Suggestion for Android phone in Canada?

[CaptainInsano]

Hi folks,

I'm new here and also new to the whole smartphone business. So please excuse the novice questions

After reading a few articles online, I'm set on getting an Android smartphone but just don't know which android phone!! Especially since they seem to have different names depending on which country you're from (e.g., Droid in the States, Milestone in Canada).

Is it important to try to get the latest Android version? Since this is what I'm currently aiming at (I see only 2.1, though Videotron just released Google Nexus One w 2.2). Unless it is easy to just upgrade to the latest version when it's available online?

Since I've seen a few great phone reviews but if they don't have the latest Android, I don't believe it is worth it (such as Sony Ericsson Xperia X10).

I'll be using the phone mostly for:
- Voice (I'm getting rid of my home phone to have only one)
- Email
- Internet browsing (mostly just articles/RSS, not much games)
- Texting
- Camera and video viewing/recording

I'm not tied to any carriers so I am free to choose. Though my employer has a special deal with Rogers, I'm more into getting a good device than a few dollars of a monthly bill. From what I can get our carriers have android 2.1/2.2 for:

- Bell: Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant, HTC Legend
- Telus: HTC Desire, Motorola Milestone, HTC Hero
- Virgin Mobile: HTC Legend
- Videotron: Google Nexus One (2.2), Motorola XT720 (milestone?)
- Rogers: Acer Liquid E, HTC MAgic+ (though one reviewer said it has Android 1.5 instead of 2.1),


Any guidance and insights from the community is greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance

Related discussion: http://androidforums.com/android-lounge/164962-new-smartphone-recommendations.html

 

[HustlinDaily]

Best thing would be to check them all out in person and find the one which best suits you. Obviously considering coverage as the most important factor.

Depends on what you are looking for. My opinions:
Most featured phone: Bell Galaxy S Vibrant (has a front facing camera for videoconferencing, fastest processor according to benchmarks, best display on an Android phone with the 4" Super AMOLED screen. Only con is that it has GPS problems but Sammy claims it will be fixed on the FroYo update this September. Might be worth waiting it out to see if that is the case).

Most constantly updated phone: Nexus One (Will probably be the first phone to get the Gingerbread update either later this year or early next year. Pretty good phone overall. HTC Desire is pretty much the same phone with 720p viderecording and HTC Sense UI meaning slower to be updated).

Best camera: Motorola XT720 (8MP with xenon flash and 720p viderecording)

Best bang for buck: Acer Liquid E (same processor as Nexus One/HTC Desire/SE Xperia X10 tho slightly underclocked. Has

 

[Darkstar2010]

The best Android phone you can get in Canada is the HTC Desire....there's a reason it's sold out.

 

[maxmiro]

The Milestone can be overclock(while keeping stability) to be more powerful then the Desire. It has a Qwerty keyboard, GPU and to me it feels more like a smartphone and less like a toy then the Desire(which is still a good phone). I am with Telus and they have a great customer service and their prices are competitive. But not being bound to Telus I would go with Videotron, their prices are excellent and they have the Milestone xt720 which is an enhance version of the Milestone Telus offers.

 

[Thefoodman52]

The desire has a gpu... the Evo does as well... overclocking is also only going to get you so far...

 

[Darkstar2010]

The Milestone can be overclock(while keeping stability) to be more powerful then the Desire. It has a Qwerty keyboard, GPU and to me it feels more like a smartphone and less like a toy then the Desire(which is still a good phone). I am with Telus and they have a great customer service and their prices are competitive. But not being bound to Telus I would go with Videotron, their prices are excellent and they have the Milestone xt720 which is an enhance version of the Milestone Telus offers.

The Motorola Milestone is $600 here and the HTC Desire is $450. As mentioned in this article below, the Desire is far more affordable and it's a much better phone.

TELUS Sells Out Of HTC Desire [Canadian Carrier Sells Out Of Popular Android Superphone, Where Are Canadians To Get Their Android Goodness?] TFTS – Technology, Gadgets & Curiosities

 

[bgoody]

My vote would be for the NEXUS or any phone that has 2.2 IF you can get it unlocked. The Google one is available from their developer site. I saw that Videotron has it but I fear that it is locked to them which means you'll have to wait for HTC, Videotron and Google before updates. It's not automatic like with the Google Nexus.

In the end, it's the OS that makes the difference, the phone is secondary.

 

[William40]

The best things that will be good with this android is that this small companies will win i.e like sony Erickson and samsung.

 

[HustlinDaily]

I agree 100% with that statement.

Samsung/Motorola were not really well known for smartphones before Android came around. Even smaller companies like Acer/Huweai/LG/Dell are doing well with Android.

But SE better step their game up if they want to go far (these 1.6 devices and questionable for 2.2 won't work). Infact, Samsung better fix that GPS problem fix given the negative publicity they got from the Behold II disaster.

 

[CaptainInsano]

Thanks for all your suggestions.

Seems Videotron is serving only Montreal/Quebec city regions (not Ottawa) so that's out of the question...

Interesting about the Samsung problems. Because Samsung seem to be doing very good as they look like they have the strongest devices yet (Galaxy Vibrant from Bell and soon Galaxy Captivate from Rogers).

To compare, Samsung S Vibrant, Captivate, HTC Desire, Nexus One all have the following specs:
CPU : 1GHz
RAM: 512MB (Desire has 576MB?)
resolution: 480x800
talk time: 6h30 (7h for N1)
camera: 5MP
video: 720p@30fps (@20fps for N1)

for benchmark's sake, iPhone 4 are
CPU : 1GHz
RAM: 512MB
resolution: 640x960
talk time: 7h
camera: 5MP
video: 720p@30fps

Source: All Samsung phones

But there's an interesting article on CPU power differences. Samsung's hummingbird processor looks much more powerful than the other ones (3x more), including Apple's (3Gs though, not 4):
Samsung Galaxy S “Hummingbird” chip to have 3x GPU power of Snapdragon – Android and Me

Benchmark tests:
- Motorola Droid: TI OMAP3430 with PowerVR SGX530 = 7-14 million(?) triangles/sec
- Nexus One: Qualcomm QSD8x50 with Adreno 200 = 22 million triangles/sec
- iPhone 3G S: 600 MHz Cortex-A8 with PowerVR SGX535 = 7 million triangles/sec
- Samsung Galaxy S: S5PC110 with PowerVR SGX540 = 90 million triangles/sec


Anyone used the Saumsung Galaxy S Vibrant from Bell?

 

[outcastrc]

I am in the same boat your in. I am not overly thrilled with Canada's android choices at this point. It just seems every company is pushing the i4.

I am currently waiting for the Rogers Galaxy Captivate to come out. Right now it seems like my best option. If there were even rumours of a decent 4.3 phone in the works I'd hold out but theres no sense waiting forever...