
Ask HN: What smartphone to get right now? - gfr
I am currently on an AT&#38;T family plan in the US. I currently do not have a smartphone, and it is annoying because as a tech person, I feel like I am falling behind the curve. However, I have been hearing all kinds of disappointments with new phones lately, so I ask: if you were to buy a phone today, which would you buy? Or would it be worth waiting for a little while to see how other phones pan out?<p>Extra info:<p>-I run linux, not sure if this is a problem for iphone<p>-I want to become familiar with the technologies that will help me understand the capabilities and limitations of smart phone apps today. Not sure if iphone is significantly more important in this regard than android right now<p>-I would like to stay on AT&#38;T but can leave if necessary
======
old-gregg
Nexus One. I'm surprised you're even asking. Fully Linux-friendly, hackable,
powerful and doesn't have any crapware from carriers or hardware
manufacturers. Buy it at full price and sign up for a $59/mo month-to-month
plan from T-Mobile. Enjoy built-in tethering and guaranteed upgrade to the
latest version of Android.

I own N1 and iPhone 4 and I believe that N1 is a superior phone. It doesn't
need to be plugged to a computer for everything and as a phone it works much
better on TMobile than iPhone does on AT&T: the reception is worse on the
iPhone, it wouldn't accept MMS or SMS with non-English characters in 2010.
WTF. The software (Android) is totally in a different league too: integration
with Google calendars, maps and contacts is truly amazing, and you quickly get
used to your phone automatically recognizing phone numbers and addresses in
arbitrary text.

Another huge thing is Google Voice: you can dial any number straight from your
address book without even worrying which country you're calling to, that's
mind blowing to me (and I use it daily).

I bought both because we're doing software development for both, but I'm not
proficient enough to comment on their APIs and programming environments. I do
prefer Objective-C to Java though

~~~
mahipal
The choice of Java is one of the most mind-boggling things to me. There must
be so many developers turned off of the platform because of it.

Luckily, you can now distribute Python scripts as APKs
([http://code.google.com/p/android-
scripting/wiki/SharingScrip...](http://code.google.com/p/android-
scripting/wiki/SharingScripts#Scripts_as_APK)).

~~~
orangecat
Java isn't ideal, but I much prefer it to ObjC. You can also "in theory" use
any language that compiles to the JVM, like Scala:
[http://www.assembla.com/wiki/show/scala-
ide/Developing_for_A...](http://www.assembla.com/wiki/show/scala-
ide/Developing_for_Android)

Thanks for the Python APK link, last time I checked you couldn't deploy
standalone Python apps but now I can play with it.

~~~
lzw
I submit that if you take the time to learn Objective-C you'll feel quite
differently.

I've learned many languages in my years, while neither Java nor Objective-C is
my favorite language right now (erlang is, though I haven't used it for
awhile) they both were at different points in my life.

I hated Objective-C for the first week or two, then came to understand it, and
saw how it was so much better than Java.

Of course, Java means both the language syntax and the frameworks, and half of
what makes Objective-C so great is the frameworks.

Don't let syntax hang you up... you have to get over the syntax hassle to
really understand a language. If you want "bad" syntax, look at erlang. That
was tough, I had to force myself to learn it, but once I did, the syntax
became a non-issue.

Objective-C has every advantage Java does, but the converse is not the case.

~~~
orangecat
_I submit that if you take the time to learn Objective-C you'll feel quite
differently._

I've used ObjC for many years and released several Cocoa apps. The syntax
isn't the problem; I actually rather like the brackets.

 _Objective-C has every advantage Java does, but the converse is not the
case._

No garbage collection (on iOS at least), inherently unsafe, primitive types
requiring silly [NSNumber numberWithInt:x] contortions, header files, no
namespaces...

~~~
enjo
Ya, managing memory in objective-c (again, on iOS) is a colossal pain.

------
dotBen
No one is mentioning the HTC Evo (which you would want to mod to r00ted
Android 2.2), which I totally love.

The screen is HUGE, to the point that it almost becomes a tablet - yet it is
still a phone. The screen makes the phone a little big, but given that the
screen goes practically up to the edge of the phone on all sides, it's
efficiently proportioned. And I find I can get v productive on it - writing
longer emails, reading ebooks, etc.

I get all the benefit of Android (see elsewhere in this thread), Sprint (which
is actually v good coverage in SF and other metros), 4G coming soon and
unlimited plans for $59. Wifi tethering is free if you r00t the phone.

You won't have any problems with running linux with it (for a start you don't
really have to connect it to a computer for anything unlike the iPhone)
whereas it's practically impossible to run iPhone + linux effectively (via
Wine basically, urghh)

