Never had a Smartphone

[fantanel]

Hello.
As the title says, I never had a smartphone. I`m a regular 30+ years old guy who does not use Facebook, and now has a Sony Ericsson ELM mobile phone. It has served me well, but I tend to use it more and more for reading emails and browsing forums.

I would like to know if there is some cheaper alternative to the sony ericsson neo(s) / xperia / nokia lumia(s) that has a limited range of options / games / camera / any other thing that you think will be seldom used and may reduce the price.

I do not want a samsung phone, everyone around me has one, I know they are good and all that, but I`d still like something stranger looking / different if you will.
I am in no way well informed about smartphones, they were always considered a luxury for me because of the high prices (>200euros is high )

bottom line:
- i`d like a smartphone that is:
as cheap as possible
strange looking
has a touch-screen
does not require daily charge-up
is not samsung

if there are some viable options for me, please let me know;
if not, I still thank you for you time, and wish you a nice day.

cheers.

 

[ssddx]

bottom line:
- i`d like a smartphone that is:

as cheap as possible
*non-contract prices seem to hover between $300 and 600 for brand new phones and less for refurbished or used phones. new contract prices go as low as free to $200 depending on company. remember that you require a data plan with your smartphone so take that into account per month.

strange looking
*most smartphones are pretty much the same. big screen, minimal bezels and a few buttons on the bottom. some have rounded backs or curved screens. the only strange smartphones i have seen are the casio versions which are shock resistant and various blackberry models.

has a touch-screen
*all android and iphones have touch screens. a few models of blackberry have touchscreens. i believe all windows 7 phones have touchscreens but i havent dealt with them much.

does not require daily charge-up
*sorry to say but most smartphones get bad battery life. i can easily drain my phone in as little as 30 minutes if i turn every single feature on. if you turn off features such as gps and bluetooth when not in use and conserve power in other ways you can get a full days charge out of them. you can also get a larger battery pack which can help. the more you use it, the shorter it will last. the most i've gotten out of my phone with intermittent use is about 3 days. if i used it any less then there is no point to have a smartphone over a basic phone!

is not samsung
*why not? just to be different? how about LG or RAZR? while i'm not a fan in the least of razr's motoblur the new phone they have out with the huge battery pack does look interesting. finally a company decides to put a literal brick of a battery into a smartphone!

 

[fantanel]

thank you. i think i do not need a smartphone after all...
maybe in the future, we will see

have a nice weekend.

 

[ssddx]

what you might be looking for is called a feature phone. a few years back they were all the rage.

products like the "lg dare" on the verizon network had a touchscreen, onscreen keyboard and only had a few programs which you could consider apps (that were provided by the cellphone company) like calculator, navigation, tip calculator, calendar, etcetera.

i used to get at least 4-5 days out of it.

maybe this is what you want? its not a "smartphone" but its not a "basic phone".

 

[Roy84]

this is really very insightful... i enjoyed reading it...