Phone Recommendation

sh1ft3d

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Oct 27, 2004
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18,510
I have been using a Blackberry Tour on Verizon for almost 3 years. I've been holding out for "the next best phone", but each phone that has come out has disappointed in one way or another. I was curious as to whether anyone went through something similar as I and could offer suggestions as to how to proceed.

First of all, I'm more or less pleased with the Tour even now with the exception of the following:

■Larger screen would be nice
■The Internet browser on the BB is just completely awful. I've tried alternatives like Opera Mini and Bolt, but haven't been impressed enough with either to switch mainly due to bad lag in both likely due to insufficient hardware in the Tour.
■Camera's very dated now. I'd like to have a phone that could replace the need for a point and shoot camera, which I think phones have gotten to that point from what I've read and reviews of camera, etc.
■Bloatware: Tons of crap you can't uninstall that I will never use. I know just about all phones will have this issue with exception of possibly iPhone 4s unless you're open to rooting. It's not been a huge problem since the apps don't run on their own and you can hide the shortcuts for everything in a "Not Used" folder which I've done.

Things I like about Tour that I want to avoid compromising on if possible:

■Battery: I can go 2-3 days on a full charge with Tour. I would like to get at least a full day of usage out of a new phone. This has been one of the most disappointing things for me with newer phones.
■Good work/personal life balance: I like how the Tour separates personal gmail and Exchange email account. Maybe all phones do this well, I don't know.
■Accessibility: Can easily browse file system on phone. If plugging in microUSB to USB on PC, immediately recognizes the microSD card without having to install iTunes/iCloud/iCrap/some kind of Media Manager (Droid Inc 2 requires some sort of stupid media manager too so it's not limited to just iPhone that requires this nonsense).
■Hard Keyboard: I could maybe compromise on this as it may just be due to having grown accustomed to a hard keyboard, but I will be using this phone for work and personal so lots of typing.

I like the iPhone 4s from the standpoint of being a solid phone with a decent battery (except for the issues reported by some to where they get very poor battery but those appear to be isolated incidents), but I really can't stand the inaccessibility and the requirement to have proprietary cables and such to charge and access the phone.

The thing I hate about newer droids is the piss poor battery life. I don't want a phone that can't get through a full day on a single charge. Plus, I almost think that phones (Droids in particular) are just getting simply too big. The OS situation kinda bothers me a little bit too with there being something like 10+ flavors of the droid OS out there and the open question mark of what phones will get the newest ICS and when. I do, however, like the seamless Google integration of droids as I'm a big Google user (gmail, docs, etc).

The phones I'm kind of leaning towards right now as I feel they require the least amount of compromises are iPhone 4s or Droid 4 (expected sometime in Dec) or maybe even Rezound (RAZR's off the list due to poor battery and it just looks like it'd be too big).

Just not sure what to do and looking for suggestions... thanks in advance
 
After having and iPhone 4 for more than a year and recently playing with HTC Radar,I've to say I'm impressed with both the battery life of new WP7 devices and their UI.
So I recommend HTC Radar/Titan if you're into WP7;otherwise,iPhone 4S is a decent choice.
An in Android devices,your best bet is Galaxy SII or Droid Razr but both have less battery life than the phones mentioned
 

sh1ft3d

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Oct 27, 2004
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18,510
Thanks for response. I'm on Verizon and staying on Verizon so that would knock out the Samsung Galaxy S2 and HTC Radar. Otherwise, I'd probably compromise on new physical keyboard and get the S2. It really looks like the best phone out right now regardless of carrier. The Droid4 is allegedly to be released on Dec 8 on Verizon with the Galaxy Nexus so I think I'll hold out til then and see what the reviews bring.