Advice Appreciated

[Chicago64]

Well, this Christmas I am looking into getting my first *true* smartphone. I'm on AT&T, just as a heads up. So far, I've seen a couple of phones that caught my eye; the Samsung Infuse, the HTC Inspire, and the iPhone 4S. Now, I know that there's a huge debate between Android and Apple, and seeing as this is an Android forum, the opinions will be more Android biased, but I'm looking around to see what would fit me best. Customization isn't a must have for me, though it could be fun. From what I've seen, I think the iPhone 4S would fit my every day needs best, though I know the other two are spectacular as well. I'm not someone who needs extreme workhorse fast-as-possible phones that are the most advanced on the market, and I have no idea how to rig, jailbreak, and do any of that on smartphones, so I'm not into that either. What is your guys' opinions on these phones, and what do you think might best fit me?

Thanks!

~Chicago64

 

[lilotimz]

Have you looked at the Samsung Galaxy S2 for ATT? Having messed with my cousins SG2 (he has apple for everything...literally...except his phone ) and my friends i4S, it's really a toss up of what you want. Both are exceptionally fast for day to day usage and more than powerful enough for games.

Without going to the closed vs open argument; out of these phones, the 4s is the fastest imho and most "friendly" to a person who just wants something that absolutely works (most of the time) and seems to be most suited for you.

But take a look at the SG2 as well. You'd be surprised at how this 6 month old workhorse is still one of the best/ if not the best android out there.

 

[rui-no-onna]

Go to an AT&T store and try playing with the phones there. It's really best to have some hands on experience to decide which one you like better.

 

[Chicago64]

Have you looked at the Samsung Galaxy S2 for ATT? Having messed with my cousins SG2 (he has apple for everything...literally...except his phone ) and my friends i4S, it's really a toss up of what you want. Both are exceptionally fast for day to day usage and more than powerful enough for games.

Without going to the closed vs open argument; out of these phones, the 4s is the fastest imho and most "friendly" to a person who just wants something that absolutely works (most of the time) and seems to be most suited for you.

But take a look at the SG2 as well. You'd be surprised at how this 6 month old workhorse is still one of the best/ if not the best android out there.

That's a good idea. I'll certainly look into it, thanks.

Go to an AT&T store and try playing with the phones there. It's really best to have some hands on experience to decide which one you like better.

That's a good point. I'll have to do that sometime.

 

[Stuntman]

Go to an AT&T store and try playing with the phones there. It's really best to have some hands on experience to decide which one you like better.

I agree. Best thing to do is actually try them out. Since you haven't used a smartphone before, you probably won't know what you really need until you try a bunch of different phones to see what they can actually do. You probably won't be able to do everything with a demo phone such as setting up email, social networking, and other personalised functions. Not sure if stores have demo accounts for you to try these things out. What you probably can try out is the browser, games, maps, and such things.

 

[Chicago64]

I agree. Best thing to do is actually try them out. Since you haven't used a smartphone before, you probably won't know what you really need until you try a bunch of different phones to see what they can actually do. You probably won't be able to do everything with a demo phone such as setting up email, social networking, and other personalised functions. Not sure if stores have demo accounts for you to try these things out. What you probably can try out is the browser, games, maps, and such things.

My mom has the Samsung Galaxy S, and my Grandmother has the iPhone 4, so I am somewhat familiar with them, though not extensively.

 

[rui-no-onna]

My mom has the Samsung Galaxy S, and my Grandmother has the iPhone 4, so I am somewhat familiar with them, though not extensively.

Play with those so you can familiarize yourself with the OS. While manufacturers have different UI's available, operation should be more or less similar across the board. Also check out the app selection. No question, there are more apps available for iOS and some of them aren't available on Android.

If you decide you'd prefer iOS over Android, then choice made (iPhone 4S) - that's one advantage of having only one new model.

If you like Android better, then that's when you go to the AT&T store to test individual models. How they feel in your hand. Too big, too small, too heavy, laggy UI, etc.

 

[Stuntman]

My mom has the Samsung Galaxy S, and my Grandmother has the iPhone 4, so I am somewhat familiar with them, though not extensively.

It seems you have phones available for you to try out. I'm sure they'd let you try them out to see which you like more.

The iPhone 4S is going to be almost the same as the iPhone 4. It's going to be faster and have a better camera.

The Infuse is going to be similar to the Samsung Galaxy S as they are made by the same company. The Infuse will have a larger screen, much larger than the iPhone. Some people want larger screens as it makes typing easier and images are easier to read. The iPhone will have a smaller image, but has a higher resolution, so images will appear sharper.

The HTC Inspire is going to look a little different than the Galaxy S. Android phone manufacturers generally have their own somewhat customised UI skin. HTC also has a number of additional widgets that are not available on other phones. I personally really like some of the HTC widgets. They are amongst the best that I have seen and I have not seen very many other apps that have widgets similar to those on HTC phones.

All of these phones do pretty much the basic functions you seem to want, but then, practically any mid-range or higher phone would probably work for you. You don't seem to have stated a great many requirements other than a basic need for a smartphone with which I assume are decent messaging, social networking, web browsing and maybe some other miscellaneous apps/games. It may simply come down to feel of the UI and of the physical device.