However silly it may sound, it’s the truth: these days, the phone is a status symbol. That’s right — keeping up with the Joneses now requires that you carry the trendiest dial-to-talk technology. This phenomenon is so prevalent that it seems many people often overlook the one thing that should be most important: quality. The way I see it, who cares that your handset looks fancy if you drop calls all the time, or if it’s too complicated to use? I don’t. And I know I can’t be alone. That’s why I compiled this comparison for the iPhone vs. the Droid — which is better?
Display
The Droid has an impressive, edge-to-edge, 4.3-inch display. The iPhone, on the other hand, only features a 3.5 inch screen. That screen, however, is a “retina screen,” meaning it packs four times the pixels in its display, providing its user with the best image quality on the market.
Cost
It is possible to find either phone for around $200. However, it is also important to take the cost of the two-year contracts they require into consideration, in which case the Droid out-costs the iPhone by over $150. To counter that cost, though, this Droid plan comes with unlimited data, as compared to a 2GB cap with the iPhone.
Storage
The iPhone comes in two models: the 16GB and the 32GB, and that storage cannot be expanded. The Droid comes with a built-in 8GB of storage, plus an additional SD card with 16GB of storage. Additionally, the Droid allows you to upgrade to a 32GB SD card, which means your Droid can pack a total of 40GB of storage.
Features
Both the Droid and the iPhone come with Bluetooth, Wifi, and GPS. In addition to that, the Droid actually allows you to connect up to five Wifi devices, such as a laptop, PDA, or iPad, for only $20 a month.
Call quality
Tests show that the iPhone has a clearer sound, less interference, and very few dropped calls. The Droid didn’t test as well, as calls were not as clear, had a bit of static interference, and were dropped more often.
Camera
The iPhone 4 features a 5-megapixel camera with a built-in LED flash, as well as tap-to-zoom and geo-tagging capabilities, but we must remember the new iPhone 4S features an 8-megapixel camera with 1080p HD video recording. The Droid features an 8 megapixel camera with dual LED flashes, face detection, and scene modes that allow you to tailor your photography to specific environments (sports, sunset, night, etc.).
As you can see, there is a lot to consider when it comes to choosing between the iPhone and the Droid — a lot more to consider than how impressive it will be to other people. A cell phone is a considerable expense, whether you end up with an iPhone or Droid or ditch them altogether for something like the Blackberry Curve instead.
Make the best decision you can by analyzing your options from every angle. At the end of the day, the determination of which is better is really a matter of personal opinion.