I know this type of thing has been discussed before, and have trawled. Contract’s up for renewal – am after a phone that is a good phone, email and Google and not a lot else. Would like long battery life, and quite pocket friendly.

Looked at smart phones at the weekend and hugely impressive that they are, I don’t reckon I’ll use (or interested in) all the app features etc. Tried a Blackberry but struggling with the keypad. Found a predictive touch screen much easier. Surprised at lack of battery life on smart phones, that would be a hassle for me.

The phone shop was v dismissive of all non smart phones. Are there any good phones to suit what I’m after?

Ta

Nokia 5800? Can be tricky with email or not, depends what email setup you use and how the network configure it.

Btw if it comes with apps/features you don’t want, don’t use ’em.

Nokia E71/72. Good phone, good email, internet and a battery that needs charged every 4 days or so. My contracts up, but I’ve kept the phone and went on to a mega cheap rolling contract. Think you can pick these handsets up for a reasonable price, too.

Surprised at lack of battery life on smart phones

I was too. I have a sony xperia mini pro 10 (android) which has a minuscule battery. I was getting about 12hrs off a full charge.
And about to ditch it and go back to a Nokia 5800.

But this weekend I …
– turned off all background data
– turned screen brightness down
– also never run bluetooth or wifi or
gps unless specifically needed.

the phone now manages 3 days off a single charge.
which is the same (maybe better) than the Nokia.

So maybe … go for the smartphone but don’t run all the bells and whistles until you *grow* into it.
I would also consider a smaller screened smartphone with a lesser powered processor as well – if only to increase the battery life. That means a mid to low end android.

Blackberry has an excellent battery life, ocassionaly it plays silly bugers and has to be taken out. There are Blackberries out there with touch screens, not sure about the predicative text malarkey though.

5800s are free, btw.

HTC smart.

Despite the name it’s not really a smart phone.

Will do calls, email and internet fine but not a lot else so battery life is therefore a lot better than a proper smart phone

2nd 5800. It is technically smart phone but only just. Email works OK, good battery life, GPS with free mapping, v cheap.

Blackberry has a very good battery life….just turn off unwanted background running items…

Simple to use, does exactly what it says on the tin, IMO 🙂

When you say email, what type of email?

If you want to be able to sync with MS Outlook then I would definately only recommend some thing that runs the new MS Mobile software.

IMO Android is crap for Outlook integration.

i never found the 5800 v.cheap. seemed to be about £80 second hand. for a tenner or so more you could get a new samsung europa or xperia mini… with a guarantee.

thanks all. Wondered about the Nokia 5800. I guess the slight worry is ‘getting left behind’ vs the whizzy new stuff.

Just moved jobs and have to learn the whole Mac thing now, so I guess syncing with iCal and Thunderbird would prob be handy in the future

I’ve had a Nokia 5800 for about a year and it’s OK but not great. I’m trying to decide which way to jump, either a ‘proper’ smartphone or a simpler, reliable phone.

higgo – I know the dilemma!

Nokia E51 for me. Makes calls, sends texts, has wifi, and does native IMAP for email. Is regular phone size and battery lasts days.

All I use it for is calling, texting, and the occasional email (via 3G or wifi depending where I am).

I’ve had iPhones, E71, etc etc but never use the functionality and got fed up with carrying a brick around. The E51 suits my purposes perfectly.

blackberry perl has a more ‘traditional’ keypad (ie not a full qwerty keyboard)

blackberry storm has a full touchscreen

either might be an option

for what it’s worth, I hated the bb keyboard when I got it, but after a couple of weeks I could almost touch-type on it

the keypad on the blackberry takes some getting used to, but after a week you’ll have sussed the using thumbs and be typing as fast as you are on a normal keyboard!
if your after a phone thats based around communication, emails, sms etc. then you cant beat a blackberry, after all, its what they were made for!! its true that the media functions arnt as good as the iphones etc. but its a phone with media capabilities not an media player with phone capabilities!!
you may find that with non smart phones the email is painfully slow!!

