No new iPhone for me and this is why.

A few days ago I finally made the decision and placed the order for my new mobile phone. Although deciding on a new phone is not a matter of life or death, nowadays it is still a tough decision to make. Not only do you need to decide which phone you want to get, you also need to decide which mobile ecosystem you want to belong to and if you are willing to change to a new ecosystem or not.

For me, buying a new iPhone was the obvious option. I've been an Apple user for quite a while now, switching to OS X shortly after I favored internet over architecture and the need to use Windows because of AutoCAD and the likes disappeared. So when Apple released their first iPhone in 2007 I was able to jump the bandwagon with an imported iPhone (later dubbed 2G).

I loved that original iPhone. It offered a user experience far superior to any phone I had ever used before and after almost two years with that phone I switched to the iPhone 3GS with no doubt. I even strayed from my principles and signed a two year contract to be able to get it. Last June that contract ended and I was in the mood for something new.

iPhone 4S

At the time there were lots of rumors about the new iPhone(s). The rumored iPhone 5 seemed the talk of the day for months and October 4th Apple finally released the iPhone 4S which offers evolutional improvements in more or less the same way the 3GS improved on its predecessor the 3G.

I had waited for this release because after a few Apple computers, 2 iPhones and an iPad I'm knee deep in the iOS/OS X ecosystem and I've grown attached to some of the iOS applications. And although I agree that the 4S is the most amazing iPhone yet¹ it just couldn't convince me.

I was very charmed by the new camera and the general speed boost, but I couldn't get exited about Siri. I just don't see me talking to my phone a lot and Siri is not yet available in my native tongue. And when it does, I wonder if it will offer the same experience, considering some services it uses (Yelp, Wolfram Alpha) are less/not localized for the Netherlands.

Probably I would have bought the iPhone if Apple had chosen a different price point, if it was too good to be true, but Apple preferred to sell its newest phone with an incredible profit margin and the Dutch carriers seem to offer less value for money when it comes to iPhone subscriptions. Considering the record breaking sales I cannot blame those companies for cashing in on the popularity of the iPhone. To me it seemed too much for too little. I would get a new phone with very good hardware but without a new experience or design. It didn't itch.

What else?

But what else? What were the alternatives? What could I buy if I wasn't going to buy an iPhone? There are a lot of phones out there, but choosing a different phone would inevitably mean changing to another mobile ecosystem. So, what were my options? Basically there are three major alternative smartphone ecosystems to choose from:

1. Android,
2. Blackberry and
3. Windows Phone

I mention Blackberry, but I honestly didn't give it any thought. I think ultimately Blackberry will fade out in the same way Symbian already did. It's almost an OS of the past. So actually I only had two other options besides sticking to iOS.

Android

Android is currently the best selling OS for smartphones and there is a reason why it is like that. Android is an open system. Anyone can use it and anyone can develop for or on top of it. This makes Android for the mobile phone what Windows is for the personal computer. The default choice of manufacturers. Android runs on all kinds of hardware and it can be found on both the cheapest and the most expensive smartphones.

The ecosystem has matured a lot in the past years and while it's still behind in absolute numbers, it is catching up on iOS. Companies develop their mobile applications for iOS and Android side by side nowadays.

This development seems to make Android a good choice, but to me Android didn't feel right. I think the openness is Androids Achilles heel. Every smartphone manufacturer produces its own version of Android by including proprietary hardware drivers for their specific hardware and to make things worse, most of these manufacturers also have the need to customize their Android version by creating custom skins, widgets and home screens.

Those customizations are done because they make the phone stand out from the other Android phones when you're in the market for a new phone, but unfortunately they also make centralized updates impossible. For Android updates you are at the mercy of the manufacturer. As long as a phone is in production the manufacturers (sometimes) keep their software up to date, but soon afterwards they loose incentive and you're on your own.

At that moment you could look at custom ROMs like Cyanogenmod, but it takes their developers a lot of time to either reverse engineer proprietary drivers or to get the original drivers from the manufacturers. All in all the Android software updates are unreliable and as a result you won't be getting anything new unless you buy a new phone (which is off course what the manufactures want you to do).

But unreliable updates are not the only reason for skipping Android. The second and totally subjective reason is that I think Android is ugly and unorganized. Its user interface and icons are not as crafted as the ones in iOS and settings seem scattered all over the place. This is probably also a result of the openness of the platform. There is no dictator to draw a line when it's needed.

So if it's not going to be Android, there's only one option left...

Windows Phone

Windows Phone looks stunning! In my subjective perspective Windows Phone is the best looking mobile OS out there. It is authentic and doesn't look like another copy of iOS. It has its own character and even though I don't know how that look will feel when you actually use the OS for a longer period, I can very much appreciate the way Microsoft chose its own design and workflow. If you are like me and looking for something new, Windows Phone definitely fits the bill.

But it's not about looks alone. A few months ago, I would not have considered Windows Phone an option, but when Microsoft released version 7.5 on September 27 and subsequently managed to push this release out to a myriad of phones from different manufactures in little over a month, I was impressed. Version 7.5 a.k.a. Mango introduced multitasking, an improved browser and many other fixes, improvements and new features: It made Windows Phone mature and showed Microsofts ability to push a major software update in a limited time frame.

Microsoft was able to do so, because they limit the amount of hardware choices that manufacturers have and they don't allow customizations to the OS. This is a good thing, because it guarantees a level of consistency across all Windows Phone devices and as a customer you can be sure that your device can get an update later on. You only need to make a few simple hardware choices. How big is the screen and what type of screen is it? Does it have a decent camera? Which manufacturer do I prefer and how does it look?

By now you probably know that for me the looks of a telephone are important. Most phones look and feel as if they were designed by the same engineer that designed its internal circuit boards. There are only very few exceptions to that rule. One of those exceptions is the MeeGo based Nokia N9: A beautifully crafted telephone with a unique pillow shaped design. So when I heard the rumors that Nokia's first Windows Phone device would be based on the N9, I got interested. Could this be an option?

On October 26, Nokia announced the Nokia Lumia 800, their first Windows Phone device with nearly identical looks as the N9. A beautiful device with a stunning OS, but with a MSRP of € 500,- only a € 100,- less than the iPhone 4s and even more than the Samsung Galaxy SII, both of which offer superior hardware. It made me doubt. If I was going to pay this much, would I not prefer to stick to the iOS ecosystem. Was I willing to switch ecosystems for that price?

Maybe not, but in the end it didn't become an issue. It turned out that the carriers in the Netherlands offer way better value for money with the Nokia than they do for the iPhone and a quick comparison showed that the price difference was in reality almost €300,-. Just that extra push to choose for something entirely new. The choice was made and I ordered my new phone. The Nokia Lumia 800. I will hopefully get it next week.

Will I regret it? I don't know. I'm looking forward to trying something new. Maybe it will wear off, maybe it will grow on me. I will let you know.