Buying a smartphone for the first time

[Pritch]

As the title says, my old blackberry flipphone is dying and obsolete and I'm making the jump to a modern phone. Been doing research on different phones and the like, but hearing from people who actually own the things would be helpful too. So tell me why your phone is (or isn't) one I should be considering for myself.

I'm leaning mostly towards an android phone of some sort, and have the money to get one of the more high-end units (though I'm not entirely convinced it's worth the cost for an S4 or something to that effect). The family plan I'm on atm is with tmobil, but I'm not locked into staying with them if I can find something better.

Thoughts? Also, if anyone knows any way to get deals on phones that would be awesome too, as I'd get an S4 in an instant if I didn't have to spend a gajillion dollars on it.

(If there's a thread to this effect already and I just missed it by all means point me in its direction and apologies for cluttering things up)

 

[Teran]

I would get the Note II but it's probably way too big for most.

 

[Claire Diviner]

I used to own a Blackberry Curve, but then after a long time, it was on death's door. In a stroke of serendipity, my girlfriend and I come to find out last year (around November, I think) that Verizon had this deal where with a 2-year contract, one can get an iPhone 4 for free (Massachusetts taxes made them about $35 each). Sure, people tell me that I should've gotten the Android and all, and while I'm sure the Android is better, an iPhone 4 for only $35 was too good an opportunity to pass up, especially since money was very tight at the time too, and I needed a new phone and a reason to leave Virgin Mobile.

Long story short: Just get whatever you want, and more than anything, make sure you get a phone that will do the things you're looking for it to do.

 

[nat pagle]

A few warnings for you as you enter the smartphone market:

1.) AT&T is god awful. Terrible coverage outside cities and towns, so if you're in the country, don't expect any service.

2.) iphone is good...but it's not 2008 anymore. There are many, many more options nowadays to choose from. You can get a Windows phone, Android, iphone, etc. I'd suggest choosing the plan that is both the cheapest and from a reputable carrier, AKA not AT&T. But it really doesn't matter which one you choose in today's world, all of them work well assuming you have a good carrier.

3.) Don't worry about all the elitism among the smartphone companies and how they rag on the details of everyone else's product. At the end of the day, bumping to share data is not the end all selling point of a smartphone. But, there was a commercial for a completely waterproof smartphone I believe, so I'd suggest checking that out.

Well, that's my rambling about this topic.

 

[theeboredone]

I think it's important to see what your priorities are. I'm a person who doesn't mind what sort of tech he has, but I also value a great camera phone. Hence why I switched from Android to Windows (Lumia 920). I'm also not a heavy app user, so it doesn't bother me if I don't have "x" random app. I'm not saying other smart phones don't have good cameras, but it was just a priority for me.

If you're interested in the Android OS, then you probably like the ability to customize and possibly root for more optimization. With that being said, the S4 is a pretty powerful machine, but a lot of the software that comes on it makes the internal storage shrink to about 9.5 GB. The HTC One gives you about 28 GB after software, but it's not expandable. However it has a good camera, and some nice earbuds.

One thing Android phones will have over the Iphone is screen size. However, ios is generally considered more stable and less buggy.

 

[Pritch]

The thing about capacity after pre-loaded stuff is something I wasn't aware of, though you are correct that I'm going to look into rooting my phone and thus should be able to remove some of the unnecessary crap. That said though, even without that the lack of expandability (and even moreso the lack of removable battery) probably rules out the HTC1 for me.

At this point I'm probably leaning towards either the S3 or the S4, depending partly on what kind of deals my friend who works for samsung can hook me up with. One thing that I'm still not clear on (and that I've been getting mixed opinions about) is how important the hardware difference between those 2 actually is in terms of practical uses. Being new to this stuff I really don't have any frame of reference for what kind of system specs are actually necessary - whether the hardware is ahead of practical requirements for the software or vice versa. That and what kind of sweet deals my friend can get will probably decide it for me.

 

[Deathconsciousness]

just some things:

1.) AT&T is for lames and soccer moms, don't make them your provider. verizon wireless master race.

2.) the iPhone is for the over-compensating, and the Palm/HP phones are for pusies. Android master race dabes

3.) don't be one of those people that have a smartphone with all like news apps on it and ****, that's lame af. hack/homebrew the phone to oblivion, and have fun.

4.) never trust anyone with a nokia phone, or if Sprint is their provider. Get a restraining order if they have both, even if they're your best friend or something.

 

[Pritch]

I see everyone complaining about at&t, and I know tmobile is at least somewhat affiliated with them (they'll allow you to use any unlocked tmobile or at&t phone but not from sprint or verizon). Does that mean that their network is similarly bad or actually linked? I used tmobile atm for my regular old stone age phone and was planning to stick with them out of convenience (and because their prices seem the best assuming the network is decent). Is that something that I'm going to regret?

 

[Mizuxe]

I see everyone complaining about at&t, and I know tmobile is at least somewhat affiliated with them (they'll allow you to use any unlocked tmobile or at&t phone but not from sprint or verizon). Does that mean that their network is similarly bad or actually linked? I used tmobile atm for my regular old stone age phone and was planning to stick with them out of convenience (and because their prices seem the best assuming the network is decent). Is that something that I'm going to regret?

Tmobile is generally given bad reception from most people. It depends on your area. I've had friends use Tmobile with service problems nonstop. I've also had friends that usually get good service with Tmobile. All of my friends (and I) always have problems with AT&T.

If you are going to choose a new carrier, check out their different coverage areas. Some states barely have any coverage from companies like Sprint or Tmobile. I'm not gonna kiss up, but Verizon has the best coverage in most places. If you wanna be safe, dish out the money to have them as your carrier. When or if your current phone contract is up, you can get a 2 year Verizon plan and get a decent price for a Droid Razr MAXX or something like that. Good luck finding a phone that you adore!

 

[CardiganBoy]

Whatever you buy just use it wisely.

 

[PsychoIncarnate]

I have a flip phone

 

[CardiganBoy]

I have a flip phone

Those are awesome because this:

Spoiler

 

[Santa Claus]

I'm leaning mostly towards an android phone of some sort, and have the money to get one of the more high-end units (though I'm not entirely convinced it's worth the cost for an S4 or something to that effect). The family plan I'm on atm is with tmobil, but I'm not locked into staying with them if I can find something better.

I was recently looking for a new phone myself (I dropped my old one somewhere in Serbia last year! ) and decided on an S3. I was tempted to get the S4, but after looking up all the new features it has and noting that I'd never actually use any of them more than once, I went with the S3. As a bonus, it also has a little longer battery life than the S4.

Ho-ho-hope that helps!

 

[Lore]

I recently got a Moto X, and I like it a lot. The HTC One is really, really good though. Much better than the s4.