The state of the smartphone market after the Samsung Galaxy Fold

2019 is the start of a innovative year for Android OS but more of the same with iOS or the Apple iPhone. Yes it’s still Apple Vs the rest of the world. When will another alternative OS reveals it’s self?

Android OS is at an amazing state. There are so many models and brands available you could spend months just researching before deciding on a new phone. The operating system is efficient, being able to run with minimal hardware specs. Benchmarks don’t reveal everything about performance so any review relying on them is pointless especially comparing it to the other dominant OS from Apple. The Android One initiative means that you get consistent OS updates regardless of brand.

On the other hand Apple iOS and the iPhone have truly stagnated in design and features. Mind you they have caught up with a lower grade OLED screen and it’s pricing is not aspirational, more a rip off. Very few people could see the point of replacing their current phones with the latest models unless they had to.

There is very few changes to the iPhones basics with the most talked about and heavily promoted of ‘dark mode’ a simple software screen mode available on Android OS for at least 8 years due to Android OS phone able to install themes and launchers. It’s laughable how the most popular tech bloggers love this feature and regard it as new.

The notch is a polarising ‘feature’ as it’s been available on the Essential phone first and copied by Apple then Samsung, Oppo and Huawei released their own versions. Unfortunately it is more annoying than useful and it is not a elegant design. It is clear that  Apple copied the idea but it is clearly where the other manufacturers were heading based on the speed of the model release.

2019 also sees the earnest efforts by Apple to maintain margins and promote the iPhone as a luxury item. Rose gold is pink no matter how to look at it and it’s a metaphor for it’s users who are biased rather than pragmatic to the whole iPhone vs Android the rest debate. Phones are not luxury items, the iPhone sells in the millions and none of its materials out of the ordinal or luxurious to look at rather the iPhone is looking a little cheap compared to the latest Samsung’s for example.

The most popular tech bloggers and tech reviewers are so Apple centric it’s so easy to pick their bias and lack of awareness of features on Android phones. Like the whole screen colour settings which Samsung in particular had for the last 9 years that they didn’t even know about. The Apple watch is not an attractive ‘watch’ and certainly not a luxury item no matter what band that have. A Rolex even a ‘cheap’ one has more street cred than $1000 Apple watch. Big watches are a fashion statement and highly popular as when we see a review completing about how big smartwatches are we stop reading or viewing. They seem to be so Apple centric and concerned about preserving their status as the voice of the consumer but really there are quite limited or rather closed minded. They are also repeaters of press releases not generators of new ideas or fashion leaders that’s for sure. After all their clothes are promotional T-shirts given out buy the various brands!

The voice of the people is where they put their money and they want OLED screens and big ones! The original Galaxy Note was mostly laughed at by these people, like when Bill Gates the founder of Microsoft said there would only be the need for less than the dozen computers in the world! Yet people bought them in high numbers because that’s what they wanted. Tech blogger and you tubers simply report and amplify their limited experience not what the market wants.

OMG the heavy promotion of iMessage like it’s the only and best messenger on the planet is laughable. Whatsapp is what most of the world uses for their messaging. It’s platform or OS neutral and some governments even acknowledge it as a genuine form of identification. That said bring on a new competitor please.

The other feature Apple is at least focusing on is their payment system. Using the system is of course dependent on you having an iPhone and to be honest we wouldn’t recommend it. We don’t want Apple knowing what we are buying and paying for using their systems. Their support when something goes wrong is not just replacing the phone when it breaks. This applies to any payment system like Google pay or Samsung pay options that are platform or OS specifications. (Don’t get us started on what Google knows about us!) I also don’t want to subscribe to their clearly bias news option devoid of critical Apple news. It’s like censorship and not pro-consumer holding innovation back.

This brings us to the 2019 trend of folding phones. The Galaxy Fold is not the first folding phone but the most complete package with everything you could want for it’s high but justified price tag. The specs are amazing 64-bit multi-cores 12 GIG RAM and 512 Gig storage out of the box is literally PC specifications. It also looks and works amazing and will be regarded highly. We think it will be popular as more people replace their dual device tablet and phone setup for an all in one. It’s funny that at the release the Fold’s release tech reviewers and tech blogger can only complain at how big or expensive it will be which reveal their small mindedness. You see you are paying $1500 for the iPhone with limited memory and a 1st generation OLED screen, facts that are conveniently forgotten.