Your Next Phone

[Blonde Limbo]

Here are the requirements that I am seeking and that you also should be seeking in a smart phone.

It has to be a stable brand. I don't want my phone that I have to use for at least 12 months losing support because I bought a "XEroni" instead of something by Samsung, HTC or Apple. There are lots of manufacturers out there that are legitimate, so I won't buy something that might just go away and die.

It must have a thriving market. At this point, that narrows it down to a device either running Android or iOS, although the new Windows Phone 7 (terrible name) should jolt the industry even more. The market or app store growth is what is helping the smart phone industry explode right now, and it helps your phone to feel like a new device for a longer time.

My phone must be pretty. I've been frustrated with my Mytouch 3G due to it's more than occasional lag, especially when other devices (iPhone, Nexus 1) seem to operate with little to no lag at all. I want my UI to be pretty in every sense of the word, and if it's ugly or clunky I don't want anything to do with it.

My phone must be braggable. That means if the Galaxy S, the Evo and the iPhone 4 have front facing cameras, T-Mobile better not try to release the Vibrant without one and still call it a super phone. It's not; it's outdated. That also means if the The Nexus and Desire have 3.7 inch screens, I don't think phones should have a smaller screen than that now. You may not like the Dell Streak's 5 inch monster screen, but we don't want any more lil' guys being released and looking too small. Basically, I want what everyone else has so no one can say, "Oh, too bad you didn't get a flash on that camera," "too bad your browser can't load flash," "too bad that doesn't have HDMI out" etc...

My phone must be fast. Snappiness is so high on my priority list, I can't exaggerate it enough. When I open a book, a song, or a game, I don't want to see loading screens. At all. I want things open right away. If there is a super graphically intensive game I'll make an exception, but I don't want to see loading for one second to play chess, solitaire, send a text or look at an effing picture.

I need a fast network. News from yesterday shows T-Mobile will have download speeds of up to 42 mbps in 2011. That's great and all, but as a current T-Mobile customer I can tell you that my download speeds usually range from about 1.2 mbps to .0001 mbps, which blows. I want a network that pings fast, downloads and uploads quickly and doesn't embarrass me when I try to load Facebook to show someone my phone (see braggability above.) If I could get 10mbps consistently, I could do basically anything I need to on a mobile device, including video calls without being on wireless.

Did I miss something? Is there something else that's required in a smart phone? Let me know.

 

[Hans Moleman]

Unforunately for a manufacturer to give you all of that in one phone would be ridiculously stupid. How can they expect to sell their variety of phones if they make one phone that is perfect? Also, the price of such a phone would be off the charts.

I agree with the speed issue. Things should be able to open and load without any lag.

As far as the whole deal with the front facing camera and screen size, thats just being a little picky. For price, I'll take a 3" screen instead of 3.7" and I don't need a front facing camera just because the other "super" phones do. I'll pay $100 less and not have a few minimal features that I don't need in the first place.

That being said, the phone youre describing would be a wicked cool phone.

 

[pupucashu]

True, some of these things are my own nit-pickings (screen size, FF camera,) but I feel like speed and network speed should be no brainers in the future. Also, a friend of mine mentioned a long battery life as another requirement. I would like that as well.

 

[Serbia all the Way]

VERY good point. All those features do you no good when your phones dies in just a few hours. And, personally, I am HORRIBLE at remembering to bring my charger places.

 

[raman_thunder]

Frankly, I don't care if my phone is "pretty" or "braggable".

I want a decent phone at a decent price with a decent plan also at a decent price.

Your requirements are obviously different than mine.

 

[cj_man]

you want a stable brand and thriving market? you're in the right place--the android community.

you want a pretty phone? you're still in the right place. if you want to stick with tmo, you have the n1 (unfortunately no ff camera, which i don't think is a huge deal) and in a few months, the galaxy s, htc vision, htc ace, and sidekick twist (the last three are still very much rumors, but i'm sure they'll pan out to be very good phones).

you want a braggable phone? i honestly think this category is very stupid. i mean, i want a n1 because it's new and i can throw it in any of my iphone fanboy friends' faces and show off android os (my slow g1 can't do that), but seriously, the way you're describing it, you'll be embarrassing android before you show it off. that said, n1 has everything you want except a front facing camera. head over to sprint or verizon if that's so important to you.

you want speed? just go to a store and play with an evo. it's running the 1ghz processor that all new superphones are running, so you can get that experience.

you want a fast network? sorry, i can't help you with that one. i don't have a data plan on my phone, but i've heard tmobile is getting HSPA+ or whatever, which is pretty much tmo's version of 4g. i've even heard the people who already can get pretty consistent HSPA+ coverage say that it's even faster than sprint's 4g network, but i can't say that based on experience.