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Wich Android phone for long term support?

Hello, some friends of mine are attracted by android and they asked me wich is a "good" phone to buy...
In dont have a simple anwser because of updates. Android system is young, and even if it wasnt i consider updates a critical matter...
I would go for a N1, even if there are more powerful/good looking/wathever devices around, if I had 500+ Euros.
But what if you want something cheaper? I am really satisfied with my hero because of xda... otherwise i would have waited 1 year for something that doesnt completely satisfy me (2.1 sense)
Wich brand would you choose if you wanted a long term support (2/3 years)?
Am I asking too much?
To be honest i would answer my friend get an used hero/magic/dream/wathever supported by xda and donate

the Nexus One is probably a decent option, seeing that it's Google's "show what Android's got"-product.

The Nexus is currently the 'flagship' Android phone. It will be the first to have updates. Until a Nexus Two or something comes out.

Well, the Nexus One is the best for support in the future.
But personally, if I were on a budget and looking at your list, I would go with the G1/Dream. I believe that there is a lot of development support for that device due to the voluminous number of owners, albeit the handset is a little dated..

Tell your friend to go with the Mytouch Slide, its a awesome phone and its now rooted. Rooted mine yesterday and its absolutely amazing, i got 750 on the proccessor right now( comes 600) but 750 is probably the lowest overclock, you can get it farther. Its an awesome phone

Officially, a Nexus One... but as a practical matter, all the rooted HTC phones are likely to have decent guerrilla rom upgrades for at least another 2-3 years. The main life-limiting factors are likely to be ram and speed, with speed being the factor that starts to attenuate its appeal 18 months down the line, and ram being the deathblow a year or so later.
You can always forego eye candy and chrome, but when new apps have bloated to the point of a single app soaking up half the phone's free ram, and java.lang.OutOfMemoryException becomes an hourly occurrence, the phone has reached the end of its usefulness (I forget the tongue-in-cheek name someone gave the law, but it's basically the fractional inverse corollary of Moore's law... every time computer speed and memory doubles, the demands of mainstream software triple to soak it up and make the system slower than ever).

I second myTouch slide.

r3s-rt said:
I second myTouch slide.
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+ one--------------

kekkle said:
The Nexus is currently the 'flagship' Android phone. It will be the first to have updates. Until a Nexus Two or something comes out.
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Totally Agree! The Nexus has the latest & greatest Android updates & cooked roms!

The Captivate's "useful life" expectancy....?

Even as a tech savvy individual, for whatever reason, until a month ago I had pretty much buried my head in the sand as far as smartphones were concerned. I guess my extreme hatred for Apple products and my perceived understanding public's adoration of the iPhone (and like devices) kept me away.
In any case, our contracts were up for renewal, so I decided to go "all out", do some research and finally get a phone that had all the gadgets with it.
Overall, I'm happy with the Captivate. Granted, between Samsung and AT&T, things aren't perfect, but it seems that we have an incredible amount of non-commercial support on our side in the form of various forums and the ROM developers.
My big question is, how long does anyone expect that the Cappy will still be "current"? Realizing of course that it isn't a 4G phone, and currently only runs (stock) 2.1 and won't be "among the best/fastest" for ever, how much longer do you think new ROMs and other developments will be made for it? What kind of phone/technology will take people's attention elsewhere? I'm hoping that even though I've joined the Cappy crowd late, that I still have some time to enjoy the new stuff (Roms in particular) for it.

Well, going on AT&T's Track record of EOL marks they will probably stop selling captivates around May/June, I think with custom ROMs you can get a good 2 1/2 years out of it before it starts feeling really old, that will probably be around the time when the quad core processors are the new and high range device norm and dual core processors are the entry and mid range Android devices.

Aquarianperry said:
Well, going on AT&T's Track record of EOL marks they will probably stop selling captivates around May/June, I think with custom ROMs you can get a good 2 1/2 years out of it before it starts feeling really old, that will probably be around the time when the quad core processors are the new and high range device norm and dual core processors are the entry and mid range Android devices.
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It depends. The lack of support from Samsung may discourage developers as most I've seen are looking for greener pastures.

SkitchBeatz said:
It depends. The lack of support from Samsung may discourage developers as most I've seen are looking for greener pastures.
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I totally see that side of things, but just to play devil's advocate, I have a fuze and it still sees development and never got an official update from 6.1 to 6.5.

