Which unlocked Android phone

[mindwalker]

Hi guys,

Looking into an Android phone here on the other side of the pond (europe). It will be an unlocked phone as I don't like contracts...

Currently on the market there's the Nexus S (500 eur) followed by the Desire HD (480 eur) and the Samsung Galaxy S (440 eur).

I suppose for OS updates the Nexus S will be better as it ships the vanilla Android ? How backwards compatible are the new version of Android ? Say is it tightly couple hardware or some new functions that depend on new hardware will just not work or then work slowly (like if they depend on a special dedicated chip or something)?

What would be the situation with the DHD and Galaxy S ? I would have to wait for HTC or Samsung to compile their custom OS to the new version of Android and download/install that ? Or could I just install the new version of Android and use it stock on the HTC / Samsung ? But then I take it that a lot of small phone features will not be working properly as specific drivers might be missing or something ?

Might be thinking too much ahead but I would like a phone that is not obsolete in less than 12 months... specially for the amount of money you pay for it. Anyway might be inevitable since dual core phones might be the order of the day by the end of the year

 

[snapper.fishes]

For any none Google phone (i.e. not Nexus), you will have to wait for the manufacturer to release an update for your phone. (Unless if you plan to flashing custom roms.)

I say go with the Nexus S. Nexus One has been out for a while now, but it can still run every single game available on the market. Android phones don't go obsolete like iPhones do. At least the top ones don't. (Installing the latest iOS on the iPhone 3GS causes it to lag quite badly.)

 

[mindwalker]

Hmm.. Nexus S sounds good.. however only arriving in some 6-7 weeks time, which is around the same time as the Barcelona mobile congress so I think I'll wait for it to see the new players for 2011..

But regarding the Nexus S...

Do you feel 16 Gb is enough ? It can't be expanded... I'd say I'd keep 8Gb for music and 8 Gb for apps.. I dunno how big apps for Android are but I would like to keep the basic ones (foursquare, facebook, skype, etc..)

And I read some stuff about how the Samsung assembled GPS can go a bit off the mark ? Wonder how much of an issue that would be though...

Now if I only could find a shop to hold them phones in my hand

 

[takeshi]

Android phones don't go obsolete like iPhones do. At least the top ones don't.

Can you clarify what you mean here? There are plenty of examples of Android devices that won't be getting the latest versions of Android.

The last sentence seems fairly pointless. The top iPhones (or any device) aren't obsolete either.

 

[Guamguy]

Just get the Nexus S then.