Help me buy a SMRT FONE

[FAPTurbo]

My venerable BlackBerry is just not cutting it anymore,

So I'd like to get something new. I'm not attached to one OS or brand, though I do find the Nokia 920 to be very compelling, as well as the Galaxy Note 2, But it doesn't matter, whether it's a Samsung, Motorola, Apple or HTC, I'm all ears.

I'll be using this phone for a lot of live-tweeting, quick in-a-pinch photography for blogging/publishing and as a modem for my tablet and laptop. So LTE is a necessity as is good battery life (hard to get both, usually)

What phones do C&G'ers use and why do they like them? Any recommendations?

Edited October 27, 2012 by Pervez Musharrfap

[Lamar]

I have the Droid 4. Opted for it because I wanted a Droid and it was the best one available that had a physical keyboard.

[Robert Hall]

I have the Motorola Droid Razr Maxx. I like the big screen, relatively light weight, narrow case and long battery life. The front and rear facing cameras work well. 4GLTE coverage w/ Verizon works well w/ it.

My sister has the Droid 4 and is happy w/ it. It seems too thick and heavy to me, and I don't need the keyboard (I had a Droid 1 and liked it but rarely ever used the keyboard).

Edited October 28, 2012 by Cubical-aka-Moltar

[Cory Wolfe]

I have a Samsung galaxy s3. Its fantastic, having come from a droid incredible. The Samsung interface is smooth sleek and intuitive. It certainly stands out in a sea of android phones and isn't as limited as the iPhone. It does everything well except its poor take on Apple's siri, not that you would really want to be one of those people who have conversations with their phone.

[caddycruiser]

I will always recommend the iPhone, and my latest 5 should be here anyday.

Strong battery life, all integrated and easy to use, and as my mother who was on her 4th Droid she couldn't stand or get to function with basic functions from time to time found out, it just works.

Apple limits files, etc. but in 4 or so years, I've never once had a single "I wish it did that". Ever. Even my fellow manager at work who said he'd never have anything but a Droid had his iPhone for 3 days and can't fathom how he ever used the previous.

Best recommendation? Get some hand time with them in a store and play with the apps and functionality, and feel. Phone test drive. Narrow it down. Lots of great choices. I will always be an Apple phone fan after my 1st. Each is better than the last. Worth a try.

[PurdueGuy]

If I were getting a phone soon, I'd be looking very intently at the Razr HD Maxx. Second choice would probably be the GS3.

[Justin Bimmer]

I'm with caddycruiser. I switched from droid to iPhone and feel the same way. iPhone has integrated twitter. The camera is excellent. And voice dictation works fairly well.

Edited October 29, 2012 by JamesBond
spelling

[PurdueGuy]

And voice dictation wors fairly well.

Were you using it for this post?

[Drew Dowdell]

I'm very happy with my Samsung Galaxy SII, and I look forward to having the Galaxy S3.... but not with Sprint. It is an awesome phone hampered by a sub-par network.

As for tweeting, you'll want Tweetdeck anyway if you are going to be doing anything like power tweeting. If you are just going to post "My cat is cute, tee hee" on twitter, then yes, the iPhone app is fine.

The camera in the Galaxy is quite good for a phone. Mine is 8mp and does camera duty for many of the pics you see in my reviews.

[the_yellow_dart]

Wow, so many of your are on your second gen smartphone, that's crazy. I'm still waiting for reasonable data rates in Canada before I get my first.

[Justin Bimmer]

And voice dictation wors fairly well.

Were you using it for this post?

No I was typing on my iPad 10 finger style. Not the easiest thing to do.

[Drew Dowdell]

Wow, so many of your are on your second gen smartphone, that's crazy. I'm still waiting for reasonable data rates in Canada before I get my first.

Palm Treo, Windows Mobile, Windows Mobile (again), HTC Hero, Samsung Galaxy II

Simultaniously

Blackberries of every generation going back to 2003. I've had to carry two cell phones since then.

[FAPTurbo]

It's looking like the Nexus 4 is the one to get. No LTE is a bummer, but Google is saying the camera's performance is much improved over the Galaxy Nexus. At $350 outright, I don't think a better bargain can be found.

[Robert Hall]

I've had a couple Blackberrys in the past for work. I carry two phones now, my Droid Razr on Verizon and a company iPhone 5 on AT&T, not sure if I like it yet..

