Nothing stokes the fires of feuding fandom more than the debate between which cell phones are better. Well maybe politics… but after that it is definitely smartphone platforms. While most users will likely tell you that it is a matter of preference, PMI American River takes a stab at settling this debate once and for all.
We will break it down into 6 sections and declare a winner!
Ready! Set! Go!
APPS- When it comes to apps, both apple and Android offer an abundance of apps to choose from. While Apple tends to be a little more on the strict side with what is allowed to exist in their app store, you get a little more freedom from the Android store. Android also has better organizational capabilities allowing you to easily store less used apps in the app drawer and put more useful ones on the home screen for easy access. Widgets on Android tend to be more useful and robust as well. This category goes to Android hands down!
EASE OF USE- Apple controls their user experience and they are pretty strict about how their phones operate, look and feel. Contrast this to Android which has multiple variations of their user experience across multiple platforms. Different hardware even has different functionality sometimes. With that said, if you were used to using one Android phone and switched to another, the user experience will likely be different. When you use an iPhone the experience will be the same every time. Even if it was close by all other accounts, Apple would take this category for consistency alone.
MUSIC- Androids rely heavily on streaming services, including their own Google play music. While Google play is excellent, Apple has been in the music game for plenty long enough to perfect it. It is hard to beat the king and when it comes to iTunes, this couldn’t be any more true. Unfortunately iTunes does not have a free option but it is easy to use and it coordinates seamlessly with your existing library of music. In this category, Android didn’t stand a chance!
EMAIL- It is a sign of the times that we are always connected. With that said we have to examine functionality between Android and iPhone when it comes to Email. Apple’s mail app is excellent and it will even automatically recognize your Exchange settings. Apple’s mail app is a little clunky though and takes more steps to navigate. When it comes to Android, email is handled by the gmail App. This essentially puts Android in the same category regarding Email as iPhone was in regarding music. Gmail is easy, quick and convenient. Navigating the app is simple and intuitive. Winner for this category is undoubtedly Android!
MAPS/GPS- While Apple has worked hard on their mapping services with many successes to boot, Google maps is still the king of maps. You may remember the uproar when Apple first released their maps and didn’t allow google maps to be on their platform. Boy did that change fast! Now you can use Google maps on both iPhone and Android but since it is not native on iPhone, Siri doesn’t integrate. Android takes this category!
Ai VOICE ASSISTANT- Nothing will get the debate of Android vs iPhone going faster than asking if Siri or Bixby is the better voice assistant. Siri is older and more developed so it tends to be more accurate and understands voice commands with greater ease. Bixby on the other hand has the upper hand when you want to do more than just look things up. Bixby can easily send photos, close apps, create contacts and most importantly change settings. Siri fights back into the fray when it comes to response times and can easily decipher complex sentences. Bixby needs more keywords and specific sentence structures to interact at it’s highest level. While this category is a close call, some of the well known public complaints about Bixby and the forced “Bixby” button on many Android devices, puts Bixby in second place.
Well there you have it! iPhone wins three categories and Android wins three categories. I guess which one is best really comes down to your personal preference? Are you an iPhone person or an Android person and what are your reasons for which one you chose?
