Criticise apple all you want (cue obvious replies) but at least they keep it simple. If you want an iPhone, you get an iPhone 4 (or 3GS if you're left handed).
But fuck me there are a lot of Android phones. HTC alone have... erm too many. How is one supposed to choose?
The wife's in the market for a smartphone and I'm not sure what to recommend. I want her to get either one of the above to help my app development skills.
From: Steve (CERAZED) [#2] 9 Jul 21:56 To: Ceb (MADRASMAN) [#1] 10 Jul 8:27
The top-end HTC now is the Desire. Or if she's already on Vodafone, get the Nexus One, because it's pure Android without all the HTC Sense stuff on top. I like Sense, but it's not half a resource hog.
From: Steve (CERAZED) [#4] 10 Jul 10:48 To: Ceb (MADRASMAN) [#3] 10 Jul 11:58
You can buy the Nexus One unlocked, but it's pretty much high-end. The one i've got is mid-low end by now, you could probably pick one up for 100 quid or so if you went hunting.
From: Steve (CERAZED) [#6] 11 Jul 11:48 To: Ceb (MADRASMAN) [#5] 11 Jul 19:02
Well, apart from the hardware itself (most of the newer androids are using a qualcomm snapdragon 1ghz chip, mine's a sluggish old 529mhz), the Android base itself is getting a bit fragmented. I think we're up to version 2.2 of Android, and most of the Sense phones are still running 1.6.
I have a HTC Desire, it's great (albeit being fixed under warranty at the moment). Top end Android phones will give you an iphone comparable experience, lower end ones are a bit more sluggish. I don't think the battery life of most Android devices compares very well to apple ones, but my desire can last a couple of days and I'm happy with the trade off for actually being able to do what I want with the phone. Recommend.
Previously, if you wanted an Android phone on the cheap you had to sacrifice stuff. First to go would usually be the nature of the touchscreen, dropping from the pricier, better-looking capacitive kind – favoured by the HTC Desire, for instance – to the cheaper, less enjoyable pressure-sensitive resistive sort.