~~~
paul9290
Agreed i used my friend's EVO and she laughed saying your iPhone 3G looks like
a Palm Treo circa 2005. Which I agreed. The EVO's screen is awesome; better
then the iPhone 4.

------
karimyaghmour
Get an N900. I've had an iPod touch for close to a year and a BB curve 8900
for 1.5 year. I still use the former for music, but no longer for browsing or
apps and I've entirely replaced the latter. As a developer there are just
layers and layers of goodies to be found. Hint: forget about the Ovi and Maemo
Select pointers pre-packaged on the phone and go straight to maemo.org for
apps, that's where the interesting stuff for a techie is. The only caveat here
that you have to be aware is that Nokia has folded all Maemo efforts into
MeeGo (a merge with Intel's Moblin.) So to an extent there seems to be an
evolutionary disconnect, but keep in mind that the N900 is THE device used by
MeeGo dev teams (a slew of people from Intel and Nokia).

Android is still very much on my radar but for purely professional reasons.
The fact of the matter is that having used Linux since '95 there is nothing in
that environment that even closely resembles a Linux environment, despite it
using the Linux kernel (i.e. the user-space has nothing to do with a classic
Linux user-space.) In addition, while their platform is "open", their
development process isn't. IOW, you get code-drops every so often with no
possibility of participating and/or looking into the bleeding edge. Meego, on
the other hand, has been engineered with that in mind.

~~~
tshtf
The N900 is an interesting beast.

If my father called, and asked me what smartphone to get, I'd suggest an
Android device.

If an old friend called, who happened to be familiar with Linux, I'd advise
the N900 with no reservations. The N900 is more open than Android in that it
uses the traditional APIs used on the Linux desktop. You can install pidgin,
irssi, otr, asterisk, and just about everything else that is popular with
Linux. It even comes with an xterm app by default.

The N900 also has incredible integration with Skype, including video. It also
supports adding SIP accounts. Both Skype and SIP work very well over 3G on
T-Mobile US.

~~~
losvedir
> Both Skype and SIP work very well over 3G on T-Mobile US.

Interesting, where? I have an N900 on T-Mobile in Boston and it's been very
disappointing. I had visions of a "data only" relationship with the phone, but
neither Skype nor SIP over 3G are of acceptable quality. Over wifi, works
pretty well, though.

How have you set yours up? I tried Google Voice -> Gizmo5, buying a skype
number, and some other things and nothing worked. For instance, the phone
can't seem to handle an incoming SIP call and phone call at the same time --
so I couldn't forward my Google Voice number to both my actual cell number and
SIP, and answer with either depending on the situation.

Then, I have general issues with the phone -- no good maps solution (the Nokia
program is terrible, and can't use Google Maps), email is painfully slow to
open and inconsistent about polling every 5 minutes like I want it to, I've
hung up on incoming calls several times because the "Answer" button gets
replaced by the "Hang up and send a text message" button when I'm taking it
out of my pocket, etc.

All in all, I've been somewhat disappointed with the phone.

~~~
tshtf
I'm currently in Northwest Arkansas. Skype calls work just about as well as
SIP calls over 3G, which is to say the same quality as regular calls over GSM.
I've used my old Gizmo account with SIP, as well as Callcentric and Skype. No
issues.

With respect to maps and email, you have a point. The N900 is not up to speed
there.

It's a good geek phone, but not something I'd recommend to my parents.

------
tzury
What a coincidence, today, several years after using several high end, cutting
edge smart phones of many kinds (Symbian/RIM/Android), I simply took my SIM
card and insert it into an old Nokia 3110c (
<http://www.google.com/images?q=nokia%203110> ), I have found in my drawer.

It just a lightweight phone which easy to use as a phone (dial, read/write
text messages).

Let us face it. Anywhere I am (home or office) I have at least 4 different
ways to connect to the web and waste my time over there [;-)].

