[Closed] recommend me a simple SMART PHONE

i've just got a Nokia N5, ticks your boxs. No good like any with qwerty keyboard if you have fat fingers.

Nice phone quiet like it.

iphone is the only one I would call simple. Even my mum can use them!

Nokia E71

Not very smart, but very simple.

I love it and can see it becoming a cult hit...
[img] [/img]
http://www.johnsphones.com/

Actual size!

[img] [/img]

Simple smartphone = iPhone. End of.

My seven month old daughter was flicking through photos on mine this morning.

My HTC Wildfire is as simple as an iPhone and less than half the price. Neither are any good if you don't want a touch screen though.

Nowt wrong with HTCs but simple they ain't.

Their entire raisin dettery is to be customisable, flexible, open, hackable - which is all lovely but doesn't make them simple.

Their entire raisin dettery is to be customisable, flexible, open, hackable - which is all lovely but doesn't make them simple.

If you hack and customise them. If all you do is use it as a phone and for apps, they're dead simple 🙂

You want a simple smart phone; by definition, they're fairly mutually exclusive criteria. I'd suggest perhaps that what you're looking at isn't a smartphone at all. But, at £35/month, the world is your mollusc as far as choice goes.

If you do want a "smart" phone, the iPhone is probably the obvious choice here. I'd also perhaps consider more regular Nokia-type choices. It might be worth rocking on up to a high street store and poking and prodding some display models.

can pick up emails (and poss link to Outlook Express?)

It doesn't really work quite like that; OE is an email client, and a smart phone will also have an email client. It may be possible to have them both linking to the same email server though; it depends who your email provider is currently as to how you'd best go about that.

Nowt wrong with HTCs but simple they ain't.

Their entire raisin dettery is to be customisable, flexible, open, hackable - which is all lovely but doesn't make them simple.

my mum is 56 ive just shown her round her new HTC, shes loving the angry birds!

Ok, talk me through how you: add music/videos to your phone, backup the contents, restore everything to a new phone if your current one gets nicked/lost, update the phone with new software?

When I see people talking about HTC there is always talk like "install a new web browser, use a file manager, mount it as a drive, install a task manager".

All fine - but not "simple".

That johns phone is genius, particularly the no battery address book feature, not cheap though unfortunately.....

The palm pre 2 is due out. It's a cracking phone though the app catalogue isn't as good as apple or android. WebOS is nicer to use than android too.

The iPhone is far and away the most simple to use, that's partly the point of it being locked down like it is. My 4 year old can navigate it like you wouldnt believe. Couldn't do that with the desire I had.

Stay away from Android. Although very good in the loing term they are anything but simple when you get one. Half the apps are missing half are crap etc.

You have to build the phone software yourself when you get it!

What utter nonsense!

If you can post on a forum, I'm sure you can manage an android phone.

Battery life is generally around a day though on most big smartphones - is that enough for you OP?

thanks all ... showing my ignorance in the title. Not sure I know what a 'smart' phone is. Basically would like a phone that I can Google/ pick up emails and that's prob about it

oxymoron? 😀

Got to say the iPhone again, I'm rubbish with anything tech or computery, I only got a computer 3 years ago for the first time, my last nokia thing made me want to smash it up and launch it out the window on a regular basis but my iPhone just works,
And the touch screen works even with my sausage fingers
All apps and address book are backed up on iTunes and setting it up was a piece of p**s even for me who's a technological cripple 😳

iphones do just work - they really are very good. I was dubious at first, but mine has been used sooo much for the last 20 months. A really useful tool, far from an exotic toy for me. (I don't do exotic toys, everything has to be justified to the nth degree!).

I held out for ages due to the image/price/fanboi bollox, but if it broke I'd get another tomorrow
I tried a htc thingy but the smash it and launch it factor was still happening, good but complicated (for me) so I sent it back

That johns phone is genius, particularly the no battery address book feature, not cheap though unfortunately.....

Surely they could (should) do a solar-powered version though - then it could sell in bucketloads in developing countries.

exotic toys

Nokia E72 I love mine works and has a keyboard and the battery lasts a long long time.

i-phone looks like the way ... my son will be delighted, I feel full of trepidation 😐

I was too, but it's idiot proof
I proved it 😀

Ok, talk me through how you: add music/videos to your phone, backup the contents, restore everything to a new phone if your current one gets nicked/lost, update the phone with new software?

I've never done that on any phone, so no idea.

