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Good smartphone smaller than Galaxy Nexus?

Cromagnon

Cromagnon

Newbie
Hi,

My daughters' contact will finish in April 2013, she would like an Android smartphone but with a screen smaller than the Galaxy Nexus. Can you please help to answer a few questions?

1. May be she was used to the dimensions of the iPhone 3GS. But in case she really wants a smaller screen, what are the Android phones with screen around 4" that you would advise?

2. Is there anything important other than the physical size that we should be aware of? One thing I know is that small screen = less energy consumption. But is there any other technical implication? Something like a small screen will have lower resolution and may disable some features like watching 720p movies.

3. Screen technology: I suppose screens from brand names phones should be OK, mainly because I am ignorant in this area. Just for curiosity, if there is a screen technology to avoid, what would that be?

Thanks in advance for any help.
 
Honestly, there is absolutely no point in having a discussion about current phones when her contract isn't up until April 2013. New phones are constantly coming out. You shouldn't even bother looking until February or March.
 
And do identify your carrier type - GSM or CDMA (and if CDMA in the US, Sprint or Verizon) - phone selection will vary based on this.

But as others mentioned, it is too early to look now - technology is changing pretty fast!

To answer some of your questions, a 4" screen should be able to handle most of the things that a larger screen can handle - so no, you shouldn't have issues with that.

Screen technology - as long as you are getting a relatively modern phone, you should be ok. AMOLED (& variants) and super LCD are the more common ones today. They are both good (minor pros and cons)

But again, things will almost certainly change in a year, so look closer to the time you are ready to purchase.
 
Cromagnon said:
3. Screen technology: I suppose screens from brand names phones should be OK, mainly because I am ignorant in this area. Just for curiosity, if there is a screen technology to avoid, what would that be?
Click to expand...

Most people who give an answer would say "avoid Pentile". But the GNex has a Pentile screen and it looks great. The Pentile used in a Bionic or Razr, not so much.

So no, no specific thing to avoid I don't think. If it looks good to you, who the hell cares what technology it is.
 
Assuming you're on ATT or T Mobile, I would check out buying some older Nexus devices outright. Perhaps a Nexus S or Nexus One? Unless you don't mind being under contract for another two years, forget what I previously mentioned.

As of right now, phones are getting bigger, TVs are getting bigger, everything's getting bigger. In our day and age of technology, bigger is better. So unless your daughter is consider an iPhone "x", or older outdated Android smartphone in April of 2013. She won't have much of a choice considering the size of the phone.

IMO I feel that it doesn't take long to get accustomed to the 4.65" screen of the GNex, considering only 4.3" is used in portrait mode. I would let your daughter go to the T Mobile/ATT store to actually get a feel of how big too big is, regarding the size of smart phones.

I agree that this thread is somewhat "Pre- Mature", but it's always great to be prepared! ;)


Hope I helped!


-GNex
 
Thank you very much gentlemen for all your advices. I think we'll go with a new phone, probably with a contract. It's cool not to worry about the screen technology. So we'll read the phone reviews around that time and will make the decision.

BTW, we have just put the iPhone 3GS on top of the Galaxy Nexus. I was expecting the GN to be significantly bigger. In fact it is just slightly larger than the 3GS. And the height is about half an inch higher. So actually the fear of a big screen requiring a bigger hand is not really justified.

One more question: any brand of Android phone to recommend or to avoid? Our criteria are reliability and easy maintenance (for example replaceable battery). Performance is not necessary. Thanks.
 
I would say Motorola. Never like it even going back to old school hardware button once. But this comes from personal experience.. I am very gentle user my 4 year old iPhone 3G(backup phone) still works and I never used a case or screen protector. But my other 3 year old moto droid just in peaces touch screen doesn't work back cover won't close just a complete mess.
 
Cromagnon said:
any brand of Android phone to recommend or to avoid?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't look at it like that because every brand has it's best and worst. A good example.. Samsung Intercept (my first Android). It's crap. Samsung Galaxy Nexus (hopefully my last). Best phone ever.

I learned a valuable lesson after I purchased the Intercept. That was to read online reviews, watch YouTube reviews, research, research, and research some more before ever purchasing a mobile phone.

Expand your research beyond the forums (use the forums, but go beyond too) and eventually you will be able to make your own informed decision on what phone is best for you (or your daughter as the case may be).
 
Most of the major brand names will be fine.

Just remember that if you do go for a carrier branded (non-Nexus) device, you will be at the mercy of the carrier for updates to the OS. The advantage with GSM Nexus devices is that you get the latest updates promptly from google. Carrier branded non-nexus devices will almost certainly get updates that are delayed (assuming that the manufacturer/carrier decide to update it in the first place of course). Most major carriers/manufacturers will at least give you one major update - some will give you two major updates (they usually skip minor OS updates, and unfortunately some may even skip minor OS security updates) - you can almost always root your device and get the latest OS by flashing a ROM from developers over at xda (or create your own ROM if that interests you)

(yes, your post is in a Nexus forum, so you will hear good things about nexus devices! lol!)

Cromagnon said:
Our criteria are reliability and easy maintenance (for example replaceable battery). Performance is not necessary. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Are you looking for replaceable battery to be able to swap battery if you run out of battery life and don't have a charger handy? If so, ok. But a replaceable battery isn't really needed for 'maintenance'.
 
jj14x said:
Are you looking for replaceable battery to be able to swap battery if you run out of battery life and don't have a charger handy? If so, ok. But a replaceable battery isn't really needed for 'maintenance'.
Click to expand...
Swapping the battery is convenient but we are not travelling often. I was thinking of a battery which is easily replaceable without requiring complex skills or tools. I don't like the "throw away" design where you must buy another device when only the battery is dead, like MP3 players.

Also I would prefer to avoid any "lock in" scheme with a manufacturer / carrier like requiring you to go to a service centre just to replace a battery, or to be stuck with a specific firmware. A device that is "rootable" is certainly very interesting. As a matter of fact, I have reflashed my GN from 4.02 to Jelly Bean 4.11 following the advices in this blog: Easiest Way to Change Galaxy Nexus from Yakjuxw (Non-Yakju) to Android 4.1.1 Yakju/Takju

That was a scary experience, but at least now I know what rooting a phone mean.
 
Ah, ok. I tend to swap my phones out long before the battery performance even begins to go down (phone batteries usually will not show any significant degradation for 3-4 years for average users)

P.S. Rooting a Galaxy nexus is MUCH easier than rooting non-Nexus devices because the bootloader is unlocked.
 
Right now, GS3 and Dinc 4G are two top phones from VZW with the latest S4 processor/modem chip. Since you are looking for smaller screen than Gnex, that leaves only Dinc 4G with 4" SLCD2 screen. It seems to be getting good user reviews. But I'm sure there will be better phone like that size by early next year.

edit: I thought you are on VZW. If not, forget about Dinc4. I don't quite see good android phones around 4" screen on other carriers. Most of them are 4.3" or bigger.
 
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