~~~
zmmz
Until about five months ago, I had been using the legendary Motorola F3 (
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_FONE_F3> ) for something like two
years. Amazing phone, just the absolute basics: even SMS messaging was
somewhat difficult. Due to it's e-ink display the battery lasts almost a week.
It was a great conversation piece too.

 _Let us face it. Anywhere I am (home or office) I have at least 4 different
ways to connect to the web and waste my time over there [;-)]._

Actually, it was for this reason that I moved on to a blackberry, I was
constantly spending time checking my email. Naturally, by the time you open
your browser you go on to check other things etc etc. Now I write (personal)
emails almost exclusively from my blackberry and it has made me much more
productive.

I would have gotten and Android if there had been a model with physical
keyboard which I could have gotten, but alas it was not the case.

------
Samuel_Michon
Given that you're satisfied with AT&T, I'd recommend the iPhone 4. However,
Linux support is non-existent. You can use iTunes via WINE, but experiences
have been varied.

Luckily, you don't really need iTunes all that much. You only really need
iTunes for activation, and that can be done for you at the Apple Store. Media
and app purchases can all be done on the phone itself. As for synchronization
of data: I recommend Google's services, which integrate nicely with the iPhone
--- Apple's MobileMe works best on Mac and Windows.

If you decide to go for Android, I'd recommend the Samsung Galaxy S, which on
AT&T is called Samsung Captivate. It's the closest thing out there to an
iPhone 4.

~~~
jonknee
Without iTunes you will have no way to backup or apply system updates. It's
not worth it.

------
stevejalim
I was fortunate enough to be given a Nexus One at a Google developer day and
really love it (not just because it was free). My wife now uses my iPhone 3G
and, playing with that handset from time to time, I wouldn't go back to it. If
you're in the UK, I know Vodafone supply them. Or, if you're in the US, you
can just buy one as an unlocked developer phone: [http://android-
developers.blogspot.com/2010/08/nexus-one-dev...](http://android-
developers.blogspot.com/2010/08/nexus-one-developer-phone.html)

------
nextparadigms
Samsung Captivate. It has similar quality display with iphone's display and
has the best mobile graphics at right now. It doesn't have a front camera,
though.

I would wait until November/December until some Android 3.0 phones come out
with better UI, next generation dual core CPU's, better graphics, higher
resolution, 1 GB RAM, etc

------
jsz0
There's no one-size-fits-all solution. Since both Android and iOS have parity
for basic functionality either would be a good choice. For third party apps
most of the interesting stuff is still happening on the iPhone. There may be
equivalent Android apps (ports or clones) but in my opinion it's still a
second class platform. Especially when you get into multimedia apps, creative
apps, games, etc. On the hardware side the iPhone has probably the best
display out there and one of the best cameras. Availability of regular
software updates are worth considering too. If you want the wild-west
experience there's a pretty healthy selection via JailBreak.

If you can wait a few months it may be worth seeing which phones are going to
get Android 3.0. The N1 probably will but all bets are off with HTC and
Samsung. I'd say most of their phones sold today will get it eventually but
who knows when. Both HTC and Samsung totally dropped the ball on the 1.x->2.x
transition. Motorola hasn't experienced a major OS update yet so it's not
clear if they will be better prepared. The gimping of 2.2 features for the
original Droid is not an encouraging sign. I would suggest a Super AMOLED
screen if you want to use your phone outdoors. Maybe wait for the next device
Google adopts as a developer reference platform?

~~~
cma
Just pointing out that the N1 is HTC.

------
omrisiri
I was in the exact situation about four month ago and i decided to go with the
N900, my considerations were:

1\. I wanted a phone that is not Completely closed

2\. I don't care about the eye candy

3\. I run Linux - Anything that is not 100% compatible is out of the question

4\. I Wanted a real keyboard - i just can't get used to those on-screen
keyboards

5\. I wanted Skype support out of the box

6\. REAL multitasking

So I obviously ruled the IPhone out first. Other than eye-candy and hype i
couldn't find any good reason to actually want to own one. I have to say - it
is a beautiful phone, but I'm the kinda guy that want something practical.

