which smartphone

ozzzyosborn206

The time has come for me to get a new phone, I have had my HTC Desire S for a tad over 2 years now and the battery life is shocking and barely lasts till the end of the working day, and it randomly keeps playing up/ turning off when i try to answer calls not charging when plugged in etc

Question is what do i get? I phones are always popular and as i have a macbook it would be good for syncing it with i cloud but i get the impression lots of people get them to 'have an i phone' not because they are actually the best phone price and function wise? I am tempted by the HTC one, i have dropped my desire many times and the screen has stayed in one piece which is more than can be said for 80% of my friends who have i phones..

Thoughts please?

guinea

Nexus 5, released yesterday.

For the cash, nothing comes close.

Achamore

Nexus 5 a good option

Also try Samsung S4 mini - http://www.uswitch.com/mobiles/yourdeal/?_cid=82810214
- looks like a good deal but you may want more options

morstar

First a caveat. I don't like Apple products myself.

However, if you've already got a mac, it would seem a logical choice. Mrs has dropped hers many times with no damage.

I personally wouldn't buy top end if battery life is a concern though. At the top end, it is a careful balance of putting as much functionality in as the battery can cope with so you're only ever going to get a day at best.

Mid range phones are my preference. Unless you need the latest pointless feature, what can this years model do that last years can't.

I have Motorola Razri that has just done 2 days on one charge with lots of use. Total cost for 12 months, £225 inclusive of all usage.

Siii advertised on Asda for about £240 on TV last night. That's a good deal for a phone that was widely considered best on the market less than a year ago.

dai_t75

Think the first thing to decide is what sort of size phone do you want?

I almost went for the HTC one, but the size put me off. In my eyes it's a bit too big to carry around in my pocket so I left it. I think the nexus 5 is also on the bigger side.

I went for the S4 mini in the end and I am very happy with it - just the right size for me. The only thing that stopped me getting the HTC One mini was the lack of storage and no SD slot.

Can't comment on iphones as I have never owned one and don't intend to anytime soon.

sungod

aside from phone calls, what do you want to use it for?

fwiw i'm a long term mac user, but the iphone never did it for me, i've got a galaxy s2, works fine, easy enough to move stuff to/from mac, music, pics etc. and for work email/documents it's reliable, i added a 32gb micro sd card for music+videos

i chose it because at the time it was the lightest phone for the size+features i wanted, no intention of changing it until it wears out

start with deciding what you need, then look for the best fit

for short snappy reviews the register is good...
http://www.theregister.co.uk/hardware/phones/
http://www.theregister.co.uk/hardware/p ... ory=review

alihisgreat

Google Nexus 5 for two reasons

- amazing price
- pure unadulterated android - not the crappy skinned versions full of bloatware that you get on Samsung or HTC phones.

francis666

Full time qualified IT Engineer(MCSE -Microsoft)
Mend phones on the side
Buy an iPhone 5

Will never lock up
Toughest screen on market
Every app u can image
Huge residual value
Cheaper than iphone 5s
Simply a brilliant piece of engineering even if you hate Apple.
No quibble exchange under warranty immediately at Ape store.

drlodge

I'm an android fan and bought a Samsung Galaxy Note II earlier this year - nice large screen, fast quad core processor, great battery life and masses of memory (16gb internal + 64gb sd card). Great for playing games and sending the odd text message ;-)

Depends on what you want though.

mudsucker

I'm In the same situation at present, due for an upgrade right now. Quite like the look of the Sony Xperia SP and the Samsung S4 mini. The only issue I have with Samsung is that they feel very cheap and plasticy.

My other option is to keep my Nokia Lumia 800 and go to a sim only contract.

There is more to life than an Iphone. Don't be a sheep :-)

francis666

"Don't be a sheep"?

You ever had one? = obviously not!

I don't buy anything for fashion or trend.
I built my own bike from scratch with Chinese carbon parts, so I'm for a bit of a challenge and ridicule!

