Reply With Quotes4. cant go wrong with android.
Goodbye Blackberry... what should I get?
So after over decade of being a loyal Blackberry user (I've literally been using blackberries since the days of the original dot matrix display)... I am finally psychologically ready to ditch the physical keyboard and take the plunge to something more modern with a large high-def screen and all the bells and whistles.
My priorities are: 1) email/texting 2) web browsing 3) battery life. It is imperative that I can get through a whole day on one full charge since I often travel for work and don't have time to charge my phone. I don't play games and I doubt I'll use many apps/multimedia outside of the standard facebook/weather/stock market/sports/youtube apps.
After much research and playing around with some of the phones (the ones that have been released at least), I've narrowed it down to 3 phones:
1) HTC One - this one is by far the sexiest phone I've ever seen or touched. I hate to sound shallow, but that one-piece all aluminum body looks amazing and feels perfect in my hand. It feels like a solid, sturdy device without being too heavy. The screen is absolutely gorgeous, and the speaker sound quality is untouchable. HTC's user interface also feels cleaner and more professional than the Samsung's.
2) Samsung Galaxy S4 - hasn't been released yet, but seems like a more powerful version of the S3 (which isn't a bad thing) with the addition of a bunch of useless gimmicky features and apps that will undoubtedly bloat the phone and slow down performance. I'm sure this phone will sell the most based on Samsung's marketing power alone, but I just don't "love" the design of the galaxy series. It looks cheap and feels plasticky. User interface is way too colourful and feels a little childish.
3) Blackberry Z10 - this one's a long-shot. The keyboard is the best I've used of the 3 phones in terms of responsiveness, spacing of the keys and predictive accuracy. The phone is aesthetically nice and also feels solid, but it's not in the same league as the HTC. A couple of my friends have it and feedback has not been positive - short battery life (needs charging twice a day), and often freezes and needs the battery to be reinserted. I've played around with it, and to be honest I like the feel and flow of the interface, but the feedback is just discouraging so far.
Having said all this, my experience with these phones has been very limited (15-30 minutes each), so would love to hear feedback from those of you who are owners of these phones (or their previous iterations).
Last edited by blayze; April 27, 2013 at 8:27 PM.
s4. cant go wrong with android.
I also prefer HTC to Samsung. I use last year's HTC One X and I've been very pleased with it. The screen is just incredible and I'm happy with the battery life. The design is also miles better than Samsung's.
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Why not the Z10?
Android is a battery horde. But, the app options are much better than BB can offer.
People I know who have the Z10 have been very impressed so far.
G,A,+/-,PPP,SHP,GWG,H,BS,W,SV%,SA,SO
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C - S.Crosby/S.Monahan/G.Landeskog(lw)/W.Karlsson
LW- T.Hall/B.Rust(lw)/N.Hoglander
RW - J.Guentzel(lw)/ T.Tatar(lw)/J.Pulujaarvi/K.Kapanen(lw)
D - B.Burns/E.Karlsson/M.Heiskanen/J.Carlson
G - I.Sorokin/I.Shesterkin/T.Demko/C.Peterson/C.Talbot
Farm - C.Primeau/P.Kochetov/C.Caufield/E.Svechnikov
I do like the device both aesthetically as well as functionally, but most of my friends and colleagues have told me the Z10's battery barely lasts half a day and it's bug-ridden (freezes up, constant needs for reboots, dropped calls, etc).Originally Posted by Chico Resch
I own the HTC Amaze 4G and love it. Great phone, lots of app options. I also am coming from a BB.
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25 Man Roster (no position), top 20 point getters count at end of month
Keep 20/25 at seasons end, Cut 5 to FA for redrafting
Goalie points W=2pt L=-1pt SHO=2pt
Stamkos, Tavares, Eichel, Mercer, JRobertson, RThomas, Kucherov, Nugent-Hopkins, Tuch, KConnor, Necas, Point, Konecny, SJarvis, Cozenz, Morrissey, Bouchard, Josi, Novak, Tolvanen, Peterka, Brink
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I've had the Motorola Atrix (android) for the last couple of years, I've been pleased. Though should I upgrade, I'd be looking at the Google Nexus 4.
From that standpoint and the ones you've mentioned, the S4 and HTC would be my choice over the Z10.
My problem with the Nexus 4 is that the processor is just not up to snuff with the One or the S4.
GO WINGS!
If you are worried about having a "plasticy" body then my vote is for the HTC One. They make great phones but downside is that they are very slow on updating their version of Android OS. From your main uses list, I'm guessing that you won't be loading cyanogenmod.
I highly doubt Samsung's software is going to bog down the phone, when it comes to Android flagship devices that is a concern of the past. There is so much power in these phones I would not worry about it.
The whole "buggy" software is the reason why I am still skeptical of BB's big comeback. Android is maturing now in terms of stability, while BB is just getting started on their new operating system.
