My clients using Android are dwindling and I only have a handful that are really loyal to the Android platform.   I try to do this for you every once in a while.  Here is your State of Android address — as I see it.

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Best Android Phones of the Year in My Opinion

Samsung Galaxy S9 / S9+ 

One Plus 6 https://www.oneplus.com/6 (does not work on Verizon – fully compatible with TMobile and ATT). They are an independent brand focused on the US market for the past 5 years.

Budget Phone:   Moto G6  ($240 full price — hard to beat.  Verizon compatible plus the other carriers. )

Comeback Kid

Nokia is coming on strong — they are back in the phone business.  Not all of their phones are US compatible but some are. These phones are also part of the Android One which means they will get mandatory updates per google.   Again they would be an ATT / Tmobile compatible phone.

Updates Matter

I would always tell someone buying an Android phone — buy it within 6 months of its release because even the best phones will get new version updates for only 2 years and security updates for 3 (Moto won’t even promise this but Samsung, Google, LG, One Plus will on their top tier phones)

The Future

Google will be releasing their latest version of the Pixel phone the fall.  It should be a very feature competitive offering on par with the best in the market.  Their phones used to have the Nexus brand but since 2016, they have moved up market with a new brand name. 

What Android Tablets

I think Android tablets (with the exception of Amazon’s Fire tablets) are totally dead.  With Apple pricing the “regular iPad” at $329, they have basically killed the Android tablet market. 

My Final Thoughts

Even though I am a day in and day out iPhone user, there are some things I think that are better on the Android platform.   I think the integration of Google voice search in everything is superb.  I think Google’s voice dictation is far better than Apple’s Siri.  While not particularly applicable (I almost typed Apple-icable) to my clients, Android gives the user the freedom to do whatever they want with the phone.  Do you want a Microsoft “desktop” (home screen launcher) on your phone instead of the default Google or Samsung one?  That’s possible with Android.