Google chairman Eric Schmidt has dismissed claims that Android is insecure by claiming “it’s more secure than the iPhone.” The platform, which has more than a billion users worldwide, goes through rigorous real-world testing, Schmidt said, before promising consumers would be happier with Android “more than you can possibly imagine.”

Schmidt was taking questions at the Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2013 on Monday, and a number of his quick-fire responses against competing products gleaned laughter from the audience, ZDNet reports. None more so than his claims about Android security, and how it’s safer than the iPhone.

“If you polled many people in this audience they would say Google Android is not their principal platform,“ said analyst David Willis, who runs Gartner’s Senior Research Board. “When you say Android, people say, wait a minute, Android is not secure.”

“Not secure? It’s more secure than the iPhone,” Schmidt promptly replied.

Google has certainly made efforts to improve Android’s security with every release, and despite worrying reports about malware and other vulnerabilities, users can easily ensure that their devices are safe by simply not downloading software from untrusted sources.

In the latest versions of Android, there is a built-in malware scanner that automatically checks apps for any malicious code before they are installed.

Schmidt also shrugged off the suggested that Android is fragmented by explaining, “with Android we have an agreement for vendors that you keep the Android stores compatible and that is a great breakthrough for Android.”

Schmidt then concluded by saying, “you will be happier with Gmail, Chrome and Android more than you can possibly imagine.”

Ironically, Schmidt himself only recently became an Android user — despite being Google’s chairman since 2011, and the search giant’s CEO for ten years before that. Earlier this year, he admitted he was a BlackBerry user and fan due to their trademark physical keyboards.

• ViaZDNet