Buying an Android Phone?

[Water Pokémon Master]

I've always been behind the times when it comes to phones because I have my laptop that I carry everywhere with me and use for everything. So I've always just had basic phones - I even just got texting not too long ago for the first time. However, because of how busy school was last year and how often I was either away from Wi-Fi or unable to pull out my laptop (like in certain classes), I thought maybe I should take the plunge and go with a smart phone. I'm on Verizon and have had an upgrade for about a year now, so I'd figure I'd use it to get a smartphone and the $30 2 GB data package.

So what type of phone. I don't really think I like iPhones. I don't like that they're not very user customizable. I like to be able to customize EVERYTHING, which means Android is more suited for me. I also know that iPhones are harder to hack for tethering, whereas Android has a bunch of apps that enable it (yes I'm already going to break the rules). I would wait for Windows phones as a Windows fanboy, but I don't think they're really going to bring anything new to the game this early in their career. As far as I know, Android is more established and has phones with very good hardware.

I was thinking about these two phones:

• Samsung Galaxy S III ($200) - http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/store/controller?item=phoneFirst&action=viewPhoneDetail&selectedPhoneId=5918&deviceCategoryId=0
• LG Spectrum ($100) - http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/store/controller?item=phoneFirst&action=viewPhoneDetail&selectedPhoneId=5842&deviceCategoryId=0

I am mainly wanting a phone to use as my iPod, as my camera, as my GPS, for Wi-Fi tethering, and to stream Pokemon updates to me when I'm in class or elsewhere so I don't miss any big news. Does Android have apps for all of these things? Does it have any sort of widgets that show RSS feeds on the home screen? Or live Twitter updates? Or things that are just always open and notify you via vibrating or beeps when something new pops up, like an email, IM, new RSS item, or new Twitter notification?

GRACIAS!!

 

[omahanime]

RE: Android Phone?

WPM

Just for the record, I did tech and customer support for Android tablets. In a day I will be eligible to upgrade my phone. We are getting 2 - Samsung Galaxy S III 16Gb.

http://www.talkandroid.com/8805-top-5-android-rss-readers/

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/mobile-news/top-7-android-twitter-apps/1164

Stay away from HTC software, it has left me wanting to throw my phone into a brick at full force.

 

[Water Pokémon Master]

RE: Android Phone?

What's the best tethering software? There seems to be so many, and apparently most of them don't work or drop the connection.

 

[omahanime]

RE: Android Phone?

On the tablets, it was fully integrated into the Android o/s. I anticipate the phones to be the same way. So the major factor would be the wi-fi signal and obstacles between you and it. I would only try a third party app if the o/s was having issues.


http://code.google.com/p/android-wifi-tether/

 

[Cris]

RE: Android Phone?

Just my two cents here, every Android phone I have had before has not had a native tethering option built into the OS. My most recent Android, the Droid RAZR MAXX, didn't have it so I decided to root it and install a 3rd party app for it since all the ones that didn't require the phone to be rooted involved me having to use a USB to tether my data over to my laptop. Anyways you should look at some reviews of the phone you know you will get and check out if it does indeed have a built in tether option.

 

[Celebi23]

RE: Android Phone?

What's the best tethering software? There seems to be so many, and apparently most of them don't work or drop the connection.

I use this thing to tether my android phone, but it's rooted. It works very well.

Anyway, I've had a Droid Incredible for over a year now and love it. My only complaint is with the keyboard; the built-in on-screen one doesn't work very well, but the custom keyboards are very glitchy. I frequently end up restarting my phone because the keyboard just stops working. That's more of a problem with the specific app (Smart Keyboard Pro) than with the phone itself, though.

 

[Zeroality]

RE: Android Phone?

I've always been behind the times when it comes to phones because I have my laptop that I carry everywhere with me and use for everything. So I've always just had basic phones - I even just got texting not too long ago for the first time. However, because of how busy school was last year and how often I was either away from Wi-Fi or unable to pull out my laptop (like in certain classes), I thought maybe I should take the plunge and go with a smart phone. I'm on Verizon and have had an upgrade for about a year now, so I'd figure I'd use it to get a smartphone and the $30 2 GB data package.

So what type of phone. I don't really think I like iPhones. I don't like that they're not very user customizable. I like to be able to customize EVERYTHING, which means Android is more suited for me. I also know that iPhones are harder to hack for tethering, whereas Android has a bunch of apps that enable it (yes I'm already going to break the rules). I would wait for Windows phones as a Windows fanboy, but I don't think they're really going to bring anything new to the game this early in their career. As far as I know, Android is more established and has phones with very good hardware.

I was thinking about these two phones:

• Samsung Galaxy S III ($200) - http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/store/controller?item=phoneFirst&action=viewPhoneDetail&selectedPhoneId=5918&deviceCategoryId=0
• LG Spectrum ($100) - http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/store/controller?item=phoneFirst&action=viewPhoneDetail&selectedPhoneId=5842&deviceCategoryId=0

I am mainly wanting a phone to use as my iPod, as my camera, as my GPS, for Wi-Fi tethering, and to stream Pokemon updates to me when I'm in class or elsewhere so I don't miss any big news. Does Android have apps for all of these things? Does it have any sort of widgets that show RSS feeds on the home screen? Or live Twitter updates? Or things that are just always open and notify you via vibrating or beeps when something new pops up, like an email, IM, new RSS item, or new Twitter notification?

GRACIAS!!

Yes, android does have apps for everything, so you're in the right OS. I am a phone addict if you will, and trust me when I say between the two, the GS3 is the much better phone. Here's Why:

The Galaxy S3 has:

Android 4.0 (MAJOR difference)
Bigger Screen
Super AMOLED (LED > LCD)
2 GB RAM
32 GB Storage
Better Camera
Better Battery

The Spectrum has:

More ppi (if you're a big reader, this is a big difference)
...nothing else really

So as you can see, S3 trumps the Spectrum.