Forget the Pro Max, the iPhone 15 is the most overpriced iPhone

Robert Triggs / Android Authority

$1,199 for the latest iPhone 15 Pro Max is undoubtedly expensive. In fact, it’s Apple’s priciest iPhone ever, but astatine slightest you’re trading that currency successful for the brand’s latest and top mobile technology. At the different extremity of the portfolio lies the poor, neglected iPhone 15. While overmuch much affordable astatine $799, it lacks the cutting-edge entreaty of Apple’s Pro range, often near waiting for older features to trickle down.

That trickle has slowed to a drip. As such, the regular iPhone 15 compares rather poorly connected a spec-by-spec ground against the best Android phones successful the aforesaid terms bracket. While the Pro Max mightiness beryllium expensive, it’s the iPhone 15 that’s really overpriced for what it offers.

Starting with the display, high-refresh-rate 120Hz OLED panels are the norm (increasingly successful the mid-tier too), and adaptable refresh rates to prevention connected artillery beingness are besides progressively common. The iPhone 15 is stuck with a dated 60Hz fixed refresh complaint that looks and feels comparatively sluggish erstwhile scrolling done your favourite websites. Once you’ve sampled 120Hz, going backmost to 60Hz feels decidedly budget.

Likewise, Apple reserves its Always-on Display (AOD) diagnostic for its Pro model, portion respective Android manufacturers, including Google and Samsung, connection it connected their much affordable phones. Apple is truly shortchanging its customers erstwhile it comes to show technology.

Robert Triggs / Android Authority

Flip the latest iPhone over, and you’ll spot different country that Apple is scrimping on. Yes, the iPhone 15 present boasts a larger, high-resolution 48MP rear camera (finally closing an aged spread with the best camera phones). However, the exemplary is stuck with an aged ultrawide lens and inactive lacks immoderate optical zoom capabilities. And no, Apple’s 2x telephoto fancy harvest is not existent contention for a dedicated 2x oregon 3x lens.

Android is flush with crisper camera options astatine this price, from the OnePlus 11’s 2x lens, the Galaxy S23 3x telephoto shooting option, oregon the 3.2x optical capabilities of the Xiaomi 13. Tangentially, the $899 dual-camera iPhone 15 Plus is nary lucifer for the flexibility of the $849 Pixel 7 Pro’s zoom setup either.

While a lesser offense, Apple’s prime to usage older silicon is besides a measurement down from its competitors. The A16 Bionic is surely nary slouch aft conscionable a year, but arsenic affordable Android flagships regularly tout the latest and top Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. Furthermore, adjacent year’s rival flagships are acceptable for a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 upgrade, implicit with graphics chops that’ll stroke Apple’s last-gen spot retired of the water.

A sluggish display, older chip, and little flexible camera hardware doesn't basal up to the competition.

Similarly, artillery beingness has ne'er been peculiarly stellar with the smaller iPhone, and the 15 exemplary doesn’t look to beryllium immoderate larger than its predecessor. Perhaps worse, past year’s iPhone models person been criticized for losing highest capableness quicker than different brands, suggesting that Apple is cheaping retired connected inferior cells. But determination is simply a decent enactment of compact smartphones that connection coagulated all-day artillery beingness and sometimes adjacent more.

Even what’s caller is often aged with Apple. The fund iPhone 15s don’t adjacent enactment accelerated information transportation speeds, contempt the agelong overdue determination to USB-C. They’re stuck with the outdated USB 2.0 protocol, which is acold slower than you’ll spot successful modern Android phones.

Between the display, battery, USB-C tech, and middling camera setup, the Apple iPhone 15 has a batch of drawbacks and precise fewer hardware wins to lord implicit competitors successful its terms bracket.

The champion Android alternatives to the iPhone 15

Ryan Haines / Android Authority

To Apple’s credit, different cardinal plan aspects comparison good against its Android rivals. NFC, Ultra-wideband, an IP68 rating, Bluetooth 5.3, and semipermanent update enactment are accounted for. However, you’ll inactive find Android alternatives with faster charging, the latest Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 capabilities, and instrumentality favorites similar a headphone jack. Perhaps those are little important to wide customers, but it goes to amusement that determination are plentifulness of competitors worthy looking at.

Samsung’s Galaxy S23 ($799 astatine Amazon) is the Apple iPhone 15’s astir nonstop competitor. It has a slicker, 120Hz Dynamic AMOLED show with AOD, an further camera for distant zoom, faster wired charging, and faster USB 3.2 information speeds, for precisely the aforesaid terms arsenic the latest iPhone.

Android isn't abbreviated of much almighty hardware combinations for iPhone 15 money.

Spend conscionable a fraction more, and the fantabulous Google Pixel 7 Pro ($589.98 astatine Amazon) nets you faster wireless charging, a 10-120Hz LTPO display, 5x long-range zoom photography, and a immense 5,000mAh battery. In Europe, the Xiaomi 13 ($790.99 astatine eBay) is the aforesaid terms and comes with a large battery, superb camera setup with optical zoom, 120Hz display, 8K video recording, blazing accelerated wired charging, Wi-Fi 7 support, and doubly the retention of its competitors.

Of course, the iPhone 15 has an entreaty that transcends hardware features, specified arsenic the caller satellite-powered Roadside Assistance. Those embedded successful Apple’s bundle ecosystem mightiness request much convincing to power sides, but those looking for coagulated worth for wealth should see an alternate to the overpriced iPhone 15.