Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the second of today’s surprise double bill! Yep, today, you’re not just getting one fight, you’re getting two. And the second part of today’s triumphant double bill promises to be an interesting matchup, as the iPhone’s going up against something new. It’s taken on Symbian (and lost), it’s taken on Windows Mobile in the shape of the HTC Touch HD (and lost)… well, now it’s time to see how it does against Google Android.
Speculation was rife before it’s official release: what would the first Android phone be like, what would it even be called? Would it be good enough to give the iPhone a kicking? Would it be pretty, would it be rich, que sera and so on…
Well, today, we have our answers, because today, the iPhone takes on the unique, and innovative, T-Mobile G1.
Ready? Fight!
1. How useful is it for doing actual work on?
This should be an interesting matchup, because it seems to me that both phones are more adept at tomfoolery than hard work. However, it has to be said that the T-Mobile G1 does have two massive advantages over the iPhone. First, it has a huge and really rather responsive QWERTY keyboard, a huge bonus for typing emails and the like on. Second is the tight-knit integration with GoogleMail, Gtalk, and other Google ‘cloud’ stuff. That alone gives it an edge that not even the iPhone, with downloadable Office apps (which the Android Marketplace will surely throw out, even if it hasn’t already) can’t match. The T-Mobile G1 takes the round.
Winner: T-Mobile G1
2. How good is the phone for mucking around and not doing any work on?
Ah now were into both phones’ area of expertise: tomfoolery. It seems like every step the iPhone takes, the T-Mobile G1 is right there behind it. So, the iPhone has downloadable games; so does the G1. The iPhone has iTunes; the G1 has the Amazon MP3 Store. And whilst the iPhone has multitouch, which does make for some really immersive gaming experiences, the G1 has Pacman... And so, for the first time ever in this series, we have a dead heat!
Winner: Draw!
3. How many opportunities for showing off to my mates will the phone give me?
The T-Mobile G1 may be a game-changer, and it may well have Pacman, but can it beat the stupid pointless fun of the iPhone’s bubble-wrap game, or its nose picking game, or any one of a wide selection of stupid bits of software that, whilst not life-changing or pointful in any way, will make your mates go “Bwahahahahahahaha!”
They’ll probably say the G1 looks a bit dull, as well.
Winner: iPhone
4. How easy is it to use the phone to cheat at pub quizzes?
Ooh, here we go, one I can answer quickly. Yes, both have superb web browsers, and yes, both have super-fast connections. But there’s a short mantra to explain why the iPhone isn’t winning this one, just like there was with the Nokia N97: G1, QWERTY, easier to type, win. What, you want more? Oh ok, the G1 also has a Google search bar on the home screen, making it even quicker to type in searches, and therefore, easier to cheat.
Winner: T-Mobile G1
5. How good will I feel using it, and how GOOD will I look using it?
Here we come down to it, the big finish, the big question over which is the nicest. And in truth, I reckon we’re going to be seeing our second ever draw of the series, because both phones are lovely to use, both have not-seen-anywhere-else (well, until the next android phone comes along) interfaces, both let you customise them with extra software, and both have huge glass screens. The perceptions of others won’t be massively dissimilar, either, since if you have an iPhone, people will think you’re annoyingly (and not justifiably) smug, and if you have a G1, people will think you’re a geek!
Winner: Draw!
And the winner is…
Now that we have to factor in draws to the equation, scoring this thing’s going to be a tiny bit harder. Hang on (invokes calculator, assumes a draw equals half a mark)… Oh, as it happens, it comes out at a really easy number. The winner is the T-Mobile G1, coming in as being 150% as good as the iPhone!
Join us for the next incredible instalment, where the iPhone finds itself pitted against the great white hope for Motorola’s comeback: the MotoSurf A3100! Subscribe today, to make sure you don’t miss out on any of the action as the iPhone Killers go to war!