Which new phone?

geraint83

Hi,

I'm looking for a new phone. I currently have a HTC Desire but have become frustrated with the low memory space for apps (I've had to uninstall the update to Flash to get everything to fit and I don't want to delete the other apps I have, because they're mainly core apps and can't be moved to the SD card).

I have considered moving to a Blackberry 9900 but discounted that because of the lack of equivalent apps to the ones I already have.

A major consideration is phone size. I don't really want to get a much larger phone. The Samsung Galaxy S II is much too big for me and I'd find it too cumbersome to use. The same is true for the new Samsung Galaxy Nexus released today.

I've therefore whittled it down to two possibilities and would like some advice please.

iPhone 4S
I've been considering moving from Android to iOS. Most of the apps I currently use are available on that platform so that wouldn't be a problem and the phone is a bit smaller than my HTC Desire. But, the major question I have is about the use of Google Mail, Calendar and Contacts. With Android, they just work out of the box and sync automatically. From what I've read, there are problems with using Google Mail on the iPhone using push technology (messages are actually archived when you try to delete them) and you can only sync one calendar (I have 2 - one for work and one personal). I also can't find any Google Talk app available for iOS.

Google Nexus S
This phone is nearly a year old by now, but I've checked the specs and it does most of the things I need it to do. It's slightly larger than my Desire but I think I could cope with the extra 5mm or so. However, it only has a 5MP camera compared to the 8MP on the iPhone. I also understand that Google confirmed today that the Nexus S would be getting the Ice Cream Sandwich update, which would be a bonus. I've been playing with a display model at Carphone Warehouse today and it was fairly responsive - the only big question I have is whether it has enough memory. Although it says that it has 16GB on-board memory, it's actually split up as 1GB as internal storage for apps, and the remaining 15GB as USB storage (which I guess is for your photos and music when you connect to a PC). Would 1GB be enough?

I'd be grateful for any views / advice!

Thanks in advance!

Yolina

You won't have 15GB as USB storage, you need room for the OS!

If it helps, I've got a Galaxy S2. There's 1.97GB internal storage (650MB used so far) and 11.50GB USB storage (4.29GB used), I've also got an external SD for music, pictures, etc (15.14GB used out of 29.71GB) so I guess it depends how much stuff you've got to store. These are obviously the figures using the "proper" 1024 multiplier All my apps are on the internal, except the games which I've moved to the USB (internal SD) though because I'm rooted, I use Titanium backup to "integrate" into the rom some of the core apps updates (gmail, google maps, Flash player - well anything that was pre-installed on the phone really) which saves tons of space.

markdavey

I would strongly suggest trying to get hold of a Nexus S to see how it feels in the hand. It is noticeably heavier than the Desire and has an odd 'fat' bit at the bottom. I purchased a Nexus S to replace my desire and ended up selling it after 3 months and have stuck with the Desire.

Assuming that your desire is out of Warranty, there are a number of things that you can do to increase the usable memory in the phone and speed it up, assuming you have not done so already:

1) Root the phone
2) S-Off the phone and re-partition the internal storage - HERE
3) Load an AOSP Rom (pure Google, no HTC Sense) - Recommend OxyGen

THIS post is very helpful.

I have 303Mb available Storage for Apps (compared to the 147Mb that the Desire is originally partitioned to have) after having done the above and the phone has a new lease of life. I am waiting for the Galaxy Nexus.

If you really like HTC's Sense, there are plenty of downloadable widgets that give the phone a Sense look and feel, without the massive storage overhead, for an AOSP ROM.

NOTE: The above is not for the non-technical as it carries risk that you will Brick your phone, which I am in no way responsible for

Cash-Strapped.T32

If it's just the space issue (and you're not using this as a kind of personal "excuse" to upgrade to a phone you just want more) have you looked into solutions like App2SD?

Or re-flash to CyanogenMod (always a good idea anyway) where this functionality is built-in?

JJ_Egan

I dont find SGS 2 a big phone in daily use .

jje

geraint83

Thanks to everyone for their responses.

Cash-Strapped.T32 wrote: »

If it's just the space issue (and you're not using this as a kind of personal "excuse" to upgrade to a phone you just want more) have you looked into solutions like App2SD?

Or re-flash to CyanogenMod (always a good idea anyway) where this functionality is built-in?

I currently use App2SD at the moment, but that doesn't work on the core apps like Maps, Google Mail, Twitter, Facebook, Flash etc, which seem to fill up all the storage i have on the phone. I'm currently having to go without some apps I'd like to use because they can't be moved to a SD card and I haven't got any space for them.

[By the way, it's not a "personal excuse" for a new phone - if that were the case I'd have moved on to another phone a long time ago!!]


markdavey - thanks for the advice. My Desire is out of warranty but I don't really want to go down the route of rooting the phone - I'm a bit risk averse!!

I'm not that fussed about keeping HTC Sense, and would actually prefer a 'vanilla' Android experience (they tend to get software updates which other handsets don't get because the manufacturers can't be bothered).

Does anyone have any experience of using Google Mail / Calendar / Talk on an iPhone?

Cash-Strapped.T32

geraint83 wrote: »

[By the way, it's not a "personal excuse" for a new phone - if that were the case I'd have moved on to another phone a long time ago!!]

Fair play mate, & yeah in principal there's nothing particularly wrong with using a little personal excuse like that, I should have added above.

geraint83

Thanks to everyone for their views.

I've decided in the end to go with the Nexus S. I called by Carphone Warehouse today to try it again in my hand and didn't find the bump at the bottom to be too annoying.