Finally Getting A Smartphone - Which One?

[Jarrex]

Hey guys, so after 2 years of putting up with this crap called EnV Touch due to my contract.. it is finally up and I am looking for a good smart phone. Hopefully you will be able to point me in a good direction.

Primary Requirements:
-Must be on Verizon
-Good battery life
-Smooth transition between apps/actions
-No SMS issues (sending to wrong contact)

Secondary:
-Physical keyboard (I need to go to the store and test out virtual keyboards as I don't particularly enjoy them as far as I know).

That is really my primary concerns, I do have a question about visual voicemail though. I know way back when i got the Env Touch, visual voicemail cost extra. Does it still even if you have a dataplan?

Besides listed above, I am not that picky, I just like phones that run smoothly and last long. Any information you guys can provide is greatly appreciated!

 

[refthemc]

Secondary:
-Physical keyboard (I need to go to the store and test out virtual keyboards as I don't particularly enjoy them as far as I know).

That might limit you to only a small amount of "Smartphones" that Verizon offers, ie the Droid2, DroidPro...

If you do choose to go with the D2 I might even suggest to check out the D2Global because it comes with a 1.2 ghz processor instead of the 1 ghz that the regular D2 comes with. Once again it is very advisable to go into the store and play with the phones yourself, you might like how one flicks the screen faster than the other Hope this helps.

 

[Jarrex]

That might limit you to only a small amount of "Smartphones" that Verizon offers, ie the Droid2, DroidPro...

If you do choose to go with the D2 I might even suggest to check out the D2Global because it comes with a 1.2 ghz processor instead of the 1 ghz that the regular D2 comes with. Once again it is very advisable to go into the store and play with the phones yourself, you might like how one flicks the screen faster than the other Hope this helps.

I am going to the store in a week to play around . Although I am amazed at how much wanting a physical qwerty keyboard limits your options! I was planning on getting the G2 global also because of my work possibly requiring me to go overseas. Are there any other spec differences between global and regular? (Battery life or otherwise?)

thanks for the help!

 

[operant]

The Droid 2 global 1.2 is slower than the Droid X 1ghz in my experience (I think it's just factory overclocked to 1.2).

If I were you, try and look at the virtual keyboards because the all-screen options are just overall better and more abundant. Think of the Thunderbolt and Droid Bionic IMO.

Believe me, switching from physical to virtual keyboards can seem daunting but it isn't as bad as you might think.

However if you give it a try and prefer physical, Droid 2 and Pro are very viable options and it comes down to if you want slide-out or Palm/BB style.

Oh and all of the devices I have mentioned have a good full day battery. I only dip below 20% battery on my Droid X when I'm using navigation, browsing, and listening to music for a good majority of the time.

 

[Jarrex]

The Droid 2 global 1.2 is slower than the Droid X 1ghz in my experience (I think it's just factory overclocked to 1.2).

If I were you, try and look at the virtual keyboards because the all-screen options are just overall better and more abundant. Think of the Thunderbolt and Droid Bionic IMO.

Believe me, switching from physical to virtual keyboards can seem daunting but it isn't as bad as you might think.

However if you give it a try and prefer physical, Droid 2 and Pro are very viable options and it comes down to if you want slide-out or Palm/BB style.

Oh and all of the devices I have mentioned have a good full day battery. I only dip below 20% battery on my Droid X when I'm using navigation, browsing, and listening to music for a good majority of the time.

The main issue I have from 100% virtual keyboards is that, at least in my small experience from EnV Touch and small iPhone use, is the lack of feel for individual keys. The EnV Touch's keyboard often miscalculated which button i was attempting to press and the iPhone (original one) did a little bit better but there was no acknowledgement of key presses. This could have changed in the past few years though.

Also, Thunderbolt and Bionic keep getting delayed to the point that I really do not want to wait for them. Thunderbolt was supposed to come out last month.