Why You Should Consider an Android Phone

You’ve seen the coy adds spoofing the iPhone and touting all the covetous features that Android packs that Apple’s smartphone doesn’t. But now that the more Android phones have hit the shelves, we’ve had an opportunity to get a hands-on look at what Android actually does that’ll make your life easier besides working out latent bitterness over Apple fanaticism.

As with all smartphones, Android is not a “one phone to rule them all” device. Rather, it appeals to a subset of smartphone users who want certain functions and features from their phone. If any of the following describe you, you should get a Google Android phone:

You prefer the openness of Google over the proprietary imperialism of Apple. The starkest difference between these two Silicon Valley giants is their attitude towards open development. Google is all about open source and freely shares its API with coders whereas Apple is notoriously protective about who fiddles with what. This puts Apple and Google directly at odds when it comes to mobile apps, as we saw with Apple’s recent nixing of the Google Voice iPhone App.  It’s a difference in philosophy – but chances are that there will be greater variety and innovation in Android apps than iPhone apps down the road. (Not to mention Droid supports multi-tasking.)

You need a physical keyboard. Those touchscreen soft keyboards are nifty, but some of us need tactile responsiveness in order to really get our thumbs flying. Most Android phones let you choose between a physical QWERTY keyboard and a touch keyboards.

You’re sick of AT&T.  Not much to parse out here – as of now, the iPhone only works on AT&T, which allegedly has spotty 3G coverage in some areas. Android is available on a number of carriers.

For example, the T-Mobile G1 is a hot phone from T-Mobile that touts Android as well as an ample touch screen, a 3.2 megapixel camera and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. T-Mobile also has a pretty decent 3G network.

Sprint also has a great Google phone running Android called the Samsung Moment. The Moment distinguishes itself by supporting both WiFi and 3G, which makes Android’s web features especially intuitive.

Also, T-Mobile’s popular Samsung Behold will be re-released this month as the Samsung Behold II, which sports Google’s Android operating system. For those who loved the TouchWiz interface but also want some Google muscle, the Behold II will be an attractive phone.

As you can see, choosing Android over iPhone is about more than features and functionality. Both iPhone OS and Android offer plenty of what you need – Internet surfing, email support and apps – but  Android is offered on more carriers and more phones than the iPhone. In a market that has long been dominated by Apple, Google’s new Android OS provides a refreshing alternative.

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