Thread: i need a new phone

Because...most apps don't have a close available

in all honesty, compared to my current phone all of the new phones will be super fast. i am not worried about lag or 100% clean/smooth transitions.

Well when you get to the android, you will see what we mean by task killer. W/the BB, it was eaiser to just close out of each app when u are done with it but with the Android is alot different. Like Bill said, most apps dont have a close feature. So you will be going from the app to your home screen or a phone call or to another app or whatever and that old app will still be running in the background. Task killers kill them when they are not being used. You can set them to kill in certain way too...for instance when your screen goes into sleep mode, after 5 mins, 10 mins, etc.

Another thing to look for is if they have any special web sales. I don't know if verizon does this, but sprint just had a sale on the EVO 3D which allows me to get it for $50, including activation.

and I am also switching from BB (8330 curve) to android. BB's seems oriented to running one task at a time.

there arent really any specials on any of the phones i'd want. they are promoting a few older models for free with a new contract, but i want something current.

good choice in deleting that. i will never buy an iphone.

I just bought a Pantech Crossover new for $130. It absolutely effin' Rocks. Its just been blowing my mind for the price...and with my $50/unlimited everything plan on AT&T its even better

Contracts for phones are the biggest scam next to Airline and Bank Bailouts

since i dont care to switch companies, contracts dont bother me.

so far both of those are up towards the top of my list deve.

First off and foremost, I dislike most Motorola phones. They are usually nicely built phones, but the UI has a major lack in usability. The UI added over Android isn't as streamlined and user friendly as others. I know of numerous counts of people have both hardware and software issues, mostly in dealing with Motorola phones. Motorola as well is usually late to the party when it comes to updates as well. LG as well falls in the late to the party. Samsung make great devices, usually right on the ball with updates. Touchwiz UI is highly liked and has a great overall usability. Samsung devices as well are never the ones the jump the gun on hardware as well. They like to sit it out a little while longer to get the feel of the technology, and install parts that work. LG talked themselves up, but dropped the ball. They make decent low-mid level Android devices. Then you have HTC, which I prefer for phone branding. HTC usually make good solid devices, and Sense UI is pretty straight forward UI. Good user interface, seems pretty fluent but does occasionally have hiccups like every other UI. HTC has had a good and bad track record, much like everyone else.




Motorola Razr
Overall fairly decent specs on the phone. TI OMAP4430 1.2Ghz dual, decent but definitely not the most up to date. Decent 8MP camera, supports 1080p, and has front facing camera. Still along the lines of MotoBLUR UI, but Motorola thinks not. Battery life is fair, nothing to superb. People have complained of hurting their hands/wrist because of the thin design, but wide in width. A huge downfall is the battery in this is not user accessible. Meaning.... something happens to the battery... your SOL. No battery pulls if your phone locks up either. Built to be rugged, and the glass on the screen holds up to minor abuse.

Samsung Charge
More or less the Samsung Galaxy but in a 4g form. It is a good low to mid level phone, a little outdated. Only packing a single 1Ghz core, but a Cortex A8 Hummingbird. If you are into tweaking, these things have some potential. Battery life isn't the greatest, actually seems a little lower than other. A few issues is the signal seems on the weaker side. Sounds to me like the "death grip" or you have to hold the phone a certain way. Another bad is it has physical buttons with decent size gaps around them. Likely to load up with lint and such, not including spilling coke on them and making them sticky.

HTC Rezound
I actually had this phone for a week and enjoyed it. It packed with some of the most powerful hardware to date. Overall a great experience with the phone, had nice Beats headphones which is a bonus. Since you said you love music, this phone is directed towards you. Running Sense UI I didn't have any issues with it. Everything was fluent and overall enjoyable. Battery life was decent, would expect it to last a day, also extended batteries available. Some of the downsides to the phone is users have had issues with interference and static when listening to audio through the headphones. This has been determined to be the phone at fault. I experienced this issue as well. Beat audio... practically a joke... just an audio equalizer, but it can only be used in the Google Music app, and you have to manually turn it on in the notifications menu when it pops up.

