Mobile phones

[Chimeray]

So I haven't bought a phone in 3-4 years. Mostly because I'm not up to date at all, now this new stuff alienates me and I just stopped caring for a while.

I have no idea what the different lines of HTC mean, Desire... One. Etc, no idea what's the real difference

Everyone's been hyping the Samsung Galaxy S3 and I've got a friend that has one and it looks great but WTF... it's humongous!

I really don't want a gigantic phone in my pocket, I don't think I need that many features but I assume I'd get jealous really fast and end up wishing I had more.

So should I just suck it up and buy a phone the size of half a tablet? Or is there anything else on the market that's great but a tad bit smaller?

Much appreciated guys!

[Thrik]

I have a HTC One X and I'm not feeling too great about it right now. I'd had an iPhone 4 for two years previously and was satisfied with that in almost every way, I just wanted something new and a little bit bigger.

The One X is just too big, though. It's the same size as the S3 and I just can't figure out why they feel the need to make their flagship phones so big — this is a step backwards IMO, after so many years spent trying to miniaturise them. With that said the iPhone is a little small, so I suspect the iPhone 5 might actually be about the perfect size. My main issue with the One X is I can't type or use interfaces properly because I don't have huge hands and I do genuinely struggle a bit to get my thumb all the way across without having to stabilise the phone with my other hand.

So I'd seriously test out this size of phone before you consider one. The main phones right now are the HTC One X, Samsung Galaxy S3, iPhone 4S, and iPhone 5 ($$$). There's also the imminent Nokia 920 which runs the apparently great Windows Phone 8, and the Samsung Galaxy S2 from the previous year which still gets software updates but is smaller than the S3.

Android itself is great, but then so is iOS. I'd find it almost impossible to choose one of the two if it weren't for the fact that IMO Apple ships better apps by default, so if you like to have a phone that comes with most of the stuff you're likely to need and for it to 'just work' (lol) really well you will get that with an iPhone. With Android I was unsatisfied with most of the apps it came with and had to seek out replacements.

[mjens]

I have iPhone 3G since 4 years and it's nice but I won't buy new iPhone. Apple made a nice phone and then added tons of gadgets that I don't need. 3G is working a bit slow, it can be annoying but it's my first phone that lives so long.

Anyway, I'm thinking about getting new Samsung or THC but I guess it will be more like programmer-art and less stable then iOS.

[Evert]

[Sentura]

i've had a nokia n900 for a while because of the keyboard, but i've considered getting a new nokia lumia 920, depending on how well it is received.i have an aversion for anything java-based (read: android), and i don't like apple enough to buy their phones.

[Thrik]

i've had a nokia n900 for a while because of the keyboard, but i've considered getting a new nokia lumia 920, depending on how well it is received.i have an aversion for anything java-based (read: android), and i don't like apple enough to buy their phones.

Pretty sure Android is built on Linux and C. Apps can be built using the Java syntax, but the Java engine itself like you might install on a desktop computer isn't used. Similar to how web browsers nowadays all have their own Javascript engines which all use the same language. This shouldn't be a factor entering remotely into your consideration of a device IMO.

[Sentura]

you're right, but i was saying that in regards to apps as well. it may be that i will at a point start developing my own stuff for a phone, and in that case i'd prefer c# over java.

[e-freak]

http://xamarin.com/monoforandroid

[Chimeray]

Thx for the info guys!

Any reason to get a 720x1280 display instead of something like 540 x 960 which is sometimes used on 4" displays? (Wanna keep the screen as small as possible)

Do all apps still work on all resolutions? Convenience issues?

[cyberjunkie]

Really depends on what your usage is like. If you take 15 minutes to travel to work and are on your PC at all times, you can simply forget the need of having a smartphone. If you're travelling at least an hour a day, sure a 4.7-inch screen phone loaded with a tons of apps, everything from comic book readers to games to IRC clients is really what you need. You may not feel like you do, but use it and you start realizing that it's actually fun, also more convenient than a tablet or notebook. I spend close to 3-4hrs travelling everyday and I love my Galaxy Nexus.

[Steppenwolf]

Am i the only one still using a dumbphone?

[insta]

Am i the only one still using a dumbphone?

Nope, me too. I have this "four in a row" game on it that I've gotten really good at.

Here's a youtube video of it:

Not me playing sadly, but I'll get there some day :derp:

[Thrik]

Thx for the info guys!

Any reason to get a 720x1280 display instead of something like 540 x 960 which is sometimes used on 4" displays? (Wanna keep the screen as small as possible)

Do all apps still work on all resolutions? Convenience issues?

Apps usually work fine on all resolutions as the aspect ratios are fairly uniform. It's worth noting that newer phones have what Apple pretty much debuted as a 'retina display', which basically means the resolution is so high you can't see the individual pixels and everything has a paper-like smoothness. It does make a big difference if you spend a lot of time looking at your phone so is worth looking out for. All the newer flagship models tend to come with it.

[Skjalg]

i've had a nokia n900 for a while because of the keyboard, but i've considered getting a new nokia lumia 920, depending on how well it is received.i have an aversion for anything java-based (read: android), and i don't like apple enough to buy their phones.

Pretty sure Android is built on Linux and C. Apps can be built using the Java syntax, but the Java engine itself like you might install on a desktop computer isn't used. Similar to how web browsers nowadays all have their own Javascript engines which all use the same language. This shouldn't be a factor entering remotely into your consideration of a device IMO.

They are closer to java than you are letting on. It basically is a custom java on a linux kernel. But that in itself is not so bad. The thing that makes android such a piece of shit OS is that they dont have a dedicated UI thread, so when the java garbage collector decides to run you'll just have to wait for it to finish, fuck you if you were scrolling a list or trying to move the map in google maps or something as easy as typing, lag here I come!!

I was so in love with the open system and everything that android stands for, but I think it has really turned into a steaming pile of shit execution wise. Luckily the new windows phones such as lumia 800-900 are really great performance wise so I dont have to marry apple.

[-HP-]