I read an article on Hacker News about some US kid (apparently common situation) who was bullied for owning an Android phone (Samsung top of the line) instead of an iPhone. This is so incomprehensible to me (eastern European). Owning a Samsung is dreamed upon, iPhone doesn't even enter the competition. My kid visits the electronics store every time we go to the mall and drools over the Galaxy Fold Z. Counts his hard-earned kid money and makes calculations on how much till owning one ($2000 retail price originally, now somewhat lower). Although sometimes he gets distracted, one time he saw a Samsung phone near the $200 mark, took it into his hand, browsed a bit and declared "You know, maybe I'll scratch my pocket and get this, although it will set me back a bit on my Galaxy Z target. I can easily pay $200, heck, I wouldn't blink even at $300 for this phone, it looks nice". Only then did we notice that there was a label mishap. The phone, a Galaxy S22-Ultra, was in the $1000 range. What was selling for $200 were it's headphones
In some states here in the USA, if the phone was mispriced at 200 bux but really cost 1000, the store would be forced to sell it at the 200 sticker price.
About 10 years ago I got my first Xiaomi and since then I stuck to them. Occasionally they have the weird bug like battery drains 70% in sleep mode overnight and when I check the power usage it says "screen activity", but then mysteriously the bug clears on it's own without requiring a system update or anything. Other than that they're on par with Samsung performance-wise and much cheaper, like half to a third of the price, which is quite handy when you're in the habit of wrecking or losing your phone (like in a bar, ahem ).
Your story is both enlightening and relatable! The Android vs. iPhone debate has certainly captured imaginations worldwide, and it's fascinating to see how these brands are perceived differently depending on cultural context. In some places, an iPhone might be a status symbol, while in others, the Galaxy Fold Z could be the coveted tech treasure. If you're interested in keeping up with all the tech gossip, reviews, and comparisons, you might want to check out Multitechverse. They've got a plethora of articles that dig deep into the features, specs, and overall user experience of both Android and iPhone devices.