battery life on my blackberry, if i use mine hard then i get just about 2 days out of it, (internet, wifi always on, lots of emails, texts bbm, a few games) but if i leave it alone then get 3 days from it,
i charge it every night anyways but thats just habbit, put it in the charging stand and pick it out when the alarm goes off in the morning!!
also when transfering files etc from the computer to the phone its drag and drop into the relevant folders too, no need for specific media programs! very handy! most the phones will take up to 32gb Micro SD too,

ive downloaded a few apps on mine, but mostly the useful ones, extended dictionary, an app that reads out emails etc when i’m driving / riding the bike (if i turn it on that is! otherwise if i forget to turn it off, it goes off in public = very funny/embarassing!! ) ebay, and a few others, the blackberry app worlds have 20.000 apps in them which in terms of ipod app place isnt much but, you dont get half the pointless ones dare i say!
there are also a couple of great forums for issue’s problems etc. crackberry.com being one of the better!!!

line up wise, the torch is the touch screen and key[ad phone in the line up, the Bold is the Best handset out there at the mo in the line up, (9780) or the Curve 3g, the pearl is a smaller form and more normal phone like but still with the Blackberry abilities,

there is a New curve due out in Q2 of this year, with a new bold and new torch in Q3

having had mine a couple of years, and previous blackberry before i really dont think i’ll be using any other brand of phone!!

i never found the 5800 v.cheap. seemed to be about £80 second hand

Widely available free on contract iirc.

“free on contract”
Aren’t they all?
(depending on how expensive/long the contract is)

No, a lot of smartphones aren’t even on a long contract. iPhones certainly aren’t.

http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/buy/APPLE-IPHONE4-16GB-O2-60A24-FCONO

lol. “Free” if you pay £61/month for 24 months

5800 free on £15/month or £40-£60 on ebay.

lol. “Free” if you pay £61/month for 24 months

Exactly – “free on contract” is meaningless.

I used to own a Nokia 5800 and found that it tried to do too many things so did them all badly. The touchscreen was more of a POKE REALLY HARD screen too (not necessarily a disadvantage but was for me).

IMO if you want something simple, either go simpler than a 5800 or get a ‘battery draining brick’ and embrace the extra functionality.

thanks all … beginning to think stevious is right – stay with a simple phone or embrace the new world 😯

higgo – Member
I’ve had a Nokia 5800 for about a year and it’s OK but not great. I’m trying to decide which way to jump, either a ‘proper’ smartphone or a simpler, reliable phone.

Right, I’ve jumped. Based on another thread on here I’ve ordered an Orange San Fransisco and will unlock it, remove all the Orange gubbins and install Android 2.2 on it. Will report back first impressions (and the unlocking, unbranding stuff) on Tuesday.

Will report back first impressions (and the unlocking, unbranding stuff) on Tuesday.

Well, it arrived early (yesterday afternoon) and first impressions are that I’m very pleased with it. It’s different class from the Nokia 5800.
Unlocking it was free and very simple.
Unbranding it and updating to Android 2.2 was a bit of a faff but following the instructions on the http://orangesanfrancisco.co.uk site to the letter works – took me less than two hours – could probably have done it quicker if I wasn’t being pestered by small kids wanting to know when they could start chucking birds at pigs. Getting rid of the Orange stuff on the phone makes a big difference to the feel and speed of the phone. Well worth doing.

There are still a few things I need to get to grips with in Android e.g. I’ve put a shortcut on one of the home screens and now can’t move or delete it. I’m sure it’s possible and probably quite simple once I know how.

Interesting from higgo – fwiw, I plumped for an iphone 4, largely as it syncs into my work stuff easily. ’tis a lovely bit of kit from a designer point of view, but, and for a me a big but, the phone’s pretty disappointing – unclear, echo-y, cuts out, loudspeaker far worse than my v old Nokia. The screen is better than my son’s first edition itouch, but only when compared side by side. It is v fast when googling / playing on it (much faster than wife’s 5800), but if I could swap it for a decent phone that picks up emails / googles quickly with a touch screen, I would.

also scary how much it all costs over the course of a contract – thankfully work’s funding it

I’ve put a shortcut on one of the home screens and now can’t move or delete it

Press and hold on it, then drag it to the bin that appears at the bottom*

*might be slightly different depending on the launcher you use, but try this.

Thanks IA – worked that one out about an hour ago.
(Should have checked back here earlier I s’pose)
I knew it would be simple – I just need to get used to the Android way of doing things.