I just recently joined the Android family, and I'm looking for a secondary device to pretty much use as a testing device. I've got myself a Samsung Captivate, and already went through one close call, so I'd like to have something that isn't my main method of contact to learn the ropes. I'm not looking for something like an N1 (though I'd love that, I can't spare that right now)
I was looking at stuff like the HTC Hero, the G1, Droid Eris. Something along those lines (and within that price range). Obviously it makes no difference if it will work on AT&T, I plan to just use it on WiFi. Any thoughts on other phones that would fit what I'm looking at now? Also, a good development community would be more or less required as I'd be using the phone as a testing ground for anything I'd be doing to my Galaxy S. Thanks!
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i thought i'd ask openly since i've done a fair amount of homework, but i'm still inexperienced when it comes with rooting these devices etc.
i used to be a symbian guy, then switched to htc only winmo phones, and joined this forum back in 04. we would flash custom roms etc etc (i really enjoyed it)
what phone do you guys recommend that's either out now or coming out soon for a US provider? i'm looking for top of the line, super fast, easily rooted, new roms flashed (no encrypted boot loaders etc)
i've been on the iphone since 07 (2g, 3g, 3gs) but the new iphone4 just doesn't impress me very much and i'm ready to finally make the move to (what i believe to be) a better device.
any opinions out there? i'm currently with at&t, but can jump ship to verizon or t-mobile (i kinda like the htc evo, but i always hear people complain about sprint here) and i read the droid x will most likely have an encrypted boot loader, so i'm not sure about verizon either.
I was in the same situation as you last week. I have no complaints about ATT's service in my area and signing a contract with another carrier didn't look too appealing since I've been out of contract since 08.
The Nexus One meets all of your criteria and then some. I do not have that gadget lust anymore, I don't feel that it is incomplete like I always felt with my other devices. Hell the only thing I really felt that was missing from the stock build is waking with the trackball, I too came from an iPhone and it just feels natural as opposed to using the sleep button.
I don't think you can really go wrong with any of the top tier Android offerings right now. They all have strengths and weaknesses but the simple fact that the Nexus One gets the (official) updates first made it an easy choice for me.
thanks for the reply. i've been looking at the nexus one for the same reasons you described... the ability to get updates quickly, and the fact it comes with a vanilla rom. i wish i could get the att version with a discount... it looks like if i go with it i'll need to get t-mobile.
i was a little hesitant just because im not sure how it holds up against the latest round of android devices (due to it being out for a while now) but it definitely looks fairly solid from what i've ready.
i ditto the nexus one..IF you want to stay with ATT..but a very customizable phone is the motorola droid..plus a physical keyboard is a BIG plus for me..but the droid is a little old and you should wait for the droid 2 next month..the thing is..who knows who long is going to take for dev to start working on droid 2...droid already has a large drawer full of kernels, themes, roms..ect
yeh, i think theres just too many phones out/coming out to make a decision. the nexus multitouch problem i keep reading about seems kind of annoying... i played with an evo on sprint today and apparently sprint has extremely slow data in my area (even tho it was full bars on 3g) and the droid x might have a locked/encrypted boot loader which i read will definitely affect the ability to flash roms (so i've read)
almost as bad as car shopping.
thanks guys for all the advice so far.
Suggestions Anyone????
I have two G-Tablets and am working with Android for the first time.
Lost a cell phone today and may have to get another. Have not gone to smart phones up to now. Interested in Android but still plan to use G-Tabs for most of my e-mail, etc. Verizon (used to be Alltel).
What would be a good phone to use with the G-Tablet. Something which is not too locked up and could be used alone or possible tether with tablet. Some of you know the possibilities better than I do.
Thanks for any input.
Rev
I liked the feel of the Droid Incredible, though it is becoming dated. You really can't go wrong with the droid family (or so I hear, I'm on t-mobile), but if you want to wait I would pay attention to CES, some crazy phones being revealed.
Note on tethering, you need to do your homework. Some networks lock down their phones pretty good and make you pay. You can get around most with rooting, but just fyi.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
If you wanna go cheap and not have a contract. Get a Droid 1 off EBay. Easy to hack and overclocked at 1 Ghz runs well.
Not sure but i think droid x is the newest thing???
