Smartphones : who has one ? Favorite OS ? Brand ?

[DrThinkpad]

Very interesting replies. Nokia sure is over represented on the forum, while iPhones don't seem very popular around here !

Personally, if I had to pick an Android phone, it would be a Nexus 5, a Moto G v2 or a Moto X v2. All very good phones with vanilla Android, quite peppy with the stock ROM.

[pianowizard]

Very interesting replies. Nokia sure is over represented on the forum, while iPhones don't seem very popular around here !

I suspect that's because most (though obviously not all) iPhone users also use Macs, and vice versa. There aren't many Mac users on this forum.

Personally, if I had to pick an Android phone, it would be a Nexus 5, a Moto G v2 or a Moto X v2. All very good phones with vanilla Android, quite peppy with the stock ROM.

I wish I could pick these but none of them have SD/microSD card slots or removable batteries. The newest member of this family, the Nexus 6, has continued this unfortunate tradition.

[precip9]

I have an unlocked Xperia ZL, LTE version, which I use with Tmobile. I loved it till the Kitkat update, which has severely broken it. See
http://talk.sonymobile.com/t5/Xperia-Z- ... o_no_log=y

The phone reboots something like every ten minutes while mobile, causing a huge battery drain. This can be stopped only by switching off mobile data, which turns it into an HSPA only phone. So I flip the data on and off. Apparently, Sony's quality control does not include driving the phone around in big markets.

The screen is gorgeous. The camera is gorgeous. With previous versions of the firmware, the phone was highly usable. It still works well as a modem tethered to a laptop; it holds a connection on the New Jersey Transit train all the way from Trenton to the Hudson tunnels.

I hope this does not reflect the decay of Sony as a company, that they issue a firmware fix, and that I will, some time in the future, be motivated to say kind things about it again.

[Omineca]

I switch my SIM back and forth among several phones: a BlackBerry Z10, a BlackBerry Bold 9900, and an HP Pre3. I built the first two from damaged units and spare parts on eBay.

Someone mentioned Lenovo phones. I've looked at them, but it's hard to find one with the right 3G frequencies for Canada.

I think my next phone will be a BlackBerry classic (once they start showing up on eBay with cracked, screens and dead buttons).

If you enjoy tweaking OS's, I can't recommend webOS phones enough, although they're getting older now. There's a great community over at webOS nation.

Cheers

Sent from my Z10 using Tapatalk

[Saucey]

WebOS looks neat, might try that sometime next year.

[Temetka]

I have been using Samsung phones for many years now. First it was with the Blackjack 2, then a Galaxy S1, S3 and now a Note 4.

I love this phone soo much. Best mobile device I have ever owned (next to my Note 10.1).

I don't know what other manufacturers are doing to ensure customer loyalty, but I love the look of Samsungs phones, I really like TouchWiz and I have never had a single problem that was not introduced by me. I am now trying to NOT root my phone. If only I could disable some of the carrier bloat without rooting. Some of it I can turn off, other stuff not so much. If I root it then that will trip Knox. It won't void my warranty but I might have need of Knox in the next 2 years and I'd hate to break it when I haven't even had the phone for a whole month yet.

TBH I was very satisfied with my S3. It was fast, looked great and ran my programs with no issues. I got the Note for the S-Pen and features, and of course the Quad CPU and larger LCD. Primarily pen, screen, CPU, in that order. I also really like that I can swap the battery (not that I ever had to before, but if it dies I can buy a new battery) and also add an SD card. My phone has 32GB of storage which for me might as well be an ocean so it will be a while before I add more space. Right now I am searching Amazon trying to find a decent case with a kickstand for it.

[AIX]

It's HTC, but I own in iPhone 4s. I loved my HTC Hero, never got a HTC Legend, even I really liked it, then I had a HTC Desire C, nice little phone but slow. After I narrowed down my choices to iPhone 4s and HTC One, I've got the iPhone 4s. I've chosen the iPhone 4s over an HTC One because of the price and the size. HTC One was a little too big, didn't like the One Mini, and didn't want to put so much money on a phone (~800 USD if I remember correctly); the iPhone 4s was only ~400 USD, perfect size, looks great. My 5-year-old has an iPad 4, my wife an iPhone 4s, Facetime at one-click when we're away, I put some money on Apple Store so I think I'll stay with Apple for a while..

[jdk]

I switch my SIM back and forth among several phones: a BlackBerry Z10, a BlackBerry Bold 9900, and an HP Pre3. I built the first two from damaged units and spare parts on eBay.

Someone mentioned Lenovo phones. I've looked at them, but it's hard to find one with the right 3G frequencies for Canada.

