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Update: The “State of Android in Canada”
Back at the end of September we posted an article titled “The State of Android in Canada”. This was originally created by one of our readers and it has now been updated with all the recent Android releases in Canada. We should also note that Google recently updated their Android OS distribution and stated that “77% of all Android devices run OS 2.1 or higher”… so it’ll be interesting to see where us Canadians are at.
Over the past few weeks we’ve seen the manufacturers and carriers push out the Android updates. The TELUS Desire went to 2.2, Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 family upgraded to 2.1, Hero to 2.1… plus we are seeing more devices launching with 2.2 (Bell HTC Desire Z, Videotron/Mobilicity Google Nexus One/Samsung Galaxy Tab)… but majority of the devices now run OS 2.1.
Here are some statistics when it comes to Android in Canada:
- There are currently 53 Android devices across 12 carriers
- Rogers leads with the most Android devices with 13, followed by TELUS with 9, Bell with 5, Videotron 4
- 26% of Android models available in Canada are running either OS 1.5 or 1.6 (11 devices)
- 60% of Android models available in Canada are running OS 2.1 (32 devices)
- 74% of Android model available in Canada are running OS 2.1 or higher
- 7 Android models available in Canada run Android 2.2 (13%)
- 50% of Android models available from Rogers are running OS 1.5/1.6
- Videotron now makes up for 8% of the Android devices in Canada (4 devices)
- All of Wind Mobile and Virgin Android devices run OS 2.1
- 8 out of 9 TELUS Android devices run 2.1 or higher, the Motorola Backflip is stuck at 1.5
So it certainly seems the Android revolution is strong in Canada. Carriers are adopting the platform and even committing to update the OS (although not as fast as us customers would like). How are you liking your Android-powered device? Would you leave it behind to go to another platform?
You can check out the full spreadsheet here at Google Docs
(Thanks Denis!)
Discussion
38 comments for “Update: The “State of Android in Canada””
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Love my Milestone, hate the snails pace that Telus is taking for it to get 2.2 without rooting my phone and voiding the warranty. Carriers need to keep up with the Jones’ on this. Too bad Verizon and AT&T weren’t up here to compete. At least they know how to get the updates out. The droid family down there has had there’s for months.
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Rogers is so late with the updates.
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It’s not Rogers it was SONY!! Finally got my 2.1 for my X10 it’s awesome!!
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Rogers is in the lead with Android devices… But how many GOOD Android devices do they have? At my last count, 2 – the Captivate and the Tab.
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Loving my new HTC Desire, I need to do some optimization to keep the battery from dying so fast. Got it just before the new Samsung Captivate was available from Telus. Oh well.
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It’s the Fascinate, not Captivate.
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why is the fascinate better than the desire?
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Loving my Legend, eagerly awaiting the 2.2 update that has started hitting phones in the UK as of today
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Conclusion: Buying Android phone from Rogers is a very bad idea.
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buying ANY phone from rogers is a bad idea
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Love my Google Nexus One (on Rogers)… waiting for the Android 2.3 OTA update from Google…
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Getting the desire z and unlocking it to use on telus replacing my bl40.
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Currently on Rogers with an HTC Magic running 2.1. Overall I guess I’m satisfied as it’s been a pretty good phone for the year I’ve had it, but is woefully behind the times now.
I’m currently looking for a new phone with the Galaxy S or Dell Streak being the leading candidates (sticking with Rogers for the bundle…yea I know I’m a loser). I’d like to stay with HTC hardware for my accessories. If Rogers gets the Desire HD I’d be all over that. But it dont think it will happen unless they get a carrier specific model from HTC.
Launching the Dell Streak with 1.6 when 2.3 is around the corner is not acceptable. If Rogers gives it some Froyo soon I might get that.
Overall the state of Android in Canada is good. I just wish we didn’t have to deal with the carrier wars over which ones get which phones. Plus the whole fragmentation of OS versions needs to get tightened up. I think all phones much launch with the current OS version and all carriers must commit to potential OS updates through the life of the phone.
