Some call it fragmentation; others proclaim choice. Whatever side of the fence you stand, is it clear there a lot of Android devices out there. Exactly how many, you ask? OpenSignalMaps, an app/service that helps users find the best data and WiFi signals, conducted a study tracking how many different Android devices use their app. The number they found is staggering. According to the study conducted by OpenSignalMaps, there are 3,997 unique Android devices in existence. Holy. Sh!t.

Over six months OpenSignalMaps logged the model, brand, version of Android, and screen size of each new device that downloaded the app. In total OpenSignalMaps was able to gather data about 681,900 devices. Based off this data OpenSignalMaps finds:

• There are 3,997 unique Android devices; Samsung Galaxy S2 is the most popular.

• There are 599 device brands (i.e. manufacturers); Samsung is the most popular.

• Gingerbread is the most commonly used version of Android.

• The screen resolution for devices range from as small as 240×180 to as large as 2040×1152.

Now the numbers quoted above aren’t 100% accurate. As OpenSignalMaps concedes, the existence of after-market modifications, such as custom ROMs, affects the number of devices and brands logged. For example, 1,363 device models were logged only once each so some of these may be due to custom ROMS (not different devices) although many of these are indeed real but unpopular devices, such as the Indian Lemon P1 and the Hungarian Concorde Tab. Nonetheless, even accounting for an unknown margin of error and study limitations, the numbers shown by OpenSignalMaps are staggering although maybe not very surprising.

[via OpenSignalMaps]