Which Smartphone?

[evilkleg]

I am about to upgrade from my old phone which is an HTC touch diamond about 3 years (or more) old. The problem is, I'm so out of touch with what's available now, I'd like some recommendations. Also, my carrier is Bell but I have ZERO loyalty to them. I wouldn't mind keeping my current plan with Bell, but don't necessarily want to enter into a contract with them again unless they offer some good hardware for cheap (meaning FREE).

Also, I'm not really considering an Iphone (please don't tell me how great they are. I know they make a great phone, but I won't use Itunes...).

Any ideas?

[djemzine]

I am about to upgrade from my old phone which is an HTC touch diamond about 3 years (or more) old. The problem is, I'm so out of touch with what's available now, I'd like some recommendations. Also, my carrier is Bell but I have ZERO loyalty to them. I wouldn't mind keeping my current plan with Bell, but don't necessarily want to enter into a contract with them again unless they offer some good hardware for cheap (meaning FREE).

Also, I'm not really considering an Iphone (please don't tell me how great they are. I know they make a great phone, but I won't use Itunes...).

Any ideas?

First of all, the thread belongs here: http://forums.redflagdeals.com/cell-phones-f88/

To answer your question, here are few questions I have to ask you or you can ask yourself:

1) What is your budget?
2) Do you prefer a phone with a physical keyboard (aka Blackberry) or prefer a touch screen phone (Android)?
3) What features are you looking for in the phone/what will you be using the phone for primarily?

Based on those, others and myself can surely help you out.

[uber_shnitz]

Well do you have any particular needs? I mean, Android is pretty much the norm aside from iOS unless you want to give Windows Phone 7 or Blackberry OS a try.

If you decide to go for Android, are you a "tinker"? Android is popular because there are many ways to tinker and customize the software (similar to jailbreaking iDevices but even more varied) so really most people only buy phones for hardware and tinker the software. Are you that kind of person or do you simply use the phone out of the box and never look back?

[evilkleg]

1) What is your budget?
2) Do you prefer a phone with a physical keyboard (aka Blackberry) or prefer a touch screen phone (Android)?
3) What features are you looking for in the phone/what will you be using the phone for primarily?

Based on those, others and myself can surely help you out.

1) Pretty much unlimited if I like the phone
2) Don't need a physical keyboard
3) I want to be able to play movies and files from my desktop computer on my phone with little or no conversion. I have little need of social media stuff as I am not on facebook or any other thing like that. And (I know this may sound silly) but I would like something that works very well as a phone. I still make quite a few calls...

I'm guessing android is in my future.

[evilkleg]

Well do you have any particular needs? I mean, Android is pretty much the norm aside from iOS unless you want to give Windows Phone 7 or Blackberry OS a try.

If you decide to go for Android, are you a "tinker"? Android is popular because there are many ways to tinker and customize the software (similar to jailbreaking iDevices but even more varied) so really most people only buy phones for hardware and tinker the software. Are you that kind of person or do you simply use the phone out of the box and never look back?

I'll probably tinker if I can find good advice from my friends here at RFD.

[djemzine]

1) Pretty much unlimited if I like the phone
2) Don't need a physical keyboard
3) I want to be able to play movies and files from my desktop computer on my phone with little or no conversion. I have little need of social media stuff as I am not on facebook or any other thing like that. And (I know this may sound silly) but I would like something that works very well as a phone. I still make quite a few calls...

I'm guessing android is in my future.

Well that being said, I guess Android is the way go to then.

Here are my choices for recommendation, but before I do, would you like a phone with an expandable memory or does that not matter? Meaning some phones such as the Galaxy Nexus, HTC One V/S/X don't have expandable memory but a set amount of storage, i.e. 16GB. So unless you want a phone with a micro sd card slot, then the Galaxy Nexus and the HTC One series are out of your question.

Android phones can play any media file with the right player. The stock player might but with a player like PowerAmp (great for playing FLAC music, m4a, mkvs) or Mobo Player too can pretty much play those files right out of the box with no conversion.

As for quality wise in terms, HTC makes excellent and durable phones with a solid build, whilst Samsung phones make lighter phones with a plastic build.

Any how, here are my choices and they are in no way ranked by from worst to best or vice versa:

(1) Samsung Galaxy Nexus ($350 to $420) market price depending on condition
(2) Samsung Galaxy S2, S2X, S2 LTE or S2 HD LTE ($300 to $520) market price depending on which model
(3) HTC One V (sub $300 range), HTC One S and X ($450 to $550) market price depending again on model
(4) Samsung Galaxy S III - new, to be released soon, 4.8" (expensive)
(5) Motorola Droid RAZR - amazing battery life but non removable battery
(6) Samsung Galaxy Note LTE/non LTE - 5.3" screen ($450 to $500) best bang for the buck? Albeit the big screen size

Those are some suggestions and I am sure others can add to the list. Of course the retail prices are much more expensive and you pay taxes.

