Two of our Her Campus Eckerd staff writers went head to head this week to bring you the ultimate victor in the land of creepy smart phone technology. In this article you will be taken on a journey that is the battle between the Android and the iPhone.
The iPhone:
When I was first looking to get a new phone, as mine was about 5 years old, I was looking for another simple flip phone with calling and texting and that was all I needed. Not anymore. My friends convinced me that owning an iPhone was the best option. I was hooked, and I mean hooked.
Now I don’t know what to do when my phone dies or when I can’t find it. With immediate access to email, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Skype, maps and GPS, weather, news, music, recipes, StumbleUpon and games. That’s all just the first few apps I got. The Apple App Store is chock full of amazing (and obviously necessary) things.
My favorite part about the iPhone is that I have not paid for an app. Nope, not one. No, my phone is not jail broken or anything like that, my phone actually allows me to search for free apps within the store or it alerts me when paid apps are made free with another free app called Free App a Day.
The apps aren’t the only great things about the iPhone though. I’ve had my phone for almost a year now and it has only crashed once, and that was because I hadn’t updated in at least 5 months. Oh, and in order to update I just plug my phone into my computer, I don’t have to go buy another phone. And the AT&T coverage has, so far, been amazing. 3G in most places (especially wonderful when there is no internet) and I even had cell service in Alaska this summer.
In terms of accessibility this phone is easy to understand. Email, texting, phone calls, Internet, calendar, alarms, camera, social networking and a million other things one might need, are available at the touch of a button. But it’s not really a button, is it? It’s a sleek, modern touch screen with optional backlight brightness for your viewing pleasure. The picture is crystal clear and the easy pinch zoom is phenomenal.
The iPhone is a fantastic tool for anyone in college or who needs a network. We have our needs and our wants and I think the iPhone does the best job of delivering both.
The Android:
It began with a rather innocuous event, a package slip in the mail. I was used to getting freshman care packages from my parents, so I didn’t think much when I was handed a small brown box from the air-conditioned mailroom that March afternoon. Back in my room I was alone. The box seemed heavier in my hands than I had realized. I slit the delicate ribbon of tape down the middle, spreading the box’s flaps and plunging my fingers into the quivering packing worms. There it was.
My fingers slid over the smooth, hard surface, the screen was huge. I inhaled as my fingers traced the sleek frame. I pressed a button and it sprang to life. I glanced over my shoulder at the sad little flip phone with the business card-sized screen sitting on the floor. So loyal, enduring even the roughest of times in our relationship. My gaze dropped back to the sleek rectangle in my hand. I never looked back.
My affair with the Android began last March, and since then phone choice has never been a question. I’m happily smitten with my Samsung Galaxy by T-Mobile.
The screen is huge and ultra-sensitive, I never find myself jabbing it to click on something. It’s really nice for reading websites or news updates on my apps, I don’t often have to zoom in because my screen is already so large.
Speaking of apps, the Android App Market has not once failed me. When I was bored, it gave me a game of hopping pigs to play. When I was unorganized, it gave me a checklist. Even when I needed a voice recorder for my journalism class, it saved me around $40 with a high-quality voice recorder. And all free! I haven’t had to pay for an app yet, but that doesn’t mean I’ve compromised; all of my apps get the job done and more.
One thing I feel like I’d be lost without is the Gmail app and my Google Calendar. I asked my dad for a smart phone specifically so I could keep up with all of my time-sensitive emails for internships and deadlines with our school newspaper, “The Current,” and now I’m plugged in around the clock. I get updates on my phone whenever I have a new email, and even more helpful is the Google Calendar alerts for the various activities in my day.
My life is on Google Calendar, I’d be toast without it. Classes, appointments, lunch dates, everything goes in the calendar. Gone are the days when I looked at my paper planner one week at a time – now, everything is planned out months in advance with an option to make events reoccurring for a certain amount of time.
And what’s more, everything appears at the top of the screen on a little pull-down bar to keep it all organized.
In the same vein as Gmail, I have my Facebook and Twitter hooked up to my phone as well. Paired with the CNN and Al Jazeera apps, I’m able to be constantly current with events both local and in the world, and it’s rare that the apps fail.
My security code is a fun little addition as well. Instead of being confined to the standard “drag the bar across the screen” or a number code, I have the additional option of connecting dots in a particular pattern, which adds a little flair to my Android experience.
Another thing I’m obsessed with is the quality of pictures on my phone. I have a high-definition video recorder, and my camera is 5 megapixels and doesn’t require a flash.
The only drawbacks I occasionally experience are when my phone freaks out once every two weeks or so and resets itself for no apparent reason, but nothing gets interrupted or messed up, so it’s not often a problem.
I feel no need to switch to an iPhone, Android has all the apps I need to stay completely plugged in, and the 4G network I’ve got keeps me covered for all I need wirelessly. Android for life.