We're in that final stretch of months before 2013 officially comes to an end, and it's been a pretty wild year for mobile all year long.
In the beginning, we saw BlackBerry's plans and release of BlackBerry 10. In the following months we saw the release of two of the most anticipated Android flagships of the year, the HTC One and the Samsung Galaxy S4. We finally found out the dark and mysterious details of Google's "X" phone, which turned out to be none other than the Moto X, which featured just about none of the things leaks, rumors and hopes predicted that it would. Nokia pushed the envelope even further with their Nokia Lumia line, famous for its notably good cameras for a smartphone, by releasing the Nokia Lumia 1020 with its 41-megapixel camera. We also have phones like the iPhone 5s, the Nexus 5, the Galaxy Note 3 and the LG G2. Yep, it's been a pretty good year for mobile.
New phones are released all the time. But regardless of how many phones can be produced, each smartphone is more than likely using one of four of the most popular mobile platforms that we have available to us today: iOS, Android, Windows Phone or BlackBerry. These platforms are constantly changing and tweaking in order to become the best, and I have to say that this year has had one of the most interesting combinations of new hardware and new software I have seen in a while. If you guys have had any thoughts like I have, you've probably considered jumping from whatever phone it is that you have to something new - perhaps you even made the switch.
Did any new phones tickle your fancy enough to make you switch this year?
One did for me (get it? One? Ha!) Actually, I should say two. Initially, I was more intrigued by the Galaxy S4. However, just as I had suspected in previous thoughts mentioned across my articles, there is such a thing as a phone that's too big for some people. It seems that a 5" screen is just too much for me to be able to hold without dropping onto the floor, my face, or whatever else I happen to be holding my phone over. Aside from that and some apparent issue with overheating (as in the phone felt hot - really hot - but didn't show much adverse effects from it) the phone would have been dandy. I really did like the camera and all of the features. But the fact that I couldn't even hold the phone comfortably bothered me more than anything, and I ended up switching out for the HTC One.
Switching from iOS back to Android was a lot easier than I thought it would be, mostly because I still remembered Android as being the slow, buggy OS that it was back in 2010. But once I decided to make the jump back to Android from iOS after being mostly happy with iOS for the better part of two years, I was honestly surprised at how well Android had adapted. Whether it was the advances that Android made over the past couple of years, or perhaps just the fact that I had lowered my expectations when I switched to the One and my expectations were surpassed, I am still to this day pretty darn happy with my One. Although I will once again stress that the purple tint on my camera is still an issue that wasn't fixed since updating to the official Android 4.3 build. Aside from that, the phone is fantastic. Great build, great feel, great battery life, and runs smooth like butter.
I even entertained the thought of switching to BlackBerry or Windows Phone as well, considering the only hands-on experience I've had with the devices are limited to retail store displays. BlackBerry was intriguing; I was interested in seeing how BlackBerry 10 worked on the traditional BlackBerry form factor of having a small screen and a full physical QWERTY keyboard. I was also intrigued by the Z10, BlackBerry's first attempt at what might be considered a more "normal" look for a modern smartphone. However, the lack of applications made specifically for BlackBerry wasn't exactly inviting. I will admit, it is nice that several what I would consider "important" applications that were initially made for Android can be "sideloaded" onto BlackBerry 10, but in the end I wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea. The same "lack of application" problem stopped me from Windows Phone, but definitely to a lesser degree. I was mostly interested in the fact that the Lumia, at the time, had some of the best cameras that a smartphone could have. I also dig the minimalistic interface of Windows Phone.
Overall, I'm happy I switched to the One. It's not the first time I've switched, nor will it be the last, but I am happy that I was able to switch to a phone that I thought I would like, and ended up actually liking it, because I'm not always that lucky.
Readers, did you find a phone this year that made you switch platforms? Which platform did you come from, and which one did you go to? Are you happy with the decision? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Image via GSM Arena
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