Convince me to buy an android phone

If you're ok with 1 year old phones, I'd suggest looking at the One X or One X+ ($99 and $199 on AT&T respectively) and Verizon's HTC offering is shit.

Yeah, I'm a fanboy, deal with it, but HTC have constantly shown the best design and build quality of all Android manufacturers, although Sense is something you either love or hate. Besides, factory unlocked bootloader allows you to mod it any way you like if you don't like it out of the box (which most people do anyway).
 
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See Spectre's Zune posts. There is ample of evidence that WP is struggling in the marketplace and Microsoft has a history of denying the discontinuation of products until the last second.

Right. It is out of the question that compared to Android and iOS Windows Phone is a small player. One could start digging around on Bloomberg and find conflicting evidence of WP gaining momentum but thats not the point and questionable too.

makes the idea of WP getting canceled reasonable.

I like that we have come down to an idea instead of industry sources, on the other hand there are reports of job postings for WP9 http://www.wpcentral.com/windows-phone-9-testing-nokia-htc-and-qualcomm-hardware

Slashdot put a question mark on that phrase. (because of support ending).

- - - Updated - - -

Speaking of HTC I would go for the ONE if design and quality materials is important for you, may make a transition from an iDevice to Android easier.
 
I like that we have come down to an idea instead of industry sources, on the other hand there are reports of job postings for WP9 http://www.wpcentral.com/windows-phone-9-testing-nokia-htc-and-qualcomm-hardware

Slashdot put a question mark on that phrase. (because of support ending).

Microsoft also has a history of ongoing job postings for soon to be discontinued devices and services.

http://mymicrosoftlife.com/2011/03/16/what-to-make-of-rs-of-the-death-of-zune-devices/

This makes me think that yes the dedicated Zune devices are dead but that does not mean Microsoft wont release a successor to the Zune HD. A few months ago there were quite a few job postings for hardware engineers within the Zune team which would seem odd if Microsoft were to cancel the hardware only a months later.

Zune hardware would be dead within a few months of that posting and the software would be gone within a year.
 
My only experiences with Android was this old Galaxy Ace that belonged to my brother, and playing with his HTC One X. Granted, the Ace wasn't a very fast phone to showcase Android and I didn't spend much time with the One X, I didn't like how laggy it was, and how much fiddling was needed. Also, apps kept crashing on my when I was using the Galaxy Ace. I guess it's just due to the poor specs of it. The one plus that iOS and WP have are the hardware restrictions, which allow the software to be greatly optimised. But Android is great if you do like the fiddling, and groups like CyanogenMod can keep your phone up to date for a long time.

People always say that Android and iOS have a greater number of apps, which is true, but Android apps can be quite dodgy, and there can be 5 fart apps. iOS and WP tends to have better app quality. I personally don't like the grid layout that Android and iOS have, and find it quite boring. Sure, WP has some sort of a grid layout as well, but I just prefer not to fiddle with my phone so much. All do their basic jobs of call, sms, net, apps and ultimately, it's up to your preferences.
 
Weeell, if WP ever gets canceled you can all stand in line and rub it in my nose in a "told you so!" fashion, until then only the dead should be put in the coffin!
 
Weeell, if WP ever gets canceled you can all stand in line and rub it in my nose in a "told you so!" fashion, until then only the dead should be put in the coffin!

Funny, Microsoft themselves don't seem to adhere to that...

http://computernewsreport.com/2010/microsofts-funeral-ceremony-for-windows-phone-rivals/

Anyway, the point here isn't whether Windows Phone is or is not dead, but that reasonable grounds to believe that it may be cancelled soon do exist given Microsoft's past track record. Further, Grip was suggesting that it mat be prudent to not be like those poor bastards that shelled out not-insignificant chunks of change for the then-new Nokia Lumias only to find out that their shiny new just released WinPhone7 smartphone would not be upgradable to WinPhone 8. A lot of the reliable indicators that can be looked at to determine the status of a product made by someone else do not apply to Microsoft in the least. They are notorious for claiming that they are all for something, fully supporting it, planning on even expanding it - right up until the last second before they axe it.
 
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iOS app quality control is no better than Android's. You can find just as many fart apps as you want, however it even falls flat on its ass when you want to use an app that duplicates one of the OS's own functionalities, cause Apple are severely allergic to those. Not so with Android.
 
Doc is right. It's iPhone or Android I'm afraid.

I'm not a dyed in the wool fanboi by any means but what I do like about Apple products is that that they are intuitive and well, they just work. First thing to do is find a couple of pals with Androids who know what they are talking about and show you why they prefer them. Then you'll be in a much better position to make a rational choice.

