This July 27, T-Mobile will release the latest in its series of "myTouch" Android smartphones, which are marketed as being extremely personalizable. The myTouch 4G Slide will be priced at $199 on contract, easily making it a flagship phone for the carrier ... sort of like how the iPhone 4 now is for AT&T and Verizon.
Seeing as how it's the elephant in the room whenever any new smartphone comes out, let's see how the myTouch 4G Slide stacks up to the iPhone 4!
The myTouch 4G Slide's strengths
First off is the fact that the T-Mobile myTouch 4G Slide isn't on AT&T or Verizon. Instead, it's on T-Mobile, one of the two top-tier wireless carriers that doesn't have their reputation for customer hostility. It's not quite as attractive as Sprint, though, if only because AT&T's in the process of taking over T-Mobile.
Second is the horizontal slider hardware keyboard. The iPhone 4 doesn't have one, and given the thing Apple has for extremely smooth, shiny hardware, the iPhone 5 isn't likely to have one either. If you want one, an Android phone's your best bet, and at the high end that comes down to basically a choice between the myTouch 4G Slide and the Droid 3 on Verizon.
Third is its 4G wireless radio, although this is less of a big deal if you don't live someplace where T-Mobile has 4G coverage.
Fourth is its appeal to photophiles. The official site calls it an "Advanced camera phone," and goes on about "zero shutter lag" and "sweeping ultrawide shots." Nilay Patel of This Is My Next goes into more technical detail; apparently the myTouch 4G Slide has "an f/2.2 lens, a backside-illuminated CMOS sensor, 1080p video recording, HDR and panorama modes, and a continuous-record shutter that effectively provide zero shutter lag." I don't know if that sentence made any sense to you or not, but I'm assuming photographers know what to look for!
Finally, it's got more raw power than the iPhone 4, with a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor. Say what you will about the iPhone 4, but it came out last year, and that shows.
What the iPhone 4 has going for it
What does the iPhone 4 have going for it? The answer is apps: Lots of them. Not just more, but usually better apps than on Android smartphones. No one's been able to duplicate the iTunes App Store's success, and the Android Market's most exciting offerings usually came out on the App Store last year.
Besides that is the fit and finish Apple gives to its smartphones, in both the hardware and software departments. They're less buggy and frustrating, and they tend to feel more solid in your hands. And did I mention they get better battery life?
The verdict
The myTouch 4G Slide will be one of the best phones on T-Mobile's network when it comes out, and it's got some major new features that the iPhone 4 doesn't have. Beyond those, the choice will probably come down to whether you like Android or not.
Jared Spurbeck is an open-source software enthusiast, who uses an Android phone and an Ubuntu laptop PC. He has been writing about technology and electronics since 2008.
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