Okay, Android fanbois...
 

My last two phones have been iPhones, and while I like the (jailbroken) platform, the iPhone 5 announcement did not blow me away. I'm getting a new phone from work soon (which will be both my work and personal phone), and am weighing the iPhone 5 vs the Galaxy S3 (anything better on the horizon?). I borrowed a Samsung Galaxy Nexus from work for the next two weeks to play around with (only Android phone I could get my hands on).

As of this weekend, I'll be traveling most of the following week, but I'll check in here as much as I can, and I will have the phone with me and using it daily (though not with my number on it).

I've been talking to my friends who have android devices, but they're not nearly the zealots as the folks around here. So, time to put up or shut up - take these 10 days and convince me that the S3 is the way to go. Tell me what I should do with this phone while I have it - show me the power of the 'droid. My world is your oyster.

Go.

See, the problem is that the Galaxy Nexus and the SIII really aren't alike. Samsung skins over stock android with "Touchwiz", a very iPhone-ish setup. So maybe you'll like it. But I'm not a big Samsung fan. I switched from a Samsung to HTC not long ago, and like it much better. But it's a personal preference.

Also be prepared, coming from an iPhone, that Samsung phones feel a bit cheap. You'll see that a bit with the Nexus, but for a top of the range phone, they're very plasticy. That bothers some, not others.

I like Android because I'm invested in the Google ecosystem. I use chrome, gmail, drive, talk, docs, music, etc. So I like the cloud support it offers. I can easily switch between my desktop, laptop, and phone and have everything the same.

Here's your major difference with most Android "fanbois": we don't care what phone you buy. We'll make fun of you for paying twice as much for an inferior product, but I don't really feel the need to "convince" anyone to use a damn phone. If you like your iPhone, stick with it.

That OP was mostly tongue-in-cheek, but I will disagree with the "we don't care what phone you buy". The anti-apple people are just as bad and vehement as the apple fanbois.

While I generally do like my iPhone, I'm not married to it. I borrowed the Nexus because I am truly interested in checking out the platform, and deciding which is best for me (at least for the next 18-24 months). Given my minimal time frame with the phone, and my travel plans, I don't necessarily have the time to seek out all the "pros" of the platform on my own. So, I'm looking to the people who swear by the platform to guide my experience in the short-term. I'll certainly be doing as much of that on my own as I can, as well.

Thanks. The skinning thing seems a bit annoying to me, as does the fractured OS environment - I've run into a few difficulties knowing which apps I can/can't download for my particular device. I agree on the feel - if nothing else, the iPhone build quality is excellent.

At some point, I'll check out an S3 in person, but won't ever be able to spend any significant time with it in a day-to-day environment. So, the Nexus will have to do. Does the skinning really have that much of an effect on the user experience?

I have an S3. I like it.

Well, it's not really fractured based on "skins", but by versions. The manufacturers typically will give you one upgrade, maybe two. And those updates lag behind Google's official release by months.

But the the apps work across manufacturers. And almost all apps are supported back to Android 2.3 (Gingerbread). There are a handful that are Ice Cream Sandwich only, but anything you buy now will be able to run everything.

You do need to realize that each phone is different though. What carrier are you on? The Nexus you have has only software buttons. The SIII has a physical home button and two capacitive buttons. HTC follows the Nexus (stock Android) layout, but has them as permanent capacitive buttons.

You should run by a store and play with a few. If you tell me your carrier, I can tell you other phones to at least compare the SIII to.

I'm not too pleased with my android. It freezes up, tells me I have no memory even though I deleted every ****ing thing and don't see any way to fix it. It likes to take over my texts with some weird shit that clicks 20 things at once sometimes. It's a big piece of shit. Samsung Galaxy bought it like a year ago.

I'm waiting for the note 2

A few random things in no particular order:

• As mentioned, app compatibility is rarely an issue. There are some issues with some apps being designed for tablets only and things like that, but I'd guesstimate that 90% of all apps are compatible with about any Android phone that's come out in the past 5 years.
• On that note, a much higher percentage of Android apps are free. I haven't ever pirated an app for my phone, and I probably have a grand total of about $15 of apps on my phone. There are a handful of expensive ones out there, but a vast majority of the apps people use on a day-to-day basis are free.
• The Galaxy Nexus is a fairly "pure" Android phone in that it's Google's baby (manufactured by Samsung), so they don't mess with the software like Samsung does. I actually chose to buy the GNex two months instead of the SIII just because I don't like TouchWiz. (Though if you're in the mood to root your phone and install a custom ROM, that's not really an issue.)
• If you are already in the Google ecosystem, one of the great things about Android is that it all works together. If you have Chrome as a browser, your bookmarks will automatically sync (transparently) with the Android browser on your phone. You can add a contact in Gmail, and it will instantly show up on your phone. If the phone you have is on Jellybean (Android 4.1), it will even do creepy things like pop up with directions to a place you just searched for on Google Maps. Similarly, if you have an appointment on your calendar (Exchange or Gmail) with an address in the description, it will monitor traffic to that appointment and let you know if there are delays that would make you need to leave early.
• Try out a custom keyboard or two - Swype and SwiftKey are the most popular. It's great to have an alternative there.

Those are just off the top of my head. Honestly, one of the things I love about Android is that you can play with custom ROMs (software) to your heart's content, but I wouldn't recommend that with a work phone. With mine, though, I've got all sorts of custom settings pages to quickly turn things on and off, custom themes, different button layouts and functions, and a ton more. Android itself is great, but the development community is what would make me never consider an iPhone.

What it really comes down to is that, if you're looking for a phone that is sleek and feels nice, Android will probably disappoint compared to iOS. It's making HUGE strides, but I doubt it will ever match the look and feel of an iPhone. But if you're looking for something that is incredibly customizable and can be molded to do just about whatever you want to do with it, Android is awesome.

I have a company-issued Motorola Droid X2 and I like it. Can't say that I'm overly-enamored with it. I have a company-issued iPad too and other than a couple of minor things, I like it too.

Step up to the S2.

S4 announced for March

For anyone who's not crazy about Samsung's Touchwiz, use a different launcher.
I like Apex.

Are you a 14 year old girl? Cuz its 14 year old girls that spell shit ****ing reeruned like you did with "fanbois". The way us MEN spell it is "fanboys".

****ing douchebag.