Which do you guys prefer? I'm leaning towards Android but I have an old Sony Ericsson K800i

I enjoy iOS because of the ecosystem. Texting via my phone number by means of my iPad, iPhone & Mac is incredibly convenient. It's not the only reason, though. If this is a topic to help you decide what OS to get on your next phone or MP3 player you'll find this forum is decidedly pro-Android and anti-Apple. But that's a debate for one of our more appropriate topics on this subject.

I recommend you do some looking around rather than straight up asking the audience as if you were playing "Who Wants to be a Millionaire." At this point in technology what you buy today will more-or-less be what you stick with in the long term future. If you're into development Android will deeply interest you, Blackberry & Windows Phone are still unproven in my opinion. From a biased point of view, I vote iOS because the phone you buy will be supported for an average of three years. I still rock my iPhone 4 from launch day back in 2010. Never replaced and still fully functional. I think the only major software feature I lack compared to the iPhone 5 is Siri.

I didn't mention the wide plethora of Android phones because, frankly, even though there's an Android phone with any feature combination you can dream of and they'll be the first to get new technology (i.e., induction charing, NFC) you're still stuck in a two year contract if you don't get a Pay-as-You-Go phone service. I use to buy my contact phones outrightbut that's when I could buy my last phone, a BlackJack II, for $200 un-subsidized. Now, these phones cost upwards of 700 unsubsidized and 200 dollars subsidized.

And that's where the long-term commitment comes in. Unless you get phone insurance or can afford a new phone every year or less, you'll be buying apps for your current phone - if you're on Android you should make sure they support all the top phones before continuing, because if they support the current top phones they'll likely support the top phones down the road. I'd love to try Android to see what all the rage is about but I'd loose my GPS app which I've easily laid $80 into over two years. Yeah, phones have GPS but I also have 2GBs of data a month. So, I need offline maps. I also get traffic data, 3D topography, urban guidance (bus, train, walking, etc) and info such as car roll, pitch, inclination, acceleration, and g-forces - it's even a universal app so it works with my iPad too! And that's just one app! The last two I linked too there also have companion apps on my Mac, I have a few others but they're mostly photography related and may be easily rebought on Android. (i.e. Snapseed, Plastic Bullet, etc)

Not to mention I'd loose the ecosystem. My cross platform texting (iMessaging), streaming movies from my phone to my Apple TV or my friends. Notes, Calendars, Contacts and other info synced between my iOS devices and my Mac. Movie nights become what's in our digital library rather than whats on demand or on disc, but we still do choose those! My friends will bring a movie on their iOS device to movie night for playing on Apple TV or I'll bring a movie on mine. Games are connected to, Apple TV supports four devices (well, I think the game needs to support this) so all four screens can be streamed at once. Some games encourge the use of the Apple TV for a more engaging experience. I feel more connected, both socially and technologically with Apple; the social aspect is entirely dependent on the user and you'll likely feel more at home with whatever the friends you hang out with more often have.

Choose wisely and stick with it! Don't flip flop and understand your carriers return policy. Some have a 14 day window to return the phone if you don't like it but 14 days isn't merely enough time to get use to a phone. You'll know if you like the phone but not the OS (though not liking an iPhone is basically not liking the OS, so I recommend to try it last.)

Nexus 4 is $300

/thread

Long live webOS!

That's all you have to add to the topic? I'm disappointed.

while im not sure the platform you are aiming for, and Comic happens to hit the nail on the target, i'd say everything depends on what you are going to use the device for. if its video editing, only then would i use an apple device (purely opinion), where general purpose would be something else.

another thing you may think of would be the cost of which system you want. while some people are content with getting the high end high cost things, others (like me) would rather get a cheaper item to expand from.

finally, you may want to consider the objects endurance. if you are a klutz, then id veer away from fragile things.

if anyone thinks of something i missed, go ahead and expand upon it, but i beleive this list pretty much covers it up.

so remember: Purpose, Costs, and Endurance.

You left out linux! It would be the best operating system for all devices.
And mobile linux exists! For example Maemo. And Ubuntu Mobile is under development

Android is a Linux flavor - and interestingly enough, Mac OS is a Unix flavor. Although I do get your point - mobile linux would be spectacular especially if it was unified with the PC version, which Ubuntu Mobile is trying to do.

I saw you sign in and would like to bump this topic to see what Phone OS you went for and possibly why!

Linux is a kernel, not an operating system.

Maemo is old and dead. Ubuntu Mobile is garbage (although they did have the sense to copy a lot of what Android has already done rather than try to shoehorn something like Xorg onto mobile)

First of all, my Android device is not a phone, it is a multimedia player (Galaxy Player 5.8) so don't ask me anything about phoning or texting. I mostly bought it to listen to music (GoneMad (among others) can read Ogg files sampled at 96 KHz) and to play games. I am pro-Android but open-minded, I won't just bash Apple, I am sure others will do it better than me, so I'll try to defend them too, even though I don't like them.

So, I think that Android has an advantage in the fact you have the choice. You can buy a Samsung Android or a HTC Android, etc. So if you only need a Dual Core, you can choose it, and if you need a Quad Core, you can choose it. And of course, for developpers, Android is an open platform.

But the iDevices also have one advantage (I could only think about one but I still have one in mind): you don't have the choice. What is that of an advantage ? Well, that means that developpers don't have compatibility issues with some manufacturer or some models since there is only one manufacturer and not more than 3 models to test on. That means that basically, if you buy the latest iPhone, you are sure that everything on the market runs on it, while there are some apps that say "incompatible" with my Android device even though it is quite recent.

But as LuxenD said, it depends on what you plan to do with it. If you only want to phone and to send text messages, save $600 and buy the cheapest Android you can find. And if you want to play games (not talking about 2D games of course, they run on every device), then here is the dilemma.