Anyone have an Android phone?

[cprice12]

So my Android G1 is almost two years old now...and with my T-Mobile contract set to expire in a couple weeks, I am looking to upgrade to one of the newer Android phones.

T-Mobile has been ok...the 3G at our house is spotty, but other than that it's been fairly reliable...but I'm up for a switch to a new network if the price increase isn't too bad. Currently my wife and I are on the same plan and we get 1000 shared minutes, 400 texts and I have a data plan for my G1 (the wife has a Razor with no data plan)...and that runs us $89 total. Which is actually a really good deal.

Here are the phones I've been looking at. They are all fairly similar in specs.

T-Mobile
HTC G2
The follow up to the G1, which I currently have.
http://www.gsmarena.com/t_mobile_g2-3518.php


Samsung Vibrant
http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_vibrant-3416.php


Sprint
HTC EVO
http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_evo_4g-3427.php


Verizon
Droid 2
http://www.gsmarena.com/motorola_droid_2-3475.php


Droid X
http://www.gsmarena.com/motorola_droid_x-3473.php


Unlocked:
Nexus One
http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_google_nexus_one-3069.php


I think the Nexus One would be the phone I would buy if it was still available from T-Mobile. You can only buy the unlocked version now and it's like $400...so no thanks. Plus there are reception issues with it on T-Mobile's system similar to the issue the iPhone4 is having...so I'd have to switch networks if I got the Nexus One. Other than that and the price, it sounds like a great phone and is what all other Android phones have been compared with this year.

Right now I am probably leaning towards the G2 or the Vibrant since I'm already with T-Mobile. T-Mobile has a "buy one get one free" deal with the Vibrant right now, and with the wife also wanting a new phone, that makes the Vibrant a good option.
If we don't go T-Mobile, I'd like to go to Verizon and get the Droid 2...but their plans are around $30 more per month than I am paying now, even with my discount I get through work. That's a steep jump.

A co-worker of mine has the Droid X and another co-worker of mine has the Sprint HTC EVO...both of them love their phone, but they say the battery life could be better on both (what else is new?).

Does anyone have any of these phones or another Android phone you like? If so, what do you think?
I know battery life sucks with almost every "big-screened smart phone", but I'm looking for a fast processor, lots of internal storage, good camera with a flash, 720p video, QWERTY keyboard (not mandatory, but prefered), and the best battery life possible.

Any advice?

[TSUCookieMonster]

I got the Evo 4G recently. It is AWESOME. So fast, 8 megapixel camera, 4G rocks (if you are in a 4G area). It makes the iPhone look like a piece of crap.

The battery life isn't overly great. However, there are settings you can change to make the phone battery last WAY longer (of course). There is a widget you can use that comes w/the phone to turn off basically everything but the phone function when you are not using the internet/gps and what not. VERY VERY easy to turn options like that off and on.

Haven't used it as a hot-spot but browsing on the phone itself is awesome. Screen is clear. Typing is easy easy (and I have big fingers).

I keep it plugged in at work and to a set of speakers and listen to Pandora radio. Been having a few problems with YouTube lately, but I think that's YouTube, not the phone.

[SteveO]

There's no way I'll leave the Verizon network so I'm probably looking to the X or 2 for my next phone.

[cprice12]

I get a discount with Verizon through my work. 18% off voice plans, 20% off data and 25% off accessories...which is a much bigger discount than I thought we got. After the discount my total is only a few bucks more than what I am paying with T-Mobile, so I'd be stupid not to switch.
So, yeah, I think I'm going with Verizon, since I really like the Droid 2 and Droid X.

I'm a QWERTY keyboard fan, so I'm leaning heavily towards the Droid 2...but the Droid X has an 8mp camera (compared to the Droid 2's 5mp camera) and it takes 720p video (Droid 2 takes 480p video)...and they are the same price.
Ugh...
The big screen on the X is very nice, but I don't know if I want to carry around the bigger screen. I'm a "phone in pocket" guy, I don't wear them on the belt...so I dunno. I think the Droid 2 might be more convenient to handle. I'll have to stop by the Verizon store on the way home and play with them some more.

My only complaint, really, is that they both run skinned versions of the OS...not sure why they just can't run stock Android.

[stinkdified]

I'm a little late on this one but...

I got the Evo 4G recently. It is AWESOME. So fast, 8 megapixel camera, 4G rocks (if you are in a 4G area).

