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[Last Updated: March 24, 2013]
Chat with Umair, 32 today. From Lahore, Pakistan. Start talking to him completely free at Badoo. Sajid Umair, Umair Muneer. Existing model of android, compute intensive parts are. ResearchGate iOS App. Get it from the App Store now. Keep up with your stats and more.
Nowadays technology is become so fast that we see a new smartphone coming every month with top-notch specs. The good thing is that you can buy a new phone of latest model and specs every time, but for the downside your latest phone becomes old in a month or at least in a quarter.
The idea of writing this comparison review came in my mind since I believe that nothing is perfect in this world except God and that only His creations are error free. Now that I have been using smartphones having Android and Windows Phone 8 (WP8) therefore I have decided to compile a short but fruitful list of comparisons between these two platforms. Please be noted that this review is totally unbiased, and even in this time frame I do not know which one will get more points in the end.
P.S. I have thoroughly tested Android on Samsung Galaxy S3 (Jellybean & ICS), Qmobile A8, A10 (ICS), HTC One X (Jellybean) and Motorola Atrix (GB). But for this review I am only considering Samsung Galaxy S3 with JB since I believe that it is the most advance Android device I have explored till date. On the other side Windows Phone 8 (I will use the word WP8 from now on wards whenever there will be any need to talk about Windows Phone 8) I have tested this OS on Nokia Lumia 620.
Let's have a brief introduction about both these devices, let's talk about major specs.
Samsung Galaxy S3:
Processor: Quad-core 1.4 GHZ Cortex A9
RAM: 1 GB
Screen: 1280x720 Pixels Super Amoled 4.8'
Operating System: Google Android 4.1 Jellybean
Nokia Lumia 620:
Processor: Dual-core 1 GHZ Krait
RAM: 512 MB
Screen: 480x800 Pixels Clear Black LCD 3.8'
Operating System: Microsoft Windows Phone 8
The reason for writing the above specs is not to compare these two phones neither I am comparing hardware, these specs will only help us identifying the processing speed and smoothness of software.
Before going further I am writing down the main areas of comparison, these are:
1. Messaging & Contacts
2. Hardware Compatibility
3. Internet browser
4. User Interface
5. Security
6. Performance and Speed
7. Notifications
8. Ease of Use, User Experience and Touch Accuracy
9. Multi-tasking
10. Picture gallery
Since this is the first version of review therefore this list will be expanded in future.
So hold down your breath and get ready to digest the truths about these two popular mobile platforms, once again I want to remind you that this review is totally unbiased and purely based on my personal experience. So, you have right to argue with any of my stated points but in a healthier way..... and please your arguments should be based on solid facts not on your personal preferences and perceptions.
1. Messaging and Contacts
Let's start from Android, which provides a very handy solution in form of native messaging solution. You can send and receive SMS, MMS... Yes only SMS and MMS through native messaging application. SMS messages can be forwarded to multiple contacts, you can select and delete multiple threads at once. You can tell the application how long a message should be kept in inbox and blah blah blah.
For contacts Android offer an app called People (I am sure the name has been taken from somewhere :p). In People app you can store unlimited numbers of contacts. Your phone book can be synced with Facebook, Google and other services. The best part of Android phone book is that you can store your phone contacts on SD card and can use the file in some other Android phones.
Third party messaging and contacts applications are also available in Play Store. So if you do not like native apps you have the option to select your favorite apps from store. This increase overall flexibility, however adopting third party messaging/contact apps in not a good idea indeed.
On the other hand WP8 offers a very rich messaging application. You can send and receive SMS, MMS. Also you can add multiple messaging platforms in it like Facebook, Windows Live, Google Talk, Linked In and other services, it provides you a unified messaging solution, just imagine all your messaging needs on single platform.
Like Android, WP8 also offers a People app (but the name is not taken from anywhere in that case :p). Unlike Android, People app of WP8 is more robust. You can not only see contacts from different services like Facebook, Windows LIve, or Google this app also helps you to keep an eye on your contact's activities on social networking. It provides you latest feeds, latest photo addition, discussion and blah blah blah. Unlike Android you can not save any of your contact on physical device.
Android: 5/10
Windows Phone 8: 9/10
The best part about Android platform is that you can buy hardware device in different flavors Ranging from 400 MHZ single core processor to 1.9 GHZ Quad-core and it does not matter if the chip is designed from Qualcomm, Samsung, Tegra or even Mediatek. Android phones also come in variety of screen resolution ranges from 240x320 to Full HD.
On the other hand all WP8 phones either from Nokia or HTC comes in Qualcomm flavors. Having dual-core CPUs either 1.0 GHZ or 1.5 GHZ Krait. Till now only single GPU Adreno 305 have been used in all devices except Chinese version of Lumia 920T which has Adreno 325. WP8 came in three categories of screen resolution 480x800, 720x1280, 768x1280, there is no option available for full HD resolution.
Different flavors of hardware in Android looks very good from outside but when you dig inside you will get to know about the issue called 'Fragmentation'. Just imagine you have bought an Exynos device and you are unable to play your favorite game which has been exclusively designed for Tegra 3. So game over...
