Hey guys, I need a new phone, ideally Android because I have an Asus TF201 tablet and would like a consistent experience. Problem is, because I have the all-singy, all-dancey tablet I don't feel the need for a phone like the SIII or anything. All I want is something with: ICS Good typing experience Responsive in day-to-day tasks Decent battery life Quality feel I feel like the Sony Xperia Tipo and HTC One V get close, but I admit to not being up on the latest phones after being a Blackberry user for the past 5 years. What else is out there that I'm missing?
One V/S are good choices personally. I think it's well known that i'm an HTC guy though, so will always recommend HTC over the Samsung alternative. Sam
I have just got myself the Sony Xperia S. It ticks all the above criteria other than battery life, its not awful but also not brilliant. Got it from Phones4u with a great deal
An S2 would do all of the above and be very cheap at this point. But I've not tried the One series yet.
Galaxy Nexus, Period. While your "insert other brand name" phone is (maybe) getting 4.0, my phone is already rocking 4.1 for a month. And when your ICS phone will start getting 4.1, my Nexus will be rocking 4.2 (or whatever is the next version) too. Unless you need more CPU power (but why?), dislike the size or the design, then there is no reason to buy anything else but Galaxy Nexus if you want Android.
Dependent on price, I might be inclined to agree. But the S2 on ICS is still very rapid and lasts ages with moderate use.
If you flash your phone, sure, why not, you can have 4.1 on other Android phones too. But how many can or will do that ? Not many. And okenobi - ok, right now you have 4.0 - but where was Samsung/HTC/Sony with it from November/December up until April when HTC One X/S got launched, not even talking about the upgrades to 4.0 which are still going on. How long will it take them to upgrade to 4.1/4.2 ? That is the reason why Nexus devices are best choice for now.
IF you consistently want the latest build. Outside of that, they're just another phone. If you get an unlocked handset from CPW, you get the updates from Kies quicker than most. Don't get me wrong, I love my Note on ICS and I personally wouldn't want an S2, but it's a perfectly good (and now VERY cheap) phone when you have an all singing, all dancing tablet. But yeah, Nexus is perfectly good too. Not sure what the price difference is though and I've not used vanilla Android. I actually like TouchWiz and Sense.
Of course i compare only unlocked phones. Not sure about UK, here in Slovakia Galaxy Nexus can be bought for as low as 378,99 € from a trustworthy shop. Galaxy S II is 387,99 € from the same shop, and more expensive in others. Comparing prices of new unlocked (full price) phones of course.
Id still personally buy the galaxy s3 even if i had a top end tablet, simply because its the best andriod phone out there, rooting a phone is easy a child could do it. Doesnt even void your warranty for samsung phones.
Wow, lots of responses and lots to think about. Thanks folks. I do appreciate the S3 advice, but it's £31+ a month. Or like £450. The Xperia tipo OTOH, is £10 a month. What I want really is a Nokia Lumia 710, just running Android. I think my budget is narrowing it down to the Sony Xperia U or maybe the HTC One S. How do we feel about the One S? I can get it for £50 on £15.50/month. Thats 600 mins, unlimited texts and 500MB data, which is more than enough for me. The One S is responsive, ICS, dual core and a decent enough screen. I don't fancy the X as it's too big.
I've obviously misunderstood. I thought we were talking about buying outright. As far as I'm concerned, if you're buying on contract, it's less to do with the handset and more to do with the best deal...
Another vote for the nexus - the 720p screen lets you do amazing things if you like your flashing - I am running Paranoid Android and I can set the DPI for each app individually, so I can get the Tablet version of youtube for example, or the doual pane email layout. It is a fantastic ROM. You can also overclock the CPU in the GNex to 1.4ghz if you get a good one. Mine is stable at 1.35ghz.
My vote doesn't mean too much since I'm in no way an expert on the phone market, but I also am very happy with my Nexus. It's also been well recieved by everyone I know who's used it.
