The Smartphone Operating System Complete Comparison

MyPhoneDeals.co.uk The Smartphone Operating System COMPLETE COMPARISON iPhone OS vs Android vs Blackberry OS vs Windows Phone 7 O GENERAL O 10 08 12:21 M3 iPhone OS 4.3.3 Android 2.3.4 OS6 Windows Phone 7 Overview Overview Overview Overview Beginner Friendly Affordability Beginner Friendly Affordability Beginner Friendly Affordability Completeness Affordability Completeness Beginner Friendly Completeness Completeness Excellent all rounder, expensive but does almost everything well Android is more customizable and Technical knowhow is needed to get the most out of Android. Needs to do more Time, effort, and tech knowhow is required if you want to Jailbreak your iPhone to remove it's restrictions Immature OS - it's early days. No copy and paste, no proper multitasking, video calling, universal Great for business. Still the best for email, contacts, messaging, Good for blackberry users/first time smart phone customers to appeal in a non- more integrated into business environment calendar, and Microsoft Outlook syncing online services. search Apps Apps Apps Apps Quantity Quality Quantity Quality Quantity Quality Quantity Quality Limited app selection, and lower app quality Huge selection and Some desirable apps like Swype, Grooveshark, and Google Voice are blocked by Apple Huge app selection and freedom from any No barriers means no New app library is quality control. Some care is required good quality apps growing quickly but approval process still small Usability Usability Usability Usability Usability Usability Usability Usability Fantastic usability Good at email and Intuitive usability, Improving but still not up to iPhone standard messaging, lacking with other tasks smooth, fun to use Web Browsing Web Browsing Web Browsing Web Browsing Browsing Browsing Browsing Browsing Excellent browsing experience No Adobe Flash support, and none planned OS 7 promises faster and better browsing Webkit browser is a big improvement but still First generation browser is not great. No Adobe Flash support yet. IE9 in version 7.5 will help a lot Excellent browsing experience, fastest available, supports Adobe Flash inferior Keyboard shortcuts Smaller screens Email & Messaging Email & Messaging Email & Messaging Email & Messaging Email Keyboard Email Keyboard Email Keyboard Email Keyboard No physical keyboard Very good No support for multiple Exchange Accounts Voice input for texting Very good implementation No support for multiple Exchange Accounts Top notch email interface - this is what Blackberry No unified inbox, no threaded email implementation. Full Gmail integration Supports multiple Exchange Accounts does best Supports multiple Blackberry Messenger is an excellent built in Instant Messaging service that is proving to be a big draw for professionals and teenagers Physical keyboard Exchange Accounts Voice input MEDIA & GAMING 10 08 181 iPhone OS 4.3.3 Android 2.3.4 OS6 Windows Phone 7 Photos & Videos Photos & Videos Photos & Videos Photos & Videos Quality Apps VideoCalls Quality Apps VideoCalls Quality Apps VideoCalls Quality Apps VideoCalls Very good quality, lots Very good quality, lots Loses out on camera No video calling Physical camera buttons Large screens available (up to 4.3") Bing Vision uses camera to identify items of apps to enhance the experience of apps to enhance the experience Google Talk video chat works with PCs. Large screens available (up to 4.3") quality, video capture/ playback, and screen size/sharpness Facetime video calling works well Music Music Music Music Player Podcasts Management Player Podcasts Management Player Podcasts Management Player Podcasts Management Alternative player apps Poor default player, iTunes integration and syncing doesn't appeal to everyone Still slightly lacking, but much improved Excellent for music with Zune is good, fast and its iPod influences are available syncing is a pain easy to use, smooth from earlier versions integration and syncs Support for more music formats over WiFi WiFi Music Sync tool Zune Pass subscription works with iTunes and is a great way to try out Windows Media Player songs Gaming Gaming Gaming Gaming Quantity Quality Quantity Quality Quantity Quality Quantity Quality Great selection of fun, high quality games with good graphics. The potential is there, but it's clearly behind on top quality games. Poor game library, game capabilities are limited by the Os Early days but Xbox Live integration is a real plus and gaming is a clear priority for WP7 Inconsistency between devices make it difficult for developers HARDWARE 10 08 18 iPhone OS 4.3.3 Android 2.3.4 Windows Phone 7 Hardware Hardware Hardware Hardware Design Variety Design Variety Design Variety Design Variety Top hardware build quality Variety of phones to choose from, ranging Good hardware build Only 1 device to choose