My 2 year-old iPhone 3GS has about had it. It’s painfully slow despite a few full restores and I’ve been having a lot of volume/speaker issues. The speaker will just stop working at random times. And when listening with headphones, any headphones, the left side is clearly much louder than the right.

I’m eligible for an AT&T upgrade. No, I won’t consider changing carriers. AT&T coverage is fine where I live. Furthermore, there are 5 lines in our family plan all with varying upgrade dates. Just not feasible to switch.

I’ve been holding out for the mythical iPhone 5. But should I go Android?

Pro-Android:

• I have 3 email accounts, all Gmail. I use Google Voice, Google+, Google Calendar, etc. I’d say that 75% of the time I’m using my iPhone, it’s to access a Google service. I only plug my iPhone in to a computer these days to back up. Everything else syncs over the air to something non-Apple. I don’t even use iCal or Address Book on the desktop.
• Android phones seem to be much cheaper with contract than iPhones.
• A quick search of the Android Marketplace reveals that most of my favorite iPhone apps have Android equivalents, mostly free. In fact, the only application I use that doesn’t exist on Android yet is Salesforce and I know that’s coming soon.
• I heard Google Maps on Android is fabulous.
• I’m not entirely a fan of Apple’s anti-competitive app store policies, such as forcing developers to remove links to 3rd party stores.
• I like new toys and learning new things in tech. I’ve been using the iPhone for 3 years, which is the longest I’ve ever used the same mobile OS. Yes, I’m getting an itch for change.

Anti-Android:

• On AT&T right now it looks like my options are the Samsung Infuse, Samsung Captivate, HTC Inspire or Motorola Atrix. Samsung Galaxy? I have no idea how to really compare these phones and make the right decision, aside from reading thousands of reviews. With the iPhone, you know exactly what you’re getting.
• AT&T’s track record on deploying Android OS upgrades. These phones are all currently running Android 2.2 (I think). Seems they’re finally getting upgrades to Android 2.3. What happens on Google’s next OS release? Do I want to be frustrated with Apple or AT&T?
• What is the life cycle on these phones? I’m going to be committed to a phone for at least a year, if not longer (AT&T typically qualifies me early for upgrades). What’s on the horizon? Just as it’s silly to get an iPhone 4 today with new phones coming in September, should I wait for Android too?

Blogging this is helping me make my decision…I think the pros are outweighing the cons. Now to figure out which Android phone is for me and if now is the right time to jump. Suggestions?