Agreed. But this is all becoming less prevalent, I think - especially as vanilla Android gets better and better, more and more people just want exactly that - vanilla Android without the carrier/OEM crud or UI "enhancements". MotoBlur? HTC Sense? Puh-leeze. Same with carrier "walled-garden" internet access or crippling. Folks don't want that.

Exactly what you get with a Google phone; Jelly Bean runs great. And Google is adding more hardware vendors.

Buy a phone through a carrier with a contract? LOL. You deserve whatever you get. It's like filing a 1040-EZ.

I use/buy nothing but Google phones now, personally - the Nexus-branded models. Hard to beat the price, guaranteed vanilla Android - and updates from Google for as long as they're relevant, from the community after that.

I paid $350 for a factory unlocked Galaxy Nexus from the Google Store (no contract, of course), the nearest-equivalent Samsung Galaxy was nearly double that. I mean, I like the S4 (especially the 8-core non-US version) - but how much for a phone?

As far as the apps are concerned - little bit of caution goes a long way. Just like browsing the web, getting re-directed to a porn site and NOT clicking to install any software it offers you or giving your credit card details, lol.

I have installed well over 200 Android apps one time or anther - no issues with any of them, other than how well they did what they were supposed to. Although one did obnoxiously display ads - to the point where the evaluation lasted less than 30 seconds... I even paid a couple of bucks to upgrade to the "Pro" version of a couple of them.

I can't believe folks buy into the closed Apple ecosystem at all. "Only install what we say you can". "Pay for it all". "Need a Genius to change your battery". I could even live with (most of) that- if not for iTunes. I mean, I still think my iPods are awesome for what they are/do - but iTunes just sours the whole experience. And I'm certainly not going to pay someone $100 to fit a $7 battery for me when a spudger costs $3...

Plus I think Jelly Bean simply works better than the iPhone (a name Apple stole from Cisco BTW, who had it as a registered trademark at the time) - and current Android devices are certainly higher spec than Apple's offerings.

I can certainly understand the "phone as appliance" model - but why pay more to get less performance/functionality?

This is overstating things a bit.

You can install anything you want after a simple jailbreak if you feel it necessary. Most don't. Not sure what you mean by "Pay for it all". I have lots of useful free apps on my iPhone. There are thousands available. Regarding the battery, I've seen inexpensive kits for sale to change the battery yourself if you want. Never had to change one yet. Lastly, Apple purchased the name from Cisco; nothing was stolen.

I thought we weren't going to do Apple bashing.

Whatever you say.

After a simple felony (as of 26th Jan 2013) you can use your phone the way you want you mean? Be my guest.

Yeh, you're not sure. Let's just leave it at that, shall we?

No, Cisco acquired a company that registered that trademark in 1996, and was shipping a Linksys-branded product range with that name when Apple started using it without permission (after allegedly first trying to use a front company to buy the name). Cisco sued them in 2007 and Apple settled. That's not what you said.

The problem I have with Apple is that you have to do things their way, in a way they support. Apple doesn't sell hardware, operating systems, or end user software - they sell an experience. As a Linux user, that really locks me out of the full Apple experience - no way to legally add music to my phone, etc.

I'd love Android, if I could get a simple phone unlocked and unlimited, the ability to get a contract with no data plan (I have wireless pretty much anywhere I go), and run a pure Android distribution, but that isn't really possible. I do run a pure Android install on my Nook but of course I don't have phone capabilities.

I have owned both. My Current Samsung GS3 is a great phone. GS4 is new version with similar features and a few upgrades. Google Drive is working well with recent updates they did to it (icloud competition). The only thing apple I still use is ITunes, then I automatically sync my music to Google Play via the Google Music Manager app. Very easy. Google Play is getting better but still not as good as iTunes for music.

I have found the Android experience to be much better than the Apple iOS experience. Easier to use, more user friendly, phone function works better, IMHO. I am on Sprint. YMMV.

I'm on iPhone #3, a 5 model. What I like:

It just works. No dicking around with settings, jailbreaks, etc. simple and easy. My wife is terrible with technology but can use an iPhone without help.

It's pocket sized. I don't know how some of you carry around those bricks, and I refuse to wear a dork holster.

Beautiful design. Where most are plastic it is glass and aluminum. There's a solid feel to their products that the others can't match.

Each time I get a new phone I try the options but end up with an iPhone. Whoever said that the 5 isn't an upgrade is crazy, it is a huge improvement.

I have an iPhone 4. Waiting (hoping) for the 5S to come out in September, when iOS 7 arrives. The virtues of the Apple world have been described already in this thread - it works, seamless integration, solid feeling, well made. I agree on all of those aspects.

I am a technie - I work in IT, in a PC / blackberry centric world. I have a Toshiba Windows 7 lappy, and a Mac mini on my desk at work, along with my company issue Blackberry. Got my wife (a school teacher) a Mac Book Pro a few years ago, and have slowly migrated towards the "Apple way of thinking." While I understand most of the technology behind a smartphone, I don't need to tinker with it -- I havfe plenty of 'tinkering' to do in my field of work, which is to manage the entire storage farm for my company (with 24x7 support no less).