Android: 6/10
Windows Phone 8: 5/10
This is the part where Android beats WP8 with a great margin. Native browser for Android is really great, you can play flash videos, save objects from websites and doing other stuff. Third party browsers like Chrome, Opera and Firefox are also available for download through Play Store which further enhances your browsing experience.
With WP8 browser you can not play anything created on Flash. Java script handling in worst, you can not even save an image from webpage, you can not even download a file of your choice directly from web browser (although third party applications are available to download any type of file to your SD card). No popular third party browsers available in Windows Store so you do not have any choice to switch from native browser to the one of your choice.
Both browsers offer multiple tabs, bookmarks, favorites Moreover, user agent can be swapped between Desktop/Mobile on both native browsers.
Android: 9/10
Windows Phone 8: 4/10
Android comes in variety of user interfaces, every device manufacturer uses its own interface like TouchWiz, HTC Sense and MotoBlur, in terms of Android we call it Launcher. The Android home screen comprise of multiple horizontal scroll-able pages with different flavors of animations. The screens are highly customizable means you can put different widgets, shortcuts, images on it. There is a standard app tray which shows you all installed applications in the phone.
WP8 has been focused on Microsoft Metro UI. It consists of re-sizable live tiles. These live tiles can act as widgets too. The home screen of WP8 is vertically scroll-able Scrolling from the right side reveals the app tray. Same like android it also shows you all the installed apps.
There are number of custom UIs known as Launchers are available on Play Store for Android, while in case of WP8 you can only be stick with native appearance.
Android: 8/10
Windows Phone 8: 6/10
This is one of the biggest concern with Android. All the APIs are open source means you can easily access you messages, call history or even your pictures if you are aware of Android Application Development However on the personal level there are number of apps available which can lock installed or native apps of your choice. E.g. you can set a lock on messaging app in Android.
On the other hand WP8 does not provide any type of open API for Messaging or photos. Also there is no any app available which can set lock on your messaging or photos application.
Just to prove my above statement take an example of Whatsapp application. Download and install Whatsapp on both Android and WP8 and get your number registered in it. The main difference you will see in both platforms is that while registering your number in Android based Whatsapp your application will automatically check for incoming message and fetch the registration code without showing you the actual message. While with WP8 it will send a separate SMS message to your number and ask you to type the registration code manually.
In Android platform you will also notice that there are number of installed apps running in background without any need. To check them go to Setting>Apps>Running, there you will see different applications are running in background with amount of memory they are utilizing. You will even find there some of the games which you have installed on your phone, so what they are doing in the background? Nobody knows.
With WP8 all the apps which need to run in background can be viewed at Setting>Applications>Background Apps. Here you will see the list of all apps which are running in the background. Fortunately there is an option to restrict any application to execute in background. Now this makes sense.
[Update March 24, 2013] Sorry, if WP8 has been awarded with only 5 points to Multi-Tasking then Android do not deserve more than 4 points in that area.
6. Performance and Speed
This is the area where Android has no match to WP8 superiority. With having 1.4 GHZ quad-core processor and a GB of RAM, Android based Samsung Galaxy S3 feels and performs slower than Dual-core 1 GHZ Lumia 620. It is not only the case with native apps like messaging and contacts, it loads games, pictures and videos faster than Samsung Galaxy S3. I have checked by running games like NFS HP and Where's My Water side by side on both phones and surprisingly WP8 device loaded these games faster than Android device.
Another major issue with Android is the problem of Lagging. Unfortunately Google is still unable to provide a solid solution for this problem. When they upgraded from Ginger Bread to Ice Cream Sandwich the claim has been made from their side is that 'now we have integrated full hardware acceleration, this means no more lags'. Failing to do so they introduced Jelly Bean and called it 'Project Butter', however I would rather call it 'Project Frozen Butter', I have found JB to even worse than ICS, it is better in UI smoothness but takes more resources due to which performance in gaming and other heavy applications has to suffer. So Google need to take this thing serious and need to hire some good developers like 'Umair :p' to permanently fix this issue.
On the other hand Lagging is the word which does not exist in WP8 dictionary. It never lags means never ever. Try running Asphalt 7 on your WP8 and while playing the game press the home button it will instantly bring you to the home screen and home screen will scroll smoothly unlike android.
Android: 4/10
Windows Phone: 9/10
Swipe down your home screen from top to bottom on your Android phone and you will see a very rich notification bar. It shows you notifications about emails, SMS messages, Missed Calls or anything else. Here you will also find some setting shortcuts. Assigning personal ringtones and notification tones is really easy on Android. It features a system wide file explorer which lets you select a music file of your choice and put it as your incoming ringtone.
This is the area where Microsoft need to work a lot and bring at least a centralized notification center. Currently in WP8 incoming messages pops on top of screen and stay there for a few seconds but when they disappeared you cannot see these notifications anywhere else rather than opening the main application. Counter of incoming message, email and missed alerts can be viewed on the live tile, but for that you need to put the application on main home screen for which you want to see the notification.