Dude, i coudn't agree more. Personally, i am a tech geek, and (although i hate apple) i won't hate a product if its good (i have an ipod nano for running, and use it, and it does what it is supposed to do well). But, i can't do the iphone. too much bullshit. relating to the next question: i have swype and freaking love it. but it only had a beta of however many people. but you can still download the .apk file, enable 'unknown sources' and just run the file and install the keyboard. total control of the phone, can't beat it (even better if you root it). side note: i live in south county and hardly ever, ever use 4G and its just fine. seems fast enough for me...maps, media (youtube and radio and whatnot), downloading and viewing shit for work (excel, pdf, blah blah blah)

Haven't used it as a hot-spot but browsing on the phone itself is awesome. Screen is clear. Typing is easy easy (and I have big fingers).

I'm pretty passoinate about this one. AS SOON as you switch you'll relize that you don't need an external qwerty keyboard. Most keyboards are intelligent and will soehow guess and/or correct your typing. There are also TONS of keyboards out there if you don't like the stock one your phone comes with. personally, i'm (of course) a fan of swype, but there are plenty to choose from. The screen is so responsive though, once you use it for 20 minutes, you will never look back.

As for battery life, once you root it you can disable all the bullshit that comes from sprint or tmobile or whatever and it helps significantly. theres other stuff you can do. it kind of depends from phone-to-phone because everyone uses them differently and have different apps, etc.

So, in conclusion, Android rocks my face off.

[cprice12]

The Droid X and Droid 2 are supposed to get the best battery life out of all of the Android phones...according to this test:
http://blog.laptopmag.com/android-batte ... sets-trail

...with the Droid X coming in at #1, lasting for 7 hours 42 minutes with constant heavy use. Odd, considering it has a bigger, 4.3" screen.
The Droid 2 was 3rd with 7 hours 07 minutes.

Also, Back in August when the Droid 2 was first released, a number of people complained about poor signal strength and dropped calls...not unlike the iPhone4 issues...but with the Droid2 it's supposedly a software issue, not a hardware issue like the iPhone, and can be fixed with a software update...or so they say.
I haven't seen many complaints about reception lately though...maybe it was addressed?

[cprice12]

I'm a little late on this one but...

I got the Evo 4G recently. It is AWESOME. So fast, 8 megapixel camera, 4G rocks (if you are in a 4G area).

Dude, i coudn't agree more. Personally, i am a tech geek, and (although i hate apple) i won't hate a product if its good (i have an ipod nano for running, and use it, and it does what it is supposed to do well). But, i can't do the iphone. too much bullshit. relating to the next question: i have swype and freaking love it. but it only had a beta of however many people. but you can still download the .apk file, enable 'unknown sources' and just run the file and install the keyboard. total control of the phone, can't beat it (even better if you root it). side note: i live in south county and hardly ever, ever use 4G and its just fine. seems fast enough for me...maps, media (youtube and radio and whatnot), downloading and viewing shit for work (excel, pdf, blah blah blah)

Haven't used it as a hot-spot but browsing on the phone itself is awesome. Screen is clear. Typing is easy easy (and I have big fingers).

I'm pretty passoinate about this one. AS SOON as you switch you'll relize that you don't need an external qwerty keyboard. Most keyboards are intelligent and will soehow guess and/or correct your typing. There are also TONS of keyboards out there if you don't like the stock one your phone comes with. personally, i'm (of course) a fan of swype, but there are plenty to choose from. The screen is so responsive though, once you use it for 20 minutes, you will never look back.

As for battery life, once you root it you can disable all the bullshit that comes from sprint or tmobile or whatever and it helps significantly. theres other stuff you can do. it kind of depends from phone-to-phone because everyone uses them differently and have different apps, etc.

So, in conclusion, Android rocks my face off.

Hmmm...I don't think I'd ever want to root my phone. If I screw that up, it becomes a brick. And if you download an update, you'll have to root it all over again.
I know there are advantages, but I don't think it's worth it. How hard is it to root a phone?

You can download apps to kill processes if you don't want certain things running that may suck the battery life.

Edit: I just found out that Google recommends to NOT install apps that kill processes. Google says that killing apps can actually hurt the performance of the phone. It takes the same amount of processor power to manage the space being used by an app "sleeping" in the background as it does to manage empty space. Android shuts down background apps that aren't being used when those resources are needed elsewhere.