I have another question, what's the ideal screen size you would like in a phone? They range from 4" to 5.3"

[djemzine]

I'll probably tinker if I can find good advice from my friends here at RFD.

For tinkering, I'd recommend going with HTC or Samsung as they offer a lot of custom ROMs (customized versions of ICS) and they have a huge development support, especially the Galaxy Nexus since it is pure vanilla/stock Android with no carrier bloatware and such)

[xXxTehxXx]

I went with the RAZR, absolutely incredible phone. Made the jump to Android and never looked back, such a solid OS alongside a powerful device. ICS (Android 4.0) is coming to the RAZR soon, some leaks have hit the net already. Loads of customization, but this is true on any Android device. Once you've rooted (like jailbreaking for the iPhone), the possibilities are endless.

I'd suggest you go into a mobile store and play around with some of the Android phones. A lot of them have the same features and run the same OS, the only difference will be the look and feel of the device. Considering a phone is something you keep with you for 3-4 years, you should select a phone that has the functionality that you want and the look you want.

[uber_shnitz]

Did you like your old HTC? If so, what did you like about it?

If there's some specific featuers that you like in your HTC maybe we can recommend you either a newer HTC or something of the like.

Personally speaking I'd go with either HTC or Samsung brand-wise. Motorola locks their bootloaders so tinkering is severely hampered with it. HTC is good for the actual phone design whereas Samsung is great for the internals.

[Busybuyer888]

Windows Mobile 7 phones are also a good option, for non-tinkering.

I was an Android user for 1.5 years, and picked up a Windows phone, I really like it.

The phone OS/interface is very useful/easy from a Smartphone user perspective.

The main weakness is not a lot of FREE apps for WinMob 7. (Angry Birds is not free.)

I know understand why Apple is upset with Android for copying the iOS UI.

As OP is coming from a WinMob 6 phone, OP might not mind the fewer apps issue.

The Nokia 710 is prices very well at around $250 for a powerful smartphone.

[djemzine]

I went with the RAZR, absolutely incredible phone. Made the jump to Android and never looked back, such a solid OS alongside a powerful device. ICS (Android 4.0) is coming to the RAZR soon, some leaks have hit the net already. Loads of customization, but this is true on any Android device. Once you've rooted (like jailbreaking for the iPhone), the possibilities are endless.

I'd suggest you go into a mobile store and play around with some of the Android phones. A lot of them have the same features and run the same OS, the only difference will be the look and feel of the device. Considering a phone is something you keep with you for 3-4 years, you should select a phone that has the functionality that you want and the look you want.

It is a nice phone but the fact that Motorola has been slow on their updates (have had bad experiences before with the original Droid, Atrix lines), plus their UI "MotoBlur" isn't the greatest when compared to HTC Sense or Touch Wiz by Samsung. However that is an opinion of mine.


Did you like your old HTC? If so, what did you like about it?

If there's some specific featuers that you like in your HTC maybe we can recommend you either a newer HTC or something of the like.

Personally speaking I'd go with either HTC or Samsung brand-wise. Motorola locks their bootloaders so tinkering is severely hampered with it. HTC is good for the actual phone design whereas Samsung is great for the internals.

Very true.

[desidealer49]

HTC One X or SGS3.

I would have recommended a Lumia 900 but you cannot play videos with out spending some time converting them (yourself or Zune desktop software). I have nothing against iTunes or Zune, but i cannot convince myself to use a desktop management software and still manage everything on it myself when i can simply drag and drop files so android is the way to go for now.

Or iPhone if you jailbreak and get pwntunes on it and then you can drag and drop android style. But the screen is a bit small for videos. I used it on my recent trip and it wasn't much fun; after a while i just turned it off and watched the on board entertainment instead :P.

I have no idea if there is a WP7 hack to bypass Zune; but even if you do that, you will still need to convert as there are no apps on WP7 to play non Zune formats.

[evilkleg]

Wow. Lots of options! Thanks for the help.

I really like the build quality of the HTC I have now. I'm amazed it's lasted this long without me destroying it! I'm not very nice to my phones...
Looks like I need to go and actually play with some of the phones available to me. I would go with HTC based on their previous build quality but Samsung looks go too.

I would probably like the biggest screen possible because I like to watch videos.

