Newb upgrading to smartphone

sb · 2010-09-13 17:06

My advanced at the time (in that it had a color screen) cell phone finally died this weekend, and I would like to upgrade to this decade and get a smartphone. The only phone I've had a chance to play around with is the iphone, but I'd like to hear others opinions on other options (as well as if the iphone is worth considering). I've heard good things about android phones and the EVO. Also the G2 that is coming out next month is supposed to be really good, but I don't know if I can wait that long for it.

I've been with T-moble for a long time (from back when they were omnipoint ~> through the voice stream era~> to T-moble) and have been happy with their service. But at the moment I have no contractual obligation and can am able to change to whatever company I chose. It seems Sprint has a great unlimited package for 69.99, and from what I've read the EVO is a pretty good phone. But I am having a hard time finding out about their and other companies service. I've heard from other that AT&T's service is terrible in NYC. And from the looks of it their rates and additional charges are way high. I've read that Verizon is pretty good, but it can also be expensive.

Basically, I am looking into any insight on AT&T/Verizon/Sprint/T-moble plans that I might not have heard of, how well these work in NYC, and some sound advice on phones themselves.

Also... another newb question. Are all smartphones Jailbreakable, or is this a iphone specific thing.

Thank you in advance for any help.

P.S. I did a search here, and found some relevant but mostly older info in BG. And with technology, any thread that is older than a year is often way out of date.

**Mohoss** · 2010-09-13 17:17

I had a Motorola i880 (nice flip phone, but nothing fancy) for about 4-5 years on Sprint. I live in southeastern Indiana and the service was okay, but all my friends who had Verizon had service everywhere I went, and then some places we went they would have service and I wouldn't. But there were never any times where I had service on Sprint and they didn't on Verizon. Another problem I had with Sprint was if I was inside any building on campus (I go to Indiana University) I wouldn't have service unless I was above the second floor. This past February I convinced my parents to switch me to Verizon and I got a Motorola Droid (the original one) and I absolutely love it. The service is amazing and I've had 0 problems with the service or dealing with Verizon themselves. I have service absolutely everywhere I go.

And as you see I also went from an older phone to a smartphone. I didn't know how I felt about a touchscreen at the time, but I ended up liking it. The Droid also slides up and has a physical QWERTY keyboard which I really like. I don't think I would like a full touchscreen phone like an iPhone or anything, I like to have something I can press when I'm typing.

*Edit: Also I didn't know if i would really use all the extra stuff that you are required to get in the data package with the Droid, but I definitely do use it since I have it. Surf the internet all the time, Google Maps and Navigation GPS, different apps and games and stuff. It's pretty great.

**Silos** · 2010-09-13 19:43

Go with Verizon. I love it, they've got the best coverage by far. I have the HTC Incredible and my friend has the Droid X. They're both great phones I'd recommend to anyone. The X is a little big for me, but it's all personal preference. Haven't had any experience with the Droid 2, though.

**Militant** · 2010-09-13 21:11

I see you live in BK. All in all likelyhood, you will be frustrated with ATT's service in the manhattan area. Their customer service is great, but their actual cell service is OK, just not great. Verizon on the other hand, has by far the best reception and service. They also have a great selection of smart phones. I have a droid based phone (LG Ally) which is probably underpowered, but it gets the job done for me. Personally, I don't know anyone that's had a good long experience with sprint. I'd say go to verizon, and grab a Droid 2, Droid Incredible, Droid X, or grab an Ally if you are on any sort of a budget.

**Zetanio** · 2010-09-13 21:24

AT&T's service in NYC is just awful. Verizon has pretty terrific service. I can't help you much on the phone front. I've been a Blackberry person for awhile for work. I did hear that the Droid phones are pretty sweet though.

**Rhinox** · 2010-09-13 22:01

Stay away from Android.

**Sylvrdragon** · 2010-09-13 22:17

Pay no attention to the Apple fanboy. The Droid Incredible is actually quite incredible, and it's Verizon. I've also heard good things about the Nexus One.

One thing that you will notice very quickly switching to a smartphone is that the battery life (regardless of which one you get) will be obscenely short compared to ye olde cell phones. When I actually use my phone, I can't even make it through a whole shift on a full charge. If it's on standby, then you MIGHT make from the time you wake up till you go to sleep, but that's optimistic. You will want to have a charger and access to an outlet in places where you frequent.

