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
Just wanting to get some opinions since there doesn't seem to be any comparisons. I already did a comparison between droid x and thunderbolt, found thunderbolt to be better in terms of performance. Correct me if I am wrong on this!
I am looking at the Thunderbolt and the WP7 phone.
What i am looking for is not necessarily visuals, since I know we can change dramatically what our phones look like. Im not looking for picture taking quality, or video capture quality.
What I want now is speed. How fast does it access the web (I know, thats network - im on Verizon) and switch between pages. How fast does it start programs or apps, how quick does it switch from page to page, can I multitask?
Also, if I do switch from windows to android, is my office suite at home still compatible? What added things do I need to get in order to make compatible?
And last but not least, overall terms of enjoying using your phones. I have read the specs on both thunderbolt, droid x, and WP7. But since Verizon may not get the WP7, want to know if the thunderbolt is really worth it, or should i wait to see if Verizon does get a WP7 phone.
can't answer alot of your questions but my girlfriend recently bought the htc inspire (the thunderbolt is just a repackaged inspire as I understand it) and it's a great phone, you can't go wrong with it.
Totally agree thunderbolt all the way
yeah thunderbolt no doubt
Thanks guys, I got my thunderbolt some time ago, and am enjoying it. Havent had any issues that made me go 'huh', so really happy with its performance. Even my wife likes it which makes this the first phone I got that she does like. Not enough to avoid her upgrading to the iPhone, but were complete opposites, so make sense she would do that!
Thanks again guys!
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.
I remember summer of 2011 when I bought this phone. I'd previously owned a couple of windows phones but took them back because a) nothing seemed to work, and b) nothing that didn't work seemed to be fixable. c) things that did work didn't work very well.
I bought an infuse 4g and my wife got an atrix 4g. (I'd considered the atrix as well, but heard stories of bricking and overheating... and moto's webtop strategy looked pretty half baked.)
I was on AT&T and decided to stick with them. The only other real android option at the time was the HTC inspire, which I didn't really like. I also considered the iPhone, but my experience with running itunes on a PC and using a 30gb ipod really soured me on Apple at least for a while.
Really why i opted for the Infuse boiled down to Samsung's promise to update phones for 18 months (didn't happen obviously) and the hackability. Samsung phones seemed easiest to hack in case support ever ran out and something needed fixing.
I waited patiently for gingerbread. When it took forever I found XDA and ran zeus 5.2 for months. Even with a few minor battery glitches and the very rare force close or reboot it was much nicer than stock FroYo. Then I tried CM9, which almost feels finished, but battery issues and random reboots seem to get worse over time and require reflashing. Then on to a couple other roms and now CM10. I do love the bells and whistles of CM10, but it does feel like it might just be too much for our outdated hardware.
Maybe I'd be better off had i never discovered XDA, because I've wasted more than a few hours backing up, flashing, re-installing apps, etc. :laugh:
I suppose when it comes right down to it, I'm not sure I've ever been 100% happy with my infuse, but my wife on the other hand is at least 99% unhappy with her atrix 99% of the time. That phone really is bordering on terrible, even the higher res display always looks grainier.
Now it's almost 2013 and I'm sure those of us on contracts will be moving on to something else in the next few months.
Phones with 2gb of RAM running jellybean sure look nice, and it looks like google is going to have a much more comprehensive nexus program.
i use a lot of google services for work and also have a nexus7, so I'm probably stuck with android for the long haul, but to be honest every glitzy new Android phone from a Carrier just looks like something that will be the next months forgotten red headed stepchild left for dead and never updated again after heavy promotion.
In the beginning of Dec 2011, no-one in my family had smartphones.
Then my wife decided we needed to outfit the entire family of five with smartphones for Xmas.
Faced with purchase of 5 phones, we looked only at the ones that were “free” (if you want to call a 2-year contract free..).
Infuse had much better hardware than iPhone 3 which was offered free at the time IIRC
It was also the biggest and baddest of the offered free ATT Android phones at the time.
Pantech Crossover was one of the only other free ATT Android choice at the time...'nuff said (doesn't hold a candle to our beloved i997)
Today, everyone else in my family is stil on stock Froyo. I moved to on rooted Gingerbread stock which I think makes me look really adventurous and with-it in their eyes (you have my permision to LOL). I haven’t ever used anything else except briefly trying a few custom GB ROMs.
