29 Reasons to buy a Droid X instead of an iPhone 4

by Brad Kevelin

Just the first five are reason enough for me to switch from iPhone to the Droid X.

1. Bigger Screen. The iPhone has a higher dpi, but the Android is 23% larger, meaning larger fonts. If you have young eyes and perfect vision, it doesn’t matter. If you’re over 40, or nearsighted or farsighted, the larger screen on the Droid X will be easier to read. The larger screen is also better for sharing and showing.
2. Email Labels. Android allows you to organize email with labels or categories and follow-up flags. The iPhone forces you to use folders.
3. Widgets vs. Launcher. The iPhone’s beautiful screen is wasted as a simple app launcher. The Droid puts real-time useful info on those screens, such as weather, calendar, text messages, notifications, etc.
4. Radio Widgets. The Droid X allows for easier battery management, by putting one-click icons for turning on and off the wifi, cell, GPS, and Bluetooth radios. The iPhone makes you go through several screens.
5. Battery Options.  You can set peak hours to save battery life.  Reports allow you to see what hardware is using the most juice (display, cell data, talk, GPS, Wifi, etc.)
6. Contact Widgets. Setup your favorite contacts on a home screen for one-click calling, texting, and emailing.
7. Keyboard Symbols. The symbols appear above the letters on the keyboard, which means less hunting for punctuation.
8. Keyboard Voice Recognition. That mic on the keyboard means you can use voice recognition for any text input in any app.
9. HDMI. View your photos and home videos via HDMI port. (But does not support other video such as YouTube or streaming.)
10. Verizon Coverage. If you remember the map wars, you’ll know that Verizon has 3G in more places.
11. Notifications. These are stored in a nifty pull-down on a home screen.
12. Hardware Buttons. These allow for easier navigating on the phone (especially the Back button), and frees up screen real estate. The iPhone’s single button is limiting.
13. Three Mics. Video recording allows you to choose which mics to use, such as when you want to provide narration.
14. Flash. With Froyo 2.2 comes Flash, meaning you can see more video and play more games on web sites.
15. FM Radio. For you NPR and talk radio fans.
16. Social Integration.  Facebook and Twitter neatly mesh with your address book and inbox.
17. Expandable, Swappable Memory. Memory card support means you can get more memory (up to 40 GB) for less money. You could also have different sets of media on different memory cards.
18. 8 Mp Camera.
19. Digital Zoom. Cuts down editing time.
20. Mechanical Shutter. Better for action shots.
21. Bluetooth Voice Dialing. Quicker dialing, and better for in-car use, especially with the new driving laws.
22. Portable Hotspot. Use your phone as a wifi hotspot for your iPad or notebook. (Costs extra.)
23. Unlimited Data Plans.
24. No Reception Problems. Problems have surfaced on the iPhone.
25. Navigation. Google maps navigation built-in, and Google apps are nicely integrated throughout the phone.
26. True Multitasking.
27. Open Source. If something irritates you, you can fix it. Install apps without approval.
28. Develop Apps on Windows. The iPhone still forces you to use a Mac.
29. Customizing. Android in general lets you customize your phone to adapt to your work style and preferences. Apple in general makes you do it their way.

To be fair, the iPhone 4 has a few advantages.

1. Facetime video conferencing.
2. Front Camera.
3. HD video at 30 fps. Instead of Droid’s 24. Better for panning and action.
4. Cheaper Plans. Tiered data plans are cheaper for low volume users.
5. Apps Already Bought. You may have invested in many iPhone apps.
6. Reading in bed. If you’re nearsighted, the higher dpi screen will be easier to read up close without your contacts or glasses.
7. Smaller, Lighter.
8. N Wireless. The iPhone supports the faster 802.11n wireless.
9. GSM – Worldphone. Use it overseas.
10. More Apps available. But with 160,000 Android phones activated every day, this is bound to change.
11. Gyroscope.
12. Higher DPI screen. About 320 dpi vs the 240 dpi on the Droid X. However, both are considerably better than the 72-96 dpi standard on desktop displays.