Smart Phones

[9fingers]

It is about time I dragged myself into 21st Century and got a smart phone.

I just can't justify Iphone type contracts but can run to the sort of prices that will get me a Galaxy S2.
HTC Sensation is another possibility but seems to be less liked on many online reviews.

Are these any good? Do they work Ok for this site for instance?

Apart from calls & texts I can see my main use being surfing and maps so the larger screen size is attractive as well as good GPS performance.

What sort of battery life do you get? is there much to choose between them

Any help much appreciated

Thanks

Bob

 

[RogerS]

Go on...get an iPhone....you know you want to! Or buy one unlocked and your own SIM. Why settle for an imitation :wink: ?

 

[Jensmith]

This site compares the 2 phones you're looking at:

http://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?id ... hone2=3875

There are a lot of free apps but anyone can submit them so you have to be a bit careful of both quality and viruses.

I've heard Android phones have a very good honeymoon period but they quickly lose their shine.

Battery life can be poor on smartphones so see what the reviews say.

Windows phones aren't much talked about but there are some good ones.

You don't have to buy on a contract either - you could buy the phone outright and then get a £10 / month PAYG contract with internet (data) and texts etc.

iphones are very good.

 

[Harbo]

Sorry but I use Tapatalk on an iPhone.
Never regretted it.

Rod

 

[9fingers]

Go on...get an iPhone....you know you want to! Or buy one unlocked and your own SIM. Why settle for an imitation :wink: ?

NOOOOO read my lips NO Iphone!

Bob

 

[9fingers]

This site compares the 2 phones you're looking at:

http://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?id ... hone2=3875

There are a lot of free apps but anyone can submit them so you have to be a bit careful of both quality and viruses.

I've heard Android phones have a very good honeymoon period but they quickly lose their shine.

Battery life can be poor on smartphones so see what the reviews say.

Windows phones aren't much talked about but there are some good ones.

You don't have to buy on a contract either - you could buy the phone outright and then get a £10 / month PAYG contract with internet (data) and texts etc.

iphones are very good.

Thanks for that comparison site - I'd not come across that one so far.
Searches on costs showed that 24 month contracts were little more than buying a sim free phone and then still have to pay for PAYG. ~£20/month for 24 months on a contact but I'll keep looking.
I'm trying to fix at least one variable first eg which phone!
Cheers

Bob

 

[Oryxdesign]

I hear the iPhone is pretty good, why do you want to buy a phone like an iPhone but not an iPhone if you know what I mean?

 

[wardroom]

Hi again fingers

I have the htc desire and I opted for that because I felt the android platform had more to offer than the app store.
Whilst I am happy with my choice I really am unhappy with the battery life on the htc.
A work collegue has the I phone with a battery pack attatched and by god does it have a life, he was watching cricket all day with very little effects, if I had done that after only a couple of hours I would have to recharge.

 

[9fingers]

I hear the iPhone is pretty good, why do you want to buy a phone like an iPhone but not an iPhone if you know what I mean?

Largely down to price Simon. Bear in mind my current phone cost is less than £20 per YEAR, I'm reluctant to move to spending that per month.

Bob

 

[Karl]

My 2pence

I got an iphone4 free on my contract (£30 per month with mins, txts and unlimited internet). Sold the iphone for £400, bought a Samsung Galaxy Ace for £150 (new), and used the £250 to offset against the cost of my monthly contract.

The Samsung is a brilliant phone.

Cheers

Karl

 

[Oryxdesign]

Well I guess maybe you could look for something second hand to dip your toe in before you commit to being permanently wired to the Internet. Before I had an iPhone I struggled to get to the end of a one year contract, now I'm not sure I'll upgrade as my phone is doing really well. However it seems I can get a fair sum of cash for it so I'll have to do some sums.

Have you taken resale value into account?

 

[Hudson Carpentry]

IMO iPhones are only better when there more useful to the user then other phones. For me after using the iPhone I found the HTC Desire HD to be an all round better phone. It cost me around £400 so its still iPhone money. It comes with googles free sat nav and maps and its really good as a sat nav (one of the main reason I favored the HTC over the iPhone). The screen is large and very clear and browsing the net is extremely fast.

I was just about to buy the iPhone mainly for the camera and photography apps. I then found that most of the apps available to photographers are also available on android and over all there are more apps and many favored by photographers thats not available on the iPhone.

