I will spare you the suspense and tell you the final verdict right up front: Apple wins…but just barely and only if you don’t mind being on the AT&T network. Pretty decisive results, eh?

iPhone vs. Android

Let me make something very clear: This entire experiment was rigged in favor of the iPhone. The Android never really had a chance and to understand why, you need a little bit of history about how this experiment came about.

You’re probably already aware of this but just in case: At Jet City Devices we fix broken cell phones. Before we offer a new repair service for a particular phone, we buy a broken one online and make sure we know how to fix it. Six months ago, we considered fixing the MyTouch 3G from T-Mobile. We went online, found a MyTouch 3G with a cracked screen, bought it, got the repair parts, fixed it up, and then started offering the repair service. So for the last 6 months I’ve had a MyTouch 3G with the Google Android operating system just sitting on my workbench.

It has been calling out to me like a Siren trying to tempt Ulysses on his great adventures. Eventually, I could no longer resist the sweet temptation of that small white phone as it beckoned me closer. Fortunately, there was no shallow reef on which to destroy my ship – in fact there wasn’t even a ship. The whole Ulysses analogy is really only here to stroke my ego. Not really necessary so let’s get back to the reason this experiment was rigged…

The reason this 6 month old Android phone didn’t stand a chance against the iPhone is two-fold. First, I’ve been using an iPhone for 18 months and I really like the interface. This means I’m going to have some bias right out off the bat against the Android interface because they’re going to do some things differently.

The second reason is that the MyTouch 3G is a decrepit dinosaur of an Android phone. The hardware is slow and outdated, the touchscreen is small and unresponsive, and the software is version 1.6 (there at 2.2 as of this writing). I tried very hard in this experiment to ignore these hardware differences because I know the new Android phones are much better. However, I just can’t completely ignore it. I get uber frustrated every time I type a text and my space bar taps get ignored or it takes 2 seconds to switch screens.

So while I would love to discuss hardware, battery life, camera resolution, speaker quality, touch screen & LCD quality, and more, I just can’t do it with any validity. It’s not a fair fight because the MyTouch 3G sucks in the hardware department. In a few months, when the new Windows Phones come out, I’m going to do this again with an iPhone, an Android Phone, a Blackberry, and a Windows Phone 7. At that time, I’ll try to get the top of the line phones so we can really compare Apples to Apples. For now, I hope this software review suffices.

Review

Google, like Microsoft, tends to let their software engineers drive the user interface (UI). As a former software engineer, I can tell you that engineers suck at designing things so they are pretty and easy to use. It is not in our nature. Because of this, Android’s UI is clunky, somewhat of a pain to setup the first time, has lots of menus, a few annoying bugs, and is not particularly pretty. Apple, on the other hand, is a company driven by designers. As a result, the iPhone is beautiful, super easy to use, and runs great straight out of the box. The iPhone is just way more polished than any other smartphone on the market. Score 3 big points for the iPhone on this one.

Once you get the Google phone setup (and you will have to have a Google account to do it) and spend a couple of days getting used to the interface, you discover that it’s a pretty nice phone. I was pleasantly surprised about the apps (called “Marketplace” in Google parlance). I have been saying for months that the one big advantage Apple has is their App Store. I’m not so sure anymore. Yes, Apple has more apps than anyone else but I had no problems finding the apps I wanted for my new Google phone. Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, some games…no big issues for me at all. That said, it’s still more fun to search the Apple App Store just because of the sheer volume of stuff they have. Score 1 point for Apple.

There is one big exception to this Apple-is-as-good-or-better-than-Google-for-apps scenario: Google Navigator.

The Google Navigator app is far and away the greatest piece of cell phone software I have ever used. In essence, it turns your Android phone into a GPS device that rivals anything I’ve used from Garmin. It offers turn-by-turn directions complete with a woman’s voice telling you when to turn. In addition, this app is integrated seamlessly with other apps on the phone. Found a restaurant and want directions? Bam! It jumps you straight to Navigator. Trying to find a friends house? Just pull up their info in contacts and, Bam!, it jumps you straight to Navigator. Seriously, this app alone, for those of you that, like me, are completely directionally challenged, makes this phone worth considering. It’s awesome! Score 2 for Google.

Let’s talk about networks, baby. If you want an iPhone with all the bells and whistles (3G, visual voicemail, support from Apple), you only have one option: AT&T. I have AT&T and, personally, I don’t mind them. I do, however, have the common complaints: They are way too expensive and their network seems lackluster at best with frequently dropped calls and a number of dead spots in Chicago where I get little or no reception. But again, I love my iPhone and nothing about AT&T is a deal killer for me. That’s not true for everyone, though, and Google Android phones do not suffer from this single carrier drawback.

There are Google phones on all major carriers. Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, and even AT&T all have Google phones. In addition, there are a plethora of hardware manufacturers out there making Android phones: HTC, Samsung, Motorola, and more. What this means is that you can find a contract that’s right for you and a hardware device that suits your needs (like a slide-out keypad). This isn’t a huge deal for me at this point, but for some it could be a really big deal. I’m going to score 2 points for Google on this one. If you are playing along at home, want to be on Verizon, and like a slide-out keypad, you can go ahead and score up to 4 points for Google here.

If you’ve been keeping score, you will notice that Android is actually tied with the iPhone at this point in the contest: Apple 4, Google 4. However, we are about to award a negative point to Android.

I, like many people, have more than one Google email account. Yet, for some reason, Google saw fit to only allow me one Gmail account on my phone. Sure, I can use the email application to setup an IMap account for my second Gmail account but it’s a pain in the neck to setup and it’s two icons I have to click to view my mail. I really just want to hit the little GMail icon on the home screen and see all of my Google Mail. Boo! Hiss! Big fail here by Google (at least for me). Score -1 for Google.

So there you have it, Apple wins but by the skin of their teeth: 4-3. The fact is, for a lot of people out there, that network and slide-out keypad thing could actually catapult Android ahead of the iPhone. Make no mistake, if Apple doesn’t at least address the issue of different network carriers soon, they will find that Google, Microsoft, or Blackberry is going to release a phone that comes pretty close to the iPhone in ease of use and beauty. When that happens, Apple better look out. But that’s a different story (and one I’ve written about before). For now, if you don’t mind AT&T and you want the best smartphone on the market, go with the iPhone.