A new release of software or hardware doesn't magically render an older device useless. It'll still do everything it could when you bought it.

Miami_Son said:
A new release of software or hardware doesn't magically render an older device useless. It'll still do everything it could when you bought it.
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yep, as long as people enjoy it, it will continue
look at how long it takes xda to put phones in the legacy devices catagory

boborone said:
yep, as long as people enjoy it, it will continue
look at how long it takes xda to put phones in the legacy devices catagory
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That's really what I am hoping to see - I'd really hate to feel like I just got this thing and in 2 months it'll be outdated - I mean, I really can't see a device doing any more than this thing already does... short of maybe HD Video out; but isn't that just overkill on a phone?

The day the devs here on XDA stop making spectacular roms and kernels is the day the Galaxy S dies with me.

MastaBetta said:
The day the devs here on XDA stop making spectacular roms and kernels is the day the Galaxy S dies with me.
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Voodoo sound (and the microphone volume fix while recording video) is the single reason I didn't buy an Inspire/Atrix.
Yet, anyway.

so good to hear there is still some enthusiasm for the captivate, i'm still waiting for mine to arrive. this tech liberation movement is the main reason i was willing to take the plunge.
power to the people!

MastaBetta said:
The day the devs here on XDA stop making spectacular roms and kernels is the day the Galaxy S dies with me.
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Amen, brother!

Nevermind at&t. As long as the great developers and people at xda keep giving us access to such great things the captivate w will always rule 1ghz phones
Sent from my captivate on a rock in the middle of the ocean!

I'm with ya guys.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

Well 2.2 is out now right? The first thing you should.do regardless is install a custom rom on the phone that has 2.2.
After that... customize the phone and make ir yours.
However, concerning the life expectancy.... it should be relavent for a while; the phone is very fast and has a good build.
I have had mine since June and I.think ill be upgrading to.tthe Galaxy S 2 when that.comes out.
Captivate 2.2.1 Paragon

Miami_Son said:
A new release of software or hardware doesn't magically render an older device useless. It'll still do everything it could when you bought it.
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Not useless, but with some new apps and updates requiring 2.2 (and soon 2.3/2.4 I'd presume) it is frustrating to find yourself unable to run the cool new apps and games after a while.

Dante04SRT said:
That's really what I am hoping to see - I'd really hate to feel like I just got this thing and in 2 months it'll be outdated - I mean, I really can't see a device doing any more than this thing already does... short of maybe HD Video out; but isn't that just overkill on a phone?
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Trust me, there are plenty of more things phones can do, do do, and are planning to do in close future, such as finger print reading, 3d recording, a part to read real time temperature of wherever you are. of course, they are always improving cameras with more mega pixels, making phones faster with more CPU and RAM, making phones slimmer, etc. A lot of phones don't have HD out, like the Captivate. But that will be a lot more popular.
I am so ready for the next generation of phones that are coming out soon

cappys came out late july, not june Flac. I just had to send mine in and was looking at receipt. I got mine the first day available.

Beginner's Guide Of Buying First Phone

dudes that wanna buy their first smartphone may not know which to choose & they are looking for. they may be afraid that they buy the wrong phone & regret, its a waste of money. i have an awful experience & would like to let the beginners know what they should know:
Processor/Chipset/CPU:
higher clockspeed & more number of cores means better performance. types of cores matters too. higher efficiency means better multitasking & better battery saving.
RAM:
low end smartphones run on 512mb RAM, better ones run on 768mb or 1gb.. there's some amount of RAM being use for the system to function, the rest is left for users to use.
Software:
(multitasking, android vs iOS coming soon)
Sony's features are OVERRATED
(coming soon)
*when u have no choice but to buy a low budget phone, its advisable to get it root & flash custom ROM & kernel, which u can find on XDA.

useful, but most of this is already common knowledge

blackdarkeye said:
useful, but most of this is already common knowledge
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i agree but not many beginners who r new to the android world r aware of this, i used to be one of them

thanks

Thanks. But don't forget dev support.

Advice
Thanks excellent advice. I would also add, avoid phones with slider keyboards or moving parts in generally.

