iPhone or Android (From a guy living with both)

I know, I know the very first question you ask is going to be why do you have two phones, the answer being One is for work, the other is for my personal life. Now that we are done with that subject, we can get on with the review...

Warning: I am a self-Proclaimed Android Fan-boy

Before I really get into it, I will warn you all that I am apart of the Android User Master Race. Some bias opinion will occur.

What phones?

I will mostly be reviewing the iPhone 5c, against the Nexus 5.

What no flashy graphs?

Unlike most reviews this wont have a bunch of data touting the disk read speeds during mid-day under controlled duress. This is a simple review of my experience with the two devices.

Build Quality

iPhone 5c

The first time I held the 5c, I thought it felt like a kids toy. Although that feeling still lingers with me today, I have noticed since that the quality of the build is fantastic. The buttons feel like they were made to last 1000 years, and the plastic does not feel cheap. I get the feeling it would survive a nasty fall. Although the phone is small, it does not make me wish I had a bigger one. On a side note I was more blown away by the iPhone headphones. These ear buds are actually great value for $30 (free with iPhone). They sound amazing, and they can take a beating. I plug them into my Nexus 5 to make phone calls a lot.

Nexus 5

The Nexus 5 features a much bigger screen than the iPhone 5c, but not so large it does not make it harder to handle. The white back looks very nice, and the buttons feel solid. Power button on the side is my preference. My one gripe with it, is when you hold it you don't get the feeling you are holding the greatness of google in your hand. I'm not sure what hidden element I am talking about, but it feels pretty plain as you hold it. That being said I do feel like I can bend space-time with the phone.

Operating System

iPhone 5c

We all know iOS is pretty much amazing to those who love apple. For me I have some gripes.

• iPhone keyboard always shows capitalized letters, regardless if you are typing lower case or upper case
• I wish my home page was not the app tray
• The notifications pull down menu is not intuative, and sometimes clicking the close button is unresponsive

Nexus 5

Android OS is pretty awesome as well but there are some flaws. On a side note I'd like to say that touchwiz and other 3rd party customizations really make Android suck. The one thing that really impresses me about Android is the notifications menu. The menu is clean, and only notifies you on things you care about. If you want widgets, put 'em on the home screen. There is a real seperation of concerns in Android that feels missing in iPhone.

• Some of the home screen widgets really eat battery life
• Some of the older Anroid applications feel out of place on newer devices ie not using the holo theme

Finding Applications

I got to give this one to apple. I'm not sure of the Apple stores size, but I felt the store contained better quality apps. The Android app store is really good if you want Confucius quotes, apps made in 3 days or less, or apps that show hot asian babes. Apple has done a good job at keeping the quality high. I never found an app that had no value to the phone.

Battery

The iPhones battery is the most impressive part. The Nexus 5 will give me a full day, but will need a charge at the end of the day. The 5c's battery usage is very low. the phone will go all day, and most of the night on one change. The iPhone also charges much faster than the Nexus 5. The one thing that pissed me off, was the Apple charging cable costs $19. I really like Android's use of the universal microUSB.

Siri vs Google Now

I'm not going into to much depth here, but as a user I much prefered Google Now. Although Siri had some nice qualities, I felt like google now was more accurate on searching, and provided better context in my queries. Google Now feels much snappier, and responds only when you need it (ok google).

Trend Factor

I think apple always use to win this category, however with google wallet and NFC payment I have to give this to the Nexus 5. I have baught many things with my phone, and every time people are amazed. When you are at McDonalds and the only thing standing between you and a big Mac is a simple NFC tap, people think you are gods gift to the earth. One woman asked me out on a date after buying something at the pharmacy (I'm not kidding...it really happend). She was in utter amazement about how suave I was with my phone. Apple has really slipped in years, now more than ever people are interested in Android phones.

Verdict

The iPhone, while being a real contender is far from perfect. I have give this to the Nexus 5. That being the case my dream phone would be an iPhone running Android software. I really prefer the software of Android, but retina display, and camera really makes me like the iPhone a lot. My only serious gripe with Android is the quality of the apps. However it does not override the iPhones terrible keyboard.