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Should this (Shift) be a first Android phone?

B

BenChase7

Android Expert
Hey everyone!

My little bro (20 yrs old) want to upgrade to his first smartphone. (he now has a dumbphone w/ T-Mo.) I am thinking this would be a good start, what do you think? He says he would like to have a physical KB, so its between this and the Epic, I think. (I want him to have a good one). He's really not that "techy," but says he wants something good/cool. He's in the Navy and near Richmond, so he will be able to use 4G when he goes there to hang out. Im just looking for any feedback and/or opinions on his behalf.
Also, anyone know about Sprint service in Norflok, Va. Beach and/or Richmond?

Thanks!! :)
 
There's pros and cons either way, but if he isn't too techy that negates a lot of them. Both are good devices. I think that Sense probably adds more levels of complexity than Touchwiz, but admittedly I don't have a ton of time logged on it.

A better answer might be, I was swayed by HTC's build quality, support (updates), and hacking community when I was considering the two.
 
I say shift cause its already on 2.2 and he won't have to go through an upgrade process from 2.1 and possibly lose data. Overall, spec for spec, the Epic wins out though imo. (4 inch super Amoled screen, front facing camera, 16gb of storage out of the box as opposed to 2gb). But the Shift has strong points too (HTC sense ui, 2.2 out of the box, build quality, part of the evo series)

Can't realy go wrong with either but until they update the Epic 4g, I will say Evo shift. Hope this helps a little...
 
since he is in the army... and will travel a lot....
dont you think the front facing camera will be worth a lot..
to see family .. friends.. new friends he will make?

i think the shift is cool.. but because it dont have FFC.. it fell off my list as an option.

PS.. what about the EVO???
 
dan330 said:
since he is in the army... and will travel a lot....
dont you think the front facing camera will be worth a lot..
to see family .. friends.. new friends he will make?

i think the shift is cool.. but because it dont have FFC.. it fell off my list as an option.

PS.. what about the EVO???
Click to expand...

That is going to depend a lot on whether or not he has wifi available if he gets deployed. Being that this isn't a world phone, he may not be able to get reception. That, and currently the most user friendly (IMO) video chat app is Skype, which, for some reason, doesn't support video chat yet except on some limited phones that aren't even out yet. It is probably a fair assumption that we will get it... eventually... but not something I would personally recommend a phone for.

What I will say is that HTC seems to be great with updates, and the average "noobie" likes the look and feel of sense. I think just about any modern HTC phone is a great starter phone.
 
lordofthereef said:
That is going to depend a lot on whether or not he has wifi available if he gets deployed. Being that this isn't a world phone, he may not be able to get reception. That, and currently the most user friendly (IMO) video chat app is Skype, which, for some reason, doesn't support video chat yet except on some limited phones that aren't even out yet. It is probably a fair assumption that we will get it... eventually... but not something I would personally recommend a phone for.

What I will say is that HTC seems to be great with updates, and the average "noobie" likes the look and feel of sense. I think just about any modern HTC phone is a great starter phone.
Click to expand...

I agree with you on Sence, HTC Sence is great... especially for someones first Android phone. Hell, I still love it! Also, He's only got a year left with the Navy and had already been deployed, He doubts he'll leave the country again, so we're not too worried about world phone capability.

Thanks for the input!
 
if a phone with a physical keyboard is a big issue than maybe the epic isnt the wise choice. ive had 7 replacement epics all with the keyboard input problem. im looking to switch to a shift very soon but th noticable difference in screen size is the only thing holding me back as of now but im hoping to look past that
 
well i had a blackberry before and looked at the epic for awhile and when i heard the shift was coming that solved by problem as i wanted the keyboard overall ive had this phone for 4 days and im very pleased with it.
 
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