This decision is turning out to be more difficult than I expected.
I'm taking a serious look at the Lumia 928, BlackBerry Q10 or Z10, and iPhone 5. (I'm so over Android after having a Galaxy Nexus for a year. It's not in the picture for me.)
I can see the good and bad in each platform, and I wish I could just take the best elements of each and create my own "super smartphone".
A week ago, I was set on going BlackBerry. But after reading the WPCentral forums and product reviews, Windows Phone 8 is really growing on me.
Last night I started making my own side-by-side comparison chart between the Lumia 928, BB Q10, BB Z10, and iPhone 5. I was kind of surprised by what I've come up with so far.
On paper, the BB10 devices have the best overall hardware and the best OS, yet they have the weakest app support. iPhone 5 has the weakest hardware (by today's standards) and dated OS, but the best app support. The Lumia 928 is somewhere in the middle. And that right there is a big reason I might go Windows Phone.
The more I research, the more I think Windows Phone really has the potential to explode in popularity as a mobile computing platform - especially as it matures over time. And if it does gain that momentum, it will be because it has found that sweet spot - that balance between form and functionality, between communication/productivity and content consumption.
Of all the platforms I've been researching, I think Windows Phone has the most potential. The question is...will Microsoft do things right and harness that potential? Or will they miss the boat like did with Zune?
If I can feel confident enough in Microsoft's ability to sustain and grow Windows Phone into the future, then I will gladly give it a try and adopt it as my next smartphone of choice.