$1500 for a smartphone... What to buy?

Forums › Android › $1500 for a smartphone... What to buy?

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

509 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#366357 11-Aug-2010 17:47

Definitly the desire, great battery, very good processor and the HTC sence that comes with it is pretty good.
All said and done the Desire is IMO, the best phone out there. The WILDFIRE is a new HTC offer, only about $500 and has everything the desire has but a lower res screen and a slower processor. Thats probably best value for money.

Oh and , off topic , don't fall for the Chinese sellers on the web. You can not buy a desire for $180 US dollars. I really can't believe the number of scammers operating on Tradekey and alibaba, I paid one of them for a phone I never recieved. It's prolific on Alibaba.com, buy local !

ArtooDetoo

1044 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#366382 11-Aug-2010 18:47

Hmmm... Seems that the X10 has been rooted, but no Froyo as yet. Also there appears to be a lack of multi-touch capability in the hardware, so that's pretty much killed it for me.

C'est la vie.

Galaxy S has gone to its new owner. HTC Sensation has gone to its new
owner. Galaxy S3 has gone to its new owner. Now using Galaxy Note 3. Skipping Note 4 I think...

NZtechfreak

4649 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#366383 11-Aug-2010 18:49

I also have a Desire, very nice phone, as to whether its the best, well that depends on the user.

For me the Galaxy S significantly beats the Desire for the following reasons:

- The screen. Its larger, has far better display characteristics, and has proper multitouch with a much better touch response

- The sound quality. Both from the loudspeaker, but especially with headphones. Its seriously gorgeous sound quality.

- Inbuilt storage + microSD slot (I have 40GB storage in the phone, important when your music collection is large)

- Much better battery life than the Desire (probably because of the 45nm CPU tech on offer)

- Much better as a video player with inbuilt DivX/XVid/mkv support out of the box that can cope with up to 720P, but also with the availability of TV Out

- Much better GPU, important if you want to take proper advantage of all the high quality games coming out for Android (stuff like NOVA and Asphalt)

- Better camera, flash or no flash its performance is much better

The only thing for me where the Desire really has it over the Galaxy S is the Sense UI, but then I'm running LauncherPro plus on my Galaxy S and because of that don't really miss Sense UI a great deal at all.

End of the day either are fine choices, and both are better than the X10 (although I will agree with you on looks, I still think the X10 is one of the best looking handsets out there).

Twitter: @nztechfreak
Blogs: HeadphoNZ.org

Kukulele

2 posts

Wannabe Geek

#366402 11-Aug-2010 19:33

I would suggest to visit http://www.mobicity.com.au, where you can see specifications, read user reviews, compare prices and so on. I am planning on buying me a new phone so I found this site. My friend recommended me. He said that he bought a phone from them and got it within few days.

It seems worth considering.

androidmnz

178 posts

Master Geek

#366404 11-Aug-2010 19:40

NZtechfreak: I also have a Desire, very nice phone, as to whether its the best, well that depends on the user.

For me the Galaxy S significantly beats the Desire for the following reasons:

- The screen. Its larger, has far better display characteristics, and has proper multitouch with a much better touch response

- The sound quality. Both from the loudspeaker, but especially with headphones. Its seriously gorgeous sound quality.

- Inbuilt storage + microSD slot (I have 40GB storage in the phone, important when your music collection is large)

- Much better battery life than the Desire (probably because of the 45nm CPU tech on offer)

- Much better as a video player with inbuilt DivX/XVid/mkv support out of the box that can cope with up to 720P, but also with the availability of TV Out

- Much better GPU, important if you want to take proper advantage of all the high quality games coming out for Android (stuff like NOVA and Asphalt)

- Better camera, flash or no flash its performance is much better

The only thing for me where the Desire really has it over the Galaxy S is the Sense UI, but then I'm running LauncherPro plus on my Galaxy S and because of that don't really miss Sense UI a great deal at all.

End of the day either are fine choices, and both are better than the X10 (although I will agree with you on looks, I still think the X10 is one of the best looking handsets out there).

Couldn't agree with you more. I had the Desire and now am using the Galaxy S. The Desire was/is a great phone in its own right, but the Galaxy S just seems way more polished. And what can compete with the Super AMOLED display. Wow...

vinnieg

2260 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#367824 15-Aug-2010 13:54

androidmnz:
NZtechfreak: I also have a Desire, very nice phone, as to whether its the best, well that depends on the user.

For me the Galaxy S significantly beats the Desire for the following reasons:

- The screen. Its larger, has far better display characteristics, and has proper multitouch with a much better touch response

- The sound quality. Both from the loudspeaker, but especially with headphones. Its seriously gorgeous sound quality.

- Inbuilt storage + microSD slot (I have 40GB storage in the phone, important when your music collection is large)

- Much better battery life than the Desire (probably because of the 45nm CPU tech on offer)

- Much better as a video player with inbuilt DivX/XVid/mkv support out of the box that can cope with up to 720P, but also with the availability of TV Out

- Much better GPU, important if you want to take proper advantage of all the high quality games coming out for Android (stuff like NOVA and Asphalt)

- Better camera, flash or no flash its performance is much better

The only thing for me where the Desire really has it over the Galaxy S is the Sense UI, but then I'm running LauncherPro plus on my Galaxy S and because of that don't really miss Sense UI a great deal at all.