My two real contenders were the N1 (the best android phone at the time) and
the N900. The N900 won eventually since:

1\. the keyboard is one of the best i had used.

2\. It is a Nokia which in my opinion means a better build than HTC.

3\. It's almost a Full Linux box - I could take almost any application i have
on my box and recompile it with minimal effort for the N900 (it can use either
GTK or QT)

4\. For some odd reason i really like resistive screens (once you get used to
pushing a little ,it feels a lot more accurate than capacitives)

With all that said, for anyone thats not a total Linux geek like me - an
android phone will be the phone i recommend to anyone who asks. its obviously
the place to go now.

The community behind android is growing rapidly, which means it will progress
faster and become more polished with every release.

~~~
boyter
All good points and the same reason I went with the N900. My only complaints
being the screen isn't the best (res is fine but brightness and saturation
aren't as nice as htc desire or iphone)

It really is the ultimate geek phone.

------
maxharris
Get an iPhone 4. You're already on AT&T, and you'd like to stay there.

I love my iPhone 4. Nothing out there is nearly as good, especially when
you're looking at the screen on this thing!

------
awolf
iPhone 4, if like me, you think user experience and ease of use are the most
important factors in a device you use 20-30 time a day while on the go.

Droid 2 on verizon (out in about a month I believe) if you have philosophical
objections to Apple or want freedom from syncing with your laptop. The
original droid is still a great phone and was pretty well designed. Droid 2
will have better hardware and battery life than the original while keeping the
same design.

~~~
ergo98
>Droid 2 on verizon (out in about a month I believe) if you have philosophical
objections to Apple

...or if you want a professionally functional notification system, or widgets,
or strong universal voice support, or...

Seriously, whenever someone starts in with "philosophical objection" they're
propping up a garbage strawman. I choose Android because, in a hundred and one
ways, it provides me a more usable, more powerful, more useful device.

~~~
awolf
Having used both in real life and for development my OPINION is that iPhone if
far and away the best device on the market.

A lot of people I associate with who own Android phones agree with me yet they
tell me they refuse support Apple's policies and are voting with their dollar.
And I completely understand their view point. Do you?

~~~
ergo98
>Having used both in real life and for development my OPINION is that iPhone
if far and away the best device on the market.

And, having used both devices in real life and for development, the Nexus One
is the best device on the market (if the Galaxy S Pro had 2.2, I'd easily
choose it as the market leader). In fact after using an Android device for a
while, and trying to go back to an iPhone 4 for a while, the completely gimped
notification system (which, to me, is the #1 requirement of a smartphone), and
the lack of widgets, made it feel absolutely crippled.

So where does that leave us? Sounds like a couple of people with opinions.

Saying that the iPhone is the best and people who choose otherwise do so for
philosophical reasons is absolute _garbage_ , and you're just messaging your
own ego and choices, betraying a fundamental insecurity. I choose Android
because it's, "far and away", the best platform in my opinion.

~~~
scott_s
You called the original poster out on making an absolute statement, and he
clarified it was his experience, gathered from the people he knew. The first
sentence in your final paragraph seems to deliberately disregard what he said
to maintain outrage.

~~~
ergo98
>You called the original poster out on making an absolute statement

No, I didn't. I called them out for stereotyping why someone would choose
something other than the iPhone.

It's akin to saying "The Nexus One is the best device, but I can understand
that if you're gay, a follower, or strongly susceptible to marketing pressure,
the iPhone might be a better device for you". (You know, instead of finding it
to be the right device for them)

The outrage is about the strawman.

~~~
scott_s
In this context, I don't see how "making an absolute statement" is
significantly different from stereotyping someone. He owned up to it and
clarified where he felt his point applied.

I now understand that he meant to say that among the people he knows, they
consider the iPhone the better choice objectively, but some choose Android for
ethical reasons. I don't see why you don't see that as well.

------
matwood
I just got an iPhone4 so obviously that would be my recommendation. I don't
think you could go wrong with it or one of the new Android phones.

Since you're already on AT&T and don't mind staying I wonder if you could buy
one phone and try it out for a couple weeks and then take it back and try
another. That's the only way to really find out about each (Android vs. iOS)
since most discussion on the internet about them has reached emacs vs. vi
level.