I think my next phone will be a BlackBerry classic (once they start showing up on eBay with cracked, screens and dead buttons).

If you enjoy tweaking OS's, I can't recommend webOS phones enough, although they're getting older now. There's a great community over at webOS nation.

Cheers

Sent from my Z10 using Tapatalk

Sounds similar, except I rebuilt a damaged Q10. There is a sale on new products, the Q10 and Z10 are $199 new now at ShopBlackBerry. I think I spent more than that on my damaged Q10 last year, and then another $70 for a new housing + display.

I think my next project is finding a busted Galaxy Note 3 and repairing/refreshing that with CyanogenMod.

[aoitenshi]

I'm blackberry user here
has been using 8520 with OS 5 for 3 years since 2011, mostly for emails, browsings, reading pdf files, listening mp3s, taking pictures on daylight, GPS when driving on cars / motorcycle and of course for keep in touch with my wife and daughter
I usually carry extra battery (about 2-3 batteries) to keep in touch with current update from work.

here's what I did with my smartphone when I'm driving
http://i1008.photobucket.com/albums/af2 ... 20_gps.jpg

this old phone is getting slow, but I like the data plan compared to OS 10

[Worzyl]

I dont own any of the above brands.

I own a Sonim XP5300 3G which I have owned and has taken a battering for over 2 years. The battery life lasts for over a week and it's dust/shock/water proof and has a rather loud ring tone. It also covers all of the GPRS/UMTS bands. It was rather expensive, but I drop phones a lot and I always forget to charge them, so this style of phone worked for me.

[loyukfai]

I suspect that's because most (though obviously not all) iPhone users also use Macs, and vice versa. There aren't many Mac users on this forum.

I'd say iPhone users just aren't quite fit the demographics of the forumers here? Most iPhone users I know do not have a Mac, but neither would they wander around a geeky site talking about ThinkPads.

A more scientific way to measure this would be to compare the Mac & iPhone sales numbers, I guess the latter's would triumph the former's by a wide margin?

Cheers.

[pianowizard]

Most iPhone users I know do not have a Mac

Macs are quite a bit more popular in the States than the rest of the world. Around here, most iPhone users seem to also own Macs. Also, keep in mind that "most" can be as low as 50.00000001%, meaning exceptions are quite plentiful, even in the U.S.

A more scientific way to measure this would be to compare the Mac & iPhone sales numbers

With the caveat that a Mac is much more likely than an iPhone to be shared by multiple people. For instance, three family members owning three separate iPhones might share one Mac.

[joester]

I have a Motorola XT907 that was actually a freebie. Currently using is as a pocket PC (no phone or data plan).

I intended to root it, but it apparently has the latest update that pretty much locks the ability to root. Not a huge biggie though... Kitkat runs well on it and it does more than I thought I would want.

[loyukfai]

Most iPhone users I know do not have a Mac

Macs are quite a bit more popular in the States than the rest of the world. Around here, most iPhone users seem to also own Macs. Also, keep in mind that "most" can be as low as 50.00000001%, meaning exceptions are quite plentiful, even in the U.S.

A more scientific way to measure this would be to compare the Mac & iPhone sales numbers

With the caveat that a Mac is much more likely than an iPhone to be shared by multiple people. For instance, three family members owning three separate iPhones might share one Mac.

According to this (http://www.macrumors.com/2014/11/07/app ... pc-record/), Apple has a 13.4% market share in 14Q3, and if I'm not mistaken, traditionally it hovers around this range. So even though if it's more popular in the States, it still hardly makes up to 50.0000000000000000001% unless you're talking about very specific demographics (e.g. university students, tech journalists).

And to your second argument, you forgot that you can divide the Mac sales number by three to get some usable data.

Cheers.

[pianowizard]

According to this (http://www.macrumors.com/2014/11/07/app ... pc-record/), Apple has a 13.4% market share in 14Q3, and if I'm not mistaken, traditionally it hovers around this range. So even though if it's more popular in the States, it still hardly makes up to 50.0000000000000000001% unless you're talking about very specific demographics (e.g. university students, tech journalists).

Here's the sentence from two posts ago in which I used the word "most": "I suspect that's because most (though obviously not all) iPhone users also use Macs, and vice versa. There aren't many Mac users on this forum."

This sentence had nothing to do with market share. Let me make sure you understand what this sentence meant: This forum is about Thinkpads. So, naturally, nearly all forum members use Thinkpads, and there aren't that many Mac users on this forum. Since >50% iPhone users also use Macs and vice versa, and since not many thinkpads.com members use Macs, only a few forum members use iPhones.

