A couple of questions for smartphone owners

[Captain Ice]

I'm looking into buying my first smartphone at some point this weekend. The plethora of choices is almost mind boggling.

In looking at smartphone operating systems, I'm noticing that the choice really seems to boil down to two.

I'm curious to see what some of the rest of you have for smartphones. What operating system do you have? More importantly, would you buy it again?

 

[Spot's Meow]

I just bought my first smartphone about 6 months ago. After carefully researching everything, I decided to go with Android. I have version 2.3.6 (latest update of Gingerbread). I really don't regret it at all, and would certainly go with Android again in the future. Some of my family members have iPhones, so I tried those out, and while I didn't hate it or anything, it just didn't feel as "right" to me as Android did. I also really love to customize as much as possible (such as organizing my 7 different home pages however I'd like, widgets, more on-screen keyboard choices, etc.). I know some of the same features may be available on iPhones, but it just feels a lot more intuitive to me on Android.

Also, I really wanted a phone with a slide-out keyboard, which iPhones don't offer. And as far as I know, Swype is not available on iPhones (unless you jailbreak them). Swype is a method of typing on a touch-screen keyboard that I have found incredibly useful and amazing, and whenever I'm not using my physical keyboard it is the only method that I use. You drag your finger from one letter to the next and only lift it up between words, it is so much faster (for me at least) than other methods of typing. Now that I've used it, I can't imagine giving it up!

I'm sure that the iPhone has benefits as well, and honestly you'll probably be happy with whatever you end up choosing, as any of them will be such an improvement over what you currently have. But for me personally, the benefits of having an Android device greatly outweighed the benefits of having an iPhone. It's just more customizable, and that is important to me.

By the way, my phone is a Samsung Captivate Glide, and I highly recommend it. Love the phone.

 

[Kemaiku]

iPhone 4S iOS 5.1.1

I would but it again as it's been invaluable to me since buying it over 6 months ago, leaps and bounds better than my previous phones.

I find I never really use Siri and it has a shorter battery life than even the iPhone 4. But a lot of onboard apps are very useful and there are some great ones out there.

The new Samsung Galaxy S3 looks to be better, but then the iPhone 5 comes out in October and we don't know what it's like at all yet.

I'd say wait and compare Windows 8, Samsung GS3 and iPhone 5 later this year.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I have an iPhone and love it. It's my only phone now. Ditched the landline as soon as I got it. And I wouldn't use any other smartphone - the iPhone is just what I need.

 

[DonIago]

Just upgraded from a Droid X to a Droid RAZR MAXX, as I qualified for a subsidized upgrade on 6/20 and VZW is changing their plans around on 6/28 and I don't like where they're headed. Buying now allowed me to avoid that situation.

I've had the RM less than a day, but so far I'm quite happy with it. It feels a bit chunkier than my DX, but my DX also tended to be fairly low on battery by the end of a workday and I've been led to believe the RM's battery life is phenomenal.

I loved my Droid X, but it was definitely starting to feel a little dated, and had started having some minor issues that I probably would have tried to figure out if I wasn't due for an upgrade anyhow. I also dropped it a few weeks back and managed to damage the internals of the screen a little bit...kind of like an inkspot.

Prior to the DX I'd lived with a couple of Windows Mobile phones (we're talking the old days here), and while they were both nice at the time of purchase, neither held up very well for 2 years at a time, and moving from my last WM phone to my Droid was probably the most blissful phone experience I've ever had.

I can't speak to the iPhones, though my underlying (not entirely qualified) feeling is that Apple tends to appeal to the masses while Android is more for the tech-heads and geeks. Frankly I tend to feel most people are stupid enough already, so I'm quite happy to not contribute to that. That said, if you're not a tech-head I certainly understand how a smartphone can be intimidating, and I'm not going to blame someone for buying a phone that meets their particular needs.

 

[trekkiedane]

Since early 2010, when it was very new, I've had the Nokia N900 (OS: Maemo, which is based on the Debian Linux distro) and, yes, I'd choose the very same one again.

I liked that it came with a community of geeks that could code and exchange the results freely, I liked the widgets that were already in place (and some that came later), I liked that I could plug it into any TV and watch films on that (but found it strangely anachronistic that it was a composite-out ), I liked the slide out qwerty-keyboard, I liked that I could play FLAC-files in the media-player, I liked the (then) very good camera and optics, I liked the 'kick-stand' that lifts the device so it can stand on a table in front of me, I liked being able to re-design any icons on the desktop to my liking (even if all I ever used that for was removal of the square backgrounds that is the default), I liked the fact that it could run as many apps I wanted simultaneously (but strangely I never overclocked it to run smoother when doing so to excess -guess I was too frightened I would melt the processor in doing so) and I especially liked the fact that it (by default) ran in landscape-mode; that I didn't need to go to watered-down versions of internet sites to access the content.
Oh, and I liked it very much when Mozilla made a Firefox for it.

 

[Gryffindorian]

I refuse to buy anything Apple, so no iPhones for me.

My first smartphone was an HTC G2 from T-Mobile, which ran on Android 2.0. Overall, it was a so-so phone, and I kinda liked the slide-in mini-keyboard. When it broke down last year, I decided to get the HTC myTouch, which runs on the latest version of Android.

I really like Android, which has been a very stable operating system. I like the Market. I'm very satisfied with the selection of cool apps (I only download the free ones) that are available for Android--I've got all versions of Angry Birds on my cellphone and my Toshiba tablet. Some Google apps are very neat, and what I love about Google/Android is the data and content synchronization on both my devices. When I bought my Thrive tablet late last year, all I had to do was log in to my Google (gmail) account, and all my contacts, calendars, Amazon Kindle purchases, were automatically imported and installed! I can read my e-books on either my smartphone or the Thrive, browse my contacts, and read all my Comcast and gmail messages.

