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What android phone should I buy?

iWannaBeAdored

iWannaBeAdored

Member
Hey guys, i'm new here. I used to have a iPhone 3G but I wanted a change so I bought a Palm Pre and sold the iPhone. It will arrive tomorrow. I am thinking about sending it back and buying an android phone as I like the UI and the memory can be extended (unlike the Pre). Also the Pre Plus is coming out so I don't wanna buy the old model.

I was going to buy the Nexus One but I do not have enough money to (boo!). I love the 2.1 android. What android should I buy? I read the HTC Magic will be getting a 2.1 update but I am in the UK so that might be a while away? The T-Mobile Pulse catches my eye.

thanks in advance.
 
The pulse is really cheap but very limited because it only has 128mb RAM. It runs a custom home to save RAM. You might be tempted by the cheap price on t-mobile, but seriously give it a miss. Its not future proof.

The Magic is a good bet because its well suported by custom firmwares on sites like xda-developers, and there's alot of them cheap second hand.

The Hero is also a good bet for the same reason. (But personally i dont like the chin)

The Samsung Galaxy (yeah the one i'm selling) is also a good bet. There's now a android 2.0 custom rom for it, which almost totally works (camera and light sensor doesnt work yet). Also Samsung said they will be releasing 2.0 some time in Jan (take with a pinch of salt). It also has an AMOLED screen, LED flash, and 8gb internal storage over the magic and the hero. It also has a microSD slot so u can increase it further.

Just remember that most of the current android phones all run on the MSM72xx series so are pretty much the same hardware. There's not much between them performance wise, its the extra's that set them apart - like AMOLED, but equally community size like with HTC phones.

The next set of android phones like the nexus are all snapdragon based, which is why u pay alot more for them.

Honestly unless u want and can afford the latest, go for a bargain hero,magic, or galaxy. Its sad for us guys who paid 400 EUR+ only 4 months ago, but its good for you to pick up a bargain! And thats not just because i'm selling one :P
 
Thanks. It's not the Pulse price that tempts me it is the UI which I like :) My friend has the HTC Hero and I do not like Sense UI. I used a Sense UI theme on my iPhone 3G for a while and I began to dislike it. The Magic seems good for me as it is a good price (
 
It doesnt really matter, whichever you like the colour off :P Check if they are security unlocked if you can. Thats different to simlock.

The UI on the pulse is a custom home which you can get from the android market for a few quid. The Hero sense UI can be removed by customising the Hero ROM. So don't worry too much about the UI :)
 
I think I'm going with white but black looks more elegant. It just says unlocked and it can use these sims (goes on to list most networks) and t-mobile is one which I use.

But would the 2.1 work on the Hero?
 
2.1 is very new. It was only released to manufacturers today. So its not realistic to expect anouncements about weather certain phones will suport them on yet just yet.

You just need to remember the MAGIC, Hero, Galaxy, and a few other phones have the exact same platform inside. Same speed processor etc. So all of them can run 2.1 without any problems at all. It would be a comercial decision if the manufacturer decided to make it available for one device and not the other.

The only difference aside from the exterior are peripheral devices like battery, camera, screen, wifi chip, bluetooth chip etc.

Unlocked means any SIM can be put into it

Security unlocked bootloader means you can flash it with anything. You can unlock some phone's bootloaders for free, and others you need to buy an unlock from someone.
 
Got my Pre today. Very nice device. Nice UI and the phone looks good. The only thing I dislike about it is the App Store and the memory. Only 8GB is a step down for me and the app store has pretty much no apps for EU. I think I will return it and buy the Magic but i'll give it a few days.
 
From what i hear its very nice and also very fast. But the biggest complaints I've heard too are exactly the ones you mentioned.

If I can give you any advice, its buy a phone with a huge following. Magic is a perfect choice. At least that way if you're bored waiting for releases there's ALOT of roms for you to try in the mean time.
 
So you think the Magic is the best android phone I should get? Is there any major improvements the Hero has other than the 5MP camera?
 
I mainly check my Hotmail, check my twitter phone and text and browse the net so will the magic do me well? Is the keyboard good? is the software quick? WebOS 1.3.1 was good but it was slow when loading an app.
 
So to confirm:

I can buy a Hero or Magic and will be able to update to 2.1 somehow in the near future? Also, I do not like the Sense UI much so can anyone link me to a good ROM?
 
With a custom rom, most likely.

With an official rom, HTC anounced Hero will get 2.0. This was before 2.1 came out, and there's been no announcment either way yet on 2.1

Magic I have no idea, but if you google i'm sure you'll find an anouncment from HTC about it
 
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