Help me choose a new phone

[Zen]

Well, i currently own a Blackberry 8800, had it for a year and a half and to be honest i'm pretty disappointed. There are few Australian carriers who provide BIS (Blackberry Internet Services) or Blackberry Email if you bring your own phone. Also i find the general GUI of just sending emails/texts and just phone navigation rather sluggish and laggy.

I'm now trying to decide between Android and iPhone. (when i say Android i would either buy a Nexus One or HTC Hero, undecided)

Critera that absolutely needs to be filed

• Wifi
• SSH access app (free or paid)
• decent quality photos, flash is preferred
• responsive OS
• GPS is not required, but would be nice
• decent/customisable keyboard, one that is usable for short-ish emails and long texts (meaning 4-5 160char messages)
• Good web browsing experience
• Native facebook app would be nice, not required
• Native Twitter app
• Decent email app, for use with Gmail (my @zensavona.com email through gmail frontend)
• Practical OS to use
• I like to be doing a few things at once, but not absolutely essential

my current pros vs cons for iPhone

Pros

• Sexy
• Lots of apps to choose from
• doubles as an iPod (i dont really need an iPod, i already have an iPod Touch)
• Push email
• Native iPhone plans are easily available in AU
• WiFi
• Multitouch
• Can be used as a remote for my iTunes

Cons

• Fingerprint magnet
• Fragile as hell
• Expensive
• Apps cost money, and OS4 is coming out soon, which means no jailbreaking for a while
• No multitasking
• No VoIP
• The only apps are the ones apple approves (no google voice)
• Bulkier than a Nexus One
• Shitty keyboard
• Shitty web browser
• Shitty camera
• No flash
• iPhone 3G is rather sluggish (same problem as Blackberry) and i dont want to pay for a 3GS
• White ones look nice, Black ones don't
• Can't use it outside
• Have to clean it every time you make a call (screen pressed on skin)

my current pros vs cons for Nexus One

Pros

• Sexy
• Fast
• Free apps
• Open source OS
• I can create my own apps without paying Apple $100
• I don't have to resent it's creater
• Much nicer OS GUI
• Push Email/Notifications
• Not limited to Safari
• Flash support
• The camera has a flash
• Better vamera+video_audio recording
• More durable/Fingerprint resistant
• I can use it in the sun
• Customisable keyboard/Better stock keyboard
• Cheaper
• WiFi
• More customisable

Cons

• Less apps
• No native plans
• Less support
• "Nexus One" has less effect than "iPhone"
• I need to carry both my phone and iPod
• The touch screen isint made of flat glass (Dunno why but the screen on the iPone is nice, its solid)

If you can think of something else im missing, please tell me!




Advice please...

[heist]

if you don't have a set of requirements that you can judge each against, then you're just buying a gadget for the hell of it.

which means you can just have a play with each of them, and buy whichever takes your fancy, on a whim.


from what you've said here, you've forced yourself to give a few backhanded pros to apple, but really you want an android phone.

[madpilot]

Originally Posted by Zen

Cons

• Fingerprint magnet
• Fragile as hell
• Expensive
• Apps cost money, and OS4 is coming out soon, which means no jailbreaking for a while
• No multitasking
• No VoIP
• The only apps are the ones apple approves (no google voice)
• Bulkier than a Nexus One
• Shitty keyboard
• Shitty web browser
• Shitty camera
• No flash
• iPhone 3G is rather sluggish (same problem as Blackberry) and i dont want to pay for a 3GS
• White ones look nice, Black ones don't
• Can't use it outside
• Have to clean it every time you make a call (screen pressed on skin)

You missed "Doesn't work particularly well as a real phone". At least on 3 (the telco) the call quality is rubbish, and it seems to not-/dis- connect more than my old N95 on the same network.

I disagree with you on the browser though - that is actually pretty good.

[dominicwa]

In defense of iPhone...

* Fragile as hell

I've not found it to be particularly fragile. I can't imagine it's anymore fragile than other phones. I'll admit though, I've had mine in a rubber skin.

* Expensive

The 3G and 3GS models will both be cheaper in a couple of months when the new 4G iPhone comes out.

* Apps cost money, and OS4 is coming out soon, which means no jailbreaking for a while

There are plenty of free apps and one-day giveaways on the platform. Beta versions of OS4 have already been jailbroken. I doubt it'll be more than a few weeks after launch for that to happen. The connection of these two points in a single bullet is a bit sus.

