In Review: Android, Blackberry, iOS, WebOS, and Windows

Loyal readers of WordsFinest know that I'm a gadget hound, tirelessly searching for the perfect phone. The phone has become the most essential iteration of the personal computer, and consumers are caught in an epic war between some of the biggest names in the tech industry. The stakes are high - the very future of mobile computing rests on the successes and failures of these bizarrely-named phone religions: Android, Blackberry, iOS, WebOS, and Windows Phone 7. In the past year, I've had the opportunity to try every smartphone platform on the market, and there are certain trade-offs with every platform and piece of phone hardware that you're going to want to be aware of when choosing your next phone.

Lots of choices...but how many good ones?

Apple's iOS

We have to start with Apple because the iPhone has become the sore benchmark by which all other phones are judged. You can't pull out a phone with a touchscreen without having someone ask you if it's better than an iPhone. I've spent quite a bit of time with an iPhone 4 and iOS this year, and here are my thoughts:

Buy it: I found the iPhone 4 to be the most premium-feeling, quality-built piece of hardware on the market. I hate using iTunes, but it helps give iOS the best media importing and playback experience of any phone. iOS also has the best-stocked app store, and there are a number of awesome apps that you simply can't get for the other phones. Lastly, iOS has the most consistent and reliable user-interface; you can never get 'lost' in an iPhone, and it's always easy to navigate through the various menus and functions. 

Toss it: There's no hardware diversity. Apple only makes one version of the iPhone a year, and they're all going to have the same screen size and form factor - and you still can't even get the white version because they've had trouble manufacturing it; apparently Apple has never ever shipped a white product. Additionally, Apple's iOS keeps you chained to their 'benevolent' restrictions: very little customization, and no ability to purchase or install apps anywhere outside of Apple's totalitarian App Store. 

Google's Android

In past articles, I've caught a lot of flack from Android fans. Without a doubt, Android has the most vocal and oddly defensive fanbase of any smartphone OS - but with generally worthy cause. I got to play with a few Android phones this year, including a Nexus One, T-Mobile G2, and Galaxy S phone.

Buy it: Android can definitely feel liberating if you've been trapped in Apple's claustrophobic little world. There's an incredible diversity of hardware, enabling you to find your dream device with just the right screen size or optional keyboard. On the software side, I thought Android was incredibly customizable, [typically] open for installing apps from any source (including Amazon's upcoming app store), and beautifully integrated with Google services like Gmail and Voice.

Toss it: I'm going to invite more flack, but I still think Android is aesthetically unattractive. With Froyo and Gingerbread, it's been making some slow user interface improvements, but the sum of the experience is still incredibly frustrating. I hate how it allows app icons to look disorganized, and all the sophisticated functionality of Android is buried in these incredibly frustrating menus, blocking out even the simplest functions (Example: If I'm writing an email, I shouldn't have to open a menu to send it - there should just be a 'Send' button right in front of me). Another frustrating point is the 'splintering' of software updates. When Google puts out a new update for Android, they expect the hardware makers to make the update work for their phones. This is just stupid, since hardware makers have no incentive to provide these software updates for 'older' phones if they're trying to sell newer models. It'll be frustrating for people who buy brand new Android phones and find out that they aren't "new" enough to come with the new Gingerbread update. 

RIM's Blackberry OS

Blackberries still hold the highest market share and demand the respect of countless professionals. I used a Curve for a long time and borrowed a friend's new Torch for a few days.

Buy it: Actually, don't buy it. Seriously. 

Toss it: I know Blackberries have great hardware keyboards and everybody loved their Pearls or Curves, but the Blackberry OS has become seriously dated with old user interface paradigms and incredibly sluggish performance. Even with a new web browser and better app support, the new Blackberry OS 6.0 is still a mild improvement that just doesn't take Blackberry phones far enough to compete with iOS, Android, and the other major players. RIM is investing heavily in the new QNX platform for their tablets, and I seriously hope we see QNX replace the ancient Blackberry OS that RIM is still cramming into their phones. 

HP-Palm's WebOS

I have a serious affinity for the old Palm PDA devices, and I was definitely excited when Palm first announced WebOS and the Pre phone in 2009. I used a Palm Pre Plus for a week to give WebOS a spin. 

Buy it: Multitasking has been the most-talked about feature in smartphones this year, and I can comfortably say that WebOS has the best multitasking solution in the group. Unlike Android, nothing 'hides' in the background to kill your battery. WebOS operates on a 'card' paradigm, similar to opening and closing windows on your PC - this is how it does multitasking. All of your running apps are shown in front of you as 'cards' that you can focus on or flick away to 'kill'. It's very elegant, and supported by slick UI design.

Toss it: WebOS suffers from a very small app store and a really weak selection of hardware. Since 2009, our choices have been various rehashes of the Pre and Pixie phones, and neither of them suited my needs.

Microsoft's Windows Phone 7

The new Windows phones just came out, and I haven't spent as much time with them as I would've liked. However, I did get to get spend a bit of time with the new HTC HD7.

Buy it: I hate saying it, but I think Windows Phone 7 has the most attractive user interface at the moment - but you'll definitely have to see it in motion to believe it. Its live-updating 'tiles' metaphor is wonderfully streamlined and futuristic-looking, and every screen offers really stylish transitions and aggressively-large, clean fonts. The touch experience is superb; I was shocked that this Microsoft product was responsive and easy to control. Xbox Live integration and a solid media playback experience through the Zune player makes WP7 a pretty impressive play for Microsoft. 

Toss it: Unfortunately, it lacks multitasking for 3rd party apps, and Microsoft seems to think people will prefer to navigate to their apps in a ridiculously long alphabetical list, rather than in organizable pages or screens (which is what everybody else is doing). I was also underwhelmed by the hardware selection for Windows phones. It's nice that they're offering various screen sizes and optional physical keyboards, but none of the phones I've played with have premium-feeling hardware. Most of the phones felt cheap and/or bulky, and often wrapped in fingerprint-loving glossy plastics (which I can't stand). I've heard the Dell Venue Pro is the exception.

Phew. That was a lot. At the moment, there's no 'best' phone platform here. I can see reasons for using any of them, and I can see problems with all of them that might keep me from pledging allegiance to any one 'camp' in the near future. The important thing is to avoid brand prejudices and ask yourself what you want from your phone...But seriously, don't get the Blackberry. Please?