Another year: the iPhone is still the best choice for most people

Over the weekend, people with review units of the Pixel 2 XL began noticing a problem. No, not the already-known issues of muddy color and grainy textures when viewed in low-light, but one that’s potentially more worrisome: screen burn-in. First reported on Twitter by Android Central’s Alex Dobie, multiple people have noticed that when you look at the screen with a gray background, you can see faint outlines of the phone’s navigation buttons on the bottom.

You can see it below, and I can confirm I’m seeing something similar on my own review unit.

The display problems of the Pixel 2 XL – due to its LG-made panel – are baffling. Google claims it’s getting serious about hardware, but putting a panel in your flagship phone that isn’t only sub-par when it’s working, but is also showing burn-in after mere days of use, is wholly and utterly inexcusable. This is not a budget, €150 phone – this is a flagship phone with a flagship price, and consumers deserve better than this clearly garbage display.

Another year, another round of flagships, another year of the iPhone simply being the best all-round option for most, normal people. For most average, normal people, the iPhone will give them an easy-to-use, secure, and updated phone with a decent resale value two to three years down the line. Additionally, Apple Stores or official Apple retailers are widespread, so you often have easy access to in-person customer service.

Samsung/HTC/LG phones don’t get updates – or only six months after the fact – but carry the same flagship price, often leaving their users with insecure and out of date software. The Nexus program no longer exists, and Google’s Pixel phones are only available in like 2 countries, and on top of that, its flagship model has a display worse than my Palm T|X. The Android market is in a terrible state right now.

Anybody who doesn’t care about software and hardware the way most of us do is, years and years in, still best served by an iPhone. Depending on budget, get an iPhone 6S, 7, or 8 (forget the ridiculously overpriced iPhone X); the Android world simply doesn’t have a phone that can compete with any of those three – and that’s a sad state of affairs. Google has been wholly unable to address the biggest problems Android suffers from – most notably, updates – and we’re way past the point where this can be excused without really scraping the bottom of the barrel of excuses.

Suggesting non-nerdy, regular people get an Android phone at this point in time is simply irresponsible.

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