Early 2010 I bought a HTC HD2, and I've been looking to replace it for years, with only 1 requirement: the new phone should not be bigger. But EVERY other 4.3" phone that has been released since then, was bigger than my old HD2 (120mm x 67mm). It's the end of 2013 now, and there hasn't even been an announcement of anything smaller. Maybe the HD2 was more than 3 years ahead of its time, or maybe technology has come to a stand still, but I find this very weird. Ofcourse there is going to be a limit on how small a 4.3" phone can be, but it should be possible to release a phone that at least has the same size as a 3-year old phone. I'm even willing to sacrifice some screen size, and settle with a 4" display, but even those are not much smaller, and all of them are low-end models.
So did I overlook a certain model, or are there just no compact phones?
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So in due for an upgrade in November 2011 and I wanted to know which phones the good people of XDA would recommend. I currently have a HTC HD2 running Windows Phone 7 Mango. I would like to stick with WP7 but other than that I think I have fairly standard requirements. Only thing I would specify is that it must have a fairly large screen, similar to the HD2. Oh, and it must be available in the UK!! Either unlocked or on T-Mobile. I'm happy to wait if a good phone is being released later this year or next. Been keeping an eye on the upcoming Nokia WP7 devices So have a contender there, I also like the galaxy s 2 anything else I should consider?
You have 3 options:
- HTC Titan (4.7'' LCD screen but very good LCD, 1.5 GHz cpu, mini-HDMI output, 1600 mAh, 8Mpxl f/2.2 lens), already in the UK market, pop to a phones4u shop, maybe you can catch a glimpse of it. Here is an unboxing vid http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPWNFn62vV8&feature=player_embedded
- Nokia Ace (4.3'' AmoLED, 1.4 GHz, 1800 mAh, 8Mpxl carl Zeiss)
- Samsung Focus S (4.3'' Super AmoLED Plus, rest specs unknown)
There isn't a definite release date for the latter two, but till November they will have been at least announced. But HTC Titan seems already a winner as it has the bigger screen of all WP7 devices (if that's not a problem), it bears the beefiest cpu (although 1.5 vs 1.4 Ghz won't make any difference), and the quality of the LCD is as good as an LCD gets (but slightly inferior to AmoLED offerings). And its camera quality, a field HTC has been notoriously failing at, seems quite decent (camera sample http://www.phonearena.com/news/First-camera-samples-from-the-HTC-Titan_id21748)
Can't recommend the HTC Titan enough! Picked up mine today from Phones4U and really loving it as a device..the screen size is definitely weird for me (coming from an iPhone 4), but fits perfectly in my giant european hands
It's a bargain on the deals they have at the moment too..free if you spend £30 a month, and if you spend a bit more they chuck in various extras too..my first good experience with P4U..crazy!
Only downside is that they are not available on 02, and when I spoke to retentions they told me that it's not on their list of upcoming devices..lots of android ones for them but no titan. I ended up jumping ship to Orange..not the best of the bunch but works out cheaper than my old 02 contract and with more minutes
HTC titan is looking good, im a little unsure of the LCD screen and how it will look in 2 years (i would be on a 2 year contract) compared to amoled. the nokia ace looks good, i just hope that the camera quality is as good as my old n95 was
Got my very first Android device abou 18 months ago.
At the time went for the Xperia Sola for its sensible size and decent specs (though I came to find 512MB of RAM a bit too shy for all the bloat Sony put in it).
The device hw suffered a partial hw malfunction (lost phone signal and screen was barely useable) but I kept as is for about 6 months because I needed for GPS navigation. Got back to my old WinMo 6.1 as my main device (and was amazed it could muster so much with its 600MHz CPU and less than 128MB of RAM) but recently decided it was time to finally get it repaired - just got it back this friday (and underwent the necessary root and bloat removal to actually make it usable).
Haven't been following tha Android scene as closely as I used to but it's hard to miss that devices are getting huge... things seem to be evolving in the direction of the phablet - a phone to big to carry in the pocket (or that will completellt fill it / stick out) or properly hold but still too small to properly replace a tablet (at least with a 5' screen).
My phones (both WinMo and Droid) perfectly fit my car's dashbord which has a rectangular inlet of less than 125x65mm and in the foresseable future I'd prefer aquiring a device that can sit there during trips... Thing is that currently one can only find feeble entry phones around this size (with specs worse than my current device).
