>People who are purchasing the S6 aren't buying into any lifestyle as far as I can tell.

Nothing wrong with it, of course, but the perception that you "aren't buying into a lifestyle" is EXACTLY the lifestyle you're buying into.

Maybe not S6 users in particular, but buyers of high-end Android phones in general absolutely are: that of being too smart for Apple and better than all those iSheeple. That's just as much a part of the Android experience as cult membership is of the iOS experience.

In this case desirability is tied to fashion, people buy an iPhone because they see other people with an iPhone.

None of the Android phones has ever really gotten the same cachet that the iPhone does (Samsung nearly got it right with the S3) but it's down to perception and marketing.

In terms of device capability Android phones are considerably higher spec and just as usable (5.x is a big improvement) but it doesn't really matter, fashion and marketing wins out.

You see this in other areas, Sennheiser headphones are demonstrably higher quality (in sound and construction) than "Beats by dre" but if the difference is small enough then fashion wins out again.

Such a tired, tired argument.

More cores != better usable specs.

If you prefer security and privacy, there's a strong case for iOS.

If you prefer day-of-release software updates, there's a strong case for iOS.

If you prefer robust photography solutions, there's a strong case for Apple's camera hardware and software.

If you want to create audio, there's a strong case for the low latency of Apple's stack.

Who said anything about cores?

Android phones equivalent to the price of an iPhone have higher resolution screens, more storage and RAM.

Android phones half the price of the iPhone have equivalent screens, storage and RAM.

I have Nexus devices so I get day-of-release software updates (even my Nexus 7 2012 is running 5.1.1)

I couldn't care less about photography solutions or audio so that really doesn't apply.

Privacy, agreed, Android is a data hoover out the box.

... and yet, with all that horsepower, they still stutter and lag like crazy. An iPhone might be a less powerful computer, but you wouldn't know it from the UX (if you are upgrading every 2 years and running the iOS release that was designed for your phone - running too many versions ahead can produce a similar experience).

I guess it's different for different people. My wife's Nexus 5 that she purchased a couple of months after I got my iPhone 4S has held up much, much better than the iPhone did. I was so frustrated with how laggy and crash-prone my iPhone was (especially next to my wife's still-awesome Nexus) that I ended up buying a G4.

It may be worth noting that the Nexus 5 came out more than two years after the iPhone 4S (Oct 31, 2013 vs Oct 14, 2011), and as of now it hasn't even been 2 years since the Nexus 5 was released.

That said, it has been less than 4 years since the iPhone 4S was released; they shouldn't be failing yet, and that reflects poorly on the iPhone (as well as iOS) in your case. However, I'm also not yet convinced that the Nexus 5 will be operating well in late 2017 - that's yet to be determined.

Interesting, I didn't realize that. We bought both of them new from the carrier a few months apart. We each just asked for an inexpensive model of the respective brands, so I guess that is largely down to the Nexus 5 being crazy cheap and Apple keeping the 4S in circulation for a long time.

My Nexus 4 doesn't stutter or lag and it's two generations back, other manufacturers do seem to have more issues depending on what they did to the stock ROM.

"Fashion" http://www.cultofandroid.com/74560/iphone-6-outpaces-galaxy-...

I see people switch or contemplate switching pretty regularly. There are a lot of people that don't really buy into the whole Apple experience or even run mixed environments (iPad + Android smartphone being the most common one that I see).