[G. David Felt]

Samsung Droid They rock, have my whole family on them. They love em.

[bobo]

I picked up at Galaxy Note 2 yesterday to replace my two-year old HTC phone. I was planning to get the Galaxy S3, but the Note 2 has some compelling features. I also thought about waiting a few months for the GS4. I was apprehensive about the huge size of the Note 2, but I'll see how it goes. So far, battery life is great, unlike that of the GS3. I also use a BlackBerry Bold for work. Its only redeeming quality is long battery life. I can't see RIM being around much longer.

[ZL-1]

I will always recommend the iPhone, and my latest 5 should be here anyday.

Strong battery life, all integrated and easy to use, and as my mother who was on her 4th Droid she couldn't stand or get to function with basic functions from time to time found out, it just works.

Apple limits files, etc. but in 4 or so years, I've never once had a single "I wish it did that". Ever. Even my fellow manager at work who said he'd never have anything but a Droid had his iPhone for 3 days and can't fathom how he ever used the previous.

Best recommendation? Get some hand time with them in a store and play with the apps and functionality, and feel. Phone test drive. Narrow it down. Lots of great choices. I will always be an Apple phone fan after my 1st. Each is better than the last. Worth a try.

That's pretty much my experience with the iPhone. I recommend it too

[G. David Felt]

I will always recommend the iPhone, and my latest 5 should be here anyday.

Strong battery life, all integrated and easy to use, and as my mother who was on her 4th Droid she couldn't stand or get to function with basic functions from time to time found out, it just works.

Apple limits files, etc. but in 4 or so years, I've never once had a single "I wish it did that". Ever. Even my fellow manager at work who said he'd never have anything but a Droid had his iPhone for 3 days and can't fathom how he ever used the previous.

Best recommendation? Get some hand time with them in a store and play with the apps and functionality, and feel. Phone test drive. Narrow it down. Lots of great choices. I will always be an Apple phone fan after my 1st. Each is better than the last. Worth a try.

That's pretty much my experience with the iPhone. I recommend it too

Except the IPhone is great at passing on Viruses, removing everyone from Outlook calendar events, does not sync with security proticols and for those of us that are not graphically induced to follow a lemming company on what you can and cannot do confusing.

Before the Flame mail starts, check out apples web site as they admit with the iPhone 5 they broke security and outlook exchange email. Isilon a company I work for has plenty of apple products and so many peole have gotten things screwed up due to all the bugs in the 5.

I suggest holding off till after the new year if you want a iPhone 5 and give them time to fix all the bugs.

[ZL-1]

I will always recommend the iPhone, and my latest 5 should be here anyday.

Strong battery life, all integrated and easy to use, and as my mother who was on her 4th Droid she couldn't stand or get to function with basic functions from time to time found out, it just works.

Apple limits files, etc. but in 4 or so years, I've never once had a single "I wish it did that". Ever. Even my fellow manager at work who said he'd never have anything but a Droid had his iPhone for 3 days and can't fathom how he ever used the previous.

Best recommendation? Get some hand time with them in a store and play with the apps and functionality, and feel. Phone test drive. Narrow it down. Lots of great choices. I will always be an Apple phone fan after my 1st. Each is better than the last. Worth a try.

That's pretty much my experience with the iPhone. I recommend it too

Except the IPhone is great at passing on Viruses, removing everyone from Outlook calendar events, does not sync with security proticols and for those of us that are not graphically induced to follow a lemming company on what you can and cannot do confusing.

Before the Flame mail starts, check out apples web site as they admit with the iPhone 5 they broke security and outlook exchange email. Isilon a company I work for has plenty of apple products and so many peole have gotten things screwed up due to all the bugs in the 5.

I suggest holding off till after the new year if you want a iPhone 5 and give them time to fix all the bugs.

Interesting... I'm still on a 32GB iPhone 4. Company phone.

[G. David Felt]

I will always recommend the iPhone, and my latest 5 should be here anyday.

Strong battery life, all integrated and easy to use, and as my mother who was on her 4th Droid she couldn't stand or get to function with basic functions from time to time found out, it just works.

Apple limits files, etc. but in 4 or so years, I've never once had a single "I wish it did that". Ever. Even my fellow manager at work who said he'd never have anything but a Droid had his iPhone for 3 days and can't fathom how he ever used the previous.

