After making headlines in 2010 by yanking its recommendation of the iPhone 4, the advocacy group Consumer Reports is now picking Android smartphones as a better buy than the iconic Apple handset. A review pointing to larger screens and faster 4G networks seems to run counter to record-breaking sales of the iPhone 4S.

The Samsung Galaxy S II and Motorola Droid Bionic were among “several other” smartphones powered by Google’s mobile software which the group ranks above the iPhone. The Android preference comes despite Consumer Reports announcing antenna problems with the iPhone 4 seemed fixed in the latest iPhone 4S. The “special tests” conducted also confirmed the 8GB iPhone 4 “continues to exhibit that problem.”

Last year, Consumer Reports pulled its recommendation of the iPhone 4 after discovering reception was reduced by covering the handset’s bottom left corner with your bare hand. The news sparked “Antennagate,” a flurry of reports that even caused the usually reticent Apple to hold a press conference explaining all phones suffered the same reception oddities. Eventually, the Cupertino, Calif. company gave away free iPhone 4 cases that avoided the bare hand issue.

Although the iPhone 4 went out to become Apple’s best-selling handset, the iPhone 4S – complete with redesigned antenna and support for both GSM and CDMA wireless networks – broke the previous record. Apple sold more than 4 million of the new handsets in just the first weekend.