The dust has settled and our first round of Epic App Battles of Android has concluded. There were some winners and there were some losers. Here is a summary of the battles.
1st Battle: Pandora vs. Slacker
| Battle #1 | Total Points |
|---|---|
| Pandora | 24 |
| Slacker | 27 |
Summary
It seems that Pandora, being a veteran, got too comfortable in its place in the streaming audio market, allowing other apps to encroach on its territory. Now we have other services that offer the same features as Pandora and more.
Before this battle I had never used Slacker, and I really felt no needed to because I have been a loyal fan of Spotify for the last 2 years and have paid my monthly dues faithfully. Slacker is an extremely well designed app that offers an array of interesting and useful features. It is also easy to use and created a fun user experience.
Read entire battle here.
2nd Battle:Â Spotify vs. Songza
| Battle #2 | Total Points |
|---|---|
| Spotify | 23.5 |
| Songza | 18.5 |
Summary
Songza really didn’t have a chance against all mighty Spotify. Spotify offers everything, well the one thing, that Songza offers and a whole lot more. Not to mention that Spotify also manages to do it loads more elegantly than Songza did.
Songza is just too simple of an app. It really does fill like more someone’s Senior project than a marketable and functional app.
I actually have to thank Songza though. After this experience, I found Spotify to be so vastly superior to Songza that I went out and paid for the premium version of Spotify. Spotify’s Connect feature and other features deserve the $9.99 a month.
3rd Battle:Â Google Play vs. Amazon Prime
| Battle #3 | Total Points |
|---|---|
| Google Play | 25.4 |
| Amazon Prime | 24.9 |
Summary
Google emerged from the fight as the victor. Amazon Prime is the leader in value, because of the lower price and multiple other benefits.  Unfortunately, that’s not enough to take down Google. Amazon is simply unable to compete with Google’s massive catalog, and superior features.
Read entire battle here.
4th Battle: Beats vs. Tidal
| Battle #4 | Total Points |
|---|---|
| Beats Music | 22 |
| Tidal | 24 |
Summary
With better features, a larger catalog, and more flexible pricing tiers, Dr. Dre’s Beats really didn’t have much of chance against Jay Z’s Tidal.
Read entire battle here.
Next week’s lineup
What do you think? Do you agree with our picks? Who do you think will win the next round of battles? Let us know in the comments.
