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Best Android phone available in the U.S.?

A

archer75

Member
What is the best android phone in the U.S.?

I have no cell phone currently so i'm not locked into any carrier.
I have researched them for my area by looking at coverage maps,
going into stores and speaking with friends and coworkers. It seems
coverage for my area and areas I travel in are the same for all of
them. So i'm not shopping carriers but rather just shopping phones.
I also get monthly service discounts with all of them via my work.

The best coming out soon would be the Galaxy S2 but that will likely
cost $200-$300 and I really don't want to spend that much. I can get
most current android phone out there for under $125 so I would like to
do that.

I want one that has gingerbread or there is an update available so I
can upgrade to gingerbread.

Needs to take good quality photos for those times I don't have my
other cameras with me.
Also need to take very good quality video as it will be replacing
my 9 year old camcorder and I want to move away from tapes.

Needs to have good GPS. Primarily for geocaching but also for directions.

Super AMOLED or qHD screen.

Dual core processor

Battery needs to last throughout the day. I don't use it for a phone much
but will use it for streaming pandora for at least a little bit a day. Most
of the time i'm at home or work where i have a wifi connection.

I'm not opposed to a sliding keyboard.

4G would be nice. But not a top priority.

So far i'm looking at:

Motorla Atrix 4g $25
HTC Sensation 4g $125
Droid 3 $50
Droid x2 $50 Can this be upgraded to gingerbread?


Motorola Photon 4g sounds good but I can't find it cheaper than $180

Any other suggestions?
 
archer75 said:
What is the best android phone in the U.S.?

I have no cell phone currently so i'm not locked into any carrier.
I have researched them for my area by looking at coverage maps,
going into stores and speaking with friends and coworkers. It seems
coverage for my area and areas I travel in are the same for all of
them. So i'm not shopping carriers but rather just shopping phones.
I also get monthly service discounts with all of them via my work.

The best coming out soon would be the Galaxy S2 but that will likely
cost $200-$300 and I really don't want to spend that much. I can get
most current android phone out there for under $125 so I would like to
do that.

I want one that has gingerbread or there is an update available so I
can upgrade to gingerbread.

Needs to take good quality photos for those times I don't have my
other cameras with me.
Also need to take very good quality video as it will be replacing
my 9 year old camcorder and I want to move away from tapes.

Needs to have good GPS. Primarily for geocaching but also for directions.

Super AMOLED or qHD screen.

Dual core processor

I'm not opposed to a sliding keyboard.

4G would be nice. But not a top priority.

So far i'm looking at:

Motorla Atrix 4g $25
HTC Sensation 4g $125
Droid 3 $50
Droid x2 $50 Can this be upgraded to gingerbread?


Motorola Photon 4g sounds good but I can't find it cheaper than $180

Any other suggestions?
Click to expand...

I dont have experience with the smartphones you've listed, but as stated here numerous times, pick your carrier first.
 
I can't say much for the other phones, but I just bought my HTC Sensation 3 weeks ago and love it. It is by far the best phone I have had. This is my first android phone, with the exception of the Google Nexus One, and I sold that one in a month only to run back to my blackberry. You will not be sorry if you get the sensation. The battery life is good and it does some pretty amazing things. Also, I have had no problems with it and it is super fast. Good luck on your search for the perfect phone!
 
KENNECTED said:
I dont have experience with the smartphones you've listed, but as stated here numerous times, pick your carrier first.
Click to expand...

Carrier is irrelevant. They are all the same coverage here and all have speeds suitable for what I need. Already researched them all and I have no preference for any one of them.
I'm only shopping phones.
 
Sensation first, Atrix second, although it's a very close call and my criteria might differ from yours. Never been a big fan of the Droid line, but that's just me.
 
Crashdamage said:
How can anyone so concerned about prices say the choice of carriers is irrelevent?
Click to expand...

