needed to recharge their batteries every day. Newer models can go days without a charge, although newer versions of the operating system tend to reduce battery life. battery until they are optimized in later versions.

The battery situation is more complex with Android, due to the wide variety of hardware options. Some Android models have 7-inch screens and other features that consume much more battery.

But thanks to the wide variety of Android models, there are also some that offer ultra-high-capacity batteries. If you don't mind the extra bulk and really need a long-lasting battery, Android can give you a device that lasts much longer than an iPhone on a single charge.

Winner: Android

People who want complete control to customize your phones prefer Android, thanks to its greater openness.

One downside to this openness is that each company that makes Android phones can customize them, sometimes replacing stock Android apps with inferior tools developed by that company. 

Apple, on the other hand, locks down the iPhone much more tightly. Customizations are more limited, and you can't change the default apps. What you lose in flexibility with an iPhone is balanced by the quality and attention to detail, a device that looks and feels well integrated with other products.

If you want a phone that works well, offers a high-quality experience, and is easy to use, Apple is the winner. On the other hand, if you value flexibility and choice enough to accept some potential issues, you'll probably prefer Android.

Winner: Draw

The last item mentioned is that Android's openness means that manufacturers sometimes install their own apps in place of high-quality default apps.

This is compounded by phone companies also installing their own apps. As a result, it can be difficult to know which apps will come to your Android device and whether they will be any good.

You don't have to worry about this with the iPhone. Apple is the only company that pre-installs apps on the iPhone, so all phones come with the same, mostly high-quality apps.

Winner: iPhone

Apple emphasizes elegance and simplicity in the iPhone above all else. This is one of the main reasons why users can't upgrade the storage or replace the batteries in their iPhones (it is possible to get replacement iPhone batteries, but they need to be installed by a qualified technician).

Android, on the other hand, allows users to replace their phone's battery and expand its storage capacity.

The downside is that Android is a little more complex and a little less elegant, but that may be worth it compared to running out of memory or avoiding paying for an expensive battery replacement.

Winner: Android

If you care about the security of your smartphone, there is only one option: iPhone.

The reasons for this are numerous and take too long to go into fully here. For the short version, consider these two facts:

• In one study, 97% of all malware, viruses, worms, etc. were for Android. In that study, 0% attacked the iPhone.
• Even the head of Google's Android team admits that "we can't guarantee that Android is designed to be secure... If I had a company dedicated to malware, I should be handling my attacks on Android as well." 

That says it all. However, it’s important to note that these statistics don’t mean that the iPhone is immune to malware. It’s not. It’s just less likely to be targeted than Android-based phones. 

Winner: iPhone

If you're looking for the largest screens available on smartphones, Android is your choice.

There's been a trend toward larger smartphone screens – so much so that a new word, phablet, has been coined to describe a hybrid phone and tablet.

Android offered the first phablets and continues to offer the biggest and biggest options. Samsung's Galaxy Note 8 has a 6.3-inch screen, for example.

With the iPhone X, the top-of-the-line iPhone offers a 5.8-inch display. Still, if the size is too big for you, Android is the choice.

Winner: Android

To get the fastest wireless internet experience, you need access to 4G LTE networks. When 4G LTE started rolling out across the country, Android phones were the first to offer it.

It's been years since Android was the only place for super-fast internet.

Apple introduced 4G LTE on the iPhone 5 in 2012, and every subsequent model has offered it. With wireless networking hardware roughly equivalent on both platforms, the main factor in determining wireless data speeds is now exactly which phone company's network the phone is connected to.

Winner: Draw

If you're more concerned about the cost of your phone, you'll probably go for Android. That's because there are plenty of Android phones that you can buy for cheap. Apple's cheapest phone is the iPhone SE, which costs $1,499.

For those on a very tight budget, this might be the end of the discussion. If you have some money to spend on your phone, look a little deeper.

The highest-priced phones on both platforms can easily cost close to – or sometimes more than – $1,000, but the average cost of an Android device is less than an iPhone.

Winner: Android

With new smartphones being released so frequently, people tend to upgrade quickly. When doing so, you want to make sure you can resell your old model with the most money invested in the new one.

Apple wins on this front. Old iPhones fetch more money on resale than old Androids.

Here are some examples, using smartphone reseller company prices:

• 64GB iPhone 6 in good condition, unlocked:  $ 170
• iPhone 7 Plus 32GB in good condition, unlocked:  $ 349
• Samsung Galaxy S7 32GB in good condition, unlocked: $ 200
• Google Pixel 32GB in good condition, unlocked:  $ 180

Winner: iPhone