I love android, it’s my chosen operating system for phones. I have been a fan of android since 2009 with the Motorola Droid. I made the move from iOS, and haven’t looked back. Ever since the “DROID” sound on my Droid, I’ve been hooked. Everything from widgets, the app drawer, and the ability to customize, all have been what kept me rocking the green bugdroid. But there is an issue that still remains with Android that I want to talk about.
If you are an iOS fan, you only have a select choice when it come to which devices you can buy. But for android that is not the case. Android users continue to have a large selection of choices. This choice opens up the ability for almost anyone to be able to pick up an android phone. But this also come at a cost.
Fragmentation, a term that has been thrown around for years when associated with android. Basically that means that not all android phones are running the same software. In some cases it opens the devices up to be unique, ie a Samsung phone versus LG. But it also mean we can get phones that are not supported with the recent software. Something that iOS users do not have to deal with.
This is a problem because it keeps Android fans from getting the best phone experience in a complete package. An example of this is if you want an android phone with the best software support and updates, you will have to get a Pixel. But in buying a Pixel you lose out on the best hardware, minus the camera. If you want an android phone with the best hardware then choose Samsung, but in doing so you will be buying one of the most expensive phones on the market that may get 1 major software update. But if you want something in the middle then you have a number of phone options that have their area of strengths and weaknesses. But you can not buy one complete android phone with the best hardware, best camera, best features, and get updates when Google kicks them out.
For Android fans we have been seeking out phones that could fulfill that role. The best option we had was the Google Play Experienced phones five years ago. As of now, Google have failed to get their Pixel phones to be the android phone that a person can buy that “checks all the boxes”.
This is something that I have been envious of iPhone users. The ability to buy an iPhone with the best hardware, best camera, best software, best display, and constant (timely) updates. I just hope we can finally find that one android phone that can check all those boxes. Until then, we have to make the choice on what to sacrifice in order to get what we feel (the user) is the most important feature in a phone.
