[stoneages]

My husband & I have never had smartphones. Our phones are 3 years old, we don't tweet, use facebook...etc. I can hear you all laughing now. We will be getting smartphones this fall & I don't know where to begin. The default is always the iPhone, but I'm not the biggest Apple fan. I've looked at a bunch of Android phones but all of them are being compared to the iPhone 4 "comperable to the iPhone 4" or "in the same class as the iPhone 4". So I keep thinking, if everything's being compared to the iPhone, why not just get an iPhone? I want to avoid the iPhone for various reasons but I can't make the argument to him when that's what everything is trying to measure up to. We have AT&T & that's not changing since I have a discount through my company, so we'll be using the selection on that plan. Please help me plead my case! We can each get different phones (I can get a droid & he can get an iPhone), but we both agree that if we have the same phone it will make it easier for both of us. I'm not a techie (as you can tell) but I've never owned a Mac and I hate how restrictive they are. Please help!

[srkmagnus]

iPhone and Android operate on different Operating Systems. Just like using Windows or Apple's OS on a PC or Mac. The have similar functions but execute them differently.

It's always user preference when it comes to Android or iPhone. There is lots of information on the internet comparing the two operating systems. Much of it is very technical and as an average user you'll most likely not understand it.

It's best to stop by a store and play with the two types of systems for yourself and see the core differences.

In the meantime, I will try of put together some more information that will hopefully help you make a decision. I'm sure some of the more educated people on the site will also chime in and give you some good feedback

[DenverRalphy]

In my humble opinion, you'll probably want to check out both the Motorola Atrix and the Samsung Infuse. Poke around with those two and let your gut decide which you prefer. They each have differing form factors, and the UI's of each are a bit different. Both the Atrix or the Infuse will perform well for as long as you need them.

Considering this is your first foray into smartphones, it's best that you simply pick the one which you seem to be most comfortable with. Regardless which you pick, you'll still be investing a significant amount of time the first couple weeks learning how it works.

[PvilleComp]

To help make your case here are three points you might want to raise.

1) Widgets - iPhone does not have them. Widgets are one of the greatest UI customizations Android has going for it. Want Time Temp and Weather all in one glance on your home screen? If the phone you choose does not have a good one - check out Beautiful Widgets, it mimics the HTC Weather/Clock Widget everyone seems to love. (I admit it was something I missed when I started playing with different ROMs and I bought Beautiful Widgets jet to get the feature back.)

There are widgets for many things that let you get basic, commonly wanted information from an app on your screen without having to open the app itself!

2) Notifications. Currently the iPhone will interrupt anything you are doing with a notification you have to acknowledge, even if you don't want to at the moment. Apple is making that better in the next release, but it still won't be as good as the Android Notification Bar.

3) Customization - You can make your Android look like anything you want. Do you want a Business feel to your phone, no problem, put the apps and widgets on your phone that you you use for business on the screens where you can get to them and the rest are in the App Drawer. Want a phone for play? Same thing. Many devices even let you set "Profiles" that you can switch between for work and play.

The iPhone looks like an iPhone looks line an iPhone. Don't like the way it looks? Too Bad.

Not to mention free Google Navigation, which frankly is good enough that I retired my Garmin and I use it every day.

If you need more talking points, let us know... We'd be happy to help!

[takeshi]

The default is always the iPhone, but I'm not the biggest Apple fan.

The default is not the iPhone. The iPhone is popular but that doesn't make it default. Smartphones have never been one-size-fits-all and will never be.

I want to avoid the iPhone for various reasons but I can't make the argument to him when that's what everything is trying to measure up to.

What reasons? Your arguments should be based on them, not what someone else tells you. Again, it needs to be about your specific needs/wants.

I'm not a techie (as you can tell) but I've never owned a Mac and I hate how restrictive they are.

It's amazing how many people can prejudge something without firsthand experience. Macs are not restrictive. Again, stop relying on what you read and decide based on your needs/wants. Also, don't evaluate the iPhone based on what you've read about Macs. They're very different even though they're both Apple products.

Start off with what you're looking to do and we can go from there. You're trying to put the cart before the horse with your approach. Get out there and try some devices to get some first hand experience. You can read all you want and still have no idea what suits you best. Do you buy cars without test driving?

Widgets - iPhone does not have them. Widgets are one of the greatest UI customizations Android has going for it.

Widgets are useful for those that find them useful. I have one widget that I use and I really wouldn't miss it. Again, this is a highly subjective process. Don't assume that things are one-size-fits-all.

It's worth noting that while you don't have to open an app, widgets do consume resources and can impact performance. If you rely on widgets then they (and the apps that include the widgets that you use) cannot be moved to the SD card.

Apple is making that better in the next release, but it still won't be as good as the Android Notification Bar.

How so, specifically? What I've read indicates to me that Apple's notification system will have much more versatility than Android. "Won't be as good" really doesn't mean much without qualification. How is it not as good in your opinion?