~~~
rpledge
If he's running Linux I'd be hesitant to recommend an iPhone 4, but I've never
tried. I suspect lack of iTunes would be annoying. Is there a good iTunes
substitute on Linux now?

~~~
dimarco
I'm an iPhone user & Linux-only person for the last 2 years and my experience
with the iPhone has been great.

~~~
rpledge
What do you use to put music and movies on?

~~~
dimarco
I don't watch movies on it, but I get music from iTunes (on the phone), my NPR
radio app, and Pandora.

~~~
htsh
Is it possible to move your own mp3's to the phone?

~~~
dimarco
Not that I'm aware of.

------
cesare
I have an HTC Desire and I'm really happy with it.

Recently, the Google Maps Navigation has been activated here in Italy (with
voice search, which I thought was available exclusively on the Nexus One).

Last week HTC released an OTA update with android 2.2, which also added an app
for tethering over wifi (tethering via USB was already available) and 720p
video recording.

~~~
Maakuth
I'm with you on this. It's basically the Nexus One hardware, with some quite
minor differences and some HTC-specific Android customizations. It was already
pretty darn good, but with last week's OTA-upgrade to Froyo, i'd say it's an
excellent smartphone.

~~~
topbanana
The main hardware differnce is that the Desire has real buttons (back, home,
menu etc) wheres the Nexus One has soft buttons without the same level of
touch feedback.

~~~
borism
can't Desire do haptic feedback like EVO 4G? (if you're looking for a
feedback)

for me the problem is rather with soft buttons being inadvertently activated
when using the device in landscape mode, not the feedback.

------
mcantelon
If you don't want your photos tagged with your phone's S/N# and don't want
your text input logged, Android may be the choice for you.

[http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/2553828,CST-NWS-
iphone01....](http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/2553828,CST-NWS-
iphone01.article?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+hackernewsyc+%28Hacker+News+YC%29)

------
Cabal
Android on the carrier of your choice, hands down. My wife and I recently
switched from a pair of iPhones to a Droid and HTC Incredible, respectively.
Using our phones (and integrated Google Voice) is like a breath of fresh air.
Between leaving AT&T, the customizability of the OS that my wife likes, and
the developer freedom that I like, I can't imagine us making a better choice.

------
johnnygood
I was in the same situation and went with the Captivate (and Im in a pizza
place posting from it right now). Its a really nice device. Its my first
smartphone so I cant fully compare but I can say why I chose it.

1\. The Galaxy S is going to be a big device on many carriers. 2\. Reviews
said the battery life is the best around for android. 3\. I wanted background
apps.

The display isnt quite as sharp as the iPhone for text but it is a joy to use.
Im not so thrilled with the apps I cant uninstall but Ill probably root the
device to take care of that. Oh and the touch mechanism is really good. Ive
never written something as long as this post before and Ive only had 4
mistaps.

I cant compare it to other experiences but Im very happy with it.

------
jordanmessina
I've been an iPhone fanboy (I admit it) since the first generation. I even
waited in line for 13 hours for the iPhone 3g. I've spent over $1000 on
iPhones and accessories now (I've probably made most of it back considering I
sell the old one when I get a new one). I was completely dedicated to Apple
and its magical phone. But one day I got a little curious. A friend of mine
got the Droid and was in love with it. I figured that I should at least give
the Android platform a shot so as soon as Google announced the Nexus One for
AT&T I had it ordered and in my hands the next day. I must admit at first I
was incredibly angry with the UI, it felt very clunky. Also the touchscreen
keyboard was awful and wasn't even close to the accuracy of the iPhone's
keyboard. After the first two days with the phone I was a little depressed
that I had really just shelled out $500 for this junk.

