Within the established canon of Dragon Ball, Androids have proven time and again to have the capacity to match even the strongest organic fighter, but Goku reveals the secret to taking down any Android no matter how strong they are.
Androids were first introduced in the early days of classic Dragon Ball as they were created and utilized by the fascistic Red Ribbon Army. Some of the originals included Major Metallitron and Android 8 who would later be superseded by the likes of Android 17 and 18 in Dragon Ball Z. With each passing model, the Androids grew in strength. Metallitron, for instance, was stronger than the strongest human alive on Earth, and then Goku fought him and showed the world what true power looked like. So, Androids 17 and 18 came along who were as powerful as Goku was in his base form at that time. After all the Androids of the classic and Z eras came and went, it was time to introduce those of Dragon Ball GT–and they stayed true to the trend of increased power levels. The Machine Mutants (alien androids) like the Sigma Force, Lord Luud, and General Rilldo proved to be the strongest artificial life forms the Z-Fighters had faced up until that point. However, each and every time without fail, Goku beat all of them the same exact way.
In Dragon Ball GT season 1, episode 18 (written by Masashi Kubota, directed by Osamu Kasai, produced by Toei Animation), Goku, Trunks, and Pan are on a planet that was fully assimilated by the Machine Mutants. The creator of the Machine Mutants, Dr. Myuu, lured the Z-Fighters there to steal their power and use them for his next-gen Androids–and his Sigma Force were the Machine Mutants he launched to capture them. The Sigma Force were the best of the best in terms of Android fighters, and they were made even deadlier when it was revealed that the Sigma Force had intimate knowledge of Goku’s power level and fighting style. There wasn’t a move Goku could do or a form he could take that would have surprised the Sigma Force–that is, until there was.
Goku Evolves As He Fights, Something Androids Aren’t Prepared For
Every time Goku has gone up against an Android enemy at any point in the series, they usually have some background on him and were built to be able to kill him (with the first-gen Androids like Metallitron being the exception). For instance, when Dr. Gero attacked a city with his Android 19 in an effort to lure out Goku and the Z-Fighters, Gero thought he knew the extent of Goku’s power, but had no idea Goku reached a form known as Super Saiyan–something they were woefully unprepared for (which was made clear upon Vegeta’s brutal murder of 19). When Goku fought the Machine Mutants in GT, the Sigma Force were at a slight advantage as they had up-to-date info on Goku and prepared accordingly, but they weren’t prepared to fight someone who literally gets stronger during the battle, and the Sigma Force was quickly taken care of.
Even when Androids are programmed to know every single one of Goku’s moves and every form he’s unlocked in the past, they still can’t seem to beat him because he reaches new levels of power so frequently and even evolves as he fights–and that is the one way Goku is able to beat every Dragon Ball Android no matter how strong or prepared they are.