In regards to iPhone 4 fragility. I can attest that it, for the most part, is fragile as hell if it meets "just the right" situations. Like flying out of your shirt pocket on to concrete, getting hit out of your hand and flying into a car, or having a hard shell case on day one, and the back glass shattering in your pocket from "incorrectly sitting". All which happened to me within 14 months. I'm on my 3rd iPhone 4. The last one I replaced the back with a $6 replacement from some guy on Craigslist and took it back to Apple. They replaced it on the spot free of charge for a "hairline crack" on the front, (was in the 90 warranty.) I did have to pay $150 for the 2nd replacement because it was 2 months out of warranty. I will say, my circumstances aren't unique to me only, but they aren't AS common (except the sitting and the shirt pocket), they should still be look at in terms of risk vs reward. I wear slacks all day, almost every day, and it's just too damn uncomfortable with the otterbox defender case, so I have a "cheap" hard-shell slimline plastic case, hopefully will get me another 14 months.
The iPhone 4 Battery is VERY easy to replace, and the Apple Store informed me 2 weeks ago, that, opening the back really won't void the warranty, or at least, they don't really care.. YMMV, but you do need a Pentalobe screwdriver, and a small phillips. Two screws on the bottom, then one on the battery connector, and it pops out easily enough.
My 3GS however, was pretty damn tough. Even when it wasn't inside the otterbox case. AND, the LCD and Digitizer were not fuzed together, allowing for much cheaper repairs. Screw replacing the battery as easily though.
All that said, I've used my father's "Note" and my friends' (plural possessive) G2s, Droids, and the ilk. I try not to judge blindly. But of all the ones I've tried, none of the interfaces felt nearly as seamless and fluid as iOS. Verizon phones however failed doubly bad in my opinion. I do dislike Apple's avoidance to allowing proper use of our devices, features like the serial interface, WIFI WarDriving Apps, and other useful features would be a great boon to people in my position, especially if it would allow me to avoid jailbreaking if I needed to use them.
(Yes, I know the Serial API's are now technically available to developers, but only to approved hardware vendors, last I checked, not my Cisco Rollover Cables.)
As far as Apps go, I use OS X daily, so it does also allow for a better integration to my daily life. I would not get a iPhone 4S however. The price vs feature difference is not justifiable imho.
Anyway, I lost interest in my point, so... good luck in your search.
