CHOICE Australia Ranks Smartphone Operating Systems


iOS vs Android vs Windows Phone 7 vs Symbian vs Blackberry! Five operating systems enter the CHOICE labs… but only one squeaks out a victory.

CHOICE’s testing methodology is different to any other technology publication in Australia, not the least because they won’t use review samples provided by vendors; anything they test is something that’s been purchased by CHOICE itself. So when a friend of mine commented last night that they’d tested smartphone operating systems, my interest was piqued, both to see their recommendation and to see how they’d assessed each operating system.

A quick disclaimer: With my freelancing hat on, I’ve performed testing work for CHOICE previously; I had nothing to do with this particular test.

The winner? Android, by a nose. CHOICE tested five operating systems and six phones — an HTC Incredible S, Google Nexus S, Apple iPhone 4, LG Optimus 7, Nokia E7 and Blackberry Bold 9780 — and assessed the operating systems running on each for ease of use, browsing, multimedia and app availability.

Android OS 2.3, and specifically the HTC Sense enabled version on the Incredible S beat out iOS 4.3.3 by a slim three point margin, but iOS was judged better than the plain vanilla version of Android 2.3 found on the Nexus S. CHOICE’s testers liked the overall ease of use and app availability of the iOS platform, whereas Android scored best for customisation of the interface and the initial setup experience. In the corner with the dunce cap sat the Blackberry Bold 9780, although that’s a Blackberry OS 6.0 phone; from my own tests I’d say the Blackberry OS 7.0 experience is much better. [CHOICE]


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