Smart phone wars.

[Ryan_R]

Love the Galaxy S2 on Telstra Next G, does pretty much everything you could want, and if Android itself doesn't fulfil some need or want, there pretty much has always been a good 'app for that', most of which are free.

Besides the smaller battery (which lasts for about 30 hours for me, but I charge it overnight regardless) it's easy to see why it was called the best smartphone last year. btw battery usage is determined largely by what (or how many) background apps/services are running. I've got a free app that automatically kills background apps not on a 'white list' every so often.

[Mk3 AAA]

What about the Motorola Droid Razr, looks cool. Anyone have one?

[MGV]

The word 'iPhone' makes me think of a heard of sheep jumping over a non-existent log...

[ffoff]

iphone because apple is the best and Steve jobs was my hero.

but seriously I'll keep on using them cus I cbf learning to use a new phone.

[Transporter]

I get 2-3 days from battery in my Galaxy Note, 3 for sure with wifi turned off.

[bigfoot]

I had, up until a few says ago, an HTC desire - never had a problem with it although sometimes the perdictive text was a bit annoying (it wanted to pluralise everything)

My contract was up and I've vowed never to get an apple so it was a choice between the htc one xl or the galaxy III.

All the reviews I read had them neck and neck. Ended up going for the galaxy - the deciding factor was it's ability to connect to your telly to show photos and videos

[FSI 220]

My bluetooth just works when I get in the VW, or the Wifes car Toyota... can't say that about colleagues with their iPhone 4s at the moment... (aparently that is the cars fault though)

I live off the phone for work, I have a Windows Mango Samsung W at the moment... I think it is spectacular apart from not being able to run Sygic on it -(miss my old HTC HD2 on 6.5 - that was the peak of evolution for this old dynosaur...) ... I would hold off six months and go Win8... 7.5 integrates beutifully with exchange but i cant recomend anyone buying a pre-obsolescent handset that will never get past Win7.8...

I hate iTunes spcifically, so will never buy an iPhone for that reason... Jobs got to my wife before i did, maintaining her equipment drives me spare, the Wifi range on her iPhone4 is terrible (about a third of that of my Samsung), I have to re connect her manually to our wifi all the time, and her blue tooth is shaky...

And did I mention I hate iTunes ? Floola/sharepod any day for iPods... o yeah constrained by the ubiqutous iPod connector (buggers)

[Smead]

I rock an iPhone 4s coming from a 3GS. I like apple product and as long as your aware of apples shortcomings and limitations then they're a good handset. I like the fact that they are supported by the aftermarket quite well too. If you want the best / fastest etc. though don't look at apple product

[Mk3 AAA]

I think I'll have to go into a shop and just play with the shortlisted ones, I've become a bit apathetic about all the figures, I don't really need the fastest etc, in fact if my iPhone 3/s/whatever it is wasn't so slow on the net, had better battery life and had a decent camera I'd keep it longer. In saying all that I don't want to spend a wad on a phone that's generations behind. Slim/lightweight is handy too I don't need to be carrying a tablet around.... so many options.....

I was digging the razr for something a bit different, but battery life is meant to be very compromised despite their claims. So might strike that one off.

One thing with the apple is like Nokias of the past everyone has a charger laying around and if you're at a mates/work etc longer than thought you can get it charged.

[kapowww]

I've had an iPhone 3GS and an HTC Desire in the past and have an iPhone 4 now. I can upgrade now but I'm waiting for the new iPhone to come out in September/October.

I'm a pretty big nerd when it comes to phones and was a mobile phone salesman for years (and was a HUGE Apple hater). The HTC Desire and other Android phones seem cool at the start cos you can customise it.. I "rooted" it and tried all different custom ROMs and kernels, but in the end the Android OS isn't as smooth as Apple's iOS so I switched back to an iSheep.

The iPhone works smoothly, is easy to use and has the most apps. Nearly everyone you know has one so you can charge it at a mate's place, and you don't wanna be the poor sod who gets left out at parties when everyone downloads the latest and greatest iPhone app lol.

