Which Android phone should I get?
This is roughly the state at the end of 2010, based on my experience with a bunch of Android phones and some iOS devices.
Both the Galaxy S and the HTC Desire series are excellent phones. The Motorola Droid series is also pretty good, but heavy, and Motorola is slow with software updates.
The big differences between the Galaxy S and the HTC Desire are: screen, build, custom software, and software updates. I prefer the Desire build (more solid, but heavier), screen (traditional LCD; Galaxy is larger but has blue cast), and custom software (HTC did a good job enhancing the functionality, Samsung merely made it look more iPhone like). Software updates have been more timely on the Desire by a few months.
The Sony-E phones have good hardware and good cameras (the X10 Mini is just impressive in terms of size), but Sony made Android worse with their customizations and their software updates are really slow. Unless you need a tiny phone, stay away, but if you do need a tiny phone, the X10 mini is still decent.
Also think about whether you need a hardware keyboard; they are nice, not necessarily because typing is faster, but because you get to see more of the screen while typing. But they also make the phone much heavier.
Also consider the Nexus S; it is another Samsung, but runs standard Android (a big plus), and the very latest too. Look at the frequencies, it may support both T-Mobile 3G and AT&T 3G.
I’m not sure which of those are available on which carriers in the US; in Germany, they all work on all carriers. In Europe, the HTC and Motorola phones update over the air, Galaxy requires a desktop connection.
In the US, I’m likely to upgrade to a Virgin Mobile prepaid Android phone. They only have one model, a low-end Samsung, but that’s fine for me. Virgin Mobile’s deal looks very good. You might want to consider that, depending on your needs.
Having used both platforms, I find that both iOS and Android both have their rough edges and usability blunders; I don’ think there’s a clear winner in that department. Android seems a little more complex at first (e.g. application drawer), but it’s well worth it in terms of functionality (home screen widgets, better keyboards, easier setup, etc.). Both platforms will become unresponsive under some circumstances, but not enough to be a problem. iPhone has more and better games, Android has much, much better productivity and system tools. What kills iOS for me is the need to hook it up to a desktop for maintenance and syncing; unacceptable for travel. Contrary to naysayers, the different screensizes and buttons on Android devices are not a significant problem; I have had more problems with iOS screen size differences.
This being Europe and sim cards being cheap and plentiful, I have an HTC Desire, a Galaxy Tab, and an X10 Mini. My mother (not a computer person) got my old Droid and is happy with it and actually uses many of the smartphone functions.
