David Mankellow

Legend, Desire, Nexus One, iPhone 3Gs

I have no idea on what handset to get next really. So I thought I’d send out my thoughts to see if they made any sense…

What’s a gadget-loving man to do? I’m finally due for an upgrade after what has seemed to be an eternity and I want a really good phone. I’ve been stuck with a Windows Mobile 6.1 device for all this time and i’m sick of it. I want a smartphone with a real OS in it.

This has led me to the dilemma I face; Android or Apple OS? The choices of handsets are as pictured above. I have whittled it down to 4 handsets (possibly more): The HTC Legend (Android), HTC Desire (Android), Nexus One (Android) and of course the iPhone 3Gs (Apple OS).

In my quest to come to some sort of decision I have scoured the internet and asked colleagues and friends in the know. It’s like supporting a football team or choosing which parent to live with after they’ve split up! There are iPhone enthusiasts and iPhone rebels. Some people will not hear a bad word against the iPhone and i’m pretty sure I’ve been put on some sort of hit-list for considering another phone or saying anything remotely negative about the phone or the brand. Other people have this fierce moral decision not to go along with Apple and be a “fan boy” (Good one – why not just jump into the arms of Google then!). These people remind me of a lot of vegetarians; they love bacon because they’ve had it before, they want a bacon sandwich so bad but for whatever reason they won’t eat meat, probably because they saw ‘Animals of Farthing Wood’ when they were little and have no regard for evolution…I fear I’m going a little off track here…What was I…Ah yes, smartphones.

If I were to put myself anywhere near either of the brackets described above it would be closer to an iPhone rebel. This isn’t because I hate their products or anything I just want to be different from the crowd really. However, this needs to be done with caution. What happened last time? I ended up with a pile of poo phone whilst my friends are swanning around with iPhones!

I really like the Android handsets above for a number of reasons. Firstly their hardware is very impressive, especially the Nexus One and the HTC Desire. Then there’s the really slick OS. The UI’s are slightly different though. The Nexus One has a Google specially designed UI where as the Desire has the HTC designed UI (Sense UI). Aesthetically they all look quite nice although I have read that ergonomically they aren’t great.

Now let’s compare that to the 3Gs. The hardware is pretty impressive, although the camera is not great. The UI is the best around, really smooth, quick and very easy to use. The Phone looks amazing and it is nice in the hand. There is also the added bonus the plethora of apps available…Wait, which did I prefer again?

The negatives are the pricing on all of the phones. With the Android devices there is a track ball or track pad (what’s that about on a touchscreen phone?).

Here’s the underlying issue; I’m a gadget-loving man. No matter what I get I’ll want the next gadget that flutters its eyelids at me in my RSS reader. So, I’m back at square one!

The Grand Plan

Here’s what I’ve sort of decided on (not so grand then):

I do not want to be in a long term contract so I am going to out-right buy one of the Android handsets. The financial hit is harsh but I’m not tied into a contract and can sell the handset if I like as they all keep their value well. I will have a monthly rolling contract to keep monthly bills low. This way if I decide that Android isn’t for me then iPhone it is.

Then again, iPhone 4G comes out soon… Ahh what’s a gadget-loving man to do?