[stlloki]

Hey Cprice, I just got a Samsung Captivate (Galaxy s) last week and wanted to play around with it b4 replying. So far, the phone has been great. I'm more or less an Android noob, but was able to root it no problem. That is after a few days of research. The actual process took less than 5 mins. Was able to remove the few bloatware AT&T had on the phone and was able to load an app that emulates t-mobile's app market. I've been ripping dvds and loading it on the phone and I have to say, the res is gorgeous. The built in GPS works great with google maps. Just my 2 cents. Oh and it does make phone calls :p

[cprice12]

Hey Cprice, I just got a Samsung Captivate (Galaxy s) last week and wanted to play around with it b4 replying. So far, the phone has been great. I'm more or less an Android noob, but was able to root it no problem. That is after a few days of research. The actual process took less than 5 mins. Was able to remove the few bloatware AT&T had on the phone and was able to load an app that emulates t-mobile's app market. I've been ripping dvds and loading it on the phone and I have to say, the res is gorgeous. The built in GPS works great with google maps. Just my 2 cents. Oh and it does make phone calls :p

Nice.
I've heard good things about the Galaxy S series of Android phones.
Did you look into the new G2? If I was staying with T-Mobile, I'd probably go with that phone, only because I really like/need a physical keyboard.

[cprice12]

Oh, hey...
Make sure you check out the app, "tapatalk" in the Android market.
You can view and read the forum using that app (do a search for us within the app, we're in there).
If you buy the app for $3, you can post as well.

It works extremely well.

[stlbluz]

Can you moderate websites with one of those? Add political forums? Check site suggestions? Read problem reports?

[abc789987]

Google has a nice website for comparing Android phones.

http://www.google.com/phone/#

[stlloki]

neat! Tapatalk FTW!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using Tapatalk

[SteveO]

I wonder if Curt wrote that app... or gets a cut. He shore do pimp it a lot!!

[cprice12]

I wonder if Curt wrote that app... or gets a cut. He shore do pimp it a lot!!

I don't get squat. Just like with this site.

I just think it's a well done app...and when I get my new phone, I'm going to search the couch for three bucks and buy it.

[Mrdcblue]

I just got the droid last weekend and i love it!

[cprice12]

I just got the droid last weekend and i love it!

Which one?

[WindyCityBluesFan]

I have Sprint and I am totally loyal to them. I have been with them for 10 years and (at least in Chicago) they seem to have the best coverage in the area. My first smartphone was the Palm Centro, which I did not really like at all. I switched to a Blackberry last year (the Tour) and am pretty sick of the trackball crapping out on me. I have one month left before I qualify for the new customer pricing on a new phone. With Sprint, if you are a preferred customer you get that discount every 12 months. I am debating between the EVO 4G and the Samsung Epic 4G. I had almost sold myself on the EVO, but I went into a Sprint store the other day and tried both and found that the Epic seemed to have quicker touch response time, and it seemed much easier to use. I also realized that I am totally accustomed to a physical keyboard and the Epic has one. I have heard a couple negative reviews regarding the GPS capability on the Epic, which is a HUGE deal to me. Does anyone have any experience with Samsung smart phoned and their GPS issues? I had heard they were coming out with a fix, but I don't have any verification that has happened yet.

[SteveO]

I have Sprint and I am totally loyal to them. I have been with them for 10 years and (at least in Chicago) they seem to have the best coverage in the area. My first smartphone was the Palm Centro, which I did not really like at all. I switched to a Blackberry last year (the Tour) and am pretty sick of the trackball crapping out on me. I have one month left before I qualify for the new customer pricing on a new phone. With Sprint, if you are a preferred customer you get that discount every 12 months. I am debating between the EVO 4G and the Samsung Epic 4G. I had almost sold myself on the EVO, but I went into a Sprint store the other day and tried both and found that the Epic seemed to have quicker touch response time, and it seemed much easier to use. I also realized that I am totally accustomed to a physical keyboard and the Epic has one. I have heard a couple negative reviews regarding the GPS capability on the Epic, which is a HUGE deal to me. Does anyone have any experience with Samsung smart phoned and their GPS issues? I had heard they were coming out with a fix, but I don't have any verification that has happened yet.

Airshark seems to think the EVO's the best smartphone out there right now. X, Iphone, everything.

[Mrdcblue]

I just got the droid last weekend and i love it!

Which one?

the droid 1.

it was cheaper than the Droid 2 by far and it wasn't on back order.

i had a BB storm before and i would say anything is better than that