Motorola Bionic
Overalls seems to be a decent and enjoyable phone. I haven't really dug into the Bionic as much. I do know some of the issues though of it. Much like the Rezound, audio feedback from the headphones when being used. People have had issues opening SMS messages that make them Force Close and unable to open that specific message.


Sure I missed a few things, I tried directing each one for your use. Something that you need to realize though, 4G eats battery life more than Hungry Hungry Hippos. If you plan on using 4G, you WILL have to charge your phone at work. Using your phone as a hot spot also makes your battery life degrade faster. You also have to pay a charge at VZW to use your phone as a mobile hot spot as well. Luckily, most the phone you will be able to disable 4G when you are not needing the speed. Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwhich has been confirmed going to be updated for the Motorola Razr and Bionic, along with the HTC Rezound. Now in dealing with ICS, the UI has it's own built in navigation buttons. So it will be interesting to see how Motorola and HTC implement that into the use of the phones stand alone capacitive buttons. After the first of the year, Q1 or Q2 of 2012 you should see a ICS update. Unless you are into tweaking and want to flash a custom ROM. The Samsung Galaxy Nexus is coming out very soon, days even, and will be packing Android 4.0 with no independent navigation buttons. The hardware isn't the top of the line, but still above average. This thing is fairly big in size, so it probably won't suit you.

I'm not going into the argument, but task killers are useless and are more or less a placebo effect. I had my phone last 4 days with a custom kernel and underclocked. On average I get about 18-20 hours on a full charge with medium usage and no task killer.

No one reads my Safely Modding thread, let alone a book about a phone.

nice post, aaron. thanks.

here is what i have to say about it:

- i will most likely only use the 4G/hotspotting together, which ill probably be by my charger anyway.
- ive never rooted a phone, but i dont have any issues doing it. i dont buy insurance anyway since its a huge scam.
- in all reality, music isnt a huge thing for me. i know all the phones will store/play/stream music so that is good enough for me. i dont need beats, lol.
- im not brand loyal, never have been.


so the questions continue.

- are there any other choices out there you would think might be within my liking? (the four i picked were just randoms that are new/'top of the line' phones out)
- is it really worth the wait in a new phone, knowing the im a casual user?
- given that this thing goes in my pocket, recommend any phones to go away based on size? if i have to carry it by hand that's gonna suck for me.

basically im trying to avoid all those 'THIS PHONE PISSES ME OFF' moments i have with my blackberry. i can deal with minor issues here and there, but serious lagging, freezing, mega slow internet speeds, etc. will kill me.

Verizon has a special going on now where you can buy a phone, and return it before Jan 9th if you decide you don't like it. Have to pay a $35 dollar restocking fee, but you can sweet talk them out of it. Rooting a phone is pretty simple, all the phones have a perma root besides the Rezound which is currently at temp root stage. There is many benefits of rooting your device over not being rooted. Both the Razr and Rezound have 16gb of internal storage, and comes with a 16gb microSd card. This can be upgraded to a 32GB card at your discretion, but 32GB is fair. And to be honest, get the Rezound. It is a little bigger than perfect size, but still within reason and not overbearing huge. And the curved back helps your gripping out. Even in the pocket, pretty easy to forget about.

In all honesty, I think every phone you have will piss you off to some extent. I assume that you had your BB for quite soome time and even tho BB literally sucks ass and would make a better paperweight than a phn, the length of time it has been running does play a BIG part...they arent making phones to last anymore. So later on down the line maybe a year or two, 9 times outta 10 your phone will start lagging and going slow. It has happened to me countless times. Just an FYI

ill go to the store and play with a razr and rezound and see what i like more. really i think a lot of the platforms are going to seem like the same thing to me minus the actual phone itself and a couple different features.

Im curious, why dont you like the iPhone?

i just dont want one. the limitations on the phone really turn me off. the childish user interface makes me upset. the way people pride themselves on a product from apple and the subculture it has created.

i just straight up do not want one.