I'm going insane.. please help me decide upon an Android Smartphone!


Garrett

Garrett

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Let me get the fact that I'm new to Android/Smartphones out of the way (so easy on the terminology please)


I've a budget of £350 at a stretch although I'd rather not spend quite so much (absolutely no contracts before anyone suggests)


I'll be using it mostly for gaming, web browsing & multimedia on long commutes so something with a reasonable battery life would be good.


I made the mistake of posting on several specific phone forums, and before you could blink the threads degenerated into 'that phone is crap get this one' and on and on etc whilst completely ignoring my original post.


So I'm calling upon my fellow Pandorians for help, from past experience I know common sense is more.. common here.


This is the phone I'm currently considering, that's within my budget:http://www.amazon.co...42084609&sr=1-1


Any comments/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks.
 
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The Galaxy S2 that you linked there is a nice phone.


Physically it is VERY light, feels a bit lightweight in my opinion and a bit plastic-y ... very slim and almost don;t realise it is in your pocket it's that light


The newer Galaxy S3 is a step up, better spec phone, more money though.


I dont know if you mean you have no current contract or dont want to sign for one and looking for an unlocked phone only?


The S3 might be out the budget.


I don't think there are many/any phones that beat this in terms of overall performance.


Xperia Play, the Playstation phone, has obvious merits if you into gaming, the physical controls are unrivalled.


I have this currently and loving it, it is on the heavy side but my previous model [LGO3D] was also a bit weighty so for me its no problem.


The screen size is pretty much standard as on most phones these days running Android.


Battery life is good.


Galaxy Note, this is a nice large screen, for things like your web browsing and YT etc it is a pleasurable experience on the larger 5" screen.


Currently on Play at just under 400 down from 700 quid


http://www.play.com/...ne/Product.html


You might find these within budget in other sources, ebay and such.


If you looking to play the Android Market [now called Play] games, you will be ok with the touchscreen for most of them.


If you looking to enjoy emulation, you really need to ensure you get one that is supported by the ICP or other B/T control pad, though ICP is the nicest IMO.


OR ... get the Xperia Play with the built in Playstation buttons.


Emulator playing is a pain with pure touchscreen, I'm sure most people will confirm this.


Your Galaxy S2 is nice, fast, teamed up with an ICP it would be nice.


Setting up ICP is not as easy as using the Xperia Play though still.


Plus you would obviously need to carry the ICP around with you at all times so it is to hand when you fancy a spot of SNES gaming or whatever.


Custom ROMS are available for most Android devices, XDA-Developers forum is the place to check out for that stuff, no matter what model you get.


If you not planning to Root, look into which phones/manufacturers update to latest versions of Android OS ... as LG, for example, are pretty slack and only recently upgraded some of there phones to Gingerbread, which is a joke tbh seeing as it's very old already.


Manufacturers like HTC and Samsung tend to be front of the queue and make updates available soonest, expect them to be pushing out Jellybean soon enough on most their newer models.


HTC have some nice models too, the ONE X for example, but this goes for around 300-350 typically.


Again a touch out the budget.


The Galaxy S2 is a good choice, although very lightweight they do use Gorilla Glass


see http://www.corninggo...ts-with-gorilla


which makes the screen very strong and not likely to scratch easy.


I've had a couple handsets with this and never used a screen protector on any of them.


If you looking to enjoy emulators on a regular though, I still have to recommend the Xperia Play over it.


The web browsing experience isn't 'that' much a difference yet the gaming side of things is miles apart


PS:


If you really new to Android and not aware of 'Home Launchers' even ... look into them.


Even without Rooting your device you can make the phone look a lot nicer than the standard home launcher that is built into your phone.


I use the 'GO Launcher'. Check it out on YT you will see plenty vids showing it off, some very nice animations and great widgets for it and themes.


There are plenty to pick from too, Launcher Pro, ADW Launcher, SPB Shell ... all good
 
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I've been very impressed by the S2/S3/Note.


