Up 
I’ve been an iPhone user for about 1.5 years now. I’m mostly happy with it, but I’d kinda like to write applications for it. The problem, though, is that the iPhone uses Objective-C (and I don’t consider writing web apps the same thing as writing an iPhone app ; ). Enter Google’s Android. I can use my existing Java knowledge to write applications for an Android device, giving me a much smaller learning curve. The question, then, is which device should I get? There are several available, unlike the iPhone, so the choice can be difficult.
Recently, I ran across 6 of the Best Android Mobile Devices, which has a pretty nice run down of six different devices, not all of which are phones. The problem with this particular comparison, was that each phone was on a different page, making comparison more difficult as I had to switch tabs a lot. My solution, then, is the table below. Inspired by the link above, though taking most of the data from the devices’ product pages, I’ve compiled the following table. Obviously, this isn’t every Android phone on the market. I took the three listed in the article above, and added one other phone that I’ve been considering. Hopefully this table will be helpful in those looking at these devices.
| Feature/Device | Nexus One | Droid | Eris | Hero |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Processor | Qualcomm QSD 8250 1 GHz | ARM Cortex A8 600MHz (underclocked to 550MHz) | Qualcomm® MSM7600™, 528MHz | Qualcomm® MSM7200A™, 528 MHz |
| Screen | 3.7-inch WVGA AMOLED 800 x 480 | TFT 3.7-in. WVGA (480 x 854 pixels) | 3.2-inch 320 x 480 HVGA | 3.2-inch TFT-LCD 320×480 HVGA |
| Memory | 512MB Flash 512MB RAM 4GB microSD (expandable to 32GB) | 16 GB microSD pre-installed | 512MB ROM / 288MB RAM | ROM: 512MB RAM 288MB |
| Network | UMTS Band 1/4/8 (2100/AWS/900) HSDPA 7.2Mbps HSUPA 2Mbps GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz) | 2G Network : GSM 850/900/1800/1900 3G Network : HSDPA 900/2100 HSDPA 850/1900/2100 | CDMA: Dual-band 800/1900MHz CDMA2000 1xRTT/1xEVDO rev. A | HSPA/WCDMA 900/2100 MHz Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 MHz |
| Hardware Keyboard? | No | Yes | No | No |
| GPS? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Camera | 5MP auto-focus 2x digital zoom LED flash geo-tagging Video captured at 720×480 pixels at 20 frames per second or higher | 5MP 4x digital zoom dual LED flash automatic focus geo tagging DVD quality video capture (720×480 resolution) up to 24 fps capture up to 30 fps playback | 5.0 MP w/ Auto Focus | 5.0 megapixel color camera with auto focus |
| Connectivity | WiFi (802.11 b,g) Bluetooth + EDR A2DP stereo Bluetooth | WiFi (802.11 b,g) Bluetooth + EDR | WiFi (802.11 b,g) Bluetooth + EDR | WiFi (802.11 b,g) Bluetooth + EDR |
| Support Audio Formats | AAC LC/LTP, HE-AACv1 (AAC+), HE-AACv2 (enhanced AAC+), AMR-NB, AMR-WB 9, MIDI SMF (Type 0 and 1), DLS Version 1 and 2, XMF/Mobile XMF, RTTTL/RTX, OTA, iMelody, Ogg Vorbis, WAVE (8-bit and 16-bit PCM) | AAC, MP3, WAV, WMA, OGG, eAAC+, AMR WB, AMR NB, AAC+, MIDI | MIDI, M4A, QCP, AMR, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WAV, WMA, MP3, EVRC-B | MP3, AAC(AAC, AAC+, AAC-LC), AMR-NB, WAV, MIDI and Windows Media® Audio 9 |
| Support Video Formats | H.263, MPEG-4 SP, H.264 AVC | H.263, H.264, MPEG-4 | MPEG4, H.263, H.264, WMV | MPEG-4, H.263, H.264 and Windows Media® Video 9 |
| Expansion Slots | SIM card slot microSD slot | microSD | microSD | microSD |
| Battery Life | Standby time
Talk time
Internet use
Video playback Up to 7 hours | Standby – up to 270hrs Talk – up to 6:25 | Standby: 373 hrs Talk time: 214 min | Standby time
Talk time
|
| Weight | 4.56 oz/130g | 5.96 oz/169g | 4.23 oz/120g | 4.76 oz/135g |
| Size | 4.64 x 2.35 x .45 in 118 x 59.8 x 11.5 mm | 2.4 x 4.6 x .5 in 60 x 115.8 x 13.7 mm | 4.45 x 2.19 x .51 in 113 x 55.6 x 13 mm | 4.41 x 2.21 x 0.57 in 112 x 56.2 x 14.35 mm |
| Other features | Haptic feedback Second microphone for active noise cancellation Proximity sensor Light sensor Digital compass | Flash-enabled | G-sensor Digital compass |
I am in no way a cell phone expert. I merely combined the data that seemed important to me in this table to help in my decision making. This table may be completely useless to anyone but me. Since I had it, though, I thought I’d share it. If you don’t like it, well, it was free. 
Popularity: 11% [?]
Good helpful information to analyze side by side comparisons. TY
You should at least try one for the iPhone. I like the phone so much, I’m not ready to switch just yet. I’ve started an app and I’ll help you in any way I can. I also own Dudney’s book from Pragmatic. It’s the best out there on the subject. I’ve also done a couple apps just on my mac. You can do it. It’s not too difficult after you do a couple tutorials. It makes sense then.