I'm not super keen on going with a Windows phone this time around. Just seems like more flexability with android.

[desidealer49]

Wow. Lots of options! Thanks for the help.

I really like the build quality of the HTC I have now. I'm amazed it's lasted this long without me destroying it! I'm not very nice to my phones...
Looks like I need to go and actually play with some of the phones available to me. I would go with HTC based on their previous build quality but Samsung looks go too.

I would probably like the biggest screen possible because I like to watch videos.

I'm not super keen on going with a Windows phone this time around. Just seems like more flexability with android.

Looks like the One X is a good choice then. Just don't load it up with more than a couple movies at a time :)

[HandsomeRob]

Make sure you walk into the store and actually hold these phones before making up your mind.

3.5" everybody is used, I like 4", 4.3" I think is quite gargantuan. I really don't get the Galaxy Tab, unless you're going to live in a bluetooth headset.

-I like HTC phones the best at the moment. Build quality is great, support for tinkering & dev's is great. HTC sense is well developed.
-Samsung I still have a bad taste in the mouth from the SGS. SD card failures, closed source hardware drivers, build quality is inferior. I despise Touchwiz and all that it entails, would not run a Samsung phone stock as a daily user.
-Motorola as stated, locked bootloaders. But great phones. Never tried MotorBlur on android.

I hear good things about WP7 but if I were to go that route I would probably import a phone from the states.

[evilkleg]

Has the HTC One X been released yet? Does anyone know if Bell will carry it?

[uber_shnitz]

If you're interested in HTC, the One X is their flagship phone from the "One" line which has been overall praised by reviewers as integrally sound. The build of HTC phones is usually quite good and as I said, the Industrial Design is usually very top notch compared to Samsung phones. Not saying Samsung phones are bad, but they've chosen a different path with plastic for weight.

Samsung's flagship is the Samsung Galaxy S2 with the S3 coming soon. One thing to remember with Samsung is that they release various "versions" of the same phone. The Galaxy S2 for example came in one version for every carrier in Canada (the Bell one being the "international" version, whereas the Rogers/Telus ones were larger and had a Qualcomm CPU instead of the Exynos made by Samsung). So just be aware that if you pick Samsung's flagship phone taht the model may change depending on the carrier (some will name them differently too such as Galaxy S2, Galaxy S2 LTE and Galaxy S2X for example).

The One X is a Rogers exclusive IIRC currently.

[djemzine]

Wow. Lots of options! Thanks for the help.

I really like the build quality of the HTC I have now. I'm amazed it's lasted this long without me destroying it! I'm not very nice to my phones...
Looks like I need to go and actually play with some of the phones available to me. I would go with HTC based on their previous build quality but Samsung looks go too.

I would probably like the biggest screen possible because I like to watch videos.

I'm not super keen on going with a Windows phone this time around. Just seems like more flexability with android.

You're welcome. Yup, its always best to go in store and check/test out the phones in person. Better to go to a Future Shop or Best Buy/Best Buy Mobile to test the phones, since some phones are only offered by certain carriers.


Has the HTC One X been released yet? Does anyone know if Bell will carry it?

Yup it has but the S4 Dual core LTE version by Rogers. Bell only sells the dual core S4 of the One S.

Your best bet would be to go to a Future Shop or Best Buy to check it out. However, as I mentioned in my posts, the One X does not have expandable memory and the LTE version only comes with 16GB of internal storage, despite Drop Box offering their space for 1 year free (after its pay up time). Also if you don't plan on upgrading the battery, then that is not possible also as the battery is non removable like in the iPhone.

If that's something you can deal with i.e, a phone not having a memory card slot then by all means that's a good choice. Don't go for the Quad core Tegra 3 version as a) not sold in North America which leads to no warranty support and b) the S4 dual core is better than the Tegra 3 quad core.

Any how, good luck and all the best. Let us know if your final decision/outcome :)

[evilkleg]

The One X is a Rogers exclusive IIRC currently.

Is it safe to assume that other carriers will have it in the near future? I might want to wait- or sign up with Rogers!

[evilkleg]

Is expandable memory a really big deal these days? Is 16g internal enough for most people? My current phone only has 4g but I realize if I want to play large video files on my new phone memory might become an issue.

On that topic- What is the largest .MKV file a newer phone would be able to handle? Would they be able to play a 4-5g Blueray rip? 10g? Do they play them without stutter or do I have to use 2-3g rips (or less)?

[djemzine]

Is expandable memory a really big deal these days? Is 16g internal enough for most people? My current phone only has 4g but I realize if I want to play large video files on my new phone memory might become an issue.

