As seems customary now on this blog every time I have a decision to make about a new mobile phone I write about it!
I think getting it on screen and out of my head certainly helps. 
Two years ago I went with a Samsung Omnia 7 and explained why I chose that over the others.
The market is certainly different from May 2011 and some of the hardware available is amazing!
I’m yet to make a decision so I’ll go through my current thought process
Blackberry
Things are certainly different now from when I last wrote about Blackberry!
They have launched their much delayed Blackberry 10 operating system, shed a ton of jobs, decided to leave the consumer market to concentrate on the Enterprise side of things and have just been sold off.
As it stands things are certainly not looking great!
Even taking all that into consideration this isn’t much that would make me want to jump ship to a Blackberry phone.
Android
The juggernaut of the mobile space! With the ability to run on a wide variety of devices Android commands a big chunk of the market. it’s popularity has created a well stocked app store that can do just about anything you’d want with a mobile phone!
I’m very very tempted in all honesty. The Galaxy S4 looks like a seriously good piece of kit that would do pretty much everything i would need. Especially now there is an official OneNote app and QuickOffice is free.
iPhone
What more can be said about the iPhone? Even with the success of Android if you mention the word “smartphone” most people automatically assume you’re talking about an iPhone.
That said I’m personally surprised that Apple haven’t done more. They have made quicker. faster, lighter devices but on the software side of things is there all that much difference over the last few years? iOS 7 is completely new direction in terms of design but is there anything new to get excited about?
That’s obviously a matter of opinion but it’s not the phone I’m looking for.
Windows Phone
Microsoft are still paying the price for being so late to the party. Windows Phone is a pretty decent operating system but it’s biggest shortcoming is that in can’t compete on the range of apps that are available on the other platforms
It’s in the horrible chicken and egg scenario where developers aren’t writing apps for it because the phone doesn’t have enough market share but it’s struggling to gain market share because it doesn’t the apps.
They haven’t done a good enough job on the marketing and awareness front either. Some of the good features it does have people just don’t know about, even people with Windows Phones!
Choices, Choices, Choices
As it stands for me at the moment it’s a choice between a Windows 8 phone (probably a Lumia 1020) and an Android phone (probably a Galaxy S4).
Because I’ve been using Windows phone for the last couple of years there are a lot of features I use daily that I’m not sure if I want to give up. However, the lack of apps is getting rather frustrating.
An Android device would keep me “app happy” but is that enough to make me want to lose the functionality I use every day and I’m perfectly comfortable with?
I’ve talked before about how I think you should choose a smart phone so I need to figure out what irritates me the least!
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Sticking to the windows phone because you are comfortable with it knowing its limitations and there are devices out there that have more functionality, is like sticking to old versions of office or other software because you are comfortable with them.
Surely the once the learning curve is complete you enter a new comfort zone.
What Ray said. I held onto Windows Mobile 6.5 until the bitter end because of my familiarity with it. Android and iOS both offer a wealthy of opportunity that Windows Phone probably doesn’t.
All I know is that our clients with Android phones have a lot more problems than those with iPhone’s. My days of tinkering with phones are over, they’re too much of a lifeline these days – the iPhone is a rock solid tool that wont disappoint or let you down.
Can you wait a couple of weeks for the Nexus 5? The Nexus devices are always the best option if you’re looking to get an Android phone. They run stock Android, they always get updated and they are cheap!
I got mine (Nexus 4) off contract sim-free and it was the best move I ever made. Now I’m free to move to any tariff I like and upgrade my handset whenever I want!
Is there a release date for the Nexus 5 yet?