Update: iPhone or Android? Which Smartphone is Best?

Back in January, I questioned everyone on which smartphone I should purchase next. My cellphone at the time was getting toward end of life and I couldn't decide between another Android-based phone or switching over to an iPhone. Over the past 8 or 9 years, my PDA/smartphone usage has run through all different types of phones and operating systems. First, I had a Palm Pilot, then a Blackberry, next another Blackberry, and then I purchased the HTC Evo (Android). In May, it was time make a final decision: Android or iPhone. Which did I purchase?  The iPhone.  

What made me choose the iPhone over the Android? It really boiled down to price. When I looked at my options, I could either get an iPhone 4S for $50 (quite frankly it's not worth the extra money to get the iPhone 5) or the Samsung Galaxy for $100. I'm all for saving money. Also, when I looked at the Samsung Galaxy, I found it too big and bulky for a "mobile" phone. Mobile phones should be small, sleek, and portable. The Galaxy feels more like a small tablet and less like a mobile phone. Blech!

Now that I've had the iPhone for a couple of months, I thought I'd give my two cents worth on which is best. Quite frankly, I don't see as one is much better than the other. Each device has their positive and negative aspects. For me, here's the important stuff - both phones need to provide all the features that I require: phone, email, text, internet access, and the very few apps that I use. I'm not a huge app user but both phones provide a multitude of apps - more than I could ever need or want. I do not use the phone to watch videos (I have a laptop and/or television for that), therefore the smaller screen isn't a factor. The Android is customizable, but the lack of customization with the iPhone is not an important enough feature for me to waste an additional $50. I have found that the battery life of the iPhone is superior to the Android. Ergo, I went with the least expensive option.

Yes, I truly like the iPhone, but I probably would have been equally happy with a smaller, sleeker Android-based phone. I would have hated the Galaxy for its over-sized clumsiness. What would I have gotten if the cost and design hadn't been eliminating factors ... hmmm.  I just don't know.

Fun fact:  According to a Nielson survey, women prefer iPhone while men prefer Android.