The Note has replaced my girlfriends laptop about 80% of the time.
 
the galaxy s2.


just about the right price, fits an ICP nicely and has pots and pots of custom roms for all your needs. easily unlocked, light, sturdy (mine has bounced more times than a kangaroo on a bouncy castle), reasonable battery life and bigger batteries available. Good for gaming and with a BT keyboard excellent as a portable computer.


the only downside i have with this is the tv/out adaptor requires a mains lead plugged in for power which is a bit cumbersome
 
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I'm a big fan of the motorola defy. yeah, motorola's crypted bootloader sucks, but the plaform is awesome and well supported with custom roms. hardware is fast enough for most games and emulators. With some optimization, battery-life is extreme. 7 days standby, at least 2 days with regular surfing and gaming. The best thing is it's robustness. Waterproof, sandproof, gorilla-glas. Add a otterbox commuter case and it's got full mitlitary-standard protection.
 
I have a GS2 which I have been very happy with and I am notoriously picky, however if I were you I would consider the Galaxy Nexus, it is essentially the same guts but it has a bigger, higher res screen and will be getting the Jellybean update, whereas the GS2 may not be, it's also cheaper! As it's a google device it will also be the first to get firmware updates, you won't have to wait for Samsung to fiddle with it, and it will come without any manufacturer bloatware, just a nice clean stock ICS.
 
I have a Note. I've had it since November and like Craig it has staved me off of wanting/needing a tablet. Superb phone.
 
Many thanks to all for the help.


The Note does look interesting, but is more than I wanted to pay what advantages (if any) does it have over the Galaxy S II which is £30 cheaper on Amazon..?
 
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Size, but this may not be an advantage if you would feel silly using it as a phone because it's massive.


galaxy-note-tenue.jpg



It also comes with a digital stylus which apparently works very well. I honestly think you should check out the Nexus
 
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What's going to decide it for me ultimately, will be which has the best gaming performance as I'm unfortunately having to sell my Pandora to help finance purchasing it.


I couldn't really care less about the screen size, style or design, but I do care about how it handles the emulators & 3D games as I'll have it with me most of the time whilst I'm constantly commuting.


With that said can people narrow the options down for me, I've checked out the reviews of several of the phones mentioned here, but don't really understand which performs the best for gaming.


Thanks.
 
The GS2, Note, and Nexus are virtually the same, there isn't much in it. Go for the Note if you want a bigger screen, a stylus and 200 extra mhz, go for the GS2 or the nexus otherwise, bear in mind that the GS2 will have Samsung bloatware and a lower res screen than the Nexus. All three will handle emulators and 3D games well.


http://www.phonearen.../5106,5595,6116
 
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Then you might want to consider the Xperia Play, of the few Android phones I have had, it by far is the best to play emus on,


At the time of getting my ICP I had an LG phone, so that wasn't going to work, the ICP I use with one of my Android tablets, so not had any real control pad hooked up to my phones.


I'm guessing you had some of the classic emulators on your iPhone?


Did you enjoy playing them, didn't find the touchscreen a real lame thing for these emus?


If you were ok with it, then you will be ok with say the SG2, or you can get the ICP and use that, so long as you ok to carry both items with you, or keep it attached to your phone in one of your larger pockets.


Otherwise only the Xperia Play is going to give the control system you need, built in I mean.


You might also want to steer clear of 'some' of the newer custom ROMS that run off ICS as I believe a lot of them perform pretty poor with the 3D games.


I think a lot of people who are into their 3D games keep on the Gingerbread version.


....It's believed this is the very reason that the Sony did "not" update the Xperia Play to ICS recently when the rest of the Xperia range did get the ICS update... because the non-gaming stuff is better under ICS but the 3D gaming side of things isn't, obviously those that buy the Xperia Play are into gaming in a big way, so that phone remains on GB not ICS. This is my understanding anyway, from reading XDA Devs boards mainly.
 
