Buying new phone...advice?

[DMT]

This conversation is only a couple months old, but I'm curious if anyone has any new info worth sharing. We're leaning towards the 4S; the big draws are the camera, facetime and Siri. Plus, it's the same price ($199) and I don't think we'll be doing much customizing, which seems to be one of the big advantages of Android over IOS. Also, we're pretty much limited to Verizon b/c ATT and Sprint have awful coverage in Tucson.

[johnnya24]

This conversation is only a couple months old, but I'm curious if anyone has any new info worth sharing. We're leaning towards the 4S; the big draws are the camera, facetime and Siri. Plus, it's the same price ($199) and I don't think we'll be doing much customizing, which seems to be one of the big advantages of Android over IOS. Also, we're pretty much limited to Verizon b/c ATT and Sprint have awful coverage in Tucson.

Brother in a law just bought a 4S ... Dad just got a Galaxy S2 ... S2 is better IMO. And if cost isn't an option, wait a few months for the next gen of quad core androids ... although the S2 is terrific. The iPhone looks great and of course is a great phone, but the larger screen on the S2 makes a huge difference ... and it's just as fast and responsive as the iPhone. The next iPhone will have a larger screen to bring it in line with the larger android's. I also didn't like the sharp edges on the iPhone ... if you are using the phone a lot, this could be an issue. And most people I know who own iPhone's treasure them so much that they put them in a plastic/rubber cover ... which makes the awesome design kinda irrelevant.

The Siri factory default is slightly more integrated than the voice activation on Android (you have to set up the email) ... but the S2 was faster at reading commands and more accurate at translating, and equally easy to use. I wouldn't choose the iPhone just on the basis of asking Siri funny questions for a couple of days ... that gets tired after a while.

Slight edge with the iPhone camera ... but only a slight edge. The S2 camera is great also.

Facetime ... depends on how often you will use it and how many family members etc also have Facetime equipped devices.

Cost ... no contest:

iPhone contract: £35 for 24 months
Galaxy S2 contract: £17 for 24 months (after redemption ... £25 before redemption)

I'm not upgrading myself right now ... but if I was, it would be the S2, not the iPhone 4S. As is ... I'll stick with my venerable old HTC Desire for a while longer.

[DMT]

Thanks for the info. Wow, the telecom lobby in this country is ridiculous...Verizon is by far the best network where I live and a 'family' plan for both my wife and I will cost $180/month. Also, they don't even offer the S2.

The facetime is a huge thing for us because my wife wants to be able to use it during her lunch breaks everyday to talk to our kids.

[johnnya24]

Wow, the telecom lobby in this country is ridiculous...Verizon is by far the best network where I live and a 'family' plan for both my wife and I will cost $180/month.

I arranged my Dad's new contract ... he switched from 3 to T-Mobile .. got him a great deal. He had been with 3 for 8 years, and after we cancelled, they apparently called him back and offered him 1000 minutes, unlimited texts & data, and a lower-end Samsung Galaxy free for £8/month (and only an 18 month contract). I told him just to go with the S2 because he's never had a real high-end phone ... and £17/month is still ridiculously cheap.

Mobile contracts are the only thing I can think of that is cheaper here than the US. The funny thing is, if you buy the phone stand-alone, you will still pay more here than in the US ... the competition is pretty fierce ... consumer wins.

[cardboardbox]

if you want an iphone, you may want to wait for the iphone 5 which should have LTE. Of course that means waiting until Sep/Oct.

Thanks for the info. Wow, the telecom lobby in this country is ridiculous...Verizon is by far the best network where I live and a 'family' plan for both my wife and I will cost $180/month. Also, they don't even offer the S2.

I dont think the telecom lobby has much to do with the prices we pay here. Verizon/ATT/Sprint/TMo set their own prices.

[DMT]

if you want an iphone, you may want to wait for the iphone 5 which should have LTE. Of course that means waiting until Sep/Oct.

I'm starting to lean this way.

Verizon's best Samsung offering appears to be the Nexus (unless I'm missing something).

[johnnya24]

I'm starting to lean this way.

Verizon's best Samsung offering appears to be the Nexus (unless I'm missing something).

