Considering upgrading to one. I've always had the cheapest phone available. I'm on Verizon, and can't change providers.

Whats the best phone available? I know I would definitely want to be able to tether my netbook for internet. Alternatively, whats a good website to read up on these things?

Wait a few months for the 4g handsets. Ones to consider are the HTC thunderbolt, the Motorola bionic, the lg optimus x2, and several others. A good place to get info would be to Google CES 2011. That's where all the q1 smartphones were unveiled.

Yea, wait till the CES announced phones arrive. They'll be the best choice.

I have an HTC Incredible and love it. But you should probably wait for the new announcements.

as the others have pointed out waiting for some of the CES phones to hit the market is a good idea,

if however you want a good android phone within the next few weeks I'd take a look at the Nexus S. My misses got a hold of one just before Christmas in the UK and I got to have a play around with it.

Now, my experience of Android phones is limited to the HTC Desire, Samsung Galaxy S and the Nexus S, none of which I've owned but all of which I've had 3+ hours playing around with/borrowing

I won't go into major for's and against for each one, you can find some reviews about each phone on the net ([url]www.engadget.com[/url] if you want skim over review, although I would look elsewhere too).

What I like about the Nexus S and why I'd choose it (if I had to choose an Android phone) are;

the build quality, it's a Samsung after all, I'd place it above the 2 I've mentioned above.

the OS, all the other android phones I've used I've found the manufacturer software getting in the way here and there (I know there are custom ROM's but lets keep things simple). Being the google "testbed" phone, it doesn't come with anything else loaded on, pure android the way it's meant to be, which is probably the best way. Android 2.3 is the best android I've used too. (I'm a WinMob7 user...still crossing my fingers for the updates)

Main downside, which I've heard is common to Android phones, is the battery life, my misses and I did a test on the train from London to Edinburgh, basically we messed around and played with our phones most of the journey, age wise my phone has a month on hers but my battery life held up a lot better. She is also having to charge almost every night, I can manage two days, generally we use our phones about the same.

I would be careful about some of the new CES phones, especially the dual CPU ones, unless you are planning on being a real "power-user" of your phone you won't need it, heck I doubt most will even 6-8 months down the line, like dual-core PC's, the software will take a while to catch up. The reason is the battery life, unless they come up with some magic these phones are gonna eat batteries for breakfast.

EDIT : Apparently the Nexus S is only on T-Mobile in the US, so there goes that suggestion.

Well, I recently got the Droid X on Verizon as an upgrade to my EnV2, and I couldn't be happier. I thought it would be years before I ever got a phone that was this awesome. However, since I don't have alot of experience with other smartphones to compare it to, I might not be the best source of info. I'm pretty sure I'm going to miss out on the whole 4g thing for 2 years since I upgraded in mid December.

That's why I like Sprint. One of the cheapest plans out there, and you get full upgrade eligibility every year.

I like Sprint because of that and the 22% discount I get from a company I no longer work for

Sprint has little to no service in my area. And absolutely none in Alaska, where I work for half the year. Verizon or AT&T are the only options, and AT&T doesn't have unlimited data.

Att does have an unlimited data plan.

Not anymore they don't. Now they only have a 200 meg and 2 gig package

If you want one NOW, I'd go with the HTC Incredible. Still the best phone on Verizon, IMO. My problem with the Droid series is that they're freaking tanks - they're massive. 4.3" is unnecessary.

That being said, if you can wait - wait. 4G isn't all it's hyped up to be a lot of times, but if you can wait for an LTE phone it'll be "current" for a lot longer.

The Incredible HD should be out soonish. I'm not sure if it'll be LTE, but if it is... winner!

Incredible HD = Thunderbolt. Def 4g.

http://www.htc.com/us/products/thunderbolt-verizon

4.3" is not unnecessary and is in fact the thing I like most about my phone. Makes reading so much more pleasant.

Anyone know if the next gen of Android phones (or WP7 for that matter) will have better battery life? The battery life on the iPhone 4 is staggering and I'd buy it just for that.

Haven't seen anything that can compete with the iPhone 4's battery really yet. Battery in my Focus is decent, probably comparable to my old 3GS, but nothing to write home about.

That's the one thing that sucks about my Droid X, the battery life. I could easily get out of juice after 1 day. I am charging it every day. The extended battery is 50 bucks and that only lasts 15% longer.

My galaxy S battery life over the past 4 months has degraded significantly. I may send up to 100+ texts a day at most, sometimes none at all. I hardly have more than 15-20 minutes worth of phone conversation. Now the battery wont even last me a full days use. I do send/receive emails constantly and run a few apps here and there but I don't live on my phone.

Honestly if it can get through one busy day of heavy use just fine, that's enough for me. I never go without charging at night, and I keep micro USB cables at work and in my car, so I've usually got backup charging options available if need be.

Until a smartphone comes along that can rival the battery life of some of the dumbphones that would last for a few days without charging, then I'll keep charging every night.

I take all the advantages of the android system whilst having to charge my battery every night, over a locked down iPhone with better battery life any day of the week, honestly.

I got the motorola driod and I LOVE IT - but my phone before it was years old and falling apart, so I may not be the best person to ask either

i <3 my eris. the dev community rocks for this phone. you cant get them anymore though.

I have a vibrant. I like it a lot.

When I first got it, it would only make it for about a day of use. Since then I'm running a custom 2.2 ROM, and it will make it through about two full days with out charge.

Got a Droid X, because verizons new every 2 program runs out tomorrow. It seems pretty awesome. Didn't realize each phone requires a data plan, so that kinda sucks..

I like my iPhone 3GS. I would like to try an Android based phone, but I have too many paid apps that I love and I'm not ready to throw them all away!

I came to the conclusion that a new app I installed, Widgetsoid, was a battery drainer and didn't work half properly anyway, so deleted and I haven't really had issues since. But I still have problems with the media player skipping, which makes listening to music pointless and random text messages that just don't get sent for whatever reason :p

I have a low-end android that cost $110 and I love it.

seconded. rooting is amazingly helpful, having the ability to tether when i want to is a godsend, and i'm overall very happy with this device.


also, for the New Every Two Verizon people, as long as you have a contract with it *now* they have to do it for you until you get a new contract. New customers can't get it but you can until you switch.

Chiming in with a Droid X. No serious complaints here.

Took it back. Smart phones aren't my thing apparently. Can't justify the expense based on what it does.

Yeah, not sure how you were expecting to use a smartphone without a data plan. The whole purpose of the things is all the internet-related things you can do. Browsing the internet being number one, GPS number two, music streaming number three, social network stuff four, etc etc.

Originally thought that data plan was tied to the account rather than the specific phone. Youknow, like every other service.

You mean, like shared minutes are? I only use an individual plan, and not on Verizon, so I don't know what silly setup they use there.

They aren't tied to the phone, but they are required by the provider before they will sell you a smartphone at a discounted price.

Verizon family share plan, 2 phones comes to 60/month for the lowest number of minutes, with a 20% corporate discount. Two smart phones require a 30 dollar unlimited data plan each. 120/month for two phones. Thats without any texting.

Wow, no texting? I guess I'm spoiled by Sprint. All of their smartphone plans are unlimited in everything except minutes, even family plans.

Is there something you want it to do that it doesn't do?

And the minutes are unlimited on nights and weekends and to any cell phone on any network. I only use minutes calling landlines during the day.

Mesmerize, checking in. I love it and all you US Cellular haters can suck it.

Yea, considering all the free minutes they give out, I basically have unlimited. I used 12 minutes out of 450 last month. Everyone else I call is either a cell phone or night and weekend. If Sprint had a 100 minute plan, I'd get it.