I stuck with it though, and the Nexus One eventually grew on me. What I
started to realize was that it was a phone that wasn't built to be pretty or
cute but rather useful. For example, all alerts that came in I would know
about via the trackball lighting up a particular color (I had red=text or
missed call, green=email, blue=twitter @reply). The status bar also made it
very easy to see what was happening on my phone without ever having to
actually unlock it. Finally I didn't constantly have to unlock my phone, go to
app X and see what just came in. Because the marketplace is so lenient, I
found everything I could ever want in regards to apps. Wifi Hotspot creator,
LED Flashlight app, NES emulator, eBook readers, etc. It's all there and the
majority are free. I never paid for one app on my Nexus One and it did so much
more than any iPhone I ever owned. Sure, the apps are never quite as polished
but you get over it and start appreciating the functionality. On top of that,
being allowed to put whatever I want on my phone by simply mounting the SD
card is amazing. Not having to deal with iTunes BS was so liberating.

Unfortunately, Jobs did an amazing job of hyping the iPhone4 and I switched
back over. I've never been more disappointed in my life. I dropped maybe 2
calls the entire time I had the Nexus One. Literally the first call I made on
my new iPhone4 was dropped within a minute. The antenna problem was real, and
it almost ended my current relationship. My girlfriend stopped talking to me
on the phone and resorted to texts only. Thanks Steve! After being spoiled by
the usefulness of Android the iPhone feels like such a toy. You can only see
one push notification at a time, if another notification comes in the last one
is erased, I feel like they force me to be using the phone at all times or
else I'm going to miss something. I can't even switch back because I sold my
Nexus One to my roommate, who rubs it in every chance he gets.

At least my free bumper came in yesterday. Oh did I mention with the new
bumper I can't use any standard 1/8" headphone jack other than Apple's ear
buds? So every time I want to listen to music I have to take the bumper
off...awesome.

~~~
mirkules
I second your opinion - I switched from 3GS to Samsung Galaxy S. Completely
correct that it's not polished like the iPhone, but being able to mount the
phone as your choice of device is just, as you said, liberating. Have an AVI
movie? No problem, just drop it on the device, it plays. Oh, it's in MPEG? No
problem.

Swype is cool too, I now can't live without it -- in fact, I stopped using my
native tongue in SMS form because it's THAT much easier to type in English.

Oh, now I also have an SFTP client, an SSH client, turn-by-turn navigation,
WiFi analyzer -- all for free. Pretty soon, I will get tethering. The only
downside to my particular phone is the AT&T crapware you can't get rid of, and
it infuriates me that I have to root the phone to delete it. But even that is
better than having to deal with iTunes.

~~~
enjo
+1 for swype. It's actually the thing that absolutely keeps me from
considering an iPhone going forward (at least until Apple adopts it). I'm 3x
faster than I ever was even on a physical keyboard.

------
jpwagner
gfr, are you writing a book or something? you've done 8 Ask HN's and only ever
posted 2 comments...

~~~
jpwagner
i'm going to guess you work for some company (hopefully htc, samsung, lg, or
apple) and i'll tell you exactly what i want from a smartphone and why it's a
bad time to buy one right now.

first of all it seems like every month two new "iphone killers" are released.
they all have the same functionality, they are all the same size, and they all
require you purchase the same one of five service choices. until that changes,
what's the point of upgrading.

in the recent past, the netbooks, then the kindle and then the ipad appeared
and it made people realize that their smartphone was not everything they
wanted out of their devices. so now there's a slew of new features entering
smartphones and will be for the next 6-12 months.

but what i want is simple. it's not some way to turn a phone into a tablet and
it's not some way to turn a laptop into a tablet and it's certainly not some
way to turn a laptop into a phone. i want 3 devices that all sync:

(1) a laptop for development, storage, and other processing power needs (i
have this one)

(2) a tablet that's smaller than the ipad but bigger than the iphone (dell
streak?) it needs to fit in my pocket (barely) but not have to load the mobile
version of many webpages

(3) a watch phone with very limited apps (phone, text, stopwatch, notes, etc)
because i don't want my smartphone at the beach, on a hike, on a bikeride etc,
but i DO want a phone.

------
Badger51
Samsung G phones, using the android OS, are available on all carriers...

I'm with Verizon and their version, Samsung Fascinate is expected sooon,
likely after the launch of the Droid 2

------
sliverstorm
I have had excellent luck with my Nokia E72. It does not have iphone app
capabilities, nor android, but it makes an excellent smartphone, and I love
the hardware.

------
pg1
Iphone UI is a little bit better. Android is open and google products works
very well on these phones. Regarding development it's easier to develop apps
for andorid. Only problem is fragmentation. Different screen sizes and os
versions can make lot of troubles.