Thanks for the info
I never knew that Sony Bravia Engine could get your battery more drained...

this made me choose the sgs3

Interesting post. I'd agree that some of this is common knowledge (especially here on XDA) but there are some things in this post which simply aren't really true.
1. Higher cores/clock speeds lead to better performance - this is just wrong. The speed of a device depends on a variety of things, mainly software optimisation. A Snapdragon S4 Pro on GB still wouldn't give as nice a performance as a Tegra 3 on JB. In addition, the number of cores is definitely not completely representative of the power of a chipset. The two highest performing chipsets in devices currently being sold are (AFAIK) the Apple A6X in the iPad 4 and the Exynos in the Nexus 10. Both are dual core. I don't understand much about CPUs, but from what I've read the performance really depends on the architecture it's built on.
2. Low RAM = low performance - this isn't true, look at the iPhone 4S. It only had 512MB of RAM but performed well.
3. The iPhone is crap because of its hardware - far too many people on XDA hate the iPhone for the wrong reasons. The hardware of the iPhone is amongst the best available, and the A6 is probably the second best performing chip in phones after the S4 pro (well, from the phones which are currently available). The iPhone itself isn't crap, but iOS is. The price is also ridiculous, I hate the Apple mark-up.
4. Sony Bravia engine is crap - I don't know about this, but it's almost certainly entirely down to opinion. Many people including myself feel that AMOLED screens are oversaturated, and prefer SLCD.
5. 'thats almost all u need to know before u buy a smartphone' - WHOA, not even remotely close. What OS do you want? What are you going to use your phone for? Is your phone available on your carrier (more a question for Americans)? Are you currently already in any ecosystems (e.g. do you already have an Android phone)? How much storage do you need? Do you need a MicroSD slot? What screen size do you want? I could easily go on, but I'm sure you get the idea.
I know you made the post with good intentions, but there are too many things wrong with it to not point them out.

Yeah, higher clock speed =/= better and faster. You need to think about processor family/architecture and more - my advice would be to Google the phone/processor you're looking at and look at benchmarks for your intended use.
Quad is not necessarily and better than dual-core, either. Most programs do not take advantage of quad-core - if a person would benefit from it, they probably already know a decent amount about hardware and what they are looking for.
Some phones and users can get away with only 512Mb RAM. This part is going to really depend on budget. 1Gb is a good "standard", but it's not going to work for everyone.
If a person has a low budget, they should look at older, used, devices that used to be very popular - such as the Samsung Galaxy S2, the Galaxy Nexus, even the Nexus One depending on budget. That way, there is lots of custom development available, and they don't have to deal with a current budget device that not many people are going to care to develop anything for. The Nexus phones are always a good bet because Google should contintue developing for them until it's no longer possible for the harware.
Rooting doesn't give any performance gains unless you know what to do with root access. A ROM might be able to help, and might give updated features. However, this solution will mean the user is interested in learning about Android and how to do things like under or over-clock the CPU - very nit-picky little things. A person has to like that and should consider that when buying a phone.
Likewise, if a person is looking at knockoff phones, they might not even be able to get root access, will likely never get software updates, no support, and will get what they get - and maybe not even that.
If anyone really cares that much about looks, hopefully they're not on a budget. But are you really going to not have a case ? Getting a case or a skin can change how a phone looks, so I don't think it's a big deal.
I think battery being removable or not a huge concern especially if a person is on a limited budget - since if they are, it probably means they don't want to be upgrading all the time, and they are probably buying used. Buying used means you can buy other peoples' problems - like their lack of caring for a battery. Removable means you can just switch it out and you don't have to baby it.
MIcroSD cards can be important for people who want to have a lot of music or other media with them and not have to stream it. It's nice if your phone can put apps on it, too.
And MOAR.

