Mobile Phones - What's important to you?

[Worzyl]

After 10 years with my sony erricsson which was given to me, the buttons were starting to get flakey and I decided to buy a my very first new phone.
I know very little about mobiles due to having little interest, but struck me was the lack of battery life these devices seem to have. My friends android phones are either being charged every night, as well as having looked at mobile phone reviews where a phone last 3 days was considered pretty good due to the power of large screens and the applications that can be run on it. I'm not the sort of person that plays with a mobile phone on the bus, eyes locked on facebook, youtube or twitter, so the main importance for me was battery life, decent network coverage and something that takes impacts as I'm forever dropping the things!

So after much searching I bought a rather expensive Sonim XP5300 with battery life lasting just under 2 weeks and I'm happy with it, even though all my friends have been screaming at me as to why I didn't purchase an Iphone of Android smart phone.

So what do you personally look for in a mobile phone and why?

[Neil]

Well, I too just got a new phone less than a month ago. This is actually the first time I chose my phone having owned at least half a dozen cell phones in the past that were almost always what my wife chose based on...who knows what.

Anyway, I chose the model I did because of the screen size and wifi capability. I've never used mobile web before, but have an increasing need to be able to have mobile email for my business.


Battery life has never been much of a consideration to me, as when new, most of the phones I've had would last for almost a week, but after a while they would need to be charged every night, which I've become accustomed to. The new one will run about three days on a charge now, but I expect that before long, it will be needing a nightly recharge too.

[Brian10161]

I use to use a Nokia flip phone, which worked great. It would last forever on a charge, probably 2 to three weeks like you said with your new one. For me, I mainly look for ease of use and battery life. My iPhone 4 lasts me a few days on a charge. I have most of the connectivity features turned off when not using them, like 3g/cellular data, bluetooth, location services, notifications and wifi.

I like being able to pickup my email through the day when I need it, so it's pretty good for me. I figured out how to change the battery in my phone pretty easily, so once the battery goes, I'll get a new pack and drop it in.

[rumbero]

Before actually starting to read the remainder of this text, please be aware that i absolutely dislike using any kind of phone for voice conversation, and that i usually try to avoid using one whenever feasible. Only as nowadays one simply can't be without any mobile voice communication tool anymore, i do own and use one at least for the absolutely unavoidable phone requirements.

I got my first mobile phone ever in 2005, and it was one of those primitive Nokia 1110i, which is just a bare mobile phone with no other features whatsoever, and which only needs a recharge every few days. It was pretty robust for its price and, though i eventually replaced the keyboard plastics, still works perfectly fine up until today. I was more or less happy with that through the remainder of the decade, while seeing all those iphone and android smartphone users popping up around me. But from the way people were using and presenting them to each other, i considered them to be nothing more than simply overpriced toys with just a few more useful online features.

These machines started to arouse my serious interest at the beginning of the current decade, because i began to understand that these smartphones were actually not just communication tools anymore, but indeed have evolved into real mobile computing devices. Being an almost 99% Linux user in real life, i got mainly interested in Android, and finally decided that the comparatively affordable Motorola Defy, or better the enhanced Defy+, which both were claimed to be very robust outdoor devices, were the perfect choice. But as i usually don't just spend any money just based on assumptions, only to find out out that stuff i bought doesn't fulfill my expectations, instead of just buying one i rather began to investigate about these particular models on specialized smartphone user forums. So it turned out that both Defy variants suffered from some serious and pretty common technical flaws, which made my interest in buying one of these drop to zero again. And as there were no other similar outdoor smartphone devices available on the market, i also stopped watching for any alternative at the end of last year.

Another thing which made me lose interest is Android. I downloaded an x86 based Android version from android-x86.org to run it in a virtual machine, in order to become acquainted with it. And i must say, as i was expecting the flexibility of a real computing platform, i was pretty underwhelmed. To me, this OS is just taking away all the power and flexibility which i am used to from normal computers. There appears to be no way out of the box being the real and only administrator of the machine, but instead it is just a user console, which in the end is actually remotely managed and supervised by Google. This is something i definitely dislike, and the idea of having to go to great lengths to liberate such a device by installing an alternate ROM like Cyanogenmod doesn't console me either.

