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I hope all the Android fans show up to this thread: I am going to buy a new smart phone to celebrate my birthday. Since I don't love the iPhone, I'm thinking of

I hope all the Android fans show up to this thread: I am going to buy a new smart phone to celebrate my birthday. Since I don't love the iPhone, I'm thinking of getting an Android. What's the best phone on the market - or should I wait a bit for one yet to come out? I'm on the AT&T contract.

bconway 16y ago
I was about to list my favorite Verizon phones until I hit the last sentence, d'oh. I'd check out the Samsung Android phones on AT&T. They're just about the only ones that aren't an awful experience.
greenlblue 16y ago
Get a palm pre.
Paulomus 16y ago
An Android fan/wanna-be rather than a user yet, but of the two Android handsets I have played with, I was disappointed with the Nexus One, but really liked my friends HTC Desire (The "Sense" UI seemed to make a lot of difference).
mahmud 16y ago
Don't forget to tinker; the Android SDK is an absolute joy, specially with the Eclipse integration, and you don't need a physical device to write apps. The simulator is faithful to a fault (you can even get plugins to simulate the sensor, to shake and tilt the phone.) Jump in! It's fun, clean, ambitious and Free. Most importantly, it has "winner" written all over it.
jmillikin 16y ago
Everything I've read about Android phones indicates that the Nexus One is by far the best. I refuse to use any phone which locks out its own user, which rules out some of the cheaper offerings, but the extra $100 is less important to me than being able to modify its behavior.
old-gregg 16y ago
The way I see it, there is only one Android phone out there: Nexus One. Getting anything else does not make sense - you're essentially getting a loan (!) for a dumbed-down, restricted and less capable phone hampered even more by "value adding" crapware, running an obsolete OS without any guarantees of an upgrade in the future. T-Mobile offers cheaper plans for those who don't need a loan to buy a phone, i.e. getting a financed/subsidized crap actually ends up being expensive in the long (2yr) run. Its not the carriers who are guilty, it is the users who keep flocking towards subsidized crap. Its like buying laptops from Dell at 50% off financed at 20%APR that have Windows+crapware engraved in ROM, incapable of booting anything else.
- aphexairlines 16y ago
  So where are the Dell, Lenovo, Toshiba, Sony, HP, Gateway, Acer, Asus, Alienware, Samsung, MSI, etc of phones?
- sandGorgon 16y ago
  No - there are several "Android" phones. These are the ones which Cyanogenmod supports. Cyanogenmod is a community supported Android distro made for each and every phone model that it supports. My HTC MAgic (equiv. T-Mobile Mytouch 3G) is now running Cyanogenmod 6 based on Android 2.2 Most of the other custom firmware for phones are based off Cyanogenmod, rather than stock Android. Support the project financially or otherwise, and request for your particular phone. Usually, all HTC phones are supported.
  - m_eiman 16y ago
    Does this method rely on security holes, like the iPhone jailbreaks, or is it something explicitly allowed by handset makers (and operators)?
    - sandGorgon 16y ago
      Quite a few of the phones allow it (most of the HTC, the original Moto Droid, the Nexus One of course, etc.). I think even the Samsungs allow it. For some of them (early HTC, etc.) the process exploits a hole. The install process for both is the same though: install new bootloader -> choose your flavor of Android.
dlsspy 16y ago
I really like my Nexus One. I got it with no cooperation from any carrier, so they have no direct influence, and the hardware is actually pretty good.
dangrossman 16y ago
HTC Evo 4G from Sprint. It was updated to Android 2.2 quickly after release, has similar hardware to the Nexus One, but with the addition of a 4G chip and huge screen. Even in the suburbs out here there is 4G coverage from Clear and Sprint. The plans are cheap compared to everyone else ($79.99/mo for unlimited data, unlimited sms/mms, unlimited cell-to-cell calling on any network).
- nitrogen 16y ago
  I have a Samsung Epic 4G from Sprint (I really wanted a physical keyboard). I like the hardware, and Android 2.1 seems pretty decent, but Sprint included a bunch of uninstallable crapware that clutters the Applications list, and the battery life is below 24 hours with the phone mostly idling and wifi and 4G off (I played Pandora for .5 hours on 3G/4G as I was driving). I hope it gets fully cracked so I can put a more battery-saving firmware on it.
bonzoesc 16y ago
The best ones that you can buy are the Motorola Verizon Droid X, Motorola Verizon Droid 2 (a different phone), HTC Sprint Evo 4G, HTC T-Mobile MyTouch 3G Slide, AT&T Samsung Galaxy S Captivate, Sprint Samsung Galaxy S Epic 4G, T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant, and Verizon Samsung Galaxy S Fascinate. Be prepared to buy a new one each month to keep up. I suspect Google's vision for Android was not a confusing array of confusingly named phones running confusingly different variants of software that confusingly require your cell provider to upgrade.

bconway 16y ago

I was about to list my favorite Verizon phones until I hit the last sentence, d'oh. I'd check out the Samsung Android phones on AT&T. They're just about the only ones that aren't an awful experience.

greenlblue 16y ago

Get a palm pre.