A simple rule of thumb is to remember that words such as: good, bad, expensive, cheap, worth, useless, etc etc are all highly subjective and that you really need to qualify why you're using any of those words in a discussion as the next person may have entirely different needs/wants. If you simply leave it as "not as good" then the other person has no information to assess how that applies that person's preferences. Again, it's not one-size-fits-all. Don't assume that your preferences are universal.

Not to mention free Google Navigation, which frankly is good enough that I retired my Garmin and I use it every day.

Google Maps Nav is very popular but, once again, it's not a one-size-fits-all solution. It's not suitable for those often in areas without coverage or international travelers since it relies on data. I know some will precache with it but it's a PITA IMO. There are nav apps that locally store maps that are better suited for those that need/want such a solution (on both platforms).

[stoneages]

Thank you so much to everyone for taking the time to give me your insight. It sounds like I really should just try some phones & see what I think.

Thanks Again!

[EvilMonkey]

My husband & I have never had smartphones. Our phones are 3 years old, we don't tweet, use facebook...etc

As pointed out, it's hard to recommend a phone (or an Android vs. iPhone) without info about what you would like to accomplish. I know you are just starting out, but do you need it for work (emails, calendar, documents, etc), or mostly for play (music, camera, games, etc)?

I have zero problems recommending an iPhone in the right situation for the right person. I personally would never get one because my preferences for what I want to to do with my phone lie more with Android.

To help a bit though, I will just point out some key differences that come up all the time between the two. I'll try to be objective, but it's a bit hard.

Disclaimer: I've never had an iPhone but have played with them. I do have an iPad2, and I assume much of the experience is the same between an iPad and iPhone, as far as the operating system goes.

• An iPhone is an iPhone is an iPhone. They are all pretty much the same (same shape/size/body/screen etc). Android phones come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Do you want a bigger screen? A physical (with real buttons vs. just an on-screen) keyboard? You don't get a choice with an iPhone, but you do with Android phones, since there are many models.
• However, an advantage of an iPhone being an iPhone being an iPhone is that it is not "fragmented" (a word you frequently hear associated with Android). What fragmented refers to is that there are several versions of the operating system out there, and many many models from many manufacturers, as well as some manufacturer-specific software (like HTC's Sense or Motorola's Blur, that while Android, are customized heavily by the manufacture). This can lead to issues such as compatibility of apps across all phones/platforms, or apps only being available to certain devices. I get frequent updates to my apps that the change log says something like "Addresses issue with X phone." I am pointing this out because it will come up, although in reality, it has not been an issue for me personally, but is a talking point.
• Faster networks: the iPhone will not connect to 4G/LTE networks. What this means, is you are limited to 3G speeds for data (which is slow). However, there are quite a few 4G/LTE capable Android phone models available, but of course you have to live in an area with coverage to take advantage. Regardless, you should consider that you may be "stuck" with a 3G phone.
• Widgets: As mentioned, Android has widgets. This means you can do things like have the weather forecast, stock quotes, controls for your music player, a list of top news stories, etc on your screen (vs. having to open up 5 separate apps to accomplish the same thing). Here is a link to Google Images with a bunch of screenshots of widgets so you can see what I am talking about:
• Flash: Flash is used for web-based video, and it's used a lot and will be for quite awhile (although another tech called HTML5 will probably phase it out over the next few years). iPhone does not support Flash, which means (depending on the site you go to), you might see big holes in content since the videos won't load. Instead you'll see a nice message like this (I will note that I think there are workarounds to this if you are more techie and stuff):
• Keyboards: You cannot change the keyboard on the iPhone from the default one. There are about a million (give or take) keyboards available for Android. This was a huge point to me because I despise the iPhone's keyboard. So for example, you can get one for Android that has great text-prediction, or that you can just trace your finger to make words (do a Google for Swype to see an example).
• Apps: You'll see many people touting the app store over the Android market, but I personally have found very few must-haves (or the equivalent) that aren't available on both. This would obviously change based on your needs. Thus I personally think you should do a bit of research on what you want to do with your phone, and make sure the apps are available. Ignore the "if you don't have an iPhone you don't have access to the app store" commercials. I personally can't stand navigating the app store on my iPad, but won't go into details here.

One final thing pointed out earlier, is the ability to completely customize an Android phone.

This is how your iPhone will look (perhaps with a different wallpaper and different apps, but it will still be screen after screen of icons):

Here are over 3500 pages (and growing fast) of how you can make an Android phone look (jump to the end for more recent examples as they've gotten better as people have learned how to do it):

I hope that helps. As pointed out, you probably need to figure out what you want to do with your phone and then research what phone and OS suits you best.

For my personal opinion, I feel the iPhone 4 and iOS are pretty dated at this point. After all, the phone is a year old at this point (and I felt it was dated at the time it was released and was inferior to my EVO). iOS5 (and an iPhone 5) is on the horizon and will probably be released in the coming months, but I don't feel iOS5 (at least what's been announced) catches up to where Android is now. I can't say I'd recommend getting an iPhone 4 at this point, seeing as how even if you end up liking the iPhone better, a new one with an improved OS is just around the corner.