I'm fed up with my current mobile phone, it so slow and keeps hanging when switching between functions or even just opening up a text message. So i'm looking for a new phone that has the following functions and features (listed in some sort of importance order):
Make phone calls and send texts
Have QWERTY keyboard with buttons (not touch screen, other controls can be touch screen, just not the qwerty keyboard)
Have a decent battery life (my current one lasts 2 days between charges if i'm lucky and don't use MP3 player or fm radio which i think is pretty poor)
Have GPS for tracking using Endomondo
Have FM radio and MP3 player
Have WiFi
Have alarm clock and calculator
Have a note making feature (or ability to add one via the app markets)
Ability to surf the net at decent speed (e.g. 3G)
Have a decent calendar
Have a few good games
Ability to have Sat nav and maps would be good but not essential.
I'm currently on Android But don't mind switching to Nokia (Ovi?) or BlackBerry if they have a market like Android does so I can add other applications.
Those are my requirements, what phones should I be looking at? Is there a website that has this sort of thing in a 'mobile phone chooser' type setup?
Blackberry if you want a keyboard.
iPhone if you don't
Sony Ericsson X10 Mini Pro ticks all your Android boxes (bar battery life, but new one has bigger capacity battery so may be better)
Sony Ericsson X10 Mini Pro ticks all
your Android boxes (bar battery life,
but new one has bigger capacity
battery so may be better)
that's what I have at the moment and the battery is shocking as is the speed of it which is why I want something else. if it wasn't for those 2 things i'd be very happy with it.
CBAd reading all that..... Galaxy s2. 😀
How about an Xperia Mini Pro with a spare battery. I've got a similar list to yours and have one on the way. It'll be a bit of a change from my current Nokia 3110! (It only needed a charge every week mind, though it's down to 5 days now)
The new Mini Pro has a bigger battery and a faster processor and Android 2.3. It's get really good reviews.
I've got an old one, and I too have found it going a bit slow but liked the proper keyboard and small size. I bought a new one from the classifieds and whilst I've not started using it properly yet (it's waiting to be rooted and debranded when I get a spare couple of hours) it's definitely much slicker and quicker.
IHN. I would be very interested to hear how you get on with the new mini pro. As i've said above the only gripes I have with it are it's speed and battery life but if those have been addressed in the latest version then I can't see why I wouldn't go for it again in that case.
Have QWERTY keyboard with buttons (not touch screen
That's going to be the difficult bit and I'd urge you to reconsider this criteria. I felt the same for ages and put keyboard as #1 priority, ended up with a tablet phone because the alternatives with a real keyboard were all pish. There's a definite learning curve but you do get used to it; the iPhone onscreen keyboard is very good and Android has a choice of several decent and innovative ones (eg, Swype). I doubt I'd change back now.
my current one lasts 2 days between charges if i'm lucky
Again, managing expectations. You'll struggle to get anything that lasts longer than this. My Sensation does, but I've bought a high capacity battery for it. It's rare that I'm away from a plug socket for that long though; camping or a festival maybe, but with the two-pack of extended batteries plus the original, with a bit of planning I reckon I could get a week out of it. Day to day, I plug it in when I go to bed, problem solved.
If these are show-stoppers then the Blackberry ticks both boxes; real keyboard and several days' battery life. However, it'll be a compromise in all the other areas.
If not, and you like the current phone other than its performance, a newer Android would be your best bet. If you don't get on with Android at all, then you're now in iPhone territory.
wot cougar said - swype or slideit beat the crap out of tiny qwerty keybords
the Blackberry ticks both boxes; real
keyboard and several days' battery
life. However, it'll be a compromise in
all the other areas.
can you expand on that? how would it be a compromise and which would it compromise most?
> Make phone calls and send texts
Yep, excellent.
> Have GPS for tracking using Endomondo
GPS yes - dunno whether Endomondo is available on BB though?
> Have FM radio and MP3 player
MP3 yes, my BB doesn't have a radio, others might.
> Have WiFi
Every phone in the last <mumble> years has WiFi.
> Have alarm clock and calculator
Ditto.
> Have a note making feature (or ability to add one via the app markets)
I'd be shocked if there wasn't an app, though I'm not aware of one.
> Ability to surf the net at decent speed (e.g. 3G)
Speed, yes, however, the BB web browser is (apologies, technical term coming up) bollocks.
> Have a decent calendar
Define 'decent'. It has a calendar.
> Have a few good games
It probably has a [i]few [/i]good games. Nothing jumps to mind, I know the Sims is out there and ubiquitous puzzle-type nonsense of the Popcap variety, but my BB is a work phone so I'm not really qualified to answer this.
> Ability to have Sat nav and maps would be good but not essential.
There is a sat nav app; it's 40 quid and I know nothing about it. It has maps, but it's resoundly pish (or at least, last I looked).
The Blackberry is a brilliant business phone and I wouldn't swap it for the world, but as a personal phone it's lacking IMHO. Apps are not its strong point.
If not, and you like the current phone other than its performance, a newer Android would be your best bet. If you don't get on with Android at all, then you're now in iPhone territory.
There's also Windows Phone. Not got one (yet) but I'll report back next month