I’m very happy with my phone and OS. I have a hard time imagining what it is that I’m missing because I haven’t seen what other phones/operating systems have to offer. I use my phone for a lot of things and spend a lot of time exploring the apps available on my current OS, but I don’t foresee upgrading my os again in the near future... perhaps not until the next phone in Dec 2013. Maybe if all my friends had SG3’s and Notes running JB and CM10, then I’d start being unhappy with what I've got. But I’ve got my Froyo family and most of my friends are iphoners.
Maybe if you want to be happy with your Infuse, you should surround yourself with people who use Froyo
I've loved my infuse. I was dying for a smartphone for a year lol hyping over the release of the iPhone 4. Then I saw on cnet the leak of the infuse. I decided I needed that phone lol. I got the infuse the day it came out, it was soo much fun. Then maybe 4-5 months later I found on some website how to flash Gtg's over lock kernel, starting my hacking journey. Used android forums, when I guy recommended xda. Switched to xda, and it's been really nice. Lol idk what my next phone will be, I picked up a iPhone 4S from my friend for a small price to pay (he wanted a tmobile concord, to replace his tmobile phone and he is a noob lol, never unlocked the 4s.) but I'm looking at the Optimus g, one x+, or the gnote 2, I was thinking of selling this 4s to get one, but it's really starting to grow on me, and I've invested enough mods in it I may just keep it forever . I used to be a die hard android fan, but really you have to look at the good and bad things about each operating system, like android moving files and easy hacking, or ease of use, no hang ups, and just plain simple to use. Being honest, the 4s was probably good for me to get, I was spending too much time of my life trying to develop/hack, while I've been letting some schoolwork slip by... Haha. Still love and use my infuse though, not going to let that go, my friend was like ill buy it from you for 300-350, I said no! I love my infuse. It's just an awesome phone, even better it was my first smartphone lol.
I'm not sure that you can throw anything at the Infuse that it can't handle!!!
I am running AOKP JB and its soooo much smoother than ICS ever thought about being. You owe it to yourself to try a JB ROM before you get rid of a perfectly functional phone.
My Infuse was my first Android phone and have actually have zero complaints.. no matter my noobish adventures, if something went wrong I was able to get it back and working again.. (with the help of the amazing community here) so it was a perfect introduction for me..
I moved to the note a couple weeks ago and don't even have my Infuse anymore, but I still read the infuse forum everyday..
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda premium
My wife was the first to get a smartphone, the iPhone 3GS, she loved it and I was jealous. I was stuck with a dumbphone and wanted to upgrade. Did my research and at the time (Oct '11), the Infuse seemed to be the logical choice. It combined all of the features I wanted in my new phone. I got it, loved it, and it was much bigger and better than my wife's iCrap. I had it for months without doing anything to it. Then I had just gotten the GB update from Samsung, so I was happy with them and my "new" phone. It ran great with GB, but it left me wanting more. I came to XDA and got started. I started with GB ROMs and the one I used was awesome and very stable. I still wanted more. Made the switch to JB. I loved the way it looked but the ROMs I tried were not very stable. I kept going back and forth from GB to JB to GB. I had a list of features I needed the devs to work out for JB for me to stay with it. Once those feature were added/stabilized, I made the permanent switch. I now run the ParanoidAndroid ROM from Scott Hart. He works tirelessly for the Infuse and we appreciate him for it.
For a while after a stated flashing, my wife was insanely jealous over my Infuse as compared to her POS 3GS. It was bigger, faster and ran newer software. She couldn't wait for the 5 to come out. I lobbied her to switch to an Android, but she was still loyal to the fruit. About a month before the 5 came out, she lost her 3GS. Without a phone, she asked me what she should do. I offered her one of our older spare backup phones. She didn't want that. She said let's go get the best one I can. Which was the Galaxy S3. Within an hour or two, she had forgotten all about Apple and was now fully a member of the Android community. She even wants me to root it soon! Even though it's an American company, and I should support it, Apple is so inflexible that it feels great to convert another one over to the dark side!
I am due for my upgrade in February, and I'm gonna wait for the Galaxy S4. I need quad core and at least 2GB of RAM or I'm just gonna keep my Infuse.
Let's see, before I had my Infuse I had these smartphones:
* Motorola 9qe that I flashed to make a 9qh. ((Windows Mobile 6.0)
* HTC Kaiser, (Windows Mobile 6.1)
* HTC Touch Pro 2, (Windows Mobile 6.5)
When I first heard of android, and learned that it was based on Linux, my initial thoughts were along the line of "Yeah, lets bring Linux to the phone because it's been SO successful on the desktop. NOT!!! This is going to be the biggest bust ever." I was wrong.
