Android phone recommendations

[SimonH]

So following on from the iPhone 5 thread I've pretty much decided not to get one - in the end not because I think it's a bad phone or have any objections to it, far from it, but because the cost to change would be around a net £6-700 over two years and it's just not worth it to me. Whereas I could get a new Samsung S2 for about £270.

So I'm interested in people's experiences and recommendations for android phones especially the Galaxy S2. I knw there's an S3 which is better but that takes the cost to £400 so probably not worth it to me - the only reason I'm changing my 3GS is after three and a bit years of sterling service it's starting to develop a few issues.

And of course if anyone has a nice shiny S2 they don't need do let me know!

TIA

PS Please don't make this an iPhone vs Android thread - I've heard it all before a million times!

[rfrazier]

I read an interesting preview of the Razr I on The Register.

http://www.reghardware.com/2012/09/1...nds_on_review/

At 4.3", the screen would be too small for me, but otherwise I like it.

Best wishes,
Bob

PS. I know that it is an Intel processor. I used to think that ARM was the way to go for low power processing, but now I'm not so sure. I suspect that Intel is just getting stuck in to the efficiency side of things, and their ability to control the processor and reduce the size of their dies is going to allow them to do well on the mobile side of things. (ARM has good TDP, but Intel does very well when trading off power consumption vs time to perform the activity.)
RLF

[Phil Lee]

Your best bet is to get a Samsung Nexus S or a Samsung Galaxy Nexus. Both of these are Nexus devices, meaning software updates come direct from Google. Both run stock Jelly Bean so you have no skins to contend with. A sim free Galaxy Nexus costs £286 from Amazon.

[Rod]

I use a Galaxy S2 and really can't fault it. My brother has an S3 and thinks the S2 is better in some areas. I can't think why nanoseconds in speed increase is needed. The S2 has loads of storage on board and will soon be upgraded to Jelly Bean whatever that means, lol.
The facilities are superb on the S2 and is very customizable.

http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pho...-930907/review

[SimonH]

Your best bet is to get a Samsung Nexus S or a Samsung Galaxy Nexus. Both of these are Nexus devices, meaning software updates come direct from Google. Both run stock Jelly Bean so you have no skins to contend with. A sim free Galaxy Nexus costs £286 from Amazon.

I was tempted by the Nexus but was put off by the lack of microSD plus it doesn't work in mass storage mode which by all accounts means it's a PITA to copy stuff onto it from a Mac??

[magirus]

I'm in the market to buy a new phone to replace my 3gs and have been assessing what's available. The Razr I as mentioned looks interesting, I like the expandable memory and the 2.7 ghz processor. It can be had from @ £350, so a decent saving on iPhone or Galaxy. I was watching a chap in the pub using an SIII last night and it looks too big for my taste. I've always missed the camera on the Nokia N95 that the 3gs replaced and the iPhone5 looks a real contender in that department with it's Panorama camera, which can seemingly take a 28mp image as one moves around the subject. Then there's the Nokia Lumia 920 with Windows8, although no release date, price or hands on tests yet as far as I know. So much choice!

[Warr3n]

I was tempted by the Nexus but was put off by the lack of microSD plus it doesn't work in mass storage mode which by all accounts means it's a PITA to copy stuff onto it from a Mac??

Another vote for the pure android experience that you only get with Nexus devices.

I've had my Nexus S for 18 months or so and it's received the software updates (Ice Cream Sandwich & Jellybean) well before non Nexus devices. I'm holding fire from upgrading until the next Nexus is available (recently bought a Nexus 7 to keep me going!).

I'm on Windows (and Chrome OS) and my phone is seen as a mass storage device for copying files over.

However, if you are thinking of music you would be better to sign up for Google Music - https://play.google.com/music/listen?u=0. My entire music library (6,000 songs) is available and I download (over wifi) my favourite 5 GB or of music for off-line listening.