On that topic- What is the largest .MKV file a newer phone would be able to handle? Would they be able to play a 4-5g Blueray rip? 10g? Do they play them without stutter or do I have to use 2-3g rips (or less)?

Well its really a not big deal these days to most people, but for some people it is, such as myself and desidealer (I think). I like having to carry data i.e. pictures and music on my SD Card for easy transfer, as well as installing apps on the sd card to save space from the phone's built in storage.

I haven't tried playing a BIG mkv yet i.e. 1080P, but I did put a 5GB 720P Mkv blu ray rip on my Galaxy Nexus and it ran perfectly fine. Of course this is based on trial and error. The better the CPU, the better it will be able to play mkvs smoothly.

[desidealer49]

Well its really a not big deal these days to most people, but for some people it is, such as myself and desidealer (I think). I like having to carry data i.e. pictures and music on my SD Card for easy transfer, as well as installing apps on the sd card to save space from the phone's built in storage.

I haven't tried playing a BIG mkv yet i.e. 1080P, but I did put a 5GB 720P Mkv blu ray rip on my Galaxy Nexus and it ran perfectly fine. Of course this is based on trial and error. The better the CPU, the better it will be able to play mkvs smoothly.

Yeah for me videos is not as much of an issue since i usually prefer watching them on a TV or my laptop anyways, but sometimes i tend to store a lot of pictures etc and that can eat up space quickly. With the 1080p video recording on these devices storage is even more important. Hence i would prefer a 32GB device ideally.

If 4GB is not an issue for you then the One X is not really going to give you a problem since it allows up to 10GB of media/files storage by the user.

[HandsomeRob]

Is it safe to assume that other carriers will have it in the near future? I might want to wait- or sign up with Rogers!

I wouldn't be so quick to write off Bell retentions. They may make you an offer nobody can touch, especially if you've shopped Rogers. IIRC Rogers 3G is compatible with Bellus network, but it won't fallback if you are out of range of it. I had a Rogers HTC Magic running on the Bell network for a few months, but I never tried to push it outside the city so can't say for certain how feasible it is.


Is expandable memory a really big deal these days? Is 16g internal enough for most people? My current phone only has 4g but I realize if I want to play large video files on my new phone memory might become an issue.


I don't use it too much. One part you might be forgetting is that operating those massive screens has a downfall in battery draw. It's nice to have something to watch once in a while but I don't use it nearly as much as I thought.

I stream more than I play locally but that's user specific.

Dropbox=2.5Gb free, Google drive 5 Gb, Microsoft Skydrive 7 Gb. Put it all together and you can have a pretty good free cloud. But a removable SD is extremely convenient, especially with current prices.

16 Gb SD + 2.5 Gb dropbox is enough for me. But has to be mentioned their is another internal SD with apps & other storage that doesn't infringe on the SD.

[evilkleg]

Since I have virtually no experience with apps, do they take up much memory generally? If I had a phone loaded with apps, what kind of space would that use? Could you eat up all your internal storage with apps alone?

[HandsomeRob]

I have 160 or so apps, 780 Mb.

[djemzine]

Since I have virtually no experience with apps, do they take up much memory generally? If I had a phone loaded with apps, what kind of space would that use? Could you eat up all your internal storage with apps alone?

Depending. Games take up more space since they download more content to your phone. Apps range from 160KB to 30MB depending.

[mukhtar1982]

Wow. Lots of options! Thanks for the help.

I really like the build quality of the HTC I have now. I'm amazed it's lasted this long without me destroying it! I'm not very nice to my phones...
Looks like I need to go and actually play with some of the phones available to me. I would go with HTC based on their previous build quality but Samsung looks go too.

I would probably like the biggest screen possible because I like to watch videos.

I'm not super keen on going with a Windows phone this time around. Just seems like more flexability with android.



Galaxy Note is the WINNER!!! ding ding ding. Its a beast of a phone and has 5.3" of real state screen. Price is no issue to you so that would be a good fit for you. Go for it. The more you search, the more options you will unearth and the more confuse you will be.

[nagasadow]

If you need cheap buy the Nokia 710 off of rogers. Fast phone and great capabilities for under $300.

[mr_raider]

Hasn't HTC started locking their bootloaders?

I used to be an HTC fan (touch, touch dual, magic, nexus one), but I've made the move to Samsung for my last two phones (Nexus S, G Nex). The customizeabilty and community support is huge.

[nsx]

:arrow:

Moved from "Computers & Electronics" to "Computers & Electronics > Cell Phones."

[nismo-gtr]

this is what i think it's the best out there now.
the latter two you can find great deals on kijiji

GS3, HTC1x, GN7000