Which smart phone should I get?

By Charles Stricklin · Thursday, April 24th, 2008

I currently use a Motorola Razr V3r with service by Altel. I’d like to update to a smart phone. While I wait for Apple to release the 3G iPhones later this year and force me to switch to AT&T (which I’ve recently learned has better coverage and signal strength in important places, like… my apartment), I’d like to choose from one of the smart phones that Altel offers in my area.

My choices are:

I’d like to be able to do things like maintain my schedule, maintain a to-do list, handle e-mails, text messaging, possibly record expenses and maintain my finances, possibly listen to podcasts and other audio, and video would be nice, too.

Those of you who are more savvy about this stuff than I am, which should I choose?

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Comments

By Ryan Joy on April 24th, 2008 at 8:50 am

I’m waiting for Apple to announce their 3G iphone too. I really hope it will happen at this year’s WWDC in June. Until that time I’m borrowing a friend’s HTC 3125 smartphone. Prior to this phone, I had a Samsung Blackjack which I was mostly satisfied with compared to some of the other smartphones. However, I lost that phone in a canoe incident. :-(

I’ve never had a BlackBerry so I can’t vouch for their phones, but the Palm’s are alright as are the Windows Mobile phones. The biggest issue for me is that the phone have a good QWERTY keyboard for all that twittering and large screen size.

Why the rush to buy two phones in a relatively short amount of time?

By Charles Stricklin on April 24th, 2008 at 8:59 am

I’ve been thinking… If I spend $300 on a Curve 8330 anyway, why not just go ahead and spend the $400 on an iPhone? So what if it’s not 3G now?

I’d like to do this prior to August when I speak at the New Media Expo. I’d like to be able to Twitter in style.

The WWDC is in early June. I think I’ll just cool my jets for now and wait until then, then buy a 3G iPhone when it comes out.

By Spamboy on April 24th, 2008 at 9:09 am

I’m in the same market as you, and some of these models are on my shortlist. The balance I am attempting to strike is: how much work do I want the phone to handle, or do I prefer to do the work on my desktop and use the phone purely as a sync bridge.

Since I’m getting increasingly disconnected from the desktop (using GMail vs. Mac Mail, Remember the Milk vs. Outlook tasks, etc.), a powerful phone with easy data entry is probably my next route.

Some questions on my list that might help you:

1) How often would you use the keyboard? Blackberries don’t often have dedicated keys — meaning Q and W share the same physical key, but are keyed in depending on how you strike the key, etc. I would lean towards the Treo because of this. But if your data will mostly be synced from your computer, this may be the least-important feature for you

2) Is internet browsing important? Most phones have either Opera Mini or IE for Windows CE, with the iPhone obviously using Safari. I am leaning towards the iPhone purely because of this question — I can’t stand looking at broken websites.

3) What about a data plan? Blackberries have been hit by significant service outages in the past months. Also, certain networks have crappy data transfer — AT&T is famous for this, while Verizon and Sprint have decent broadband. This isn’t important to me, but since you travel, it might be key.

4) Third-Party Applications: I’m not sure how the Windows CE market looks, but the Palm platform used to have a vibrant development community

Conclusion: I care the most about browsing, and I don’t like IE for Windows CE. So I would lean towards a model with a big screen that compliments a browser, and the ability to connect to fast networks (3G phone networks, or WiFi). The HTC Touch looks like it fits some of that bill.

By Mark on April 24th, 2008 at 10:34 am

I own a Treo 755p and I love it. However, it is bulkier than any of the other phones and surfing is not as elegant as some of the others. The phone and software is mostly very solid and zippy.

That being said, if I were buying a phone today, I would go with one of the blackberrys, more specifically the BlackBerry 8330 World Edition. They are purpose built for internet communications and since that is one of the major purposes of my smartphone, it would be perfect. I also prefer the full keyboard.

By Richard Gatarski on April 25th, 2008 at 7:00 am

I would go for a 3G iPhone whenever it arries. Meanwhile I cannot live without Bluetooth, and appreciate 3G. So I am extremely satisfied with my HTC Touch Cruise. (Living in Sweden)

 

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