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New Android Phone?

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  • 06-08-2011 1:15pm
    #1
    wayhey
    Registered Users Posts: 527 ✭✭✭


    I've used Nokia and Symbian all my life. I think I'd like to give Android a whack :) Right now I'm using the Nokia 5230 (picture here, in case anyone recognises it.)

    My main gripes with this phone is that the touch screen can be unresponsive and I tend to make mistakes when texting. The browser tends to shut down a lot and the speaker is quite "tinny". So I'd be trying to avoid this in a new phone. I had a 5800 before that, and even though it had WiFi the increased screen size of the 5230 really made texting easier for me.


    What features are important to you in a phone?
    • Easy, responsive texting - This is really important to me. Whether that's on a QWERTY or a good, responsive touch screen, I don't mind, but I text a good bit and I'm really sick of my unresponsive phone
    • WiFi - If I'm moving to Android this is a bonus, but not a must-have requirement
    • Decent browser
    • Good screen size
    • Smooth multi-tasking/"fast" phone. It'd be nice if there was minimal slowdown on the phone hopping between tasks.
    • Half-decent camera - right now I've a 2mp one and it's one thing I like on the phone. Somewhat clear photos do me grand, I'm not expecting unbelievable quality.

    Form factor
    I've been really frustrated with my Nokia touchscreen phones so far. I'm not interested in a touchscreen if it is unresponsive! I don't mind using an attractive QWERTY phone, like the HTC ChaCha. I've big hands so keys crammed in together on a QWERTY aren't really that useful to me. I don't mind larger phones at all. Something tough enough would be important.

    Internet - 3G and WiFi, hopefully

    Operator - Three.

    Pre-pay/Bill-pay/SIM-Free - Pre-pay or Sim-free (buying online I suppose for that?)

    Pricing I don't mind saving for a little while to get money together for a decent phone, but at the same time I'd be wary of going over the €400 mark for a phone in case it broke, was robbed, etc. Should I wait for new lines?

    I'm looking at HTC phones at the minute but the slowness of Sense to update puts me off. Should I be bothered or are Android updates important?


Comments

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    #2
    Doublechinlolz
    Registered Users Posts: 2,390 ✭✭✭Doublechinlolz


    I've had my Desire S for about three months and only one major update (which was slow in fairness) but its not like they come every other day,so it doesn't take too much out of your life :)
    For a big screen the sensation is probably agood choice, and youcan choosea normal phone keypad too (eg, 2 abc, 3 def) but it is over €400 so you'd wanna research it :)

    But the Galaxy Ace is a pretty good phone and really well priced, aboUt €240.. I don't know much about it but a friend has it and it is really good, with a nice responsive screen..

    But the swap from Symbian to Android is a great choice, I made it too :D
    Oh and.. From my experience i think HTC's are pretty tough from drops etc


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    #3
    wayhey
    Registered Users Posts: 527 ✭✭✭wayhey


    MarkD09 wrote: »
    I've had my Desire S for about three months and only one major update (which was slow in fairness) but its not like they come every other day,so it doesn't take too much out of your life :)
    For a big screen the sensation is probably agood choice, and youcan choosea normal phone keypad too (eg, 2 abc, 3 def) but it is over €400 so you'd wanna research it :)

    But the Galaxy Ace is a pretty good phone and really well priced, aboUt €240.. I don't know much about it but a friend has it and it is really good, with a nice responsive screen..

    But the swap from Symbian to Android is a great choice, I made it too :D
    Oh and.. From my experience i think HTC's are pretty tough from drops etc


    Thanks! Do you ever find yourself making mistakes when texting? Do you experience much slowdown? I've watched a video review of your phone, it looks great. Do you ever feel like the Sense UI gets in the way?

    The Sensation is great, but it is €489 on Three PrePay :/ Maybe it'd come down a bit while I save the money.


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    #4
    LukeS_
    Registered Users Posts: 704 ✭✭✭LukeS_


    You're obviously going to make some mistakes when you're texting so there's no phone that will make it faultless. Unless you're paying close attention to what you type of course. I've used many Android phones and there are numerous different keyboards, so there's options. Although I've never used a keyboard which is as good as the one found on the iPhone. It's just really smooth and auto-correct is fantastic. Even on it's small 3.5" screen it's perfect.

    But you're looking towards Android - maybe have a look on Adverts for a phone, if you're not too bothered by some phones being second hand.

    All the things you're looking for are on MOST Android phones like WiFi/3G. If you can - I'd say go look at a Galaxy S2. Without a doubt the best phone out atm.

    Sense isn't really that big of an issue really, it's not something that will make the phone LAG a lot, it's just clunky and uses a lot of the systems RAM. It's not something you'll even notice.

    I think you're best off looking at the Samsung Galaxy S2 or HTC Sensation. Might be a little out of your price range, but if you can budge the extra bit of cash, it's worth it. :pac:


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    #5
    Doublechinlolz
    Registered Users Posts: 2,390 ✭✭✭Doublechinlolz


    wayhey wrote: »
    Thanks! Do you ever find yourself making mistakes when texting? Do you experience much slowdown? I've watched a video review of your phone, it looks great. Do you ever feel like the Sense UI gets in the way?

    The Sensation is great, but it is €489 on Three PrePay :/ Maybe it'd come down a bit while I save the money.

    I use the phone keypad and its so simple and responsive, i reccomend trying all keyboards at first though :) I do make mistakes, yes, but its not constant enough to put it down to the screen, it's just clumsyness etc :pac: And you really do get used to it, now i can text on it without even looking at the screen :)
    And the Sense UI? I'm not sure what you mean by gets in the way but if you're asking is it sloppy/inconvienient then no no no! Its really well laid out and simple etc :)


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    #6
    Doublechinlolz
    Registered Users Posts: 2,390 ✭✭✭Doublechinlolz


    wayhey wrote: »
    What features are important to you in a phone?
    • Easy, responsive texting - This is really important to me. Whether that's on a QWERTY or a good, responsive touch screen, I don't mind, but I text a good bit and I'm really sick of my unresponsive phone
    • WiFi - If I'm moving to Android this is a bonus, but not a must-have requirement
    • Decent browser
    • Good screen size
    • Smooth multi-tasking/"fast" phone. It'd be nice if there was minimal slowdown on the phone hopping between tasks.
    • Half-decent camera - right now I've a 2mp one and it's one thing I like on the phone. Somewhat clear photos do me grand, I'm not

    I suppose ill answer these on my Desire S, i've already said about the texting soo...
    WiFi, it has, and it has a decent enough range, but it does eat battery.
    Decent browser, it definiteley has! The zoom to fit text featuere is soo handy, the browser is dead quick and flawless.
    Scren size, 3.8 inches, bit bigger than iPhone, good enough for me :) Great quality too :)
    Multitasking is brilliant on it, it effortlessly plays music, games and leaves the browser open at the same time... I dunno how to explain it really :L
    Then the camera is 5mp and it really is brilliant theres flash and the whole shebang, ill post a failed attempt of taking a pic of a lizard when i'm home to show you the focus skills it has if you want?
    God this is the geekiest post i've ever done :pac:


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