As many of you already know, I recently switched from my Apple iPhone 3GS to the Nexus One (running Google’s “Android” operating system). The reviews I’d read essentially say that if your life is in Google (Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Voice, etc), it’s a smart move to make. I agree.
However, it’s certainly not better than the iPhone in every category. I’ll try to break some of those down. The main difference I noticed is that the iPhone is more polished (smoother scrolling, etc) while Android has more features. The iPhone OS 4.0 update coming this summer will catch up to some of those, but Android will still have a solid lead.
This one is easy; if you use Gmail, it is awesome on the Nexus One. The iPhone mail app is very nice, but doesn’t have any of the Gmail specific tools in it (conversations, starring, etc). Having all of that on the Nexus is wonderful. If you you any provider other than Gmail, then it’s essentially a tie. Both phones have solid mail apps that do a nice job.
Customization
The new iPhone update will finally allow users to set wallpaper behind their icons, but Android can already do that. In fact, you can even set “live wallpaper”, which is animated and reacts to your touch. It’s neat, but it’s a battery drain and it’s pretty much useless. However, Android also allows you to put widgets on your screen to show news, weather, tweets, etc. They’re very slick, and iPhone has nothing that compares to it.
The other neat thing is that applications are given more flexibility to customize other parts of your system that the iPhone doesn’t allow. For example, when I plugged my phone into my car (Ford’s SYNC system), I always had to tell the phone to “mount” to the system. It was a single click, but got old. So, I found an app that could do it automatically. The way Apple controls their applications, it would be impossible to write an app that does something like that.
Applications
Apple certainly has a ton more, but Android covers 95% of what you’d need. I miss a few applications (such as “Words With Friends”) and others are still pretty weak (like Evernote), but all in all the selection is pretty solid.
Speed
Technically, the Nexus is a faster phone but they feel about the same. Once Android 2.2 “Froyo” arrives on the Nexus, it’ll certainly take the lead. Of course, the new iPhone is due out soon and will likely leapfrog the Nexus. These kinds of battles are great for consumers!
Battery Life
In general, battery life is roughly the same. However, the Nexus gives you two nice advantages:
- It’s a removable battery. This means you could carry an extra around with you, or replace yours if it goes bad. No such options with the iPhone.
- There are various “power control” widgets you can use on Android. You can have a single tap to turn on/off things like wifi, bluetooth, gps, etc. Making it so easy means that I can leave those items off when I don’t need them (and save precious battery life). With the iPhone it’s a few more taps to toggle them, so I usually just left them all on.
Camera
The Nexus has a considerably better camera (5 megapixel vs 3.2 megapixel), but they really give similar quality shots. I think phones are about to the point where they need bigger and better lenses to take advantage of the increased resolution, which is tough to do when it’s a fight for the skinniest phone.
Music
With the Nexus, you can just drag and drop music onto your phone. You can even drop files into folders like “notifications” and “ringtones” to set those up. Much easier than the cumbersome mess of iTunes.
However, iTunes makes it easier to purchase and load music, and it’s much easier to load podcasts. Also, the iPhone music player blows away the one on the Nexus. The Nexus music player is adequate, but no where near as nice as the iPhone player.
Conclusion
So, should you trade your iPhone for a Nexus One? Probably not. If money and availability were no factor, I’d suggest that around 75% of the country should have iPhones and the other 25% should have Android devices. The Nexus is better for geekier users, but each release is bringing it more mainstream. My guess is that those numbers will flip in a few years (75% should have Android), but the iPhone will always have a place due to it’s simplicity and ease of use. Time will tell…
Which do you prefer, and why?
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Well Mickey, as you know, my entree to smartphones was with Android on the Droid by Motofolks. I like it in a lot of ways…wish it was as sleek as I imagine (note, I really don’t know) the iPhone to be in others. But I’ll never be an Apple aficionado…if I were more driven by music, or had to commute at least 30 minutes on good days, I’d probably get an iSomething to play tunes or podcasts. But, I just don’t like Apple…too closed, too exclusive, and too much money. I do have to admit, though, their design is pretty and has good UX for novices.