~~~
rimantas
Another problem is the set of countries you can buy programs from Android
market, and even smaller set where you are able to sell your own.

------
lyime
I just spent some time with the Samsung Galaxy S (T Mobile) last night. I was
very impressed. The lightest smart phone I have played with at that size. The
screen is great, not as good as iPhone 4 but still one of the better ones. It
came preloaded with Avatar in HD. Tt's not the best selling point but a good
way to demo the phone and I was impressed by the quality once again.

Now the most impressive part was Swype keyboard. First time using it after
seeing it 2 years ago at Techcrunch 50. Basically, once you use that keyboard
pattern its tough to go back. I think you should be able to install that on
any Android device.

I use iPhone 4 day to day. Pretty happy with it, apart from the service.

------
corin_
Personally I've been using Blackberry handsets for years, including currently
the Bold 9700 since it came out.

I use email a huge amount so that's a large factor for me, but I've actually
not had any complaints in other areas. Browser isn't exactly amazing, but is
easily good enough for what I need it for... I use twitter a fair bit and have
a great app for that... I don't want to play games / watch films / read books
on it... and all round it's just a really nice phone.

------
praxis22
personally I went for a Samsung Galaxy S, (A8 processor, Android, 4" AMOLED
screen) this was more of a leveraged bet on Android, and a decent processor,
than anything else, 3G network in the UK.

Like you I had delayed, but in the end I went with Android because of the
rapid iteration model of the platform as opposed to the curated nature of the
Apple Product/Service. Not to mention the hackability of the Android platform.
YMMV

~~~
rue
Been quite happy with my Galaxy S as well. I was actually going to get an
iPhone 4 but the local carrier kept giving "dunno" as the availability date
and number of units expected; at this point I am glad I opted out.

The UI/UX is not _quite_ as good as i4 and the market is not yet comparable to
the AppStore but I cannot really complain too much about either fact. Froyo
update should arrive sometime in the next month or two though the 2.1 is
usually snappy enough already.

Someone also mentioned the U.S. (rebranded?) version does not have a front
camera - my phone does. I am not sure if this is the case, but might pay
special attention to that if it is important.

------
elidourado
Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx supports the iPhone 4 out of the box:
<https://help.ubuntu.com/community/PortableDevices/iPhone>

------
eldavido
I was in a similar situation about a month ago -- no smartphone, felt like I
was falling behind.

I ended up getting an iPhone, because it's what people have now, and there's
probably a bigger market for contract work on it right now. I also have a Mac,
though. Longer-term, I'm betting on Android to overtake the other platforms
(mostly as a matter of cost), but it's still in the stage where startups and
early-adopter types are the main users, as opposed to the very mainstream
iPhone.

------
scotty79
Samsung Galaxy i9000 currently best smartphone on the market. 4 inch super
amoled display. 16 GB of built in storage. Supports up to 32GB micro SD.

Also runs on android so you are safe from Steve craziness and Steve tax
(unlocked costs half of iPhone 4 16GB).

Most powerful GPU. Runs Quake 3 like a charm:
[http://www.tgdaily.com/mobility-features/50507-galaxy-s-
thra...](http://www.tgdaily.com/mobility-features/50507-galaxy-s-thrashes-
nexus-one-in-quake-3-duel)

------
arzvi
got an iPhone to test it for a week, and the first thing I did was to msg my
friends, got some replies, and some SPAM. If I needed to delete the spam, I
had to press the msg line to get into the msg, then 'Edit' to edit the
conversation, then touch the msg then 'delete' button below. Still the
conversation albeit empty, stood there. Usability sucks.... I did all these
with two clicks in my N72 Nokia, and the Nexus or HTC Evo is far better for me
to use than iPhone. I love the way iPhone handles things, its fonts, its
colorfulness, and the easier input (size and accuracy of touch space) but I
would give it to a girl who needs them to be 'cute' pets rather than a work
horse and easy to manage organizer/'get your work done fast' device a nerd
like me would need. Android anyday, but then iPhone is the mother of all
smartphones since they were the reason the smartphones entered mainstream, and
we are having this conversation. Apple is the best for 'cute/beautiful' UI,
usability?? - nah

------
kasunh
I think you should wait and have a look at Dell Streak. The word is that it
would be around $500 without a contract

------
safetytrick
My wife just got a Droid X, I've got the IPhone 4 and I am very jealous. Her
phone is amazing.

------
ephramzerb
The site I'm working on doesn't address your linux constraint, but it exists
to help you make exactly this type of decision:

<http://www.measy.com/quiz/category/smartphones>

------
seanx
Do you like to tweak things? If so get some variety of Android. If you don't
get an iPhone. The iPhone will "just work" but it won't do nearly as much as
Android.

I have had both (+ win mobile) and prefer android by a long shot.

------
dagw
Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 mini pro. Small enough to comfortably fit in any
pocket while still offering all the smartphone and android goodness you want.
Plus it has a real hardware keyboard for easy text entry.

------
auxbuss
I've had an HTC Wildfire for a couple of months and love it. It's basically a
smaller version of the Desire. I develop on it too. It works fine. Best phone
I've ever had by some margin.

------
timinman
I bought a HTC Hero thinking that it would be more open and Linux friendly as
an Android device. It's not. I can't even update the firmware to 2.1 to get
the cool new Google apps.

------
jkmcf
None?

Verizon LTE is supposedly launching in a few months and then you'll want an
Android phone that works w/ LTE. Of course, we don't know where you live, so
LTE may not be available in your area.

------
imsky
HTC Aria. Fast, fits in your pocket, and runs Android. I've been very happy
with it so far. Also since you're on AT&T, this is a no-brainer.

------
Tichy
I've heard recommendations of the Samsung Galaxy S, as well as Nexus One (I
only know the N1 and love it).

------
lunatech
nokia n900