But sometimes when the majority go one way, there's a good reason.
just like I wouldn't piss up wind!

"Samsung is that they feel very cheap and plasticy"

You defiantly are a mudsucker! or was it a dumbf*cker! or just perhaps a sucker?

dai_t75

mudsucker wrote:

I'm In the same situation at present, due for an upgrade right now. Quite like the look of the Sony Xperia SP and the Samsung S4 mini. The only issue I have with Samsung is that they feel very cheap and plasticy.

My other option is to keep my Nokia Lumia 800 and go to a sim only contract.

There is more to life than an Iphone. Don't be a sheep :-)

If you are worried about the feeling of the Samsung have you looked at the HTC One mini?

mudsucker

Oh Francis you are the classic fanboi. No sense of humour and everyone elses opinions are wrong. I bet you own an Orange bike too.

Frankly I don't actually care and you are clearly a very dull silly little boy.

Ta,

Mod Edit Cut out the insults, we don't tolerate that on here!

secretsam

Apple is a tawdry little bunch of nerds who want to rule the world, their way, their rules, their software, their connectivity...Micro USB charger like EVERYONE ELSE? Why, no...

So: do what I did. Ring your current provider and get a good deal on an older phone. Samsung S3 mini, 600 minutes, a zillion texts, 1GB data - £14 pcm including insurance. Thank you Virgin - that's how to reward customer loyalty (shame about the crap coverage )

francis666

Iphone 5 with broken screen from EBay £180
Checkmend £2 to make sure it wasn't blocked/stolen
Replaced screen £65 ( super easy to do, look at YouTube)
Me on Three network £15 a month 2000 everything unlimted data ( need 4 work)
Wife on Three £9.90 month, 600 mins 1GB DATA
Son on the same as wife.
All Three customers have 2000 mins to each other.
All iPhones have free txt and picture messages.
All iPhones with front camera have free FaceTime (like Skype)
So u can still etc when on wifi
Three is brill in cities/town but crap in sticks
Strava, Map my Ride works.
Little nerdy men like me like it always works not like my old HTC , Galaxy S on any other Android crap.
Hate "posh books" and Apple.
Use Chrome on my Iphone and at work
But iphone still the best.
"Dumbsucker" u said u wouldn't embarrass me about me being little!

wongataa

Nexus 5. Unlocked high end phone with very good price and guaranteed software updates until the hardware can't keep up.

Pure Android as well so no dodgy manufacturer skins and can customise to heart's content if you so wish.

No Apple lock in or restrictions.

secretsam

wongataa wrote:

Nexus 5. Unlocked high end phone with very good price and guaranteed software updates until the hardware can't keep up.

And a cool, Blade Runner name

wongataa wrote:

No Apple lock in or restrictions.

So it's not just me who thinks that the happy apple are hiding worms inside...

Pross

Who'd have thought this would descend into name calling between the pro and anti Apple groups? :shock:

I have a Galaxy S2 (personal) and iPhone 4 (work) and I would say they are very evenly matched. I like the lighter weight of the Samsung and prefer its camera. The iPhone feels higher quality and I prefer the look. Both do everything required of them well and with my usage the battery life on both is good. I prefer the email set up on the iPhone. People talk about how easy Android is to customise but how many of us really bother with that?

To summarise, based on my 2 year old technology, I can't find anything to choose between what was widely regarded as the best Android phone of its time and the Apple equivalent and I suspect that still holds true today. I don't think the technology has improved much over the last 2 years and has just become gimmicky which is why I kept the S2 when my contract expired. If I was choosing today I would go purely on cost and get the cheapest phone that provided what I required. In reality this is likely to be an Android device as iPhones hold their value so well and even older models are still pricey. I'd certainly opt for an older model phone and sim only deal (I'm on Giff Gaff) rather than being tied into an expensive 2 year contract just to get the latest phone which is unlikely to be a significant improvement on the older technology. Based on my experience with a Desire S (my previous work phone) anything will be an improvement though!

morstar

Pross wrote:

Who'd have thought this would descend into name calling between the pro and anti Apple groups? :shock:

I have a Galaxy S2 (personal) and iPhone 4 (work) and I would say they are very evenly matched. I like the lighter weight of the Samsung and prefer its camera. The iPhone feels higher quality and I prefer the look. Both do everything required of them well and with my usage the battery life on both is good. I prefer the email set up on the iPhone. People talk about how easy Android is to customise but how many of us really bother with that?

