
Latest Android phones overtake iPhone 4 in user reviews - will_critchlow
http://blog.reevoo.com/2011/01/android-overtakes-iphone-in-user-reviews/
======
cletus
Yawn. This is such meaningless drivel. User reviews? Really? Not even the sane
user reviewing both so you have some form of control?

Reviewers of anything are outliers. Generally the motivations for users to
review are one or more of:

1\. To complain about something. Unhappy people are more likely to make noise.

2\. To justify their choice. Such reviews are very often skewed as the user is
compensating for insecurity or pushing a philosophy.

3\. Because they like the sound of their own voices (metaphorically speakimg);
and/or

4\. Because they're really happy.

Most users of a product (happy or unhappy) write no reviews. So we're talking
about a vocal minority.

What's more people have a bug up their ass about the iPhone in particular.
Consumer Reports for example seems to have abandoned all pretense of
objectivity when it comes to the iPhone 4:

1\. Despite giving the iPhone 4 their highest phone rating ever they somehow
couldn't recommend it; and

2\. They called the Verizon iPhone "middle-aged tech" (iirc) when nothing else
has an equivalent or better screen and other specs are at best a wash.

Most iPhone users love their phones. In my experience an awful lot of Android
users aren't buying an Android phone; they're _not_ buying an iPhone either
because of carrier (predominantly a US issue) or they have some objection
based on the iPhone being popular or some guff about walled gardens.

Seriously 99% of this iPhone vs Android stuff is just noise and typically just
link bait.

~~~
ZeroGravitas
The actual reviews all seem very reasonable, and their algorithms seem to
extract sensible meaning from the noise:

<http://www.reevoo.com/p/samsung-galaxy-s>

<http://www.reevoo.com/p/apple-iphone-4-16gb>

Basically, the Galaxy is slightly behind on all subsections, except battery
which is its weakest point and biggest differential compared with the iPhone,
and the value for money, which is much better for the Galaxy (it's about a
third less to buy).

Note again, this is UK focused, where the graduations of handset price
(including buying the handset separately) seem to be better reflected in your
monthly bill.

As far as I can tell in the US there's no advantage to not taking the best
phone they offer since you're paying the same monthly rate anyway which will
dwarf the handset price.

~~~
ZeroGravitas
Just noticed my current phone (the cheapest Android available, but also a
diamond in the rough that has practically gone viral in the UK on the strength
of word of mouth) also equals the iPhone 4 overall due to high "value for
money"

<http://www.reevoo.com/p/orange-san-francisco>

------
rbanffy
Sometimes I wonder why so many people find it so important having the best
phone ever created.

I usually settle for "good enough" and don't think much about it.

~~~
melling
Why wouldn't you want the best in class of any product? You only "go around
once."

Also, consider the upside of companies striving to produce "best in class"
products. Improvements are made much quicker and price drops more rapidly.

~~~
davidw
> Why wouldn't you want the best in class of any product?

Because of the energy expended to find it:

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Paradox_of_Choice:_Why_More...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Paradox_of_Choice:_Why_More_Is_Less)

------
bjnortier_hn
The most interesting thing in this article is the big jump in the average
review score for the Galaxy S during September. It would be great to
understand why that happened, and if it was really because of a "changing mix
of buyer" and/or "glossy advertising".

~~~
drats
There was an Android update in September 2010.[1]

Edit + N.B.: The vertical axis on the graph is a "how to lie with statistics"
one and makes it look like a bigger climb than it is. It does indeed overtake
the iPhone but it's only a move from ~7.9 to ~8.5.

[1][http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome&client=ubun...](http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome&client=ubuntu&channel=cs&ie=UTF-8&q=android+update+galaxy+S+september)

------
nopal
Do normal people (read: non geeks) use Reevoo? I've never heard of it, but
maybe that's because it's in the UK and I'm in the US.

The population providing the reviews can skew these types of analyses.

------
lukejonesme
The market is saturated with Android devices. Of course it's going to overtake
the iPhone market. If there was only one Android device available at any given
time, that'd be a completely different question.

~~~
will_critchlow
I think the point is that if you look at the average across all devices, the
iPhone is still ahead, but if there was only one Android phone (and it was one
of the good ones e.g. the Samsung Galaxy S) then Android would be ahead.

The average Android review score is pulled down by the crappy Android devices.
Having an open market creates higher highs and lower lows than Apple
controlling everything (it seems).

~~~
Terretta
And not whatsoever related to a biased agenda among the reviewers? Very
different things matter to those who gravitate to one or the other. iPhone
users rate it down if it doesn't work miracles without them even thinking
about it. Android users rate it up for maxing out tech specs and embodying
"open" principles.

True, I exaggerate. But these self-selecting groups rate on different
criteria.

~~~
will_critchlow
Yep. True. Not unbiased in the slightest. I find it interesting nonetheless as
I would not have guessed it to be true...

You (and other commenters saying similar things) are definitely right on this
point, but I remain interested :)

------
geoffpado
Wow! People like the newest phones over a phone that's 6 months old? I don't
believe it.

~~~
ZeroGravitas
The Galaxy S (which is the focus of the article) was released in June, the
same time as the iPhone 4.

