eddiewawa

I know it may appear blasphemous, but! My contract is available for an upgrade at the end of April and finishes sometime in July, by then there will be a plethora of phones (hopefully) released for my upgrade/retentions run.
So the ones that caught my eye are:


HTC One X
Huawei Ascend D quad
LG Optimus 4X HD
Sony Xperia S

And of course...

Samsung Galaxy S3

Now, the obvious upgrade is the HTC 1X for those who are fans of sense so far, but will have the over excessive quad core, more RAM, bigger and better screen, better camera (apparently) beats audio and 32GB storage (but no card slot). BUT...is it...too big? I mean I find the 4.3” is big enough IMHO and think its gonna be a struggle to operate it with 1 hand.

I kinda like how the generic Chinese makers are attempting to do a HTC and come out as their own brand, and boy have they. Specs again are pretty similar, but does apparently have a super fast processor to beat the Tegra 3 but again, overkill and Im worried about the lack of users who will buy the thing (forums) and crucially support.

The LG...I dunno, im just not keen on the brand, and the recent lack of support for the 2x shows they don’t really give a damn no matter how NICE the H/W is.

Now the Xperia S, not a quad core phone, but at this moment in time i don’t really mind. It will have the same screen size but better quality, more ram, way better camera, 32Gb storage, about to be superseded S3 dual core 1.5ghz processor, NFC and HDMI port. Negatives could be that timescape UI and that its only comes with gingerbread but it’ll get ICS at a later point. Sony has recently impressed me with their commitment with the devs out there so that bodes well for the next few years at least.

The Galaxy S3, still to be confirmed, but boy oh boy if the specs are anything close to the leaks? This will be a forefunner, but need to wait for the full details to emerge.

So, which phones will you guys move on to?

El Presidente

I like the look of the HTC One X (who wouldn't), but it all depends on what's released over here first, that or the SGS3. Given that I'm probably going to be locked in to my next contract for 2 years, I'll def be getting a quad core as opposed to one of the newer dual core phones.

__________________
Site Rules & Guidelines / Staff List / Ask the Staff
Want to bring naughty posts to our attention? Use:
Be respectful to each other - That's what we're all about.

eddiewawa

yeah i was thinking about the ability to future proof as much as possible. will probably wait until June where i can actually be put onto retentions and negotiate a better deal like last time upgrades are usually shocking...

But yes obvious choice would be the One X...but if the SGS3 comes out with that bezzel-less look...omg *creams pants* lol

BigBrisy

I've pre-ordered the Sony Xperia S as I like the spec on the phone and love the way it looks, I used to be a Sony Ericsson fan before the HTC's came along and was always impressed with the build quality and the cameras on them...as I have had an HTC for my last 2 phones I thought i would give Sony a try again...hopefully I wont be dissapointed

john_g

I wondered how anyone could manage a phone with a bigger screen than the Desire HD, but the HTC One X's body is only 2mm wider than the DHD - the biggest increase is in the height...

Desire HD: Dimensions 123 x 68 x 11.8 mm, Weight 164 g
HTC One X: Dimensions 134.4 x 69.9 x 9.3 mm, Weight 130 g

I just wish they'd not reduced the thickness and had used the space to fit a higher capacity battery: 1800mAh is certainly an improvement over 1230 mAh, but I suspect it will still mean recharging the phone every day. Also it seems a shame that there's no microSD slot - especially as larger capacity cards become available and we store more video on our phones.

eddiewawa

The way i look at the screen is how i can manage it with one hand and using my lil thumb to do the basic navigation round. think the 4.3" is just at the cusp of managable for me, but for a larger bloke/lass, the bigger screen would be a blessing. so it'll be ok for some, but not for all.

I kinda agree with the battery thing, the DHD I feel has a nice weight to it for 164g, they could have added another 20-30g towards the battery, but then again...maybe they've decided that 1800mah is enough to last you the day. I mean the DHD just lasts us on 1200...just! so even if they increased the batt to 2100, that buys you...say...another 3-4 hours, still wouldnt mean you can use it for 2 days stright in normal use? so why bother? *shrugs* as long as there enough juice to do all the normal stuff during the day with around 20-30% left by bed time? I'd be happy (used to charging it everyday anyways).

