The right time to buy an android phone...

[egernant]

With the rumors of 3.0 right around the corner, my decision to finally hop on the android express comes to another hault. At christmas, I almost bought a droid. Then I went abroad, planning to buy the nexus one on my return, then only to fall in love with the incredible. Since then I have had an incredible on order at a Verizon store (though my deposit is refundable). The droid x comes out, but motoblur and design didn't sell me on that phone.

So here I am, the Incredible should be here any day now (been saying that for a month...), and I read about 3.0. If the rumors are true, the incredible will BARELY meet the requirements to even attain 3.0, but with HTC sense (which I am finally starting to consider a hindrance instead of a must-have feature), will the phone even get 2.2 or 3.0 in a timely manner? How much better will phones be in November, and will they come without a UI? Then there is rooting, which I am unfamiliar with, could that solve my problems with custom UI's to get 2.2 and 3.0 with an incredible? a two-year contract is a long time, and I do have a phone to get me through to november...any advice? Is anyone in the same situation (or perhaps thinking of upgrading from one of the early android devices now/soon?)

The only thing the incredible doesnt have that I would prefer is better battery life and a 4" screen. If HTC sense is not an issue with updates, that is.

 

[machei]

Honestly, the quick answer to when the best time to buy will always be either now, or never.

Technology doesn't ever stop. It isn't just phones, although they (and especially Android ones these days) are just about as bad as it gets. I mean, we here in Canada don't even GET the "high end" phones until 6-8 months after they launch, whereupon they arrive practically obsolete. It's madness. The truth is, whenever you hop on, something else will come along soon enough to make you wish you'd waited. I honestly sometimes wish ALL the electronics/computer people could just stop and take a nice, long breath so that the consumers could just ENJOY their devices for a while before the next best thing. How very non-consumerist, non geek fanboi of me; I must be a terrorist.

There's really only one way, and that's to gage honestly what you need to do with your phone and then go for what works best. The fact of the matter is that whatever you buy will always have all the features you knew and loved when you bought it, and with software upgrades and endless new apps it'll have quite a lot more. Chasing after the Joneses for hardware though will just empty your wallet, and it's never ending. Almost all higher end current phones are excellent, and they all use all the great apps in the Market and you will be happy with your purchase as long as you don't compare it to whatever comes next. Buy it knowing you'll be happy with it for three years, then buy the next. That's the best strategy.

That said, I am currently the owner of a lowly HTC Hero running 1.5, and since I'm in Canada, there doesn't seem to be any hope yet of even so much as the Eclaire upgrade through 'official' channels. If I don't hear anything different by next week, I'll root the thing and call it a day. Then I will wait for 3.0 and whatever phones come with it. It sounds like it'll be an eye-candy release, so it will likely look nicer and have a better user experience. That's worth waiting a half year for. After I buy the next though, I say screw it. It'll be as awesome as it always was, and I'll get the next the next time I need a phone.

My $0.02.

 

[lexluthor]

The right time to buy a phone is when you need a new phone. I'd say you maximize your value by buying something new as soon as you are allowed to upgrade at a discount.

If there's something with an already announced released date coming up soon (like Droid X), it might pay to wait, otherwise, you might as well just get the phone phone currently available.

 

[egernant]

I guess the problem for me is this: will the HTC Droid Incredible get 3.0 in a "timely" fashion through legitimate channels? If I can be assured that the answer is yes, I will be happy with my "slow" 1Ghz phone with the "tiny" 3'7" screen and "lowly" 8MP camera. But if I will feel hindered by my phone from a software standpoint, then I have a problem.

The issue for me is not hardware, its purely software. How will HTC treat it's loyal customers?

 

[lexluthor]

There's no way you'll ever get an answer to that (until it happens...or doesn't).

 

[machei]

The issue for me is not hardware, its purely software. How will HTC treat it's loyal customers?

My own personal experience with the Hero goes like this: It was originally supposed to get 2.1 in March, I believe. Here we are practically in July, it's out for everyone BUT Telus and no one here seems to even know anything about it. My thinking is that HTC doesn't give a rip about its customers once the phone is bought. They run at their own pace. I'd say don't count on anything.

