The Android Experience

A friend from Twitter asked me how many stars I would give to Android over 10. I couldn't give an answer in a jiffy. Should I give 10? Should I give 9?

This is my personal opinion, I'm not gonna do a full blown review of the OS but its gonna be my experience as a user.

I use the HTC Desire, it ran on Android 2.1 initially, and I upgraded to 2.2 not long ago when HTC released it. Prior to that, I've had friends whom own the Moto Milestone XT720, HTC Legend, Nexus One, Sony Experia X10 and HTC Wildfire. In addition to the Android based phones, I've also fiddled with the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 as well as the Symbian system. My experience with these smartphones gave me some insights on how the answer the question:

To me the iPhone is the most tightly integrated device. This integration has allowed the hardware and software to perform seamlessly. Yes, we can go and nitpick on JailBreaking, Death Grip and its full dependance on iTunes, but we are not going there because for me, each OS has its own way of 'evolving'.

The Android is at the evolving stage it. It is Stable. BUT.... It's very dependent on the hardware you're running. For example, some applications are not available for the Wildfire but are available for the Desire (1 gripe). The Android 2.2 for me is speedier compared to 2.1 but I've yet to concur on the power saving claims. I've

I'm on either WiFi or Data connection 90% of the time, thus, I need to recharge the battery some time in the middle of the day. I don't need rooting as I'm not a power user yet.

Another thing that users still need to understand is that Android is running underneath and manufacturers' run their own 'skin' on top i.e. Sense UI, and so far I've seen some laggy ones and some speedy ones. Of course, if you dabble further in, you could actually even customise your ROM.

So, for my Desire, I'm gonna give it an 8/10. Hopefully I'll be getting OS update OTA soon to address power consumption (which usually can be blamed on the large LCD screen).