New Smart Phone - Iphone vs Android, jump now or wait?

peteruk

peteruk

peteruk

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Joined
27 Jan 2005
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Nr. Norwich, Norfolk
Dear OcUK,

After 18 months my trusty LG Viewty is slowly falling apart, as is my contract. Having been paying an almighty £35 a month to O2 for the device, 18 months is up tomorrow and I'm now aiming to grab something for a similar price range (or less). Considering how much the market has moved on, and the fact that I hopefully now have some retention haggling power, I'm hoping I can get a lot more bang for my buck.

I'm not a heavy user. I use a reasonable amount of texts, but minute use is probably quite low. To me however, having a decent handset is much more important, hence the reason I paid over the odds for a viewty (qwerty touch keyboard allowing for dangerously quick texting has been invaluable) although with my current contract I had little choice but to get more allowance than I usually make use of (600 minutes, unlimited texts).

Looking at the market now, I'm caught up in the iPhone and Android battles. Does anyone have any general opinions about the fray? I have a DSLR so camera is not even slightly important, but future proofing, texting ability, functionality and internet use are crutial. I'm also a sucker for an impressive screen too.

I know I've got a lot of research to do, but does anyone have any general words of wisdom to bestow before I set foot? I hear rumours that it's in my interest to wait till January either way as I'll get a much snazzier deal that way. Is this gospel? Whenever I haggle, are there any general tips?

And lastly, if I do wait till January, can I simply ignore the fact that my phone passes its 18th month and O2 will just keep rolling the contract till I tell them to stop?

Sorry for the barrage of questions, but in my experience there're some serious phone-knowledge gurus on here and my last 2 phones have been spectacular thanks to the advice I've recieved on here.

Do your worst :D

Thanks to all helpers :)
 
I'd stay with O2, they do some great deals if you've been with them a while. Phone them up and ask to be put on a cheaper contract, and be given a list of phones they can give you. Works every time for my dad :)
 
Superewza said:
I'd stay with O2, they do some great deals if you've been with them a while. Phone them up and ask to be put on a cheaper contract, and be given a list of phones they can give you. Works every time for my dad :)
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I've been on them since my first phone, around 5 years now, although this was my first contract. :)

Are you suggesting this for a 1 month stand-in or a whole new deal?
 
peteruk said:
I've been on them since my first phone, around 5 years now, although this was my first contract. :)

Are you suggesting this for a 1 month stand-in or a whole new deal?
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They don't want to loose customers. They'll throw you some great deals if you say something like 'I've been looking around for the best deal...'. But there's a lot of new (android) phones set to be released very soon, should be interesting and kick down the price of existing models (Hero, Magic).
 
Hey everyone!

I've done some more research. The Nexus one looks like an extrodinary phone but I imagine this will be way out of my price range. The Bravo looks equally dynamite, but my current phone is falling apart by the day so while I would normally not hesitate to stall, I'm on the brink of losing it altogether.

So, at this stage, I'm pretty set on the Hero, it seems a fabulous all-rounder with a slight weakness on the camera section, but this is of no concern to me. However, O2 do not list it on their website, so I have a few more conundrums that I could use some ideas on:

1. Firstly, just because they are not listed on the website, does mean they will not be able to offer them on upgrade?

2. Secondly, will other networks care that I am tempted to leave O2, and give me any kind of discount?

O2 do offer the HD2 which I'm sorely tempted by, but it's not an Android, and I've been strongly advised by many-a-friend that that is the path I aught to be going...

Anyone who can point me in the right direction before my phone breaks will be my hero (of the non-HTC sort). :D

:)
 
peteruk said:
I've read mixed reviews :(. What are your thoughts?
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Having owned an i7500 I would definietly say to avoid it. The firmware and PC suite is buggy and Samsung don't seem to be bothered with fixing the problems. There are a lot of complaints about it on the Android foums.

I'd go fo the Google Nexus, it's about £420 import from the US so you could either let you contract expire and get a cheap SIM only tariff or get the most expensive (resale wise) and sell it on eBay.

If you don't want the hassle of doing that though the Hero is the best Android device available on O2.
 
Russinating said:
Have you looked at the HTC HD2?
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Yes, but basically, although it looks a technical dream, I'm a lil discouraged because:

peteruk said:
O2 do offer the HD2 which I'm sorely tempted by, but it's not an Android, and I've been strongly advised by many-a-friend that that is the path I aught to be going...
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And as for:

MilanoChris said:
If I was you I'd get the iPhone. I wish I got one when I got the Magic last year.
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again I have been tempted by this, but it seems HUGELY expensive, and I'd rather get on to the Android OS.

Even though it technically isn't, I'm tempted by a Palm Pre for a stand-in. Comments? :o

Thanks for all your wise words. :)
 
peteruk said:
again I have been tempted by this, but it seems HUGELY expensive, and I'd rather get on to the Android OS.
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Expensive it is but that is Apple. People moan about the iPhone, but as a phone that simply "works" and works easily, nothing comes close IMO. I can personally afford the extra but if you're on a budget then Android is the way forward for you. Just make sure you get something that has more than the piddly 190 odd MB that the Magic has.
 
Russinating said:
Errr, why? :confused:
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Generally it's been convincingly sold to me on a number of levels. People have said it's hugely user-friendly, has huge potential - being open source - and that the apps-base is due to explode real soon.

Of course I doubt my friends know the last word in the phone world, so feel free to acuse them of being mis-informed. :)
 
peteruk said:
Generally it's been convincingly sold to me on a number of levels. People have said it's hugely user-friendly, has huge potential - being open source - and that the apps-base is due to explode real soon.
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That may be, but what apps do you want/need?

The only things you've mentioned in your OP (and hence my HD2 suggestion) are:

Future proofing - The HD2 is the newest phone in its range and is ahead in terms of hardware. It's also fairly likely you'll be able to update it to Windows Mobile 7 when that's released a bit later this year, and if you can't officially, someone'll hack it so you can.

Texting ability - The HD2 had some hiccups post-release with this but these have all been hotfixed since. As far as texting goes... texting is texting, although you can use (and I am using) Swype which makes typing much quicker - Google/YouTube it. This is available on Adroid but not on the iPhone I don't think.

Functionality - It works, and there's a ton of apps and programs out there for Windows Mobile as it's been around so long, and loads more polished ones being developed every day now the HD2 is out.

Internet use are crutial - Opera ***** all over Safari in terms of speed and rendering. IE, although not a good day-to-day browser, also supports Flash (as will the next release of Opera).

I'm also a sucker for an impressive screen too - The HD2 has the biggest screen on the market (4.3" compared to the iPhone's 3.7"). This also helps improve internet usage.
 
I was choosing a new work phone recently and had the choice of the HD2. The number and severity of defects being reported put me off in the end.
 
peteruk said:
Even though it technically isn't, I'm tempted by a Palm Pre for a stand-in. Comments? :o

Thanks for all your wise words. :)
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Missus has Pre, the OS is god like, best out there... but the hardware cant handle it and it's very slow to use.

It is getting better each update it gets though...

Keyboard is also like marmite...

The touchstone wireless charger is really cool also :)
 
The Nexus is actually pretty pants, you'd be better off waiting for the Bravo or new iPhone if you are that way inclined.

I have an HD2, and think it's amazing, but it's not for everyone as it takes some know-how and legwork to get it up to it's full potential, and most consumers are lazy. ;)
 
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