If we're talking android 3D gaming then I haven't noticed any problems with ICS, I haven't tried the N64 or PS1 emus yet.


My brother has an Xperia play but I have to say that the screen is nowhere near the quality of those on the Samsung devices, the processor is also a single core 1ghz, compared to the 1.2/1.4 dual cores on the GS2, Nexus and Note. The massive advantage is the gaming controls, but you're getting a pretty chunky phone because of that.
 
It might just be ICS on the Xperia range then?


I read things like GTA3, Modern Combat, Temple Run ... all performing bad on the newer ICS roms but fine on the GB ones.


edit: Just checked and seems it is the Xperia models that are not so hot on the ICS when comes to 3D games, the HTC models manage the same games just fine.


http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=28432930


Agree about the screen, it's decent enough, web and YT are good enough, but not as nice and not as 'buttery smooth' [i believe is the term nowadays:)] as say the SG2.


I say the SG2 is better spec, but if you really into your gaming, no touchscreen can test the Xperia Play built in controls.


You will have to get an ICP or other B/T control pad working with it, touchscreen NES/SNES/ etc is poor, especially once you been using the control pads for a while.


I would go into a local shop and get them to boot up a few models for you to get a feel of the size/weight and also the responsiveness of the screen/OS


...then decide.


I loved my old LGO3D but got tired of the lame touchscreen controls for my emus, I realised that LG had problems using the stacks of BluezIME which most BT control pads require, so it had to go, I was really wanting to get the emus that I carry in my pocket everyday working well which I would enjoy, so opted for the Xperia Play.
 
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I'm more or less decided upon a Nexus & an ICP


I saw a video somewhere recently of a wip smartphone game controller that swivelled around your device to function either in landscape or portrait orientation & it looked very impressive indeed, I can't for the life of me remember what is was called.. anyone got any ideas?
 
A good decision I'd say, with the ICP.


And I think Nexus are updated to current versions of Android quickest which is a good thing.


Not knowing that pad you mention though, not that can rotate?


Gametel pad, Nyko PalyPad is still WIP I think, ...don't think it rotates though. Not sure what that one is but let us know if you find it again
 
how about the HTC one S? you can get it for about 350 incl. shipping on Amazon http://www.amazon.co...&seller=&sr=8-1


What I really like about it is the good camera quality and its 4.3 inch AMOLED screen combined with a solide but small case.


htc-one-s.jpg
 
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Even though you've decided on the Nexus, I'll just give you a spot more info to concider:


If you *were* concidering the S2, my phone - the HTC Sensation, is not a bad alternative and is cheaper.


It has a higher resolution screen than the S2, has a full aluminium body, feels more comfortable in the hand, is weightier, has a convex gorilla glass screen to prevent scratches when turning it on it's face, and while it's dual core is clocked at 1.2ghz, HTC have actually downclocked the chip - it will run at 1.5ghz no problem, and I know that people have successfully overclocked it to 1.8ghz.


The downsides to this phone are obviously that it has no physical controls so an icp is required. If you are buying second hand be aware that a large number of the first units HTC produced were prone to getting dust under the screen. As far as I know they've since solved the issue.


It also has less ram than the S2, which while still on Gingerbread made the phone feel not as snappy sometimes - particularly because of the Sense overlay. Now that the HTC Sensation officially runs ICS it's a non-issue as both the seny's asynchronous cores are now properly utilized.


The seny only has 1gb onboard storage, but this is mitigated by being able to put a large microSD inside.


The last big issue is the battery life - it's crap. Heavy use will not last you the day... This issue is also resolved by purchasing an Anker 1900mah battery replacement.


Playing the latest 3D games on the Seny is quite a pleasure (if you don't mind touch screen).


I am rather pleased with my phone - particularly because it was so cheap relative to the S2. But if I could, I would swap it for a Note. :)


I just thought I'd give you this info if while you want a high-end phone, you still want to keep costs down as much as possible.


This certainly was an issue for me and I don't feel I made a bad choice.


Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using Tapatalk 2
 
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