I'm thinking about upgrading my phone this year and will probably go for the Samsung Galaxy Note or the Galaxy S3. Come on, T-Mobile! Start selling them!!!

 

[Venardhi]

I've got a Galaxy Nexus, Verizon edition. I paid a bit too much for it when it first came out, but otherwise I have no complaints. I refused to buy anything without a keyboard for years but I've adapted to the on-screen keyboard about as well as one could hope. I like that it uses vanilla android and that it is easy to put on other versions if I so want them. The screen is fantastic, though the first one I got had a greenish-yellow tint to it. The camera is just okay but good enough for quick snaps when I need it. It isn't as powerful as some of the competition, battery doesn't last as long as the Maxx, etc. But as a whole it is a damn solid device and I would be hard pressed to pick something else on the market I would rather have. The HTC One X would probably be the most tempting, due to the extra processing power, better camera and and slightly better screen.

If the current Windows Phones were going to get updated to version 8, I might be tempted towards one of nokia's recent releases, but that isn't happening.

 

[kirsten187]

I've got a Nokia Lumia 800 which is a Windows phone. I've had it since March so nearly 4 months now. I'd choose it again. I decided against an iPhone because most of the people I know who have one say they won't be getting another.

 

[Non Sync]

My wife got her iPhone a little over a year ago. Was tempted then, but I am glad I waited until the Samsung Focus S with Windows 7.5. We'll get her moved over to a Windows phone next year after her 2 year period is up.

Biggest complaint is how the contacts sync via Windows Live. But it looked like it might have been the least cumbersome of the various phones (for my particular workflow).

 

[Kestra]

I don't have one (I'm still holding out!) but my husband had an iPhone and his last two phones have used Android. He prefers them but said that Windows doesn't look too bad either.

I have iPods and an iPad so it was weird for me when he switched over to Android, but I adapted to it quickly so don't worry about it not being user friendly. I also really like the nav on his phone, but that probably differs a lot depending on the model.

 

[Sparky]

I have an iPhone 3GS. The phone itself is pretty long in the tooth, but I do like iOS and the Apple ecosystem. iTunes match and iCloud are both "can't live without" features for me. I also have a Apple TV, so AirPlay is another extensively used function. Apple's "walled garden" approach can be annoying at times. For the vast majority of thing though, it does what I want very well.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

I have the Samsung Droid Charge (Android) w/Verizon.

Great touchscreen. Stable OS . More apps than you can shake a stick at.

I love the on-screen keyboard & auto-rotate.

I've been wanting to root it so as to get control over what it's running at any given time. Similar to how I run my desktop, keeping control over running apps.

I avoid Apple products due to them being way over-priced for no apparent reason.

 

[Emher]

Have an HTC Desire which uses Android. Love it.

The iPhones always seemed overpriced to me and I keep hearing about people breaking them very easily. The upcoming Windows OS phones seems kinda cool though.

 

[tomalak301]

I have the HTC Incredible (Android) and other than the Battery Life, I enjoy it. However, regarding that battery life, I feel like I'm always leaving it plugged in so it can stay charged. That's sometimes not fun.

 

[RoJoHen]

I have an iPhone 4S, and I love it, though I feel like I don't use it to its fullest potential. It's basically a Facebook Machine. I need to start exploring more apps.

 

[Holdfast]

Play around with several different brands and operating systems before committing. If your friends have range of OSs on their phones, borrow them and fiddle around to see which system suits your personality.

I personally think Windows Phone is the slickest-looking, but it still lacks a couple of features I want. I'm expecting great things from WP8. Apple is fine if it does what you want from a smartphone (and frustrating if you just don't like the design). Android is super-flexible, but I find it feels a little "gadgety" at times (almost as much as an older version of WP if you really start fiddling around). Android and Apple have more apps than WP, if that matters to the way you use your phone (doesn't really affect me). In truth, I don't find any of the current OSs entirely satisfactory, so have held off upgrading for a while now (still on an ancient version of WP). Hoping that WP8 squares the circle for me personally.

 

[Roger Wilco]

I bought my first smartphone two weeks ago, a Galaxy S Plus with Android 2.3, and I'm extremely happy with my choice. It was a little difficult for me to get used to the interface, having had no experience with anything like that previously, but you learn quickly. And the funcionality is just amazing. It's literally a cigarette box sized computer that can do everything (and more) as a laptop.

250€ was by far the most I've ever paid for a phone, but compared to other phones, it's pretty cheap. And I only pay about 6€ a month for my phone bill, including unlimited data, so it wasn't that big a deal.

 

[Warp Coil]

I made the switch to a smartphone back in 2008 - iPhone 3G. Kept it for three years before upgrading to the iPhone 4S. I just love it. It works. It makes sense. It's good design. No complaints.

 

[Timby]

I've been on Android for a couple of years and I like it quite a bit (I prefer iOS for tablets, but Android for phones). Started with a Motorola Droid, and upgraded to a Droid RAZR back in December. Loved both phones, though 4G phones have abysmal battery life outside of the RAZR MAXX (which I wish I had waited a month for).

One note regarding Motorola: They are terrible about pushing out operating system upgrades to their phones. Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich, has been available since October, and the Droid RAZR has been out since November, but Motorola is only starting to push out the 4.0 update this week (and that's only to RAZR / RAZR MAXX phones). The Droid 4 and Droid Bionic will receive it "sometime" in Q3, and no other Motorola phones on the market (on Verizon, anyway) will receive the update.