from per year Design is functional and business-like, less Variety of phones to choose from, ranging quality and durability aesthetically appealing from poor to good build quality, offering different from poor to good build quality, offering different features such as physical keyboards Excellent design - Apple makes sexy features su devices Performance Performance Performance Performance Performance Performance Performance Performance Good performance Generally good Performance and lag Some slowdown on apps Some performance and lag issues with the new issues with some cheaper phones performance, especially with the newer dual core os phones Battery Battery Battery Battery Battery Life Battery Life Battery Life Battery Life No removable battery Good battery life compared to Android and Windows Phone 7 Many phones have poor battery life unless you spend time tweaking the settings Excellent Battery Life in past iterations, but with OS6 and Torch, battery life is less impressive Okay battery life Memory Memory Memory Memory No expandable memory Some expandable memory, larger screen Expandable No expandable memory (uses microSD as permanent memory) memory, good memory Can't use phone as a USB drive management Can't use phone as a USB drive CONNECTIVITY •) 10 08 12:21 iPhone OS 4.3.3 Android 2.3.4 Windows Phone 7 Tethering & WiFi Tethering & WiFi Tethering & Wifi Tethering & WiFi Tethering and Wifi hotspot support No Wifi hotspot support Tethering and Wifi hotspot support Tethering WiFi support coming No tethering support with WP 7.5 Syncing Syncing Syncing Syncing Syncing Syncing Syncing Syncing iTunes still requires a physical connection (likely to change with ios 5) Can be complicated to sync tasks and notes Wireless automatic Wireless syncing is Wireless automatic syncing via 3rd party available via 3rd party apps, but it's not straightforward syncing with Zune apps. Excellent syncing with Google services Customization Customization Customization Customization Customization Customization Customization Customization Consistent user Closed platform - Apple Confusion and Open platform, in terms of 3rd party apps, custom Less open than Android, Consistent user interface Not open to experience means decides what you can do. fragmentation arise from the different but more open than the and hardware guidelines across manufacturers. customization like simpler support If you're a techie you can ROMS, file formats, iPhone Android jailbreak your iPhone but you're always jumping through hoops personalization, file storage/transfer versions of Android Flexible home screen, from different very configurable manufacturers and the many custom ROMS Cloud Integration Cloud Integration Cloud Integration Cloud Integration Cloud Integration Cloud Integration Cloud Integration Cloud Integration Limited integration, though this may change Excellent integration with Google apps - Maps (with navigation), Voice, Mail, Poor integration with social networking Facebook integrated into contact list - photos, status updates, Wall posting with its rumoured iCloud services service Calendar etc, and Facebook contacts Twitter, Windows Messenger, and Office Docs integration coming with WP 7.5 Live Data Live Data Live Data Live Data Live Data Live Data Live Data Live Data No widgets or dynamic icons, limited notification Live Tiles displays live info on icons. Simple Live widgets allow great flexibility, but they're not streamlined or standardized No widgets or dynamic icons and elegant, feels very dynamic system O OTHER PROS & CONS D 10 08 1221 iPhone OS 4.3.3 Android 2.3.4 Windows Phone 7 Other Pros & Cons Other Pros & Cons Other Pros & Cons Other Pros & Cons Cant sms to non 'mobile labelled numbers, no click Mac syncing Tied to iTunes, which is cumbersome and growing Security issues from the open platform Excellent security The more you use Google's services, the more Android will shine Smaller screen, does some things very well but other aspects feel outdated in comparison to the other OSes here Hubs provide easy access and app grouping for several common aspects more and more outdated Blackberry Server Enterprise for businesses feedback A whole ecosystem iPhone 4 requires a case t Voice input Haptic feedback Tied to Zune of accessories o solve antennna problems Business-related perks like auto dialling of NFC technology will allow mobile payments and other cool stuff by Updating is troublesome Native MS Office Integration and Airplay over Apple devices e.g. Apple TV, Airport Express integration and Share- point support Price premium phone extensions Old devices will not be upgradeable to 057 NFC technology in OS7 will allow mobile payments and other cool stuff by swiping your phone (like an Oyster card) swiping your phone (like an Oyster card) The Smartphone Operating System Complete Comparison - by MyPhoneDeals.co.uk