Time to renew in a week or 2, best android or iphone ?

snowdog

snowdog

snowdog

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Hello,


My N97 contract is finally ending, I am looking to replace it with another smartphone.

I want a decent phone that supports last.fm, Whatsapp and spotify, and one that is prefferably not that fragile ( I drop my phone 1x per day on average).

I am looking at the Desire HD, or the Iphone 4.

Are there any other competitors worth considering, what are the pro's and cons between the HTC and Iphone (I will be jailbreaking the Iphone if I get it) ? I'd prefer Android or Iphone due to the software support for it.

I want a flagship model with as much options as possible, anything is a useful bonus, GPS, FM transmitter, good stock apps ( eg. dump my xvid crap from pc on phone without re-coding and play it fine without having to downlaod an extra app), as powerful as possible cpu and gpu, best possible screen, etc...

I realize HTC and Iphones aren't as resistant to falling as my Nokia, therefore, I'll buy a leather sleeve or a case, but once it's in that I want to be able to drop it without worrying about damage.

Finally, I often use my phone in the bathroom or with wet hands, I don't want a phone that goes fubar after a couple of drops of water or moist.

So basically, what is the most loaded and well built ( and I don't mean how it feels/looks, I mean actual resistance to falling, moist, etc..) android or iphone ?
 
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Life proof android = Motorola Defy. No Contest. However its not top end, but still very very capable. We run a number of these at work and they are engineer proof in all weathers. My teenage daughter also has one and its survived so far and she is the clumsiest person i know of.

Other than that i would be looking at some form of major protection for the iPhone / HD as there is a lot of glass on there to shatter, and they do not like moisture in any way - even condensation.
 
if you go down the get a normal phone and protect it route, strike the desire hd off the list it's a bit pants, terrible screen and last gen tech. look at the samsung galaxy s2, MUCH better phone and despite being plastic it looks to be able to take a lot of abuse with its gorilla glass and a very tough back (very thin, but try and snap it it just bends and snaps back!)
 
rG-tom said:
if you go down the get a normal phone and protect it route, strike the desire hd off the list it's a bit pants, terrible screen and last gen tech. look at the samsung galaxy s2, MUCH better phone and despite being plastic it looks to be able to take a lot of abuse with its gorilla glass and a very tough back (very thin, but try and snap it it just bends and snaps back!)
Click to expand...


I think I must've had duff gorilla glass in my first Moto Milestone. I dropped it once from about 1m and the screen was well and truly smashed. Dropped my replacement many many times from that height and it's not even scratched...
 
In terms of spec Samsung Galaxy S 2 by a country mile on the android side, but both that and the iPhone (and most other android phones) won't be 'that' resistant, I'd imagine the dropping with a case bit would be fine for most phones, not willing to test it though :p but the water bit is a worry,

As mentioned if that's really a massive requirement then the Motorola Defy sounds good for you, spec isn't amazing (not bad compared to Desire HD iirc, but not a patch on the SGS2) but it is tough...
 
Samsung Galaxy S2

/thread

It won't be any different from the N97 for moisture/drop resistance (if anything the SGS2 might be better due to the lightness/newer gorilla glass)

If you want a 'proper' tough smartphone then get the Motorola Defy, it's waterproof/dust resistant/chunky but light.

Chillimonster said:
However its not top end
Click to expand...

No different from a Desire S/iPhone 4 etc with Android 2.3.3, it's like a different phone... :)
 
sarge78 said:
No different from a Desire S/iPhone 4 etc with Android 2.3.3, it's like a different phone... :)
Click to expand...

True - It really is underrated. It overclocks well (daughters is at 1.1ghz all day long and it gets two days of use on a charge thanks to undervolting at the lowest frequency). Screen size is bigger than iP4 (not as high on the resolution, but not far off), but the overall dimensions are not much differnt.

Quarx over on XDA is doing a fine job of getting CM7 on it and this should get even better now that a gingerbread kernal has been leaked.
 
I've ordered one, free galaxy s2+ 8gb micro SD, 2 yr, 35€ per month thats including 1gb internet, but 22.50 for the first year.

690 total costs over 2 years, can't wait to get it in.
 
So, it's still not been delivered yet, out of stock ( it's been released a tad later here I think than for you guys).

I still have the option of canceling, I got a good price I think though as the price has increased, but, I noticed the HTC sensation coming up soon in a month, would it be worth going for that instead, seeing it apparantly has the nicer screen ( but it does have less ram :( ) ?
 
