Help me choose a new phone

yeah bro gensoid is slick as hell. Wifi multiplayer, bluetooth multiplayer, and it's fast. I love playing Sonic 2 XL on my Sprint Hero with tilt controls

Also, rooting and flashing custom roms is not hard. Check out this community for info: http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=703

I love XDA, I learned everything I know about Android there. I have Cyanogen Mod 6.0 stable on my Hero now and it's like a whole new, faster phone.


Also, in regards to sideloading apps on the Captivate, it IS possible. I can't say why I know, but it's possible using some kind of cable. Large companies are interested in the Captivate to replace Winmo 6 and their IT departments have to be able to load things like Good.

Oh one other thing, Spex meantioned the Aria. For those of you who haven't seen that thing IRL, it is one tiny little phone! I had a meeting with some AT&T people and one of them had one with them. It's RIDICULOUSLY small. I really have no idea where the fuck they fit the battery.

 

My best friend converted his whole family to the Epic, it's a pretty slick phone. The one thing I don't like about it is I see a noticeable screen door effect on the LCD. However, he can't see it and neither can anyone else in his family, so I guess I'm just overly sensitive to that.

If you get a chance to try any of the Galaxy S phones out, they are all basically the same but the Epic is the most powerful and fully featured.

One thing to bear in mind though, that most people don't realize is, if you get a CDMA based carrier like Sprint, you can't talk and use data at the same time. You can talk and use wifi, but you can't use the cellular data while on a call. This hasn't been an issue for me but if you like to browse while you're talking on speakerphone or with a headset, this could be an issue.

On the flip side, Sprint is much more liberal than AT&T, you get full access to the Android Market, you can sideload apps, and the pricing is pretty simple.

 

I personally haven't liked the slide keyboards on phones so far, and I've found that I rarely use it on couple of Android devices that have physical keyboards I have. I'd also like to note that even if you don't have 4G in your area, you must pay for 4G service to use a 4G phone. Also, the Epic 4G has a weaker camera than the other Galaxy S variants (about half the MP power).

Unfortunately, the Vibrant isn't an HSPA+ phone, though it will be able to take some advantage of T-Mobile's HSPA+ network by generally being able to access maximum HSPA 7.2 speeds, from what I've been told. It will also be given the ability to do calls over WiFi instead of over the cell network in an update, though having an HSPA+ phone that would support WiFi calling out of the box would be better....

EDIT: T-Mobile just announced a new phone, the T-Mobile MyTouch. It has dual cameras, Froyo, 720p video capture, camera flash, and voice command support. They also announced the Motorola Defy, which is the first water resistant Android phone. It doesn't have HD video recording, it seems (not sure though), but it does have camera flash and voice command support. Not sure if it comes with Froyo as well. Also, the T-Mobile G2 (HTC Desire Z) will become generally available in two days. The only thing it doesn't have is dual cameras, but it does have a slide out keyboard. Since the G2 uses stock Android 2.2, upgrades for it will come very quickly.

 

T-mo was the first carrier on the market with Android (the G1) and they continue to lead with quality devices and services. While Verizon may have the Droid line, they do stupid shit with the store and preload Bing as the search engine for the phone. T-mo is the only company that offers unadulterated android phones, really.

 

To be honest, I'd go with the Motorola Backflip, if you want to be on AT&T. Sure it's bulky, but that thing is an interesting piece of work if you ask me. The only major flaw to it is its use of Yahoo instead of Google, which I honestly don't get. At all.

Another good Android AT&T choice would be the Samsung Galaxy S (as mentioned above) or the Nexus 1. My uncle has the Nexus 1 and it's a very cool phone. It even convinced my aunt to ditch her iPhone 4 for the Nexus. :P

 

Dude the backflip? Hell no. That thing is horrible. Android 1.6, shitty old processor, same one used in the tilt years ago.

 

It also sucks at playing back movies. The only interesting thing is the design, and if you like something like that, wait for the Motorola Flipout to hit AT&T in the coming weeks/months. Though the thing is tiny, at least it runs Android 2.1 and is a bit more powerful.

In any case, the really interesting Android phones are all on T-Mobile's network. AT&T probably won't get the cool stuff so that they won't alienate Apple....

 

Trust me. AT&T doesn't give a shit how many iPhones they sell. They don't get anything out of it, Apple takes all the profit. HORRIBLE business relationship

 

AT&T gets money from all the 2 year contracts people are forced to sign to get the iPhone. I think they'd care about that, at least. But if they didn't, they should get a stronger lineup of alternative phones.... Unless, their plan is to push Windows Phone 7? Ugh...

EDIT: Skype for Android has just arrived and is totally broken on Galaxy S phones, all variants.

EDIT 2: AT&T just announced that the Motorola Flipout will be arriving on October 17, while the Motorola Bravo and Motorola Flipside will be arriving "this holiday season." The Motorola Flipout is a very compact device (2.8" screen). It will not be able to run Skype for Android properly. It also doesn't have a microSD card preloaded on it. The Motorola Flipside is a slightly higher end model, offering a 3.1" screen and a slide out QWERTY keyboard. It can run Skype since it meets the minimum resolution requirements. The Motorola Bravo is the closest to high end of the new phones announced. It has a 3.7" screen at 480x854 (so higher resolution than the Galaxy S slightly). It also comes preloaded with a 2GB microSD card along with 2GB of ROM(?) storage. All three have a 3MP camera with no camera flash. They seem to have no video recording support? They do have FM radios though. All of them run Android 2.1 and support multitouch, though the Flipout might be a bit small for using multitouch gestures all over the place...