Bottom line is, if a smartphone would be smart enough to be usable as a generic computing device under exclusive access control of the user, without any underlying supervision infrastructure being imposed upon the assumed "owner" of the phone, and which has the usual phone communication features supplied as an add on, then i would consider buying one. This would make such a device essentially become a normal computer which is equipped with additional communication equipment, just like my Thinkpad, but in a much smaller form factor.

At the current state of affairs, the freedom i am used to enjoy with standard computers and Thinkpads, namely being able to install, control and use whatever i please on these machines, without any vendor interference whatsoever, is what i am missing with these smartphones. And i doubt the Apple counter part would be any better regarding the aspects i am focusing on but, as i have understood from what can be found in the news, rather all the contrary.

For these reasons, about a year ago i finally decided to just buy an outdoor mobile phone, and ended up with a Samsung B2710. It easily holds up to the promise of being able to be submerged under water by being cleaned under running tap water, only needs to be recharged every 9 days (my wife's Samsung E2370, while slightly less capable, even only every four or five weeks), and yet still offers some basic internet connectivity, but which i rarely ever use. It is still pretty affordable and good enough for my actual communication needs.

Still waiting for a real smartphone, which actually stands up to its promise, to become available on the market. Most probably forever, as the general trend of the market appears to be taking away user autonomy.

[Worzyl]

Before actually starting to read the remainder of this text, please be aware that i absolutely dislike using any kind of phone for voice conversation, and that i usually try to avoid using one whenever feasible. Only as nowadays one simply can't be without any mobile voice communication tool anymore, i do own and use one at least for the absolutely unavoidable phone requirements.

This is pretty much me too - I get headaches from using mobiles for long periods and always use the landline when I can. I also generally don't like talking on mobiles.
I did consider your wife's phone when I was searching, but I needed more connectivity as there were too many annoying instances when I was in another country and couldn't connect to a network for lack of the different bands, though this new one has internet(dont use and I haven't even set it up) and has 3G - which is currently turned off along with bluetooth as I don't need them on for now. http://www.sonimtech.com/pdf/XP5300_datasheet.pdf

[RealBlackStuff]

I have a Pantech C520 Breeze, which has not been 'topped up' now for nearly 8 month.
I bought this with 'pay as you go' in mind, and got several $25.- topups, then a $100.- top-up, which is good for a year.
After almost 1 year, I had used up about $35 out of the $100, and the rest was going to be 'absorbed' (read forfeited/stolen by AT&T) unless I renewed again.
Rather than face this unscrupulous theft, I gave the phone to my daughter, who took care of the remaining 'balance' within 48 hours.
Nowadays this phone just sits in a drawer of my desk. I don't need a cell phone, and don't want one either.
Since the phone companies do not allow you to rollover on an ongoing basis (why not? I paid for the time!), I am not willing to pay their highway robbery prices.

[GomJabbar]

What's important to me?

Can I make a call and receive one...

Is it smaller than a breadbox (actually, can I hold it comfortably and carry it comfortably)...

[A31]

A great screen, good battery life, nice looks, a QWERTY keyboard and a wide variety of apps are important to me. I have a Samsung Monte S5620 at the moment, it's the least practical phone in the world. It's a touchscreen but it doesn't have a QWERTY keyboard, the sides are orange and it eats through battery. I love it though.

[underclocker]

Each person has to work through this puzzle and there are many different outcomes.

I am a long-time BlackBerry user that switched to an iPhone a month ago.

For my purposes, a BlackBerry best supported my personal and business/career needs quite well for about 10 years. The ease-of-use and quality of the phone function was top-notch, the email functionality was still better than any device I've seen, the security was top-notch and still is, the battery life was excellent considering the features of the devices - I routinely went 3 days between charges on my BlackBerry Pearl, which I used for several years - and the size, weight and keyboard I really liked.

While the BlackBerry offered more and more apps over time, including a marketplace, I never found any apps appealing or easy to use. So, I lived with excellent call capabilities and email functions on a device that I really liked.

