Thoughts on smartphones...

[muppet42]

Well, that time has come again and I'm looking to upgrade from my iPhone 3G. It's been incredibly dependable and definitely the best phone I've had though of course it has it's faults what with the lack of Bluetooth flexibility, non-expandable memory and a few other niggles. Still though, my first experience of Apple product ownership has been great :smile:

I was going to do the automatic thing and just get an iPhone 4 BUT a few things are standing in the way. Firstly, the cost - online I checked my upgrade page and on my current £35 a month contract it costs £149 to get a 16gb 3GS. This means an equivalent iPhone 4 will probably be £200 odd, which I just don't think I can justify. Secondly of course there's this stupid design flaw with the aerial that Mr Jobs simply tells people to get over - personally, I think such a massive oversight by the R&D team is unforgivable. I love the look of the new phone and some of the features like iMovie, HD Video, faster processor and such really appeal to me. I just can't bare the cost and possibility the phone has an inherent design flaw that can't be overcome with a simple firmware upgrade.

And so, I'm thinking iPhone alternatives. I've looked at the X10 Experia from Sony Ericsson...

It's far cheaper to upgrade to (£49) and seems to offer many things the iPhone 4 doesn't have like expandable memory for a kick off. However, had a brief go at the Carphone Warehouse and the GUI seemed rather clunky and the whole phone was a bit tacky feeling.

I've had a look at the Dell Streak simply because of the confused looks it'd probably attract...

It has a decent processor and RAM, but the talking point is the screen which is 5 inches. Compare that to the iPhone's 3.5 and you'd see how slightly ridiculous that is. It's still pocketable, but just looks like a bit of a brick. Saying that, it'd be great for movies and such and again is cheap to upgrade to - well under the £100 mark.

The one I'm leaning towards though is the HTC Desire...

It has the 1GHz Snapdragon processor, nice screen, latest Android OS (which the Dell doesn't have as yet) and all the good stuff the iPhone doesn't have. Plus it doesn't suffer the HD2's Windows Mobile OS, thankfully.

The only thing I'm worried about with a non-Apple phone is the after sales if something goes wrong with it. Apple were brilliant for that as even the slightest issue I had with a handset was resolved quickly and often by just giving me a new handset there and then. Dealing with o2 directly, I'm not sure it'd be that easy - was a nightmare with my old Sony Ericsson w880 for example.

Anyway, just wanted to think out loud in thread form and look for any feedback and opinions on current smartphone handsets others might be looking at or recommend :smile:

 

[Gregry254]

HTC HD2 I got it a few months back and I LOVEEEEEEEE IT. Also on a side note . . . I hate apple

 

[imported_richard33dees]

Best thing is to try them all tbh as we'll likely recommend the phones we have.

As for me, I've got the Xperia X10 and love it!! I've had it since a week before official launch and was still tempted to trade for the desire. But, my sister has traded her blackberry for a desire which ment I could have a proper play on it. Both handsets are about the same size, X10 slightly squarer but thinner than the desire. IMO the X10 has a better menu system being the SE version of android which is being upgraded in Q3 of this year (whenever that is). The desire has a smaller OLED screen which salesmen rave about, but there isn't much in it tbh and the camera is 5mp on the desire and 8mp on the X10. Both have access to the android app market, 1000's of free apps and plenty you pay for. They have user reviews with them which are very helpful and I've never paid for an app yet.

In the T-mobile branch I use, the salesmen are 2 to 1 in favour of android opposed to windows mobile. The lad that recommends windows mobile recommends the HTC HD2 as it's just so compatible with windows pc's depending what your doing. Some of the SE software is a little frustrating, but I barely use so I don't worry about it too much.

There is the new X10 mini out now, which am not so keen on. There's also an X10 pro coming out soon with a slide keyboard.

Well that's my 2p's worth, a bit long winded and HTH

Rich

 

[M21MFS]

Will worry about smartphones as and when upgrade nears.

Just now happy enough with the LG I bought from Abyss.

 

[muppet42]

Looked again on the o2 site just there and the Xperia's actually free on my contract as opposed to the £99 I'd pay for the Desire.

I guess I'm more drawn to the HTC as the build quality on my last Sony Ericsson phone and some of my friend's SE phones has been abysmal. Compared to the w810 and t610 I had before the w880, it seriously went down hill and I'm a little worried the Xperia could be similar. Think I should maybe have some more hands on time with the handsets as suggested to make my decision as I'm in no massive rush really.

The HD2 had crossed my mind, but when I looked on Amazon at the masses of reviews, it seemed like the one thing holding it back was the Windows OS. I've heard it's better than previous versions, but still inferior to Android. Again though I won't make a full decision until I have hands on with it. Just for reference as well, the HD2's £149 for an upgrade.

I guess what I could do is sell on the handset if I didn't like it and get something else SIM free as I've got my iPhone as a back up.

I just remember the disaster I had with my second contract phone a Motorola v635. I'd swapped from the t610, which I loved to bits and the Moto was so restrictive and slow in comparison though it did look decent enough for the clamshell design that it was. I'm so indecisive when making product choices, though I guess at least this means I don't automatically jump into a wrong decision :laugh:

 

[mrcinquecento]

Everyone i know says the HTC desire is the best smartphone on the market atm

 

[ycming]

Same with really, just in the team i work in 6 people for the HTC desire, not a single one of them make a complaint about it. My brother also has the HTC HD2

Ming

 

[clock34]

i have the htc desire and not a thing bad to say about it other than battery life is a day lol.

but i love it and wouldnt swap....

 

[imported_richard33dees]

aye the X10 can have a battery life of between 24-48hrs depending on what your doing. The Advanced task killer app is a must for all android phones to help save the battery life. SE's build quality has improved a lot with the X10, I had the W810i & K800i previously which were really good but know many models in the years between have been really bad.
The advantage of getting the X10, desire, HD2 atm is they still fetch a good bit on the bay that could let you get one and trade it your not happy with it.

 

[muppet42]

Cheers for the advise guys, great to get feedback :smile:

On the battery life thing as well - you're talking to a current iPhone user, so it's not really an issue :laugh:

 

[flyingscot]

Having just got the Desire, I have to say it is an excellent phone, best I've ever had. Really don't see the need to spend more money on an Apple phone when they are not as flexible- £60 blue and me adaptor indeed! Dare I say it too, the iPhone probably attracts more tea leaves than other phones.