Android handset

[Pendulum]

Didn't want to shit up Kuno's thread that seemed more based on price plans than handsets.

Looking for a new phone and most probably a droid. Got a few questions that would help me a out a bit:

Is the Galaxy II S completely head and shoulders ahead of the other droids? I currently have a Samsung M1; a handset that was marketed with much fanfare by my network at the time, I soon found out it was a horrid PoS I often find myself wanting to throw on to the train tracks because of the shitty interface and glacial-paced hardware. Obviously the new galaxy has plenty of horsepower but I'm still a bit sceptical about tying myself to a Samasung again after my experience.

How does the interface compare to say a HTC?
Is the Desire S roughly comparable?
If not what HTC model is?
I always liked Sony Ericsson dumbphones, are they up to much these days?
Any other handsets I should look at?

Hoping to have a look in the flesh instore this week but any recommendations etc. welcomed.
Thanks!

[Tymon]

The Galaxy S II line of phones is the best series of Android smartphones in every category.

They have the best screen, the snappiest hardware, the best cameras, and are the only pre-Ice Cream Sandwich Android phones to feature hardware acceleration (with TouchWiz 4.0)

Anything else is a step down. I'm not biased, I don't have one. It's just the truth.

Also, people seem to be split between TouchWiz and Sense UI. They're pretty much universally agreed to both be head and shoulders above anything else. TouchWiz is a lot closer to raw Android, and Sense UI is a little more "polished". TouchWiz is way faster though.

[Pabst]

From my experience touchwiz is terrible, motoblur and sense are probably the best uis in phones right now.

But the build quality in the newer Samsung phones are top notch. But don't let that stop you from checking out HTC phones since some of them are really nice and snappy and they also have one if the better cameras on their phones. But it's all preference really, I say just go to a store and play around with the different phones.

[Ragnell]

Moto blur needs to die in a fire

[DAKPluto]

Moto blur needs to die in a fire

^ Moto's UI is total shit.

Like computers now, anything is only the best for just a short time, until the new stuff comes out. Basically, everything that is the best right now will be trumped before the month is out when all the new offerings come out.

The Sony/Ericison Xperia line is actually very good for budget phones. The new Arc S is actually quite a decent phone. It won't compete against something like the new Galaxy Nexus, but it's really aimed to be a top in the middle market, not the high end market. Sony did recently announce all Xperia phones will be getting ICS, so that's a bonus for them also.