I recommend waiting a few months for the new iPhone to come out as you'll be stuck with your phone for a couple of years and don't wanna make the wrong choice. The ghost of Steve Jobs has warned you.

EDIT: Also don't be a tight arse with cash and switch to Telstra. Their plans are competitive nowadays and service is great.

[warped_foobie]

Need opinions.... and yes open floodgates

Apple iPhone 4s
Samsung Galaxy SIII
Nokie Lumia 900
HTC One X
Motorolla, Sony, Blackberry ...

and the others, probably rolling with crOptus again, https://www.optus.com.au/shop/mobile...ilelandingpage

Currently have an old iPhone I do like it, just not sure if the 4s is really worth the extra coin over the others, and wouldn't mind a change to expand my mind.

Good camera, good battery, and a nice easy to glance at and read screen (simple colours, easy to read, and don't want to go fishing through folders just to turn an alarm on etc) are important.

This has been covered well over a million billion times on the internet, but would like the VWW opinion before I treat myself to a new phone/get buyers remorse for buying something rubbish.

mk3 - I'm an engineer in the IT industry and have worked with all of these devices more than once.

iPhone 4s: Great experience, and welcome to apple's vertical market/ecosystem. None too durable though, and can be cumbersome to do certain things, go into an app to do this, go into an app to do that etc

Galaxy S3 - Awesome phone. Big Amoled display is worth drooling over. Catch is, it's android so can be risky for malware and other stuff like that. Recommended!

Lumia 900 - Awesome phone. Also big amoled display worth drooling over. Seriously fast phone. google "smoked by a windows phone" and you will see what I mean. I currently own a Lumia. MUCH more durable than any of the other devices currently on market - refer Nokia Lumia Screen 900 Hammer Test - YouTube

HTC One X - Not too bad, but can be fragile according to reviews. Also craphouse battery life. Avoid.

Blackberry - About to go down the tube: Unless you're buying 200 for a government department - Avoid.

Have owned and maintained a lumia, Mozart (windows phones), 3gs and a 4 (iphone), wildfire and a desire Z (Htc / android)
Check out Windows Phone before you hand over your cash.

Also, would recommend avoiding crOptus. For similar pricing, you can get onto the Vodafone 3g-850 network (same band as nextG and equiv. metro coverage) which is less congested than Telstra or Optus (optus... shudder)

Edit: When looking at the various OS's, check out how quick it is to get to facebook, update your alarm, etc etc.

[Mk3 AAA]

Fantastic insight there Mr Foobie, thanks. Cheers for every one's input, I'm going to pull one 'I've been with you 10 years give me a deal' with optipus then jump ship to vodafone if it's anything like 'wayll oym not aforized to give discounts'.

Can't believe I'm researching this, I usually rock an impulse purchase strategy.

[Ryan_R]

If you do go Android I can recommend the free Lookout security app that also has features for lost phones, etc. No offence but you have to be pretty let's say 'ignorant' to get malware, just use common sense like you would when download PC freeware, plus you have the added benefit of reading reviews and seeing the app permissions.

Apple is great and simple and easy to jump into (iPhone's and iPads used at work, although the IT Manager looked quite impressed when I showed him Microsoft Surface) but I've often found that once our users get used to the whole smart phone concept they often run into Apple's limitations and are left wanting more. If there's one thing I can't stand the most it's when iTunes says you can't do something because you need to install an update, but then when you try to install the update it says you're going to lose a bunch of music or apps that aren't synch'ed to this PC.

[kamold]

Fragile not sure what you are referring to. All phones will break if you drop them without a case.
Battery life is fine if its an issue get an external battery case add 3200mwh. Sense 4.0 FTW. Looks much better than sumsung touchwiz imho but the beauty of android is you can just load whatever custom rom you like to change whatever you don't like.

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

[kapowww]

I doubt the OP can be stuffed rooting and testing nightly builds of custom ROMs lol.

Hands on test all the phones and get whatever suits you best. Horses for courses.