Nigeldg said:
Interesting post. I'd agree that some of this is common knowledge (especially here on XDA) but there are some things in this post which simply aren't really true.
1. Higher cores/clock speeds lead to better performance - this is just wrong. The speed of a device depends on a variety of things, mainly software optimisation. A Snapdragon S4 Pro on GB still wouldn't give as nice a performance as a Tegra 3 on JB. In addition, the number of cores is definitely not completely representative of the power of a chipset. The two highest performing chipsets in devices currently being sold are (AFAIK) the Apple A6X in the iPad 4 and the Exynos in the Nexus 10. Both are dual core. I don't understand much about CPUs, but from what I've read the performance really depends on the architecture it's built on.
2. Low RAM = low performance - this isn't true, look at the iPhone 4S. It only had 512MB of RAM but performed well.
3. The iPhone is crap because of its hardware - far too many people on XDA hate the iPhone for the wrong reasons. The hardware of the iPhone is amongst the best available, and the A6 is probably the second best performing chip in phones after the S4 pro (well, from the phones which are currently available). The iPhone itself isn't crap, but iOS is. The price is also ridiculous, I hate the Apple mark-up.
4. Sony Bravia engine is crap - I don't know about this, but it's almost certainly entirely down to opinion. Many people including myself feel that AMOLED screens are oversaturated, and prefer SLCD.
5. 'thats almost all u need to know before u buy a smartphone' - WHOA, not even remotely close. What OS do you want? What are you going to use your phone for? Is your phone available on your carrier (more a question for Americans)? Are you currently already in any ecosystems (e.g. do you already have an Android phone)? How much storage do you need? Do you need a MicroSD slot? What screen size do you want? I could easily go on, but I'm sure you get the idea.
I know you made the post with good intentions, but there are too many things wrong with it to not point them out.
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oh i see, looks like there r much more to learn. thanks anyway for correcting my mistakes, i do believe most smartphones comes with miro sd card slot up to 32gb, so it wont be a problem. but really i experience this myself-------bravia engine works only in album viewing & video, but i dont see the differences though. erm i though 4S has 1gb ram? if its really 512mb, can it handle a game like gangstar rio? its hard for me to believe so......i get it on the last part, but im trying to make an advice as short as possible, what users want to use their phone for is totally up to them, im just here to pinpoint the important points that some beginners r unaware about.

experto927 said:
I never knew that Sony Bravia Engine could get your battery more drained...
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yes it will, just like glove mode, when activated will use more battery.

Thank !
Sent from my GT-I9305 using xda app-developers app

Please add: Avoid LG at all costs, they will just ruin your Android experience!
__________________
Sweet Devil >_<
GT-P3100
Android 4.0.4 ICS
Sun Cellular
"LG should go bankrupt"

OptimusLove said:
Please add: Avoid LG at all costs, they will just ruin your Android experience!
__________________
Sweet Devil >_<
GT-P3100
Android 4.0.4 ICS
Sun Cellular
"LG should go bankrupt"
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erm do u have any evidences to back up your statements?

Xperia J stinks,adreno 200 is 2010 hardware.This is not accurate.Before getting a phone,do some research on it's hardware,which can be found @ gsmarena.com.Then do some research on the hardware ,whether it is new and powerful,so on.Dont forget to find its flaws so that you won't get a phone and regret it.Lastly check whether it has good rom support on XDA itself.Not all phones have custom roms,and support,don't think you can buy a lousy phone and just flash a custom rom,thats not the idea of getting a custom rom
Sent from my MT11i using xda app-developers app

Hate Android Lag said:
erm do u have any evidences to back up your statements?
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Evidence? I have previously owned an LG Optimus ME that was god awful, 600mhz processor, FRO-effin'-YO, 190mb internal, 175mb ram, and they were sending passer-bys flyers about it like a frakin' flagship!
It was super laggy.
__________________
Sweet Devil >_<
GT-P3100
Android 4.0.4 ICS
Sun Cellular
"LG should go bankrupt"

OptimusLove said:
Evidence? I have previously owned an LG Optimus ME that was god awful, 600mhz processor, FRO-effin'-YO, 190mb internal, 175mb ram, and they were sending passer-bys flyers about it like a frakin' flagship!
It was super laggy.
__________________
Sweet Devil >_<
GT-P3100
Android 4.0.4 ICS
Sun Cellular
"LG should go bankrupt"
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but not all models from same manufactures are the same, samsungs have good phones but at the same time the ace series sucks