I was thinking of getting one but am waiting till march.
I am with AT&T and they are locked down on the tethering thing..i hear Verizon lets you tether though?
Can someone verify as i may go verizon/droid (from my old iphone/AT&T set up) in the spring if thats the case.
Thanks folks for your replies.
I am a little disappointed. I thought since the Android phones have been so successful lately that quite a few people would be able to tell me what to watch for and what to avoid.
I expect to get a new phone, but haven't been involved with smartphone enough to know the advantages and disadvantages of the hardware and software.
Still would love to hear from other about current options?!?
Rev
well im on at&t and im using the captivate and i love it! its rooted with axuras rom on it presently. tethering is enabled and i used it all the time.
the phone is faster than my g tab... seems faster.
ive played with the droid x and i prefer the captivate... dad has the x, it seems odd in the hand and i dont like the physical buttons.. the soft buttons have grown on me.
but any of the top smart phones are close..
Thanks to those who replied.
I found several Droid-type smartphones I liked -- but the plans that come with them wound up being too expensive and too limited to be practical for my use. Please I have a network of computers, a laptop, a netbook and two G-Tablets to get mail, download, etc. I just couldn't convince myself I had to have a smartphone!!
Wound up simply buying the wife a new phone she liked that had good visual features that will help with her visual handicap.
So all's well that ends well.
Again, thanks and best wishes for a blessed New Year.
Rev
Hi I am looking at getting a new phone currently I have a htc desire and it made me fall in love with android because with my desire I rooted and flashed custom roms.
Which phone would you suggest I go for that is either out at the min or is soon to be released.
It must be android in order to compete with my desire
Thanks for your opinions
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA Premium App
I too am currently looking for an android phone.
I was pretty much sure I was going to get the Thunderbolt or Evo depending on if Verizon would match Sprint's current bonus minutes offer. But now I've been reading about other phones (LG G2x, EVO 3D coming soon...) and new developments such as dual core processors, etc... and I'm thinking maybe I should wait.
Depends what your budget is. Galaxy S II seems a favorite.
I think it'd be a good idea to think of what you want and then we could make some suggestions... I'm hoping for the Droid Pro II (eventually) but that's because I like keys and don't mind the smaller screen.
sephriam said:
I think it'd be a good idea to think of what you want and then we could make some suggestions... I'm hoping for the Droid Pro II (eventually) but that's because I like keys and don't mind the smaller screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since the OP hasn't been back I won't feel bad hijacking this thread.
Looks like now I'm deciding between the Galaxy S II and the Evo 3D.
Since the GS2 is going to be open source, does that mean we will probably be able to put HTC Sense 3.0 on the GS2? I really wanted an HTC and I like their UI but I think I'd rather have the better camera than 3D.
Is there another HTC phone that will compare with the GS2? Also, I read Samsung is bad about updating, but if I'm rooting and flashing a new ROM that is moot, right? The devs will update ROMS here and I can grab those, right?
It's really more phone than I think I need but I've had mine for almost a year past my contract expiring so I'm not someone who needs to replace my phone asap, I will probably live with new phone for 3-4 years. And I don't mind waiting a few more months for price drop and devs to do their thing. So I'd like to future proof it a little bit even if it costs a bit more right now, I think.
Or I get the Thunderbolt right now but it seems like I should go to dual processors and 1gb ram for future OS updates but that is kind of guessing on my part based on what I've been reading the past few days.
I'm going to use it mostly for phone, texts, email, music and internet browsing. Then once I learn more about the android apps I'd like to integrate it with my home AV system as much as possible. I'm coming from a dumbphone that I dropped my data plan for so it's just calls and texts and casual pic taking right now. Kind of excited to get a smartphone.
Hey there folks!
I'm a MotoMan myself (mostly by fate, not choice). I had a Droid 1 which I loved dearly, and now I'm rocking a Droid X that feels like a new phone every day thanks to CyanogenMod nightlies.
Now, thanks to Motorola's dickery, the Droid X only recently received CyanogenMod (bootloaders are awful). But as I said now that it's around, things are like night and day. Not quite as awesome as my Droid 1 since there are still no custom kernels, however I'm still a happy camper.
