Help me choose a new Sprint phone

[gTen]

Originally Posted by Amamba

So, it's Android vs iOS, and looks like Galaxy III vs Evo 4G LTE. I am not getting 4G where I live, btw.

I think the new iphone will have 4g so it wouldn't matter in the decision anyways.

I tried Android's alternatives to Siri and they suck.

Well which ones did you try? I ask this because if you used the ones in Google Play most of them are based on old systems. The ones inside the SGS3 for example like S-Voice is made by Naunce which was the parent company of Siri.

OTOH, I like to tinker with my devices. Also, we already have 2 Android tablets and one Android phone, it makes sense to get an Android device. Should I wait until Sprint gets iPhone 5 ? (This may not happen for a while, it seems). Perhaps then the price on smartphones would drop - right now, to upgrade to either of the Android phones would cost me $200.

Your call on whether to wait or not, it boils down to how desperate you are to get something new. Also it depends on who you order from, if you use a 3rd party you can get an Android phone as low as $100-$110. If only directly is an option, you can get $50 statement credit.

1) Pic / video quality - I know they all have 8 mp cameras and hd video, but I assume the output isn't equal.

The iphone and sgs3 use same camera which is better then the one on the evo. Only difference between iphone and sgs3 is iphone does the post processing for you while sgs3 lets you configure your settings.

2) Battery life. From what I read Galaxy wins, then Evo, then iPhone ?

Well both iphone and evo have sealed batteries. The SGS3 has the biggest battery and you can carry spare fully charged batteries. I have an Epic and that is what I do, I have 3 batteries, 1 inside the phone, 1 on external charger and 1 in my pocket. So when my cellphone dies any time, I take the battery out, put it in fully charged battery. And when I come home I put dead battery on the charger and put the fully charged battery in my pocket. So effectively I never have to charge again.

3) Overall "speed", feeling of the phone - which one is / feels faster ?

They are all pretty fast. The Androids don't have the Project Butter like your Nexus 7(should have it before end of year), though it does have hardware accelerated ui. Though AMOLED screens do have faster response time in general. So my answer is you gotta try it yourself, sorry :/

4) Multitasking... Android is supposed to have it but it doesn't always work on my Nexus 7 tablet. I like to be able to listen to the music while browsing internet / reading a book / editing a spreadsheet. No problems in WM, but can be problematic in Android. Although this may be device specific.

Well this one is a no brainer, sgs3. The 2gb ram.

There are also other phones in the pipeline like the LG e970 for sprint. Though people are not too big fans of LG. Though it will have the new quad core krait processors and 2gb ram.

[Amamba]

Thanks for reply. As far as voice commands go, the best I tried was Skyvi but it was far from reliable.

Seems like SGS3 is the device to get. I did try Wirefly and some other 3rd party places but the cheapest I found was $179 vs $199 on Sprint (and I am not sure if I have to pay $35 activation fee using 3rd party). How do you get the $50 statement credit - do you just ask them ?

[austin420]

Originally Posted by gTen

And guys if your going to hold a personal discussion rather then help out. Either take it to the cage or PM but not here.

eric wont dare wander into the cage. he always gets heartily defeated.

Originally Posted by Amamba

Seems like SGS3 is the device to get.

definitly. get the samsung over htc just for the ease of flashing. samsung phones are developer friendly. they mostly have unlocked bootloaders and 3 supersimple flashing tools available (odin,mobile odin, heimdall) plus, they are essentially unbrickable.
also, s voice is decent. not siri by any means, but its getting there.

[NinjaMom]

Originally Posted by eric12341

Just because something sounds like something doesn't make it so. If I would recommend an android I would say the EVO LTE,but he/she shouldn't exclude WP as an option. I wasn't trying to start anything with that post.

The OP can exclude WP if they want Eric. Respect their wishes.

[eric12341]

Originally Posted by Amamba

Wow. I didn't want to start a pillow fight on the forum...

I think WM was a great platform. I still like it. I am sure WP7/8 is great. However, MS decided to pull the plug on WM while being fully aware that all major providers were still selling WM phones with 2 year contracts. And they didn't merely abandon the platform, they seem to have went out of their way to kill it. They killed MyPhone. They made SkyDrive all but unusable for WM devices. I can use MS Skydrive with my wife's Android phone and our Android tablets, I can use Dropbox and Box.net with my Windows Mobile phone, but I can't use MS Skydrive on MS WM phone. Finally, Bing Navigation quits working. Again, they are perfectly aware that there are tens of thousands of users still under contract. A normal reliable company would've waited for 2 years after the major providers discontinued WM devices to kill the services. So why would I want to stick with MS ? They've fooled me once already.

So, it's Android vs iOS, and looks like Galaxy III vs Evo 4G LTE. I am not getting 4G where I live, btw.

I tried Android's alternatives to Siri and they suck. OTOH, I like to tinker with my devices. Also, we already have 2 Android tablets and one Android phone, it makes sense to get an Android device. Should I wait until Sprint gets iPhone 5 ? (This may not happen for a while, it seems). Perhaps then the price on smartphones would drop - right now, to upgrade to either of the Android phones would cost me $200.

Also, can you compare a few features between the three phones above ?

1) Pic / video quality - I know they all have 8 mp cameras and hd video, but I assume the output isn't equal.

2) Battery life. From what I read Galaxy wins, then Evo, then iPhone ?

3) Overall "speed", feeling of the phone - which one is / feels faster ?

4) Multitasking... Android is supposed to have it but it doesn't always work on my Nexus 7 tablet. I like to be able to listen to the music while browsing internet / reading a book / editing a spreadsheet. No problems in WM, but can be problematic in Android. Although this may be device specific.

Most of the WM contracts ended in 2011, the services weren't discontinued until this hear and AS still works on WM so it's not completely disconnected.

Originally Posted by austin420

eric wont dare wander into the cage. he always gets heartily defeated.



definitly. get the samsung over htc just for the ease of flashing. samsung phones are developer friendly. they mostly have unlocked bootloaders and 3 supersimple flashing tools available (odin,mobile odin, heimdall) plus, they are essentially unbrickable.
also, s voice is decent. not siri by any means, but its getting there.

I don't wander into the cage because I have better things to do (like class and moderating another forum)

Originally Posted by NinjaMom

The OP can exclude WP if they want Eric. Respect their wishes.

I just had to make that last point above, I'm done in this thread now.

[orangekid]

Svoice is not as good as Siri, I've used both. Svoice often doesn't recognize words when Siri does.

I think you might like the iPhone 5. It will have better battery life than any android phone, should have LTE and a 4" screen.
Wait a couple weeks till they announce it and see, or the next Nexus device which is what I'm getting.

SGS3 , evoLte , or iPhone 5 you can't go wrong.

I wouldn't listen to that wp8 ecosystem crap, WP8 will take YEARS to build up apps and stability and market share. Why beta test it for them for free?

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus on the PPCGeeks App

[EyeB]

Originally Posted by orangekid

Svoice is not as good as Siri, I've used both. Svoice often doesn't recognize words when Siri does.

xda has a zip that you can flash google now onto ice cream, i've had great use out of it. That for searching/navigating and another app for setting appointments/alarms work fine for me

Yeah it's 2 apps, but i dont mind because i'd need a second app in iOS for navigation too

[Amamba]

I looked at the phones, I think I like SGSIII just a tad more than Evo, but they both are mighty nice. It was a shocker thought that Sprint now charges activation fee for online orders. With that and tax, unless I can get some statement credit from them, the cost of upgrade is going to be near $250, which sucks. Wirefly is only $20 less.

[orangekid]

Originally Posted by EyeB

xda has a zip that you can flash google now onto ice cream, i've had great use out of it. That for searching/navigating and another app for setting appointments/alarms work fine for me

Yeah it's 2 apps, but i dont mind because i'd need a second app in iOS for navigation too

I'm on JellyBean so I don't need that file, but yeah I've seen it. I been rocking AOKP Jellybean for a while and it can't be beat!

Google Now is actually better than Siri, I've said things like "what is 5 x 5 divided by 12 x 1.5 x the square root of 82" really fast and Google Now had an answer in like 2 seconds, Siri had no clue what I was talking about

Originally Posted by Amamba

I looked at the phones, I think I like SGSIII just a tad more than Evo, but they both are mighty nice. It was a shocker thought that Sprint now charges activation fee for online orders. With that and tax, unless I can get some statement credit from them, the cost of upgrade is going to be near $250, which sucks. Wirefly is only $20 less.

You might look at the Galaxy Nexus. It's got essentially the same specs* and you can get a mint one from various sties for like $225 to $250 and save a contract upgrade.


*in daily performance, krait doesn't really outperform the OMAP processor in the gnex. Same RAM, same screen resolution, .15" difference screen size BUT with an actual AOSP official 4.1.1 update! I've used the One X, SGS3, and gnex and actually prefer the gnex as a daily.

[Daniel Jones]

Originally Posted by Amamba

I am looking for opinions on my Sprint upgrade. I stuck with Windows phones since 2001 but after M$ pulled the plug on the essential WM services while most users were still under contract, I can't trust them anymore. So, assuming Sprint would get an iPhone 5 this September, which phone would you recommend and why ? Evo 3G vs Galaxy vs Iphone 4 vs iPhone 5. I want stability, speed, functionality (communication, office apps, multimedia, note taking, good phone / video would. be nice) basically using it as a mini computer), good battery life. I don't play games so they don't matter. I am not afraid to flash custom ROMs. Android seems more attractive because of customizable everything, but I also like the way everything on the iPhone just works, and I like Siri.

So what do you think ? I am eligible now but can wait.

Hey Amamba
It have been long from the time you made this post. Most probably you would have purchased your device, still I am giving my opinion. I will suggest you to go for iPhone 5 since you like Siri. As of now Lumia series and Note 2 seem to be pretty promising smartphones.