~~~
der
I even used the SIM card from my iPhone in my N900, it doesnt get 3G (only
2.5G, due to At&t's lame network) but that doesn't matter to me since I use
bandwidth intensive programs on WiFi anyway.

------
yanw
You should take a look at the Samsung Captivate which is a Galaxy S Android
phone for AT&T, if you want to move to Verizon the Droid 2 should be released
later this month (I'm planning on getting the European version of that,
Milestone 2 I assume they'll call it)

~~~
Zak
I am concerned, based on a friend's experience with a Behold II that Samsung
will abandon the device and not provide software updates.

In the case of the Behold II, Samsung promised an update to Android 2.0 when
it became available. After it did, Samsung claimed that it wasn't compatible
with the device. Third-party developers succeeded in running 2.1 on it, but,
lacking drivers, many hardware features did not work.

~~~
yanw
In this case there is already an early beta firmware of Android 2.2 floating
around to prove that they are working on it, plus they've open sourced the
drivers: [http://www.androidguys.com/2010/07/30/samsung-open-
sources-c...](http://www.androidguys.com/2010/07/30/samsung-open-sources-
captivate-sghi897-code/)

------
victorbstan
I wonder what people think about the non-screened applications for Android,
and that many applications have (retro-actively) been pulled because they send
private information to douchebags? I'm imagining with Androids popularity,
it's going to end up being a world similar to the PC world, where you have
Windows cheezoid OS with some antivirus/antiphishig app having to overlook all
your applications and make sure they behave properly. Personally I still think
the Apple way of pre screening is healthier, as long as it doesn't get
draconian. Which poison do you pick?

~~~
ergo98
>Personally I still think the Apple way of pre screening is healthier

That's because you're stunningly ignorant, not only about Android's security
model, but also about Apple's inability to catch anything but the superficial.

~~~
lzw
Shame on anyone who upmods a comment like yours which consists of nothing but
calling someone a name and then telling two lies.

~~~
ergo98
It isn't "calling someone a name". It's pointing out a fact. They are clearly
ignorant about the Android security model, and they're ignorant about the
checks that Apple does.

Your claim that they are lies is humorous, however. Ignorance casts a wide
shadow.

~~~
TGJ
You can do a lot better and explain yourself instead of name calling which it
is. You are not pointing out a fact, you are stroking your ego.