Best recommendation? Get some hand time with them in a store and play with the apps and functionality, and feel. Phone test drive. Narrow it down. Lots of great choices. I will always be an Apple phone fan after my 1st. Each is better than the last. Worth a try.

That's pretty much my experience with the iPhone. I recommend it too

Except the IPhone is great at passing on Viruses, removing everyone from Outlook calendar events, does not sync with security proticols and for those of us that are not graphically induced to follow a lemming company on what you can and cannot do confusing.

Before the Flame mail starts, check out apples web site as they admit with the iPhone 5 they broke security and outlook exchange email. Isilon a company I work for has plenty of apple products and so many peole have gotten things screwed up due to all the bugs in the 5.

I suggest holding off till after the new year if you want a iPhone 5 and give them time to fix all the bugs.

Interesting... I'm still on a 32GB iPhone 4. Company phone.

My son is also on that phone provided by his company and loves it. He works for a small tech start up and they asked everyone to hold off on upgrading the OS to the latest till Apple fix's the exchange issues and the security log in issues. He still told me at our required family dinner on sunday that he plans to get the 5 when the fix's are out. It sure is playing hell at work for me as so many people who I have meetings with end up removing them by accident when they read mail as it just totally screws up the calendar.

[FAPTurbo]

The Note 2 is my dream phone. I love almost everything about it, except the price. I can afford the $700 for it, but I have reservations plunking down that kind of money on a phone.

The iPhone 5 is a great product, as much as I deride Apple. But the screen is just too small for me and I find myself having trouble using the keyboard. Add in the Apple ecosystem and it's just not for me.

I think I'll end up getting a lightly used HTC One X and keep it over the winter. Prices on them have plummeted after the S3 and Nexus 4 releases.

Edited November 20, 2012 by Pervez Musharrfap

[Robert Hall]

I will always recommend the iPhone, and my latest 5 should be here anyday.

Strong battery life, all integrated and easy to use, and as my mother who was on her 4th Droid she couldn't stand or get to function with basic functions from time to time found out, it just works.

Apple limits files, etc. but in 4 or so years, I've never once had a single "I wish it did that". Ever. Even my fellow manager at work who said he'd never have anything but a Droid had his iPhone for 3 days and can't fathom how he ever used the previous.

Best recommendation? Get some hand time with them in a store and play with the apps and functionality, and feel. Phone test drive. Narrow it down. Lots of great choices. I will always be an Apple phone fan after my 1st. Each is better than the last. Worth a try.

That's pretty much my experience with the iPhone. I recommend it too

Except the IPhone is great at passing on Viruses, removing everyone from Outlook calendar events, does not sync with security proticols and for those of us that are not graphically induced to follow a lemming company on what you can and cannot do confusing.

Before the Flame mail starts, check out apples web site as they admit with the iPhone 5 they broke security and outlook exchange email. Isilon a company I work for has plenty of apple products and so many peole have gotten things screwed up due to all the bugs in the 5.

I suggest holding off till after the new year if you want a iPhone 5 and give them time to fix all the bugs.

I've been happy w/ my work iPhone 5...my company does everything w/ gmail and Google docs, no old-school MS stuff...

[G. David Felt]

I will always recommend the iPhone, and my latest 5 should be here anyday.

Strong battery life, all integrated and easy to use, and as my mother who was on her 4th Droid she couldn't stand or get to function with basic functions from time to time found out, it just works.

Apple limits files, etc. but in 4 or so years, I've never once had a single "I wish it did that". Ever. Even my fellow manager at work who said he'd never have anything but a Droid had his iPhone for 3 days and can't fathom how he ever used the previous.

Best recommendation? Get some hand time with them in a store and play with the apps and functionality, and feel. Phone test drive. Narrow it down. Lots of great choices. I will always be an Apple phone fan after my 1st. Each is better than the last. Worth a try.

That's pretty much my experience with the iPhone. I recommend it too

Except the IPhone is great at passing on Viruses, removing everyone from Outlook calendar events, does not sync with security proticols and for those of us that are not graphically induced to follow a lemming company on what you can and cannot do confusing.

Before the Flame mail starts, check out apples web site as they admit with the iPhone 5 they broke security and outlook exchange email. Isilon a company I work for has plenty of apple products and so many peole have gotten things screwed up due to all the bugs in the 5.

