I need a new phone... Suggestions?

V

Vicky Z

New member
Hello
So my 3-yr contract with Bell will be ending in February. However, my CRAP phone (Samsung U740 Double Flip Phone) barely works, has problems charging, etc etc. so I'm debating whether I should just stick it out a while longer (maybe christmas time for sales?, or until contract ends.. any phones coming out soon that are worth waiting for as well?) OR just getting a new smartphone soon by either adding data to my existing plan or getting an entirely new plan...

I've never had a smartphone before although I've been wanting to get one for a while as it'd make life SO much easier as I'm always on the go.

Anyways, after looking at countless threads on this site, I have no idea what kind of phone I should get.


Here are the features I want:
-good calendar/PDA functions (easy to use & high option planner)
-threaded SMS
-email functions
-camera
-some multitasking ability (ex. not having to stop writing an email or exiting something just to read an incoming text or answer a phone call)
-music player
-gps would be cool
-fairly durable

I would be using my phone for:
-heavy texting
-i would be relying on my phone for scheduling of work/meetings/etc so i need something thats easy to use
-email
-web surfing (facebook, googling things, school website, etc.)


I have been comparing many phones (iPhone 4 , various Blackberry's (such as the Curve Bold, Torch), Androids etc ) and to be honest I have no idea whats good and why, etc.


Do you have any suggestions as to what kind of smartphone I should get? (and explain why you think it would suit my needs better compared to others)


Thank you so much for your time! I truly appreciate it!
 
It sounds like you might want an iPhone 4, though with some things to be aware of.

Believe it or not, I find the iPhone to be one of the best e-mail smartphones you can get. It's easy to set up, it's very easy to mass-delete or move messages, and it displays HTML mail properly. BlackBerry phones were supposed to be the kings of e-mail, but I find it a slog to get through a large volume of mail on a BlackBerry.

For mail and text messaging, I actually really like the onscreen iPhone keyboard, too. It definitely takes getting used to if you're not familiar with touch -- usually a few weeks -- but it's genuinely accurate and fast. I usually type faster on an iPhone than on any hardware keyboard.

Of course, the iPhone is the best pick for a media playing smartphone, but it's one of the better models for web browsing and camera use. Calendaring works fairly well, I find; it helps that I'm on a Mac, but it can sync with some Windows calendaring, too, so updates to one can be reflected on the other,

The main points to be aware of are how it handles multitasking and the ruggedness. Text messaging should be fine; you'll get a pop up that may pause what you're doing, but dismissing it will get you right back. A phone call is more intrusive, but the iPhone preserves the state of most apps if you have to take a call. You can definitely do other things while on a call, which I had to prove just over a week ago on a business trip.

If there's something to be wary of, it's the durability. The iPhone 4 is more resilient than it looks, but very hardened glass is still glass. What I do to protect an iPhone is to get a flip case or a pouch; it shields the phone from both front and back damage without having to peel the case off in the future.

If you're not keen on the iPhone in the end, I would look at the Samsung Vibrant next. It's Android, so it'll be nerdier than Apple's phone, but it's a pretty well-rounded device. I haven't had to do significant calendar work on Android, so I can't comment on that specifically other than that it should have access to Google Calendar.
 
This part suits Android very well.

You are writing an email.

A text comes in. Where does the text appear? It appears on your notification bar on top of your email app.

Heck you didn't even leave your email app but you already read the SMS.

Suppose you want to reply to the SMS.

Pull down the notification curtain, and click on the message. You do this without exiting your email app.

Your SMS app appears. You read and reply. Send. Then you press the
 
Highly Recommend the 'HTC Desire Z' Bell is getting in the next month:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8W48wH9JQc&feature=related

After going over a number of spec reviews, video comparisons etc. it is ridiculously fast, great browsing, running the newest Android 2.2 OS, 5 MP Camera, 780p video recording etc etc.
The processor despite being underclocked to 800 Mhz is 2nd gen snapdragon that actually runs much faster than almost any current 1 Ghz phone (which means it's smooth!)... this also leads to some things i've never seen, such as a smartphone that has a load time from "off" that takes less than 10 seconds... which is crazy. My Palm Pre, as example, takes over a minute and a half to start.

