One of the big differences you’ll notice between iOS and Android is the huge selection of Android devices out there. Sure most manufacturers don’t have their device on every carrier like Apple does. But there are hundreds of devices to choose from. So in this article, we are going to go over some of the key features you’ll want to look for in a new Android phone. There are plenty of good ones out there, hopefully this list will help you narrow it down to one or two.
- 4G LTE: Most phones in the US support LTE now. That is because all four carriers are working on getting their LTE network available for their customers. Right now Verizon has the largest LTE network, followed by AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile.
- Getting the right size: In the Android world we have phone sizes from 3.5-inch to 6.1-inch displays. That’s a huge difference, and there’s just about any size in between you could want. So if you’re coming from a iPhone, you may want to check out a 4.3 or 4.5-inch phone to start out with.
- LED Notification: One thing that the iPhone lacks, and Android has is a notification LED light. Blackberries also had this back in the day. It’s very useful because it keeps you from needing to turn your phone on to see if you have any notifications that need to be dealt with.
- Micro SD Cards: Most Android devices have a slot for a micro SD card. So you can expand your internal storage, usually by about 32GB. Some of the newer phones don’t have this. So if you want to be able to expand your storage, you’ll want to be sure it has a microSD card slot.
- Removable battery: one of the biggest gripes of Android is the battery life. Yeah it’s not the best, but having a removable battery can change that. You can buy an extended battery. For instance, my Galaxy S3 comes with a stock 2100mAh battery, and I have a 4400mAh battery in there now. That’s more than twice the battery life.
- Video Calls: Most Android devices have front-facing camera’s now. But you won’t be able to do Facetime with your iPhone friends. But you can use Google+ Hangouts, Google Talk video chat, Skype, ooVoo, Qik, and many other services.
Now the hardware, of course is important too. But it’s not all about the hardware. Some of the newer devices with these 1.7GHz quad-core processors are just to much power for the phone. Most if not all tasks you do on your phone won’t require the device to go higher than 1-1.2GHz. As far as displays go, 1080p seems to be the new thing. So you’ll most likely be looking at a 1080p display all day, which blows away the iPhone.
This is just the beginning step in switching from iPhone to Android, getting an Android phone. Make sure you stay tuned to Android Headlines, we’ll be going over some more key points which will make your switch easier then you could have ever though possible.