 

You sure about that bro? *NDA glimmer in eye*

Also as far as Windows Phone 7 goes, it's almost definitely going to be big on AT&T because there's no CDMA version of the software yet

 

Then where does the $250 I pay each month to AT&T go? And as for Windows Phone 7, it looks like T-Mobile is going to promote the hell out of Windows Phone 7 as well as Android. They are launching a WinPho7 phone on October 11, the same day as AT&T.

 

As much as I really hate to say it, if you want Super AMOLED and camera flash with an excellent camera, your best choice would be the Fascinate. The Fascinate preserves the 5MP camera found on other Galaxy S phones, but adds the camera flash too. The Epic 4G has a much weaker camera (3MP). Granted, it is actually possible to use the Fascinate on Sprint's network. Doesn't mean Sprint will let you though. That's the true evil of CDMA. In any case, the Fascinate is a Verizon phone, and as such, doesn't have integrated Google services by default. Instead, Bing services are integrated by default. Supposedly, Froyo will restore integrated Google services as an option to the Fascinate.

I will note that the Epic 4G runs a highly modified version of TouchWiz 2.5 instead of TouchWiz 3.0, so some customization that is available on other Galaxy S variants simply isn't possible on the Epic 4G.
For example, "because of the Epic 4G's QWERTY slide-out keyboard, the homescreen needed to be able to rotate into landscape mode, and accordingly several key features and applications are absent on the Epic. TouchWiz 3.0 devices do not support this feature, and because of that difference, the Epic 4G ships with a heavily modified TouchWiz 2.5 interface. The adding, editing, and re-arranging of homescreens, as well as several other features found on TouchWiz 3.0 devices like the Vibrant and Captivate, is not supported in the version of TouchWiz that ships on the Epic 4G."

However, I would like to say that Super AMOLED isn't the be-all end-all of good quality screens. Check this video out comparing the G2 with the Vibrant.

Also, I found this: Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant - from Bell Mobility Canada. The Galaxy S Vibrant is like the Samsung Vibrant only that it uses AT&T 3G bands and it retains the front facing camera from the international model, as well as the trackpad from the international model.

EDIT: Cincinnati Bell Wireless sells a GSM phone based on the Motorola Droid X, the Motorola Milestone XT720. It is utilizing T-Mobile 3G bands, for those interested. It has an 8MP camera with LED camera flash, 720p video recording, Android 2.1 (will be upgraded to Froyo by end of 2010), 8GB of microSD memory bundled. It has a 3.7" screen (480x854 resolution). It supports HDMI output too.

EDIT 2: Telus Mobility (in Canada) sells a GSM+HSPA (AT&T bands) variant of the HTC Desire (which is only available in CDMA form in the USA). It is pretty much an improved Nexus One. It has pretty much the same specifications as the Nexus One, except that it uses the HTC Sense UI (gets Froyo in October) and has a different overall body than the Nexus One. The other differences are far less noticable, such as being only dual band HSPA instead of triband, etc. The T-Mobile G2 is a cousin to this model, being it is a branded version of the HTC Desire Z.

 

I read in a review some time ago about the camera, but I might be wrong. As for TouchWiz, it is in the Wikipedia article for the Galaxy S. Here's a video referencing the reduction in functionality.

For AT&T side of things, I'd recommend the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 (which has a specialized camera light) for what you want to do, if you want a subsidized phone. If you were willing to go unsubsidized, I'd recommend either the HTC Desire, the Nexus One, or the Motorola Milestone 2 (GSM version of Motorola Droid 2 with all the features unlocked, including mobile hotspot), eBay is your friend for these phones. Failing that, the Captivate is okay, and while I think no camera flash isn't a big deal, you may care about that.

On the Sprint side of things, I'd actually have to recommend the Epic 4G, though it isn't worth it since you'll be paying a monthly fee for service you'll not be getting any time soon. That extra $240 you'd spend in the course of two years could be better used to buy an unsubsidized phone.

Additionally, CDMA phones have their own restrictions, as the technology depends on "switching." Data and Voice can't be used simultaneously and CDMA phones are quite useless in most of the world, as GSM is the standard worldwide, not CDMA.

 

iPhones are great. I love mine.

 

Meh. If you need to jailbreak to access the best part of the technology, there is something wrong.

 

Unless you get a Nexus one this kinda applies to Android devices too :\

 

Well, actually no. Insofar as capabilities of the OS, only AT&T actually locks down built in features like sideloading. I have heard that other carriers have modified the accessibility of mobile hotspot capabilities for Froyo phones, but that only applies to variants that are branded with that carrier. That problem can be circumvented on GSM carriers, but not CDMA ones. In that case, then yeah, you have to get root to get access to that feature without having to pay more for the hotspot capability on a Froyo device. And it is even possible to turn on those features WITHOUT rooting if you use the Android SDK to manually switch on "blocked" or "restricted" features. But that method requires manually editing the SQL database that stores the configuration information, and is easy to mess up. And this method only works if the phone doesn't have developer modes blocked on the phone. So far, I haven't seen any like that, but who knows?