Choosing A Smart Phone – Android or Windows Phone?

I have recently been presented with a difficult choice to make. I have to purchase a new phone, and similar to many others out there who are experiencing the same nail biting procedure, I have to decide between the three major Operating Systems (Windows Phone 7, Android, and iOS) and their very different experiences by weighing up the benefits of each, and seeing how well they suit my lifestyle. This post could also be a considered a follow-up to last year’s article on a similar subject. I’ve done much research over the last few weeks, so read on to see my thoughts.

The smartphone race that was previously only between Apple and Android has now officially involved another. Microsoft. “Officially”, because Windows Phone 7 has been somewhat ignored over the last year. However, after they celebrated their partnership with Nokia at CES 2012 by announcing the highly anticipated Nokia Lumia range, and showed off the greatly improved hardware and performance evident in the HTC Windows Phone 7 devices, they received a very positive and eager response from the public. Windows Phone 7 is now considered a valid competitor. Where I’m going with this, is that, where before I would have naturally gone with Android being a power user and after seeing how well Android did in 2011, I am now very unsure as to whether I should go with Android or Windows Phone 7.

Apple

Firstly, the reason I didn’t mention Apple as a possible choice is because I currently own an iPhone 3G and using the device has been somewhat painful and I don’t think that it was really meant to be between us, as I have a dislike for being restricted to specific software (iTunes) and have a love for customization, freedom, and an appealing interface. Now I’m not trying to attack Apple here; I am simply giving my honest opinion on the iPhone based on the last near-year of using the device. I am, however, at the end of my tether due to the dreadful performance of the phone. It is a rage-inducing experience whenever I try to use it for Internet or multimedia-related tasks.

I also find the interface to be overly simple and unhelpful when it comes to performing multiple tasks and being productive. I say this because if you look at Android and Windows Phone 7, both of them offer very good ways of presenting recent events or summaries of personal information, such as recent emails and weather, on one’s home screen. The iPhone has only recently introduced simple support for this in iOS 5, but it’s only possible through the notifications drawer. It just doesn’t compare.

Windows Phone

Now, I know that many of you might think, “Windows Phone 7 isn’t very customizable, so surely it wouldn’t be ideal for a power user?”. Even as a power user, I feel Windows Phone 7 is a valid mobile OS. The interface is extremely intuitive, fluid, and aesthetically pleasing. Where this differs from Android is that, in most cases, you’d have to root your Android device to get it looking as good, and I don’t like that. So I am willing to let go of the customization if it means performance is impressive, and the experience is polished to a bright sheen. In addition, Microsoft definitely has a heads up over Apple in how it caters to the more advanced user, with services like Xbox Live, and its better presentation of aggregated information using the Metro UI tile interface (similar to widgets on Android).

I’ve watched quite a few demos of Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 OS, and to be frank, I am very impressed. You can check out a Web page based demo of how Windows Phone 7 works here. However, it’s still very evident to me that going with a Windows Phone 7 device at this point in time is a very large gamble. The device has been out for over a year, but is still lacking in the number of apps it offers, as well as in the amount of functionality it offers as an OS (even after the mid-2011 Mango 7.5 update). Also, just like Apple’s iTunes, you are tied into Microsoft’s Zune software for managing your phone and all of its content, and have to abide by the DRM they choose to implement. This is not appealing to me, as regardless of whether the software is decent or not, the idea of becoming a slave to it and any changes Microsoft may or may not decide to make to it in the future is one worthy of nightmares. Hopefully, it isn’t as bad of an application as iTunes; I guess I still have to do my homework there.

Android

Android is actually the safest choice for the tech-savvy person. It doesn’t restrict you very much, if at all, in how you use your phone, and the openness of the platform means that there is much less of a possibility that you’ll encounter a headache scenario whereby you cannot do things the way YOU want to. Features like great multi-tasking (especially in Android 4), a myriad of features and options with which to tweak the OS, and cool looking graphics, such as with the animated backgrounds and funky lock screens, are all really inviting.

The problem that I have with Android, however, is that there are often trade offs for this openness and customization. These often manifest themselves in the performance, usability, and quality assurance departments. Examples of these would be bugs, application crashing, stuttering (even the most recent Android phones are not very fluid to browse the Internet on), hard-to-find settings, and so on. It has taken Android a good while to get to a semi-consumer-friendly state (usable by less tech-savvy users) because of these problems, and they will likely still be an issue for a good year or two to come, when the fragmentation problem has improved. Android devices also requires far better hardware to perform on equal terms with Windows Phone 7 and Apple phones due to all of this functionality and openness.

Conclusion

I am pretty sure that if I got an Android phone such as the Galaxy Nexus, I’d be content, or even happy. I’d have the customization I’ve always wanted in a phone, as well as the freedom to try different things and work the way I want to. However, I really WANT to choose Windows Phone 7; almost in a leap of blind, illogical faith. My “I know I shouldn’t, but I’m going to do it anyway”. It’s the allure of something new and different. If I do go ahead with it, and it doesn’t work out, at least I’ll have no regrets because I went with my gut.

You never know, I may actually end up liking it. This long term Android user definitely did.

Related Posts

• Will Apple Lead The Mobile Race For Much Longer?
• A web user meets Android
• What’s coming in 2012

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