$200 iPhone 15 Pro Max copy proves Apple is Android’s favorite role model, but this should change

• It has a super impressive 6.7-inch OLED display with a pill-shaped cutout, a 120Hz refresh rate, 2000 nits of peak brightness, and super thin bezels – if this sounds familiar, it’s because the $200 Honor more or less matches the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s screen

• It runs on the budget Snapdragon 680 SoC, which is roughly 6x slower than the iPhone 15 Pro’s A17 Bionic but perfectly in line with other phones/chips in this price range

• It comes with 8GB of RAM and a whopping 512GB of storage by default – as sold on Honor’s Malaysian website (the iPhone 15 Pro starts at 256GB of storage)

• It has a 108MP primary camera with a rather large 1/6-inch inch sensor; a 5MP ultra-wide camera, and a 50MP selfie shooter

• It brings a 4,500mAh battery with 33W fast charging – that’s a larger battery and faster charging speeds compared to the iPhone 15 Pro Max; while having a larger battery than the iPhone doesn’t necessarily mean better battery life, the Honor’s super-efficient SoC might actually help it get to the iPhone’s battery endurance

• And, of course, a “Magic Capsule” – Honor’s own twist on Apple’s Dynamic Island, which happens to look quite a lot better than the iPhone’s much larger hole; the Magic Capsule doesn’t have Face ID but it houses an actual flash next to the 50MP selfie camera, which seems like a bright idea and a practical use of space

Honor X8b is what the iPhone 15 Pro Max would’ve been if it costed $200, and I don’t hate it: You can buy 7 Honors for the price of a single iPhone 15 Pro Max

But, but, but… We’ve seen phones that try to copy the iPhone before. There are plenty of similar knock-off devices from brands and with names even I can’t remember.However, one phone that comes to mind is the legendary Xiaomi Pocophone F1, which was deliberately designed to look like the novel (at the time) iPhone X… for absolutely no reason. The difference? Well, Xiaomi’s flagship-killer packed flagship specs and a great camera, so it really didn’t need to look like the iPhone X. In fact, it would’ve looked far, far better (and more modern) without a massive, useless notch (without Face ID capabilities).

But in the case of the Honor X8b, we’re (very clearly) talking about a $200 Android phone that’s trying to impress with a design, and specs that punch way above its price point – save for camera and SoC, of course (because some compromises must be made)… And that’s why I really, really like it.

Not to mention, the back of the Honor X8b brings some individuality with a faux leather finish and a neatly arranged camera island. Overall, this is one of the cleanest looking $200 phones I’ve seen in a while.

In fact, I would’ve bought an Honor X8b in a heartbeat… if it was available globally. You know – just to see if I can use it as my regular phone… Or perhaps give a couple Honor X8b’s to family members as a gift I can afford!

Android phones should stop copying the iPhone ASAP – at least if they want to make a better phone than Apple’s

But let’s not get carried away…

While I do love what Honor’s done with its version of the iPhone 15 Pro Max, I think that copying the iPhone might be a good idea in the short-term but a terrible one in the long-run for Android phone-makers.

And I get it – attracting Apple’s incredibly loyal user base is very hard. In fact, it’s nearly impossible in certain regions of the world, like in the US, where Apple rules 50-60% of the market, and nearly 90% of the younger demographic (#iMessage). Therefore, some Android phone-makers will be trying to steal a fraction of Cupertino’s business by any means possible.

But here’s one of the trickiest questions to answer in the smartphone industry – one the likes of Samsung, Google and many more have been trying to find the answer to for years…

Some Android phone-makers believe that “to beat the iPhone, you must be the iPhone”, but is this true?

As things stand, Android phone-makers try to attract Apple users by using several different methods of emulation:

• Nothing’s (failed) idea to bring iMessage on the Nothing Phone 2 was a blunt, desperate attempt to attract those who don’t mind using an Android phone but need iMessage – that is Apple or Android users

• Xiaomi’s new Hyper OS (just like MIUI) is clearly designed to look and function like the iPhone’s iOS (Xiaomi’s CEO has been vocal about his admiration of Apple since day one, which is respectable, if you ask me)

• Then you have the “bezel race” – every new flagship phone seems to be competing with the iPhone when it comes to the size of their display borders, often referencing the iPhone during launch events; Apple was the first company to launch a phone with even bezels in 2017 with the iPhone X, and the iPhone 15 Pro had the thinnest display borders on the market when it launched earlier this year (a record now held by the Xiaomi 14)

• And of course, we have phones like the Honor X8b and Tecno Spark 20 – honest iPhone design rip-offs with their own Dynamic Islands, flat frames, and iPhone-like camera cutouts (which, when done right, I have nothing against!)

Android phone-makers who copy the iPhone design underestimate people’s taste and ability to choose a phone that looks different

So, the examples of companies and phones that try to “beat the iPhone by being the iPhone” are diverse, and many… But why? Why would that be the key to attracting Apple’s users, or any user in general, when it’s been proven to be a wonky strategy over and over again?

In fact, I’d go as far as to say that thinking all people want just another iPhone rip-off, and can be so easily “manipulated” is borderline offensive to me as a user.

For example, my favourite phone designs look nothing like the iPhone… The Pixel 6 Pro (the best looking phone I’ve owned), Pixel 8 Pro, Oppo Find X6 Pro, Galaxy Z Flip 5, OnePlus Open, Huawei P40 Pro… I can keep going.

If you want your Android phone to look and work like an iPhone, then you should buy an iPhone: Android should go back to doing what it does best, which is being a bolder, more practical alternative to the iPhone

See, if you wish your Nothing Phone had iMessage; if you wish your Xiaomi phone ran iOS, and if you wish your Honor/Huawei phone had a Dynamic Island… Just go to the Apple store. Because being like the iPhone isn’t really what makes Android great.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m more than glad when Android phones copy some of Apple’s useful, practical features like Face ID, MagSafe (coming to Android very soon), and the gesture navigation system. But those are (some would say) game-changing features that I’d add to any phone.

So, what’s the way to “beat the iPhone”? Well, I don’t know… If I did, I would’ve been Samsung’s CEO… However, if you ask me, the way to challenge the iPhone is to take what’s not so great about it, and make this the selling point of your own, original Android phone.

Of course, another way of being original and giving people something Apple isn’t currently offering is with a folding phone. For example, the one feature I wish my iPhone 15 Pro Max had would be the ability to fold in half, which would make it easier to use with one hand, more compact in my pocket, and truly feel like a new, innovative, and fun device.

Android’s always been about being a more practical, clever alternative to the iPhone. Not a half-baked iPhone… So, let’s do more of that?