The android lottery

[blackguard]

I don't know who coined that phrase but it's always stuck in my mind. It refers to every new device model year where a prospective shopper must do their homework to figure out which OEM manufacturers have released the devices with the best reliability, performance, features, quality. I am being a little evasive. I do not believe in the Utopian feel-good opinion that this means "all of the big names are good and you can just pick the one that suits you best". I think feeding potential buyers this isn't doing them any favors and just avoids you having to deal with a torch wielding mob of angry fanboys/girls.

Then there's other issues. Fragmentation while much reduced is still present. Things are pretty quiet when you're making a subtle iterative jump from jellybean 4.2 to KitKat 4.4 over a 2 year span. But then there's those groundbreaking leaps to a game changing version like ICS and the upcoming 5.0 that rocket " omg when is my OEM/carrier releasing it" to the hottest forum and news feed topics for months. Even ICS to JB project butter brought a lot of that. There's only one way, aside from rooting, to avoid that in android. Nexus. I've owned several nexus devices including the last 3 most recent and they were not without their share of issues. And as we've seen,regular flagships make damn nice phones that are hard to ignore too. You also run the risk after you do finally get that coveted hot new version of a faulty release that needs a service update to address unforseen major bugs. Wifi a mess? Our bad. Cya in 3-4 months folks. I've been there quite a few times.

It reminds me somewhat of buying a PC laptop. Some PC laptop makers are praised for frequently turning out solid quality, while others have a history of not, and several degrees of in between. This got me to thinking. (This is the part where you folks may commence lighting your torches): Why is it that I felt the most prudent laptop purchase to send my child off to university was a macbook, yet I don't carry that product opinion over to my own mobile devices when I'm well aware that the iPhone has the most consistently good track record in the industry for hassle free performance, reliability, quality, and customer service?

Several reasons.

1. Screen size
2. Android capabilities
3. Google services ecosystem
4. Choice of devices and features
5. Customization. Not only of design but of how I use the UI


But, and there's always a but, there are dilemmas I have to face now. IOS isn't as bareboned as it used to be, and there's some pretty good stuff coming down the pipe feature wise this year to lure me away. Android L is going to be a big deal for android, and iOS will be as well. Not just the OS but hardware also. My final thoughts - the lines for choosing between an Android and iPhone are about to get very blurry this fall.

 

[B. Diddy]

You make some very good points. I still strongly prefer Android due to its versatility, customizability, and variety of hardware out there to choose from. Although I agree that Apple makes excellent devices with beautiful design, I still personally find them a bit on the boring side after a while (for example, I've never been dazzled by my wife's iPhone or iPad--I help her set them up, but after that, they're out of mind). And I still have strong reservations about Apple's business practices and litigation strategy.

 

[nj1266]

I think it really comes down to this:

If you value consistency, reliability, longevity of updates and seem less integration between mobile devices and your laptop, in store customer service, harmony between hardware and sfotware, and apps That are well designed, then get an iphone.

If rumors are correct, then the screen size will be a non issue in the future for the iPhone.

Customizability is an issue, but if you jailbreak, then it becomes a none issue. I almost always jailbreak my iphone and set it up the way I like it. I did not have much of a reason to jailbreak my mini retina ipad since it is for work.

I do have a GS3 to play with and it is not my daily driver. I once had an experience with it that made me question using it as such. I charged it to 50% and went to bed. The next day it was dead. Apparently, it had a wakelock that drained the battery. I use my phone as my alarm for work. This never happened with my iphone 5. Had the GS3 been my alarm clock, I might have missed work. From my search, it seems that wakelocks are very common on Android phones.

 

[blackguard]

And I still have strong reservations about Apple's business practices and litigation strategy.

I hear ya, but I can't travel down that road or pretty much all of silicon valley would be off limits to me. Those nerds are downright vicious!

 

[vividrich]

Ultimate goal for Apple/Google and even OEMS (currently mostly Samsung) is to get you 'all in' to their ecosystem by making your tech life easier if you go.

I chose the Google ecosystem, with the exception of music where everything revolves around my iPod Classic. However with my library synced to Play Music, that door is open as well for the future.

I've decided that unlocked devices bought from the source is the way we're going to go (just replaced my wife's AT&T HTC One VX with a Moto X) now.