Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: What smartphone to get right now?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 146 posts

Re: Ask HN: What smartphone to get right now?

#71

Post by dotBen »

No one is mentioning the HTC Evo (which you would want to mod to r00ted Android 2.2), which I totally love.

The screen is HUGE, to the point that it almost becomes a tablet - yet it is still a phone. The screen makes the phone a little big, but given that the screen goes practically up to the edge of the phone on all sides, it's efficiently proportioned. And I find I can get v productive on it - writing longer emails, reading ebooks, etc.

I get all the benefit of Android (see elsewhere in this thread), Sprint (which is actually v good coverage in SF and other metros), 4G coming soon and unlimited plans for $59. Wifi tethering is free if you r00t the phone.

You won't have any problems with running linux with it (for a start you don't really have to connect it to a computer for anything unlike the iPhone) whereas it's practically impossible to run iPhone + linux effectively (via Wine basically, urghh)

Re: Ask HN: What smartphone to get right now?

#72

Post by praxis22 »

personally I went for a Samsung Galaxy S, (A8 processor, Android, 4" AMOLED screen) this was more of a leveraged bet on Android, and a decent processor, than anything else, 3G network in the UK.

Like you I had delayed, but in the end I went with Android because of the rapid iteration model of the platform as opposed to the curated nature of the Apple Product/Service. Not to mention the hackability of the Android platform. YMMV

Re: Ask HN: What smartphone to get right now?

#73

Post by Cabal »

Android on the carrier of your choice, hands down. My wife and I recently switched from a pair of iPhones to a Droid and HTC Incredible, respectively. Using our phones (and integrated Google Voice) is like a breath of fresh air. Between leaving AT&T, the customizability of the OS that my wife likes, and the developer freedom that I like, I can't imagine us making a better choice.

Re: Ask HN: What smartphone to get right now?

#74

Post by bitsai »

orangecat wrote: post #60
mahipal wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The choice of Java is one of the most mind-boggling things to me. There must be so many developers turned off of the platform because of it. Luckily, you can now distribute Python scripts as APKs ( http://code.google.com/p/android-scripting/wiki/SharingScrip... ).

Java isn't ideal, but I much prefer it to ObjC. You can also "in theory" use any language that compiles to the JVM, like Scala: http://www.assembla.com/wiki/show/scala-ide/Developing_for_A... Thanks for the Python APK link, last time I checked you couldn't deploy standalone Python apps but now I can play with it.

It's also possible to use Clojure on Android:

http://riddell.us/ClojureAndAndroidWithEmacsOnUbuntu.html

... although the impression I get from the stuff I've been reading is that there's a 3-4 second delay when starting up an app written in Clojure. There were hopes that Froyo will help in this regard, but I haven't been able to find any reports on that yet. My Nexus One should be arriving this week, so I guess I'll be finding out soon :)

Re: Ask HN: What smartphone to get right now?

#76

Post by lyime »

I just spent some time with the Samsung Galaxy S (T Mobile) last night. I was very impressed. The lightest smart phone I have played with at that size. The screen is great, not as good as iPhone 4 but still one of the better ones. It came preloaded with Avatar in HD. Tt's not the best selling point but a good way to demo the phone and I was impressed by the quality once again.

Now the most impressive part was Swype keyboard. First time using it after seeing it 2 years ago at Techcrunch 50. Basically, once you use that keyboard pattern its tough to go back. I think you should be able to install that on any Android device.

I use iPhone 4 day to day. Pretty happy with it, apart from the service.

Re: Ask HN: What smartphone to get right now?

#77

Post by rimantas »

ergo98 wrote: post #63
awolf wrote: post #28

iPhone 4, if like me, you think user experience and ease of use are the most important factors in a device you use 20-30 time a day while on the go. Droid 2 on verizon (out in about a month I believe) if you have philosophical objections to Apple or want freedom from syncing with your laptop. The original droid is still a great phone and was pretty well designed. Droid 2 will have better hardware and battery life tha…

>Droid 2 on verizon (out in about a month I believe) if you have philosophical objections to Apple ...or if you want a professionally functional notification system, or widgets, or strong universal voice support, or... Seriously, whenever someone starts in with "philosophical objection" they're propping up a garbage strawman. I choose Android because, in a hundred and one ways, it provides me a more usable, more powe…

And in other hundred and one way iPhone is more useable, powerful and useful. Which set of ways one chooses sometimes boils down to "philosophy".

Re: Ask HN: What smartphone to get right now?

#78

Post by rimantas »

pg1 wrote: post #32

Iphone UI is a little bit better. Android is open and google products works very well on these phones. Regarding development it's easier to develop apps for andorid. Only problem is fragmentation. Different screen sizes and os versions can make lot of troubles.

Another problem is the set of countries you can buy programs from Android market, and even smaller set where you are able to sell your own.

Re: Ask HN: What smartphone to get right now?

#79

Post by technomancy »

jonknee wrote: post #33
mahipal wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The choice of Java is one of the most mind-boggling things to me. There must be so many developers turned off of the platform because of it. Luckily, you can now distribute Python scripts as APKs ( http://code.google.com/p/android-scripting/wiki/SharingScrip... ).

What would you have chosen? Java is popular, featureful (have fun allocating memory with objective-c while working on iOS apps!) and fast. I'd bet that it got more people interested than turned off.

> Java is popular, featureful (have fun allocating memory with objective-c while working on iOS apps!) and fast.

More importantly, it's the most popular VM to target for new language implementations. You can use Rhino, Python, Lua, Scala, Scheme, Clojure, Fantom, Frink, and others on it.

Re: Ask HN: What smartphone to get right now?

#80

Post by cheald »

old-gregg wrote: post #20

Nexus One. I'm surprised you're even asking. Fully Linux-friendly, hackable, powerful and doesn't have any crapware from carriers or hardware manufacturers. Buy it at full price and sign up for a $59/mo month-to-month plan from T-Mobile. Enjoy built-in tethering and guaranteed upgrade to the latest version of Android. I own N1 and iPhone 4 and I believe that N1 is a superior phone. It doesn't need to be plugged to a…

I'll second the Nexus One. It's a hell of a phone. I love it, and have recommended it to any of my friends that'll listen.

I'll touch on the things I don't like about it, though, for the sake of comparison.

- Not much internal memory. 512mb gets eaten up quickly by the OS and apps. That's alleviated somewhat by 2.2 allowing apps to be partially installed to SD card, but it's optional to the developer. It's not a huge complaint, but it is a complaint.

- Weak GPU. This isn't a gaming phone. Hardware like the Galaxy S is a lot better in this regard - if you're wanting to play non-puzzle games, look elsewhere. The N1's Snapdragon apparently doesn't perform as well as the Hummingbird found in some other newer phones as well, despite having the same clock speed. That said, it's no slouch, and CPU speed is not generally something I can complain about.

- The AMOLED screen washes out badly in sunlight. With 2.2's auto-adjust, it's usable in direct sunlight, but compared against SAMOLED or LCD screens, it comes up pretty short.

- It's not as big as some other phones. This is personal preference - I'm a big guy and would like a larger phone, so depending on your preference, another form factor might be preferable. The EVO and Droid X are both very large phones (4.3" screen), and the Galaxy S is moderately large (4" screen), while the Nexus One is "only" 3.7". (The iPhone trails the pack at 3.5").

That said, those are the only things I don't like about the phone, and they are extremely easy to live with in general.

Post reply on HN