I suggest holding off till after the new year if you want a iPhone 5 and give them time to fix all the bugs.

I've been happy w/ my work iPhone 5...my company does everything w/ gmail and Google docs, no old-school MS stuff...

You actually like Gmail and Google docs???? The gmail interface sucks, not user friendly IMO and Google Doc's has so many limitations that you cannot really use it for group work.

Sorry, but I will stay with Sharepoint and Office Professional as the only real business tools and exchange.

[Robert Hall]

I've been happy w/ my work iPhone 5...my company does everything w/ gmail and Google docs, no old-school MS stuff...

You actually like Gmail and Google docs???? The gmail interface sucks, not user friendly IMO and Google Doc's has so many limitations that you cannot really use it for group work.

Sorry, but I will stay with Sharepoint and Office Professional as the only real business tools and exchange.

I use Open Office when I have to do editing on my laptop....but Google Docs work great for my company (a small group of consultants)...we use Google+ as well...we avoid any Microsoft products since those don't work well on Macs. We also use the Atlassian suite of products (Confluence instead of Sharepoint, Jira, etc), Amazon S3 for our servers, etc...we try and do everything cloud based...occasionally I have to pull a project plan/task list out of Atlassian Jira and put it in Excel for clients that are stuck in the MS ecosystem, though.

Edited December 16, 2012 by Cubical-aka-Moltar

[frogger]

I still love my Galaxy Note 1/N7000. Running a leaked JB Rom before the official one arrives in the next month or so and with a new battery (old one went downhill after about a year), I'm getting 2 days out of it now, 3-4 hrs screen time with 100+ push emails a day no problem.

Edited December 17, 2012 by frogger

[FAPTurbo]

The prices people are asking for the Note 1 on Craigslist are a little rich.

It appears I'll be ending up with a Nexus 4 as Google appears to be unable to cancel the order, and it's stuck in limbo until the beginning of January.

[G. David Felt]

Stopped by Verizon and played with the New Nokia Windows phone, that is pretty cool. Told them they need to bring in the 900 series as I do not want the 800 series phone, I want the better screen on the 900. They said people are not willing to pay the 3-400 dollars it would cost here in America unlike in Europe. I shook my head and said who ever told him that is an idiot and Verizon mgmt / executives are idiots if they do not think people will buy the 900 here. It is an awesome phone.

Now I have to wait and see what I want to do as my phone is up in January and I am not sure what to do. So far been burned by HTC too many times, hate that Google android phones while working well just do not properly show web sites especially when the company has only standardized and support IE.

What to do? What to do?

[Robert Hall]

I can't imagine many companies would standardize on and support only IE in 2012...IE is the worst, most backward browser out there.

[Drew Dowdell]

Stopped by Verizon and played with the New Nokia Windows phone, that is pretty cool. Told them they need to bring in the 900 series as I do not want the 800 series phone, I want the better screen on the 900. They said people are not willing to pay the 3-400 dollars it would cost here in America unlike in Europe. I shook my head and said who ever told him that is an idiot and Verizon mgmt / executives are idiots if they do not think people will buy the 900 here. It is an awesome phone.

Now I have to wait and see what I want to do as my phone is up in January and I am not sure what to do. So far been burned by HTC too many times, hate that Google android phones while working well just do not properly show web sites especially when the company has only standardized and support IE.

What to do? What to do?

What to do is use an Android phone that is capable of running Chrome browser. Chrome will render most IE-only website correctly.

[G. David Felt]

Stopped by Verizon and played with the New Nokia Windows phone, that is pretty cool. Told them they need to bring in the 900 series as I do not want the 800 series phone, I want the better screen on the 900. They said people are not willing to pay the 3-400 dollars it would cost here in America unlike in Europe. I shook my head and said who ever told him that is an idiot and Verizon mgmt / executives are idiots if they do not think people will buy the 900 here. It is an awesome phone.

Now I have to wait and see what I want to do as my phone is up in January and I am not sure what to do. So far been burned by HTC too many times, hate that Google android phones while working well just do not properly show web sites especially when the company has only standardized and support IE.

What to do? What to do?

What to do is use an Android phone that is capable of running Chrome browser. Chrome will render most IE-only website correctly.

LOL except Cheers and gears, I have my Samsung with Andriod and Chrome and I find it so hard to find things and pictures on it. Then I tried to go to Hollywood.com and show the wife the new superman trailer and it would not play. Then off to snocon.com to register to make sure I start getting the emails about sales on ski gear and it would not allow me to finish the registration process.