Rcoil73 said:
Xperia J stinks,adreno 200 is 2010 hardware.Its only armv6 processor,not even the basic armv7.Dont listen to this person's nonsense.Before getting a phone,do some research on it's hardware,which can be found @ gsmarena.com.Then do some research on the hardware ,whether it is new and powerful,so on.Dont forget to find its flaws so that you won't get a phone and regret it.Lastly check whether it has good rom support on XDA itself.Not all phones have custom roms,and support,don't think you can buy a lousy phone and just flash a custom rom,thats not the idea of getting a custom rom
Sent from my MT11i using xda app-developers app
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nonsense? thats why i stated that do some digging & research on it. i wonder did u read properly? we on earth r humans, not everybody knows everything & i learn from mistakes. u expect me to be a cyborg? u dont like to read things completely eh? being so sarcastic, did u read & understand the XDA rules? u can get banned. & a custom rom on a lousy phone MAY(i didn't say SURE WILL) be better than lousy phone on stock rom. i said J is good based on some things, it can support jelly bean, which sola & u definetely can't, yet under the same cpu frequency & ram. what u expect from a low budget phone anyway? a phone like J that can support jelly bean is considered awesome. j is even classified together with some better device instead of being together with sola, u & go in xda. at least j is worth rooting than sola & u like i stated previously. but i do agree of the hardware u mentioned. now, u can be kind enough to add some correct knowledge to help the beginners, or u can get lost somewhere if u dont like it here. its pretty easy.

Thank you !
Sent from my GT-I9305 using xda app-developers app

[Q] Some basics I need covered :)

Hi,
So I'm new to Android, and I've only had a Nexus 7 for a week (I sold it) which I rooted and had some custom roms for.
I wanted the Xperia Z, but it's shape is too square and thus bulky. I like that this Razr HD is a bit water resistant, has excellent battery, the keflav back, and is a less cumbersome size.
But- i'm concerned as this device isn't one of the more popular. Does this mean i will have to wait much longer for upgrades even if rooted? And less support in future? could some apps not run/be designed for this device?
Basically- Im someone who keeps their phone for ages. Im still using a jailbroken 3GS happily. As much as i dont like apple- its good that i can always run the latest OS...
Just wanted thoughts on all this. Cheers

ycon said:
Hi,
So I'm new to Android, and I've only had a Nexus 7 for a week (I sold it) which I rooted and had some custom roms for.
I wanted the Xperia Z, but it's shape is too square and thus bulky. I like that this Razr HD is a bit water resistant, has excellent battery, the keflav back, and is a less cumbersome size.
But- i'm concerned as this device isn't one of the more popular. Does this mean i will have to wait much longer for upgrades even if rooted? And less support in future? could some apps not run/be designed for this device?
Basically- Im someone who keeps their phone for ages. Im still using a jailbroken 3GS happily. As much as i dont like apple- its good that i can always run the latest OS...
Just wanted thoughts on all this. Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Official upgrades for android devices are at the whim of the manufacturer and the carrier unless we're talking about a nexus device which gets updates directly from Google. On Verizon updates typically take longer to come out due to what they say is extensive testing, but recently they've been better about it imo. Unofficial updates are governed by the amount and quality of developers on that particular device. For moto phones we have a nice core of developers that keep us up to date. Now that the newest moto phones have had their bootloaders unlocked, development has really picked up. The development scene on Android is a lot different and more complicated then the Apple side. Due to the amount of high end android devices that are released every year the development scene moves pretty quickly. That isn't to say older devices aren't dev'd for but it is a possibility to consider. In the moto world devices as far back as the droid 3 are still actively supported. Many of us started out with moto and have never left.
Don't worry about the apps. Unless the device falls really behind in the os version all apps will be supported. It's not like apple where if your phone doesn't have the latest update a third of the apps don't work. There are apps coded specifically for features only available on the latest Android version but those are very few due to people wanting to make money lol.
sent from my xt926 RAZR maxx hd

Cheers for that really helpful response.
It all seems pretty good to me with app compatibility.
So- if I understand correctly, if I unlock the bootloader & root my phone, I wont have to rely on Moto/my carrier for the OS updates?
Are there any other general things I should know before saying no to more mainstream (GS4) device?
Cheers

