Hey all. On May 1st I am able to receive my $150 credit for a new phone with Sprint. I am looking for some recommendations. Currently I have the Samsung Instinct which was originally pitched as being Sprint's version of the iPhone (which failed miserably). What is the best android-esque type phone that I can use with Sprint? It seems that most of the ones I have been looking at (HTC Evo, Samsung Epic) all seem to have battery-life issues.

Anyone have any suggestions? I want to be able to take advantage of my credit and be happy with the phone I choose for the next couple of years. The most important features on the phone for me would be: touch screen, good battery-life, decent web interface, and hopefully some type of app download/store.

Please refrain from derailing the thread into a discussion about why Sprint sucks and AT&T rules the universe.

But Sprint doesn't suck

Has it been two years? IIRC the Instinct is only a year old, in which case you would not be eligible for $150.

I would not recommend an HTC EVO, as it's now getting a bit older, but that said, Android phones are not actually all that terrible with battery life, as long as you don't hit them on 3G too much.

I would actually wait since there should be some new phones coming out soon, as a replacement to the EVO. Something dual core would be a good bet.

I don't think that they suck, but I know there are a ton of AT&T fanboys with their fancy iPhones. Granted, some of those may be jailbroken but I would guesstimate that the vast majority of them are on AT&T contracts.

[Quote=Cool Matty]Has it been two years? IIRC the Instinct is only a year old, in which case you would not be eligible.[/Quote]

I had the very first incarnation of the Instinct. I've had it since early 2009, but due to some weird contract stuff happening after I had to send in for a replacement Instinct I actually haven't been elligible for my $150 discount until this May.

You haven't spent much time on this forum if you think that there are a lot of "ATT fanboys with their fancy iPhones".

I am one of them (iphone user, not ATT fanboy) but I can definitely tell you that Sprint does not suck and I'm not sure who/what you are getting that from. Most of the current iPhone users I know don't have a problem with AT&T (Madison,WI so not a HUGE city), but there are definitely those that do. But I've yet to meet an iPhone user with AT&T and have them say that they switched to ATT because Sprint sucked. Sprint kicked ass when I had them.

I wouldn't necessarily say my comment came from seeing it from anyone in particular on this forum. However, I know that whenever I bring up the fact that my phone sucks (and the Instinct I definitely does suck) the typical response I get is, "Why don't you have an iPhone?" The ignorance gets rather irritating, so I apologize for being so preemptive with my disclaimer on the original post.

I don't recall that happening, and I don't think we have many iPhone users here in the first place.

Anyway, my original advice still stands, I'd wait for a new phone from HTC or Samsung to be released this summer.

Yeah, odds are good you can expect an improved version of the Thunderbolt to be released this summer. Probably with a bigger battery and such, and it probably won't be a verizon exclusive anymore.

EDIT: And I'm kind of hoping this does happen, so I can get a new one for free!

If you don't want an iPhone then I'd go with CM's advice. Everyone that I know that has an EVO complains that it's a bit larger than they'd like but otherwise they really like it.

Take it from experience: Don't buy an iPhone.

My Thunderbolt is bigger than an EVO and it doesn't bother me in the least.

Do this, get a regular old flip cell phone that does calls and maybe text messages. Then get a tablet.

I'm not a fan boy at all.. but srsly you're with Sprint? and you're happy about it? Weird.

I have an HTC Inspire (droid 2.2) and it's awesome.. but battery life is not super great... Not terrible, but if you spend any significant amount of time playing games or listening to music, it burns down fast. Anyway, I don't think sprint offers the same phone, but I would definitely recommend looking into a droid.

Silly Zan, treating a smartphone like it's just a smaller tablet.

My roommate has an HTC Evo, and, yeah, battery life is an issue, even though he doesn't listen to music or play games on it.

A friend of mine only switched to AT&T cuz he wanted the iPhone; he doesn't actually think much of the service.

And that is the extent of my knowledge of cell phones.

To end all HTC EVO battery life debates:

I see that obviously you are not having issues with your battery-life, CM. However, if you look up HTC Evo just about anywhere it seems to be a big concern from people. Is there something that you may be doing differently that the average joe may not be?

I understand that obviously listening to music, watching videos, and playing games all significantly drain the battery, but I highly doubt that everyone who complains about the battery-life is doing these things all the time.