Cost is similar between all carriers via my work discounts. Choice of carriers is irrelevant because as I stated coverage is great for all of them where I work and travel and speeds for all of them meet my needs in the areas i'm concerned about. I really do have no preference after doing my research.

If the prices varied greatly or if I required very fast speeds or if we didn't have good coverage here then I would make different choices in carriers. But based upon my needs and pricing available to me they are all pretty much equal.

I understand this is different in different parts of the country.
 
After doing a lot of reading from professional reviews and users what i've come up with this:

Sensation has a better build quality than the atrix and feels better in the hand. I've seen them in person so i'd agree with this.

The sensation suffers from signal degradation depending on how you are holding it but not as bad as the iphone. Atrix fares much better. Anandtech has some numbers on this.

The sensation has a much worse speakerphone and not as good call quality as the atrix based upon reviews.

All reviewers agree the atrix has better performance.

All reviewers agree the sensation has better video quality but from the comparisons I have seen they look the same to me.

Most reviewers agree the sensation has a better camera and I would agree from what i've seen. Some say the atrix does. I think it just comes down to personal preference.

The Atrix is $100+ cheaper than the sensation but the sensation can do wifi calling which I am interested in.

Reviews suggest the sensation gets a much faster and more stable GPS lock than the atrix.

Everyone seems to prefer HTC sense over motoblur. I'd agree. But you can change it.
 
archer75 said:
After doing a lot of reading from professional reviews and users what i've come up with this:

Sensation has a better build quality than the atrix and feels better in the hand. I've seen them in person so i'd agree with this.

The sensation suffers from signal degradation depending on how you are holding it but not as bad as the iphone. Atrix fares much better. Anandtech has some numbers on this.

The sensation has a much worse speakerphone and not as good call quality as the atrix based upon reviews.

All reviewers agree the atrix has better performance.

All reviewers agree the sensation has better video quality but from the comparisons I have seen they look the same to me.

Most reviewers agree the sensation has a better camera and I would agree from what i've seen. Some say the atrix does. I think it just comes down to personal preference.

The Atrix is $100+ cheaper than the sensation but the sensation can do wifi calling which I am interested in.

Reviews suggest the sensation gets a much faster and more stable GPS lock than the atrix.

Everyone seems to prefer HTC sense over motoblur. I'd agree. But you can change it.
Click to expand...


So have you made your decision? :D
 
Wow!. The best Android phone in the US? I must say there is quite a few, so whats considered the best to you might not be for someone else. What matter is the one you like and suits your needs best.
 
Bnice said:
Wow!. The best Android phone in the US? I must say there is quite a few, so whats considered the best to you might not be for someone else. What matter is the one you like and suits your needs best.
Click to expand...

Bingo! That's why I outlined my criteria in my first post with a list of things that are important to me and my needs. To narrow it down further i'm looking now at the atrix and sensation.
 
archer75 said:
Cost is similar between all carriers via my work discounts. Choice of carriers is irrelevant because as I stated coverage is great for all of them where I work and travel and speeds for all of them meet my needs in the areas i'm concerned about. I really do have no preference after doing my research.
Click to expand...
You really need to ensure that you're happy with whatever carrier you select as far as real world coverage is concerned in places where you need coverage the most. Don't rely on coverage maps. People you know are good resources but it really depends on how well those people pay attention to coverage (as always, consider the source).

Make sure you fully test out coverage while you can cancel without ETF. That's your real coverage test.
 
takeshi said:
You really need to ensure that you're happy with whatever carrier you select as far as real world coverage is concerned in places where you need coverage the most. Don't rely on coverage maps. People you know are good resources but it really depends on how well those people pay attention to coverage (as always, consider the source).

Make sure you fully test out coverage while you can cancel without ETF. That's your real coverage test.
Click to expand...

Yes. No way to be 100% sure until I actually get my hands on a phone myself. But all reports from friends are promising. And if I do find myself somewhere without coverage, well, I haven't had a cell in 5 years and have gotten along just fine, so it won't bother me.
 
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