I've checked side by side comparisons and the browsing is almost identical to Iphone 4, with the one sitcking point being the Iphone 4 gets better battery life overall ... however there's Itunes to deal with that route.

Desire Z also has a slide out keyboard for typing/text + under the front screen has an optical trackpad for cursor movement.

One thing the Desire Z DOESN'T have which the Iphone 4 does is a front facing camera for video calling. I still no zero people who utilize video calling, but it might get popular... so that's something to consider.

Overall I really recommend the Desire Z:
 
I'd consider iTunes a plus for the average person, not a drawback.

Say what you will about it sometimes being a bit burdensome, the truth is that Apple's much better at syncing with a computer. Google is better at Internet sync, for sure, but if you've got a significant media collection (especially if it's already in iTunes) or like to get your calendar info from your computer, an iPhone is more elegant.

That said, I've tried the HTC Desire Z (as the T-Mobile G2), and it's definitely a nice device. You'll want to give it a shot yourself, though. See if Android's calendar system works for you. I will say that the iPhone's camera has the edge here (less noise in shots) and that I prefer Apple's approach to moving around in the browser. It's a lot more one-to-one in what your finger does and what then happens on the screen.
 
I would be much happier with the iPhone 4 if a MobileMe Lite is made free and made a requirement. I see people losing contacts and various information when they lose or break their iPhone, and the last time they synced to iTunes was several months ago.

Internet sync rocks. You lose or break your Android, you got no SIM, you didn't sync on the PC for a year, yet you can go to a store, get a new Android, login to your Google account, and your contacts and calendar are returned right to the very state before your old phone was lost.

Also I got questions on the durability of the iPhone 4 glass back. That is just not a great idea. Beyond that, its a great phone to use, but Steve Jobs needs to make a lite version of MobileMe both free and mandatory.
 
I agree with you the Iphone 4 Camera has the edge here.

Calendar systems are always a give an take between any OS and is really a preferance thing.

Sorry but I don't buy "the Itunes is a plus for the average person". Sure, but only because they have used it before. Once you go over the various ways it's limited and locks you off it's hair-pullingly annoying.

I will say this though, once jailbroken the Iphone is a much much more useful and customizable device. If you aren't worried about the warranty then this is definetly the way to go.
 
The problem is, Android has virtually nothing easy to use for getting all your content from your computer. You can use DoubleTwist or similar, true, but even these don't sync everything and don't do it as well. It's only hair-pullingly annoying, in my mind, in how it handles file sharing -- namely, it's barely doing anything right now. Then again, a year ago it didn't do multitasking, either, so don't be surprised if iOS 5 or 6 has a proper file management system.

Jailbreaking only makes it "much" more useful if you really, truly need unfettered multitasking, raw file sharing and certain kinds of network connections, and you're willing to put up with the consequences to battery life and stability that come from amateurs pushing an OS beyond what it was designed to handle. It's not something I'd recommend to Natalie.

I will definitely agree with Drillbit that Apple needs to get on doing a free MobileMe service. Not necessarily the music and video hosting, but something that syncs calendars and contacts in an official way. Ideally something that also remembers the apps you last had and offers to re-download all of them rather than having to check your history to download them again.
 
What's difficult about the file sharing on Android? You hook the phone up on the PC and it appears like a zip drive. That's it. I can move files faster in and out of the "zip drive" faster than iTunes.

Mucking around with iTunes is for me, more effort and far less user friendly than the straightforwardness of a zip drive.
 
Because I'm retentive about tagging. iTunes allows me to add all of my music, add album art, properly tag track names and numbers and disc numbers and album artists and composers and more. When I then sync a playlist to my iPhone, EVERYTHING is exactly how it should be. I tried the same thing through Doubletwist onto my Captivate. Almost nothing was tagged properly. This is a reflection of Google's approach, which is not the user experience side. It's a difference in philosophy that the average consumer doesn't benefit from.
 
