This collection represents the best Android phones we’ve received to test here at Wired over the past few months. So, if you’re in the market for an Android phone, start with this short list of our recommended picks.
They list 10 of the best Android phones in 2011. The reality is, each of these phones will be “old news” by July and a new crop of phones will be the best. I’m a geek who likes having the latest thing and, this sort of product release schedule would drive me to buying new phones every 4 months at full price not to mention that feeling of being out of date and unable to run the latest Android OS every 8-12 months at the mercy of carriers and hardware companies like HTC and Motorola. There are two philosophies to this.
A) This is how it has always been with mobile phones and Apple is the only exception
B) Apple’s iPhone is so great that it only needs a single update each year.
I’d say both of these are correct in their own way but I know first hand that Android developers are always complaining about compatibility issues where, iOS devs truly can experience, “write once-run everywhere” albeit with a few tweaks here and there for upscaling (mostly UI changes)
It’s to the point that most consumers don’t really know they have an Android phone unless it’s called a “droid” and I’ve seen users think they have a MyTouch or Dell Venue or Cliq 2 and not know or care what OS they have installed. I guess that’s Google’s plan. They don’t really care about a system that’s good for developers or good for the end-user, only that their system is in use everywhere and hey, Android is free so why is everyone complaining?
I’ll stick with Apple where I can buy one phone each year and never be out of date.