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Doubt the Desire will get 2.3 at any time in the future from Telus, but oh well I’m still glad we at least got 2.2 as promised.
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I think if having the latest OS is important to you, it’s always best to get a Developer Android Phone like the Nexus One.
The customizations that some phone companies make are nice, but I’m not entirely sure they are worth having to wait sometimes years to get an upgrade.
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While I’m excited that Android is gaining a strong foothold in Canada, I can’t help but feel that carriers are still oblivious to what Android is truly about.
I know that our carriers will not sit will with being “dumb pipes” but really that is what most of us pay them for. We don’t pay them to cause delays in updates (HTC Magic 2.1) or launches (Samsung Galaxy S Captivate) we pay them to provide us with Voice and Data services.
There has been talk about making people pay for updates.
I for one would be open to the idea of bypassing carrier interference and get my updates directly form manufacturers.
This is the model in Europe as manufacturers are pushing out updates faster on the unbranded phones that were sold direct to customers.
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I would *love* to be able to bypass the carriers and get my phone directly from the manufacturers (unlocked, of course).
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It’s also sad that Rogers has adopted the quantity over quality mentality with Android.
50% of phones running 1.5/1.6 is unacceptable. They are THE #1 contributer to Android fragmentation in Canada and that is not a stat to be proud of.
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FYI: LG Eve OpenEtna has 2.2
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Speaking of upgrades, I have the Galaxy S from Bell. Since Samsung has said they’ll be doing the 2.2 upgrade via the atrocious Kies software, how are us Mac users supposed to get the upgrade?
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It’s really not that big of a deal to root your phone guys. Yes it voids your warranty but so does dropping your phone, or getting it wet, the most popular ways that you would need your phone replaced. Root it and reap the benefits of having 2.2 or 2.3 as soon as it comes out.
Of course, if you are technologically challenged (then why are you even reading a tech site??) then I would advise you against it but the risk to reward benefits are amazing.
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It’s not that simple. First of all, firmware made by modders almost ALWAYS have proprietary driver related bugs which can’t be fixed (ie: camera/bluetooth drivers).
Secondly ROMs aren’t made for all devices, it will depend on the popularity of your given device and of course this is counter intuitive as the best modders work on the phones that most people have, but in consequence the most popular phones are the ones that get updates.
Lastly the latest models of Android phones are becoming more and more difficult to root and a lot are using locked bootloaders (which is worse than not being able to root as it means no custom roms).
Root access =/= loading latest custom ROMs. Even if one does manage to load a custom it most likely have some very big flaws.
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I am now running a HTC Desire Z on Rogers. Got it for $499, unlocked it for $20, couldn’t be happier to finally have a very good handset with keyboard. Until 2.3 comes out, of course, depending what it brings (translucent UI elements hopefully indicate UI level graphics acceleration, which will finally cure the few slowdown issues and general performance/battery life).
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I like Android however there are things that lack o work.
Notes, e-mail, phone book…all seems unfinished for me….three accounts in the same phone and it is a mess…applications are amateur…
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Love my device (N1) & absolutely HATE my provider (Turdzilla aka Rogers)
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“The State of Android Fragmentation in Canada” might have been a better title for this one…
Having troubles deciding where my mobile money will land next time round. I don’t like the way Jobs runs Apple like an emperor, so iPhone is out for me. Although I’m going to miss corporate email (I commute via train and clean up the mess on my way to and from work), I don’t think I’ll be able to sit around and be jealous of every other smart phone out there again.
I’ve been heavily leaning towards Android for my next phone–if only I had an hardware refresh available I’d be all over that Captivate. The only thing that makes me hesitate is what a mess the ecosystem seems to continually be in.
