Help me choose my next smartphone

[superboyac]

Until the end of the month ATT is offering an exchange of contract smartphones while waiving the "activation fee".  I have a windows phone 8 (lumia 920) currently.  It's ok, does the job.  But it sucks at a lot of things.  it is the most unconfigurable phone I've ever seen.  The battery life is bad, most of the time it will drain in less than 6 hours whether I'm using it or not.  The wireless charging pad is really cool, but I'd prefer having a phone that doesn't make me worry about it.  if I use the gps map app to navigate an hour trip, often that will drain the battery by over 50%.  So that's my complaint, plus I can't really play with the phone.

The good thing is that it syncs with my office Outlook flawelssly.  I've read Android and the Blackberry Z10 have issues (please confirm, I'd like to know more).  I've used Android before but I can't remember how the Outlook syncing was.  I do remember it being really hard to do.

So here's the plan: tomorrow the htc one "google edition" comes out.  I'm going to get that so i can have a "play" phone.  (this is not part of the exchange).  The google edition phone will allow me to get my geek on and I can try out crazy apps, try different ROMs, etc.  But I need a business phone also just in case (I don't actually need two).  It's just the Outlook thing bothering me.

my priority for the exchange:
1) Blackberry Z10 (good message hub, fast, good size for biz)
2) Galaxy S4 (just to compare to HTC One)
3) Galaxy Note 2 (great overall phone, but big)

Any thoughts/experiences?  Please share!

[Ath]

If you're not relying on Outlook Tasks to be synced, then by all means get a phone with Android 4.1 or newer on it, my appointments and e-mail sync just fine with our Exchange (2007/2010) server.
Android's standard e-mail app doesn't sync Tasks (AFAIK), but commercial offerings seem to do, but I don't want to pay for that

BTW: I'm on a Sony Xperia S, with Andoid 4.1.2, and am very happy with it, except for the battery life that's 'sub-optimal', but not really bad.
Also have an iPhone 4, that has excellent battery-life and perfect Exchange integration (don't know about the Tasks thing though, I don't use it  ), but that one is supplied by my employer; I had an Android phone before I got the iPhone, and want to keep both (though I actually prefer Android).

[superboyac]

If you're not relying on Outlook Tasks to be synced, then by all means get a phone with Android 4.1 or newer on it, my appointments and e-mail sync just fine with our Exchange (2007/2010) server.
Android's standard e-mail app doesn't sync Tasks (AFAIK), but commercial offerings seem to do, but I don't want to pay for that

BTW: I'm on a Sony Xperia S, with Andoid 4.1.2, and am very happy with it, except for the battery life that's 'sub-optimal', but not really bad.
Also have an iPhone 4, that has excellent battery-life and perfect Exchange integration (don't know about the Tasks thing though, I don't use it  ), but that one is supplied by my employer; I had an Android phone before I got the iPhone, and want to keep both (though I actually prefer Android).

No i don't care about tasks.  What made the iphone integration perfect?  Could you explain the differences between iphone and android?

if that's the case, I'll be very happy with the HTC One.  Now...should I switch windows phone for blackberry?

[Ath]

No i don't care about tasks.  What made the iphone integration perfect?  Could you explain the differences between iphone and android?

Comparing iPhone to early Android's (pre-4.0) then iPhone Just Works. Now, modern Android's also Just Work.

if that's the case, I'll be very happy with the HTC One.  Now...should I switch windows phone for blackberry?

Not a chance, BB is just making Android's with a twist, trying to keep their head above the water.

[superboyac]

thanks ath, very helpful.

[TaoPhoenix]

Until the end of the month ATT is offering an exchange of contract smartphones while waiving the "activation fee".  I have a windows phone 8 (lumia 920) currently.  It's ok, does the job.  But it sucks at a lot of things.  it is the most unconfigurable phone I've ever seen.  The battery life is bad, most of the time it will drain in less than 6 hours whether I'm using it or not.  The wireless charging pad is really cool, but I'd prefer having a phone that doesn't make me worry about it.  if I use the gps map app to navigate an hour trip, often that will drain the battery by over 50%.  So that's my complaint, plus I can't really play with the phone.
Any thoughts/experiences?  Please share!

It think it's a tricky time to be buying a smartphone. I'd offer a soft recommendation against MS WinPhone, simply because of their habit of histrionic marketing cycles and then going all "pretend we never even launched that."

Knowing full well the downsides, I just got an iPhone because I never intended to do serious computing on my phone. It's a phone with toys, not a mini-me computer.