A few days ago however my sister bought herself a Droid Charge to lock in a 2-yr contract of $30/month LTE. Naturally, I immediately snatched it and began ROM'ing the sucker into oblivion. It's great! I love how easy it is to flash this puppy. You either use Odin, which is relatively painless... CWR, which I already spend most of my time in on my DX/Nook Color.... or the Samsung utility, which is no different than RSDlite for Motorola phones! All familiar, painless territory. And it seems like you can get some pretty customized ROMs rockin'!
So, uh... why no CyanogenMod? It seems like a lot of Samsung phones are lacking the CyanogenModz. Is there a piece of the puzzle I'm missing? Has Samsung installed something devious like a bootloader preventing it? What's going on here?
thank!
Cyanogen mods are mostly RUU mods. HTC in fact. I coming from TMO have used dozens and release a few Cyanogen custom roms. Realistically, the team releases code for phones that they can easily acquire. HTC phones are GSM phones and can be bought anywhere for about 100 bucks. VZW and Sprint phones are CDMA phones that are a lil harder to obtain and need a contract with the company. Easier to get GSM phones because you can unlock them for whatever global service you want to use them on.
The team is easy to get in touch with, but you will probably need to get a fan base together on a certain device and send to them, to get them to be able to write the code for. Hope this makes sense.
Barny Style.
GSM = Easy to get, easy to sale, no company crap to deal with
CDMA = Company needs to turn on, hard for resale since you need a clean esn. Harder to acquire.
I'm not a dev, but I think CyanogenMod uses AOSP as a base, not RUUs. It certainly looks a lot more like stock Android on my HTC Incredible than it does Sense.
That said, the point about CDMA phones being less widely available and used than GSM phones is probably a valid one, as CDMA is primarily a US thing. There is a CM port for a few Samsung Galaxy S phones.
The issue is that Samsung uses stuff that is not compatible with most of the stock CM code, and a lot of hacking needs to be done to get anything simple working. I know that there are a few Samsung phones in the pipeline for CM7 support now, but it took months of work, and there are still several bugs that need worked out. The biggest issue is primarily just that Samsung releases as little source as they have to, and trying to reverse engineer their binary files that are needed is difficult to do as well. However, I do think that there will be AOSP based ROMs for the Charge after r2doesinc starts working on it.
As far as I know they could be working on a Droid Charge port:
http://rootzwiki.com/showthread.php?631-WIP-CM7-for-Droid-Charge
Plus there's more than a few posts in that thread of people saying they'd send in phones for them to dev on. I've never used CM (just got my charge after a first-generation iPhone), but it looks slick as all getout. GummyCHARGED is the closest rom to it as far as I can tell.
So My Vibrant finally got CM7.1 running on it! Most everything works and it runs pretty smooth. But honestly, I feel burned. I was thinking this whole process would take a month or two, it took almost a year. And while I don't fault the crazy hard working guys at CMSGS(who seriously worked their butts off getting me this far), I've learned that community development can be unexpected.
So this time around, I am not going to jump ship without know that the phone I am about to buy runs CM7. I am eyeing a dual core phone, a qHD display, support for the 1700Mhz band, and, of course, support for CM7.1.
Hell of a tall order isn't it? The closest thing I can think of is the G2x which only has an unofficial CM7.1 port and no qHD display. There is also the Sensation, but, with the whole locked bootloader, the CM team does not seem too hot on getting a Sensation port for Cm7 out any time soon.
I am willing to pay sticker and order out of country if I have to, but first I need to find a phone! So any suggestions, something under the radar that I have missed?
AlphaRevX isn't far away for the Sensation for S-OFF, I believe. I'm sure someone will port CM7 to it
That was sorta what I was hoping for, but I am not sure how it will take. Community support for the evo3d/sensation has not really grown like it did for the SGS lines and definitely not like some of the more big name htc phones (like the desire Z and HD2)
I worry that someone will start an unofficial port and when they get bored, just give up on it. Unlike devices that have official CM support, which see continued support long after the device stopped being exciting (Like the droid1).
In any case, it looks like I am just going to have to wait it out and get a phone after it stops being cutting edge.
This is why T-Mo needs the SGS II...
Easy Choice
Its very easy choice there is only one Phone = Galaxy S2