Frisky Mongoose

Welcome to another edition of the Thursday Throwdown. This week marks a change in the normal format of the Throwdown in that instead of looking at two Facebook games, we will look at two new mobile phones and compare them in an effort to let you decide which is best in a poll at the end.

Physical Design

Both phones are designed with elegance in mind, having no physical keyboard. Not having a keyboard allows them to be slimmer than ever, allowing you to just shove either of them in your pocket with ease. However, the Droid X is a bit larger than the iPhone 4, sporting a 4.3 inch screen to the iPhone 4′s 3.5 inch screen. This results in a slightly larger phone that some may not wish to have in their pocket.

The iPhone 4 sports a black and silver design (white not available at time of writing) while the Droid X sports a slick, matte black design. Everything on both devices is flush and solid. The iPhone 4 sticks to the original design philosophy of one physical button on the front, with a power button on the top and volume buttons on the side. The Droid X features four buttons on the front, volume rocker on the side and power button on top. All work fine in function, but some may prefer more or less physical buttons based on simplicity or function.

Software

Droid X runs Android 2.1 (2.2 update slated for later this summer), with iPhone 4 running iOS 4. The Droid X does run a version of Android with a slightly changed interface in that the homescreen offers a few additional features not usually in the stock build. Android offers true multitasking in which any app that runs can continue to run in the background if you desire. iOS 4 has multitasking that allows certain apps using certain APIs to run in the background.

Android also allows for customization options not seen on iOS 4. You can move icons wherever you wish, add widgets and even live, animated wallpapers. With iOS 4, you can change wallpapers and move icons a bit but you can not add widgets or have animated wallpapers.

Apps

Apps are a strong factor in deciding which smartphone to purchase. Both phones have a plethora of apps, some even shared between the two. Pandora has both an excellent Android and iPhone app for instance. Both have the Amazon Kindle app that allows for syncing and purchasing books on the fly.

In pure numbers, iOS 4 has over 200,000 apps available with Android around the 75,000 mark. However, quality over quantity is usually the best option when it comes to software. Also, Apple heavily moderates the Apple iTunes store while the Android Market is completely open to all developers.

Carrier

iPhone 4 is only available on AT&T, while the Droid X is available on Verizon. I don’t think it’s any secret that Verizon tends to have more coverage across the country. However, with the iPhone you can use data and talk on the phone at the same time (something not available on Verizon).

So there you have it, two of the newest and best phones available right now. So, now it’s time for you to use your voice and tell us which phone you have the most excitement for? Is it the eye-popping Retina display of the iPhone 4 or the customization of the Droid X? Let us know by voting in the poll below and by visiting this forum thread for further discussion.

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