So far, I am less than impressed with Smart phones for web browsing or checking out web sites. So far, phone, IM, email and email that brings up news stories especially formated for the smartphones is about all I can seem to get that succeed.

As a computer engineer, I become more and more disillusioned with how technology does NOT speed things up or make life any easier.

[Z-06]

I have been disappointed with Android and Samsung Galaxy SII.

1. You have to press four buttons to make a phone call after searching directory, Windows 6 phone did it in 2. A smart phone is a phone first and smart later.
   
2. The volume control for speaker and ear piece are same. Come on - my circa 2002 Samsung flip phone had different controls for both.
   
3. Weather software does not show current city and the position. Windows 6 phone did that.
   
4. The phone is a memory creep. Starts around ~265 MB after turning it on, and in an hour memory is hovering at 500 MB. Didn't Google say how streamlined usage its phones will have?
   
5. Talk about bloatware - Media Hub, Social Hub, Voice Control, Maps and others. Despite of removing them from task manage crop back as soon as you get out of it. No software like Juice Defender, etc. make them go away. Windows at least kills the software once in the Task Manager.
   
6. Those software are another story - rather than saving Juice, by constantly killing these bloatware use more juice.
   
7. Support for other email providers is horrible. It is as if Google does not want you to use other emails. At least Windows (I-phone) phone had same interface for all emails. Didn't Microsoft get dinged for being partial towards IE? Google gets a free pass on this?
   
8. Sometime after I delete an email in Yahoo and Hotmail - the emails crop up again as unread. Once I had to do that 4 times.
   
9. After melting with Ice Cream Sandwich - Google added another horrible step. For every time I Silence, Turn Off, Restart, Airplane Mode, the obligatory message, "Are you sure you want to ----?" pops up. Yes MF go tell Larry Page to suck between my legs.
   
10. Media Player is suckage.
    
11. Yes it also has pop-up ads, despite making every effort to not to download any crappy apps.
    
12. Despite of hard reset, the phone is slow.
    

Sure there are apps for everything. But if old crummy phones had those features standard in them, why can't this bleeding edge techno giant have it?

Smart phones were about ease to use and power of working smartly for you. These are nothing but dumb f@#king phones. My old hag Windows 6 was better in comparison. It seems like we are moving a step back with these technological enhancements and irony is that I love technology.

More importantly, the phone usage is more unsafe than my previous experience with any cellular phones especially while driving. That is a big hazard.

[Drew Dowdell]

I'm not sure what you're running on you SG II, but mine runs great as long as I'm not using Sprint.

[G. David Felt]

I have been disappointed with Android and Samsung Galaxy SII.

1. You have to press four buttons to make a phone call after searching directory, Windows 6 phone did it in 2. A smart phone is a phone first and smart later.
   
2. The volume control for speaker and ear piece are same. Come on - my circa 2002 Samsung flip phone had different controls for both.
   
3. Weather software does not show current city and the position. Windows 6 phone did that.
   
4. The phone is a memory creep. Starts around ~265 MB after turning it on, and in an hour memory is hovering at 500 MB. Didn't Google say how streamlined usage its phones will have?
   
5. Talk about bloatware - Media Hub, Social Hub, Voice Control, Maps and others. Despite of removing them from task manage crop back as soon as you get out of it. No software like Juice Defender, etc. make them go away. Windows at least kills the software once in the Task Manager.
   
6. Those software are another story - rather than saving Juice, by constantly killing these bloatware use more juice.
   
7. Support for other email providers is horrible. It is as if Google does not want you to use other emails. At least Windows (I-phone) phone had same interface for all emails. Didn't Microsoft get dinged for being partial towards IE? Google gets a free pass on this?
   
8. Sometime after I delete an email in Yahoo and Hotmail - the emails crop up again as unread. Once I had to do that 4 times.
   
9. After melting with Ice Cream Sandwich - Google added another horrible step. For every time I Silence, Turn Off, Restart, Airplane Mode, the obligatory message, "Are you sure you want to ----?" pops up. Yes MF go tell Larry Page to suck between my legs.
   