[SimonH]

Here's what I read re mass storage mode for the Nexus:

ICS supports USB Mass Storage (UMS). The Galaxy Nexus does not. This is the same scenario as Honeycomb, as for instance HC supports USB Mass Storage while Xoom does not.

If a given device has a removable SD card it will support USB Mass Storage. If it has only built-in storage (like Xoom and Galaxy Nexus) it will (usually) support only MTP and PTP.

It isn't physically possible to support UMS on devices that don't have a dedicated partition for storage (like a removable SD card, or a separate partition like Nexus S.) This is because UMS is a block-level protocol that gives the host PC direct access to the physical blocks on the storage, so that Android cannot have it mounted at the same time.

With the unified storage model we introduced in Honeycomb, we share your full 32GB (or 16GB or whatever) between app data and media data. That is, no more staring sadly at your 5GB free on Nexus S when your internal app data partition has filled up -- it's all one big happy volume.

However the cost is that Android can no longer ever yield up the storage for the host PC to molest directly over USB. Instead we use MTP. On Windows (which the majority of users use), it has built-in MTP support in Explorer that makes it look exactly like a disk. On Linux and Mac it's sadly not as easy, but I have confidence that we'll see some work to make this better.

[gunner]

Loving my atrix but the wife's galaxy s3 does look the dogs doo dahs on a lot of levels (as long as its not too big for you).

[docd]

I have a HTC One X which is an S3 a like, except they seem to be cheaper on contract.

Big bright screen and lots of processing power - works for me, I go it for £26 / 24 months on Orange as an extension of an existing contract.

[Neil.Ldn]

Have a look at the HTC One S. It has a 4.3" screen - which is the sweet-spot in terms of physical size ( HTC One X, Samsung S2/S3 etc all too big to be a 'phone' - for me anyway ). Very well built, feels great in the hand and quietly quite classy, although the actual device design isn't *quite* up there with Apple yet. It's the best Android device I've owned so far, and I prefer it to my iPhone - makes it feel slow and dated. In particular the latest HTC Sense UI overlay is really excellent. The only downside I can see it that it doesn't support removable storage, although that's never been an issue for me personally.

N

[Michael_Mcr]

I am still running an origonal HTC Sensation which has had the Android 4 update and i am very satisfied with it. Have had this phone since July last year.

It is well made, is certainly fast enough for any task and are quite cheap to buy now. The HTC Sense user interface is slick and well thought out with some ingenious functionality.

4.3" high res screen, 1.2ghz dual core processor and dedicated graphics chip. Stock battery will last a full day, but i bought an aftermarket Anker one for £15 which easily lasts a day and a half to two days without needing a charge.

[gamingdave]

Love my S2, best phone I have ever had, which I got to replace my iPhone 3GS (which had replaced my N95, the second best phone I have owned). Next phone would be a S3 or Nexus depending on the spec.

[Phil Lee]

I was tempted by the Nexus but was put off by the lack of microSD plus it doesn't work in mass storage mode which by all accounts means it's a PITA to copy stuff onto it from a Mac??

You can download a free app from the Android website that handles things for you.

[trisdg]

Love my S2, best phone I have ever had, which I got to replace my iPhone 3GS (which had replaced my N95, the second best phone I have owned). Next phone would be a S3 or Nexus depending on the spec.

Likewise.

If you take lots of pics/vids on it the new Sony Xperia T looks like it's going to be good. :-)

[SimonH]

Had a quick play in the Three shop with a Nexus and an S2.

I liked the Nexus and found it easy to find stuff and use it. But it's 16Gb only - you cannot get a 32Gb model. I think that's a deal breaker for me in the absence of additional storage.

The interface on the S2 seemed more muddled and harder to get around though I suspect that's Three as much as anything. Other than that the phone seemed very snappy and the screen was good.

Might try the HTC equivalents tomorrow if I get a chance.

I aslo had a quick play on the S3 and it's very nice but realistically both too big and too expensive.

