Advice/Help Needed on Selecting a New Android Phone

Forums › Android › Advice/Help Needed on Selecting a New Android Phone

Finch

2862 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 195

#63977 5-Jul-2010 15:47

Heya.

Im looking at Selling my 3gs and Buying myself my first Android OS Handset. Ive read that Android's are pretty customisable and you can do lots of things with them. I want a Phone which I will be able to update in the future. What Version should i look at being the minimum (2.0, 2.1, 2.2 etc)??

Ive looked at a few From Telecom/Vodafone.

The Sony Ericcson X10 (Vodafone) looks fine. Except it looks abit big for me and its only running 1.6

I am pretty sure the Motorola Droid/Milestone is coming to Telecom this month? Does anybody know what Version it will have?

All Advice/Tips/Ideas is greatly appreciated.

Thanks :)

kiwitrc

4123 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 833
Inactive user

#348057 5-Jul-2010 16:01

Take a look at the HTC Desire and Samsung Galaxy as well. Lots of info on these in the Forums.

Behodar

11096 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 6075

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#348074 5-Jul-2010 16:14

M_I_C_H_A_E_L: I am pretty sure the Motorola Droid/Milestone is coming to Telecom this month? Does anybody know what Version it will have?

It comes with 2.1 and will be upgradable to 2.2 in the future. It's apparently out on Thursday.

Finch

2862 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 195

#348127 5-Jul-2010 18:18

Behodar:
M_I_C_H_A_E_L: I am pretty sure the Motorola Droid/Milestone is coming to Telecom this month? Does anybody know what Version it will have?

It comes with 2.1 and will be upgradable to 2.2 in the future. It's apparently out on Thursday.

Thanks. And so 2.1 is a fine version? By that I mean the phone wont lag? Will the Milestone be upgradeable to 3.0 later in the year?

Finch

2862 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 195

#348130 5-Jul-2010 18:20

kiwitrc: Take a look at the HTC Desire and Samsung Galaxy as well. Lots of info on these in the Forums.

Im not a Fan of Samsung Phones, Never look right to me. The Desire looks ok though. Any Idea When/If it is coming to NZ? I know you can get it from an Importer atm.

Also What Version does it run? Will it be upgradeable to 3.0?

Thanks.

Sorry for all the questions

dpw

843 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 16

ID Verified

Trusted

#348143 5-Jul-2010 18:45

M_I_C_H_A_E_L:
Im not a Fan of Samsung Phones, Never look right to me. The Desire looks ok though. Any Idea When/If it is coming to NZ? I know you can get it from an Importer atm.

That's an interesting statement - what Samsung phones are you comparing the Galaxy S with? There are so many form factors under the "Samsung" brand...do they all "never look right" to you? When it comes to looks there's not a huge amount of relative difference in the Desire and Galaxy S form factor - mostly a big screen and a couple of buttons...

Android user, software developer, a semi-typical (not a gamer) geek, and a Bernese Mountain Dog nut!

http://savitarbernese.com | https://nz.linkedin.com/in/danywu

Finch

2862 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 195

#348147 5-Jul-2010 18:52

dpw:
M_I_C_H_A_E_L:
Im not a Fan of Samsung Phones, Never look right to me. The Desire looks ok though. Any Idea When/If it is coming to NZ? I know you can get it from an Importer atm.

That's an interesting statement - what Samsung phones are you comparing the Galaxy S with? There are so many form factors under the "Samsung" brand...do they all "never look right" to you? When it comes to looks there's not a huge amount of relative difference in the Desire and Galaxy S form factor - mostly a big screen and a couple of buttons...

I havent Compared it to any other Samsung Phones. Its just small/Big (However you see it) things mainly. Like what shape it is, what colour and small things like what the Icons look like. Im pretty picky when it comes to Phones.

Lego

Shop now for Lego sets and other gifts (affiliate link).

Linuxluver

5833 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1639

Trusted

Subscriber

#348229 5-Jul-2010 22:59

M_I_C_H_A_E_L: Heya.

Im looking at Selling my 3gs and Buying myself my first Android OS Handset. Ive read that Android's are pretty customisable and you can do lots of things with them. I want a Phone which I will be able to update in the future. What Version should i look at being the minimum (2.0, 2.1, 2.2 etc)??

Ive looked at a few From Telecom/Vodafone.

The Sony Ericcson X10 (Vodafone) looks fine. Except it looks abit big for me and its only running 1.6

I am pretty sure the Motorola Droid/Milestone is coming to Telecom this month? Does anybody know what Version it will have?

All Advice/Tips/Ideas is greatly appreciated.

Thanks :)

Basically, you want to be on Android v2.2 as soon as possible. You also want to make sure you have a phone that can run it well and take advantage of what it offers.

From NZ vendors, I'd recommend the HTC Desire or Motorola Milestone.....in that order. The SE X10i is a great phone, but it looks like you'll have to wait a while to get to Android v2.2.

If you're happy with a parallel import, then a Nexus One is probably the best of the lot. It has the best support from Google in terms of the OS and the best support from modders in terms of alternative versions of Android. It's also designed to be rooted, whereas the Desire and the X10 are not. Nexus One is "ADP3"....the third reference phone for Android development. Stuff gets written for it first, then ported to other phones. Google rool out updates to it frequently.

The HTC Desire is basically HTC's own branded version of the Google Nexus One...which HTC also make.

Motorola have committed to an agressive update schedule so phone buyers know what they are buying. Milestone had a physical keyboard. It has an 800MHz CPU, while the Nexus and Desire (and X10i) have 1GHz CPUs.

There are lots of other phones that would be excellent phones. The Samsung Galaxy S has got lot of attention and Samsung are moving aggressively into Android now, chasing HTC. But Samsung has in the past been ham-fisted about support down the line and there is some doubt they really understand the Open Source things about Android...

So it depends on what you want....but that's the basic map.

I've owned an HTC Magic from Vodafone, an Acer Liquid (great phone for about $680 from PB Tech, BTW) from the UK bought via Trademe and I now own a Nexus One.

_____________________________________________________________________

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

Finch

2862 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 195

#348236 5-Jul-2010 23:09

Wow thanks heaps for that post. Helps heaps :)

Behodar

11096 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 6075

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#348376 6-Jul-2010 12:44

M_I_C_H_A_E_L: Thanks. And so 2.1 is a fine version? By that I mean the phone wont lag? Will the Milestone be upgradeable to 3.0 later in the year?

I don't know how well 2.1 runs on the Milestone; I plan to buy one but even then it'll be my first Android phone so I won't be able to compare it with others. No clue about 3.0.

Linuxluver: From NZ vendors, I'd recommend the HTC Desire or Motorola Milestone.....in that order.

That's encouraging, since I plan to get a Milestone. I'd like a Desire but I'm with Telecom and don't want to go through the potential hassles of an imported device. With all my luck, Telecom will offer the Desire straight after I buy my Milestone though!

huckster

887 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 460

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#350410 12-Jul-2010 21:11

Behodar: That's encouraging, since I plan to get a Milestone. I'd like a Desire but I'm with Telecom and don't want to go through the potential hassles of an imported device. With all my luck, Telecom will offer the Desire straight after I buy my Milestone though!

Ha-ha!

In that case, please hurry up and buy one so the rest of us can get a Desire.

:-p