New Phone for TheDude

[TheDude]

I am going to be investing in a smartphone. I have never owned a smartphone, nor have i ever really researched them.

I am hesitant to purchase an iPhone. I read somewhere about which phones/"mp3" players had the best sound quality output, and the 4S scored way higher than the iPhone 5. Apparently, the 4S is pretty far up the list, too.

So, my provider is AT&T for the foreseeable future. I will be using this phone primarily to check email, bank account, listen to music, music stuff as I can find it (i'm really hoping the phone I get supports some kind of expanded graphic EQ), and watch movies (not youtube, really.) I don't plan on playing any games seriously on the phone. If I did, they would be limited to more simple games (like platformers and tap tap stuff).

I saw windows mobile os and it look kewwwll. But idk anything about it.

So, what kind of phone should I be checking out? My budget isn't an issue.

 

[HIBred]

if your everyday workhorse laptop is a mac...then an iphone is ,imo ,the way to go..iCloud ftw! just from a practicality standpoint,along with the customer service. Of course the same is true if your laptop is windows..then ..droid ..i'm not the worlds best expert but yah,my mac air and iPhone 4s is a very awesome combo for my work and everday life.

 

[Ethan]

Can go wrong with the Galaxy S3, or the HTC One S:

They are both top of the line phones, super fast and slick, plus they run on Android, which I support versus Apple.
Many different features on both with exceptional battery life.

Those are what I'd recommend over Apple. As far as Windows phones go, I'm not really sure. They look good, but the critics beg to differ.

 

[NickHouston]

I'd go with the 4s. The 5 just doesn't seem worth the extra money.

The 4s works perfectly and is very fast. I'm very happy with it. I've used a 5 and didn't really like the extra space on the screen.

As for androids, I've never used one but have heard good things about the Galaxy S3.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk.

 

[Nikon]

I'm not familliar with WP8 either but as Ethan said, you can't go wrong with the Samsung Galaxy S III, HTC One X+, or the LG Optimus G. All three of them have 1280x720 screens, the HTC has a 1.7 ghz nVidia Tegra 3 quad, and the Optimus G a 1.5 ghz quad.

If I were you, I would go with either the One X+ or the Optimus G because American Samsung Galaxy S IIIs are only dual cores (LG and HTC have quads) and have AMOLED displays. With the exception of the Super AMOLED+, AMOLEDs suck. While the Galaxy S III has a 720p screen, it does not have an AMOLED+ so its still not nearly as sharp as the IPS or Super LCD screens found in the HTC or LG.

The Samsung Galaxy S III is still a great phone though. But IMO I find those 2 features to be a letdown for such a highly priced phone.

 

[Ethan]

Oh yeah, lol. My brother has the Optimus...really cool phone. Face recognition, quad core, and what Nikon said about the res. You can't go wrong with those if hesitant on buying an IPhone.

 

[Cryogenic Flare]

Hey I still have the IPhone 3GS and it works just as good. Granted the shape is a little awkward to hold but it otherwise is just as good. My parents bought if for me at Best-Buy for $50. So I think it would be in you budget.

 

[Nikon]

Well he said that budget isn't an issue and I don't know where you would find even a plain 4 anymore. The only downside to the Optimus G and the One X+ is that they don't have a removable battery, but I don't see why that should be a deal breaker. If you screen size matters to you then you should probably avoid all iPhones as a 4 inch screen is small by today's standards. (Apple a step behind everyone once again )

Edit: It also turns out that the Optimus G has a resolution of 1280x768 instead of 720.

 

[HIBred]

the main reason for an iphone would be super easy sync between macbooks, icloud helps me in tons of ways,and of course the customer service is unbeatable..

 

[WaLLy]

For my usage:

Screen Size - iPhone 5. 4", not too small, yet not too large. Fits perfectly in 1 hand. The S3 is not that bad either, but you really can't do much with just 1 hand 'less you have gigantic hands.
Speed - Not exactly sure what you'll be doing with it, but either S3 or iPhone 5 should handle the load well enough. My 4s handles everything quite nicely and the 5 has double its speed.
Weight - iP5. Thing is insanely light! My 4s feels like a brick compared to it. And yes, you can tell the difference. The S3 is light as well but the 5 is the lightest of all.
OS - Although Apple has its OS locked down, the jailbreak scene makes it up for it. I haven't found anything that my jailbroken iPhone can't do that a rooted Android can.
Backup on the Mac/PC - iTunes does an excellent job at backing up without much fuss. iCloud does an even better job if you only backup 5gigs. Anything above that, and you'll have to cough up some money. Wife had an Android and boy did I hate having to backup everything manually. Kies (or whatever it was called) wasn't that great...
Audio - Not sure.

