Current Best Choice for Cell Phone

[Neo]

You seem to make a very valid argument, but as for my personal choice I think I will still take the Galaxy S (if they have stock when I go for my upgrade), otherwise it will be the Xperia or an Aino. You see I really have a problem with iTunes and I try to avoid it, and anything similar, like the plague. I don't really care about whether or not I have the latest version of Android, all I want is a phone with a decent web browser and video capabilities and (most importantly) a good, user friendly music player. The only reason I'm looking at these high end phones is because I can get them on my contract without having to pay in any money anyway.

Cool beans. I understand how annoying iTunes can be. If you are going to go for an Android phone, even though you're not interested, make sure you at least get something running 2.2. The current android release on the Galaxy has a few issues, some of which are rather big - like issues with GPS accuracy.

Just make sure you don't get an expensive phone that's about to get replaced by a new version - you're going to be very disappointed. I'd like to mention that the New SE Experia is also due out this year - running Android 2.3

[m3n4ce]

Thanks guys!

@NEO, thats the type of info I was looking at, very informative thank you!!

I was also looking at the Sony Xperia Play that is getting launched soon and it has Android 2.3 Woot!....
I have also moved the iPhone 4 up in my list due to the arguments here

personally I never had issues back with my HTC Magic until I freaking locked down the firmware using LEAF SA's stupid software.... after that I chucked it in a drawer and promised myself I will never get HTC again.

So the shortlist now.

Galaxy S (Currently bottom of list)
iPhone 4 (I really dont mind iTunes all that much)
Black Berry Torch (Simple yes, but works)
Sony Xperia Play (ooooh PSP on my phone)..
Google Nexus S (Android winner in my books)

Guess I need to find people with these phones and give them a try.
Thanks all for the info.... counting of the days till my upgrade!

[OmegaFenix]

Hey dude. I don't usually post on the forum anymore unless I feel I have something really valid to say, and in this case I have to give you my opinion since I work for cellular telecoms company and know alot about the handsets.

From the list that you've given I would say you have 2 real options on your list. Either the Blackberry (which means you need to pay for the monthly service option to enable all features but it's apparently worth it) or the iPhone 4. The blackberry is nice and it's also a bit cheaper - but I think you might get bored of it sooner rather than later.

Don't listen to people who immediately bash the iPhone4. Unless you haven't been to a store and physically played with one for a while, don't make up your mind just yet. Lots of people bash the iPhone because they're uninformed and even worse, most of them have never even owned an iPhone. They simply bash the product because of stuff they read in international news and try to be "cool" by bashing Apple.

Trust me on this - The iPhone4 is a proper smartphone. It has some limitations like all phones do, but what it does, it does WELL. So well in fact that it does it better than most other phones. So please - give it a chance before you submit it to the "bashing corner".

As for the Samsung Galaxy S - STAY AWAY FROM IT

I had a Galaxy S on order and it was delayed time and again by massive stock shortages. I was quite peeved about it but it was for a reason. The BRAND NEW Galaxy S is being revealed in February and it sports upgrades in ALL sections. Thus, if you're going to buy a Galaxy S now you're going to sit with a phone that is severely outdated in a month's time.

Did I forget to mention that Galaxy S owners have STILL NOT received the Android 2.2 upgrade? That's right! And when it does come out (maybe in April), you'll need to go to a service centre to have it upgraded as it will no longer be offered over the KIES application (as it was promised a year ago!).

So please, the Galaxy S is not a smart choice. Especialy not when you consider it's very close to the price of an iPhone 4.

Out of a LOT of experience I can tell you now: stay away from the Galaxy S (it's about to become obsolete). Stay away from HTC because their support and upgrades are pretty poor in South Africa.

Look at the Blackberry or the iPhone4. As for a Nokia handset...LMAO.

edit: you might get a lot of people urging you to look at the Galaxy S and they have valid arguements like "Android is awesome" etc. That's true and I agree, Android rocks. I currently run a hacked Android 2.2 ROM on my HTC HD2 and it's pretty good. But when it comes to the Galaxy S you need to realize that it's still on Android 2.1 which has some pretty big bugs which are only addressed in Android 2.2. Then, when you maybe eventually get your Android 2.2 update - you'll notice that Android 2.3 is already available and you're STILL a version behind. To top that off, by the time you get the Android 2.2 upgrade the Galaxy S2 will be out and about - making you look silly - AGAIN!