ycon said:
Cheers for that really helpful response.
It all seems pretty good to me with app compatibility.
So- if I understand correctly, if I unlock the bootloader & root my phone, I wont have to rely on Moto/my carrier for the OS updates?
Are there any other general things I should know before saying no to more mainstream (GS4) device?
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes to your first question. Technically you would only need root to stop carrier updates but none of the new roms are being developed for locked devices.
Firstly know that the HD has basically the same innards as the gs3 except with 1gb less ram and a less impressive camera. The two monster phones out/coming out right now are the gs4 and the HTC one with a new nexus hopefully out soon. The gs4 represents some of the best hardware available (with newer still coming out later this year) and will have a lot of Dev focus. Out of those 3 phones Verizon will only be getting the gs4 most likely. In terms of what phone to get I would say you need to physically handle each before making a decision. If you must be on Verizon then the gs4 would be a great choice but some people don't like the build materials and feel of the phone (similar to gs3). People sticking with moto appreciate the solid feel, excellent materials, amazing radio strength, and battery life.
sent from my xt926 RAZR maxx hd

koftheworld;4080229The gs4 represents some of the best hardware available (with newer still coming out later this year) and will have a lot of Dev focus. Out of those 3 phones Verizon will only be getting the gs4 most likely. In terms of what phone to get I would say you need to physically handle each before making a decision. If you must be on Verizon then the gs4 would be a great choice but some people don't like the build materials and feel of the phone (similar to gs3). People sticking with moto appreciate the solid feel said:
Cheers for that. I am not on Verizon (I'm in Australia), I'll buy the phone unlocked.
I have had a look at the GS4, HTC One and Razr all together.
The GS4 is my favourite in terms of size, but I'd rather sacrifice the power (Quad core) for the longer battery, better call reception, stronger build, and lower price of the Razr HD.
I might jsut have to wait for the new Nexus phone to come out. I've heard Google will be subsidizing it, so the price might be right.
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[GUIDE] Buying an Android Device, Do I need a New One?

