should i switch to smartphone?

[Belid Hagen]

So I've had the same phone since 2004. It does what I need it to do, text and make phonecalls. But its getting old, and starting to drop off the network without giving any notification - leading to missed calls and lots of anger.

So I need a new phone and have been offered a new smartphone running android (because fuck apple). What fantastic things could and should i be doing with one of these wonders? which widgets/apps(or whatever the fuck they are called) should i get and why?

help me FHC, you're my only hope !

[Ryas Nia]

i used to be on a feature phone and used it for a very long time. I loved it because it had awesome battery life and did what i needed it to do, make calls. Since i moved over to a smartphone i have had a love hate relationship with it.

First thing i hate about my smart phone (HTC EVO) is battery life, plug it in every day or else, and dont expect to be able to use it all day if your a heavy user.

Second, 4G Sprint 4G is a joke it cant hand off between towers and their WiMax network is so small its laughable.

Things i love about the phone: Swipe, omg its awesome, I can write an email or text message so much faster on my phone now that i enjoy using it as a communication method.

I also love having google voice, since it lets me have two phone numbers on one phone meaning i can keep my work life and personal life separate when I need/want to.

I would say the biggest advantage for me is having everything i need more or less in a small mobile package, I can get all my project PDF's off dropbox so i dont have to print out 30 pages before I fly out to a customers site, i can book hotels, cars and flights right through my apps (southwest and hilton) as well as check my existing reservations. I can also simply click on the address and it will instantly GPS it for me so I dont even need to know what city I am in.

hope this helps :) Overall smart phones are nice to have, unless you live on your phone and then battery life is #1.

[Aramendel]

Cons of a smartphone are

- low battery life. Unless you barely use it you *will* need to charge it daily.
- more breakable than a "normal" phone. They are not superfragile (see video I just (possibly re-)posted on page 16 of the mobile phone megathread), but they will die on some things a normal phone can take.
- More expensive. I have no issues taking a normal phone to the swimming pool, a smartphone however...

Pros of a smartphone are

- Unless you already have leet texting skills (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSwq1Z8JmW4) writing anything on it is far more enjoyable and faster
- Calender autosyncs with google calender (at least on my Nexus S)
- Ability to read ebooks (or PDFs) whenever you do not have anything to do (while in the tram, waiting at the doctor, etc)
- Surfing the web is actually pretty nice too.
- Various useful apps, like a full scientific calculator, onlinebanking from numerous (but not all) banks, booking cards for about anything, video on demand, music on demand, internet radio.
- Plenty of games if you feel like it.
It is essentially a small PC. A lot of stuff you can also do on a normal phone like web browsing, but on a smartphone it is just so much better.

[Belid Hagen]

thank you for the insight.

[Sparq]

Regarding breakability,

If you're going to invest hundreds of dollars on a smart phone and you want it to last then my suggestion would be to try to get a good, protective case for it. Right now I'm using a $10 gel case from eBay but I'm planning on grabbing one from otterbox.com (http://www.otterbox.com), for example.

[Ryas Nia]

eh i dont have any case at all and have had no issues with breakage but then, i dont drop phones.

[Mrenda]

Your shits will never be the same again.

[Sparq]

eh i dont have any case at all and have had no issues with breakage but then, i dont drop phones.Neither do I, but I'd rather drop $40 on a case now than upwards of $500 on a new phone for the day I do fuck up.

[arian snow]

I switched to smartphone last yeah, and it's kind of a mixed bag. The phone is pretty great however battery life is appaling, (I have the Samsung Galaxy S).

A smartphone great for email, calender and texting, The Galaxy S is even great as a phone, Its call quality is much better than the regular phones I used to own. I don't think I could live without it.

However I must say as an ebook reader or multimedia player current smartphones fail hard because their battery simply cannot do those activities for very long and you constantly need to either have your laptop with a micro-usb cable at hand or a wallcharger, which kind of defeats the purpose of the having a smartphone.

[Aramendel]

Dunno, on the Nexus S (which has basically the same hardware as the Galaxy S) watching a 2 hour movie kills 25% of the battery. Haven't used it much as ebook reader so far since I have a kindle, but that should be more battery friendly than the movie.

That should be fine for daily use (as long as you spend not all your time fingering the phone). It is no good as multimedia device for a multiple day camping trip of cource.

Oh, and seconding the "great as phone", my callers also say they can hear me better than on my previous nonsmartie one.


Neither do I, but I'd rather drop $40 on a case now than upwards of $500 on a new phone for the day I do fuck up.

Not too sure how useful a case is. The real danger for the phones is accidently letting them fall and that typically happens when it is out of the case anyway.

[Arele]

So I've had the same phone since 2004. It does what I need it to do, text and make phonecalls. But its getting old, and starting to drop off the network without giving any notification - leading to missed calls and lots of anger.

So I need a new phone and have been offered a new smartphone running android (because fuck apple). What fantastic things could and should i be doing with one of these wonders? which widgets/apps(or whatever the fuck they are called) should i get and why?

help me FHC, you're my only hope !
Smart phones suck because of the data plans.

[Aea]

So I've had the same phone since 2004. It does what I need it to do, text and make phonecalls. But its getting old, and starting to drop off the network without giving any notification - leading to missed calls and lots of anger.

So I need a new phone and have been offered a new smartphone running android (because fuck apple). What fantastic things could and should i be doing with one of these wonders? which widgets/apps(or whatever the fuck they are called) should i get and why?

help me FHC, you're my only hope !
Smart phones suck because of the data plans.

This.

Also don't drop it in the toilet like my mum.

[mvtaylor]

tbh so long as you can connect to wifi data plans shouldn't be terrible

If you're in the UK you can get some ridiculously good deals at www.e2save.com (http://www.e2save.com) although... you'll HAVE to have it for two years. As stated by people here unless you get a Blackberry Torch or something the battery life will be abysmal. And as Rias said, Swype is literally the best thing ever.

[lt]

So I've had the same phone since 2004. It does what I need it to do, text and make phonecalls. But its getting old, and starting to drop off the network without giving any notification - leading to missed calls and lots of anger.

So I need a new phone and have been offered a new smartphone running android (because fuck apple). What fantastic things could and should i be doing with one of these wonders? which widgets/apps(or whatever the fuck they are called) should i get and why?

help me FHC, you're my only hope !
Smart phones suck because of the data plans.

This.

Also don't drop it in the toilet like my mum.
What? I have 1gb for about 8 euro/month. How much data do you guys need for your plans?

[Muffinsrevenger]

Iv'e got unlimited data amount even if it's not at full 3g speed for about 8$ a month, could also get full 3g speeds for like 14$

[Dark Flare]

So I've had the same phone since 2004. It does what I need it to do, text and make phonecalls. But its getting old, and starting to drop off the network without giving any notification - leading to missed calls and lots of anger.

So I need a new phone and have been offered a new smartphone running android (because fuck apple). What fantastic things could and should i be doing with one of these wonders? which widgets/apps(or whatever the fuck they are called) should i get and why?

help me FHC, you're my only hope !
Smart phones suck because of the data plans.

This.

Also don't drop it in the toilet like my mum.

You dropped your mum in the toilet?

[Aramendel]

I think he means 2g unlimited and 1gb 3g. At least all data plans I have seen here in germany so far are that way (although not as cheap, 1gb 3g is 15€).

[Helfix]

Your shits will never be the same again.

+1,

lots of reading/viewing material :)