You can have a repair shop swap the battery for less than $100. Had to do that on my daughter's old 8 a couple times.I have the 12 and like it, haven’t had any problems with it. I shattered the back glass when I threw it after I got shot, and to get it fixed they had to heat up the back to peel the old glass off. It ended up heating up the battery too and now it won’t hold a charge as long as before. I’ve had both and prefer apple, but android seems to have longer battery life.
Weird....I currently have an S21 and before that had a S7 and have launched them many many many times from my lap sitting into the truck onto the concrete, out of my hand onto rocks hunting, and my daughter has dropped it a time or two to say the least....zero issues (of course bought a good case and screen protector for it.I cant speak to what is better or worse but can give my explanation.
I had a iPhone that was getting old so I took advantage of an upgrade (back when upgrades could be had to signing a contract and paying a couple hundred bucks.) I decided on a Samsung as it had a better camera and this is when PhoneSkope was getting popular. I liked the Samsung once I got use to it which took some time. I was sitting on the couch with the phone next to me. I knocked it off the couch and it fell onto the carpeted floor and the screen, not the glass, the screen cracked. Took it back and got an iPhone. Will never go back to a Samsung.