Anyhow all in all I can conform for your need the HTC Desire HD ticks all your boxes and it maybe as cheap as the galaxy and sensation now.

 

[Hitch]

I've been using a desire hd for nearly a year. No issues with it bar a cracked outer camera lenses. a big drop did that.

Battery life isn't brilliant, but easily get a day from it, few calls, web browsing, email etc. I just got into the habit of charging it every night. For sat nav use, a car charger would be a must.

I took some getting away from Windows phones, the android has much more to offer, but I prefer the familiar layout of the Windows based phones.

Didn't go for Apple, more of a fashion statment for some I'm sure.

 

[Hudson Carpentry]

I've been using a desire hd for nearly a year. No issues with it bar a cracked outer camera lenses. a big drop did that.

Battery life isn't brilliant, but easily get a day from it, few calls, web browsing, email etc. I just got into the habit of charging it every night. For sat nav use, a car charger would be a must.

I took some getting away from Windows phones, the android has much more to offer, but I prefer the familiar layout of the Windows based phones.

Didn't go for Apple, more of a fashion statment for some I'm sure.

Yeah I get a day, sometimes less on heavy use. I too have got into the habbit of charging it once I climb into bed. It has a handy car dock feature but you have to buy the special dock for it. I didn't bother and got the standard car charger and holder.

 

[RogerS]

Not sure if you're a PC or a Mac user, Bob.

If the latter then the iPhone is no-brainer as it is so seamless with the Mac. And from what I can gather, costs are comparable regardless which smart phone you go for.

 

[Andrewf]

I have a HTC desire and can't fault it. A good place for cheaper phones is the Argos web site that sells returned items. Bought daughter a HTC for about 60 quid.
I think its all down to personal choice, I didn' like how the iPhone felt in my hand.

 

[Michael7]

I have a HTC Desire and I am due an upgrade soon. The Galaxy S2 is looking a likely candidate so far. The reason I changed to a smartphone is to get gps functionality for geocaching and the Desire gets me to within 3-4 feet which is as good as my hiking Garmin. HTC have a good name for themselves for quality but the battery life isn't good. I'm not so keen on the Sense features on the HTC so I "rooted" the Desire to get rid of it and now have a bit better battery life. I always though that a phone the size of the S2 or the Sensation would be too big but after surfing and watching videos and photos I'd like to go for a bigger screen next time.

One other thing, I put the Desire and my wife's Blackberry on the house insurance as we have listed items protected away from home - works out cheaper than individual phone insurances.

Michael.

 

[petermillard]

I just can't justify Iphone type contracts but can run to the sort of prices that will get me a Galaxy S2.
HTC Sensation is another possibility but seems to be less liked on many online reviews.

As others have said, take the residual value of the handset into account - iPhones hold their value very well, and a quick eBay search or a trawl around the phone trade-in websites will confirm this. Cheapest way to run a smartphone (with data) is probably £10/month from GiffGaff.com, or O2s 'Simplicity' tariff at £13/month - both rather more than the £20/year you were paying for a dumb-phone, but then you'll be doing far more with a smartphone

A quick Google shows the best price I can see for a Galaxy S2 to be £36 x 24 (= £864) from T-Mobile, the HTC Sensation £31 x 24 (=£744) also from T-Mob - "free" handset in both cases. FWIW, these are very much "iPhone type contracts"; I'm currently paying for two iPhone 4s (plural, not 's') one 4s and a Blackberry Curve and I'm not paying that sort of monthly contract for any of them.

HTH Pete

 

[Lowlife]

iPhone vs. Android is a debate that will run and run, FWIW though a couple of guys at work have the latest iPhones and both say they wished they'd gone for an Android having seen mine! Not having used an iPhone myself I can't really comment.

I got an HTC Wildfire S last year and I'm very pleased with it, I wanted something compact (hate carrying stuff around!) but with a decent size screen, that ruled out a Blackberry like my wife uses, the screen is ridiculously small especially if you need reading glasses as I do now, and the iPhone is bigger than I'd want too.

I managed to get the phone free on a 24 month contract with T Mobile (didn't buy it from them though, it's far cheaper to buy through a 3rd party phone shop), 300 minutes and texts and unlimited data which is plenty for me costs just over £15 a month, and I got an automatic £25 cashback after 3 months.

 

[Lowlife]

Double post.