Sometime during the end of 2005 I went to my local Sprint store and bought a Sprint PPC 6700. If you really want to take a look at some pictures and get a comprehensive review of this now antiquated phone, you can go here. It was running Windows Mobile 5.0 and it fulfilled my requirements. However it looked and felt like a huge brick compared to all the 'dumb' phones I was on. After a couple of days of use I promptly returned it for a 'dumb' phone - Samsung MM-A800. Fast forward to 2007 and there was Steve Jobs showing off a revolutionary new product from Apple, the iPhone. I followed the Macworld 2007 Keynote on the Web and was really excited to see all the never before seen greatness. Even though this new technology marvel really blew me over I wasn't sure if I was going to buy one. I read about the so called 'Apple hype machine' and so was a little skeptic. Also Verizon had much better service in my city than AT&T and I read about a soon to be released smart phone from Verizon - LG Voyager. It was dubbed as the 'iPhone killer'.
The morning Voyager was released, I was first in line outside my local Verizon store. I configured my email accounts but found that email sync was touch and go. Most of the time I had trouble checking my mail and this really bugged me because I have been wanting this basic feature for quite some time now. So after a week I finally made a trip to the local AT&T store to take a look at the iPhone that everyone was talking about. The minute I laid my hands on one of the demo models, the experience blew me away. The experience was very fluid, so natural and I was very very impressed with Mobile Safari. The iPhone felt like a Ferrari for someone driving a Lexus all his life. It was on a completely different level. Needless to say I returned the Voyager, cancelled my Verizon contract and signed with AT&T to get the iPhone - iPhone 1.
Email, Web, Music and in fact anything that the iPhone handled, it handled it perfectly. The iPhone was a perfectionist's dream come true. It was flawless. As time passed Apple updated iPhone OS, released iPhone SDK and opened doors to third party native iPhone apps which took it to a whole new level. In 2008 I moved to an area where AT&T had 3G coverage and upgraded to iPhone 3G. Compared to Edge browsing was zippy on the 3G network. Apple's one year iPhone refresh cycle is not in sync with two year AT&T contracts so I passed on iPhone 3GS to get the next big iPhone refresh. Apple beefed up iPhone 3G performance with iPhone 3GS, added the option to shoot video with a better camera but kept the same look. At the very time I upgraded to iPhone 3G, Google started the Android era with T-Mobile G1.
Android grew leaps and bounds to Android 1.5, Eclair (2.1) and now Froyo (2.2). I was very much intrigued by the openness of the Android platform. I tried demo models running Android but wasn't really impressed. Even though they were all running Android they felt different because they were running manufacturer's UI wrappers like HTC Sense, Moto Blur etc. While HTC Sense enhanced the Android experience, Moto Blur made everyone crave for stock Android. Also these custom UI layers frustrated users because they had to wait endlessly for the next Android version until the manufacturers ported their UI wrappers before making the update available. As of now almost 50% of Android devices are still running Android 1.5 and Android 1.6 while the other 50% are running Eclair (2.1). HTC EVO has just received the Froyo (2.2) update and there are rumors that Droid X will be getting it in early September. So there is a huge fragmentation in the Android market and the manufacturers are really ruining things for customers.
The Geek in me really wanted to give Android a try. As my iPhone 3G contract with AT&T was reaching it's climax, I ordered the HTC EVO. I read some great things about this first 4G device from Sprint. I really enjoyed the HTC Sense UI but wasn't really impressed with the hardware. The EVO is limited to 65,000 colors and videos on the EVO looked pale compared to my 2 year old iPhone 3G. It felt bulky in my hands and gave me flashbacks of Sprint PPC 6700. Voice quality on the EVO was harsh and quite often the OS froze after a long conversation. On the positive side, I was extremely impressed with Android, the ability to float widgets and access to the core file system. But the lack of a powerful iTunes equivalent in the Android world was a huge let down. Software like Double Twist allows Android devices in addition to other mobile devices sync music, videos etc but it is not in the same league as iTunes. The available music apps for Android are really really bad compared to the iPod app on iPhone OS (Now iOS). In addition scrolling is extremely jerky on any Android device that I have seen and the experience is not fluid. I returned my EVO and bought the Droid X the day it was released hoping that some of the above quirks would somehow go away.
Droid X with it's 4.3 inch screen dwarfs the 3.5 inch iPhone screen. It's overall dimensions make it taller than even the HTC EVO but it is lighter and thinner the EVO. The iPhone 4 is the slimmest and lightest of all these three devices. Droid X felt much much comfortable to hold than the bulky EVO but the Moto Blur UI wrapper on top of Eclair was a nightmare. Even though the blur wrapper on Droid X is less intrusive than the previous Motorola versions, it definitely was enough to make the UI experience worse. Battery life on the Droid X was much better than offered by EVO but other than that it didn't really solve any of my complaints above. Droid X's form factor made it extremely hard to browse with one hand. It's a device begging to be held in landscape. Do I need to mention that I returned Droid X?
I am on iPhone 4 now and I think it is still the best available smartphone on market today. I think Android devices on multiple carriers offer a very good alternative to people who don't want to put up with AT&T. Apple has given a great feature lift to iPhone with iOS 4 with multi-tasking/fast app switching, folders, universal mailbox etc. Any discussion on iPhone is not complete without now infamous mention of 'Antennagate'. I could definitely reproduce the issue by shorting the two antennae. However it is a non-issue when the iPhone is encased in a bumper or any other third party case. The voice quality on iPhone 4 is excellent and better than that of EVO and Droid X.
Google improved Android by leaps and bounds in the past couple of years but it is still not polished enough. It feels half baked compared to iOS. The one great thing about Apple is that they get things right from the get go 99% of the time. They don't compete on features but they make sure that every single feature they ship is perfect. Google on the other hand is a completely different story. The difference is quite apparent when we see that even after two years after it's release Android feels underwhelming compared to iOS. But with Android 3. 0 (Gingerbread) future is looking up for Android.
So for now I am on iPhone 4 until the next great device comes to the market.
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