-bill
I still think the Moto Droid is the best phone on Verizon, simply because it runs stock Android. That phone will be getting 2.2 in a couple of weeks, while the “better” phones like the Incredible won’t get it for months because it needs to be customized to fit the system.
I have no beef with Apple (the iPhone was a wonderful device for the last few years), but I likely won’t get any more of their products anytime soon.
Here’s another take on it…
http://blog.louisgray.com/2010/05/in-todays-world-of-mobile-choices-look.html
Don’t recall where I happened to become connected to Louis. I follow him in several places…He’s got a nice comparison of Apple, Rim, and Android in this blog post.
Why isn’t the negative ever mentioned about the Android OS? Are people that starved for an iPhone OS alternative? There are issues w/ Android, when multi-tasking, it slows the computer down because the other apps are running in the background, people don’t mention the crashing issues, and how certain operations will eat up battery life. Does this mean I’m hating on the Android OS, by all means “NO”, am I an iPhone OS fanboy? ALMOST, if OS 4 delivers what it promises once again the gap will widen, IMHO the iPhone OS is still the standard and I feel the Android is about 80% to 85% caught up, with iPhone OS 4.0 will that gap become 85% to 90%? We’ll know at the end of the month.
You’re right that I should have mentioned a few more of the downsides of Android.
I don’t notice much in the way of slowdown due to multitasking; the OS handles it very well.
I think the biggest is just the polish. iPhone simply moves smoother and is far more refined. Apps will occasionally crash, but they do sometimes on iPhone too. It’s a bit more frequent on Android, but not a big deal.
I’m anxious to see what Jobs unveils next week regarding the new iPhone, along with any extra goodies about 4.0 that have been kept under wraps (if any).
Wow, thank you for the reply!!! I think the problem with too many techies are that they live in the tech bubble and get excited about all the possibilities without taking the average person into account. Here in South Korea, I would say 90% of iPhone owners don’t know how to use its full capabilities. I consider myself an above average tech savvy consumer. I love what the Android offers, but I don’t want to work that hard when it comes to a phone. Whereas a computer, I’m all about the open platform.
You’re right in the fact, it will become an Android world, as a matter of fact WSJ or Business Week or one of those publication had an article, “Is the Android the next Windows?” Sorry for the lack of knowledge of the reference
So I have to say the reason the iPhone OS is so great is that Apple has 30 years of software writing experience and this is something I feel the Android OS will never catch up on, but then again, we’ll see.
And another advantage the Apple has is “the Native to the platform programming” whereas the Android lacks the “Nativeness”.
Forgot to mention, great blog!!!
The Google Nexus One will arrive in South Korea some time this month, really looking forward to it. Love the fact you can change the batteries, but I also love the fact you can’t change the battery on the iPhone because I have to carry that battery like I did with my old Samsung phone.
Either way, there’s a plus and minus for everything!!! But like you said, this is great for the consumer. Since I started on the iPhone, I don’t want to change OS, even if it’s Android because everybody that went from iOS to Android or other touch OS, they all told me it was like a downgrade. Thus my fears to change and like every other Apple fanboys, I’m stuck in the Apple prison
Can you expand on the Nexus One with your Ford Sync?
It’s not listed on the Sync website as an officially supported phone, but of course it obviously works from your review. I was wondering which features work and which ones do not work.
No problem. I didn’t play with too many of the features, but I did some of the following:
– Connect via Bluetooth, it synced my phonebook.
– Initiate and receive calls over bluetooth
– Stream music over bluetooth
– Control music over USB. This was cool, but I didn’t do it a lot. I had more music on my iPhone, but Sync had issues with it. I think it worked well with the Nexus, but I didn’t try it much.
I hope that helps.
It did, thanks for the quick reply!