What about a Sony Ericsson Elm?
[url= http://www.knowyourmobile.com/sonyericsson/sonyericssonelm/sonyericssonelmreviews/446387/sony_ericsson_elm_review.html ]Review here[/url]

HTC gets my vote for simplicity, but it's also very hackable if that's your thing 🙂

how many mins and texts are you getting for £35?

I find blackberrys pretty easily to use, have much better battery life than an iphone, have a keyboard and are way, way cheaper

on the flipside, the screens aren't as good, and web browsing is less fun.

£20/month would get you 200 minutes/unlimited texts/unlimited internet on virgin mobile..

how many mins and texts are you getting for £35?

£35 pm that the OP is currently paying now will get a 600mins, unlimited texts, 500MB data, unlimited wifi (BT OpenZone) and an iPhone 4 16GB for £139.

(step down the contract after 9 months if you are not using all the minutes)

Ok, talk me through how you: add music/videos to your phone, backup the contents, restore everything to a new phone if your current one gets nicked/lost, update the phone with new software?

1. Plug the phone into the computer.
2. When the file explorer box opens, copy the files from my computer to the phone.
3. Click on the icon at the bottom and select disconnect
4. Unplug the phone.

All the contents are on Gmail, so updating would be automatic.
The phone updates automatically.

My 6yr old loves Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja, no problems using them, ner ner ner.

To the OP: Either an HTC Desire or an iPhone will do you fine. Both are just as easy to use.

Can't someone make this a sticky thread?

Can't someone make this a sticky thread?

That would be a good idea if the answer were the same every time it was asked.

Let me rephrase that.

That would be a good idea if the [b]correct[/b] answer were the same every time it was asked.

What makes these threads turn from helpful advice to making want to eat my own spleen is the inevitable "you want what I have, there is no other option, I'm right and everyone else is wrong, ner" posts followed by mass squabbling as everyone else lines up to say the same thing only about a different platform.

I own an Android phone. For me personally, it's a superior platform to the iPhone. However, I think in response to the OP's question, the iPhone would be the better solution in this case.

Can't you lot see beyond your own biases and preferences, and look at something objectively?

However, I think in response to the OP's question, the iPhone would be the better solution in this case.

Where he states that he struggles with touch screens?

1. Plug the phone into the computer.
2. When the file explorer box opens, copy the files from my computer to the phone.
3. Click on the icon at the bottom and select disconnect
4. Unplug the phone.
All the contents are on Gmail, so updating would be automatic.
The phone updates automatically.

Right so you just mount the phone as a USB drive (think you missed the step where you have to press "Disk Drive" on the phones Connect to PC screen) then it appears in Windows Explorer, and you can drag and drop your files onto it. So can they just go anywhere or do they need to go in certain folders? Do you need to call them certain things? How do you backup the phone contents (apps, settings, texts, mms, photos, movies, documents)? How do you sync it with Windows Contacts?

All these things are do-able, but not "simple".

On iPhones the answer is just "iTunes does it".
Simple, see?

The iPhone also has a touch screen, which the OP struggles with.

We get it that you like your iPhone, but it's not always the solution to every "what phone" question.

Simple Smart phone? A contradiction in terms - rather sums things up.

If you want a simple phone, buy a simple phone!

We get it that you like your iPhone, but it's not always the solution to every "what phone" question.

As per Cougar's point: the OP asked for a SIMPLE smart phone. The answer is an iPhone.

If the OP asked for a smartphone that was very customisable and hackable then I would have recommended an HTC phone.

People saying android is simple, It's not. Really, it's not.

You want a simple touch screen get an iPhone.

You want a simple button phone smartphone, get a Nokia E5, or E72 (E72 is a bit better).

I don't think grahams read miketually or the OP's post fully.

the OP asked for a SIMPLE smart phone. The answer is an iPhone

He doesn't like touch screens, so a touch screen phone would be a bit silly.

I don't think grahams read miketually or the OP's post fully.

Yes, yes I did thanks. He said he had struggled with touch screens in the past but conceded that may be because he hadn't used them much. I didn't read that as "it must not have a touch screen - they are the devil's own work". Perhaps I missed some emphasis.

As self-confessed technoclutz khani said, the multi-touch interface on the iPhone is excellent. It is intuitive and has proved very popular - so much so that everyone now seems to be doing multi-touch phones these days.

I personally wouldn't recommend a smart phone without a touch screen - following links etc is way too fiddly with a tiny trackball or joystick.

