New phone time

[MaxBurn]

The S3 and Note 2 already have a lot of touchless gestures eye tracking etc for things. 1080p will be nice not for the screen on the phone but for driving an external monitor, with a smart dock the phone could replace a computer for many things. I thought about getting the dock for mine but already had a laptop driving a big monitor so no need.

I used siri to set timers, alarms, reminders and new calendar appointments. I can pretty much do the same on the Galaxy phones with whatever that is called. Only annoyance on that is new appointments don't go on the google calendar by default, only the phone as far as I can tell. For the location based searches I tend to type those in for the extra control that allows.

 

[Chewy509]

Mid to Entry level Android handsets

Hi All,

While we would all love to get the latest and greatest, my wife and I are after 2 new handsets, so budget constraints prohibit it.

Short story is that we are heavily considering changing from Helstra to iiNet (Optus network) for our mobile service, and since they operate on different frequencies (850MHz vs 900MHz) we need to consider new handsets (to replace our 20mth old HTC Wildfires - which IMO have been fantastic).

Are there any suggestions for mid to entry level handsets - we are considering the HTC Desire X at the moment, but am open to other handsets with similar size and capability. About the only key point would be the camera - we use our current phones as a PnS camera when we don't have our larger cameras...

Or alternatively are there mid-entry phones that should clearly be avoided? (Sony's are off the list due to the rampant poor reviews on all the Xperia's, and no Samsung's - don't need to go into that one).

PS. Not considering a phone on a plan due to the very limited choice of handsets through iiNet, so am only looking at outright handsets...

 

[timwhit]

Have you looked at the Nexus 4?

 

[Chewy509]

Not yet, but very tempting. Not keen on the larger size (about the only downside).

Will keep it in mind if other options are difficult to narrow down.

 

[Mercutio]

A lot of my stripper friends carry various models of LG Optimus - which is uniformly hated by all I know who have them, or the HTC One V phone, which seems to be better-liked. The girls invariably buy completely crappy Android phones, find out that they suck (like 600MHz phones with 256MB RAM and 1000mA batteries) and then spring for iphones instead. So I've been handed a lot of crappy Android handsets in the last six months or so. I've come to the conclusion that there's no such thing as a decent Android phone with a hard keyboard after having to mess around with the small number of them that I've seen (mostly Kyocera though Sony, Motorola and Samsung all still make at least one).

I think it's a serious mistake to look at any Android phone with less than a 1GHz CPU and 512MB RAM. Since you're going for a midrange phone rather than top-end, you may actually be better off with Android 2.3 rather than 4.0.

You might also find the Lumia 920 appealing. At least here in the US, they're ridiculously low priced and they're supposed to have great hardware. Engadget or Gizmodo just did a comparison and came away saying that the 920 had the best camera currently available in a smartphone, too.

 

[Chewy509]

You might also find the Lumia 920 appealing. At least here in the US, they're ridiculously low priced

Unfortunately not here - one can get a new unlocked Samsung GS 3 cheaper... (avg here is AU$750+). Our budget is approx AU$300 per handset. (The Desire X is $299 for a network locked , or AU$325 for an unlocked one). And my wife doesn't trust Windows on her laptop, let alone her phone...

Noted on the LGs though. However, most people here consider LG handsets on the same level as ZTE, Huawei, etc... cheap nasty stuff (but I think that's more to do with a lot of cheap crap they put out, and not a reflection on the high-end stuff that is rarely if ever purchased).

 

[MaxBurn]

The nexus line of phones seem to universally have bad cameras. They had to save the money somewhere. I think the current one is better but not near flagship level.

How are the HTC One X prices now? Been out for a while, shouldn't they be coming down? One X+ is the current version of it.

Why was samsung off the table? Same reason, S3 has been out for a while and should be lower in price I think.


Also what about secondary market? Pick up a One X used?

 

[Chewy509]

Hi everyone, just like to say we ended with the HTC Desire X - very happy with the handsets - vast improvement over our older HTC Wildfire's. Battery life has been good so far. (Only had them a just on 2 weeks, and even with heavy use due to playing with the handsets, still am getting 4-5 days on a single charge - expect this to increase once we stop playing with them heavily due to the new-shiny factor).
Small item to note: while the Desire X comes with ICS (v4.0.4 to be exact), the default connection mode to the PC is via UMS and not MTP. (In fact PTP/MTP is not even an option that you can select).

HTC One X prices are still up there with the S3s.

 

[Mercutio]

After some debate between the Note 2 and the S4, I went with the S4. I did it for a completely stupid reason - the headphone connector on my Evo is loose and I'm tired of messing with it - but the fact that it's a larger phone with four times the pixels that weighs less than the one I have more or less sealed the deal.

 

[time]

Congratulations! That's probably the first one here.

My cousin has the Note 2 in an Otterbox; it's an awesome combo, but not really something you'd slip into a pants pocket.

 

[ddrueding]

Nice Merc. Let me know your thoughts. My S3 is starting to fail in interesting ways (dropped who knows how many times, and was on me without case when I crashed on my bike @ 30mph).