Regarding battery life:
If that is a major concern then I would suggest you get a smaller 4" phone with fewer bells and whistles. The large LED screens and fast processors do drain the phone, I don't think you will find any of the 4.7" flagship devices lasting much more than a day, if it even makes it to a day.
Your other option is to buy a 5000mAH external battery from monoprice, about $30 shipped. It will charge your phone from dead to full 2-3 times, and is not much bigger than the phone. Keep it in your satchel/manpurse for emergency charging anywhere anytime.
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Keep 3F, 1D, 1G (to max 2 years unless franchise keeper)
3C,3LW,3RW,4D,2G,2BN,2IR Roto-play 85games/position
Player: G, A, +/-, PIM, PPA, PPG, HIT, BS SOG, FW
Goalie: W, GAA, SV, SV%, SHO
C: (F1) Tavares, Stastny, Carter
LW: 1-Hall, Pacioretty, B.Schenn
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D: 1-Carlson, Josi, Faulk, Franson
G: Andersen, Mason
BN: Jones, Niemi
#- denotes number of years I have kept a player. 2 = I need to trade him this year, (F1) = Franchise Keeper, up to 4 years.
For what it's worth, HTC has been VERY fast with updates for my HTC One X. It's been nothing like back when I had an HTC Desire, when they were slow as molasses.
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Yeah I've also heard that HTC has been much faster with the updates.
Having said that, it's a little disappointing to hear that the HTC One is shipping with the old version of Android, despite the fact that the new version came out in November 2012... not sure how that happens.
How hard is it to upgrade Android versions? Is it a pain? Like reformatting a computer?
There's no way in bloody hell I'm carrying around a SECOND device just to charge my first device lol.
I have a Z10, i turned off wireless and it lasts well over a day. The LTE is extremely fast. If you prefer the wireless, you can turn it on when required. I am not positive, but i believe that to be the issue. Keyboard is amazing. I have had to remove my battery many times.
Work buys my phone and they buy blackberry, or I too would have explored others. Blackberry users will be impressed with the improvements, but I suspect others won't be.
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C - Nathan MacKinnon, Aleksander Barkov, Nick Bjugstad, Jonathon Huberdeau
LW - Evander Kane, Jaden Schwartz, Brayden Schenn, Chris Kreider, Jonathon Drouin, Sven Baertchi
RW - Kyle Okposo, Valeri Nichushkin, Gustav Nyquist, Chris Stewart
D - Oliver Ekman Larsson, Dougie Hamilton, Viktor Hedman, Kevin Shattenkirk, Erik Johnson
G - Jonathon Bernier, Sergei Bobrovsky, Darcy Kuemper, Robin Lehner
It's really easy. Takes a little while, that's all, like a few minutes.
When you say old version of android, there is not really THAT big of a difference between 4.1.X and 4.2.X. The most important features, like Google Now and Project Butter is in. 4.2.X should be coming to HTC One soon enough.
I was eyeing the One for a loooong time before I decided to keep my One X for another year. The camera, screen and speakers are the best on the market and then you get Beats for your headphone sound. I also like what they've done with the home screen to make it different from most other current phones. Maybe I'll pick it up later on or I'll see what they release next year. There's always something better around the corner
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Google now was part of 4.1.x. That's what my nexus launched with and I had it then. Don't really find it that useful though.
Yup, updates is easy, really just a matter of clicking on the update and letting the phone do it's thing. The updates are minor for the most part, unless they introduce a bug in an update.. which is the only time you will wish you had a pure android phone, so worry more about the hardware.
Dakkster, If you have a One X you should wait for the next gen of smartphones, they're going to blow the current ones away, and are probably out Q3 this year.
Beats for headphone sound? No no no no no...I don't even want to get started there, since the HTC makes good phones.. but arggh, beats is such a money grabbing gimmick.
10 Team Yahoo Roto
Keep 3F, 1D, 1G (to max 2 years unless franchise keeper)
3C,3LW,3RW,4D,2G,2BN,2IR Roto-play 85games/position
Player: G, A, +/-, PIM, PPA, PPG, HIT, BS SOG, FW
Goalie: W, GAA, SV, SV%, SHO
C: (F1) Tavares, Stastny, Carter
LW: 1-Hall, Pacioretty, B.Schenn
RW: Mackinnon, Nyquist, Hornqvist
D: 1-Carlson, Josi, Faulk, Franson
G: Andersen, Mason
BN: Jones, Niemi
#- denotes number of years I have kept a player. 2 = I need to trade him this year, (F1) = Franchise Keeper, up to 4 years.
Yeah, I figure as much too. There was an update in December for the One X that really made battery life better and whatnot. I read something about how the phone had not been using it's "idling processor" before that, instead going full speed on the quad core instead. No wonder the battery life got better.
Have you compared two phones with a proper pair of headphones? One phone with Beats and the other without? There's a very noticeable difference. You won't hear it with the out of the box headphones you get with any random smartphone, but if you have a pair of quality Beats or Sennheiser headphones, you'll hear it.
GO WINGS!
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