With the those kinds of prices, I'd definitely want the very latest technology ... and the cycle right now moving toward the news Android quad cores (spring / summer) or the iPhone 5 (also quad core in the fall). An 4" iPhone with a quad core processor will be pretty awesome.

[cardboardbox]

I'm starting to lean this way.

Verizon's best Samsung offering appears to be the Nexus (unless I'm missing something).

also, keep an eye on Sprint. They are rolling out their LTE network starting in June. I'm not sure if anything in Arizona will be ready this year though.

[DMT]

also, keep an eye on Sprint. They are rolling out their LTE network starting in June. I'm not sure if anything in Arizona will be ready this year though.

Will that improve their actual reception? We had a Sprint phone a few years back and the reception was pretty terrible.

[Kevin Seitzer]

Thanks for the info. Wow, the telecom lobby in this country is ridiculous...Verizon is by far the best network where I live and a 'family' plan for both my wife and I will cost $180/month. Also, they don't even offer the S2.

The facetime is a huge thing for us because my wife wants to be able to use it during her lunch breaks everyday to talk to our kids.

I love my S2, and there's no way I'd want to switch to the iPhone. Unfortunately it sounds like you don't have the option of the S2. I thought I'd heard something about Verizon adding the S2, but maybe that hasn't happened yet.

Android phones have Tango, which seems just as good as Facetime to me. My wife and I use Tango to talk between her iPhone and my S2.

[johnnya24]

I love my S2, and there's no way I'd want to switch to the iPhone. Unfortunately it sounds like you don't have the option of the S2. I thought I'd heard something about Verizon adding the S2, but maybe that hasn't happened yet.

Android phones have Tango, which seems just as good as Facetime to me. My wife and I use Tango to talk between her iPhone and my S2.

I have to say, I wasn't intending to upgrade my Desire until I had a play with the S2 yesterday. I easily hit 600K on Temple Run, whereas on my older Android I have a hard time scraping 70K.

P.S. don't download Temple Run if you have work to do ... insanely addictive.

[DMT]

I love my S2, and there's no way I'd want to switch to the iPhone. Unfortunately it sounds like you don't have the option of the S2. I thought I'd heard something about Verizon adding the S2, but maybe that hasn't happened yet.

Android phones have Tango, which seems just as good as Facetime to me. My wife and I use Tango to talk between her iPhone and my S2.

So what specifically makes you say you wouldn't want to switch?

[cardboardbox]

Will that improve their actual reception? We had a Sprint phone a few years back and the reception was pretty terrible.

not sure it would unless they are putting up more towers in your area or using data to carry voice. AFAIK, they are upgrading their existing towers to support the new LTE network and also doing 3G upgrades at the same time. There are some forums like sprintforums.com and s4gru.com that have lots of info about the upgrades sprint is doing. You could ask on sprintforums.com if the AZ reception has improved.

Here you can see the LTE rollout schedule: http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/21...-running-list/

The second group is supposted to be done by Dec 2012 and the purple section shows some AZ locations that might get bumped up to 2012 (from 2013 I assume).

Sprint's generally lower prices and unlimited data make them an attractive alternative.

If you're looking for cheap, I'm on Virgin Mobile for $24/mo after taxes. 300 min, unlimited texts, 2.5 GB/mo data before throttling down to 256 kb/s. I'm considering going back to Sprint in the near future if their LTE network is good.

[DMT]

Anyone have feedback on the RAZR MAXX? It's getting rave reviews from Verizon users, particularly the battery life. It's $299 and still just a dual-core.

[johnnya24]

So you can't buy any phone, choose a network, and plug in their sim card?

There are a couple of things the iPhone is marginally better at ... so marginal you won't notice the difference. And more than a few things the S2 is much better at (screen clarity, screen size (!), cost). Having tried the two, and being used to both OS's with my Android and iPod, it's a no-brainer right now ... especially with the 4S soon to be replaced.

I'm still holding out to see what Microsoft will offer when Windows 8 comes out on all formats. This will be very useful for me if it works well. I'm not in any mad hurry to sign another 24 month contract.