The iPhone finally tipped the scale with it's ease of use regarding application purchase and functionality. I briefly tried an Adroid device, but the experience wasn't close to that of an iPhone. Everything from the weather app, forum reading app, camera, etc. work very, very well. The Delta app let's me check-in and download boarding passes quickly and with ease. HBO Go anyone! Again, other platforms offer simialar apps, but none seem to work as well.

The iPhone itself leaves a lot to be desired. It's heavy, the battery lasts about one day, sometimes less (sure there are battery saving tricks, but why do I want to shut down iPhone features?), the touch keyboard isn't better than a physical keyboard, the phone app is confusing and the email app is quite bad. However, I wouldn't switch back. There's just too much goodness with all the other things you can do with the iPhone. It does add up to a better experience.

What would I like to see in a phone? An iPhone with a larger screen, longer battery life, less weight, a better phone app and a BlackBerry mail app. And, if the phone can be kept thin enough, a slide out keyboard.

[pianowizard]

Let me first explain how I decided on my current phone (HTC Touch Pro2) two years ago. I signed up for Sprint's SERO (Spring Employee Referral Offer) back in Nov 2007. It was the cheapest smartphone plan then and it still is, only $30/month for almost unlimited phone minutes, unlimited internet, and unlimited texting. And I chose the Palm Centro when I signed up. In early 2010, I wanted to get a more powerful smartphone but also wanted to stick with this terrific SERO plan. At that time, the only Sprint phone that was eligible for the SERO plan was the HTC Touch Pro2, and that's the only reason I upgraded to it.

I have been quite happy with this HTC. Three features of this phone are absolutely indispensable: The mechanical keyboard, the ability to open/edit Microsoft Word and Excel documents (including *.docx and *.xlsx), and the screen's reasonably high resolution of 800x480. If I can find a phone with the following improvements over the Touch Pro2, it would be the perfect phone:

1) Much faster.
2) A screen size of about 4" (versus the Touch Pro2's 3.6")
3) An even higher resolution; 1280x800 would be nice.
4) A web browser that can view all web sites in desktop mode. This is important because at home, this phone is the only way I can get on the internet.
5) The ability to open all PowerPoint files properly (The Touch Pro2 can open only certain simple PowerPoint files).
6) Slightly lighter.

As you can see, it's hard to answer the question "What's important to you" because not just one particular thing but lots of things are important. I am holding onto this Touch Pro2 though because Sprint no longer has any phone that's compatible with the SERO plan. If I upgrade to SERO Plus, then I can use any of Sprint's current phones but the monthly cost would go up to $40, which is still dirt cheap compared to all other plans but I am a cheap skate!

[killer]

What's important to me?

Can I make a call and receive one...

Is it smaller than a breadbox (actually, can I hold it comfortably and carry it comfortably)...

Spot on summary, GomJabbar. I switch mine on when I need to make a call. It's my personal phone box. The last thing I want is someone calling me when I am driving.

[ajkula66]

The BlackBerry that I currently use (VZW network) would've never been my choice, since I like my phones simple, abuse-resistant and with a good battery life. However, since it's provided by and paid for by my employer, I really have zero complaining rights.

My favourite phone of all times was now ancient Nokia 3589i that maintained reception everywhere on the same spotty VZ network 5-6 years ago, had a fabulous battery life and some cool ringtones our of the box...

[twistero]

Why is there not a "keyboard" option? I need a hardware keyboard on my phone, be it a digit keypad or QWERTY. Actually prefer a digit keypad over QWERTY, because I can touch type with one hand and have my eyes on the road at the same time (when walking, of course no driving while texting!) Try that with an onscreen keyboard!
I blame a certain fruit company for starting the trend of touchscreen-only phones and making all other brands follow.
Used to have a Nokia N95, and it's the best smartphone ever. Now I have to make do with an HTC Desire Z (a.k.a. G2 or HTC Vision).

