My BB Curve was old when I got it free with a 2-year (!) contract nearly two years ago. And, now, I must pick a new Smartphone. This parallels car shopping in my world. Or getting a root canal.
My dh says, "Just get the iPhone 4S--and Merry Christmas, by the way."
I, being a silly consumer, simply must research my options. And to be honest, I wish I had a Cell Phone Fairy to simply pick one out for me. I guess that's where you come in, dear reader.
What matters most to me is ease of use. I detest downloading some crazy manual to learn how to simply check my email or set up accounts, and web browsing abilities. I have favored a qwerty keyboard in the past, but am willing to expand my cell phone horizons and go *gasp* with a touch screen keyboard.
I do use Yahoo calendar for scouting calendar updates and Google calendar for other reminders/prompting. This phone will NOT replace my Filofax. No way, no how.
I don't mind paying a reasonable fee for a new phone. This free one has been nothing but a headache for the last 6 months. And this is 25% of my contract time I cannot get back.
Any feedback you are willing to share is welcomed--I trust you more than the phone companies
Thanks in advance!
p.s. Thank you, Tommes and girlinmaths for your recommendations via Twitter. Phone types duly noted and will check them out after the horrors of Black Friday subside.
iPhone 4S but i cant vote, as i am apparently not signed it :-S
ReplyDeleteThanks, sweets! I need to go and play with iPhone...that Siri function seems interesting. I like the camera it comes with as well. :)
ReplyDeleteIf you're considering an iPhone, you could also go for a Samsung Galaxy S2. Both have been extensively compared to each others in tests, and score the same.
ReplyDeleteBig advantage of Galaxy: expandable memory. Just put in a SD with more GB and you're ready. Battery not fully functioning anymore? No sweat, get a new one and replace it.
The main advantage (in my opinion), is that Samsung manages to produce smartphones with really low SAR radiation values (while iPhone, BB and HTC produce a very high amount of SAR). That's if you are bothered by radiation in the first place.
If money were no issue, I'd go for the Galaxy S2 for all of above reasons. I'm now happily married to my Galaxy 551. It's white and has a pink physical keyboard that you can slide out if needed. Otherwise you can use the touchkeys on the screen.
Have fun picking out a new phone!
P.S. Of course, if you went with the iPhone, you could get an Erin Condren cover that matches your Life Planner ....
apparently i can't log in to vote, but i vote iphone 4s. i've had blackberry's before and the iphone blows them away. the touch keyboard takes a bit of getting used to, but the rest of it more than makes up for losing those chicklet keys, trust me!
ReplyDeleteI have an iPhone 3GS and I love it. I find it so much easier to use than my husband's Motorola Atrix (an Android phone). If I were you, I would get the iPhone 4S - no point in getting the 3GS when the 4S has Siri, is newer, faster, and will therefore still be working in 2 years. In 2 years I'm sure that the 3GS will be obsolete, if it isn't before then - it's already gone through 2 iOS's.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't vote either..it told me I wasn't signed in?
ReplyDeleteI can't seem to vote? I would go with the new blackberry bold. Fantastic phone. Great qwerty keyboard plus touch screen, and new bb operating system has a good web browser, so much better than the old ones. I had/used an iPhone4 for about a year, really didn't like it that much. Does have a pretty good camera and all those apps, but the touch screen keyboard plus autocorrect was just a disaster. Had to retype sentences two and three times to get them right. I am back on a BB now, not the newest model, a Bold. Love it. Battery lasts three days, can type reliably, has a decent camera, etc.
ReplyDeleteI don't yet have a smartphone, basically because I don't want to pay the monthly bill, especially when I can use the iPod Touch wifi for free (the only downside being that wifi isn't always readily available). However, since I am so used to the iTouch design, I would go for the iPhone. I find it very easy to use and, although it takes a while to get used to the touch screen, find it easier to deal with than a keypad, which I do have on the free phone I get with my plan.
ReplyDeleteThat's my two cents. =)
I appreciate your two cents and everyone's opinion!
ReplyDeleteI got my 1st smartphone in 2009--needed email on my person. I like the idea of apps and camera that takes decent pics, so while I may regret it, the iPhone 4S will be the one I try next. I will have 30 days to try it, and if I'm miserable then back it goes.
Cue buyer's remorse... :)
Interestingly, my BlackBerry 'died' a couple of weeks ago (broken trackball on the Pearl 8110). My contract is also up, in March, and I need to make a decision concerning what I'm going to do.
ReplyDeleteI have a decent LG touch screen handset to use in the interim, but I *might* be tempted to go back into a new contract purely for the email options, in which case it'll be another BlackBerry (hopefully newer and faster). HOWEVER, O2 seem to have some very good deals on SIM-only phones (£10.50/month for unlimited texts, which I use a *lot*, 100 minutes and 100 O2-to-O2 minutes). It's tempting to drop the email options....
My LG touch screen is OK, but I quite miss the BB's qwerty keyboard, on which I'd become quite efficient. But I think that if I can port my number back to O2, from whence it originally came, I might go back......
Good luck making your choice!
David