That's true. iTunes is nice for adding album music and so on. In fact, I can use iTunes to add album art to the music, and then it will still be faster to hook up an Android phone to a PC, watch the hardware menu open, open folder, then drag the music files to the folders---all faster than iTunes can sync to my iPod Touch.

Here's another tip. I don't have to download non iTunes stuff to my PC and then use iTunes to sync them to my iPod. I can download stuff to an Android phone directly from the browser. (Don't take this as a recommendation for music piracy.) And there are players there that seems to run any format.

Also when you hook up an Android phone on PC storage or MTP mode to a PC, among the Autoplay options will be Sync digital media files to the Device using Windows Media Player. This is not to mention that each brand of phones, HTC, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, also have their own respective PC desktop sync software, e.g. Samsung Kies.
 
Where iTunes works best is aggregating a lot of updates all at once. Drag and drop isn't hard, but can you get that new album you bought, three podcasts, that set of photos from vacation, and the new app you downloaded on the computer first... all at the same time?

Android rocks for generic file sharing, but if you live on media, the iPhone is definitely better. I can think of ways to streamline iTunes. What Natalie needs to do is decide how often she needs to put raw documents on a phone versus syncing music, video and photos.
 
Personally for me, a major drawback of Iphone is that it is chained to the ONE dedicated PC. Want to download/upload stuff? No dedicated PC, can't do. PC dies, phone dies. Android phones on the other hand, sync to Google cloud (similar to Itunes but without the chain).

However, Iphone is less prone to user errors as everything is controlled (no user customization, no process automation) and app runs in silo. Android is the other extreme and allows you to do much more. Want something like repeated reminders for missed events or schedule a future SMS send or automatically toggle phone settings based on events/location or block calls during certain time or something as simple as a Today screen? Android=Yes, Iphone=No (some not possible even with jailbreak).
 
Talking to a lot of people, I am surprised that there is way too many iPhone users that simply don't use iTunes, especially those whose very first Apple product is an iPhone and has never used an iPod before. iTunes is the antithesis of the iPhone, iPad experience. its slow, hard and heavy to navigate, very techy and complicated. Personally I don't even use desktop iTunes to acquire apps or tunes anymore. I just buy tunes and movies off the mobile iTunes inside the iPod Touch and the only value the desktop iTunes is for me, to backup what I bought off the iPod into the PC.

Its not a very cool way to move photos off a phone either. Its better to get an app and send them off to Flickr or somewhere. On Android, I just sync them off to Picasa. I can always show people the photos stored in Picasa from any desktop.

When your core iPhone buyer are those who have bought iPods before, iTunes wasn't that much of a problem. But as the sales envelope migrate outward further to people who has never used an Apple iPod before, this iTunes thing has become a problem.
 
iTunes runs heavy on Windows, this is for sure. But it's not difficult to USE, and as such the average person can navigate it just fine. What would you say is less techy and less complicated, as a music player?
 
I definitely say Torch! I played on my friend's and it is pretty amazing. I doubt you can get more organized than with a bb. Additionally the large screen is great. Compare to the androids and iphone, it does lag at some points but it is nothing really to be annoyed about. I think if you are coming off a faster phone than it is noticeable I thought it was pretty great.
 
If you can criticize Symbian for looking dated compared to iOS or Android, iTunes looks bad when compared to other PC syncs out there like Nokia OVI Suite, Blackberry Desktop Manager, Samsung Kies, Sony Ericsson PC Suite.... All these look more modern, simpler and work faster.
 
I fiddled with a Torch for over an hour and it's noticebly slower than new Androids and even the Iphone 3GS. Screen is also quite poor.

It's basically like a slightly better Palm Pre with worse touch controls and BBM.
 
Yes, but I would have to text on a touch screen ... >> I would go to great length to make sure that would not occur. I am sure everyone has gone through the learning curve but if it isn't necessary than I rather not lol.
 
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