I switched to Android because out of all the user reviews that I read regarding Windows Phone 7 seemed to give only negative reviews, and it just seemed to suck. I decided that WM 6.5 was the last version of Windows Mobile that I would ever use, and decided to switch to Android because I don't really like PALM, and I hate Crapple products.
I bouught the Infuse because it was on sale for $9.95, and was running Android 2.2.3, (I think it was Froyo). No other reason for the initial purchase, as the Infuse is my first Android device. My next phone will likely be a Samsung Note, (or whatever is on sale next july).
I'm a Mac person for the most part. I've been using Macs since OS9 and don't see that changing in the near future (although I do like some Linux distros). However I'm not a fan of the walled garden model that everyone, including Google, is chasing right now, especially Apple's increasingly closed hardware. Seriously, you can't even change your own battery now! The iPhone and iPad represent the worst of these tendencies and for that reason, I've never wanted one. I knew I wanted an Android phone, but didn't know much about them. Basically, the Infuse was on sale, recommended, and looked nice.
It's not been easy. There are so many terrible guides out there on Android/Mac compatibility, I've wasted a lot of time and money trying to get my phone to work with my computer the way I want it to. It's all good now! I really appreciate the Android dev community and for that reason I'll stick with Android. I'll probably get another Samsung phone since I tend to like their designs and because I like how much they bother Apple!
Whizzpopper said:
I'm a Mac person for the most part. I've been using Macs since OS9 and don't see that changing in the near future (although I do like some Linux distros). However I'm not a fan of the walled garden model that everyone, including Google, is chasing right now, especially Apple's increasingly closed hardware. Seriously, you can't even change your own battery now! The iPhone and iPad represent the worst of these tendencies and for that reason, I've never wanted one. I knew I wanted an Android phone, but didn't know much about them. Basically, the Infuse was on sale, recommended, and looked nice.
It's not been easy. There are so many terrible guides out there on Android/Mac compatibility, I've wasted a lot of time and money trying to get my phone to work with my computer the way I want it to. It's all good now! I really appreciate the Android dev community and for that reason I'll stick with Android. I'll probably get another Samsung phone since I tend to like their designs and because I like how much they bother Apple!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think Google will only chase this to an extent. Openness has it's appeal, and I think androids source code will always be open, even though 3rd parties like amazon will put pressure on it. I like what I'm hearing about google's new nexus strategy. I'd really prefer stock android of any manufacturer skin at this point. I have a nexus 7 and didn't even bother to root it.
4.2 or whatever they are calling it looks like manufactuers skins will only be a theme which can be easily removed, and of course after ICS you can disable any crapware you don't use.
While it might close android a bit, google needs to do something so that we are not always wading through manufacturer/carrier finger pointing for updates.
Android does have a weakness in apps. iOS still has more, but the quantity is not so much the problem as quality. Earlier this year I think Google finally laid down some solid guidelines for best practices for developers, but still many developers don't follow them. The menu button on my N7 for example. sometimes it's up at the top, sometimes it's down below with the soft keys.
Apple is obviously far more strict. Even so it has not seemed to hinder development at all. There's always jailbreak, and if I were to ever buy an iphone i'd do that ASAP if for nothing else other than widgets.
For Samsung I do really think they've dialed in their product line much better. Having one phone instead of a bunch of custom phones for carriers is a big deal. They no longer seem to take the shotgun approach. There's a big distinction between the note and the GS3, and they seem to be committed to releasing a new version once a year which avoids the option anxiety/paradox of choice we've had in the past. I'd guess that would make updates easier and more streamlined.
It also doesn't leave us feeling burned when you buy a brand new phone and 2 months later the newer better version is on the shelf. I suppose that's my one gripe about the infuse. It was a big deal for about two months. Samsung made promises and broke them almost immediately.
I do still love the display and form factor though. Although when i first got it i actually almost felt self conscious answering phone calls on it because it was so huge. Just a year later it's average if not slightly below average for phone size though.
I got my Infuse in January after washing my previous non-smart phone in the wash. I've been addicted to Android ever since! :victory:
Got my Infuse in August of 2011. For 4 years previous to that, I was using an LG Chocolate dumb phone on Verizon. I was sick of Verizon's prices, and knew I wanted to go Android but refused to get a Motorola (have had nothing but poor experiences with them in the past) so I went to the AT&T store to play with their phones. Ended up walking out with an Infuse that day.