[Phil Lee]

You can root the Galaxy Nexus and install StickMount then use a USB OTG cable (~£2) to connect any size of USB key to the phone. I did this when I had a Nexus 7.

[cbh]

Loving the S3, easy to use, expandable memory, great cameras, clear bright screen, super quick. Thoroughly recommended, if you don't mind the size.

[Phil Lee]

If you can wait a month or so it is likely that Google will release a new Nexus device to replace the Galaxy Nexus. There are even suggestions that there will be several Nexus class devices from different manufacturers.

[andythebrave]

I went for an S2 and find everything about it excellent. A friend has an iPhone and couldn't believe how fast the S2 is, especially at web browsing. Display is superb, good camera with flash giving top notch (for a phone) pics.
I found the S3 too big and don't think it's styled as well as its older sibling.

[Omegamanic]

I have an S2 - I prefer the styling to the S3 - but would prefer the bigger screen. to be honest if I was looking to upgrade I'd buy the Galaxy Note - but the S2 does everything I need of a phone for now.

[Daniel]

+ 1 for the S2. Awesome phone. Cheap now the 3 is out.

[VoleBoy]

I have a HTC Desire (original model) and I am looking to upgrade. I think phones are getting too big for my liking (and pockets to be honest) so the S2 is just about OK (about .5 cm wider and taller) as a size increase.

[Daniel]

Would also try a galaxy nexus.

[SimonH]

I'm fairly convinced the S2 is likely to be the phone I'll get - I haven't read too much that's negative about it.

That said, if the Nexus was 32Gb I'd probably have gone for that. I listen to masses of music and 16Gb would just be a massive step backwards for me, even with cloud based music.

I will try the HTC though, it seems to me the main problem with HTC is their lack of marketing clout (versus Samsung) rather than duff products, and I keep hearing good things about the Sense UI.

[monogroover]

I was tempted by the Nexus but was put off by the lack of microSD plus it doesn't work in mass storage mode which by all accounts means it's a PITA to copy stuff onto it from a Mac??

You can use WiFi instead, from any computer that can run a browser. It's extremely slick and easy to use.

http://airdroid.com/

[Lazydonkey]

I've got an htc one x and mrs donkey had a htc sensation, both are great and IMHO htc sense is better than touch wiz in the Samsung phones.

[mountmusic]

I moved from Iphone(s) to S2 last year and have absolutely no regrets - I find everything is so much quicker and I don't have to use the appalling Itunes software.

[SimonH]

Called O2 and got offered a reasonable deal on a Galaxy S2 so gone that in the end

Hopefully will arrive tomorrow - the iPhone has been great but I'm quite excited to try something new

[trisdg]

Called O2 and got offered a reasonable deal on a Galaxy S2 so gone that in the end

Hopefully will arrive tomorrow - the iPhone has been great but I'm quite excited to try something new

You made the right move. :-)

Took me a while to adjust when moving from the iPhone to the S2, but I can't see myself ever getting an iPhone again.

[m4r10]

However, if you are thinking of music you would be better to sign up for Google Music - https://play.google.com/music/listen?u=0. My entire music library (6,000 songs) is available and I download (over wifi) my favourite 5 GB or of music for off-line listening.

It seems it's only available in the US. Do you know a way around this or are you based in US?

[VoleBoy]

Might as well as in here as it's relevant. I have decided on an S2 and just want a contract free handset as I am on SIM only tariff. Where is the best place for people to buy? eBay seems OKish, but not many sellers with good feedback. The price on the S2 is averaging around 300 new for the cheapest, which seems a lot as there is a new model, the S3 just out? I don't mind refurbished if there is a decent outlet that offers this. Any thoughts as it's probably a bit of a minefield, which is why I got my Desire brand new.

[budfox88]

dear Voleboy
there's always SC on this forum....
or Amazon warehouse deals.....usually good source for damaged boxed items...with full Amazon warranty