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Ask HN: Which Android Phone to Buy?

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51–60 of 116 posts

Re: Ask HN: Which Android Phone to Buy?

#51
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, the Droid X will launch in August or so, so if you go that route you may want to wait a few months (it also doesn't have the droid's fiddly d-pad.

There is always a new android phone coming out, which is bigger and better than the last. Some people like this, some people don't.

There is always a new iPhone coming out, which is bigger and better than the last. Everyone seems to love this.

Re: Ask HN: Which Android Phone to Buy?

#52
post #15

The right answer is Nexus One on T-Mobile. I am not a huge fan of tmo's coverage here in San Francisco, but they have the best plans for what you want, I think. Nexus One because it's unlocked and also: it's the phone that Google employees use most therefore your phone will run the newest builds/features before everyone else's. When you get it: immediately root it ("fastboot oem unlock"). If you want to do it later,…

The big problem with the N1 is the terrible touch screen. Quite often it won't register a touch on one or both axes and the "multi-touch" is a lie.

I've played with a friend's Nexus One. You can pinch to zoom in Maps and the browser, so who cares about anything else?

Re: Ask HN: Which Android Phone to Buy?

#54
I got a Nexus One because the idea of a device that imposes restrictions against the user on the behalf of the manufacturer or carrier is deeply offensive.

It's possible to root most other high-end Android phones in order to install something like Cyanogen, but you're fighting against the current in those cases. If the exploit used to root it gets "fixed", then you might have trouble in the future. Plus you're supporting a fundamentally broken model.

tldr: software freedom is kind of a big deal.

Re: Ask HN: Which Android Phone to Buy?

#55
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Droid's keyboard is awful. The keys are flat and require quite a bit of pressure. I recently spent some time using an LG Ally, and found that it's almost always worth opening to use the physical keyboard.

Droid 2 is much better

I've heard rumors to that effect, and I'm really hoping it's true. There isn't a current high-spec Android phone with a real keyboard, and I want one. Have you actually handled one?

Re: Ask HN: Which Android Phone to Buy?

#56
post #37
post #36

I'm onto my 3rd Android, an HTC EVO. The screen is amazing - yes it is big and makes the phone big but I don't really find that a problem in my pocket. My Sprint plan is $60/month for unlimited data, texts, calls to mobiles, calls at weekends... the only metered calling is landlines during the working day, which I have 500 mins/month on. That for me is = unlimited all the way through. The 4G is amazing, although not…

From what I understand, Sprint's service is not really 4G, it's WiMax that has been rebranded. http://community.sprint.com/baw/message/141144

WiMax has enough bandwidth to be considered 4G, but the tech is closer to WiFi than traditional cellular. And the rebranding you're thinking of is Clear from Clearwire -- WiMax is just the radio standard that they're using.

The other 4G will be LTE. WiMax/LTE is akin to HSDPA and EV-DO -- different standards that fall under the 3G umbrella. But if you want to be really pedantic, apparently wimax falls under 3G also (according to wikipeda).

Re: Ask HN: Which Android Phone to Buy?

#58
post #39
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Droid is a great phone too. I think I like the screen better than that of the Nexus One. I just can't get into the Evo. If you haven't held one in your hand, you don't understand the size of this thing. It feels like talking into a paperback copy of The Catcher in the Rye.

My girlfriend has an EVO and man is that thing huge. I have pretty big hands (i can span a tenth on a piano and palm a basketball) and my first thought was that the EVO is uncomfortable for me to hold as a phone . I say as a phone because I realized that she uses it as a replacement for her Viliv S5 tablet (before that she had a Nokia N800). Most of the time she uses it in landscape mode as more of an internet tablet…

> my first thought was that the EVO is uncomfortable for me to hold as a phone

FWIW, I still feel weird when I hold my Nexus up to my head to take a call. I don't think of it as a phone at all; it's a handheld computer that happens to be able to interface with the global legacy telephone system.

Re: Ask HN: Which Android Phone to Buy?

#59
I highly recommend Desire. Sort of a no-glitch phone. And it comes with the same class of 1ghz processors that most of the recent phones have come with. If you don't mind the delays in getting the newer versions of Android unlike nexus one, then go for the Desire.

I would insist of getting a phone with 1ghz (or faster if available) processors and around 512mb (N1) or 576mb (Desire) ram. That way you could be sure that these phones would get an upgrade to newer versions of Android and would be able to run them properly.

And going by manufacturer's commitment to offering upgrades to newer versions of Android, I would rank Google on top, HTC next and the others follow.

Maybe HTC delayed the Hero update for close to 1yr, but they did release an update.

P.S: HTC's site isn't cluttered like the other manufacturer sites. Easy navigation to support and updates pages on their site is a must for me (which is why i hate Nokia's site).

Re: Ask HN: Which Android Phone to Buy?

#60
post #15

The right answer is Nexus One on T-Mobile. I am not a huge fan of tmo's coverage here in San Francisco, but they have the best plans for what you want, I think. Nexus One because it's unlocked and also: it's the phone that Google employees use most therefore your phone will run the newest builds/features before everyone else's. When you get it: immediately root it ("fastboot oem unlock"). If you want to do it later,…

The big problem with the N1 is the terrible touch screen. Quite often it won't register a touch on one or both axes and the "multi-touch" is a lie.

I have to agree here. I love my N1 but the 'touch' part blows.
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