Apple is heavily banking on its latest set of features and shimmery colour to do the trick with the iPhone 7 this year. With a starting price tag of 60K, it might be out of reach for most people in India. However, in most countries, buying the iPhone is an affordable choice.
But we really need to ask ourselves whether Apple has done enough this year to compel more Android users to shift to iOS.
Going by how things have been over the past couple of years, it has become a futile exercise to wait for Apple to blow us away with innovation — Steve Job’s daily business.
Moreover, whatever Apple puts out, Android usually has got it covered already, and for a much lesser price than what you’ll have to pay for the iPhone flagship phones.
Here are the five features of iPhone 7 that are already there on Android phones at affordable price points.
Water & Dust Resistance
Finally, we got an iPhone that can withstand a few splashes of water and dust. The IP67 certified stamp on the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus is a welcome sign. However, it is worth noting that the new Samsung Galaxy S7 also gets the IP67 stamp and costs less than 45K in the country right now.
That’s not all though, you can even spend just 12K and get a phone which offers water and dust resistance. Not that big a deal after all.
Dual-SIM
Not every iPhone user wants a dual-SIM phone but it wouldn’t harm Apple’s chances of appealing to more buyers.
This is especially the case in countries like China and India, where there is market potential. Dual-SIM support also comes in handy for people who want make the best of free Jio 4G internet right now.
While there are plenty of dual-SIM Android phones in the market, across different price brackets, our pick would be the OnePlus 3. For Rs 27,999 you get a 64GB phone with a quality camera and yes, support for dual-SIM.
Dual Camera
Its a matter of time before we see major tech companies warming up to dual-cameras. The iPhone 7 Plus gets two 12-megapixel cameras at the back and Apple says the Optical Zoom feature is built into the hardware of the phone for the first time.
If you are looking for Android phones with dual-camera set up, there is the Huawei P9 priced at Rs 39,999. The phone is supposedly powered by Leica-branded camera — ideal for shutterbugs. With the P9 you get a quality camera, without the need to sell your kidney.
No Headphone Jack
Apple isn’t the first phone brand to ditch the 3.5-mm audio jack. They might end up making it better than anyone else, but for now, Apple has to admit they lost the race to China’s LeEco. The company earlier announced Le 2 and Le Max 2 which discards the traditional audio port for USB Type C.
While you might say that Apple is bundling audio jack adapter with the iPhone 7, take your pick between a 11K phone or the Rs 60,000 iPhone 7.
32GB Version of the iPhone 7
Apple has ditched the 16GB model with the iPhone 7, as well as the 64GB one. This means you get to pick between 32, 128 and 256GB versions now. Dare we say, the top storage model could easily cost you more than Rs 1 lakh and surely that’s out of bounds for most of us?
There are Android phones which lets you have 256GB storage for less than 50K. You can also opt for the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 which is priced at Rs 12,999 for the 32GB model, and comes with a 16-megapixel camera.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)