Smart Phone recommendations

[djos]

all i can say about Android phones and windows phones is..every single person i know who has got one has traded it in for the iPhone 4s or if they are on contract, hate it.

the iPhone isn't perfect by a long way and is restrictive in some silly areas but it works and works well. thats why every one else copied it.

I have to agree, i really disliked my 6months with android and even custom ICS roms only made it more bearable - whenever i'd go home and pick up my iPad2 I would think "this is how it should be, everything just works and is simple and intuitive".

Android really lacks polish and that attention to detail Apple have used to make their products so good!

---------- Post added at 18:57 ---------- Previous post was at 18:48 ----------

Btw, as a user in a corp Exchange environment Android really sh!t me to tears, no matter which version of android or which stock/custom rom I tried all had really flaky Exchange support - calendars would just stop syncing and require you to perform 15mins of fixing to get it back, email didnt support push properly and sync's failed frequently.

I also hated the stupid separate Gmail app that if you didnt use stopped the new gmail notifications from working properly - on iOS I have 1 email app that works properly, the only missing feature is exchange "out of office" but the rest works properly!

iOS notifications are much better (not to mention iOS numerical icon notifications) and give you more control over how they work than android does - I hated how I had to unlock my phone just to read a new text msg, on ios I can read it on the lock screen!

one last thing, in android why do i need 5 app shortcut screens and an Apps menu where all the apps really live?, this is just plain stupid!

 

[Harrison]

I'm a big fan of the Sony Xperia range. Prefer the design and their customisation of the ui over others.

The Samsung Galaxy S III is very nice, but the same price as an iPhone, so it really comes down to which you prefer.

 

[thomas_red]

Motorola rulez I'm happy owner of Motorola Milestone (first rev) and i'm sure, will stay with this baby forever Good looking one (fantastic tiny gold details) with bright and sharp screen, android based, good camera but poor led flash, properly layout keyboard. And the most important for me, it's very well made, you can feel it from first touch, similiar experience to my old beloved Motorola V3.

Another advantage: price. You can easly find one on evilbay in range of £70-150 in nice condition. I bought mine for £140 NOS inc postage.

 

[woodycool]

It would be more productive for you if you specify what your requirements are

Good point!
I'm looking for the following:

• absolute most important feature: to be able to send/receive email on the move
• 3G connectivity capabilities a must
• internet/web apps: facebook & twitter would be nice
• price: unfortunately I'm on a budget here, so if I end up with iPhone recommendations, I'll probably have to delve into the second hand market, probably the same with the Samsung offerings
• another absolute must: I don't want to have to seriously mess around with the phone to get it to do what I want. Despite being technical, I want my phone to 'just work' - the more time I spend messing with it, the less time I spend doing something productive!
• a small level of customisation would be nice, but not essential. I still had all the default settings on my iPhone 3GS before its death apart from moving a couple of icons around and changing the ring tone
• battery life must be semi-decent, if not, the battery should be replaceable easily (in other words, I don't want to have to disassemble my phone to replace the battery if it dies)
• absolute must: unlocked or 'SIM free' is a must - I know how to do this with an iPhone, but unaware with other devices, so will either need to look for an unlocked phone or easy instructions on how to do so.

That might sound like a lot, but really, it's just connectivity, sim free and simplicity I'm looking for.

 

[Hell_Labs]

Android without question. Atleast then you got some freedom to choose simple basic options like your own ringtones (just one example of many).

Must be nice living in 2007, since you never left.

 

[Harrison]

Ever used a Blackberry Hell_Labs?

 

[Hell_Labs]

No, so I won't say anything about what they can do. I will say that I'd rather have a big touchscreen than a fixed clicky keyboard though.

And yes, iPhones can change ringtones to anything you want. They've been able to for years. Not long after the launch, I'll bet.

 

[ratfink]

It would be more productive for you if you specify what your requirements are

Good point!
I'm looking for the following:

• absolute most important feature: to be able to send/receive email on the move
• 3G connectivity capabilities a must
• internet/web apps: facebook & twitter would be nice
• price: unfortunately I'm on a budget here, so if I end up with iPhone recommendations, I'll probably have to delve into the second hand market, probably the same with the Samsung offerings
• another absolute must: I don't want to have to seriously mess around with the phone to get it to do what I want. Despite being technical, I want my phone to 'just work' - the more time I spend messing with it, the less time I spend doing something productive!
• a small level of customisation would be nice, but not essential. I still had all the default settings on my iPhone 3GS before its death apart from moving a couple of icons around and changing the ring tone
• battery life must be semi-decent, if not, the battery should be replaceable easily (in other words, I don't want to have to disassemble my phone to replace the battery if it dies)
• absolute must: unlocked or 'SIM free' is a must - I know how to do this with an iPhone, but unaware with other devices, so will either need to look for an unlocked phone or easy instructions on how to do so.

That might sound like a lot, but really, it's just connectivity, sim free and simplicity I'm looking for.

I'd still say nokia lumia 710, for me it "just works", but I have zero boredom threshold with phones and cameras. £120 from carphone warehouse.

A few years back all carphone warehouse phones were unlocked to all networks [except maybe to 3]. Might be worth checking if they still are.