Where he states that he struggles with touch screens?

And in the same sentence, "which may well be as I've v seldom used them"

Modern touch screens are a world apart from the Psion Revo days. My thinking was that whilst the OP states he "doesn't get on with" touch screens, it's entirely likely that this is due to bad experiences with older phones rather than an inherent disklike of them.

I didn't get on with touch screens either; my last two phones pre-Android both had physical QWERTY keyboards in addition to the touch screen for just that reason. However, having one that was made in the last two years has converted me.

[i]As self-confessed technoclutz khani said, the multi-touch interface on the iPhone is excellent. It is intuitive and has proved very popular[/i]

I am, 😳
Intuitive is the key word with iphones
EDIT I may have to kill myself now, as I promised I wouldn't get into the whole android/iPhone [s]Battle[/s] debate,
EDIT2. Sent from my iPhone, by me ME!!!!!! all on my own as well!
I'm rubbish you know...... 😆

Iphone 4 is pretty simple to use. Great for emails.

Shite for phone calls though.

(Typed on my iPhone 4 btw)

I got a 3GS, I'm too tight to actualy pay anything for a phone if I'm paying a contract, no issues with calls either

My 3GS and 3G were fine for calls but the 4 really is shocking! About 30% of my calls end up on mute, ended or me calling someone else. I stick with it though for the increased battery life and better screen. Tried android/desire and won't be leaving iPhone again, crap by comparison in my experience.

Do you have a particularly weird shaped head or outrageously large ears? 😀

Because it sounds like you are somehow managing to press the touch screen during a call without the rest of your head being close enough to trigger the proximity sensor that turns off the screen.

Either that or perhaps yours just has a duff sensor.

Anyways, no such issue here. 🙂

[img] http://www.teltarif.de/gb/xda-guide-o2-testbericht/news/33451:4.html [/img]

XDA Guide, tis tiny, has touch screen and joypad thingy. Got mine on fleabay new for under 130. Has GPS runs memory map and thousands of free downloadable apps for windows mobile. Even has a car satav that works really well too. You can also get an extra large long life battery for them, 3G all that jazz too.

Edit - iphones are for teenage girlz and [s]morons [/s]people that need buttons.

[i]Edit - iphones are for teenage girlz and morons people that need buttons.
[/i]

Good point, well put......

Another iPhone user If I can use one any one can

iphones are for teenage girlz and morons that need buttons.

Eh??

Is this not an "XDA Guide"?
[img] [/img]

And are these not buttons?
[img] [/img]

In fact it looks like it has more buttons than an iPhone to me... so does that make you more of a moron? Or just a teenage girl 😉

Hi Aus I haven't had time to read all the above - good luck wading through it 🙂 But I use an HTC TytnII/Kaiser - and as you know I'm an old fella like yourself - coincidentally someone has one for sale on main forum (not me!) [url] http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-htc-tytn-ii-windows-mobile-smart-phone-with-gps-os-mapping-cabable [/url]

For some reason I have a vision of khanis dad, from another thread, muttering in the background 'Bloody phone, always on the bloody phone that boy'....

😆
It was guitars and the sex pistols that set him off...

thanks all ... helpful stuff

The iPhone does have buttons, you just don't need them for most purposes, the home button does get used fairly often, for using apps that are in the background for example. As most of the people I know with iPhones (and that's eight or nine), most are blokes, and several would likely punch the poster in the nose for suggesting they're girls for using one. Clot.
The query about backup needs a bit more clarification. When you connect an iPhone to your computer, it usually, if specified, opens iTunes and iPhoto. You can set it to open them manually if all you want is to charge the phone. Once iTunes is open and seeing the iPhone you click 'Sync', (having specified 'manually manage music and video'), then iTunes will backup everything on the phone. Should you be unfortunate enough to break the phone, lose it, or get a new upgrade one, you connect to iTunes and click 'restore from backup' .
Simple. It's much better to manually manage music, you just drag and drop and away you go. All your apps will be backed up into iTunes, and all updates can be installed on the computer ready for any backup.

On iPhones the answer is just "iTunes does it".
Simple, see?

Not really: you have to download it, install it, set up what accounts you have to synchronise, and finally work out how the thing works. If it were a better designed piece of software this last step might be easy, but sadly that's not the case.

