isnt it better to just use a cheap smartphone?

[/RaspberryPi]

Hi i am probably going to say something controversial, please understand its just an idea that crossed my head. I check the prices of the older version of smartphone and i found out you can get it a bit cheaper than rapsberry pi + a monitor (in my country, not sure about yours)
If we are going pick a computer for the purpose to build home automation stuff , isnt a cheap smartphone better in this regard. It already comes with a screen, wifi , bluetooth and camera built in, even tho the camera and the processor sticking together probably isnt very useful..
I'd imagine the only downside is

1. limited ports, smartphone cant charge and use its usb at the same time, so peripherals will have to go to wifi/bluetooth. But home automation has always relied on wifi.
2. smaller screen/less screen choirces
3. probably a little bit more complex to build android app.
4. extremely limited option if you wish to run a server on it, not impossible tho

Whats your opinion?

submitted by /u/flampardfromlyn
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