Alternatives to the IPhone

Mr_Thrifty

Hi.

I want a good phone. One that has a good web browser and e-mail software. One where I can view my work e-mail and calendar (on MS Exchange) and view websites properly.

So, naturally the i-Phone is a great choice.

Sadly, however, the tariffs are atrocious in my opinion. I mean, O2 for instance do a £29.38/month tariff that includes just 75 minutes. Pfft... pathetic! Make it 75 hours and I might be interested. This is 2009, not 1999! People actually use their phones for chatting these days! 75 mins just doesn't cut the mustard.

And the higher-level tariffs, with more inclusive minutes, are too expensive for me.

I mean, in this day and age, surely £30/month and a 1.5 year commitment can get you a decent phone that you can use without constantly having to keep one eye on the clock?

So, anyhow, now I have to resort to looking for an i-Phone alternative.

Any suggestions?

I just want something that does e-mail, web browsing, phone calls, GPS/maps, speakerphone etc and does it well.

Thanks!

eljmayes

The alternative that is garnering the most praise at the moment is the HTC Hero/G2- great interface and web experience. The camera isn't great however- it's around 350 quid SIM only, free on tariffs above 30 quid a month on T-Mobile/Orange.

Mr_Thrifty

Eurgh... £30/month..... that ain't consistent with my moneysaving hat on. :-)

movilogo

The cheapest iPhone alternative is Nokia 5800 XM.

Viewing website properly doesn't depend on phone. The sites need to be properly designed for mobile browsing!

Mr_Thrifty

Thanks, will look at this Nokia.

Agree that web viewing shouldn't depend on the phone, but so many of them have absolutely apalling web browsers it's unreal. My current phone doesn't even handle pop-ups or flash animations in the web browser and gets half the links wrong!

movilogo

Whatever phone you buy, install Opera mobile and your browsing experience should become much better. Most built in browsers are crap compared to Opera.

eljmayes

Mr_Thrifty wrote: »

Eurgh... £30/month..... that ain't consistent with my moneysaving hat on. :-)

The Samsung Genio is a great phone for the price at the other end of scale as well. The internet won't be that quick however.

Mr_Thrifty

Good suggestion, movilogo, I installed Opera mini on my C902 and it made a world of difference. Still not amazing owing to the hardware limitations of the phone, but a lot better than the really bad standard browser.

Thanks also for your suggestion, eljmayes. Will look into that phone. I once tried a Samsung Soul but it was so quiet that I had to send it back. Will certainly look into this.

goonermontana

May I suggest the new Blackberry Bold 9700. or Bold 2. I too wanted the new iphone however it represents disgusting value thus no longer wanted. Bold 2 has rave reviews and due out anytime now really.

johhn_2

it should be omnia 2, htc hd2 or xperia X2, all windows mobile,which gives you more choices of apps and you might get most of the apps for free if you know what you are doing.

DCFC79

johhn wrote: »

it should be omnia 2, htc hd2 or xperia X2, all windows mobile,which gives you more choices of apps and you might get most of the apps for free if you know what you are doing.

how is windows mobile, does it run smooth