New phone reccomendations

Technology and Gaming
#1

Hi all!

I’m looking at upgrading my current mobile phone, a crappy old iPhone 3G. I’m looking at getting an Android, maybe a Samsung or HTC, but there are so many models out there to choose from, I literally don’t know where to start!. I was hoping someone with more knowledge about Droid phones would be able to reccomend something. I’m not looking for anything top of the line or super expensive, I would mostly be using it for texting, phone calls and maybe a few games. A built in music player and memory card expansion slot would be nice too. Thanks!

#2

I am still leaning towards the galaxy nexus, I didn’t like what HTC did by partnering with Monster cables(the only company I hate more than apple). All I can tell you is that there are shitloads of different Android phones from many companies, the difference can be minor like a built-in kick-stand or major like a built-in projector, but features like LED flash and NFC are starting to become mandatory. Right now they are pushing out 720p quad cores at 1.5ghz and 1GB of RAM. Soon (next year) they will be selling full 1080p phones with intel chips (so you could put windows 8 and Steam on it)

Just don’t buy one that lacks a removable battery, and SD card slot, find the best price and preferably a jelly bean compatible phone.

Anyway it highly depends on your cell phone carrier, if you’re with Verizon or some other CDMA provider you’ll want an LTE phone, otherwise you’re just looking for HSPA+

#3

The Nexus does look very sleek and sexy, but it seems like more of a high end phone, and one of the few phones running on the Jellybean OS. Most online stores seem to sell it for around $300-400 unlocked, which is a bit out of my price range for a new phone. As for network carriers, I’m not sure if we even have CDMA networks in Australia, but I think most users have HSPA or GSM coverage.

#4

Yeah the Gnexus was a high-end phone but some of my friends in the Montreal ghetto already have it among other phones like the HTC one S and Galaxy Note so I figured it’s gone down to mid-range already, at least in Canada. I went through dozens of android phones since the G1 and basically it all comes down to specs because android phones can be rooted and flashed to a clean google ROM, it’s simpler to run the stock Google UI than HTC Sense/Samsung TouchWiz/Motorola Blur/whatever and is generally more stable and has higher app compatibility than modified android.

About price, I really can’t tell you because I don’t know Australian pricing on phones or cell service. But Canada has the most overpriced internet and cell phone service in the world. I used to have an unlocked GSM android with unlimited voice + text for 45$/month, now I’m using a locked proprietary phone(ZTE N860) with a new prepaid carrier that offers unlimited everything (even data) for the same price.

#5

Don’t know about the price, but of the android phones I used, the note, the galaxy s3 and the one x were my favorite. All had good looking screens that were very smooth and responsive to touch. The note/note 2 is of course a big ol phablet, which is cool if that’s what you’re into, and the s3 and one x are still quite large but I like the size, not too big and not too small. I ended up getting the iPhone 5 simply because my brother, president of our little IT company, was paying and wanted me to be on the same ecosystem as him so that we would be sure to have compatability for any productivity apps we might want to use or whatnot. Anyway, the point is, if I could, I would have gone back and gotten an s3 or one x if I could, for android openness, aesthetics, and larger screen. Performance is technically worse but it hardly matters as long as the interface is fluid and everything runs well, which as far as I could tell it does.

#6

Would definitely recommend a HTC. Just upgraded (nothing wrong with the other phone at all) from a Desire S to a One X and they’ve both been brilliant phones. The battery life is excellent, unlike my old iPhone. The only downside to the One X is that it doesn’t have a SD expansion slot, although with 32GB of internal storage it’s not entirely necessary. I’ve struggled to fill it anyway. And Beats Audio actually manages to live up to its hype.

#7

I’m definitely leaning towards an HTC, they seem very sleek and responsive from what I’ve seen. Even the models from a few years ago would be fine. Like I said, it doesn’t even have to be a relatively new or flashy phone, anything would be better than this POS 3G. The Desire S looks quite nice.

#8

Get an HTC one S if you don’t want top-of-the-line.

#9

My vote goes for the Galaxy S3. Very responsive, and it has survived multiple drunken drops onto pavement without damage. It’s got a lot of horsepower if you ever happen to need it. The core in it allows you to undervolt quit a lot while maintaining stability and performance.
I would suggest that if you decide on it, load on a recent release of siyah kernel, and make sure to use a Samsung based rom. Right now, non Samsung based roms I’ve found have been quite buggy. Cyanogen was my old standby, but there are a lot of bugs in it right now.

#10

If you go HTC, I don’t recommend the one S, I’ve seen 4 of them all 4 had cracked screens within days of purchase. Again maybe we have cheap glass here in Canada. The HTC Incredible S (in the US its called Incredible 2) is a very long-lasting phone with decent CPU(overclockable to 1.6ghz), 768mb of RAM and it has NEON hardware acceleration so it can play fluid 720p videos on Flash Player sites like Youtube, without killing the battery. Plus it has a very decent camera app, 8mp, tap to focus and 720p video.

#11

Get Supernexus. It’s my daily driver and it’s awesome.

#12

I tried that one a while back.
Had wake locks and camera issues.
Was pretty smooth though.
Might give it a try again soon though.
I have a habit of switching through roms far too often. I’m using Demonic right now. It works well.

#13

No wake locks for me.

Stock camera is still buggy but I flashed the 4.2 camera through CWM and I love it.

#14

Nokia Lumia

#15

Don’t be a fag, get yourself a real phone like I have…

The Samsung E2121B is where it’s at.

#16

I have an iPhone 4S, but if you don’t want to go back to Apple, I’d recommend the latest HTC for the best UI, or a Nokia Lumia for the best build quality. Samsung are fast becoming the new Apple - their products are equipped with an array of useless hyped features at an unreasonable price (although unlike Apple, their build quality is one of the worst on the market, and they’re just to big to be phones).

I’m sticking with Apple at the moment, in hope of a UI reform.

#17

I’m not sure anywhere still sells that phone. :stuck_out_tongue:

#18

The AT&T Z221. It has a camera!

#19

€19

#20

Ahhhh Bur has the same one as me.
I don’t actually have an E2121B, I just didn’t know the exact name of my model and the E2121B seemed to be the closest one.

Yeah, I have the one Bur just posted.

Why would I need a fancy expensive phone? So I can avoid moments of my life where I’m not hardwired to Facebook?

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