There is battle going between Apple's iPhone running iOS and the variety of handset makers running Google's Android operating system. If you're like us, before picking a side in this holy war you'll want to be as informed as possible about the options available.
There is a mass of ink and pixels dedicated to comparing the iPhone and Android based on technical specifications. The differences in technical specifications between phone models is important, but only to the extent that it impacts the users' experience. To put it another way, do you care if a phone boasts the fastest processor on the market if navigating through the screens causes error messages and hangs?
Our reading has turned up another set of articles on phone usability, but most of these articles detail how initially intuitive it is to start using the smartphone or provide in-depth analysis of the "bells-and-whistles" features that set the two platforms apart. Intuitive setup and advanced features are also interesting comparison points, but what our clients ask all the time is which platform is better for my business use.
Before we investigate how the two platforms stack up for business use, we need to define what the core functionality of a smartphone really is. For business users smartphones have two core functions:
1) Phone calls
2) Emails
This maybe a simplistic view of the smartphone, but consider your day-to-day phone usage for business. If your phone doesn't reliably make and receive phone calls, do you really care if the background is animated?
So phone calls and emails ride on top of the phone's operating system and the phone connects to the carrier, the operating system should run smoothly and the carrier connections should be reliable and perform well.
So let's start with carrier quality…
Simply Smart Technology is based in Chicago and so are our clients, so all of this research is geared toward the Chicago / Midwest region. Our research revealed data that matches our anecdotal experiences and the feedback we hear from our clients: US Cellular and Verizon are on top for quality, performance, and reliability.
Verizon provides both iPhone and Android phones as well as business services, for those reasons we rank Verizon #1 for the Chicago / Midwest region. US Cellar lacks business services and diversity in phone platforms but for stellar quality, performance, and reliability we slot them at the #2 position. Anecdotally we have found Verizon to be on the pricier side, so for a cheap but fairly reliable alternative T-Mobile is boss. Sprint provides okay quality, but is on the pricier side which lands them in the second to last spot. And, to quote a CNET reviewer, AT&T is "epically terrible"(*).
Because call quality and network reliability is important, carrier selection is crucial. But the important thing to note is that both the iPhone and Android platforms have good carrier options so this is a neutral point for each platform.
Next up we'll look at the operating system... stay tuned for Part 2 of iPhone vs Android - Beyond the Specs.
| Android | iPhone | Call Quality North Central U.S. (Chicago / Midwest) ** | Network Quality North Central U.S. (Chicago / Midwest) *** | SMB Business Wireless Performance and Reliability **** | Our Rank |
| AT&T | AT&T | 2 out of 5 | 2 out of 5 | 2 out of 5 | #5 |
| Verizon | Verizon | 4 out of 5 | 4 out of 5 | 5 out of 5 | #1 |
| Sprint Nextel |
| 3 out of 5 | 2 out of 5 | 3 out of 5 | #4 |
| T-Mobile |
| 2 out of 5 | 3 out of 5 | 3 out of 5 | #3 |
| US Cellular |
| 5 out of 5 | 5 out of 5 | N/A | #2 |
* CNET, 2010 Quick Guide to Top Cell Phone Carriers, http://reviews.cnet.com/best-cell-phone-carriers/
** JD Power and Associates, 2011 Wireless Call Quality Performance Study, http://www.jdpower.com/telecom/ratings/wireless-call-quality-ratings-(volume-1)/north-central/
*** JD Power and Associates, 2011 Wireless Network Quality Ratings, http://www.jdpower.com/telecom/ratings/wireless-network-quality-ratings-(volume-2)/north-central/
**** JD Power and Associates, 2011 Business Wireless Satisfaction Study, http://www.jdpower.com/business/ratings/business-wireless-ratings/smb-(small-and-midsize-business)/
Other Sources:
PC Magazine, 2010 Cellular Service Providers: Contract Providers, http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2368156,00.asp#fbid=DA7wPgRCIBC