End of the day either are fine choices, and both are better than the X10 (although I will agree with you on looks, I still think the X10 is one of the best looking handsets out there).

Couldn't agree with you more. I had the Desire and now am using the Galaxy S. The Desire was/is a great phone in its own right, but the Galaxy S just seems way more polished. And what can compete with the Super AMOLED display. Wow...

Ditto, only major problem I have when I pull it out is people asking if it's an iPhone

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

Linuxluver

5828 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Subscriber

#367825 15-Aug-2010 13:57

vinnieg: Ditto, only major problem I have when I pull it out is people asking if it's an iPhone

I get that, too, with my Nexus One.

I suspect some of them mean "iPhone" the way people used to use "Hoover" when talking about vacuum cleaners....a generic designator.

I usually answer with something like: "No. This is better. It's an Android phone and it does everything an iPhone from Apple can do, plus more besides."

....and leave it at that.

_____________________________________________________________________

I've been on Geekzone over 16 years..... Time flies....

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

kyhwana2

2566 posts

Uber Geek

#367830 15-Aug-2010 14:09

vinnieg:Ditto, only major problem I have when I pull it out is people asking if it's an iPhone?

Oh man, I have that problem with my desire as well, even though it's in a leather flip case and doesn't look anything like an iphone..

dannywii

71 posts

Master Geek

#367853 15-Aug-2010 15:19

Hmm...atm i think SGS i9000 would be best since you dont have budget problem

4" super amoled screen
45nm 1ghz humming bird cpu with SGX540 GPU (same as iphone4)
with android 2.1 but 2.2 is coming in sep
plus u get swype

don't recommend anything with qualcomm 8250 (used for HTC increditable and desire), 45nm runs at 1ghz with amd GPU

omap 3430 or 3440 oc to 1ghz can run faster than qualcomm 8250 (my is xt720 runs omap3440 at 1ghz benchmark show 20% faster than htc desire)

my brother got SGS i9000 its best screen i've ever seen and it's really fast on 2.1 already, with 2.2 it would be amazing

Privoxy

132 posts

Master Geek

#371380 23-Aug-2010 10:21

So I placed my order on Friday with Mobicity for the HTC Desire A8181

Looking at other options, should I have gone with the HTC Desire A8183 instead? as I plan on putting it on Telecom, or is the 8183 the same just with telecoms custom firmware? (Which I assume is not really important?)

Linuxluver

5828 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Subscriber

#371392 23-Aug-2010 10:42

Privoxy: So I placed my order on Friday with Mobicity for the HTC Desire A8181

Looking at other options, should I have gone with the HTC Desire A8183 instead? as I plan on putting it on Telecom, or is the 8183 the same just with telecoms custom firmware? (Which I assume is not really important?)

Oh dear.....you should have asked, mate!

The 8181 is really a Vodafone / 2degrees phone as it support WCDMA 900/2100.

The 8183 does WCDMA 850 / 2100 - the exact same frequencies as Telecom XT.

The 8181 will only work on XT where they have WCDMA 2100 coverage....mainly urban in-fill.

If you're on XT, you wanted the 8183, particularly as Telecom XT has no GSM at all....so WCDMA 2100 is the *only* frequency you'll have that can talk to their network on an 8181.

The phones are hard-wired to support the frequencies they support. You can't flash then to support anything else.

Hopefully you can sell this one and order the one you should have got......or move to Vodafone. :-) (eek!)

_____________________________________________________________________

I've been on Geekzone over 16 years..... Time flies....

kyhwana2

2566 posts

Uber Geek

#371398 23-Aug-2010 10:53

Privoxy: So I placed my order on Friday with Mobicity for the HTC Desire A8181

Looking at other options, should I have gone with the HTC Desire A8183 instead? as I plan on putting it on Telecom, or is the 8183 the same just with telecoms custom firmware? (Which I assume is not really important?)

Oops! You should've ordered the A8183 if you're going on XT.
The A8181 will be pretty much useless on XT!

Privoxy

132 posts

Master Geek

#371401 23-Aug-2010 10:57

They still haven't shipped the phone, they are waiting for me to call and confirm so I will use my smooth voice over a phone and ask them to change it for me ;)

Hopefully not a big deal

Privoxy

132 posts

Master Geek

#371420 23-Aug-2010 11:17

Was not a problem for the good support people at Mobicity

Took all of 3 minutes to change my order to the A8183, Sadly its on backorder so a longer wait, but not the end of the world

Linuxluver

5828 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Subscriber

#371630 23-Aug-2010 16:39

Privoxy: Was not a problem for the good support people at Mobicity

Took all of 3 minutes to change my order to the A8183, Sadly its on backorder so a longer wait, but not the end of the world

Now you'll just have to put up with the dozen or so Telstra apps that don't work in NZ. ;-)

(I hear yet another rooted Desire coming on.....)

_____________________________________________________________________

I've been on Geekzone over 16 years..... Time flies....

1 | 2 | 3 | 4