Going a little sideways, about things like the GPS, it's one reason I don't mind just having a second device for a power hungry use. So I just have a standalone GPS, saving the phone for more "phone-ish" stuff. And also take advantage of car chargers! : )

[ewemoa]

3) Galaxy Note 2 (great overall phone, but big)

I've used the Note 2.  I wouldn't recommend it if you like smaller devices.  My short take on this device is -- if you have significant experience with gadgets there's a good chance you'll notice a fair number of things that are not quite right.

Some such details include (but are not necessarily limited to the Note 2):

-The menu and back button are not visible all of the time - only when they light up - this turned out to be particularly bad for me in combination with the next point
-The back button is on the right of the home button (contrary to how browsers do it, how some (all?) Nexus devices do it, etc.)
-AFAICT, you can't use the stylus to press the menu button nor the back button
-Pulling the stylus out adds a new home screen panel which doesn't appear to be accessible otherwise

There are some interesting things being tried out with these devices (e.g. use of the stylus, vibration when stylus removed, etc.) but my impression is that they don't quite mesh well together.  Neat to play around with, but I find it difficult to recommend as a device to be relied on (e.g. I don't want to go through being locked in and then left in the dark if I create a fair bit of data using the stylus-based notes).

[superboyac]

Well, it's June 26...where is the HTC One?  It's supposed to be on Google Play.  I don't see it...

[ewemoa]

Don't know.

Does the following show anything for you?

https://play.google.com/store/devices/details?id=htc_one&hl=en

[ewemoa]

BTW, if you do get an HTC One, please share your thoughts on your experiences with it.

[Dirhael]

I own a Nokia 920, Galaxy Note II and a HTC One (well, and an iPhone 4S but I don't use it any longer). Out of those, the HTC One is my primary phone. Absolutely fantastic build quality, it's fast and the sound from the speakers is the best I've ever heard from a phone (I listen to a *lot* of podcasts, so this was for me quite important). The camera is also good, and with the leaked Android 4.2.2 release I no longer have any issues with the button layout. That said, if I were to pick one for business use I'd probably choose the Note II any day of the week due to the great battery life. With normal use I have no problems getting it to last for 2-3 days on a single charge, something that certainly can't be said for the HTC One or the Nokia 920.

[allen]

Dude, you need to swap that Lumia 920. Something is wrong. I have the same phone and can use it all day (moderate to heavy) without depleting the battery.

If you're already getting the HTC One (I am so envious!), I don't think you need another Android--Get the Z10, one more OS for the collection!

I have one, my list of cons/pros are: Its battery is not fantastic. It's comparable to but not quite as good as my Lumia 920 (which compared to YOUR 920 probably IS fantastic!).  The real downside to the Z10 is its app selection. It really makes the Windows Phone store seem brimming. There just aren't many great native apps (though the ones that are there... well, active frames are neat!). While side loading Android apps is an option, it's really more a novelty I think. I've side loaded a few (fitbit, Evernote, Instagram) -- across the board, they are SLOW.

On the other hand, the size, the gesture-based interface and the new flick keyboard makes using it with one hand a dream. The hub is great, centralized notification is something Windows Phone sorely needs. I've been carrying it as my primary this week. While apps have made most phones toys with communication capabilities, the Z10 really feels like a communication device. A true "smart phone".

[Tuxman]

Stick with the Lumia. Best hardware available.

[superboyac]

Dude, you need to swap that Lumia 920. Something is wrong. I have the same phone and can use it all day (moderate to heavy) without depleting the battery.

If you're already getting the HTC One (I am so envious!), I don't think you need another Android--Get the Z10, one more OS for the collection!

I have one, my list of cons/pros are: Its battery is not fantastic. It's comparable to but not quite as good as my Lumia 920 (which compared to YOUR 920 probably IS fantastic!).  The real downside to the Z10 is its app selection. It really makes the Windows Phone store seem brimming. There just aren't many great native apps (though the ones that are there... well, active frames are neat!). While side loading Android apps is an option, it's really more a novelty I think. I've side loaded a few (fitbit, Evernote, Instagram) -- across the board, they are SLOW.

On the other hand, the size, the gesture-based interface and the new flick keyboard makes using it with one hand a dream. The hub is great, centralized notification is something Windows Phone sorely needs. I've been carrying it as my primary this week. While apps have made most phones toys with communication capabilities, the Z10 really feels like a communication device. A true "smart phone".

Thanks allen.  I'll go to the store and try to replace it.  I've decided to stick with the Lumia because the outlook integration is so smooth.  I would have gotten the Z10, but given the way BB's future is looking, I think MS is looking to have more of an upside.