10. Media Player is suckage.
    
11. Yes it also has pop-up ads, despite making every effort to not to download any crappy apps.
    
12. Despite of hard reset, the phone is slow.
    

Sure there are apps for everything. But if old crummy phones had those features standard in them, why can't this bleeding edge techno giant have it?

Smart phones were about ease to use and power of working smartly for you. These are nothing but dumb f@#king phones. My old hag Windows 6 was better in comparison. It seems like we are moving a step back with these technological enhancements and irony is that I love technology.

More importantly, the phone usage is more unsafe than my previous experience with any cellular phones especially while driving. That is a big hazard.

I have had multiple Engineers that had to complain because of dropped calls, poor battery time, etc and finally got moved to the latest Galaxy III. They had to fight as their II all had freaky issues and none were the same issue. It is as if the phones are just buggy from the world go. The III so far have been much better, but the battery life totally sucks on them.

[Drew Dowdell]

Do either of you have the Amazon App store on your phones?

[frogger]

Bloatware is a fact of life for unrooted, carrier obtained non-Nexus Android devices unfortunately.

[G. David Felt]

Do either of you have the Amazon App store on your phones?

For me I have the PlayStore and GooglePlace in addition to the Verizon store. I did not know that amazon had a store, but that might be the kindle thing that i have ignored since I have no interest in reading a book on my tiny phone. I see that Barns and Noble pushed out their reader software.

I wish I could delete the installed crap that Verizon put on the phone as I could care less about rockstar or the golf game or some of the other crap. You should be able to remove what you do not want and yet I delete it and Verizon pushes the crap back out again for their base image.

[Drew Dowdell]

No, the Amazon app store is another way to buy apps instead of the Google Play store and they often give apps away for free. It's not just kindle reader stuff.

But what I found a while back is that the Amazon App store takes up a lot of battery for some reason... it was often the second biggest battery user in the list right after "screen"

[Z-06]

Do either of you have the Amazon App store on your phones?

Nope.

[Drew Dowdell]

I have been disappointed with Android and Samsung Galaxy SII.

• You have to press four buttons to make a phone call after searching directory, Windows 6 phone did it in 2. A smart phone is a phone first and smart later.
• The volume control for speaker and ear piece are same. Come on - my circa 2002 Samsung flip phone had different controls for both.
• Weather software does not show current city and the position. Windows 6 phone did that.
• The phone is a memory creep. Starts around ~265 MB after turning it on, and in an hour memory is hovering at 500 MB. Didn't Google say how streamlined usage its phones will have?
• Talk about bloatware - Media Hub, Social Hub, Voice Control, Maps and others. Despite of removing them from task manage crop back as soon as you get out of it. No software like Juice Defender, etc. make them go away. Windows at least kills the software once in the Task Manager.
• Those software are another story - rather than saving Juice, by constantly killing these bloatware use more juice.
• Support for other email providers is horrible. It is as if Google does not want you to use other emails. At least Windows (I-phone) phone had same interface for all emails. Didn't Microsoft get dinged for being partial towards IE? Google gets a free pass on this?
• Sometime after I delete an email in Yahoo and Hotmail - the emails crop up again as unread. Once I had to do that 4 times.
• After melting with Ice Cream Sandwich - Google added another horrible step. For every time I Silence, Turn Off, Restart, Airplane Mode, the obligatory message, "Are you sure you want to ----?" pops up. Yes MF go tell Larry Page to suck between my legs.
• Media Player is suckage.
• Yes it also has pop-up ads, despite making every effort to not to download any crappy apps.
• Despite of hard reset, the phone is slow.

Sure there are apps for everything. But if old crummy phones had those features standard in them, why can't this bleeding edge techno giant have it?

Smart phones were about ease to use and power of working smartly for you. These are nothing but dumb f@#king phones. My old hag Windows 6 was better in comparison. It seems like we are moving a step back with these technological enhancements and irony is that I love technology.

More importantly, the phone usage is more unsafe than my previous experience with any cellular phones especially while driving. That is a big hazard.

Just updated mine to Jellybean. The process is very straight forward.

and your #1 bullet is wrong. Just swipe the name right to dial.

[Z-06]

I have been disappointed with Android and Samsung Galaxy SII.