**Militant** · 2010-09-13 22:26

I get about 40hours off my ally with light-moderate use. Few phone calls, bunch of texts, maybe a facebook status update here or there. If I sit on the phone downloading apps, playing games, or fooling around a lot, the battery life can go down pretty fast. There are lots of ways to extend your battery life though. Lots of Ally users were complaining about getting 12 hours or less off their phones, but there have been some tweaks and things found out that make it a lot better.

**Rhinox** · 2010-09-13 22:28

Originally Posted by Sylvrdragon

Pay no attention to the Apple fanboy. The Droid Incredible is actually quite incredible, and it's Verizon. I've also heard good things about the Nexus One.

One thing that you will notice very quickly switching to a smartphone is that the battery life (regardless of which one you get) will be obscenely short compared to ye olde cell phones. When I actually use my phone, I can't even make it through a whole shift on a full charge. If it's on standby, then you MIGHT make from the time you wake up till you go to sleep, but that's optimistic. You will want to have a charger and access to an outlet in places where you frequent.

Actually thats where you're wrong. I have a droid and hate it and theres 375 reasons why I don't get a better phone.

**Sylvrdragon** · 2010-09-14 01:57

Originally Posted by Rhinox

Actually thats where you're wrong. I have a droid and hate it and theres 375 reasons why I don't get a better phone.

I guess I should stick to not assuming things huh? Have you updated the OS lately? My brother was messing around with my phone and said it was worlds better than the Droid he had sampled before. Both him and his wife have iPhones and they absolutely hate em. Personally, I didn't see the difference in the actual functionality of the phones when I was messing around with the iPhone (not counting service. AT&T has a terrible reputation and Verizon seems to have a very good one).

**jmc** · 2010-09-14 03:31

Pretty much focus on.......

Sprint or verizon for service.

When looking at sprint, your 2 best phones would probably be the HTC Evo or the Samsung Epic. Both are 4g phones, and NY i'd guess has 4g coverage from sprint.

As for verizon... it seems to be about preference to people. However, the 2 phones I would look at would be the Motorola Droid 2 or the Samsung Fascinate.

For all these phones, and service....... its all about preference and price. Here in Boston, verizon and sprint both have equally fantastic service.

**Dmitry** · 2010-09-14 03:59

I went from a Moto RAZr to a Blackberry Storm and didn't even think about it too much being a smartphone as more than just an upgrade to what I'd had. Touchscreens are pretty neat but if you want any speed typing a physical keyboard will always win.

For service, AT&T usually has bad reputation anywhere, and personally when I was in NYC for a few days I had great service with Verizon, not counting my phone being stuck on a tower way out of range when I first got there.

I haven't had a chance to try an Android phone but it seems to be the way smartphones should be going. As for the jailbreaking, that just seems to be the terminology for the iphone, where it's called rooting on the android systems, but essentially removes restrictions that might've been there to begin with. There was a thread a while back in tech about rooting the droid.

Another thing if you might consider sprint with their 4G phones, is a friend of my was going to upgrade to the Evo, but the data plan was an extra $10 so $40 total for it, not sure if that's how all their 4G phones are going to be, or if that is affected by the unlimited plan or not.

**jmc** · 2010-09-14 04:36

It's a extra $10 "service" fee only applied to a 4G phone.

Kinda bullshit, but I think even with the extra fee sprint is either still cheaper, or on par with verizon for pricing similar plans.

Oh, the one thing that's nice about sprint....is their $70 plan includes unlimited calling to any cell phone. So you only spend minutes when calling landlines

**sephir** · 2010-09-14 05:08

Ive had nothing but problems with my Iphone lately. Yesterday for 2 hours the touch screen decided to be unresponsive, last week it wouldn't turn on, before that it was erasing my photos....etc. I've been to the apple store and they claim to fix it everytime, only for it to break again a few days later.

**Neuro** · 2010-09-14 06:54

Originally Posted by Dmitry

I went from a Moto RAZr to a Blackberry Storm and didn't even think about it too much being a smartphone as more than just an upgrade to what I'd had. Touchscreens are pretty neat but if you want any speed typing a physical keyboard will always win.

Touchscreen smartphones that have Swype can beat a physical keyboard. Record is about 60 words per minute.

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