Not gonna be the weird guy anymore.

[MephistoRacing]

I'm thinking of finally getting a new cellamaphone. Partially because everyone thinks it's so strange to not have one, and partially because my girlfriend keeps whining for me to get one. The last cellphone I had was a big black Motorola RAZR. I think first gen (around 2005ish). So you can probably guess that I'm pretty out of the loop with these things.

 

The provider I'll be going with offers a few phones for free, as long as you get a 3 year plan, which is great because I don't want to spend money on something I don't care about. Here's a list of the (Android, I'm going with Android) phones they offer for free with a plan (I REALLY like the looks of the Sony Xperia Ion). Help pick one for me pl0x.

 

Sony:

Xperia Ion

 

Samsung:

Galaxy S Glide

Galaxy Q

Galaxy S II LTE

Galaxy Rugby

 

HTC:

Desire C

Desire C Red

 

Motorola:

Defy Pro

 

LG:

Optimus L7

[TIMELESS]

Well I heard the Google (LG) Nexus 4 is one of the best Android phones out atm, so perhaps consider it. Wouldn't advise you go for the LG Optimus or Motorola. Samsung Galaxy S2 is a good phone, but newer phones are better, the rest of the Galaxy phones are probably pretty good too. Not sure on the HTC either.

 

Your best bet is probably the Sony Xperia or Samsung Galaxy.. but I'd go for a Nexus 4 over all :p

[MephistoRacing]

Question: What's all this LTE and crap mean? On the website of the provider they have a coverage map, and one of the options for it is LTE, then there's the usual 4G and such. What's all this about?

[TIMELESS]

LTE an initialism of Long Term Evolution' date=' marketed as 4G LTE, is a standard for wireless communication of high-speed data for mobile phones and data terminals[/quote']

 

:hmmm: 4G? xD

[Camel]

You'll always be our weird guy... :pathead:

 

:p

[MephistoRacing]

Oh. So... Erm... K. :oook:

[iNotACactus]

Definitely get a Nexus 4. Costs $300(US), has no carrier/OEM skins, and is easily modifyable. Also gets every Android update.

[The Compensator]

Yeah, get the Nexus 4.

[TIMELESS]

Yay, I clearly spoke the word of sense and hey.. did I mention.. soup?!

[iNotACactus]

The Nexus 4 costs $300 (US money) upfront but if you use a prepaid plan it still works out as less than any of the carriers' offers with a free phone If you're feeling like staying weird, you can get one for $200 from a carrier but that leaves carriers to do updates, not Google, and carriers suck at everything.

[ScoobSTi]

Nexus 4. Because everything Waft said, and no stupid bloatware (I believe).

[iNotACactus]

Nope, the Nexus 4 only comes with the stock Android apps.

[Paladin Skylark]

I assume you're through Rogers, so I'll just say since I have friends that work for them:

 

The best selling phones at the moment are the Galaxy 3 and the Blackberry Torch.

The best deals you can get are on the Nexus and the Galaxy 3.

[killalldude]

I'm probably going to be the only one to suggest this, but I'd get the Xperia. Sony's phones are just teh sex. I have an Xperia Arc S, and it's nice. I always get compliments on it because nobody else seems to buy Sony phones. The Galaxy S2 is also a great phone.

[iNotACactus]

Galaxy S2

[ScoobSTi]

At least no one said "get the first iPhone". :hmmm: Plus, it's the S2 is still being marketed (here at least) with the S3.

[iNotACactus]

Sure it's not the 4/4S being marketed? Never seen any 1st gen ads in ever.

[ScoobSTi]

Oh whoops, I meant the S2 and S3. :fp:

[Ryzza5]

S2 and S3 are great phones if you an stretch. Nexus didn't have a micro SD card slot for extra storage which was a downside for me.

 

Try to get something with the latest version of Android already installed (Jelly Bean) and lots of RAM will keep the phone super fast once you discover the app store.

Also if there's something about the phone software you don't like, odds are you can fix it with an app. e.g., don't like how the phone only vibrates once or twice when the phone rings?, there's a free app that lets you customise the vibrator by typing in .'s and -'s

 

4G/LTE provides the fastest Internet speeds, although the infrastructure is still rolling out, and using it on your phone drains the battery faster. It is noticeably faster though, if you're into browsing the web or downloading songs/videos, etc on your phone.

 

 

I don't know much about the other brands but I'd recommend the Galaxy 2 LTE. The S2 battery wasn't great to start off with so I'm not sure if the LTE version has a better battery to compensate. You'll probably get 1.5 days from a charge but I charge mine overnight each day anyway just to be safe. Also find a shop that has the phones on display, I've found the Samsung TouchWiz interface on the Galaxy line a LOT better than some smaller/cheaper Android phones.

[Paladin Skylark]

I have the Sony Xperia Arc S as well and it's amazing. I'm enamored with my phone, though the new T looks really good and I might upgrade.

[MephistoRacing]

It's SO BLOODY COLD IN MY HOUSE.

 

Back on topic.

 

@Ryzz - Vibrating in morse code sounds sweet. Already discovered the app store on my tablet reader thingy, so I understand the need for keeping it fast.

 

The Xperia I was looking at says it comes with Android 2, upgradeable to 4.

 

@Devin - Yeh, gonna be Rogers. I already get cable through them, so it works.

 

Note the list above. Those are the phones I can get free with a contract, and $0 is exactly the amount that I'm willing to front for a phone.

 

Check here for things other than Android, if you want to suggest others.

 

http://www.rogers.com/web/link/wirelessBuyFlow?forwardTo=PhoneThenPlan&productType=normal&N=52+11+4294948709

 

Sorry if I sound irritable, it's just SOOOOO BLOODY COLD IN MY HOUSE.

[Paladin Skylark]

Okay so you need to know that with a smartphone on Rogers you have to take a data plan, which is probably going to increase your monthly payment slightly, though they do have cheap ones available (not sure if you knew this or not, figured I'd warn you if you didn't know). You might be able to negotiate with them when you sign up, you may be able to get the Galaxy 3 at a discounted price since it's selling so well at the moment. Personally, if I were you, I'd grab the Xperia Ion for 1 cent. It's not going to be 1 cent forever though, they've lowered the prices for the Holiday season so you're getting a good deal on it.

 

Anywho, just my opinion.

[MephistoRacing]

Well, I was just gonna get this plan:

 

$27.00 /month± Includes all monthly fees

150 Local Minutes Unlimited Local From 6 pm

Unlimited Text, Picture, Video Messages + Unlimited BBM2

 

The site doesn't say anything about data plans, does that mean I'd have to get one of the "Talk, Text, and Internet" plans?

 

http://www.rogers.com/web/Rogers.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=WLRS_Plans

 

This is all stupid. I liked it how it used to be. You just paid a few dollars and got to talk a bit.

[hassan1995]

As an S2 owner i recommend that phone out of all of those, it's a brilliant phone and if you can root it better, its a great phone nice size and quite slim and light

[Rassva]

Optimus G or Xperia Ion , these phones look fancy , these days every smartphone is good , just choose the one that has a nice design.