• You have to press four buttons to make a phone call after searching directory, Windows 6 phone did it in 2. A smart phone is a phone first and smart later.
• The volume control for speaker and ear piece are same. Come on - my circa 2002 Samsung flip phone had different controls for both.
• Weather software does not show current city and the position. Windows 6 phone did that.
• The phone is a memory creep. Starts around ~265 MB after turning it on, and in an hour memory is hovering at 500 MB. Didn't Google say how streamlined usage its phones will have?
• Talk about bloatware - Media Hub, Social Hub, Voice Control, Maps and others. Despite of removing them from task manage crop back as soon as you get out of it. No software like Juice Defender, etc. make them go away. Windows at least kills the software once in the Task Manager.
• Those software are another story - rather than saving Juice, by constantly killing these bloatware use more juice.
• Support for other email providers is horrible. It is as if Google does not want you to use other emails. At least Windows (I-phone) phone had same interface for all emails. Didn't Microsoft get dinged for being partial towards IE? Google gets a free pass on this?
• Sometime after I delete an email in Yahoo and Hotmail - the emails crop up again as unread. Once I had to do that 4 times.
• After melting with Ice Cream Sandwich - Google added another horrible step. For every time I Silence, Turn Off, Restart, Airplane Mode, the obligatory message, "Are you sure you want to ----?" pops up. Yes MF go tell Larry Page to suck between my legs.
• Media Player is suckage.
• Yes it also has pop-up ads, despite making every effort to not to download any crappy apps.
• Despite of hard reset, the phone is slow.

Sure there are apps for everything. But if old crummy phones had those features standard in them, why can't this bleeding edge techno giant have it?

Smart phones were about ease to use and power of working smartly for you. These are nothing but dumb f@#king phones. My old hag Windows 6 was better in comparison. It seems like we are moving a step back with these technological enhancements and irony is that I love technology.

More importantly, the phone usage is more unsafe than my previous experience with any cellular phones especially while driving. That is a big hazard.

Just updated mine to Jellybean. The process is very straight forward.

and your #1 bullet is wrong. Just swipe the name right to dial.

No luck for Jellybean update yet, and cannot Swype on dialer in melted icecream sandwich. Bullet #1 stays correct.

[FAPTurbo]

Google missed their shipping target for my Nexus and by the sounds of things, I'll be without the device for another month. I'm not an impatient person but Google and LG are both showing that they absolutely suck at supply management and communication.

I can hate on Apple a lot but at least they do have the customer service thing right most of the time.

[Drew Dowdell]

the upgrade is a manual one, but worth it

[z28luvr01]

Go ahead and make fun of me, but I'm waiting for this to drop in late Jan/early Feb.

[FAPTurbo]

I've fooled around with BB10's OS and I'm quite impressed with it. RIM is in it to win, although I'm curious how the market will react to the 4.3" screen. It seems only Apple can sell a phone in that category. Everyone else is going for 4.5/4.7".

[z28luvr01]

Eh, I personally wouldn't miss the extra .2-.4. I'd rather have the tidier form factor so that I can still slip it in my front pocket. My current Torch 9860 with the Otterbox is too bulky to attempt to stuff it in, and I won't go belt-holster.

[FAPTurbo]

I don't disagree. I think the 4.3" size is the sweet spot.

The problem is that people are gravitating to larger screens. That being said, the pixel per inch numbers I've read are impressive so if RIM has a knockout screen like HTC's One X, they'll likely duck a lot of criticism.

Edited January 5, 2013 by FAPTurbo

[Robert Hall]

My work iPhone 5 seems so tiny compared to my Motorola Razr Maxx...I like the big screen better, and it fits in my pocket just fine.

[FAPTurbo]

Broke down and got a Galaxy Note 2. So far, I am quite impressed though I have forgotten how unwieldy Android can be.

It's pretty cool how well the Stylus works for text.

Edited January 6, 2013 by FAPTurbo

[Drew Dowdell]

Go ahead and make fun of me, but I'm waiting for this to drop in late Jan/early Feb.

If I MUST stay with BB for my work phone, I'd at least want it to be that one. But there is a super secret Android and iOS pilot program starting up soon and I'm trying to get to be a beta tester.

[SAmadei]

Finally got a deal to allow me to dump my dying BB Storms... Amazon has Motorola Droid RAZR Maxx HD's for $69.99 with two year contract... VZ is still pushing these for $199.99. I had a little issue getting my VZ account ready for upgrade, but I have the phones and they are working fantastic.

Next I need to get a screaming deal on a BB Z10 to replace my bulletproof but old G1.