I'm going to get the HTC One google play version, so that will be my play phone.  Only thing I can't figure out is that the store currently doesn't offer a black one, and there was supposed to be a "developer's version" for $50 more and with 64GB memory, but where the hell do you buy one?!  So I'm waiting to see if either of those will be available before getting the normal silver one.  here's the link to it:
https://play.google.com/store/devices/details?id=htc_one&feature=ha-text-sem_bk-htc1&utm_source=ha&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=sem_bk&utm_content=htc1&gclid=CMCO-fiqhbgCFWiL7Aodd0sAAA&gclsrc=ds

[superboyac]

I replaced the lumia 920 with a new one.  Pretty easy, even the apps and text messages transferred over.  hopefully no battery issues with this one.

[StuR]

Not much to add about the phones. I have a Samsung Galaxy S3 that I'm happy with, but I don't use it for even half of what it can do.

RE: battery drain, though. If you have an Android phone I've found that using a free app called Battery Doctor makes a big difference in slowing down drain.

[Tuxman]

I'd suggest Greenify.

[Jibz]

If you want to do a little investigation yourself on battery drain, I found Wakelock Detector helpful for figuring out which apps interrupt your phones peaceful slumber.

I've looked at Battery Doctor (and the other app KS Mobile offers, Clean Master) before, but somehow was a bit worried about a company that offers two highly popular apps for free. I am probably paranoid though .

[superboyac]

^^you guys are suggesting android apps.  This is a windows phone.

[Tuxman]

Precisely, but probably there are Android users reading this, right?

I'm not sure if Wakelock detectors work on Windows Phone at all. 

[Arizona Hot]

Any interest in the Nokia Lumia 1020 with the 41-megapixel camera coming out this month. It's only available on AT&T, so that may be something against it. You may want to wait for hands-on user reviews and experience about it.

[superboyac]

Any interest in the Nokia Lumia 1020 with the 41-megapixel camera coming out this month. It's only available on AT&T, so that may be something against it. You may want to wait for hands-on user reviews and experience about it.

I personally think the hype of the 41 megapixel camera is stupid.  Not that the camera isn't great.  I find that it distracts from some of the more important windows phone related issues that could be addressed.  how about adding just a tad of customize-ability to the phone?  a lot of users have made some fantastic suggestions for small ways to improve the phone, and there is nothing.  all these stupid updates that don't do anything.  Seriously, they have updated things like the "about" screen more times than actually updating some things that add functionality to the phone.  how about adding a "select all" feature for emails?  little things like this.  how about giving some control over the fu--ing volume?  cmon, it would take one person a week to do these things.  i can't tell you how sick i am of just hype in general.

even something like navigating the music library is a complete pain.  there aren't enough buttons to go back and not enough options to do things with the playlists and stuff.  my biggest complaint with the phone is that it has been way too over simplified.  it's almost like the goal with apple and microsoft (microsoft being the worse of the two actually) is how much functionality can we cram into a single button? if it tap it it does this, if i hold it it does that, etc.  and that would be fine, but even the settings and options don't even have anything in there.  so many times on the windows phone, you will go into a settings or option for something, only to find the most minimal amount of things available, it will blow your mind.  There's a screen that tells you the specs of your phone...on that screen there's a "more" button.  if you press it, it shows you...get this...a few more lines of specs.  what the f--k is that?  just put them all on the screen?  what are you, saving me from reading 4 more specs out of 100?  such idiotic, careless, i don't give a f--k decisions with MS lately.

there's a settings menu labeled "network+".  what's inside?  just a toggle for call waiting.  what the hell is that?

Don't get me wrong, I like the phone, it's pretty smooth overall.  This negative/cynical reaction of mine is more of a response to all the hype, which in no way matches the reality of the phone.  it's just a nice phone.  it will get you through the day, nothing to write home about.  but this hyping of everything has been a bad problem since the economy went down.  maybe all the QE money went into marketing or something, i don't know.  seems like all the big companies are doing their best to super-steroid overhype anything that is within their grasp.  man i must be in a bad mood or something...time for bed.

[Shades]

Bill Gates was a tech and when he was leading the company, there were real advances in their software (granted, it was either bullied from x, bought from x or made in-house), now an accountant is ruling the company and see that there are no real advances anymore. More wind-bagging and less substance unfortunately require hype...

[Arizona Hot]

If I had your experience about the phone, I would never have mentioned it. All I knew was that it was a new phone coming out with a extreme camera.

[Arizona Hot]

I personally think the hype of the 41 megapixel camera is stupid.

If I had your experience about the phone, I would never have mentioned it. All I knew was that it was a new phone coming out with a extreme camera.