And to your second argument

I merely pointed out a caveat; it was not an argument.

you forgot that you can divide the Mac sales number by three to get some usable data.

First, you want to multiply, not divide. Second, by multiplying by 3, you are assuming that every Mac in the world is shared by 3 people. This assumption could be correct, but it most likely isn't.

Now, you may object and ask "didn't you say each Mac is shared by 3 iPhone users in your previous post?" No, I said that as an example. In another family, each Mac may be shared by 5 iPhone users. In yet another family, each person may have his/her own iPhone and Mac. The average may turn out to be 2.27.

[thinkpadgeek91]

I just bought a Droid Turbo running 4.4.4 KitKat. I really love this phone, super powerful and reliable.

[Temetka]

That's a nice phone. I hope it serves you well.

[Summilux]

Waiting for this. Q1 2015, i.e. a couple of months from now.
Finally a new phone which is single-hand-operation compliant, and opens up to customisation with many user-replaceable parts (reminiscent of legacy Thinkpads, innit?).
Stuff will be exciting, especially as the ecosystem develops.

[Omineca]

It would be great if it runs an open source OS. I'd also be happy if it had a physical keyboard module. I hate typing on glass.


Sent from my Q10 using Tapatalk

[Omineca]

I switch my SIM back and forth among several phones: a BlackBerry Z10, a BlackBerry Bold 9900, and an HP Pre3. I built the first two from damaged units and spare parts on eBay.

Someone mentioned Lenovo phones. I've looked at them, but it's hard to find one with the right 3G frequencies for Canada.

I think my next phone will be a BlackBerry classic (once they start showing up on eBay with cracked, screens and dead buttons).

If you enjoy tweaking OS's, I can't recommend webOS phones enough, although they're getting older now. There's a great community over at webOS nation.

Cheers

Sent from my Z10 using Tapatalk

Sounds similar, except I rebuilt a damaged Q10. There is a sale on new products, the Q10 and Z10 are $199 new now at ShopBlackBerry. I think I spent more than that on my damaged Q10 last year, and then another $70 for a new housing + display.

I think my next project is finding a busted Galaxy Note 3 and repairing/refreshing that with CyanogenMod.

I sold the Z10 since I last posted here and bought a Q10. It had the double-typing issue, which I fixed. I plan to 'Bold' it by adding a silver bezel and replacing all the little discs in the keypad with the ones from the 9900 so that it has the same feel.

Sent from my Q10 using Tapatalk

[ajkula66]

I'm really, truly tempted by the Classic BB but will have to wait until it becomes available for VZW...

[Summilux]

It would be great if it runs an open source OS. I'd also be happy if it had a physical keyboard module. I hate typing on glass.

It'll run the latest Android (and most probably any version the user prefers, including full open-source ones).

Prospective customers will have to lobby accessories manufacturers, I guess, to get someone to make a keyboard. Supply & demand will be the only concern, there shoudln't be any hard/soft/legal roadblocks.

[Dawnbreaker]

Lumia 520.
Bought it april this year, dropped it really hard few times and nothing - it works like a beast. Hardware-wise there's nothing spectacular, sometimes it struggles because of it's low ram capacity (512mb). WP 8.1 runs suprisingly good (though it runs much better on flagship models). It serves me well for day-to-day tasks such as browsing the web, having some Viber chit-chats and listening music. Battery life isn't spectacular, but what can you expect from a 1430mAh battery?
It's a great option for those who are looking for a budged-oriented smartphone.

Anyway, I'd like to try the new Lumia 535, which is still unavailable in my country.

[edik]

Motorola Moto G.

Around $100 used in the UK, 1st Generation 16GB Version.

Fantastic phone, superb quality, rock solid clear reception, quad core.

My first Motorola back in late 1999, an L7089 Timeport ($550) was garbage... how times change.

[ZaZ]

I had a Lumia 820 and a Nexus 7, neither of which had data, mainly because the rural area I live in, only AT&T and Verizon offer decent speeds, but I didn't want a $75-80 a month contract phone. I tried a few of the pay as you go companies, but found them lacking in one way or another.

I learned Cricket was an AT&T subsidiary, so I decided try them with my 820. The speeds were good and you get 3GB of data for $45 a month if you prepay with a credit card. That's only $10-15 a month more than I was paying on prepaid T-Mobile without data. I figured the data was worth that so I sold my 820 and Nexus then picked up an unlocked manufacturer refurbed Lumia 1520, kind of a tweener between my 4" Lumia and 7" Nexus. It's closer to the Nexus, which I like. The screen is gorgeous and I like Windows Phone. I know it doesn't have the app selection, but I only need a few games for time killers.