Smart phone help

[Rassa Farlander]

Ok, who knows stuff about smart phones? I live in the US. I would very much like to get a new phone soon, Im thinking my current one is close to its end. Ive never had a smart phone. Id like to have a phone that can play music as well, my music device has recently failed me as well. Ive got boost mobile and would prefer to keep my number and plan. I also want to keep it reasonably priced. Thoughts anybody?

Thanks!

[Camacha]

Yeah, that is so broad that it could be pretty much any phone. I guess it would be good for you to check around what features are available and which of those you think are important. Do you need a good camera, or is decent good enough? Do you want a big screen, and do you care about resolution? And, of course, the OS. Each OS has advantages and drawbacks. Android is very flexible, has a great range of free apps, but needs slightly more power and can be unsafe at time. Windows Phone is a great OS that runs and looks slick, but has a much more limited app store and is pretty closed. Apple OS is even worse in that area, but if you want what it does, it does it well.

You will need to do some investigating

[Rosco P. Coltrane]

Advise: have you tried typing on a touch screen? If not, try that first for a while (not just a message, I mean, really try it). I went and bought a touch phone only to discover that I really hated typing on a screen. I ended up smashing it and buying one with a keypad.

[Camacha]

Advise: have you tried typing on a touch screen? If not, try that first for a while (not just a message, I mean, really try it). I went and bought a touch phone only to discover that I really hated typing on a screen. I ended up smashing it and buying one with a keypad.

Too bad that there are very view good slider type phones nowadays and in some parts of the world those few are not even available. I would love to have a decent qwerty phone, but they are just not around.

The best option here would be to import a Photon Q myself (risking extra customs fees and taxes), ship it to another country to have a sim slot placed (instead of the on board chip) and pay that guy and then ship it back to finally use it. That is a risky undertaking for some buttons.

[Nibb31]

Advise: have you tried typing on a touch screen? If not, try that first for a while (not just a message, I mean, really try it). I went and bought a touch phone only to discover that I really hated typing on a screen. I ended up smashing it and buying one with a keypad.

I hated it too, until I discovered Swype. There are other similar keyboards around nowadays (Swiftkey and even the stock Android keyboard now has the feature), but I'm still partial to Swype. Swiping words is much faster that typing, and I find it much more natural on a touchscreen.

[Nibb31]

Ok, who knows stuff about smart phones? I live in the US. I would very much like to get a new phone soon, Im thinking my current one is close to its end. Ive never had a smart phone. Id like to have a phone that can play music as well, my music device has recently failed me as well. Ive got boost mobile and would prefer to keep my number and plan. I also want to keep it reasonably priced. Thoughts anybody?

Thanks!

It really is much too broad. Even ancient old dumb phones from 10 years ago could read MP3s, so it's not a proper criteria.

You need to look at what you can afford and what your phone company offers in their plans. Then get back to us with a short list.

[Rich]

Check out the Nexus 5. I have nothing but praise for this phone.

[DonLorenzo]

I have the nexus 4 and if the 5 continues in the same vein that's definitely my recommendation. Very cheap for what's on offer and Googles own android version so no (or at least, limited) bloatware.

[sjwt]

Goto a store and try them! You will hate some interfaces and love others.. I was a big Nokia fan until a few years ago, then Nokia changed the interface and I moved to HTC, they all take a little getting used to but try them and get shown how to do stuff by the sales staff, its there job!

[John Crichton]

Goto a store and try them! You will hate some interfaces and love others.. I was a big Nokia fan until a few years ago, then Nokia changed the interface and I moved to HTC, they all take a little getting used to but try them and get shown how to do stuff by the sales staff, its there job!

This 1000x!

Nothing beats trying an interface at the store. Most modern smartphones allow you to watch movies and listen to music...so it really comes down to the interface/OS and "style" of the phone.

Personally I have a Samsung Galaxy S4 and couldn't be happier. My first mobiles where Nokias (6150, lol) and I loved them until they changed the OS to something horrible. I then switched to iPhones but simply don't like the lack of freedom with iOS. Love Android though

[Red Iron Crown]

All the current smartphone platforms can handle music playing, basic telephony, browsing, email and apps without major problem, so which you go with is mostly a matter of preference.

Some of the pros of each major platform:

iPhone/iOS:

- Excellent integration with iTunes, if you use it

- Good hardware

- Excellent accessory support (docks, cases, etc)

- Good ease of use for non-technical users

- Vibrant app ecosystem

Android

- Excellent integration with Google services, if you use them

- Large variety of hardware available at different price points

- High level of customization and hacking possible

- Vibrant app ecosystem

Windows Phone

- Excellent integration with Microsoft services, if you use them

- Better variety of hardware than iOS, though less than Android

Blackberry

- It's not dead yet

I'm an Android user, but the big three platforms are all pretty much equivalent functionality-wise at this point. Play with a few phones and get the one you like.

[TechnicalK3rbal]

I would suggest the nokia lumia, (I think that's the name ) it was less than 100$ last I saw, and works pretty well.

[Rassa Farlander]

Im sorry my OP was to broad and vague. Its just because literally, I know nothing about them lol. Ive got a motorola blackberry wantabe from boost mobile. My budget is around $200 USD maybe as high as $300. Ive been looking at the LG Venice, the Samsung Galaxy III (pre-owned) or maybe the HTC One SV (also pre owned)

Id like to play music on the go(pandora radio?), maybe some light web browsing, and netflix(maybe?) Also I can see that a memory slot could be useful as well.

I dont think I can afford and iPhone. So some probably gonna have to go Android, my carrier (boost mobile) doesnt have windows phones from what I can tell, which is fine.

Here are my options:

http://www.boostmobile.com/shop/phones/

Thanks for all the feedback so far everyone! Im looking forward to figuring this out.

[Nibb31]

In that list, I'd say go for the Moto G. It's had great reviews. Its only drawback is that it doesn't have 4G.

Pandora, browsing and netflix all depend on the apps that you install, not on the phone. Also, make sure you have a data plan if you want to use it online away from home.

[Red Iron Crown]

Of those, the Galaxy S III refurb would be my choice. The low-res screen on the One SV and LG Venice would kill them for me.

[Rassa Farlander]

Any other opinions? I also just found out they are out of the SIII re-furbs. Might have to suck it up and get a new one. Im just not sure.