Hope you're pleased whatever you choose.


I heard more than one Apple fanboy considering switching to Android after being disappointed with the iPhone5 and iOS 6.

If you're geek enough to get and Android with the latest software, chances are it will be as good as an iPhone 5, if not better. Hardware and OS version mean A LOT in the Android experience, and the regular user not always knows that, sometimes buying the cheapest option with a crappy hardware and an OS that is 3 years old, while buying a new iPhone pretty much guarantees you are getting the lastest from Apple.
 
Further, Grip was suggesting that it mat be prudent to not be like those poor bastards that shelled out not-insignificant chunks of change for the then-new Nokia Lumias only to find out that their shiny new just released WinPhone7 smartphone would not be upgradable to WinPhone 8.

Actually, Nexus series aside (although Nexus S is 1ghz like WP7.5 devices and will probably not get key lime pie), many of the Android OEM's dont care much for updates, famously slow is Motorola, LG, Sony. Other than that you will find many Android devices (1 core,) that will never get past Gingerbread/ICS from their Manufacturer. Wasn't there an outrage about the HTC desire series too?
those poor bastards
 
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Actually, Nexus series aside (although Nexus S is 1ghz like WP7.5 devices and will probably not get key lime pie), many of the Android OEM's dont care much for updates
...which is why everyone (except for Ice) recommended a Nexus phone. Even the Nexus One unofficially runs Gingerbread, it's amazing.

By the way, the "No, you can't have WP7" HTC HD2 runs Gingerbread, as well ;)
 
Stock Android is too barebones for my taste. Some people woud prefer a better user experience out of the box rather than customizability. And you can "unofficially" run just about every version of Android on just about every Android handset. Doesn't make the Nexus One that special. What makes it special is the lack of internal space and it starts complaining about it after you install a few apps.
 
I unofficially had Ice Cream Sandwich running on my HTC Hero. Was not a good idea :p
 
In regards to the One X being laggy, that was reported as the fault of a provider installing a bunch of its crapware and messing with the internals of Android and only on ICS 4.0.1. The 4.0.4 update fixed it and the 4.1.1 is blazing fast.
 
I'm a bit of an HTC fanboi, but I hate Sense. It may have a couple of "oh that's kinda cool" features in it, but every facet of the "better user experience" is just annoying and ugly to me.

As for the silly WP8 debate, when I saw headlines about it losing support in 2014, my thought was "Well of course, they're going to come out with a new version, and only bring updates to a selection of phones, just like everyone else."
 
Actually, Nexus series aside (although Nexus S is 1ghz like WP7.5 devices and will probably not get key lime pie), many of the Android OEM's dont care much for updates, famously slow is Motorola, LG, Sony. Other than that you will find many Android devices (1 core,) that will never get past Gingerbread/ICS from their Manufacturer. Wasn't there an outrage about the HTC desire series too?

Where in anything I said did I recommend Android or claim it was superior - or claim there wasn't problems?

That said, with a lot of those phones, people have been able to get later versions of Android to work on them despite being unsupported, whereas there isn't any way to do that with a WinPhone.
 
Where in anything I said did I recommend Android or claim it was superior - or claim there wasn't problems?

Where in anything I said did I recommend Windows Phone or claim it was superior - or claim there wasn't problems?

That said, with a lot of those phones, people have been able to get later versions of Android to work on them despite being unsupported, whereas there isn't any way to do that with a WinPhone.

Android is not quite the HW resource light OS is it, thus some devices are unsupported for very good reason. But if you run a custom ROM that runs smooth then thats neat I guess. It is true that there is no way to upgrade 1st gen WP devices to WP8 but some WP8 features were carrierd over to the WP7 platform in the 7.8 update. Kind of a half assed solution though. One can only hope that WP8 devices will not share the same fate and will be upradable to WP9. Rumor: http://www.rethink-wireless.com/2013/02/28/microsoft-promises-windows-phone-8-upgradable.htm
 
If industry sources are to be believed, Microsoft will pull out of the phone market, with WP8 losing support as early as 2014. Given RIMs fragile state, Android right now is the only contender to iOS who seems to be reliably in for the long haul.

Speaking of Android phones, the Nexus 4 is the only way to go as it will continue to have half-official or unofficial support 'till kingdom come.