Another issue with WP8 is that you cannot assign your music file as your incoming call ringtone or message tone. For that different apps are present in the market but still they all have certain limitations.
Android: 10/10
Windows Phone 8: 4/10
8. Ease of Use, User Experience and Touch Accuracy
In Android there is a notification bar which not only act as notification center but also provide you some options from setting specially in Android 4.2. Widgets for controlling Wifi, Bluetooth, GPS etc can be put into the main home screen for easy access. Since Android is an open source platform therefore plenty of custom made ROMs are available over the internet with different flavors Android is highly customizable you can customize your phone according to your preference. However, if you are a social guy and always wanted to keep yourself updated with your friends on different networks, then Android is not the right platform for you.
With WP8 there are number of shortcut apps available in store, you can install and pin those apps to your home screen and they act as a so called shortcut to your settings. WP8 platform is highly integrated with social networks like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. You do not need to install separate applications for all these services. Also Skype which once you download and install in your WP8 gives you feel of a native application.
Touch Screen accuracy and feel of smartphone usage of WP8 is somewhat different than Android. In my experience I have found WP8 device to be the most accurate in touch screen. It feels even better than an iPhone. You would hardly get mistyping while using WP8 keyboard. Android touchscreen is just so so IMO. Although it has all the options which other platforms have but it does not give you feel and comfort you get by using WP8 device.
Also you can not create any folder in WP8 unlike Android.
Android: 8/10
Windows Phone 8: 7/10
Here comes the most important thing for smartphones. Multitasking in Android is better than WP8. You can open a number of apps which run in the background and you can instantly switch between these apps (although not as fast as you can do with WP8). There is a task manager provided in the ICS/JB from which you can switch between tasks and close the one which is of no more use to you. Also there is an option of multi window multi tasking in certain phone like Note 2 or Galaxy S3 which gives you a whole new experience.
In WP8 number of apps are limited to 7. Means you can not open more than 7 application at once. Another flaw with WP8 multi-tasking I have noticed is that when ever you tap on messaging app it created a new instance rather than opening the previous one. For example, tap on messaging app open any conversation and press home screen, once you will be on home screen press again messaging app and it will open the app with a new instance. Now tap and hold back button to view multi-tasking, here you will see 2 instance of messaging apps running in the background. It is not the case with all apps however I will call it a flaw. Moreover, in WP8 you can talk over Skype and typing message or can even play a game simultaneously. There is no task manager integrated in WP8 so you can close opened apps in only 2 ways either restart your phone or press back button continuously to close these apps. The good part of the WP8 is that those opened apps wont bother you and you will not notice any degradation in phone's performance while they are running in background.
[Update March 24, 2013] As @Umair Syed isn't agreed with the score given to WP8 on Multi-Tasking therefore I am updating its score from 6 to 5.
Android: 9/10
Windows Phone 8: 5/10
The picture gallery in Android shows you all the available pictures in your phone or SD card. But this gallery is only limited to your phone. In WP8 the gallery shows you all the pictures on phone like Android plus it shows all the albums from social networks which are synchronized with your device like Facebook, LinkedIn, Skydrive etc. I would give an extra point to WP8 in this area.
Android Apps (free)umair Sajid Minhas Com
Songs which are present on your phone can be played through music app in Android. But again like Gallery its just a plain app and it wont even give you option to customize equalizers. On the other hand WP8 has got Xbox music app which not only shows you available songs in your device but also can be synced through cloud music services. There is an option in WP8 through which you can also customize equalizers.
[Update March 24, 2013] Android gallery can sync images from Facebook and Google+. 1 point increased in this score for Android. Thanks to @
Umair Syed.
Umair Syed.
Android Apps (free)umair Sajid Minhas Yahoo Mail
Conclusion
Based on the above discussion, I can conclude that Android and WP8 are totally different choices. If you are an app geek love to install apps and games, likes big screens, fan of huge hardware then Android is simply your first choice.
However on the the other hand WP8 is more personalized device with all your accounts synced in to a single hub. And if you are more concerned about security, social networking and enterprise level use then WP8 is the best choice for you.
There are certain bugs still present in Android since its birth and Google need to focus on them rather than throwing useless newer versions in the market. Still more than 50% of Android devices are running on 2 years old Ginger Bread which is a result of fragmentation. Software and UI lagging issue is still not resolved and the OS feels so heavy when you use it. Google surely needs to look into the matter seriously and need to change their CEO to 'Hassan :p' must hire developers like 'Umair :p' and their Quality Assurance department must be headed by 'Khurram :p'.
Being a Windows Mobile 5 user for almost a year, I can only wish if Microsoft just stick with that platform and make it more refreshing and advance rather than creating a whole new platform with a dozen limitations.
So that's all from my side once again I like to remind you that the above review is based on my personal experience. Any question, recommendations and reservations are welcome. Regrets for spelling and grammatical mistakes.
Overall Score:
Android: 6.9/10
Windows Phone 8: 6.7/10