Since then, my time with the Infuse has been sorta bittersweet. I can't see myself ever purchasing anything but a Samsung Android (hey! I actually like Touchwiz), but if I could do it over again I think I would've gone for the Galaxy S2. While GB ROMs were great for my phone, the jump to ICS and now JB has presented some annoying problems. Most notably is the Android OS battery drain bug, which always seems to attack my phone when I most need it on the go. It never happens at home on Wifi, but it ALWAYS seems to happen when I switch over to data when I'm leaving my house. Needing your phone for a 2 hour drive, and having it die in 45 minutes is NOT cool.
Problem is, I enjoy the added functionality of JB, so going back to GB isn't really an option. I don't necessary share the same opinion as other people that JB runs flawlessly on our 512MB of RAM. While it is smooth 99% of the time, those times when it isn't smooth seem to really cripple the phone. And, like I said before, the Android OS drain bug is really annoying. I like to reboot my phone every morning, and I never know if the drain bug is going to present itself after reboot. It's like Russian roulette.
So, while my experience with my Infuse has been pretty good, I definitely won't be sad to move on from it when the time is right. If Google can offer the Nexus 4 unlocked at a decent price, that might be where I go, unless I can find a Note 2 or S3 at a decent price.
Infuse is a great phone. It was my first android phone, and I really had no issues. I've been flashing lots of roms but I'm running Zeus 5.2 for couple of months now because It has best battery life plus It is error-free (No SOD, No dropping signal, mms etc). I like ICS and JB but I really want everything to work perfectly. And I already have Samsung Galaxy tab 2 running CM10...
One real problem I had with infuse... is that if you see other phones less than 4.5" I have problems lolzz.
I still have about 8 months before my 2 year contract is up so I'm still gonna enjoy it for a while.
I'm thinking of changing it to whatever they have the best (probably Note 2 or S 4).
I got my infuse about 2 weeks after it came out i wanted it because i was moving away from blackberry. I didnt like iphones and wanted an android because of all the things you can do. It was a 4.5 inch screen at the time the first screen that big and i just wanted it. my experience has been good at fist i had to get use to the size of the phone and it being touch now om bored i hate it and i want a new phone. My next phone will be the galaxy note 2 i was thinking about the galaxy s3 but changed my mind bigger screen quad and lte yay.
Sent from my SGH-I997 using Tapatalk 2
Two reasons why i bought samsung infuse:
1) 4,5 in. amazing Super Amoled Plus display
2) 8 px camera
If I'm going to change my smartphone I will be buy Samsung S II.
Why not Samsung S III? It's to big for me.)
picklnows said:
Two reasons why i bought samsung infuse:
1) 4,5 in. amazing Super Amoled Plus display
2) 8 px camera
If I'm going to change my smartphone I will be buy Samsung S II.
Why not Samsung S III? It's to big for me.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
c'mon dude its only 0.3" bigger...
slicingtaco said:
c'mon dude its only 0.3" bigger...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
old joke:
..for some, the extra .3" could mean the difference between, "Oh" ...and... "Ahhhhhhhhh"
slicingtaco said:
c'mon dude its only 0.3" bigger...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Man, the difference in size between Infuse and S II subtle.
Although the difference between them 0.2 ".
S III it's to big....
Sorry for bad english.
the infuse will back up my note2 on tmob. it was a damn good phone!well still is realy,but 5gbs and 100 mins for 30$ is good enough for me,just need to root and use an app for the wifi calling.now i just need wendsday to get here!!!!!!!!!!!!
At the time, I was looking at the Atrix, Infuse and Inspire. I originally got the Inspire but didn't care for the sound quality so, I got the Infuse. The screen was what attracted me to the Infuse. I would have like my next phone to have been a Nexus device. But with the lack of an SD slot, I don't think it will be the Nexus 4. Yes, Google probably wants folks to use their cloud services but the lack of an SD simply doesn't make sense to me.
The Infuse was handed down to me so it was not really my choice.
I initially hated it with the stock Froyo. It was too unstable. OS would get corrupted and I would have to reflash. As a result I would lose all my bookmarks and contacts. I would have to add these back manually. The bluetooth was also unusable.
Now I am on JB and it is a completely different phone. I realized it was the OS that was bad and not the phone. Everything works great: Phone, WiFi, music, GPS and bluetooth. Some people have issues with battery drain with 3G. I don't have a data plan and don't need one. I am near a WiFi connection for most of my day. I like the fact that I can sync my contacts and bookmarks to my google account.
I am not sure of my next phone. It would be a dual core GSM phone (not CDMA). Other than that I have not given it much thought.