Help choosing a new android phone for ~$500

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#611682 19-Apr-2012 09:52

I have the Sensation and it is a great phone, absolutely recommend it over the other options there.

Have you had any hands-on time with any of these? For a lot of people the 'feel' of a phone is a very important aspect.

kiwitrc

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#611683 19-Apr-2012 09:53

Wade: I see fairbuy offering Galaxy Nexus @ $645, probably well worth the extra spend.

My 2c worth...

I have a SGS2 and have flashed a huge number of roms & kernels seeking the google nirvana. If i was in the market for a new phone I think i would skip straight to the Nexus. You get the pure google experience and dependable ota updates. the two biggest issues surrounding android seem to be updates and OEM customization, the nexus eliminates both.

Wade, while not disagreeing with you on the Android update thing, one of things that is important to me is having my device as a swiss army knife, so using it as a number of things and importantly my main music player and camera. The only thing I didnt like with the Nexus was the lack of expandable memory to hold as much of my music as possible.

Lack of expandable memory and non swappable bat, is why I wouldnt even look at the HTC One x for example. But I guess I am heading off thread again, sorry.

Paulthagerous

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#611693 19-Apr-2012 10:05

Or if you aren't interested in such a big screen the HTC One V could be the answer: Android 4.0 installed out of the box:

http://www.mobicity.co.nz/htc-one-v.html
http://www.telecom.co.nz/mobile/mobile/specialoffers/htconepreorderonlinespecial

Wade

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#611700 19-Apr-2012 10:18

For me I don't use my phone as a music player but i do use dropbox/box/GDocs/GMusic so 32gb would happily cover my requirements likewise I keep a usb lead/charger in the car, in the office and a few around home so on the odd occasion i need to juice it up it is never a problem. I agree that these factors will drive some potential users away in the overall scheme of things it will not affect most (think iphone users here)

I also have a legacy 3gb/mth VF data plan and plenty of broadband cap at home so for me cloud based storage is a lessor evil.

I love the android eco-system however I have grown to accept some of the benefits of the one size fits all apple eco-system. The Nexus bridges both these divides quite well imho

powderedtoastman

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#611802 19-Apr-2012 12:04

Thanks for the suggestions and comments everyone. I was a bit wary of the Optimus 2X, and it sounds like it has some issues, so I can safely cross that off my list. Based on what langers said the Arc S might have some usability problems, but I will need to check that out when I actually take a look at these phones in a shop.

I think I'm leaning towards the Sensation now, but I'm still interested to know if anybody has an opinion on the Galaxy W. The Nexus is also tempting, but I would have a hard time justifying the expense (have to draw the line somewhere) because I don't really spend a great deal of time using my mobile as it is. In fact the Sensation is probably overkill for me too, but it is cheap enough I wont worry too much about overspending.

Also, the Lumia 710 does look like a nice phone but I'm set on getting another android (for better or worse). I did check out the HTC One V but put it aside mostly based on the specs. Looking at it again though, I notice that it will run on both the XT network and vodafone 3g, which is an advantage, in addition to ICS and sense UI 4.0. Are there many other phones that will run on both XT and vodafone 3g?

Paulthagerous

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#611811 19-Apr-2012 12:21

powderedtoastman: Are there many other phones that will run on both XT and vodafone 3g?

Not a lot of them. To run on both networks properly it needs both 850 and 900 MHz 3G, and this is primarily found on higher end devices (iIphone4s/SGS2 etc) due to the costs of the chipsets. This is now starting to flow on down the price range to cheaper devices but there still aren't many around the $500 that do it - yet.

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blackjack17

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#611812 19-Apr-2012 12:23

My girl friend has the samsung Galaxy S Plus and loves it, has a bit more grunt than the galaxy S, great screen and she gets over 24 hours battery life with 3g turned off and wifi on at home.

She has just lost her phone and wants the exact same one.

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#611827 19-Apr-2012 12:35

nitrotech:
blakamin: Optimus Black has crap battery life.

.... it's a hard road finding the perfect phone .........

Out of interest what do you call crap battery life - my sgs ii comes off the charger at 7.30a and needs to go back on between 6-8pm I think that's crap but how does the black compare.

With moderate use I can get 40+ hours from my phone.

vinnieg

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#611843 19-Apr-2012 12:50

Yeah not too many with Quad 3g, as above, only real contenders would be:
HTC One X, S(coming soon), V, Senstation XL
Samsung Galaxy 2, Note

not too many others, unless you wanted to go iPhone, or Symbian devices

I have moved across the ditch. Now residing in Melbourne as a VOIP/Video Technical Trainer/Engineer.

powderedtoastman

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#611862 19-Apr-2012 13:23

vinnieg: Yeah not too many with Quad 3g, as above, only real contenders would be:
HTC One X, S(coming soon), V, Senstation XL
Samsung Galaxy 2, Note

not too many others, unless you wanted to go iPhone, or Symbian devices

It seems the Galaxy Nexus has 5-band 3g, and I see mobicity offers a 2 year warranty on it. Must... resist... overspending...

kiwitrc

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#611867 19-Apr-2012 13:30

powderedtoastman:
vinnieg: Yeah not too many with Quad 3g, as above, only real contenders would be:
HTC One X, S(coming soon), V, Senstation XL
Samsung Galaxy 2, Note

not too many others, unless you wanted to go iPhone, or Symbian devices

It seems the Galaxy Nexus has 5-band 3g, and I see mobicity offers a 2 year warranty on it. Must... resist... overspending...

Go on, you only live once

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#611908 19-Apr-2012 14:21

powderedtoastman:
It seems the Galaxy Nexus has 5-band 3g, and I see mobicity offers a 2 year warranty on it. Must... resist... overspending...

It's extremely hard not to overspend...I've done it several times

The S2, and Galaxy Nexus should drop 1-200 in about 2 weeks time. When the Galaxy S3 is released!
It should be one of the best Androids out, ever. The HTC One X is amazing though, really like it. Even with minimal Sense 4.0

I have moved across the ditch. Now residing in Melbourne as a VOIP/Video Technical Trainer/Engineer.

nzgeek

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#612000 19-Apr-2012 16:01

vinnieg: The S2, and Galaxy Nexus should drop 1-200 in about 2 weeks time. When the Galaxy S3 is released!

May 3 in the UK is the big date (May 4 here). It's definitely the unveiling of "the next Galaxy", which is almost certainly the S3. I don't know how long it'll take for S2 prices to drop though.

crackrdbycracku

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#612008 19-Apr-2012 16:16

Is it too late to pitch Motorola?

The Defy + is good for the money, my Defy is still going strong a year later.

The Atrix has a 4" screen and is often touted as the smartphone with the longest battery life.

I can definitely vouch for the build quality.

Infotech has both at reasonable prices.

The downside is that the software is out of date but having said that Google now owns Motorola so any day now...

Just my two cents.

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kiwijunglist

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#612067 19-Apr-2012 18:39

Await galaxy S2 to dip to $500 - ?JUNE? or save up an extra $100, and buy it for ?$600? in May.

HTPC / Home automation (home assistant) enthusiast.

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