Would the Androids saga without Cell been boring?

[SSJ YUSUKE]

This would have been much much more different and they could be interesting. Unlike most people here I think 16 could have replaced Cell. Here me out, when 16 first appeared there did seem to be some mystery to it and given that Toriyana made things up as he went along he could easily have ended up being the main antagonist, from Gero insisting that 17 and 18 not open his pod to his intitial apperance having him appear silent and his mission to kill Goku. I think without Cell 16 could easily take Cells place but obviously the story would be totall different.
We do now know that 16 is based off of Geros son which if it was added to the story could add some much needed depth to 16 and make Gero somewhat more sympathetic. So not only would 16 have a mission to destroy Goku but he could also want to succeed his father and fufill his goals. We could also use his love of nature to grow him further. Maybe because he loves nature he decides that all humans should die to preserve it, a bit like an early Zamasu.
I imagine that in the begining he would tag along silently with 17 and 18 but overtime he could turn on them and try and absorb them like Cell, perhaps he gets 17 and goes after 18 with Krillin trying to protect her. Parts of the story could have a real Terminator vibe with an unstoppable machine who seemingly can't be defeated. Just imagine 16 chasing after 18 in a run down city, with the rest of the Z fighters trying to track him down, it could be a real cat and mouse game.
Have him have his showdown with Goku, it could play out similar to final fight with Cell with Goku eventually dying and Gohan succeeding him.

[JulieYBM]

The story would have been different but it isn't like the story could not be different while keeping Cell as the final foe. If #20 remained the final foe then I think it'd be interesting to draw a parallel between him and Gokuu as fathers by bringing in that element of #16 being a recreation of #20's son and Gohan being the only one able to stop him. Gero using his son as a pawn in his quest for revenge pitted up against Gokuu using his son as an extension of himself, perhaps? Criticize fatherhood as an institution that flows through our lives and societies, I propose.

[Anonymous Friend]

As it was going the way it did, there wouldn't be a proper villain. 19 and Dr. Gero were pretty boring outside their absorption capabilities. 16, 17, and 18 also weren't really villains just a bunch of rascals.

The absorbing capabilities is what makes them extremely interesting. It means long range ki attacks strengthen the enemy. It means you have to be extremely careful with close range combat as any touch from them will stregthen them. Vegeta pretty much lets 19 absorb his energy but proved to have more than enough to destroy him. That's a great way to handle the story when you need to get rid of that enemy. But if they were sticking around, it would not have played out the same way.

The story ended up the standard we need to get stronger to overcome these very strong enemies. I wonder if we kept 19 and 20, if it would have stayed that way, but the need to be strong enough to allow their strength to be sapped and still have enough to defeat the enemy. Or maybe, develop another way of fighting that sidestepps the absorbing.

[blacksymbiote]

Honestly, it was kind of boring even with Cell. The whole strongest character switching every 5 episodes just got annoying. Cell basically became another Frieza who they let transform. The androids themselves were more interesting than Cell.

[Bridgeman]

I think, if they had gone for #19 and #20 as villains with full conviction, it could've been a very good saga still, even without Cell and the other androids. You may think of #19 as a near-worthless character, but I feel like that's mainly because he was discarded as a sniveling, cowardly clown who got annihilated by Vegeta.

When I saw DBZ on TV as a kid and #19 and #20 were going around town murdering random people, that shit was pretty terrifying. They had potential for sure, despite their somewhat silly appearances.

[Yosheets]

Not really, but it definitely would have been worse. I could actually see Android #16 as the final villain of the Saga, since he still had the instinct to kill Goku.

[Demon Prince Piccolo]

It all chalks up to how the androids (whether 19 and 20, or 16, 17 and 18) would have been written if Cell was not going to show up. It's pretty clear during the Android Saga that the intended main villains were changing until Cell emerged. There was something truly creepy and unsettling about 19 and 20 (akin to how Imperfect Cell felt when he first appeared). Androids 16, 17, and 18 were never true "villains" in the saga, but they could have been had they been written to be so. I mean, 18 made quite the impression with her dismantling of SSJ Vegeta, after we saw him make mincemeat of 19. You could even make the case that she wasn't going all out. Despite Vegeta having far surpassed her ever since this arc, this beatdown is still iconic to this day. The tone could've been further set by having 18 kill Krillin after kissing him. You could have one of the Z fighters (say, Trunks or Gohan) going to retrieve Goku from the Kame House before the androids arrive, adding tension, and then having the androids show up murdering Chi-Chi and Roshi, ensuing in a chase between them and the Z fighter who is transporting Goku away. Then, have them proceed to wreak outright terror on the city, in effect limiting the time the Z Fighters had to train.