The Apple iPhone is quite popular and it usually receives it’s fair share of attention. Android phones are also quite popular, but with Google’s mobile OS being open source, finding a top notch Android phone can be a bit of a task. Whether you decide to go with an iPhone or Android phone will of course depend on your preference for a mobile operating system, iOS or Android. In today’s post, we will review 3 awesome choices for Android smartphones in 2012 that are statistically better than the iPhone on paper.

Apples are a healthy choice, but if you’re craving something a bit sweeter, you may want to get an ice cream sandwich. Here are 3 of the best Android based phone choices:

1. Samsung Galaxy Note (AT&T)

The Samsung Galaxy Note is a smartphone with a 5.3” HD AMOLED display, which Samsung cleverly uses to help market the phone. Trying to be a cross between a smartphone and a small tablet, the Galaxy Note somehow has succeeded as a consumer favorite. With over 100 perfect 5 star reviews on AT&T’s website, the customers even note that this is a great phone.

AT&T’s high end device also features a dual core CPU with a 1.5GHz clock speed, vs. the iPhone 4S which also has a dual core CPU (A5), but the clock speed is rated below 1GHz, at 800MHz. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the Galaxy Note’s 1.5GHz CPU is faster, as there are other considerations that help to determine the overall speed of a smartphone. It is however, more powerful on paper and one of the best processors among the Android smartphones on the market.

As far as megapixels, both the Galaxy Note and iPhone 4S feature 8MP rear facing cameras. However, the front-facing camera on the Galaxy vs. the front-facing camera on the 4S, normally used for self photos and video chatting, is a bit different. The Note incorporates a nice, basic 2MP front-facing camera, while the front camera on the 4S is not as powerful. In fact, Apple doesn’t even list technical specs for the front camera, but as many tech blogs have listed, the front facing camera on the 4S is just a standard, VGA capable camera.

If you want a smartphone with a big display, you may want to consider the Galaxy Note, which is a unique smartphone that even comes with a stylus.

2. Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX (Verizon)

Motorola’s RAZR lineup made a name for itself before smartphones were even smartphones. The latest release, the DROID RAZR MAXX, is a combination of Motorola’s RAZR engineering with Google’s Android mobile OS. Like other RAZR phones, the MAXX is extremely designed with an emphasis on thin.

Even with it’s thinness, the RAZR MAXX actually offers quite a bit of screen real estate, featuring a 4.3” AMOLED display. Like the other Android based phones on the list and the iPhone 4S, this phone also has a dual core chip. The processor, rated at 1.2GHz, is a quality and worthy contender to the 4S, which as mentioned above, has an 800MHz dual core A5 chip.

A unique feature of the RAZR is an included mirror mode software that allows you to playback smartphone content on a television, where the iPhone 4S also has a mirror feature, but you have to purchase a separate Apple TV device to use it.

If you’re considering this phone and have Verizon, you may also want to note that this phone is engineered to run on the latest 4G LTE. Thus, it is going to have faster internet speeds, browser, downloads, uploads, etc… vs. the 4S which is limited to Verizon’s older 3G network technology.

Not to be outdone, Motorola has incorporated an equally capable camera into the MAXX, also rated at 8MP.

3. Samsung Galaxy II Epic 4G Touch (Sprint)

Epic might be a good word to describe Samsung’s second device on the list. Being one of the most powerful and top smartphones for Sprint users, the Galaxy II Epic 4G is a device that boasts over 450 perfect 5 star reviews and only 30 negative reviews on sprint.com

Aside from the high rankings from consumers, the phone also offers some very competitive features. Like the other Android phones on the list, the processor for this phone is also better than the 4S on paper, 1.2GHz dual-core. However, another area that the Galaxy II Epic shines in is RAM memory of 1GB, where the 4S offers only 512MB.

The 4.52” AMOLED screen also offers more screen real estate than the iPhone, and the displays in Samsung phones tend to be fairly good. In fact, Apple may actually be considering using Samsung displays in their upcoming iPad launch, according to 9TO5Mac.

Like the iPhone, the Samsung Epic is available in both black and white color schemes; and of course, it has an 8MP camera.

On another note, Apple heavily promotes the battery life on their iPhones, and according to Apple.com, the 4S is rated up to 8 hours of talk time on 3G. However, the Galaxy II from Sprint has an estimated talk time of 8.7 hours, staying very competitive with Apple.

Conclusion

Overall, none of these smartphones are necessarily better than the iPhone, as the quality of a phone is usually determined by the individual and his or her preferences. However, it is safe to state that, from reviews, tech specs, and features, the three phones mentioned above are definitely of equal if not better standing than Apple’s iPhone 4S. If you are considering purchasing a smartphone, but don’t want an iPhone or simply prefer Android, the top three Android based phones in this article should all be worthy choices. An iPhone is of course greater than a cheap Android phone, but a quality Android phone, maybe not so much.