In todays fast moving technology world, everyone is intrigued to buy new devices. And this norm is fumed by innumerous manufacturers by releasing products at an insane rate. You have got too many choices and only think to wonder is how much you can afford to pay. Sometimes taking loans is common or simply you take a contract with a provider and regret there is nothing you can do to change your phone afterwards.
Every other day, new features are coming to devices and you wish you had just waited a month to buy the other phone.
Buying the every latest devices is not very wise as you spend alot of your money for just one or two extra features.
SOME CONSIDERATIONS
You must know that in todays phone era, the hardware has gone a long way in comparison with software. My point isnot that software is developing at a slower pace but simply that most of phones available today might never use their full potential in terms of hardware ever. Android Software is going more smooth and promises further improvements even on low end devices. With KITKAT 4.4, Android has gone into a surge to speed up system by 50% and that's just the beginning.
Most of manufacturers are working hard on ONLY hardware. Even phones released two years ago are doing very well till date. If you look into software department and games, you can still play all of latest games on these devices very smoothly. I will give you examples of HTC sensation/Incredible S, Samsung Nexus, SII or any other phone of that time with almost similar hardware. I have checked MC4/Fifa 14/Asphlat 8 personally on all of these devices.
I think to update my Nexus 7 2013 in 2015 and my Nexus 4 Next year (October 2014) while Xperia L around when it is required. Following this scheme I always have the latest device with me and I also do not spend a lot of money. (700-800 British Pounds every three year, considering that I am a Medicine Student and under a lot of loan already). Also what is more to look is that my old devices are still doing a great job. I recently installed CM 10.2(JB 4.3) on my HTC Sensation and it runs just as smooth as Nexus 4/Xperia L for the matter. The software is stable and I can play HD games on 786MB RAM only.
Another point to note is that KitKat 4.4 has only been released for about a week now and I am using 4.3 on my two year old HTC sensation using Custom ROM is simply too cool.
So I WARN you that you need to be smart to buy a new phone rather than spending alot of money on every new phone and never utilising its full potential.
ASK YOURSELF
The most important point you need to consider is WHY EXACTLY YOU WANT TO BUY A NEW PHONE? WHERE your old phone canot be utilised that you must upgrade it.
What would you utilise it for in the LONG RUN? HOW LONG YOU INTEND TO USE IT. WHAT ARE SOME SPECIFIC FEATURES THAT YOU ARE LOOKING INTO BEFORE BUYING.
I know for many looks of a device counts. You want your device to be COOL and feel great in your hand. I agree to the matter but certainly you should never compromise LOOKS with actual performance and hardware. Benchmarks are just a bunch of lies and in real use, they do differ alot and cannot be fully trusted.
I personally give a lot of stress to your HARDWARE and your SCREEN SIZE.
At the moment we are into Octa Core era but have you ever actually thought that if your phone ever used all of these cores at once? I think even Quad Core processors are not fully utilised. Many HD games still just utilise dual core and the rest are off. So in real, many games are not fully using your full phone potential as lack of support from developers or lack of customization to utilise all cores/hardware ! Don't you feel trolled?
Windows phone is fast growing platform but it still lacks a lot what Android offers on the table. I prefer Android over Windows phone any day!
(That's another debate! http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=45932842&postcount=14)
If you just want a simple phone for calls and texts and emails and limited apps, I WILL SIMPLY TELL YOU TO USE WP8 or if you just want to call and text NOKIA 3310 (or any in the sequence) shall suit you.
So going for Quardcores (now i think its justified but if all cores are optimized in every application)/Octacores/64bits is just rubbage and you are just tricked out of money when you have something very latest but developers havenot made anything that it can utilise. So if you are considering a phone to use for next two years, I believe a recognised company's quardcore would be more than enough. A change to this trend in future is inevitable but not enough uptill now to run for the latest device. (Remember Mediatek Octacore can not win from Qualcomm Quadcore, so consider which company to choose)
RAM is very important and I believe this should not be compromised. Many phones will do just great on 1gb ram but I will prefer a 2gb ram if my phone is to be used for two or more years.
GPU This is something really tricky which might FORCE anyone to buy a phone with higher GPU. GPU takes a part of ram and its function is to compute 3D functions and thus is mostly utilised in GAMES. So if you are a gamer, I will suggest you to buy a phone with latest GPU rather than an old one. Xperia L/Xperia P/ Xperia M all share almost the same price. However, Xperia P is an old device while Xperia L is recent. Thus, Xperia L will give alot better performance and more smoothness to your ROM comparatively to Xperia P because it can handle graphics better due to its latest GPU.
SCREENSIZE I personally prefer any device bigger than 4 inch display. 3.5 is just too small for your fingers and 5 is just to big for me. For me, 4.3 to 4.7 is just perfect as not only it is big enough to read/games/emails but also gives you enough for big hands.
Remember to always BUY A DEVICE WHICH IS DEVELOPERS FRIENDLY. You won't find much ROMS for HTC Amaze although it has almost the same specification as HTC sensation.
CORTEX CONSIDERATION When you are buying any phone, we usually just consider the clock speed of processor and usually ignore the technology on which the processor is build on. The processors which are currently being available in the market are Cortex A5, A7, A9, A12 and A15. What does this mean? Consider it this way, it shows the technology they are build upon and using. The Cortex A5 is oldest which cortex A15 is latest.
Lately 64 bits have also being introduced A53 & A57. These out perform the previous ones!
If you are wondering how does this make a difference, well take this as an example : A device running a dual core Cortex A9 1 Ghz would run faster than a dual core Cortex A5 clocked at 1.5 Ghz. This is because as the technology is growing, the architecture of the chips are also changing to improve their performance. As the Cortex A9 uses new architecture, thus many improvements have been made to enhance the device performance. ( Xperia U used 1ghz A9 with 512 Ram whilst Samsung Galaxy Star uses 1Ghz A5 with 512 Ram as well but if you talk about their performance, there is a lot of difference between the two. I have personally used both of them) So always consider a device with higher cortex if you can afford to!
REMOVABLE BATTERY is important for those who want to easily swap batteries or want to use their phones for long period of time. This is just a big draw back for me as I keep three devices and I update each one annually so this means that I need to change my nexus after using it for around 2 years to 3 years. In this time, I need to change my battery as battery does get worn out and damaged. But I just can not easily do that.
You might be wondering, the new ROMS are not available. Well actually they are but custom made. If you check out Android development of these phones, you will be surprised that many developers are giving their best to just work hard on new ROMS and they are all great.
At times you just need to do little tweaks.(Some games aren't available on specific models but those devices are capable of running them very smoothly. Tweaks help in these matters)
Another thing one of my friend asked me to add was about support from different manufacturers to their devices! Well, every company has a different policy of releasing updates for their phones according to their price tag (Flashship, mid end, low end phones). So make sure you consider what is their possibility of being updated to newer version of android if you are looking for STOCK roms coming directly from manufacturers. Samsung for the fact is releasing phones every single day and I think, you can not expect support for its low end phones at all whilst one update for mid ranges and few more high ends/flash ship phones.
Sony on the other hand is always slow with updates but provides open source code at times if it doesnot plan to update the android version.
Motorola starts to amaze me with its policy to update even the lower end phones to Android Lollipop and in my opinion Moto updates the android version more frequently and much quicker than any other manufacturer.
Usually the support is around ONE year to ONE and half year max for Flagship phones; SIX months - ONE year for mid-range phones whilst ZERO to FEW BUG fixing updates for lower end phones!
However, If you got a carrier phone like VODA, AT&T etc, you are pretty much struck with your PROVIDER rather than manufacturer for that fact! Usually these phones come with locked bootloaders which are a tough nut to crack, and thus you can only flash ROMs which are made for LOCKED BOOTLOADERS. Thus, if you can afford it, you should buy a contract free phone straight from manufacturer. This will allow you more freedom to customise your phone to your advantage by flashing ROMS, kernels, mods etc! However, it will simply be useless to a person who is not ready to take the risks!
Android Platform
Android Platform is growing very rapidly and new improvements have been introduced with every new build. I think the only issue now Android is still struggling with is battery life in standby mode which although has been improved quite considerably with Android Lollipop but I think it still needs some work in the future which I am sure Google is looking into very closely.
I think this is enough for you to decide if you really need to buy a phone or not.
GOOD LUCK!