I never thought I’d say this about a Microsoft mobile phone, but if they get the early kinks (read: multi-tasking) worked out in about a year when I’m up for an hardware update, I’ll actually seriously be looking at WP7 as well. Love the fluid operation, and the Zune software for syncing media. Time will tell, but I think they may be approaching things with a good balance of control, and seamless MS office integration gives me hope that they might end up giving blackberry a run for their money in the corporate world.
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Hey at least rogers has better reception than wind.
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Ok… one issue. Did anyone catch the “4 at Videotron”. Last time I checked they only had 3 (Motorola, Nexus One and Garmin) what’s the forth ?
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Motorola Spice
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2.2 for desire isn’t all its cracked up to be. The apps that can be saved to sd are generally not the integral ones. Battery life is 0% improved. There isn’t the same level if stability in some apps and even running 2 or more bluetooth connections simultaneously can cause some lagging performance issues with streaming to car audio system. 2.2.1 please? or 2.1 revert.
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Love my Liquid E.
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Very happy with my Desire Z so far, hopefully Bell and HTC will make the update to 2.3 speedy, but if not, well it’s been rooted and I guess Cyanogen is working on it already, though personally I haven’t tried it since 2.2 and Sense 2.0 are pretty sweet.
I hope Google starts to take a firmer stance on standards compliance in 2.3 now that Android has a solid market share though, and do things like force manufacturers to ship with a minimum version, and commit to updates within a certain timetable for phones capable of new versions. I understand they had to take a pretty hands-off approach to get so many manufacturers to play ball, but most of the overlays these companies are adding are pretty much worthless bloat which only serve to fragment the OS and slow updates. It would be nice if every Android phone had the option of simply toggling between stock android mode and whatever outdated overdressed overlay the OEM stuck on there.. but now I’m dreaming..
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Can I suggest some stats categories to add to the summary?
- Number of Android phones that Canadians can buy unlocked: ____.
- Number of Android phones that Canadians can buy which allow root access: ____.
These are obviously categories readers are interested in, judging by the comments section.
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Am loving my Telus HTC Desire, running 2.2.
Best improvement from the upgrade was not having to do the unlock code every time it went to sleep, no matter how short the interval.
The Apps to SD feature is more or less useless for now, as it’s up to the App developer to enable this option and allow you to move the apps. So, my internal memory is still extremely low from apps storage.
Battery life took some getting used to, but I’ve learned how to make it last (turn off background data, mobile data-always-on, and auto-sync unless you are actively using the phone, use wifi wherever possible).
Oh, and download Tasker! Makes your phone truly ‘smart’.
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I delayed and delayed and delayed the switch to Android because I was waiting for Rogers to release the Galaxy S. My Blackberry finally died the end of August so I ended up getting the Acer Liquid E (free replacement). I’m reasonably happy with the phone, it’s a bit big and not the most physically attractive (a bit like me), but once upgraded to Froyo, quite functional. The only thing I miss from the BB is the keyboard.
The real problem with the state of Android in Canada is the lack of choice and slowness from all of the carriers in releasing newer phones.
I’m committed to Rogers because of network synergies with family, work, wife’s work, etc. I wanted a fully featured Android phone, with a good hi-res display, GPS, Bluetooth, accelerometer, 5MP camera, that in the conceivable future run at least Android 2.1 and have a certain upgrade path to 2.2. With Rogers there was really only the Acer Liquid. The Sony Experia X-10 lacks hardware support for multi-touch and was running 1.6 at the time.
If Rogers had offered the Galaxy S in August, I would have been all over it.
Seems I am staying with Rogers, I don’t mind the 3 year contract so much – it makes the other options (paying full price for an unlocked phone) far less attractive. I just wish there were more choices.
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I love my HTC Hero, but I recently bought my wife the Samsung Captivate and now my Hero feels REALLY slow. 2 more years to go on my contract!
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I just got my HTC Desire from Telus two weeks. It replaced my iPhone and I couldn’t be happier.
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f
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