First off, if you decide on an iPhone, wait until they either come to Verizon or until AT&T finishes upgrading their spotty, unreliable network. Also, I should point out that, at least for the moment, Verizon’s data plan is unlimited whereas new AT&T contracts (as opposed to those grandfathered in) have a tiered monthly charge and a definite cap. Those two reasons alone are enough to make some people go Android. I don’t know much about other carriers as I pretty much only considered those two when I went for a phone. Android is available from pretty much any carrier, so again, you have mroe choices that you would with an iPhone.
As a piece of portable electronic gear, the two platforms are pretty evenly matched, though I like the ability to view any web page; the iPhone won’t do Flash, so many sites (including many Facebook games, at least the ones I play) I go to are unviewable on an iPhone/iPod Touch.
Contrary to many fanboi’s beliefs, the apps are fairly comparable. While the Android Market is smaller, that is in part because there are only a dozen different versions of Solitaire as opposed to eighty-seven; there is less repetition and cloning. The quality of the apps is also about equal; I saw some horrid, buggy apps when I was loading up my iPod Touch. Also bear in mind that Android is growing fast, and may actually have a bigger apps market than Apple pretty soon. Oh, and that doesn’t count apps available from other sources. Personally, I get all of my apps from the Android Market as those are free of malware and tested at least as vigorously as anything from iTunes, but at least Android offers the option of getting apps elsewhere.
The interface is pretty similar, though I prefer the Android’s ability to organize your icons with spaces in between them. ( I also disable the “Auto-arrange Icons” on my Windows desktop for the same reason.) I’ve found things to be a little more intuitive on my Droid X than on my iPod Touch (Of course, my intuition is a little different from many people’s, if for no reason other than the fact that I have been using computers for almost three decades, so take that with a grain of salt) and my Droid gave me something that Apple decided not to; a first-boot tutorial.
However, Android isn’t quite as n00b-friendly as the iPhone since it offers options that Apple omitted for the sake of simplicity. For instance, I can delete an icon from my screen but still have access to the app by pressing a button and selecting it from a scroll-list, which helps reduce clutter, whereas iOS simple deletes the app.
I compare the difference between the two operating systems to the difference between a car, which allows freedom but can hit a tree, and a train, which steers itself but is limited in what you can do. The iPhone is simpler for those that are of limited computer skills, whereas Android treats the phone as a handheld computer, complete with Task Manager and File Manager (both of which are available in different varieties as third-party apps).
As a phone, the iPhone is inferior. I’ve heard that the newest revision of the iPhone 4 is better, but I’m still skeptical for the moment. From everything I’ve seen the iPhone only really works when it’s close to a tower and loses signal pretty easily. This isn’t as big an issue abroad where they have a better cell network in place, but in the US it is pretty common to drop calls on an iPhone (I’ve heard an AT&T tech say that 75% of AT&T’s dropped calls are from iPhones; not good when you consider that that is less than 30% of their customers). I don’t know how much of that is the phone and how much of that is AT&T though, but I suspect that between Apple’s latest revisions and the impending end of the AT&T exclusivity deal, this may not be an issue for much longer. Then again, my friends who have AT&T phones other than an iPhone have similar issues, and I can often pull 2–3 bars when they lose service.
However, Apple does have an edge in design quality. You can bash Apple all you want (and historically, I have) but they do make fine hardware. The “Retina” display is awesome, and only a complete moron would refute that Apple makes sexy-looking, well-built machines, portable electronics included. I’ve seen some shaky-looking Android phones that were rather flimsy, ugly, or just plain ghetto, but if anybody at Apple tried that, Steve Jobs would put their head on a pike and feast on their entrails. And their customer support is pretty damn good as well.
I think that the only way you can really make a decision is to actually take both for a test-drive and see which you like better. Go to the Apple Store and mess with an iPhone (or an iPod Touch; unless you want to make calls, the two are functionally identical, at least as long as the iPod has a wifi connection) and then head to Verizon and bang on a Droid X or Droid 2 for a bit. Try all sorts of stuff that you would normally do and get a hands-on feel for the differences between the two.
Personally, I prefer Android as it is far more flexible. You can get a Droid 2 with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, or a big 4.3” screen, or… well, there are many options whereas there is only one iPhone and if there is a feature you want that it doesn’t have then tough. However, it is more like a computer than a toy, by which I mean that the flexibility I love can lead to “option shock” whereas Apple has perfected the art of idiot-proofing the iPhone to the point where even a small child could use it. It really depends on whether you can handle riding a mountain bike as opposed to a sidewalk cruiser with training wheels. Since your preferences may differ significantly from mine, I am not in a position to say which is better for you, but I hope I have given you enough information to make your own decision. A large part of it really does depend on personal preference.
@Blackberry Any Android phone running Froyo (Android v2.2) has Flash. That includes my buddy’s original Droid as well as any Android phone released recently. .
@wgallios I’ll stick with my Droid X, thank you! I get better battery life too :P
