It’s been a few weeks since Apple launched the iPhone 18 Pro Max, and this year, it’s more expensive than ever to get your hands on one. The ongoing RAM and memory crunch hasn’t helped, and while Apple certainly isn’t the only brand feeling the pinch, $1,299 for the base 256GB iPhone 18 Pro Max is still a lot of money.
And that got me thinking about what else you could get for the same money. On the Android side, some seriously good phones don’t just compete with the iPhone 18 Pro Max — they offer features and experiences you really won’t get on Apple’s flagship. So, if I had $1,299 to spend on a phone today, these are the five Android phones I’d consider buying instead of the iPhone 18 Pro Max.