* No multitasking

New in OS4. Unless you get the 3g.

* No VoIP

Ummmm Voice over IP is perfectly doable using Skype and other apps. Over both wifi or 3g now.

* Shitty keyboard

As a software keyboard I completely disagree. It's not as good as a h/w keyboard but then, the Nexus One doesn't have a h/w keyboard either.

* Shitty web browser

Again, I completely disagree. iPhone Safari (be it on 3g/3gs) is probably the most sophisticated on any mobile device. And the Nexus One uses the same rendering engine (Webkit).

* Shitty camera

On the 3g, compared to the Nexus, yes. Otherwise, I doubt there's an awful lot in it. 3megapixel vs 5mp... with the kind of lenses you get in phones anyway... I doubt quality will be vastly different.

* No flash

If you mean camera flash, true, the Nexus wins there. If you mean Adobe Flash, again true

* iPhone 3G is rather sluggish (same problem as Blackberry) and i dont want to pay for a 3GS

Yeah the 3g is starting to feel a wee bit sluggish to me. Some of the newer apps, especially games are targetting the 3gs more these days. Not a lot, but a few. I wouldn't recommend someone jumping onto the iPhone train now at the 3g. I think you need to look at the 3gs at least. As I mentioned though, the 4g is out soon so price drops are on the way (especially with contract deals).

* White ones look nice, Black ones don't

Errrr... get a white one then?

* Can't use it outside

Why? They work great outside compared to a lot of other phones. (In sunlight I take it you mean?)

I'm sure the Nexus One is a great phone too. I'd maybe disagree with some of the positives you've noted there (like the OS being nicer) but I'm sure you could make either work for you. It'd be nice to have something completely different to the iPod Touch. OS4 will bring some freshness to the platform though.

I think between a 3g and a Nexus One I'd probably go Nexus One. But if a 3gs or a 4g was an option, there'd be no contest in my mind... it'd be the iPhone.

[tuna]

Zen

Reading your Pro and Con, you have already subconsciously made your decision. Take another look, you have a decision, you just don't know it.

[Franki]

I love my HTC Touch Pro (WinMo 6), and will likely to stick to another HTC winmo 7 when that comes out, provided MS isn't stupid enough to launch it without copy & paste.

Nothing like a hard keyboard when you do a lot email, SMS and SSH on your phone.

[Zen]

Originally Posted by Franki

I love my HTC Touch Pro (WinMo 6), and will likely to stick to another HTC winmo 7 when that comes out, provided MS isn't stupid enough to launch it without copy & paste.

Nothing like a hard keyboard when you do a lot email, SMS and SSH on your phone.

Thats true. my previous phone is a iMate JasJam (HTC HERM100), best phone ive ever owned, just i dont really like winmo6

[Franki]

winmo is lacking I agrees, though when you run Windows and Outlook, it does make up for the cons. From syncing with Outlook to internet sharing (both phone as modem or phone using PC's connection) is all too easy and convenient, and I can use upto 8 apps simultaneously (before it's out of memory) with ability to copy and paste data between them is the deal breaker.

But yes, agrees with the others - you already know what you want so don't know why you bother comparing with the iphone.

[Zen]

Originally Posted by heist

if you don't have a set of requirements that you can judge each against, then you're just buying a gadget for the hell of it.

which means you can just have a play with each of them, and buy whichever takes your fancy, on a whim.


from what you've said here, you've forced yourself to give a few backhanded pros to apple, but really you want an android phone.

Probably.

anyway, i added some criteria.


From thinking about this more, from an objective point of view, i think Android is the way to go. Thanks for your input everyone

[Dave]

HTC HD2 is all I will say - it's an amazing piece of hardware, and particularly running HTC Sense, the 'old' WinMo GUI doesn't get in the way.

I could rave on about it for a very long time, the biggest (no pun intended) thing being the 4.3" screen running at 800x480. 1Ghz processor keeps everything speedy, and again, that screen. It's capacitive touch too, the first WinMo phone to have one.

It's a touch thinner than an iPhone, though it is a fingerprint magnet (but you'll get that with any big screen phone).

Go have a play with one in a Telstra store (they are the only carrier that have them), I bought mine outright from overseas though.