General impressions [seem] to be that the Sensation is very nice, typical HTC, and an all round decent phone with a slightly nicer screen, but the SGS2 beats it by a smidge overall.

That's just from picking up general impressions reading around mind, I'm still in contract for best part of a year so I've not really been paying much attention.
 
With what though, because it's lighter and thinner? ( edit, I see the front camera is a tad better, and it packs more mass memory whereas the htc needs a micro sd really)

I only value hardware specs and how it is to use, and that it keeps working, not how it looks and feels...

It also has 2 less buttons on the bottom, I like phones with buttons stuck on standard regardless of whats on screen... I completely missed the sensation as an option when I ordered the SGSII. Problem is they're not even around in the store yet for me to have a play with them (sensation that is) but I quite like the UI of my dads Desire Z, how does the SGS2 compare to it ?

While I accept the fact that the sgs2 is probably fragile as hell compared to my N97 and I'll buy a case or sleeve for it, how does it stand with water resistance? I want to be able to use it in the bathroom ? What about HTC phones ?
 
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There's not a massive difference, but for example 768MB RAM but better screen in the Sensation, and 1GB in the SGS2. Little bits and pieces between the two, and they will both be very nice phones, no doubt about it. Personally, I think HTC have a better track record in terms of UI (Sense vs Samsung's Touchwiz) and other bits and pieces (like Samsung's decision to use a non-standard file system on the SGS1), but that said the SGS2 seems to be massively popular and sounds like it's improved in a lot of ways from the SGS1.

Judging by the spec page on HTC.com, the SGS2 also has wider codec support, although, again perhaps it [Sensation] will play other files (like MKV h264) hardware accelerated in reality.
HTC.com on the Sensation said:
Gallery, Music, and FM Radio
SRS virtual surround sound for wired headphone
DLNA for wirelessly streaming media from the phone to your TV or computer
Audio supported formats:
Playback: .aac, .amr, .ogg, .m4a, .mid, .mp3, .wav, .wma (Windows Media Audio 9)
Recording: .amr
Video supported formats:
Playback: .3gp, .3g2, .mp4, .wmv (Windows Media Video 9), .avi (MP4 ASP and MP3), .xvid (MP4 ASP and MP3)
Recording: .3gp
Click to expand...

By comparison

From Wiki said:
For audio it supports (FLAC, WAV, Vorbis, MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA, AMR-NB, AMR-WB, MID, AC3, XMF), video codecs (mpeg4, H.264, H.263, DivX HD/XviD, VC-1) and video formats (3GP (MPEG-4), WMV (Advanced Systems Format), AVI (divx)).

Continued support for the MKV format container was confirmed.[42][43] From this, it could also be suggested that both the Sorenson codec and FLV format container will also be continually supported the same as was available on the previous generation Galaxy S device.

Up to 1080p video resolution playback is supported both on Exynos and Tegra 2 respectively, although unlike the Exynos 4210, Tegra 2 has been stated to not support 'high profile' encoded h.264 video.[44][45]
Click to expand...


This thread probably has much more detailed info than I can give.
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18277742&page=7

Either way enjoy your new phone, both are a big step up from my Desire, and I really like that :)
 
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snowdog said:
While I accept the fact that the sgs2 is probably fragile as hell compared to my N97 and I'll buy a case or sleeve for it, how does it stand with water resistance? I want to be able to use it in the bathroom ? What about HTC phones ?
Click to expand...

They will both be as bad as each other, there is only one smartphone designed to be used in wet environments.

You would be making a mistake if you changed your mind and went for the Sensation now, there is pretty much nothing it does better. It is an inferior phone.

The screen most certainly is NOT better.

The new TouchWiz UI while not as good as Sense, is very good.

It is not fragile either, so don't worry about that.
 
Okay, I didn't cancel anything yet, because I got a good price, they increased the cost of them (where I got it) and I shopped around a bit (elsewhere), nowhere have I found it for cheaper than I got it, so I guess I can wait a little while longer.

I hope it doesn't die with a bit of use in rain though or using it as a music player in the bathroom (spotify)...


EDIT: Just called and they're getting their batch the 7th, more than enough time to reconsider if I change my mind, but for now I'll wait.
 
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The odd bit of rain won't hurt it but try your best to keep it dry as only the Motorola Defy is designed to get wet.
 
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