[ZaZ]

My biggest complaint with Andriod is the battery life. I had the original iPhone. It ran like three days on a single charge. When I my iPhone got stolen, I switched over to a Galaxy because I could get it much cheaper than the iPhone 4, but the battery life was a day at most. If I took it off the charger and went to work, it was almost 3/4ths drained by light usage when I got home. I had to suck it up and get the iPhone 4. I now pay $75 a month for the privilege, but I don't really use the internet much. I think when my contract is up in a year, I'll sell my iPhone 4 and get whatever the new one is or a used iPhone 4, then go back to T-Mobile prepay if there's a way to do so.

[emeraldgirl08]

Hi TPers

I wish there had been a keyboard option as well as functionality choice in the vote. Applications might apply toward functionality but I sort of get the impression that applications refers to "angry birds."

I started out with the cheapest, lowest costing phone you could get a couple of years ago. My first cellphone was from Virgin Mobile and it cost less than $20. No camera, no slide out keyboard, and had the most awful resolution ever. I will say that it was tough and lasted through my stint as an Iron Worker trainee (Yes I managed to last through it also!). Around that time I was living in Illinois and the coverage was great out that way! My plan was pay as you go (important requirement for me!) and very flexible (customer service for virgin was great for me). As time progressed my needs changed and the ability to text (with a physical keyboard!) and the flexibility of a SIM card became important.

Now I use a BB 8900 I bought off ebay almost two years ago. It's survived numerous calamities and is still running very well!

It does what I need it to do, I have a decent cell provider, it has the capacity for SDHC (important for me bc I NEED MUSIC!), has a decent screen resolution (480X360), and the wifi works well with my university enterprise network

I plan on keeping this one as long as I can! I am not too keen on the touch screen keyboards so the BB has become a really good friend now

[Scott H.]

Can I make a call and receive one...

Is it smaller than a breadbox (actually, can I hold it comfortably and carry it comfortably)...

That's me too. I don't use the internet on a phone and could care less for the various apps available for smartphones. I honestly could do without one as I don't care for talking on ANY style of telephone, but I have a couple of serious health issues and need to be able to call someone no matter where I'm at if my damaged back goes out and I can no longer move or my heart starts acting up.

I have exactly 3 requirements for a cell phone:

1. It doesn't constantly drop calls. (I had a Motorola SLVR that did this constantly and now my old RAZR is starting to drop them too)
2. It gets good reception at my house. (I live a good distance from the city)
3. It has bluetooth capabilities. (I hate constantly holding a phone, especially if I'm at my workbench!)

I used to store music on my phone to listen to while working, but older iPods are dirt cheap now and don't ring in the middle of a song! Besides, when I have my ear phones in I can "conviently" not hear the phone ringing!

-Scott H.

[Tasurinchi]

After 3 years of iPhone 3G I've realized the most important thing to me is the screen size & picture quality, so my next phone will be a Samsung Galaxy Note N7000, I'm just waiting for Samsung to upgrade this model to Android ICS.

[Worzyl]

Added Keyboard option in poll. Sorry - I completely forgot about that one!

Edit: On a side note, I charged my Sonim 5300 on the 1st of April and it's still got 1 bar left! (Used only for texting and calls)

OH DEAR!!! I had no idea that all votes are removed when you add another option!

[rkawakami]

Sound and keyboard for me, battery life a close third, plus one other item not listed in the poll. I have had a Sony Ericsson W810i for the last 6 years. When I was looking through the available phones that AT&T was offering, what really sold me on the W810i was the FM radio feature. The phone requires the use of a proprietary handset adapter since it does not have the usual 2.5mm or 3.5mm jack. That adapter is also the radio antenna. It plugs into the bottom of the phone and at the end of the cable is a microphone, a button to control certain operations of the phone (answer a call, request a voice dial, etc.) and a standard 3.5mm headset jack. You can get them on eBay now for around $4, and it includes the stereo earbuds and shipping.

For now, I don't need to have access to the web from my mobile. Yeah, it would be nice from time to time but if I need something, I'll ask my wife to use her iPhone. What I want from a cell phone is good voice quality, ability to be dialed/operated without having to look directly at the keyboard (re-dialing sequence for those radio station contests ) and enough battery life to go several days without having to plug it into an AC outlet. In standby, the phone can go for about a week. If I make many calls per day or listen to the radio while at work, then it needs to be charged after two or three days. This is with a battery that's at least three years old.