At home, I also have an iPad and AppleTV. AppleTV ties in all of the Apple products together seamlessly. I have this device hooked up to my home theature, and can stream my Pandora radio from all three Apple devices, or watch movies from Netflix or Apple's iTunes and watch them in full HD.

Yes - in Apple, it's WUSIWUG (What you see is what you get), with very little customization. Their new iOS 7 will have a bit more customization - bringing in stuff that Andriod has had for years. But for me, and I'd say about 95% of the population, what Apple has available is more than sufficient, and works.

My $0.42,
-Z-man.

I agree. I recently gave up my iPhone 4S for a Galaxy S4! I have certain needs that the iPhone and iOS does not support. That said, the iPhone simply works. My 4S went to my mother. Biggest irritation? My dad does not like the $30/mth data plan adding 40% to their bill.

I've had a Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 plus for almost 2 years. I recently upgraded to a Note 8.0. I have full access to the installed file structure as well as my work and home Network drives. VPN works. I can access the video cameras at work. I have full access to Word, Excel and PowerPoint docs, editing and printing. And if I'm doing serious work, I can connect a Bluetooth keyboard AND mouse. It is almost a laptop replacement. I spent this past weekend away and never turned on my laptop.

My sister is considering a Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 instead of a laptop! She's going to test drive mine this week. Her iPad doesn't do what she needs.

I switched to the Galaxy S4 so that my phone has the same capabilities. If I had to make the decision again, I'd switch to a Galaxy S3 Mini, like I gave my wife. A little smaller and not 4G/LTE. But I have a 4G/LTE hotspot for the tablets and my wife's phone connects to our WiFi or the hotspot. I have the hotspot with me most of the time, so it wouldn't really be an issue. And I'd save myself about $30/mth dropping the 4G/LTE tethering plan down to something cheaper.

I understand most people are not going to be doing what I do. I expect an iPhone is fine for them. It truly is too much for my mother! She is not going to use it for music, just as a phone and e-mail device. I did install an app so she can register guests for her gated community.

Again, it all depends on what you need. My dad is never going to give up his flip phone. And he will never text with it either. You need to figure out your own needs and get something appropriate.

the iPhone works well for me. I have access to Exel, Word, PowerPoint, Keynote, PDFs, etc. and can print. I cannot edit all the docs, but frankly, that doesn't seem all that important to me on a phone. I have a computer for that.

Someone earlier mentioned something about not being able to put music on their phone. 99% of the music on my phone was not bought through iTunes. It was ripped from CDs or imported in compatible formats (MP3 mostly) and loads and is managed through iTunes. I hear a lot of talk about a 'closed' system, but it's plenty open enough for me.

Maybe she can tell me how to make my phone stop alerting every time I get an email or a push from some app.

Go into settings and turn off alerts

I carry both because of work. Android via an HTC Inspire, and an iPhone 4S for personal. The only thing I do on the android is check my work email, and make work phone calls. If I need to look anything up, get directions, use an app, etc I go to the iPhone. Why? The iphone is just easier to use. Everything feels cumbersome on the android.

Oh ya, and the android phone crashes several times a day....

I'll have to look into those. I'm getting way too tired of my Samsung crashing, and I don't want to pay nearly iphone $$$ for a newer Galaxy only to get left behind by Android updates like this one has. It stops at Froyo unless I feel like jailbreaking and messing around to find something newer. I expected better Android support from Samsung - it only picked up OS updates for one year.

If you dick around with stuff, it will break. That's a general rule of life. People who use iPhones understand this and would rather concentrate on enjoying the benefit of the experience, instead of dicking around with it.

This^^

If seamless software integration is important to you, Apple is hard to beat. You don't have to think about it at all, it just works.

If you prefer to tinker and customize your phone experience, Droid is a probably a better choice. I think the new Samsung Galaxy series is a lot of phone and excellent hardware for the droid user.

"Apple to launch iPhone 5S and low-cost ‘iPhone 5C’ on September 6th, source says"....

Not so much IMO. I don't tinker much with my phone and my Samsung GS3 has been flawless. To sum up:

iPhone:
+ More consistent UI.
+ Consistent performance
+ Seamless integration to all apple products
+ Lots of accessories
- No replaceable battery
- Less free stuff
- Expensive

Android
+ More functionality
+ More flexibility on app choices
+ More tweakable
+ Replaceable batteries
- Less consistency of app UIs.
- Vendors adding lots of junk on top of Android
- Less consistency of OS as a result of above.

I understand it's not easy, but it appears to be possible.

How To Replace Your Apple iPhone 4G Battery - YouTube

I've had my iphone 4 for a few years now. My wife has gone thru 6 phones (other brands) in that same time period and in fact is on her 2nd Galaxy3. I have dropped my iphone as many times as she has dropped all 6 of hers combined yet it still works like a champ. My 4 year old iphone battery runs circles around her newish G3. If you are a techie, maybe there are advantages to other droid phones, but if you expect to pick up your phone and it works stick with the iphone