Last week, the iPhone 13 lineup was finally available to the public. But the phones aren't cheap. The 13 Pro Max with 1TB of storage starts at $1,599. That's nearly the same price as the Samsung Z Fold 3 with 256GB of storage, priced at $1,799.
While the iPhone boosts extraordinary photo and video capabilities, faster charging speed, and more storage, Android Central's Nicholas Sutrich says Samsung made all the right changes with the Z Fold 3 by "finally giving people a good reason to consider a foldable phone without making serious concessions."
Which one would you choose? Do you prefer the iPhone 13 Pro Max or the Samsung Z Fold 3?
While I have no intention of getting either phone, I was curious to find out what all I could buy for the same amount of money these devices cost.
Best budget phone
The first thing I wanted to figure out was how many budget phones I could get instead of buying these high-end phones?
The Google Pixel 4a, which starts at $349.99, is considered one of the best budget Android phones. For the price of one 13 Pro Max, I could get four. For the price of one Fold 3, I could get five.
If the camera is your thing, then our former AC reporter Hayato Huseman says the Pixel 4a is the "budget camera quality leader."
Pizza
OK, so here's where I get excited because as much as I love gadgets and all kinds of tech goodies, food is way more important, specifically pizza.
Don't ask me about the pizza war I started in our virtual newsroom because everyone had different places they liked to eat.
But I picked two places. A large cheese pizza at Domino's Pizza costs $15.99. So for one 13 Pro Max, I could get 100 pizzas, and for one Fold 3, I could get 112 pizzas.
At Papa John's, a large cheese pizza is $21.79. For one 13 Pro Max, I could get 73 pizzas, and for one Fold 3, I could get 82 pizzas.
Listen, I don't know about you, but it is my dream to be in a room full of pizza.
Streaming service
Instead of getting one device, you could save your money and purchase years' worth of content on any streaming service.
Netflix premium for a year will cost you $215. So for one 13 Pro Max, that's seven years of Netflix, and for the Fold 3, that's eight years.
I didn't do all the math on other streaming services. But if this is Netflix, imagine the possibilities with other services.
PlayStation 5
I know they're still out of stock at many places, or at least, they're very hard to get. But the digital version of the PS5 costs $399.
If there was enough console stock, you could get four of them for one 13 Pro Max or one Fold 3.
And if you're cheeky, you could keep one for yourself and sell the others.
Vizio's 4K 55 inch OLED TV
Vizio's first 4K OLED TV is expensive, priced at $1,200, but that's still cheaper than either phone. Paired with your favorite streaming service subscription, and you're basically set.
If you have a PS5, you can throw on an OLED TV to get those rich blacks and variable refresh rate.
The cost of both of those will match the price of the iPhone and will still be cheaper than getting the Z Fold 3.
Samsung bundle
Finally, this entire bundle might cost a bit more than the 13 Pro Max, but it's still cheaper than the Fold 3, and you're getting four products.
The Samsung Galaxy S21 is $850, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE with 64GB is $530, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 is $250, and the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 is $150.
In total, that's all worth $1,780, which is a bit less than the Fold 3, which costs $1,799.