I prefer the "candybar" form factor and have never liked the design of the flip phones, seeing them as too fragile in the event when, not if, I drop it. That's also the main reason why I won't get a slideout keyboard either. Yes it's nice to have when texting but I've gotten used to T9 now. Smartphones with their touchscreen keyboards can't provide the tactile feedback that you get from real buttons. One modification I made to my phone was to get rid of the two dedicated buttons that starts the music player (it's a Walkman after all) and launches the web browser. The phone can store MP3 files on the Memory Stick but I've never bothered to load any. Since I didn't need the button that activates the player and it can accidentally be pressed when re-dialing, I removed the silicone keyboard and cut the button off with an X-Acto blade. Did the same to the web browser button as I didn't want to be bothered with cancelling net access or racking up additional data charges on my bill.

ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Ericsson_W810

[jdk]

Size/weight, durability, physical keyboard, and GSM are important to me. I have a Nokia that cost $140 (unsubsidized) brand new two years ago. It has Wifi and can run Opera web browser if I need to connect. It is quad band and unlocked meaning I can use any pay as you go service. It lasts close to two weeks on a single battery charge, and has a 320x240 color display.

I am brutal on my phone. It goes out to the field with me, and goes to the gym 5 days a week where it is tossed on the floor every time I change stations. Cosmetically, it was getting a little broken, so last week I purchased an $8 shell from China and transplanted all of the internals. Moving everything over (motherboard, all the misc. pieces like speakers, antenna, etc) took about 45 minutes. In the process, also I cleaned all the electronics with isopropyl alcohol. Now I have a brand new phone.

[Alicatt]

first mobile was a Pannasonic "portable" brick on Vodafone back in he early 90s, it came with a free hernia if you carried it around all day
Today I have a iphone 3GS which is used for the apps mainly and a Nokia 6310i which I use for phone calls. My last company gave me a 6310i many years ago and the company replaced them every year, now that I've retired I am on my second one since then it does what I need it to do and it integrates into the systems in my car like it was part of it.
On inspection of the CAN bus data in the car I found that maybe it integrates a little too well as the car reports its position and other data to the phone when you shut off the ignition. The car is a 2004 MG ZT and has BMW electronic systems shared with the BMW M3 and some 5 series and as MG-Rover are bust I wonder where the data goes.

[paul*robertson]

I have just replaced a 7yr old Nokia 6100 with a Blackberry Pearl. I like my phone to do the basics well. Good battery life, physical buttons, good sound quality and ease of use. Something else thats important is a loud ringtone. The Nokia did all of those, hence why i kept it so long (with a few replacement covers off ebay, and a new screen after it went through the washing machine).

The Pearl, to me, is similair to the 6100, but newer technology. Small, physical keyboard and a loud ringtone, plus so much more. So far i'm loving it. However, Blackberry have stopped making it as it doesn't fit into their range. Its either touchscreen or a querty keyboard.

[elray]

Missing from the picklist:

1) Phonebook/Contacts extensibility.
Can we please have large/deep contact lists - 1000-2000 entries?
Can we please have a standard web-based backup/sync tool that works on all phones, across carriers, and allows for printing of neatly formatted address books?

2) Real keys (I guess this falls under keyboard).
Buttons should NOT change function dynamically, one should NOT have to look at the screen.
The "Go" or "Click" button should be easily distinguishable by touch.

3) "Find Me" ringer. My phone is set on silent 24x7. Once in a great while, I'd like to be able to turn on the ringer remotely, or otherwise "locate" the device.

4) HD Vocoder standards. Cellphone voice/call quality is lacking. I'd like to have a "dumb" cell phone that sounds at least as good as a landline, without having to load an "app" on a buttonless "Smart" phone.

5) Fingerprint reader or equivalent. I'd like to secure my phone without having to remember yet another code.

6) Hearing protection. No piercing "disconnect" alarms blasting from the earpiece. (Nokia)

7) Crescendo-ing ringer setting.