Android Thread
Android Thread
i wont be using the phone a lot...so battery life does not matter to me..but i like the open nature of android platform..plus i already own a itouch so i dont see any reason to buy an iphone
whats the best android phone out atm?? and which ones are coming out that i should keep an eye out for??? cheers guys..
whats the best android phone out atm?? and which ones are coming out that i should keep an eye out for??? cheers guys..
Last edited by Pariah on 02 Apr 2011 02:44 am, edited 2 times in total.
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All Android phones out at the moment are almost identical internally. The only one that's any different is the Samsung Galaxy, which has 8GB storage built-in.
That's not quite out yet, apparently the first shipment for Australia is here, but they're not allowed to sell it for some reason.
It'll be ~$550-600 when it comes out.
I got my HTC Magic for $550 delivered from eBay, but then I had the hassle of flashing english firmware onto it. In retrospect, I probably did it the hard way by downloading the development SDK and doing stuff from there, but even that was pretty easy.
The other current option is the HTC Hero. I don't know if it's officially out in Australia or not, but it has the oleophobic screen that the iPhone 3GS has, and a 5MP camera (the other two HTC handsets have 3.2MP). It also has a different, snazzier UI to the default Android one.
The HTC Magic is a funny beast though, it's available in two different flavours, but you can't tell which is which easily. I think the 'branded' (Vodafone, etc) ones are the inferior '32B' model with less RAM.
The unbranded versions are apparently also getting the UI from the Hero in an update soon.
It's still early days for Android though. It's really, really nice to use, and if you have a properly maintained GMail account, getting it all set up is hilariously easy.
I'd be waiting until Motorola release the Cliq/Dext before making a decision though. Having a glass screen is pretty nice, and the "Motoblur" UI that they're putting on it looks quite nice.
That's not quite out yet, apparently the first shipment for Australia is here, but they're not allowed to sell it for some reason.
It'll be ~$550-600 when it comes out.
I got my HTC Magic for $550 delivered from eBay, but then I had the hassle of flashing english firmware onto it. In retrospect, I probably did it the hard way by downloading the development SDK and doing stuff from there, but even that was pretty easy.
The other current option is the HTC Hero. I don't know if it's officially out in Australia or not, but it has the oleophobic screen that the iPhone 3GS has, and a 5MP camera (the other two HTC handsets have 3.2MP). It also has a different, snazzier UI to the default Android one.
The HTC Magic is a funny beast though, it's available in two different flavours, but you can't tell which is which easily. I think the 'branded' (Vodafone, etc) ones are the inferior '32B' model with less RAM.
The unbranded versions are apparently also getting the UI from the Hero in an update soon.
It's still early days for Android though. It's really, really nice to use, and if you have a properly maintained GMail account, getting it all set up is hilariously easy.
I'd be waiting until Motorola release the Cliq/Dext before making a decision though. Having a glass screen is pretty nice, and the "Motoblur" UI that they're putting on it looks quite nice.
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Re: looking to buy an android...
uh...Pariah wrote:looking to buy an android...
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Re: looking to buy an android...
lol, careful Pariah that phone will break its programming yo!GreyWizzard wrote:uh...Pariah wrote:looking to buy an android...
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Everything I've heard about this phone points to it being a bit of a lemon, to be honest. Technically, it's above par for current Android handsets due to the camera flash, 5MP camera and 8GB onboard memory, but...Pariah wrote:yeah i was eyeing that samsung galaxy...$550-600 is pretty good price..
The AMOLED screen apparently looks pretty weak in direct sunlight.
The battery life is apparently pretty poor, despite having the largest capacity of any current Android handset. I've heard reports of it not making it through a whole day before needing a charge.
And lastly, Samsung has been rather ambiguous on the prospect of software upgrades. They've said that they "do not support upgrading of the system software to 2.0 (Donut)"
This is... odd. Not the least because v1.6 is Donut, and 2.0 is Eclair. There's some argument in the community as to exactly what this means. Most people seem to think that there'll never be an upgrade to the current system software (v1.5). However, I'm of the mind that Samsung is simply covering their arses and saying that they don't support users flashing custom ROMs onto their devices.
Nobody knows.
There's also the weird issue of the handsets actually being in the country right now but they can't release them yet for some obscure reason.
My suggestion if you want an Android handset right now (or in the next couple of months) is to get yourself an HTC Magic off eBay for ~$550. You'll probably have to flash it with an English ROM, but that is so easy to do that the guides on doing it actually make it look harder than it really is! And I did it the hard way!
If you're going to do that though, make sure you get yourself one that's not branded with the Google or Vodafone logo. This gets you a chunk of extra RAM in your phone, and you can flash it with the MyHero ROM if you really want. That's the system that the HTC Hero uses. It's a different UI, and it's sexy as all hell, especially on my black Magic.
The downside though, is that battery life is a bit shit., especially for the first week or so until the battery wears in a bit. I'm only just now getting a full day's usage out of it, now that the sheen has worn off somewhat.
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I'm importing a HTC Hero but I'm having a hard time tracking down a good place to get a 16GB class 6 microSD card. I've found a place in Brisbane that stocks adata branded ones (i guess they're alright?), but it's a pretty inconvenient location for me. Anyone know of a good online store with cheap shipping that sells them?
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Keep in mind that Android apps only run from the internal flash memory. If you do get an Android phone you might be better off getting a Samsung Galaxy for the long term as apps get bigger. Or just waiting for a phone with a decent screen and a larger amount of flash.
Also, WTF is it with review sites calling the flash memory space "ROM"? Is this some retarded Windows Mobile throwback or something?
Also, WTF is it with review sites calling the flash memory space "ROM"? Is this some retarded Windows Mobile throwback or something?
Which carrier are people here using?
I've been looking around and I'm considering Vodafone or Virgin at the moment.
Vodafone has a 6 month $20/month contract - adding the $10 data plan to that gives 200MB a month. Virgin has a Your Data plan, with seemingly no contract length with BYO phone, and is $34/month with slightly more call credit (though slightly more expensive calls) but with 300MB a month..
I'd go for Virgin but I hear that paid apps currently don't appear on the Android Market when using Virgin or Optus though - but it looks like the Market Enabler may be able to get around that? Then again it doesn't look like there are really many paid apps I care about anyway...
I've been looking around and I'm considering Vodafone or Virgin at the moment.
Vodafone has a 6 month $20/month contract - adding the $10 data plan to that gives 200MB a month. Virgin has a Your Data plan, with seemingly no contract length with BYO phone, and is $34/month with slightly more call credit (though slightly more expensive calls) but with 300MB a month..
I'd go for Virgin but I hear that paid apps currently don't appear on the Android Market when using Virgin or Optus though - but it looks like the Market Enabler may be able to get around that? Then again it doesn't look like there are really many paid apps I care about anyway...
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there's a workaround for the paid apps issue - incidentally, Optus claim not to block access to them and promote the use of Market Enabler to work around the issue. Retards.
Also, fuck 2-300MB/month. You'll chew through in no time that with Android (or an iPhone, I presume).
Also, fuck 2-300MB/month. You'll chew through in no time that with Android (or an iPhone, I presume).
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