To summarise, based on my 2 year old technology, I can't find anything to choose between what was widely regarded as the best Android phone of its time and the Apple equivalent and I suspect that still holds true today. I don't think the technology has improved much over the last 2 years and has just become gimmicky which is why I kept the S2 when my contract expired. If I was choosing today I would go purely on cost and get the cheapest phone that provided what I required. In reality this is likely to be an Android device as iPhones hold their value so well and even older models are still pricey. I'd certainly opt for an older model phone and sim only deal (I'm on Giff Gaff) rather than being tied into an expensive 2 year contract just to get the latest phone which is unlikely to be a significant improvement on the older technology. Based on my experience with a Desire S (my previous work phone) anything will be an improvement though!

This^. Does anybody really think a new top end phone is significantly better than last years?

alihisgreat

morstar wrote:

Pross wrote:

Who'd have thought this would descend into name calling between the pro and anti Apple groups? :shock:

I have a Galaxy S2 (personal) and iPhone 4 (work) and I would say they are very evenly matched. I like the lighter weight of the Samsung and prefer its camera. The iPhone feels higher quality and I prefer the look. Both do everything required of them well and with my usage the battery life on both is good. I prefer the email set up on the iPhone. People talk about how easy Android is to customise but how many of us really bother with that?

To summarise, based on my 2 year old technology, I can't find anything to choose between what was widely regarded as the best Android phone of its time and the Apple equivalent and I suspect that still holds true today. I don't think the technology has improved much over the last 2 years and has just become gimmicky which is why I kept the S2 when my contract expired. If I was choosing today I would go purely on cost and get the cheapest phone that provided what I required. In reality this is likely to be an Android device as iPhones hold their value so well and even older models are still pricey. I'd certainly opt for an older model phone and sim only deal (I'm on Giff Gaff) rather than being tied into an expensive 2 year contract just to get the latest phone which is unlikely to be a significant improvement on the older technology. Based on my experience with a Desire S (my previous work phone) anything will be an improvement though!

This^. Does anybody really think a new top end phone is significantly better than last years?

But phone contracts generally work on 24 month cycles... so you should be comparing this years phone to a phone from 2 years ago..

and then you do start to see a difference.

Pross

My phone is over 2 years old now, yes there will be differences but IMHO not enough to justify 2 years on a £30 per month contract or £400 + to buy the phone. I can take decent photos, text, email, browse the internet and even make a phone call. Bearing in mind that internet access is limited more by the availability of high speed 3G or 4G transmitters than by the processors etc. in the hardware I really don't see the point. A lot of the time I only have access to 1G internet signal and often no internet at all, in plenty of places even getting a phone signal is difficult. Until the infrastructure gets sorted there is an ever diminishing return on the cost of improved hardware.

alan_sherman

I quite like the Desire S hardware. It is a nice form factor and it feels quite nice in the hand. I just updated my wife's to the HTC official (Dev) ice cream sandwich OS. it is running quicker, but is not as 'nice' as ICS on my Samsung Galaxy S2. Battery life is similar for both of them (galaxy has a bigger screen that goes through its bigger battery quicker).

Maybe worth trying the ICS update before ditching your phone completely? And if you get a new phone perhaps worth a fiddle to root the old one and get stock ICS installed? The processor isn't as quick as the modern devices but it is quick enough to do pretty much anything you would need. The SD card slot will take a 32Gb micro SD card to take care of storage needs.

