HTC HD2 VS Motorola Milestone Android VS Bold 9700

J

j0hn6oo

New member
I currently have HTC touch and my carrier is a Canadian Bell Mobility. I like my service but I'm starting to hate my phone because its too slow (not to mention... ITS OLD!). Bell primarily sells CDMA phones but it also allows me to switch to HSPA phones.

So I have to decide between HTC HD2, Blackberry 9700, and Motorolla Milestone Android phone.

Heres what I'm thinking.

HTC HD2
  • Faster processor
  • windows platform
  • BUT, ITs missing a QWERTY KEYBOARD that I'd really like my phone to have. And I'm not sure how good the on screen kayboard is. Otherwise I'd go with this phone for sure

Blackberry bold 9700
  • I'm guaranteed that this phone is stable for sure in terms of its use (and relatively faster than windows mobile).
  • Better Battery life
  • Lesser chances of it crashing (compared to windows mobile)
  • I just don't like its small screen

Motorolla Milestone
  • This phone is right in between the two. Plus, I've heard only good things about google android.

The thing is that I'm a very heavy user and use my phone a lot (somedays more than my computer). Not for talking on the phone but its on the go applications like checking email, reading news, and tons of other things while on bus/train to work/home. I use more data (relatively) on the phone than the actual minutes on my plan. Its my main alarm clock, my morning email checker as soon as I wake up, my to do list task reminder, .... Everything! That's why I'm willing to make an expensive investment into a good phone.

Can anyone please make any suggestions as to which phone should I choose?

What has your experience been like with either of these three phones?
 
I too have a htc touch , happy with bell just want a newer phone...would like the hd2 for the screen wonder how much the data would cost me.
 
I would choose either the Bold 9700 or the Motorola Milestone. If you like the larger screen, get the Milestone. If you depend on BBM and email, get the Bold2.
 
Your primary e-mail account is a Gmail address and/or you are heavily invested in Google's web-based ecosystem -> Motorola Milestone

Your primary e-mail account is a Hotmail/MSN/Live address and/or you are heavily invested in Microsoft's ecosystem -> HTC HD2

Your e-mail address utilizes MS Exchange server -> HTC HD2

None of the above -> BlackBerry Bold 9700


I have owned all of these phones within the past three months and I have a usage pattern very similar to yours.
 
So, you're suggesting he base the purchase of a $500+ device on who provides him with email? Based on those 3 hardware options, I would take the Milestone.

You can check your email and tasks on any of those phones. He also views websites, news and probably does a lot of IM/SMS chatting. The Milestone is the proper trade off. You will get bored with a Blackberry and although the keyboard on the Milestone is sub-par, it's there as a choice and if you don't like it, you can use the on-screen one.

If you were supposed to get a Blackberry, you'd have one by now. You seem like who enjoys using his phone and wants to use it for a lot of things, so again, based on those 3 options, the Milestone suits the bill the best.
 
I'm tempted to go with HTC HD2 because it has a bigger screen. Nice Multitouch. Its fast.... Its just perfect except for the QWERTY Keyboard.

One thing I know for sure is that I don't want Bold 9700. Its keyboard is toooooo small. And the screen is even smaller. I liked the previous blackberry where th keys were a little apart.

I personally don't mind it if the phone has a bigger size.

My data plan is the unlimited data from Bell. However, I'm not sure if HTC HD2 will work on Bell? Has anyone ever tried it?
 
Maybe not so much e-mail, more emphasis on whether he is invested in the MSN or Google ecosystem.

My experience with the Telus Milestone was FAR from stable -- AIM connection would PERISH randomly within hours, the phone would soft-reset on its own at least once every two days at random without warning, and the keyboard would suddenly become unresponsive during web browsing. These issues are well-documented and you can Google them to verify them -- they are also present on Droids and regular Milestones it seems. Beyond this there was an audio-skipping issue and terrible battery life that was the straw that broke the camel's back, but the 2.1 update may have fixed that one.

I'll do a Google search for you:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=milestone+random+reboot

It'll be unacceptable when you're listening to music or checking news or even making a random call and the Milestone suddenly displays the Motorola logo and you've realized it's rebooting. It is worth considering that Motorola's RMA process (which you must go through since Telus won't help you) is slow and mediocre in the event any issues affect your device.

The worst that would happen with the HD2 is it would slow down and chug a little bit. I would have to soft-reset it on my own at least once every two days to speed it back up, but it would NEVER soft-reset by itself. Since switching to a custom XDA ROM this has not been a problem for me.

Once again the relative hardware superiority (in my experience) of the HD2 could be offset if the dude uses Google apps a lot more.

I believe you will need the Telstra HD2 (T9193) for HSPA+ use on Bell, but only on the 850MHz band. If you need the 1900MHz band for HSDPA you will be out of luck, especially since (I believe) Bell Mobility has only an HSPA+ network and no fallback GSM network. Since this version regularly goes for $100 more than the Telus Milestone (~$800 for the Telstra HD2 and ~$700 for the Telus Milestone), I do not think it is worth it since you will be missing out on anywhere Bell only has 1900MHz coverage.

At the same time between the Telus Milestone's potential hardware issues and its signed bootloader (i.e. you won't be able to flash ROMs for a long time), it's really hard to recommend. Stock Android isn't a very pleasant experience once you've had a taste of a properly rooted device running CyanogenMod.

If it's between the Telus Milestone and 9700 I would definitely choose the 9700 for its stability unless you really, really like Google apps. The BB OS is dated as hell but it's super-fast and just works. The 9700 won't randomly soft-reset on you. The 9700 also destroys the Milestone with regards to battery life. Downside is, besides the dated OS, apps for the 9700 suck.


The xT9 keyboard on the HD2 is very good at prediction and has big, comfortably-tapped keys. There's also Swype for faster texting. I type much faster on the HD2 than I ever did on the Milestone, though the iPhone I had earlier did give me the opportunity to get used to touchscreen typing. There is a slight learning curve to get used to if you're new to typing on touchscreens, since the absence of tactile feedback is the thing that hits most people hard.


Have you considered the Google Nexus One? $700 is a lot of coin for the dated hardware of the Milestone and the Nexus One has nearly identical hardware specs to the HD2 except for 64MB less hardware RAM. I believe you can import the AT&T version of the Nexus One (100% compatible with your network with 3.5G on 850/1900/2100MHz) for around $620. From experience the Nexus One is far less prone to hardware stability issues than the Milestone is. It may represent a dark horse candidate for your consideration.
 
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