 

[Mercutio]

1. Wow is that screen bright and sharp. Like, WOW.
2. Any time anyone gets a new Android device the first thing that should be done once it's connected to 802.11 is to hit play.google.com to push all your apps down to the new device while it's charging. I really wish there was a "Clone Apps from Device X to device Y" button there someplace. This is not the first time I have had this thought.
3. The Samsung keyboard has a row of dedicated number keys. Swype's keys are slightly larger. That's a tough call. I don't know of a way to transfer autocomplete dictionaries between keyboard apps or devices but that's a thing that needs to exist.
4. Hey, Facebook isn't installed. Bonus!

 

[timwhit]

You should really be using SwiftKey.

 

[Mercutio]

I quite like Swype.
Both are paid apps now, but Swiftkey wants a second purchase for tablet users for some reason I don't really understand.

 

[timwhit]

Just wait until it's on sale.

 

[Mercutio]

The S4 supports dual windowed applications.
Seriously. I can have Youtube and Gmail open at the same time, on the same screen. I can adjust the proportion of the screen granted to each app. If I rotate, the layout adjusts automatically.

I weep for wonder.

It only works with some Google-native and Samsung apps, but those apps cover almost everything I might want to split-screen anyway.

I also notice that the Google Drive experience on the S4 is different from how it works on every other Android device I have. I don't know why. Specifically, there's no Share button. I have to go to "Menu" and "Send" if I want to interact with my Google Drive stuff. All my other stuff has a share button. That's the kind of non-uniformity that makes teaching Android to other people very difficult.

 

[timwhit]

Split screen is something that I'd like my next phone to have. Can you run Chrome split screen?

 

[Mercutio]

Chrome, the stock browser, Gmail, the Samsung Email App, Youtube, Google Maps, the Gallery App, the stock SMS app, Google Talk and a half-dozen other weird Samsung apps all work with it.
Firefox does not and I don't see any other media players that do. Google Drive and Dropbox don't.

I tend to prefer Firefox for web browsing on Android because of tab syncing and Adblock Plus. There are a LOT of mobile sites don't behave well with Firefox, but that's not so much a problem with Firefox as the fact that a lot of web developers assume that mobile web = Webkit.

 

[time]

Split screen was already available on the S3. It appeared either in Jelly Bean or the 4.1.1 update from Samsung. Look under Settings - Display - Multi window; it may need to be toggled to make it visible.

Kaiten email client is another app that supports it.

 

[Howell]

I assume only split into two. Can you throw switch whichever app is in each window at will?

 

[Mercutio]

You can close a one window and open a different one if you need to. And the windows are freely resizeable, which is the kind of advanced technology that Microsoft should some day employ for Metro apps.

 

[timwhit]

Split screen was already available on the S3. It appeared either in Jelly Bean or the 4.1.1 update from Samsung. Look under Settings - Display - Multi window; it may need to be toggled to make it visible.

Kaiten email client is another app that supports it.

I have an S3 with Android 4.1.2 and I don't see this option.

 

[timwhit]

I have an S3 with Android 4.1.2 and I don't see this option.

According to this, Sprint started rolling out this update on April 24th, but I haven't received it yet.

 

[timwhit]

According to this, Sprint started rolling out this update on April 24th, but I haven't received it yet.

I followed the instructions here and now I am installing the update.

 

[timwhit]

It's working now. Sweet.

 

[Howell]

I followed the instructions here and now I am installing the update.

For those of us not on an Android but thinking about it, why is the intervention needed? Best guess if necessary.

 

[timwhit]

For those of us not on an Android but thinking about it, why is the intervention needed? Best guess if necessary.

My best guess is that they rollout updates to users slowly so that their server's aren't overwhelmed.

 

[Howell]

Oh, I understand better what the instructions are doing now. Thanks.

 

[Mercutio]

Android updates are weird sometimes. Even if the handset manufacturer has provided an update, the carrier still has to distribute it or choose not to. Samsung does have another update mechanism built into Kies, its PC connectivity package, but I suspect that very few people are aware of or use that.

 

[timwhit]

It's probably a pain the ass to get Kies to work on Linux also.

 

[mubs]

Nobody here as a Nokia Lumia?

 

[Mercutio]

One of my friends has a 920. It has a very nice screen and seems fast and responsive. She has to reboot it every few days because it stops making data connections after a while. I don't know if that's common to that model or just a problem with hers.

 

[mubs]

The Lumia's are aggressively priced here, compared to the i things and Galaxy things. I may have to buy the Galaxy Grand soon even though it's not the most awesome. Reason: supports dual SIMs. I'm moving within the fortnight, and will have to obtain new SIMs with local numbers, or pay exorbitant roaming charges. There is talk of abolishing roaming, but I think it won't happen this year. Meanwhile I have to hang on to my current SIM/# for continuity reasons. Like wise the wife. Too many devices to carry is a major PITA.

 

[Mercutio]

The Grand looks like kind of an odd product. It's the same size as my S4 but has specs that are more in line with the S2. I don't tihnk those are offered in the US.