Well for one, I don't play with it all day long and then complain when it dies. Also, I actually make sure not to use applications that drain the battery needlessly (some apps are just horribly written and never let the phone sleep).
No, it's usually apps, actually. The phone will last shockingly long with music or video.

That said, it's still an EVO, and I wouldn't recommend it now as it's nearing a year old.

With the Instinct, there were multiple versions/releases of the phone. Has the EVO really not been updated since its initial launch?

No it hasn't, nor will it. Smartphones don't generally get upgraded like that. They just make a whole new model, and throw a 2 on the end.

Also, I just remembered they already announced the next EVO, it's the EVO 3D, with... yes... 3D capability. Apparently it's just "okay", but you don't have to use it anyway.

My EVO sits all day at work without me doing anything with it except for turning the screen on a couple times a day to check for messages/calls/etc and by the time I get home from work I've got about 1/3 battery left. Wish my battery worked as nice as yours CM.

Nexus S?
http://www.google.com/nexus/#

From what you said I don't know if you'll perceive a huge amount of benefit from a dual-core phone and the Nexus S is coming very soon for Sprint (and is available on T-Mo already so you can go try it out).

Also I dunno if you're a Gchat or videochat user but if you are both of them then this is pretty cool: http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/28/android-2-3-4-heading-to-nexus-s-over-the-air-bringing-video-an/

Yeah CM, now try using Pandora, browing the Internet, and playing angry birds. Well see how long that battery lasts.

I love android but the battery life is absolutely terrible. At best you'll have to charge your phone once a day. At worst you'll have two back up batteries like I do.

Nothing uses battery more than a phone call, and said screenshot included over an hour's worth of talk time.

Edit: And just for you, here's Pandora running for exactly one hour. It rolled over to 91% as I went to the settings menu

Yes they do. They have been causing my company grief with their Nickel and Diming.

That said, I can't quite help you. I'm looking to get a new phone soon. My Motorola DROID is becoming a total POS right now. No I will not bite into iPhone on Verizon. Never. I've heard of battery issues with HTC. If you're looking to get Android phone, you'll get "Market" so no worries there, and also a touch screen. 2 out of 4 requirements met already.

I finally upgraded from Sprint's old HTC Hero to the HTC Evo Shift about a month ago and I completely love it; having the optional real keyboard is really nice, although the touch keyboard on this one is a lot more responsive and usable than the Hero's. I just installed the Google Voice app about a week ago and it integrates brilliantly.



Or you could use your phone like an adult and not worry about that. Maybe I'm just weird but if I want to listen to music, I've got an ipod shuffle or a laptop. And I've never had even the slightest inclination to play games on my phone. I can have a far superior bird-related gaming experience hunting ducks with an NES and a zap-gun.

Also, CM just citation'd you into silence. The truth hurts.

Edit the second: Rogue_Leader, I might get that if I leave the GPS on, but that's basically my use case as well, and I usually remember to plug it in overnight 2-3 times a week. I wonder if there's that much difference between the Evo and Evo Shift.

Phones are for communication, not games, music, and god only knows what else.

I actually use Pandora all the time, but thing is, I have a car charger (necessary for ANY phone where GPS may be used). I never listen to the radio anymore, I just use Pandora in my car. Nothing more brilliant than driving for four hours and having your own custom radio station the whole way, with no DJs and few commercials to mess it up.
Leaving the GPS on shouldn't matter, it's not technically on unless it's actually being used. Honestly, the biggest typical battery draw for people is 3G. Wifi manages far, far better battery life if you've got it. For some reason, some phones have the option to disable wifi after a few minutes... this option boggles my mind because it is actually BAD for battery life.



Funny, they said the same thing back in the 80's about computers. Just replace communication with spreadsheets. I wholly support the idea of "one device for all", and it's rapidly becoming the future. Smartphones are already powerful computers in of themselves, why carry around a bunch of purpose-built devices when one will do well enough for all?

@CM: True. I use my phone as a navigator all the time and thus have a car charger hooked up any time I do that. I also used to have a clever bluetooth pairing with my stereo to listen to Pandora through my car speakers but then I got lazy. Outside of the car though I never would use it for music except for the rare sharing a youtube video with someone I'm hanging out with.

Edit: Though with GPS I really would swear it still drains faster when I leave it on, so something must be using it still even if I'm not actively navigating.

If your anroid phone gets bad battery life, chances are you can double it or more just by rooting it an putting a community ROM on there.