Go to http://www.htcdev.com/devcenter/downloads select Desire S and tick the 'other' radio button. You'll want the RUU file. Download to a PC, unzip and read the install guide. Worked just fine for me.

One thing to be aware of is that you need to re-install all the apps which can take some time if you have collected a lot.

Old android phones could make great bike computers / GPS devices...

thegreatdivide

After many years of HTC's I've just gone to the Apple side and now have an iPhone 5s. I fancied a change and I've gone off these massive Android smart phones - even the new One S Mini is HUGE!!!

fast as fupp

Pross wrote:

My phone is over 2 years old now, yes there will be differences but IMHO not enough to justify 2 years on a £30 per month contract or £400 + to buy the phone. I can take decent photos, text, email, browse the internet and even make a phone call. Bearing in mind that internet access is limited more by the availability of high speed 3G or 4G transmitters than by the processors etc. in the hardware I really don't see the point. A lot of the time I only have access to 1G internet signal and often no internet at all, in plenty of places even getting a phone signal is difficult. Until the infrastructure gets sorted there is an ever diminishing return on the cost of improved hardware.

a nexus 5 is £299 outright though and its not locked to a carrier

throw in a sim only contract and youre quids in

the playing mantis

i got a htc one a couple of months back, in the stupid thinking that it would function similar to my prior htc.

its ok, camera ok, screen cracked already, and the colour is coming off too (its the black one) showing exposed metal. its not that big comparitevly with my previous htc and isnt thta much bigger than the one mini or equivalent i phone.

it does the job.

secretsam

thegreatdivide wrote:

After many years of HTC's I've just gone to the Apple side and now have an iPhone 5s. I fancied a change and I've gone off these massive Android smart phones - even the new One S Mini is HUGE!!!

One of those Samsung Galaxy Notes must be like using a tablet as a phone. Ironic, really, given that a few years ago it was all about who could make the most stupidly small phone...

Anyway - like some wise sage said, get an S3mini

morstar

But phone contracts generally work on 24 month cycles... so you should be comparing this years phone to a phone from 2 years ago..

and then you do start to see a difference.

Really? I'm not convinced the new iphone does that much more than a 4S. Samsung S4 is probably a bigger step up from the S2 but really it depends on usage.
Key factors are phone calls, texts, camera, email, battery life and web browsing for me. These are not fundamentally different in terms of capability over the last 2 years.
The only phone that ever let me down was a wildfire S and that was purely and simply because it was hamstrung with insufficient phone memory.
I won't even entertain a 2 year contract as the total costs are extortionate. My preference is sim free but my carrier have twice managed to keep me when you get through to the retentions team to cancel. They really can offer unbeatable deals as they will price based on realistic usage history rather than unnecessarily high contracts.
Ask for your PAC code and simply be honest.

DesB3rd

Again, ^ this.

Somewhere ~2011 the ideas started running dry. My work S3 isn't functionally any different from my personal S2 (bigger screen but browsing, calls, email and camera are all equal as far as I can tell) – and the differences to my boss's S4 are even more marginal...

Next I'll probably play it early-2000s style, looking for the smallest/thinnest package that's workable for web browsing with a touch screen.

TheCoo'sTail

Just about to change phones myself. Currently have the S3 but I think it's back to iphone for me. The Samsung has been great but I want to tether my iPad to my phone and want to keep it Apple just incase there are any compatibility issues with different manufacturers in the future. 3 are doing an all you can eat data deal which I think looks great value, plus there is no charge for 4G. For me it's a no brainer. I do like the idea of a smaller phone again also.

meursault

I have this



I may be due an upgrade, do the new ones have snake?

Silly Old Hector

meursault wrote:

I have this



I may be due an upgrade, do the new ones have snake?

Ooh - fancy, a silver one. Bet the keys light up on yours - well jel....