Think I covered most of the stuff I care for.

 

[chet manley]

iPhone 5...finally the iPhone I wanted. Had the 3gs forever waiting for ATT to go 4G LTE. chet manley is not an Apple fan boy but the iPhone 5 rocks.

 

[Nikon]

iPhone 5:
$200 for 16 GB
$300 for 32 GB
$400 for 64 GB...

LG Optimus G:
$200 for 16 GB (plus a free 16 GB SD included so 32 gb total)
64 GB Micro SD: $50

hmmmmm....

You may need to sell a kidney to buy the iPhone 5... oh, and your soul.

 

[WaLLy]

You may need to sell a kidney to buy the iPhone 5... oh, and your soul.

Last I checked, S3 and iPhone 5 were $199 w/contracts. I don't have a place to check how much an unlocked S3 is but for an unlocked iPhone it's rape ($650).

 

[PwnSauce]

Samsung Galaxy S3 on Sprint. Fak AT+T.

 

[AVC]

If you want easy synch with all other Apple stuff, go the iBrick.

If you want big screen and a kick ass camera, the Samsung GS3 is the go.

Later tonight I'm gonna upload some of our Thailand photos (I didn't take the DSLR, just the phone). Some of the camera setting are awesome (sunset, night, candlelight).
The photos blew the girl's iPhones away (my wife has the 5)

 

[517Houston]

Here's a great phone..

 

[TheDude]

Okay, so now that I've read your comments, I think I have refined my needs (you guys put ideas in my head....never a good idea).

So important things to me:
-Storage - I plan on keeping my entire music library in there at all times, and I plan on moving everything to high bitrate (probably lossless or uncompressed). So the 64 Gig iPhone would be the lowest storage space I'd go.
-Camera - Totally concerned with having a great camera.
-Durability - I am rough with my stuff. I can't help it. The S3 is made of some kind of plastic? Does it get damaged easily?
-Audio quality/capabilities - Can iPhones play FLAC, for instance? Also, like I mentioned in my first post, apparently the iPhone 5 has much worse audio quality than the 4S.
-Size - The S3 seems kinda big. I need to be able to put my phone in my front pocket...... And if I wanted to put a case on the S3? But if the size is worth it...... then I'll deal.



Also, I'm not really educated about jailbraking. Ups and downs and advice about this?


And just how much slower is the iPhone than the others? If I decided I needed to do all the stuff the S3 can do, except on my iPhone, could my iPhone handle it? I'm going to have this phone for a couple of years, so I want it to be able to handle the new software that comes out in the next couple of years. Is the iPhone 5 gonna get outdated in like a year?

And, once again, price is not an issue. I plan on having this phone for a long time. I just want to make sure I'm spending it on the right one.


Thanks for all the comments, guys.

 

[NickHouston]

Storage- My 16 gig 4s is perfect for me... but I have less than 1k songs.
Camera- My 4s camera is great. A little distortion with zoom.
Durability. Get a $30 Speck case or an Otter box and you're 99% safe. I have a charging case and I drop my phone a lot and it's still fine. I highly recommend a screen protector though.
Audio- I'm not really an "Audio" person but my music sounds pretty good.
Size-4s is great in terms of size. Easy to hold and you can pretty much do anything with just your thumb.

As for Jailbreaking: There are plenty of walk throughs and guides relating to Jailbreaking. Just search it on youtube. But watch out for the date of the video because some people just change the names of the video to the next firmware version.

 

[Nikon]

Durability eh?

'Nuff said

 

[TheDude]

I like the screen and the size of the Lumia. How about storage, speed, and compatibility? And it's running windows, right? Anyone have any experience with Windows Mobile?


And, again, price is not an issue. So, whatever phone is better, regardless of price, I will buy.