Help me choose a smartphone!
- Thread starter cardgame
- Start date
hobbsyoyo
Deity
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2012
- Messages
- 26,575
Jellybean for SIII is coming
At least he's getting a damn upgrade. The two Android phones I've owned never got updated past the initial start-up update.
That's a major drawback with the Android ecosystem. It's a hodgepodge mix of operating systems that no carriers put any effort into unifying. They just ignore the new OS that come out wrt their older phones because hey, you can just buy a knew phone every few months, amiright?
At least he's getting a damn upgrade. The two Android phones I've owned never got updated past the initial start-up update.
That's a major drawback with the Android ecosystem. It's a hodgepodge mix of operating systems that no carriers put any effort into unifying. They just ignore the new OS that come out wrt their older phones because hey, you can just buy a knew phone every few months, amiright?
What does the new system do which you need and the old one didn't do?
hobbsyoyo
Deity
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2012
- Messages
- 26,575
Fix security flaws and errors. Other than that, I don't know as I've never had experience with them. From what I've heard though, the newer Android OS's are pretty awesome.
stfoskey12
Emperor of Foskania
I want to buy an iPhone 3GS because it's relatively cheap, but many sites on Amazon say that they got an iPhone 3G instead. Do you have any idea which sites I should order from?
I hope by "relatively inexpensive" you mean under $100. Otherwise a Lumia 710 or a Nexus S are cheap and low-end, but still much, much better phones than the 3GS.
stfoskey12
Emperor of Foskania
I'm not sure that I specified this, but I want something without a contract. Also, I decided it would be easier to just buy from Craigslist. Here are the costs of various phones in my area:
iPhone 3GS
iPhone 4
iPhone 4S
Nokia Lumia 710
Nexus S
Galaxy Nexus
So you're right, they are slightly cheaper, but I would have to look at various costs with different phone services.
iPhone 3GS
iPhone 4
iPhone 4S
Nokia Lumia 710
Nexus S
Galaxy Nexus
So you're right, they are slightly cheaper, but I would have to look at various costs with different phone services.
If you can find it, get a Nexus 4. Best and cheapest no contract phone and its new.
Mr.WorldWide
Smugly Inferior
TracFone is good(read cheap) if you just need a back up phone or don't use your cell much.
stfoskey12
Emperor of Foskania
Does it have apps?
We're talking about smartphones here.
Mr.WorldWide
Smugly Inferior
lol I missed that. It's cheap though 
LamaGT
Emperor
If you're very lucky you can even find a used Galaxy S2 by that price, and by now they have Android 4.1 (no idea about contracts, there isn't such an evil thing over here).
I just went through this process myself. I had been with Verizon for nearly a decade, but only had 1 smartphone - a 1st generation DROID. I read that Verizon is going to be capping data in the next year, so I decided to look into off-brand carriers. They offer no-contract, lower monthly fees for access, and - depending on your area - just as good coverage.
What I found is that most of the minor providers buy wholesale bandwidth from Sprint. Not all, but nearly all. MetroPCS and Virgin, I think, are the only ones who maintain their own network. There are, I suppose, advantages and disadvantages to that.
The company I went with offers VERY affordable no-contract packages, and doesn't penalize you for going over your package limit. In fact, it's not really fair to call it a limit, since they simply bump you up into the next tier if you go over your package cap. If I think I'm going to use 1000 texts in a month, but actually use 2000, they will simply add $3 to my bill. With data, it's basically $21/GB. With Verizon, I was paying $40 for 'unlimited', but that's on its way out.
The other thing to consider is many off-brand carriers don't subsidize the cost of the handset (smartphone) which is why they're so much cheaper. I picked up a used Samsung Nexus S 4G for $90 off Craigslist and my total monthly bill is about $45. Compare that to the $95 every month!! I was letting Verizon extract from me (sans Vaseline!)
As for the specific handsets you've linked, I would narrow the list immediately to the:
iPhone 4s [if you want iOS, but forget the 4 and lower]
Lumia [if you want a Windows phone]
Galaxy Nexus [forget the Nexus S - far lower processing power]
One thing to consider with the off-brand carriers, though, is that they may not support the device you want. That's a big deal.
I would consider first what carrier is best for you, and THEN go about finding a compatible device.
The iPhones are not able to be run on Sprint's network through off-brand carriers as far as I know, so take care on that point.
If I were to go through this process again, I would try to go with the Samsung Galaxy Nexus or Samsung Galaxy s2 - those were both above my budget at the time. But my carrier is great, and I would definitely choose them again.
EDIT:
just checked Sprint's coverage for Raleigh (all your links pointed there) and they've got WiMAX, which could be considered 3.25G service. It's not as robust as LTE - which is like 3.5G, but it's far faster than 3.0G. Like, things will load in half a second that via 3G would take 2-5 seconds. The processor also affects this, which is why I advise going with the Galaxy Nexus - dual cores, 2x the RAM, and a faster GPU. No brainer.
ZenReputation
Chieftain
don't go for SONY...on new Android update..many features get disable
stfoskey12
Emperor of Foskania
Is it true that putting a phone in rice for a week will dry it out if it gets wet? Also, how effective is a bumper for protecting a smartphone?