 

[protek]

Nokia Lumia 800. I like the design and Microsoft's take on mobile phone UI. It gets the job done for phone calls, email and surfing. The Nokia navigation isn't bad either. Marketplace may have less software than other platforms but I've found pretty much all I needed. Battery life could be better but I doubt any smartphone will last much longer. I also like making my own software on it.

 

[Hell_Labs]

I'm going to say don't buy a windows 7 Phone. Microsoft have been repeatedly asked about upgrading to 8, and they repeatedly refuse to answer one way or another.

Which in english, Microsoft are saying "no you can't, but if we admit it the osbourne effect will kick our arse". Either that or they were too busy trying to stop ballmer from pulling his bib off.

 

[jujasi]

Samsung Galaxy S2 here does all you want , however the price tag comes with it.

The only downside to the S2 is battery life, mine has to be charged every night else it runs out after 30 hours or so

 

[Harrison]

@Hell_Labs. You therefore missed my point and didn't get the comment above mine about changing ring tones. Basically went over your head! You can only use the built in ring tones on a Blackberry!

 

[nick123]

Nokia lumia. I use the 800 but 710 you can get to the battery from what im told.
never owned a android but never seen any good bits on those phones battery life on the galaxy that my mate had was really bad 4 hours if lucky. Every other android I've seen seams to have some sort of problem some times crashes this was blamed on un signed apps. After 1 android phone was updated the phone was so slow it was almost not useable.

 

[Powerpie5000]

I've been using a Nokia Lumia 800 for a while now and it mostly does what i want it to, but i sometimes wish i'd stuck with an Android phone for some reason... The battery life on the Lumia 800 is not brilliant either :roll:

 

[woodycool]

I completely forgot to mention, one of the email accounts I use is an MS Exchange account (the rest are POP/IMAP) - I now the Blackberry and the iPhone can both do these, what about the others?

 

[nick123]

I completely forgot to mention, one of the email accounts I use is an MS Exchange account (the rest are POP/IMAP) - I now the Blackberry and the iPhone can both do these, what about the others?

the company i work for doesnt use exchange any more and to be honest i dont have works email set up on my phone anyway but just done a quick search and the nokia luimia works with m$ exchange i found a link how to set it up http://help.vodafone.co.uk/system/s...ID=401071&DISPLAY=DEVICE&HANDLERMODE=NOJSPAGE

 

[djos]

I completely forgot to mention, one of the email accounts I use is an MS Exchange account (the rest are POP/IMAP) - I now the Blackberry and the iPhone can both do these, what about the others?

read my post here, exchange on android really stinks:

https://www.amibay.com/showpost.php?p=319705&postcount=21

if you cant afford an iPhone i'd suggest a Nokia running win-phone 7.5 - while i dont really like the interface myself, they just work and dont require all the stuffing about that android phones need because of all the bloatware that comes on them.

As you would expect, exchange support on win-phone 7.5 is very good.

---------- Post added at 09:14 ---------- Previous post was at 09:10 ----------

It would be more productive for you if you specify what your requirements are

Good point!
I'm looking for the following:

• another absolute must: I don't want to have to seriously mess around with the phone to get it to do what I want. Despite being technical, I want my phone to 'just work' - the more time I spend messing with it, the less time I spend doing something productive!

That might sound like a lot, but really, it's just connectivity, sim free and simplicity I'm looking for.

Avoid Android like the plague then, the carrier and OEM bloatware is just diabolical on most droid phones and the main way to get rid of it requires rooting your phone and installing a custom rom and many of these roms have their own issues to frustrate!

 

[Ericgb1]

I have had more then my fair share of phone and of all of them has to be iPhone best of the lot either 4 or 3GS beats android hands down have had nokia lumia as well good but bit quite got software the iPhones have

 

[Tajmaster]

I have a Sony Erricson Xperia Arc S ( http://www.gsmarena.com/sony_ericsson_xperia_arc_s-4134.php ), and I must sat its damn well the best phone Ive ever had.

The screen is big and vibrant, it runs nice and quick and the camera is the best Ive ever used on a phone, which is perfect for me as Im forever taking pictures and videos of my kitten
Its running Android 4.0 which Sony released a month or two ago. A few people had feared that the phone may struggle with Android 4.0 because it "only" has 512MB RAM, but in my experience, while it may have the odd hiccup, it works perfectly on 4.0 and the battery life is much better. I sync my email upto it and Im constantly on the web (Amibay) on the built in browser (which is why I drain the battery all the time lol).

Ive also got a HTC Wildfire S and a HTC Desire, both of which are very capable Android phones. Ive found the cameras on HTC phones are not always brilliant but HTC have their software done well. Their email client is superb and works very well with Exchange (we use HTCs as our corporate phone of choice at work).

Id say that either an Xperia Arc S or a HTC Sensation XE (a bit better spec than the Xperia) are good phones for you to go with. You should notice the XE drop in price shortly as HTC have just released their new "One" range.

 

[r0jaws]

Guys, I would just like to point out that Woody has asked for a recommendation for a phone based on your own experience and tailored to his requirements, not a diatribe about how your personal choice is the best and all others suxxor.

We are not politicians, you do not make your "party" look better by running the rest down. If you have to do that, then your choice probably isn't as good as you'd like to think.