Paulomus 16y ago

An Android fan/wanna-be rather than a user yet, but of the two Android handsets I have played with, I was disappointed with the Nexus One, but really liked my friends HTC Desire (The "Sense" UI seemed to make a lot of difference).

mahmud 16y ago

Don't forget to tinker; the Android SDK is an absolute joy, specially with the Eclipse integration, and you don't need a physical device to write apps. The simulator is faithful to a fault (you can even get plugins to simulate the sensor, to shake and tilt the phone.) Jump in! It's fun, clean, ambitious and Free. Most importantly, it has "winner" written all over it.

jmillikin 16y ago

Everything I've read about Android phones indicates that the Nexus One is by far the best. I refuse to use any phone which locks out its own user, which rules out some of the cheaper offerings, but the extra $100 is less important to me than being able to modify its behavior.

old-gregg 16y ago

The way I see it, there is only one Android phone out there: Nexus One. Getting anything else does not make sense - you're essentially getting a loan (!) for a dumbed-down, restricted and less capable phone hampered even more by "value adding" crapware, running an obsolete OS without any guarantees of an upgrade in the future. T-Mobile offers cheaper plans for those who don't need a loan to buy a phone, i.e. getting a financed/subsidized crap actually ends up being expensive in the long (2yr) run. Its not the carriers who are guilty, it is the users who keep flocking towards subsidized crap. Its like buying laptops from Dell at 50% off financed at 20%APR that have Windows+crapware engraved in ROM, incapable of booting anything else.

aphexairlines 16y ago
So where are the Dell, Lenovo, Toshiba, Sony, HP, Gateway, Acer, Asus, Alienware, Samsung, MSI, etc of phones?
sandGorgon 16y ago
No - there are several "Android" phones. These are the ones which Cyanogenmod supports. Cyanogenmod is a community supported Android distro made for each and every phone model that it supports. My HTC MAgic (equiv. T-Mobile Mytouch 3G) is now running Cyanogenmod 6 based on Android 2.2 Most of the other custom firmware for phones are based off Cyanogenmod, rather than stock Android. Support the project financially or otherwise, and request for your particular phone. Usually, all HTC phones are supported.
- m_eiman 16y ago
  Does this method rely on security holes, like the iPhone jailbreaks, or is it something explicitly allowed by handset makers (and operators)?
  - sandGorgon 16y ago
    Quite a few of the phones allow it (most of the HTC, the original Moto Droid, the Nexus One of course, etc.). I think even the Samsungs allow it. For some of them (early HTC, etc.) the process exploits a hole. The install process for both is the same though: install new bootloader -> choose your flavor of Android.

dlsspy 16y ago

I really like my Nexus One. I got it with no cooperation from any carrier, so they have no direct influence, and the hardware is actually pretty good.

dangrossman 16y ago

HTC Evo 4G from Sprint. It was updated to Android 2.2 quickly after release, has similar hardware to the Nexus One, but with the addition of a 4G chip and huge screen. Even in the suburbs out here there is 4G coverage from Clear and Sprint. The plans are cheap compared to everyone else ($79.99/mo for unlimited data, unlimited sms/mms, unlimited cell-to-cell calling on any network).

nitrogen 16y ago
I have a Samsung Epic 4G from Sprint (I really wanted a physical keyboard). I like the hardware, and Android 2.1 seems pretty decent, but Sprint included a bunch of uninstallable crapware that clutters the Applications list, and the battery life is below 24 hours with the phone mostly idling and wifi and 4G off (I played Pandora for .5 hours on 3G/4G as I was driving). I hope it gets fully cracked so I can put a more battery-saving firmware on it.

bonzoesc 16y ago

The best ones that you can buy are the Motorola Verizon Droid X, Motorola Verizon Droid 2 (a different phone), HTC Sprint Evo 4G, HTC T-Mobile MyTouch 3G Slide, AT&T Samsung Galaxy S Captivate, Sprint Samsung Galaxy S Epic 4G, T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant, and Verizon Samsung Galaxy S Fascinate. Be prepared to buy a new one each month to keep up. I suspect Google's vision for Android was not a confusing array of confusingly named phones running confusingly different variants of software that confusingly require your cell provider to upgrade.