I dont mind the locked in memory and no SD slot, i just transfer it from the card, to pc, back to new phone, and the same for videos and the such...i mean, we all have loads of vids probably totalling 1TB at least so even 128GB probably wont be enough on a phone lol

I'm uuuming and arrrring towards the xperia s, as sony have aggressively priced the unit (£21.50 x 24 months on o2) it's the obvious "bargain" choice, but its always that niggle that ooo...quad core...and those tegra 3 optimised games...blah blah blah doubts lol

I guess we havent got a full picture till the SGS3 comes out, then we'll be back here!

malcster

I'm upgrading today to a sensation xe (our lass wants my desire hd ) she upgrades in November by then one x should be a bit cheaper so ill have that upgrade on her behalf

Tempted to get a galaxy nexus but I really like the sense overlay

D-U-R-X

Would she let you? If so, you're a lucky guy!!

__________________

hocturnalsoul

I would suggest you pop into a phone shop and ask to have a look at the HTC Sensation XL or the Titan, both already have the 4.7 inch screens. A friend of mine has the Titan and besides the fact it's Windows Phone 7, it is a gorgeous device. The size is a shock when comparing it to the DHD, but it fits incredibly well in the hand and very easy to use. I also totally agree with future proving, I know I definitely want the One X!

malcster

Thankfully she is not big into tech stuff

She upgraded last time to a DesireHD which she gave to me and she had my desire

El Presidente

Other way round in my house. Mrs Presidente is bugging me to upgrade so she can get my handset.

ivicakc

one x

dvhttn

Not sure what mine will be yet as there have been several phones announced recently which sound good but without detailed reviews and a look at in the shops it's difficult to decide. However, I have a couple of things about the DHD I'd want to change:

1) being able to see the screen better in sunlight (OK, not aimed directly at the sun but you know what I mean)
2) better fit in my hand. Everyone will be different with this but, for example, when I picked up the Sensation I found it just felt "nicer" to hold.

But I'm also thing that it'd be nice to be able to combine your phone/tablet/laptop in one. You have the Transformer Prime and now the Padphone but there is also the 'Ubuntu on a phone' story. Take a look at ... http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2156309/mwc-ubuntu-android-video-demo ... Now "IF" it does only need an HDMI connection to work then you're laughing. Imagine something like the Transformer Prime, but actually powered by plugging your phone in. Maybe still with Android as a Tablet but with Ubuntu when docked with the keyboard.

You'd then like to have more "compute" and "memory" so you'd have a fully fledged laptop in your pocket. Whether that would be dual or quad-cores is open to debate at the moment as the reviews I've seen of the Krait dual-cores show it betters the Tegra-3. Though I know nVidia dispute this - can't imagine why .....
And I'm not keen on the trend to not have a microsd slot but just a fixed internal memory. I have 24GB of music for example and I'd not want less than 32GB on my phone without being able to expand. Especially with 64GB cards out there now.

Decisions decisions ..... :-)

Dave

D-U-R-X

Now that ^^ does look impressive!

eddiewawa

actually the Pad phone does actually make some sense in a way, i mean look at it this way. technically the only thing you would ever need to replace is the phone every so often in generational terms.

so you start with a phone, screen and dock. all you have to do is change the phone and leave the screen and dock. at a later date, you could get a better screen for the tablet experience, or change the dock for additonal connectivity slots/bigger battery and the such (but the screen and dock refresh is in every 3-5 years rather than every 18-24months)

just means your not left with a tablet AND phone you'd want to upgrade after 18-24months, technically, just the phone. hope something like that catches on TBH

completely forgot about dvhttn's point, the screen in sunlight, even at full brightness man is it hard to view the begger.

ooo and to add to the request to the next phones? waterproofing it. omg that would take that OH NO!!!!!! moment in pubs and loos hehe hope that HzO commpany catches on...like gorilla glass did for screens

john_g

Here you go!

From the Trusted Reviews preview: "The Panasonic Eluga Power leaves us with a positive first impression. Its lack of a quad core processor and less than standout design means it may not shoot straight to the top of our wishlist but with a few nice ergonomics touches and of course that IP57 waterproof and dustproof rating, it could be a truly practical modern smartphone for those that like to get out and about."

Panasonic Eluga Power product preview - Mobile Phone - Trusted Reviews

eddiewawa

i actually like the phone, but as soon as i saw no camera flash? wah-wah-oooops....

seen some deals rolling around on the One X, so far best is £31 x24 months...

El Presidente

The original Galaxy S didn't have a flash and it was one of the best cameras in a phone by all accounts. Still might be worth taking a look in.

D-U-R-X

That doesn't sound like a bad deal!!