I wouldn't say RIM (company is now known as BlackBerry actually) is in all that fragile a state - although they have been bleeding money the last couple of financial quarters, they still have somewhere between 2 to 3 billion dollars in cash remaining and absolutely no debt. Plus, initial reports on the sales of BlackBerry 10 look very promising, though we'll find out for sure when the company does their next earnings call near the end of this month. But BlackBerry is definitely doing much better than before.

They also have a very good track record for supporting old devices - they just recently updated BlackBerry Messenger for OS 5 devices (first OS 5 device launched over 3 years ago), and there were still updates to OS 5 itself being released last summer (as well as an OS 6 update just two months ago). They've also committed to supporting OS 7 for at least another year, and despite being a two-year-old financial flop, the PlayBook will be receiving an upgrade to BlackBerry 10 this year as well. I would expect the BlackBerry Z10 (and any other upcoming BB10 phones) to receive similar treatment - I can bet dollars to donuts that the Z10 is selling a hell of a lot better than the PlayBook was, and not at a loss like most PlayBook's.

All-in-all, I'm confident in saying that BlackBerry is here to stay, and will provide BlackBerry 10 support for quite a while. This isn't fact by any means, and it is entirely possible that the earnings call 9 days from now will prove me wrong, but that's my take on the situation after having closely followed BlackBerry for the last two years - the company made a hell of a lot of costly mistakes, but things seem to be back on track with BlackBerry 10.

Also, just a random tidbit of info that I've found interesting all this time: despite not offering a genuinely modern product until two months ago, BlackBerry has maintained more smartphone market share than Windows Phone. Now I think Windows Phone 8 is a solid product, but Microsoft must be doing something wrong.
 
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*internal monologue*

Man that door looks like it got hit by a massive blast wave.

What the hell happened in here.

Inspects the carnage hmhhh

Stupid fanbois and Specter. Explains a lot.


/internal monologue

I wouldn't go for a windows phone just not interested in them and I have had plenty of experience with them. Selling high end cars you are always having people come in trying to pair the phone to the car and having problems doing it so I see a ton of different phones.


I wouldn't entirely rule out a blackberry but I don't want to spend 200 dollars on a phone plus contract and none of the older Blackberries interest me. Maybe the next time around if BBRY still exists.



As I haven't been 100% happy with the iPhone I have I thought maybe a switch to an Android phone would make more sense but there are a ton of them out there and I don't necessarily know exactly which android phone I am screwing around with when I have a customer's phone. Most of them just are distinct enough to notice. I don't care about modding the phone anymore. I did that with my first iPhone and I am not into it anymore.

Having timely software updates matters and that is where the Nexus phones come in. I am going to wait till after the start of the second quarter no matter what as I figure there will be some price drops during that time and I can hold off for at least another month to six weeks before I need to make a purchase.

Thanks for attempting to help before you guys burned the place down.
 
*internal monologue*

Man that door looks like it got hit by a massive blast wave.

What the hell happened in here.

Inspects the carnage hmhhh

Stupid fanbois and Specter. Explains a lot.


/internal monologue

I wouldn't go for a windows phone just not interested in them and I have had plenty of experience with them. Selling high end cars you are always having people come in trying to pair the phone to the car and having problems doing it so I see a ton of different phones.


I wouldn't entirely rule out a blackberry but I don't want to spend 200 dollars on a phone plus contract and none of the older Blackberries interest me. Maybe the next time around if BBRY still exists.



As I haven't been 100% happy with the iPhone I have I thought maybe a switch to an Android phone would make more sense but there are a ton of them out there and I don't necessarily know exactly which android phone I am screwing around with when I have a customer's phone. Most of them just are distinct enough to notice. I don't care about modding the phone anymore. I did that with my first iPhone and I am not into it anymore.

Having timely software updates matters and that is where the Nexus phones come in. I am going to wait till after the start of the second quarter no matter what as I figure there will be some price drops during that time and I can hold off for at least another month to six weeks before I need to make a purchase.

Thanks for attempting to help before you guys burned the place down.

Dunno if you're even watching this thread due to the heated argument upthread, but honestly if the software updates matter...two choices for you:

iPhone or Nexus 4. Both give you a solid experience w/out having to mod the device and updates will flow forth for both for quite some time.

Google's I/O event will be happening soon. I wouldn't expect a new Nexus there but who knows?! A new version of Android being shown off is totally a give in.
 
Google's I/O event will be happening soon. I wouldn't expect a new Nexus there but who knows?! A new version of Android being shown off is totally a give in.


Well there has been quite a lot of speculation about the upcoming Nexus 5/X Phone/Motorola X and it would seem very likely that specs and pricing at least will be shown at Google I/O.
 
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