After spending years treating my cellphones with care, the inevitable happened. I dropped my beloved Samsung Galaxy S3 on my driveway, leaving it to one of the worst fates cellphones can face: a cracked screen (I’m accepting condolence cards for my loss).
This happened at the end of the summer, so I’ve had some time to get used to it. Who needs to fully read their text messages or Twitter updates? Who cares if the crack has increased their screens sensitivity to allow them to hang up or mute nearly every phone call they’re on? OK, I really, really do care.
I’ve been putting off buying a new phone for a while, but the time came this weekend to finally start looking.
I had done a bit of research on my top contenders — the Samsung Galaxy S4, the Moto X and the HTC One.
They were there, of course. Just slightly behind the sleek and shiny Apple display taking the attention of most people coming in the store.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Apple. I swear by my MacBook Pro and my iPad. But there is no way you will ever be able to pry an Android out of my hands to replace it with an iPhone.
It’s tough being an Android girl in an iPhone world.
It’s not like I’m completely outnumbered — the two devices are actually pretty close in sales.
Android got me from day one for the easy ability to customize everything about it. For most people, that is the draw.
If you don’t want to, your home screen doesn’t have to have any icons on it at all. Go widget crazy!
For the iPhone-people reading, widgets are mini apps that operate on your home screen (or screens) and perform a variety of functions. My favorites include my handy clock and weather combo, a Google search box, photo frames and a convenient alarm clock.
There are tons more out there, including many awesome ones that allow you to read your favorite types of news easily.
It’s also easy to hide away all your apps so they aren’t viewed right on your home screen. While I’m not totally embarrassed about the number of unused yoga apps I have, it also isn’t something everyone needs to see. OK, I’m embarrassed.
Android also allows a much easier way to switch between using apps — the latest update even allows you to have two windows open at one time on your screen. It’s like it was made for social media junkies like me.
I do admit that the iPhone 5S looks pretty snazzy. If I were forced, I’d snatch a gold one. I will, however, never understand why people think that the iPhone is sleeker and prettier than the Android competitors.
While trying out different phones in the store, I was awestruck by the size, colors and design of the Androids. They looked both futuristic and subtle. Even nicer looking is the software, as I mentioned before.
I left the store with my cracked phone in hand. Being indecisive makes important (and expensive) decisions even harder. I’ll be thinking on it a little longer, but you can bet one thing for sure — I will certainly not pick an iPhone. I’m leaning toward the HTC One, but I’ll have to wait and see.
Sophie Kruse is a sophomore studying journalism and a columnist for The Post. What phone do you think she should get? Email her at sk139011@ohiou.edu.