Are small phones destined to die (or be extremelly underpowered?). Can anyone currently point a device about the size of the sola (116 x 59 x 9.9 mm), with better specs (CPU, RAM), and screen above 3.5'?
Regards
I have been looking at new phones. The flagship phones are sexy and, at least for a few months until the next must have comes out, have a lot of bling factor. However, there seem to be a lot of decent budget/midrange phones available (<$300). Additionally, it seems phones have a short life (durability and obsolescence) to justify dropping $500-$700 every 2-3 years. I'm wondering if it still makes sense or when it makes sense to go with the flagship products.
Questions:
1) Have we reached a point, like PC's, where the even budget units perform just about all tasks pretty well?
2) What uses would a flagship phone (e.g LG G3, Samsung S5, HTC One M8, Moto X) be better for than a typical budget/midrange phone (e.g. Moto G, Moto E, LG Optimus L90)?
3) Are there any critical features missing in the budget phones?
mrstop said:
I have been looking at new phones. The flagship phones are sexy and, at least for a few months until the next must have comes out, have a lot of bling factor. However, there seem to be a lot of decent budget/midrange phones available (<$300). Additionally, it seems phones have a short life (durability and obsolescence) to justify dropping $500-$700 every 2-3 years. I'm wondering if it still makes sense or when it makes sense to go with the flagship products.
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"Makes sense" is pretty subjective. It depends on what you can afford, are willing to spend, want and/or need. I pursue the various "what phone should you buy" threads regularly, and I also regularly recommend phones like the Nexus 4, Moto G, Sony Xperia SP, and the like. I'm also a big fan of "obsolete" or discontinue phones that you can pick up on eBay or Amazon. For example, you can get the Nexus 4 off eBay, brand new, for $240. And it's a way better phone than a Moto G, for only a bit more. IMO people need to remember options like these. It doesn't have to be a new phone (newly released, as opposed to new vs used). A flagship for a year or 2 ago can be had for far less than its original cost, and can outstrip a "budget" phone that just came out. Another example: A co-worker of mine needs a cheap smartphone after switching to T-Mobile. He was looking at the LG L9 that just came out, which can be purchased outright for a mere $100. The main disadvantage is that it only has HSPA 21.1Mb/s download capability. I told him to get a new LG F6 off eBay for $109. Slightly smaller screen, but same resolution, better processor, and has LTE. He didn't know about it, because it's discontinued and not on T-Mo's website anymore.
Questions:
1) Have we reached a point, like PC's, where the even budget units perform just about all tasks pretty well?
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If we're not there yet, we're close. The Moto G really sent a shockwave out, and other manufacturers are clamoring to compete (and mostly failing). A "budget" phone, as long as you pick the right one, should be able to do nearly, if not everything you want it to. And as I said above, "budget" doesn't necessarily mean a newly released phone; flagships from a couple years ago are still capable devices and can be had for very reasonable costs.
2) What uses would a flagship phone (e.g LG G3, Samsung S5, HTC One M8, Moto X) be better for than a typical budget/midrange phone (e.g. Moto G, Moto E, LG Optimus L90)?
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One obvious reason to have a flagship is the superior screen. Do you need a HD screen? No, you really don't. Anything above 200ppi is usable, to be frank. But of course everybody wants a better screen, since most of what we do with smartphones involves looking at them. Screen size is a subjective preference, but everybody wants the screen to be clearer, brighter, and more vibrant.
If you like to play games, flagships are obviously better. Better resolution, higher framerates,
3) Are there any critical features missing in the budget phones?
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There's always some things that have to be sacrificed to make a phone cheaper. Just look at the Moto E vs the Moto G. Screen resolution is lower and smaller, the processor is only a dual core, and the camera lacks flash (no front-facing camera either). And comparing the Moto G to the Moto X or other flagship phones, it's obviously not as powerful, doesn't have as much RAM, and the 5mp camera is constrained by the fact that it only has 5mp, where most flagships have at least double, and sometimes triple or quadruple that. Internal storage is an issue, especially if running KitKat and you're not able to move apps to SD, or the phone doesn't even have SD capability,
To conclude, let's compare to popular phones, the Moto G and the Galaxy S5. The Moto G runs smoothly, due to it's nearly-stock Android (completely stock if you get the GPE). The screen is very decent. But if you get the regular versions, you're limited to 8 or 16GB (less available to the user), 21.1Mb/s HSPA, and mediocre cameras. The LTE version is the better choice, since you also get a microSD slot, although it's only good for 32GB cards. Whereas with an S5 you get a higher resolution screen, more RAM, a far more capable processor, far better cameras, 32GB storage built-in, plus expandability to 128GB, etc, etc, etc. It also costs three times as much.
