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Note: Since there are a lot of Android powered phones across many carriers and manufacturers, there will be Androids phones coming out all the time. So if you do decide to get an Android be aware that you might be envious of new phones that are released after you buy.
Shopping Tips:
Be sure that you know what’s going to be coming up in the near future. As with all technology, there will always be something new and better; this is a fact. However, if there’s something big coming up, like 4G/LTE support, it’s definitely worth waiting a couple weeks or so to take advantage of the new tech. Also, it’s a good idea to wait a little bit to buy a newly released phone. First hands-on’s and specs can only tell you so much about a phone. It’s good to see what others have to say about them and about potential unseen downfalls of the device.
Looking For the Features That You Want
Android OS is probably one of the fastest at updating their software out of others on the market. In fact, their already developing Android 2.4 even before 2.3 is full released. So when you’re out looking for phones, be sure that it comes loaded with the latest version of Android OS (as of publishing this article, it would by 2.2 Froyo as Gingerbread isn’t on most phones right now). You should also make sure that whichever manufacture you choose (HTC, Motorola, Samsung, Dell, LG, and Sony) that you choose one that actually update your phones to the next OS version. So far about 50% of HTC phones have been eligible to be upgraded to Froyo in 2010 with Motorola behind with 15% and Samsung with 11%.
Recently, there’s been a lot of talk about what kind of the processors are going into these mobile devices and a lot of confusing jargon and code names that come along with them. But here’s all you need to know: the processor isn’t going to do that much to influence how your Android phone performs. The bottom line is that you shouldn’t be basing your purchase off which type of processor is built in to your phone. Lately, manufactures have been really competitive over processors so there’s not going to much variation on types or speeds of phone processors. In addition, performance of the Android OS is a lot more reliant on the software rather than the hardware so a phone that gets updates more often might be faster than a phone who, on paper, is supposed to run faster.
However if you are some who needs a powerful chip in their phone, e.g. 3D gaming or video editing, you should probably look for a phones that has at least a 1Ghz processor or even dual core. But if you’re not in this category of users, don’t automatically assume that “higher is better”. Because when it comes down to it, switch from app to app will be more influenced by what type of UI (or custom UI, more on this further down) you’re using rather than the type of processor.
Manufacturer UI
The three major manufacturers of Android phones (HTC, Mototrola, and Samsung) have all added their own user interfaces onto their phones; HTC’s Sense, Motorola’s MotoBlur, and Samsung’s TouchWiz. While none of the three are “better” than one another, some people prefer certain UI’s over each other as they have a different feel to them. For example, HTC sense (pictured middle) allows you to have various widgets on the home screen such as the current weather.
Camera:
Obviously if you know you’re going to be taking a lot of pictures with your phone, it would be a good idea to make sure the Android you pick has a good camera. Camera specs can only tell you so much as megapixels only tell how large the pictures will be, not how nice they’ll look even though they seem like the same thing. So if you’re in between a 5MP and an 8MP phone, don’t automatically choose the 8MP. The best way to see which is better is to do a hands-on yourself at your local carrier store. Another option is to use Flickr’s Camera Finder page. There you can view picture taken on certain device whether they be the HTC Incredible or Droid X. Also gaining popularity are models with front facing cameras (cough*iPhone’s fault*cough). I mean there’s no downside to having a front facing camera right?
Battery Life:
Probably one of the biggest grievances of smartphones these days are low battery lives. What use is a smartphone that can play millions of games, tell you the weather, and cook you breakfast if it only holds a charge for an hour? (OK maybe that phone would be worth it) Probably the best way to tell how long the battery will last is from reviewers who’ve gotten their hands on the phone already as battery capacity can only tell you so much.
Screen Type:
Not content with having a large screen, many manufactures have their own special screens that claim to perform better than others. While Samsung’s AMOLED screen, Sony’s Super LCD, and Motorola’s qHD screen look great they really beat down on battery life. In the spirit of competition almost all phones have these specialized screens so battery drainage is pretty universal. That being said screen type is something that isn’t that much of an issue.
Hardware Features:
As with almost every other product, manufacturers will include unique features such as front-facing cameras, kick stands, “full” speakers to make their phone stand out from the others. It’s up to you to decide which of these features you want and which you could live without. For example, it’s never a bad idea to have HDMI out if you had the choice between one that didn’t right.
Rootability:
While some Androids are easier to root than others, virtually all phones are hackable. “Unhackable” phones like the Droid X and G2 have been rooted by teams such as XDA. So by the time you’ve bought your phone, it’s likely that some has already hacked it and is writing tutorial on how to do it.
References:
Above, there’s a chart that does a good comparison between top Androids that are looking to be released soon. In addition here’s a nice graphic that compares the Motorola Droid Bionic, the Apple iPhone 4 and the HTC Thunderbolt if you were between those devices.
P.S. Droid Bionic is the best.
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