Android has an ecosystem as good as Apple’s—it’s called Samsung
People buy Apple products for many reasons, but they stay because of the ecosystem. The fact is that Android has an ecosystem that is just as complete and just as powerful. We could even say that there is a vast galaxy of Samsung devices running Android that offer the same kind of integration we’ve come to expect from Apple products.
Samsung makes all types of consumer gadgets
First, you buy the iPhone. Then you get up with a pair of AirPods, which connect well to the MacBook you use for work and the iPad you watch YouTube on while doing the dishes. You want a smartwatch, and since the Apple Watch is the only option Apple will let you pair with your phone, that’s the one you buy. Next thing you know, you have an Apple TV box under the TV that you don’t even look at much because you’re more impressed with the massive virtual display of your Apple Vision Pro.
Okay, the $3,500 Apple Vision Pro may be within reach, but for many people the rest is all too familiar.
I ran into the same situation, but instead of Apple, most of my devices now come from Samsung. I bought a Galaxy phone first, so I thought I’d try Galaxy Buds. It then made sense to get a Galaxy Watch, especially since it has long been considered the best WearOS product on the market. When my wife and son needed new tablets, I recommended a Samsung tablet to them. Have you used one recently? These days, Samsung tablets are much closer to a laptop than you might think. Fast forward to the present, and I’m now writing these words through a Galaxy XR headset that I purchased for productivity.
These gadgets all connect seamlessly to each other
You may have noticed that I didn’t mention Samsung’s MacBook competitor. There is one: it’s called the Galaxy Book. I have no interest largely because it runs Windows, but it’s worth noting that Samsung’s laptop has many of the benefits of pairing an iPhone with a MacBook. You can receive messages on both devices. You can connect the displays together and navigate your phone directly from your PC. Your Galaxy Buds can automatically detect which device is playing music and switch. You can pair one with a Galaxy XR headset and stream VR games.
I was more interested in Samsung’s other alternative to the Macbook: Samsung DeX. DeX turns my phone into a desktop computer every time it’s connected to an external display. It can’t run the same type of software as macOS, but if, like me, you can get by just fine with a Chromebook, you can probably also get by with Samsung DeX and a wireless laptop.
My Galaxy Watch is my phone’s natural companion. Just like the Galaxy Buds. The Galaxy XR also comes with features exclusive to those who own a Galaxy phone. I can answer phone calls directly through my headset. Plus, like all modern Android devices, I can effortlessly send files from my phone to my headset and vice versa using QuickShare, the Android alternative to AirDrop (which recently became compatible with AirDrop on Pixel 10 devices).
Samsung makes many products that Apple doesn’t make
Apple TV is a streaming box that you connect to an existing TV. Samsung makes real TVs. My wife and I received a Frame TV, which offers a surprising number of ways to integrate into the Galaxy ecosystem. Although it can pair with any Bluetooth earbud, it automatically detected my Galaxy Buds and prompted me to connect them. I can press my phone against the upper right corner of the TV to send what’s on my phone screen to the TV. I can also use my Galaxy smartphone and Galaxy Watch to check the results.
Speaking of my phone, it’s a Galaxy Z Fold 6. It’s a foldable phone that Apple doesn’t offer an alternative to yet. Even if Apple finally releases a book-style foldable soon, it’s something Samsung has already been doing for seven years, with many foldable-specific features created along the way. Apple has a lot of catching up to do, and that’s before you consider that Samsung has started making phones that fold not once, but twice.
- Brand
-
Samsung
- RAM
-
12 GB
- Storage
-
256 GB
- Battery
-
4,400mAh
- Operating system
-
A user interface 8
- Connectivity
-
5G, LTE, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4
Samsung’s thinnest and lightest Fold yet feels like a regular phone when closed and a powerful multitasking machine when open. With a brighter 8-inch display and built-in Galaxy AI, it’s ready for work, play, and everything in between.
Samsung also makes significantly larger devices. We have a Samsung refrigerator that our builder chose for us. It integrates with Samsung SmartThings. I’ve since learned that SmartThings is a pretty effective way to control a smart home. So we deliberately purchased a Samsung dishwasher with SmartThings integration when our old one was broken. We don’t need a new washer and dryer, but those could also be from Samsung, if we wanted.
Samsung’s ecosystem still works well if you decide to leave
I’ve never bought an Apple product, and the way Apple locks you in has long been one of the main reasons why. So why am I all about Samsung products? They offer most of the same benefits, offer many more, and I don’t need to commit to being a Samsung fan forever to enjoy them. If I trade in my Z Fold 6 for a Fairphone 6, I might lose some of the extra benefits, but I can still connect my Galaxy Watch and install Samsung SmartThings to control my smartphone. I can still send files to my Galaxy XR headset using QuickShare. The same is not true for the Apple Watch, Apple Home or Apple Vision Pro.
It’s not just me. I have a wife and two children who all have their own devices. Even though I’ve currently pushed the whole family over to Galaxy devices, we haven’t replaced everything yet. My wife’s old Pixel phones can always be taken out of the drawer because they connect to everything we need. The same can be said for my daughter’s Lenovo tablet. If a friend comes over and doesn’t have a Samsung device, it doesn’t matter, unlike iPhone and non-iPhone users trying to interact. Fortunately, with the iPhone having RCS and Google implementing AirDrop, this wall is also starting to crumble. But as Samsung’s ecosystem shows, it’s a wall that Apple never had to build in the first place.
It’s been a long time since I felt any desire to look on the other side of the fence. Samsung’s hardware is just as good as Apple’s. A Galaxy Watch, in my eyes, is a more attractive piece of hardware. What I considered the AirPods’ coolest feature has spread to other earbuds. The Galaxy XR costs half as much as the Apple Vision Pro while offering higher resolution and lighter weight. And my Galaxy Z Fold 6 remains my favorite — and most versatile — consumer device I’ve purchased in my entire career. For me, this is an essential part of Samsung’s ecosystem, where Apple lags far behind.