So yeah, it's great that we can buy a cheap smartphone that'll do everything we need. But that doesn't change the fact that there are phones that can do what we want.
I'm trying to find a phone that suits my needs, but it's proved difficult.
Currently I have a Galaxy SIII GSM phone.
I'd like a newer phone that's of similar size, 4.7 - 5.1 in or so, nothing remotely close to a Note3 in size. Also 2gb+ of RAM is mandatory, 1gb phones have all been ridiculously slow regardless of CPU. And rootable so I can install CM11+ on it.
Any suggestions?
phazei said:
I'm trying to find a phone that suits my needs, but it's proved difficult.
Currently I have a Galaxy SIII GSM phone.
I'd like a newer phone that's of similar size, 4.7 - 5.1 in or so, nothing remotely close to a Note3 in size. Also 2gb+ of RAM is mandatory, 1gb phones have all been ridiculously slow regardless of CPU. And rootable so I can install CM11+ on it.
Any suggestions?
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All the current flagships "phones". are 5.0-5.2". I say "phones" because I'm not including phablets like the Note or One Plus One or LG G3, HTC One M8 is 5.0", but is a pretty large phone because of the front speakers, ditto the 5.2" Sony Z2. The G2 is small for its 5.2" screen, and the smallest flagship, without going too far down in specs, is the Nexus 5. Smaller than that, and you're going to be compromising on processors. The Moto X has a 4.7" screen, as does the HTC One M7, but the specs aren't the latest or even the second latest. 2GB of RAM on each though, and both do run smooth and snappy. The Moto X is very compact despite the 4.7" screen.
The one exception to this is the Sony Xperia Z1 Compact. It has the same internals as the full size Z1 (Snapdragon 800 2.2GHz, 2GB RAM), but in a smaller size with a 4.3" screen. Personally though, I'd wait a month or two for the Z3 Compact (they skipped the Z2), which'll have the same height and width (but be a bit thinner) yet pack a bigger 4.6" screen. And front facing speakers and it's waterproof. One hell of a phone.
There are 3 threads already established that are devoted to discussions about devices, please read, and if necessary, repost your question in one of these threads: The what should I buy thread or the The Device Suggestion Thread or the The Device Comparison Thread.
There are also several other discussion threads that you probably should review to help you. They are What phone do you wish you had? or
The Worst Android Device That You've Ever Had & Why or even this place that talks about The best phone you ever owned.
Hi, I'm due for a new phone and need something high-functioning, - been on a N4mako for the past 2 years. It seems that the latest high end devices are all the size of nexus6 or Galaxy 5 which is huge. Is there anything around 4.5 inches diagonal that delivers?
Nexus5 is the obvious answer but i don't like switching devices often, and it's been around for a while. Will it hold for the next 2 years, or is there something better around that size?
Thx
PHP:
ctakah27 said:
Hi, I'm due for a new phone and need something high-functioning, - been on a N4mako for the past 2 years. It seems that the latest high end devices are all the size of nexus6 or Galaxy 5 which is huge. Is there anything around 4.5 inches diagonal that delivers?
Nexus5 is the obvious answer but i don't like switching devices often, and it's been around for a while. Will it hold for the next 2 years, or is there something better around that size?
Thx
PHP:
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Sony Xperia Z3 Compact. Or, the Z1 Compact if you want something cheaper. The Z3 Compact has a 2.5GHz Snapdragon 801, 2GB RAM, 4.6" 720p screen, 16GB ROM/128GB microSD slot, and front-facing speakers. It's also waterproof and has amongst the best battery life of any smartphone. The Z1 Compact is last year's model (they skipped making a Z2 Compact), but is still a very well-built and very capable phone.
The 2013 Moto X is also a very nice, smaller Android phone. Same size screen as your Nexus 4, but with smaller dimensions. Its specs on paper aren't really "flagship", but it has a unique processor combination that makes the phone run without any lag, and you won't find it lacking in performance.
That's exactly what I was thinking ^
As mentioned the Z3 compact...