Over the weekend, Walmart permanently reduced the price of the iPhone 5 by $60 which made many to wonder is the next iPhone 5S worth waiting for and if the next Droid will be worth waiting for.
First off, please be aware that there have been no "official announcements" over either product. There have been leaks of parts of the next iPhone 5 and the next Droid remains a mystery, well sort of. Here are several questions to ask yourself before making your decision. Those that lean towards iPhone are marked with an i and those that are Droid are marked with D.
First Decision: Does Size Matter to You?: D Are you Flashy?:i
The latest leaks suggest that the iPhone 5 will have the same size screen 4", therefore if you are big screen lover or need the bigger screen, an Android or Droid smartphone will be more suited to your needs. It is believed that the iPhone 5S will have a dual-LED flash, which will make things much brighter and photographs better. If you need a flash with your camera, you may want to wait for the iPhone 5S.
Do You Already Own Apple Products?: i
If you already own a suite of Apple products, you are better off keep all your apples in one pie. Although there is Windows support for Apple products, Mac and Apple support for Android products is limited. If you have an iPad with cellular data that you take with you may not mind the smaller size of the iPhone 5 or 5S. Android is based on storing information from your Google accounts. If you are already engorged in the Google ecosystem, then Android is easy to adapt to.
Do You Already Own Droid & Android Products?: D
If you've come to love the Droid eye and other Droid styles, converting to a smaller screen on an iPhone can be a little disconcerting. The latest Droids cam out in late 2012 the Droid RAZR M, Droid RAZR HD, Droid RAZR MAXX HD and Droid DNA. There has been no new Droid released, yet in 2103.
Are Married to Your Carrier: Verizon? D or i
Verizon has made many deals and combined features in its share everything plan. It also covers some areas that other carriers may not. If you are with Verizon, you may want also consider the Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One.
Does the Price You Pay Up Front Matter? N-D
If you are going to wait for the latest model smartphone whether it is the iPhone 5S or Droid NEXT (DNA XL/+) you more than likely have to pay at least $200 or more up front when the device is launched. Sometimes, you can get a slightly better deal at Wirefly when it comes out. The Samsung Galaxy S 4 at Verizon Wireless was launched on May 23, a month ago and now the models can be found for about $50 less than the Verizon direct price.
There are currently rumors that the Droid DNA and Droid Incredible LTE are listed as "close out" in Verizon systems, which lead some to surmise that the HTC One will replace it.
If your price upfront matters, the current discounts on the top Verizon on Amazon are :
- Samsung Galaxy S 4 (Black) VZW discounted to Verizon as low as $149.99
- Samsung Galaxy S 4 (White) VZWVerizon as low as $149.99
- Galaxy S IIII Verizon as low as one cent
.
- Droid DNA as low as $one cent
- Galaxy Note II Verizon as low as $79.99
There are seldom discounts on the iPhone 5, except the latest Walmart deals and Best Buy promotions.
When Do You Need and Upgrade?
Here's where the information we have now turns into a crap soot or an estimated guess. If you upgrade now, you will be sure to get a decent price but not the latest model. If you wait you can get something better, the questions are how much better and will it the next Droid and iPhone 5S will be?
Droid of the Future Metamorphosis of Butterfly S?
Some contend that the next Droid is the HTC One, which is smaller than the Droid DNA and comes with an aluminum case. Others at one point believed that the mythical Motorola X would be the next Droid, but it was then shown to be a mid-level economy model.
Here's where we get creative, the Droid DNA was based on the HTC Butterfly. The HTC Butterfly S was recently announced in Japan with improved specs including a faster processor(1.9GHz quad-core 600 Snapdragon), bigger battery(3200mAh), boom sound speakers and new camera. The Butterfly S is very thin, has a plastic body, microSD card slot and 2GB of RAM.
So the next Droid DNA may be more like the HTC Butterfly S and have a new new name like the Droid DNA MAXX, Droid DNA XL, Droid DNA S or maybe a new surprise such as Droid DNA LTE-A!
AWS AWeSome and Worth the Wait?
Verizon Wireless plans to launch AWS spectrum for LTE-A in the future. The data speeds are over twice as fast as current LTE speeds.
The Samsung Galaxy S 4, Lumia 928 and BlackBerry Q10 will have software update to be able to use the AWS spectrum, we suspect that the HTC One was delayed on the Verizon network probably for AWS.
So here is where a new Droid DNA S, XL MAXX or + are worth waiting for it uses the AWS (LTE-A) spectrum and you live in an area where Verizon Wireless will be deploying AWS, it's worth the wait especially if you use a lot of data.
There could also be a new Droid RAZR MAXX HD LTE-A....
iPhone 5 AWS -Later
Say you fall into the category of a huge data user and your only data access is through the Verizon network. If the next iPhone 5S from Verizon Wireless uses the LTE-A, even though it has the same screen it worth waiting for.
Let us know what you think in the comments below: