Tek shops for a Sprint smartphone

Tek7

Tek7

CGA President, Tribe of Judah Founder & President
Staff member
Well, my "feature phone" is on its way out. :(

The internal speaker on my phone is just about shot. I can only get audio when the phone is slid shut (it's a slider phone) and sometimes the audio cuts out even then.

My wife and I were waiting until either (A) we chewed through our rollover minutes or (B) our phones died to kick AT&T to the curb and switch to Sprint. I don't want this thread to turn into, "WIRELESS CARRIER X IS AWESOMESAUCE AND WIRELESS CARRIER Y IS TRASH ON A MONTH-OLD PANCAKE," so just know that we're moving to Sprint because there are no bandwidth caps on Sprint data plans and Sprint does not throttle data speeds.

Moving to the main point of the thread: I'm looking for recommendations on smartphones available at Sprint. I don't need a top-of-the-line, bleeding edge phone, but if I'm going to pay for a data plan, I might as well get a nice phone.

Oh, and I want it to be an Android phone.

So, what Sprint smartphone with Android OS do you all suggest?

EDIT: Oo, the Samsung Epic 4G looks shiny...
 
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ewoksrule said:
Oh my word I want a
Samsung Galaxy S™ ll, Epic™ 4G Touch
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It does indeed look shiny, but I don't think I'm ready to go to a touchscreen-only device just yet. Plus the Galaxy S II costs twice as much as the Galaxy S (and we'll be buying two phones). If the Galaxy S II also had a keyboard, I'd be more inclined to drop twice as much on a phone.

EDIT: The Motorola Photon looks pretty snazzy, too. And a Tegra 2 processor! Maybe I should take the leap and move to a touchscreen-only device...
 
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My wife and I tried a bunch of the keyboard types, and while it is a bit nicer then touch for typing, the trade off of a bulkier, loose feeling, oreo cookie twisting body was not worth it. Go see the Galaxy in the store and watch a video on it, and feel how light and sleek.....amazing!

On a side note remind me when you get an android and I will hook you up with a sweet GBA emulator and mother3 fan patched.. (no root needed)
 
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While I dont have a touch sceen phone myself I do have an iPod touch, and my friend has an EVO 3D.

The EVO 3D is a nice phone, but you'll never use the 3D cameras.

Touch-screen keyboards are better than push button keyboards because they can fit more buttons onto the screen and also the device does end up being more rigid when half of it doesn't move. I prefer the on screen keyboard to the traditional one on my phone (Samsung slider from T-mobile... worst service ever just sayin').
 
The evo has horrid battery life, my friend complains about running from his charger in his house to the charge in the car all day long.
 
The Gal S II has a significantly longer battery life, bigger and brighter screen, faster dual core processor, and its lighter. Is that worth $100 more? Heck yeah baby! You are carrying this thing on your body all day long every day of your life, when sleeping its still in arms reach, its def worth it.
 
ewoksrule said:
The evo has horrid battery life, my friend complains about running from his charger in his house to the charge in the car all day long.
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ewoksrule said:
The Gal S II has a significantly longer battery life, bigger and brighter screen, faster dual core processor, and its lighter. Is that worth $100 more? Heck yeah baby! You are carrying this thing on your body all day long every day of your life, when sleeping its still in arms reach, its def worth it.
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My friend praises his EVO 3D for its battery life.

I don't think that's worth $100. Also, weight doesn't really matter as they are pretty light weight to begin with... it's a phone :rolleyes:.
 
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Still leaning toward the Motorola Photon. If the Galaxy S II were $100 instead of $200, I'd definitely be leaning toward the S II.
 
Motorola Atrix is what I have. tegra 2 processor is the way to go for sure. I would have sprint but getting any kind of support for it here in alaska is a nightmare (sprint isnt up here yet technically).
 
Photon seems like such a gimmick with the laptopattachment. I will way its fun to play on a full size keyboard and mouse going to my phone, but still feels like a gimmick.

It was the Evo 4g that had the notorious battery life, the 3d version seems to have improved in that area. Still way less then the S-II and the screen is not nearly as nice. the 3d camera made me sick trying to use, the constant autofocusing was insane.
 
Odale said:
Also, weight doesn't really matter as they are pretty light weight to begin with... it's a phone :rolleyes:.
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I disagree, the weight of your phone is an important feature, especially if you plan on carrying it in your pocket instead of in a belt clip. What does "it's a phone" mean? The difference between a Palm Pre and say a Verzion Droid, in weight, feel, and formfactor is extreme.
 
I still say you go to the sprint store and play with all these phone in person, I spent an hour there last week as I waited for repair work. In just an hour I was able to easily dismiss wanting certain phones and the G-II really stood out head and shoulders above the rest. Man it makes the i-phone seem so tiny and old school.
 
ewoksrule said:
I disagree, the weight of your phone is an important feature, especially if you plan on carrying it in your pocket instead of in a belt clip. What does "it's a phone" mean? The difference between a Palm Pre and say a Verzion Droid, in weight, feel, and formfactor is extreme.
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I just don't feel that a slightly lower weight is worth $100. It's a phone, not a laptop that is cumbersome and not easily transported. I just don't think that a few hundred grams is worth $100 even with a nicer form factor, especially when in one year it will be "ancient."
 
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Yeah, I agree but you also add a significantly bigger and brighter screen, more internal storage and a faster processor. Plus you get a Samsung, who is like King Midas these days. When you hold that massive but yet so thin and light screen next to the other phones, it makes $100 over the 2 year life of the phone melt away. We are talking about the cost difference of 1 premium coffee drink a month.
 
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ewoksrule said:
Yeah, I agree but you also add a significantly bigger and brighter screen, more internal storage and a faster processor. Plus you get a Samsung, who is like King Midas these days. When you hold that massive but yet so thin and light screen next to the other phones, it makes $100 over the 2 year life of the phone melt away. We are talking about the cost difference of 1 premium coffee drink a month.
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This is true. There is a reason the Galaxy SII outsells the iPhone 4S in the UK right now. I have it's cousin the Nexus and Samsung makes a solid phone. I thought I would miss the physical keyboard I had on my previous phone, but I don't.
 
ewoksrule said:
Photon seems like such a gimmick with the laptopattachment. I will way its fun to play on a full size keyboard and mouse going to my phone, but still feels like a gimmick.
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Wait, I can connect a keyboard and mouse to the phone? I was unaware.

EDIT: Nevermind, the Photon dock costs $100, so that's right out.

I was considering the Photon because it's half the price of the S II, Motorola has a better track record than Samsung for issuing updates in a timely manner, and the Photon's dual core 1GHz processor probably isn't that much slower than the S II's dual core 1.2GHz processor.

I hope to get to a local Sprint store later this week to check out the demo models. I still think it's going to come down to deciding between the Photon and the Galaxy S II and the Photon currently has 100 ($) advantages. :p
 
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Tek7 said:
so just know that we're moving to Sprint because there are no bandwidth caps on Sprint data plans and Sprint does not throttle data speeds.
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Sorry Tek, I don't want to turn this into that thread either, but I can't let this false statement stand.

First, both Verizon and AT&T offer unlimited data plans.

Second, Every Tech website has made it very clear that sprint, like every other provider lies, and that they indeed throttle high data user just like everyone else.

This is just one of many articles on the matter, just Google it.

Also, no provider is better than the other, they are all evil, and they all suck. It also completely depends on location. Here, you cannot get a signal with Verizon to save your life, so in my area AT&T rules, but it's vise versa in other areas.
 
Sprint is still the most liberal in terms of data and I use a ton of data (tether to my ipad) and have yet to see any throttling. Also with the Sprint family/friends plans (that anyone can get if you know the back door entrance) you cannot beat their plans and save 100s a year.

The price of near-unlimited data on Verizon and ATT is so outrageous compared to Sprint, you cannot say they are in the same category. I cannot find a way to get true unlimited with them (ATT/Verizon), are you sure Xion? They both mentioned pulling all unlimited plans last summer. Even with the promotion to dbl the data its still $50 a month for 10gb on Verizon. That's insane.
 
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