At least with an iPhone you get proper updates (most of the time) and Apple makes a point of looking after people with older hardware. The latest upgrade in iOS4.2 made massive improvements to the iPhone 3G! It's a handset that is 2 generations old already but STILL gets attention. Neither Samsung, nor HTC nor Nokia does stuff like that.

On an application front there is also something you need to consider before saying "Apple sucks". It's true that on the Android market you get a lot of apps for free which you have to pay for on iTunes, but the quality of the apps on iTunes is a LOT better due to proper quality control being in place. The Android Market is absolutely littered with dodgy applications - so it's a minefield at best.

And for my closing comment: Have you SEEN the iPhone4's display yet with your own eyes? If that doesn't grab you - then nothing will.

See that problem is only a problem here at the ass end of the world. In truth our service providers are to be blamed considering that in the rest of the world the Galaxy S is considered by many the be the best choice for an Iphone like phone that isn't an iphone.

[Toxin]

From what I've seen and played with I favour Android phones more and in that class the HTC Desire or the HTC Desire HD are seriously awesome phones. Friend of mine has one and he's cracked/hacked/jailbreaked it to the point where he can underclock the cpu to increase battery life. I guess the iPhone 4 is a good phone too but I'm not so sure since another friend of mine has only been having problems with his. Then again I think he might have gotten a dud since he was very happy with his iPhone3 and iPhone3GS.

[Wlad]

Finally got my new phone today, went for the Galaxy S. I'm still learning how everything works, but this is by far the coolest phone I have ever had.

[DenSweeP]

I'm still looking. The Galaxy looks like a nice phone, but it feels a bit flimsy physically. Held one on the weekend and just seemed very, soft?

Other than that, I'm still seriously considering the Desire HD.

Everyone is also carrying on about Android 2.1 vs 2.2 vs 2.3 Okay, but what are the real differences? I mean really, how big can they be?

As for Iphone supporting older hardware, well I don't know so much. I have a 1st gen Ipod touch and can't upgrade to newest OS! Pretty pointless then imo. And yeah, Itunes isn't all that bad as a player, but it is KAK annoying that you can only really use Itunes to sync etc. And also the Iphone specific cable is also annoying. Try replacing one with an original? It's not a cheap exercise. That is where the mini USB cabled smartphones one up the iPhone big time.

Interesting to hear about the new Galaxy though, will look into that.

PS the new Sony Ericsson is called a Arc. Looks stunning!

[Wlad]

The Arc does look good, but the Xperia Play (codename for Playstation phone) looks even cooler. I just couldn't wait any longer, was gatvol of my old phone so I took the plunge and got the Galaxy. Smartest choice I made in a long time. I'm really loving this phone. HD video recording and playback is damn impressive and the music player is pretty damn decent as well. The biggest advantage over the iPhone IMO is that you can just plug it into your PC and it picks it up as a mass storage device and you can just copy away.

[Voicy]

Galaxy S to be honest. The iPhone is nice, genre defining and all, but, iTunes.
Not the X10, I have it, SE is completely screwing over the users, you won't see any version newer than 2.1, and we waited a year to be upgraded from 1.6.
BlackBerry is cool for unlimited browsing and email, but if that's all you're going to use it for, it's app support isn't quite there yet.

I got myself an iPhone 3G for R900 and jailbroke it in it's moer in. Back-end FREE aps from installous written by everyone, not just Apple approved apps, makes for <3.

[DenSweeP]

Best place to buy cell phones cash? Best price?

[symbolofmylife]

Every piece of tech will have fanboys (ps3 vs X360 etc)...

That statement aside, I recently got a Blackberry Curve 9300. And I have to say it rocks!! The uber-connectivity of the device makes it awesome (it that is your "bag").

As far as iPhone goes, no-one will ever be able to persuade me that a cellphone can cost in excess of 7k!!!