Edit in a second post, especially for the OP: the iPhone's a very nice telephone, and once you've started thinking the Apple Way it's very easy to use. It's nicely put together, and is one of the better looking phones available. It's just a pity you're stuck with that dog of a software package, if it weren't for iTunes I probably would have got one!

you have to download it, install it

Once and it takes five minutes. (Don't you need to download and install HTC Sync?)

set up what accounts you have to synchronise

?? Nope.

finally work out how the thing works.

Default setting is you plug in the phone and it works.

I use an HTC TytnII - coincidentally someone has one for sale

How much?! Messiah on a velocipede, I tried to give mine away not eight hours ago, and got turned down.

I got this HTC Desire HD because the screen is the biggest I could find, & hence the on screen buttons are mens finger size. 🙂
I'm a luddite on technology matters, but this thing was very easy to set up.
Mate with an iPhone reckon this is better because of the screen.

When I bought a new iphone 4 to replace my 3gs, i just plug it into itunes and it synced everything, all my links, contacts, texts, emails, apps everything, including the information on the calculator. Simplest swap over ever.

Spent 2 years with iphone and it's a great phone and dead simple to use. Mine started to get very slow and temperamental however.

Could in no way justify the cost of an iphone 4 so now I have an android motorola defy; superb and much nicer than my iphone. A tiny bit more fiddly in terms of software but in no way a challenge. Feels better made too.

TBH - I find iTunes to be overly clunky & not very intuitive

Anyway, can you manage texts with iTunes? the you could with a Nokia app I used to use, send/rx etc.
Or can it only be done from the phone?

I haven't seen a modern touch smartphone that isn't pretty simple. They're designed for anybody to use after all.

Does your son/friend/wife/dog have a smartphone already? You could get the same model then they can show you how to work it.

As most of the people I know with iPhones (and that's eight or nine), most are blokes, and several would likely punch the poster in the nose for suggesting they're girls for using one. Clot.

A truly terrifying picture has been painted there

As most of the people I know with iPhones (and that's eight or nine), most are blokes, and several would likely punch the poster in the nose for suggesting they're girls for using one. Clot.

So we need to add aggressive, insecure idiots to the list of users? 😉

Does iTunes work if more than one user of the computer has an iPhone? What if the user doesn't have a computer, can they still get an iPhone?

(BTW. I don't really care whether anyone prefers an iPhone to an Androis or Symbian or whatever.)

Not really: you have to download it, install it, set up what accounts you have to synchronise, and finally work out how the thing works. If it were a better designed piece of software this last step might be easy, but sadly that's not the case.

Oh come ON! If you can't use iTunes easily, how the hell do you manage to get dressed and find your way out of the house in the morning FFS? 🙂

Does iTunes work if more than one user of the computer has an iPhone?

If you have separate profiles, certainly.

What if the user doesn't have a computer, can they still get an iPhone?

Good question. Connecting to iTunes is required to activate the phone - I've no idea what you'd do if you couldn't do that.

Good question. Connecting to iTunes is required to activate the phone - I've no idea what you'd do if you couldn't do that

As with iPads, pods etc. they'll help you activate it etc in an apple store IIRC.

thanks all ... any pros / cons of the nokia E72 as a 'simple' phone + email + googler?

miketually - Member
As most of the people I know with iPhones (and that's eight or nine), most are blokes, and several would likely punch the poster in the nose for suggesting they're girls for using one. Clot.

So we need to add aggressive, insecure idiots to the list of users?

I found my Desire easy to use once you get used to it and have it set up, after a couple of hours or so.

Aus - Member
thanks all ... any pros / cons of the nokia E72 as a 'simple' phone + email + googler?

Both Mrs M and I have E72's - got them before the iPhone 4 and other decent touch screen smartphones came out. If you just want what you said, plus connection to Outlook, GPS, reasonable camera etc they are great. Robust, good battery life, easy to type. Only slight downside compared to touch screen jobs is that the screen size is a bit small if you are going to do a lot of browsing

sony erricson xperia x10, love it.

looked at i-phone but the x10 was offered free in an 'over the phone' deal direct with orange.

anyway, the x10 is far better than the g1 it replaced both in terms of usability and toys - 8mp camera and great walkman. if you want smaller look at the x10 mini.

gavtheoldskater - you upgraded to android 2.1 yet? Makes it even better.

Will be selling my X10 soon if there's interest...sling me an email.

(FWIW for the OP I think the E72 might be better though. It's probably a better "phone" but less good at browsing/apps etc)