Updates :
Added the following in the guide
*Oems
*Generally how long a phone is updated according to it's class (Flagship, low end or mid range phone)
*Considering the advantage of using newer architecture of processor (Cortex)
*Disadvantages of carrier phones
Any suggestions be welcomed!
PLANNED UPDATES :
What to look for in a phone if you are a Gamer, Text & Call person, Mobile Cinema addict, Internet Browsing Freak etc
Edit it more to be organised and easy to access headings for skimming through

What devices do you use?

@Hnk1, well said.
I am still using my good old HTC Touch HD (Blackstone), now upgraded to WM 6.5, and it is still running great. Gives me more than a couple of days on a single battery charge.

You should mention that some OEMs, like LG, like to pump out flagships phones every 3 month that means that your phone, from LG will not get alot of SW support.
That said, other OEMs have the same philosophy for mid range to low end devices. I am talking about official support, Some devices are lucky and get Custom rom support but then, custom roms are more often than not a compromise and not a solution as they have and always will have bugs.
You cannot have up to date phones, with removable batteries and the best experience. Its a world of compromise, as it is nearly for everything else.

Thanks! Hnk1..
This guide is very is helpful ..

thnx

Thanks. Its very useful

xyz121 said:
Great guide man, Thanks!
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Revontheus said:
What devices do you use?
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chan.sk said:
@Hnk1, well said.
I am still using my good old HTC Touch HD (Blackstone), now upgraded to WM 6.5, and it is still running great. Gives me more than a couple of days on a single battery charge.
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shadowcore said:
You should mention that some OEMs, like LG, like to pump out flagships phones every 3 month that means that your phone, from LG will not get alot of SW support.
That said, other OEMs have the same philosophy for mid range to low end devices. I am talking about official support, Some devices are lucky and get Custom rom support but then, custom roms are more often than not a compromise and not a solution as they have and always will have bugs.
You cannot have up to date phones, with removable batteries and the best experience. Its a world of compromise, as it is nearly for everything else.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TwinEdge said:
Thanks! Hnk1..
This guide is very is helpful ..
Click to expand...
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thereefour777 said:
thnx
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Lukadevilu said:
Thanks. Its very useful
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The guide is updated! Added OEMS and carriers briefly. Also, I added little debate about WP vs Android. People's opinion could be different so I respect that! The whole debate is here :
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2450502&page=1
Secondly, I am glad the guide was a help to all of you! Keep sharing so more people can benefit from it!
I use alot of devices and I borrow many devices from my friends and family to experiment with them! At the moment I am using Xperia L, Nexus 4 and Nexus 7 2013. Other phones are either exchanged, sold to buy a new one, lent so they keep changing time to time as they are for development/experimenting purposes only!

Nice guide.

Lord of the Droids said:
Nice guide.
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I'm glad you liked it