15 Android Phones Versus the iPhone 5

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The iPhone 5 may or may not be coming out in 2011. Assuming it does, there will be plenty of Android-based competition to deal with.

Conclusion

There’s not a doubt in our minds that every Apple store will have lines out the door on the day the iPhone 5 launches. Those willing to camp out and battle the endless lines are those that are in it for the Apple name, services and the security of a closed and strictly-regulated App Store. Those same people are not going to be concerned with purchasing the latest and greatest hardware, since we strongly believe that an iPhone 5 will be one-upped by devices with quad-core CPUs from Nvidia and strong dual-core offerings from TI and Qualcomm. It's true that hardware specs aren't the only category to be concerned about when buying a smartphone, as there have been plenty of smartphones with top-notch hardware that are bogged down by inferior software (the Nokia N8, for instance). But with Android 2.X maturing into a top-notch mobile OS that's packed full of functionality, the hardware is quickly becoming a deciding factor for consumer.

Parting with iOS may be difficult for some, especially those with a lot of money invested into the Apple App Store, but the smartphone app offerings from Android have grown to encompass all of the most popular iPhone apps already. Are you looking to play Angry Birds or use Tweetdeck and Foursquare? Those and most other apps that are popular in the App Store are now available in the Android Marketplace, too. Those looking for a smooth interface and hassle-free experience may want to stick with iOS, but plenty of Android phones offer that same experience, with stock Android and HTC SenseUI-equipped devices coming to mind first.

Let's face it: the iPhone isn’t top dog anymore when it comes to hardware, as this is not a clear-cut contest like days gone by. If you want the fastest, most technologically advanced smartphone available, it’s time to go Android, or at least seriously consider it...not to say that the iPhone and the always-unpredictable Apple are all that far behind.

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Paul Escallier
31 Comments Comment from the forums
  • caseyd
    Excellent article. I am a long time user of the IPhone, but I've been waiting for the latest and greatest by Apple. Since they decided to push off the launch of the new product as they had previously from June to September/October, I decided I am going to look into Android products as I don't want to wait that long. After this article, I know what phone I'm interested in. I'm even willing to wait a few months for it. Who knows, Apple may pull me back if they ever announce anything, but at this time, I'm extremely excited by the prospect of using an Android phone for the first time!
    Reply
  • CTPAHHIK
    iPhone needs to incorporate T-Mobile 4G LTE band, which would make it compatible with all GSM networks in North America/Europe. This would significantly expand prospective user base. There is no need to sell iPhone on T-Mobile, as unlocked versions will show up on T-Mobile network. This would be a big plus for ATT as they are buying T-Mobile. Happy apple users, as now they can seamlessly switch between ATT and T-Mobile. There is still no 3G world phone on the market and Apple would be first one again.
    Reply
  • dimar
    For some reason I feel that it will be missing the most important features I need such as FLAC playback, high quality audio with professioanl EQ, 1080p60 at 80Mbps HD video recording/playback, dual microSDXC card reader, USB 3.0 support and on & on... So yes, I'll wait for Samsung Universe T instead.
    Reply
  • Had one HTC last year, sold it fast again. Going no touch now, battery is king. Anyway, not speaking about battery time makes this rather useless. I will consider Iphone 5 if they bring in even more battery life.
    Reply
  • burnley14
    It means that even if the iPhone 5 launches according to schedule, two months later there will be a phone on the market that is more than twice as powerful (or, using Apple’s math when comparing the iPad to the iPad 2, eight times as powerful).

    This gave me a good chuckle. Very nice article by the way, it was a pleasure to read.
    Reply
  • blueer03
    It looks like I may need to replace my Nexus 1 with the Sensation; the design even makes it look like an N1. I just hope the build quality is up to the same standards, as it is one of the things that I love about it over the other plastic HTC phones.
    Reply
  • quantumrand
    blueer03It looks like I may need to replace my Nexus 1 with the Sensation; the design even makes it look like an N1. I just hope the build quality is up to the same standards, as it is one of the things that I love about it over the other plastic HTC phones.
    The Sensation should be a very sturdy phone. If you look closely, you can see that it has a unibody exoskeleton, which I believe is made from aluminum or at least some metal allow. It doesn't cover the whole phone though, so you won't have any antenna issues like the various versions of the iPhone.
    Reply
  • It's good to hear from IPhone owners, but until they have used Micorsofts Windows Phone 7 they don't know what they are missing. Windows Phones will surrpass Apple and Google by providing phones that are both easy to use and clolely tied to all Windows systems.
    Reply
  • To me, support from third party developers is almost more important than hardware specs. Apple and Android both have excellent support but, as we all know, Apple has a slight edge. Let's not forget there's so many Android sets out there with only a handful of real true smart phones. There will always be millions and millions of Android os's out there but Apple sells millions and millions of one phone and will continue to do so and so will the Android OS. I think everyone has learned from RIM and Palm... Don't get lazy by shoving out the same garbage year over year.
    Reply
  • fulle
    The Droid 3 should release soon as a iPhone5 competitor as well. A lot of the specs are unknown, but we can basically assume it'll be very competitive, with its show stopper feature being a 5 row qwerty keyboard.
    - Us existing Droid and Droid 2 owners might know more than others missing out, but a good 5 row qwerty is a pretty big deal.
    Reply