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Repeat after me: There is no perfect smartphone

Bottom line: There is no perfect smartphone. A lot of these devices are starting to blend together. And they will all annoy you, but in different ways.
Written by Larry Dignan, Contributor

Jason Perlow wants to break up with Android. He's disillusioned because the Samsung Galaxy Nexus on Verizon just doesn't get updated. Toss in fragmentation, updating policies and bugs and Perlow has just about had it.

On the other side of what's becoming a smartphone duopoly you can spin in a circle and hit someone who is an uber-fan of Apple's iOS. And yes there are RIM supporters along with Windows Phone fans too.

Bottom line: There is no perfect smartphone. It's a personal preference and while companies can screw up royally---RIM for instance---a lot of these devices are starting to blend together. And they will all annoy you, but in different ways.

Jason Perlow: I'm sick to death of Android | Nexus S: Even Google can't do Android updates

I learned this no-dreamphone lesson a few weeks ago when in London. My personal phone happens to be a Samsung Galaxy Nexus on Verizon---it's all about the LTE for me---and the work phone is an iPhone 4S. CBS Interactive hands out Android devices and iPhones today.

In short, the iPhone on AT&T would work abroad. The Verizon CDMA/LTE device was a brick in London without Wi-Fi.

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My smartphone world.

Like Perlow I've had it with Android in many respects. The icons are getting old. Ice Cream Sandwich is nice, but not groundbreaking. I still see too many force closes.

As a result, I figured I'd use the iPhone exclusively and then see the light that every Apple fan boy told me I'd see. Sure enough, I really liked the iPhone 4S. However, I missed the large screen of the Galaxy Nexus. I also missed some of the Android features and habits I had with the operating system. Android is geeked out and requires some tweaking, but I've played along and apparently enjoyed it a bit. Google integration is also helpful with tools like Docs. The small-ish iPhone screen was a bit of a bummer over time.

Meanwhile, playing with a Windows Phone device is an eye opener of sorts too. It's simple. It aggregates data nicely. It could win me over.

But rest assured, a Windows Phone would probably annoy me after a few days too. As a former BlackBerry user I already know there are quirks that would irk me.

In the end, smartphones are a lot like spouses---they aren't perfect and once in a while can annoy the hell out of you. Nevertheless, we humans keep chasing the dream and search for perfection.

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