CDPlant

I'll definitely be sticking with Three, so I can keep my all-you-can-eat data

Even though I haven't seen the SGS III, I will be getting either that or the One X. Due for an upgrade in June so hopefully they'll both be available by then

eddiewawa

dont disagree about the quality...just means naff anywhere that remotely dark thats all lol i will NOT go back to my htc hero days lol

eddiewawa

i still have a bit of "netto" stylee snobbery with 3 and that they're a bit naff, but really, are they as bad as they once were? signal issues, horrid customer service etc?

3 do always seem to have astounding deals but usually for a reason right?

im thinking that 500mb wont be enough if i ever decide to jump on to the One X and their online storage? hmmm....the options!

ooo just read a review of the xperia S in my just arrived Stuff mag, they rate it as an awesome, only beaten by the iphone....again. but it's on top the SGS2 and G Nexus...guess we'll have to wait for the One X and SGS3 to fully come out but you're looking at:

£21.50 x 24 months (100mins, 500txts, 500mb data, o2) = Xperia S
£31 x 24 months (300mins, unlimited Text, 1.5 gb data, T-mob) = One X

so is it worth 9.50 more a month for 24 months? thats £228 over 2 years...ooooo... what do you guys think?

eddiewawa

another thing id like to throw in there, is orange & t-mobile are looking to join the 4G ship soonish, but what will this mean? will there be an issue with tegra 3 devices running on 4g? hence the dual core stuff being released in the states to work with LTE? sorry for being the divvy now...

El Presidente

The Ofcom auction for 4G isn't until later this year/next year I believe so we won't see 4G over here until 2014 most likely.

I'm not sure why the AT&T version of the phone will be released with a dual core processor as opposed to the Tegra 3 so you're not the only one

CDPlant

Well I think I am slightly biased towards Three because I work for an MVNO who use Three for their network However besides that, in my personal opinion they are the best I have used cost-wise and for the speed of their 3G/HSPA network.

The signal is absolutely fine here, I rarely have no signal and mostly have full bars or one below that. I pay £30 a month and got my DHD, 5000 minutes 5000 texts and 'all you can eat' data on an 18 month contract. Looking at any other network for tariffs now just looks like i'm being ripped off.

I will agree with you about the customer service, it is horrid. They are great as a network, but the last thing I want to do is speak to them on the phone. I can never get any information and it is just a massive headache.

eddiewawa

lol 5000mins is a lil over excessive for me, i barely use 100 a month! haha

just wished companies sorted out deals where it's tier-ed more towards data than minutes and keeping the monthly cost down.

but back onto phones, there is no way i can realisticaly make my mind up till I see the full SGS3 spec

Netherdragon

I would love to wait for my next phone to be one of the 1st 4g phones for the UK but I really don't think we will have 4g any time soon...

I love my desire hd at the moment (well all apart from the battery life...)

I might wait for the nexus Jelly bean phone, whenever that will be, or the 1st htc to be launched with it.

Then again asus may launch a phone that is seriously good in the next year, judgeing by their current track record with android devices. (not interested in the padphone as i have a transformer prime already).

I still have 6 months on my contract so will see whats out at the time, but as long as its powerful, top end screen and has good battery life it will be considered by me i guess.

but yer I really wish 4g was coming in the next year to the UK as that would make my decision on a replacement phone so much easier... Damm u british carriers for your crappy slow way of handleing this...

eddiewawa

i think it safe to get a non 4g phone for the next 18-24months, which should give the UK carriers here plenty of time to get properly roll it out nation wide rather than blotches in big cities. then we could make the most of the 4g coverage with a new 4g phone, which will be the HTC one X-3 by then with 8 cores or something stupid lol

would be interesting to see if the tegra 3 chipsets are over hyped compared to the S4 generation of dual core's. Think the dual cores should last for 18-24months surely...unless jelly bean requires a quad core minimum lol

now...common and hurry up Samsung!!!!

eddiewawa

hey all, as mentioned at the start, one of the phones i was looking to upgrade to has been reviewed:

Sony Xperia S Review

I like the review, has that honest feel about it. and the fact you can pick one up for £21.50x24months (100mins, 500txts, 500mb data) phone free? aint bad at all me thinks...

any of you guys ordering this?

Casey_Chaos

I really don't like the design of that phone.

El Presidente

Techradar liked it too: Sony Xperia S review | from TechRadar's expert reviews of Mobile phones

I'd be inclined to agree with Casey though, it looks a little strange. I'd need to have a play about with it before passing judgement though.