Blackberry, iPhone, Android, Windows Phone. Which one should I get next?!? Like everyone else who’s in the market, I’ve asked the same question.
Today’s smartphones can do so much but with the barrage of choices, which one is right for me? Choices are good but too many choices can be confusing for anyone. Friends and family offer good recommendations, even if what they recommend is their own phone. There’s little wrong with that; they like it and want others to enjoy it. However, not everyone is the same. You may like vanilla, I might prefer chocolate and someone else loves strawberry. It’s hard to pick one without tasting them first, so let me tease your palate by sampling each one.
Bold 9900 |
iPhone’s release changed the landscape. Apple didn’t invent anything new but the way they packaged and simplified things was “magical” as the marketing goes. It has the best touch screen with a simple, fast and accurate onscreen keyboard. Apple had the luxury of starting from scratch and the User Interface paradigm they introduced was like nothing else. It was simple, smooth, flashy and very finger friendly. They used their experience with the iPod to deliver stunning music and video on the iPhone. They later introduced books and magazine subscription with the release of the iPad. The second generation iPhone came with apps and the App Store™ which exploded bigger than anyone ever expected. From a simple and useful tip calculator to an unbelievable augmented reality and fun games, the apps creative developers made changed perceptions of what mobile phones can do, leading to the birth of “There’s an app for that!”. With a huge screen and powerful processor, the iPhone needed to be charged often, in most cases once a day! Even though they improved battery usage in the latest generation, to 40% at end of the night instead of 15%, you will still need to charge it at night to be able to use it the next day. They don’t come out with all the features under the sun, but they constantly release updates. With the latest upcoming update, they finally fixed the annoying notification system and many minors features to make it more complete. The iPhone has a great industrial design, but it’s one design. There’s only one new iPhone model a year, and it looks just like the previous iPhone with some minor changes. As always, there’s no keyboard, no extra buttons and same screen size. It is also a closed system, anything you want for it must be approved by Apple. The types of apps are limited, there’s no other music player or email reader or anything that enhances it’s functionality. And for those who don’t like it, they have the option of jailbreaking. But I’m not going to talk about that.
HTC Dream |
Google Nexus S |
Live Tile |
Metro UI & People Hub |
Now that you’ve got a little taste of each, you see how there are pros and cons for each platform. It really comes down to what’s important to your individual needs and expectations. If corporate email is the most important thing to you, go with Blackberry. But don’t dismiss the others, since most corporate email runs on Microsoft Exchange, iPhone has a great support for it and WP7 has a built-in Outlook client. If your primary email is Gmail, then Android it is, as it’s the only one with Gmail app that supports the label, star and priority inbox. If you’re still using Hotmail, then WP7 is the only one that support push notifications. Like to chat a lot? If you’re addicted to BBM then Blackberry is your only choice, otherwise iPhone should be your weapon of choice. With it’s approach to push notifications, you can have multiple IM apps installed and it won’t cost you more on memory or battery. WP7 uses a similar approach, so check if your favorite IM is supported and integrated with the people hub. Are you into social networking? Then WP7 is for you with its built-in integration with Facebook, twitter, LinkedIn and others in one centralize experience so you don’t jump in and out of multiple apps. Apple’s ever growing and popular App Store™ is the place to get the best apps and games. iTunes is Apple’s huge advantage for music syncing, but if you like to just drag and drop songs, then Android will be for you, but spend $5 to buy a better music player, as the stock one needs work. If you don’t like the routine of charging your phone every night then Blackberry is by far the best in this category. Then again, you could just carry an extra batter for your iPhone or Android device. If you’re not a technical person and you just want to use a smartphone without tinkering, then get the iPhone or WP7. They both have a nice, clean and simple interface and minimal customization. If you’re the kind of person that likes to tinker with your gadgets and modify it to your heart content, don’t settle with anything less than Android.
If you’re like me, you have a general idea on which you like, so don’t listen to anyone else. Don’t listen to the sales person no matter how much they tell you they want to help you get the best phone. They have a quota to meet, commissions to make, and units to clear out.