But, if 3.0 has all the eye candy we have started to imagine, HTC's Sense UI won't be as big a deal, so you could theoretically get 3.0 when it comes out and totally forget about HTC after you buy and unlock the phone, much the same way they will forget about you.

 

[jradicle11]

I'd just like to point out that the Droid X isn't running MOTOBLUR.

 

[BoogieNYC]

The age-old problem -- when is it a good time to buy... Gotta agree with machei -- there's always a good reason to buy a phone now, and there's always a good reason to hold off.

I'm ready to dump my Blackberry so now that I've made the decision I want to move forward. I played with the Incredible in the store and liked it but felt it was a bit too small. So the Droid X size doesn't scare me. I'm not sure if I'll dig on the Motoblur thing, but considering I've got nothing to really compare to other than the Blackberry Tour, I'm pretty sure it will be an improvement.

Knowing that Verizon is going to have lots of activity between November and January, I was considering holding off. I'm not interested in the iPhone (assuming the rumors are indeed true), but knowing there are significant upgrades due by January -- if not sooner -- means I should probably wait. But the truth is I can really use a new phone right now, and the bottom line is I'm sure once November hits there will be 3.5 and other stuff to tempt me to hold off.

July 15th, Droid X. Done.

 

[jradicle11]

The age-old problem -- when is it a good time to buy... Gotta agree with machei -- there's always a good reason to buy a phone now, and there's always a good reason to hold off.

I'm ready to dump my Blackberry so now that I've made the decision I want to move forward. I played with the Incredible in the store and liked it but felt it was a bit too small. So the Droid X size doesn't scare me. I'm not sure if I'll dig on the Motoblur thing, but considering I've got nothing to really compare to other than the Blackberry Tour, I'm pretty sure it will be an improvement.

Knowing that Verizon is going to have lots of activity between November and January, I was considering holding off. I'm not interested in the iPhone (assuming the rumors are indeed true), but knowing there are significant upgrades due by January -- if not sooner -- means I should probably wait. But the truth is I can really use a new phone right now, and the bottom line is I'm sure once November hits there will be 3.5 and other stuff to tempt me to hold off.

July 15th, Droid X. Done.

*Sigh*

A Motorola Rep has said the Droid X is not running MOTOBLUR, as I mentioned in my previous post.

http://phandroid.com/2010/06/26/droid-x-not-running-motoblur-ninjablur-anyblur/

 

[BoogieNYC]

*Sigh*

A Motorola Rep has said the Droid X is not running MOTOBLUR, as I mentioned in my previous post.

LOL I know...keep in mind I'm not sure what Motoblur is first-hand, but from what I've been reading the Droid X has some elements of it in the home screen. Even if it's not officially running Motoblur, every review I've read mentioned it in some small way. But again, since I'm not familiar with it, it doesn't scare me -- even if it probably should -- and I figure by the end of the summer, when the next update hits, much of the phone's software kinks will be addressed in some way, shape or form...

Either way, thanks for the clarification

 

[jradicle11]

It shouldn't scare you. It's not intrusive like the Sense UI. The Droid X has a few MOTOBLUR like widgets and it's own distinct look but other than that, it's just android. I personally love the look of the software on it.

Even if it did have MOTOBLUR, it's not bad at all. Once you disable the social networking aspects of it, it's like it's not even there.

 

[BoogieNYC]

Well I have to admit that I'm sure in a month from now what you just wrote will make complete sense, but I have zero familiarity using Sense and MotoBlur. One thing I am leery of, however, is when Facebook, Twitter, etc., integrating into my address book and my calendar. I disabled that shit toot sweet on my Blackberry so I'm sure that will be one of the first things I do once I fire up Twitter and Facebook on the Droid X. I am hoping I can tinker with the phone for a day or two and then reset it to factory defaults and hook it up with my google-hosted domain. The Blackberry didn't take me very long to understand but the Android OS has a lot more stuff to play with and I think it might take some time to take it all in...

 

[jradicle11]

If it does indeed integrate social networking into your phonebook, I'm sure there will be an option to view or even disable the phonebooks. It does this on my Devour running MOTOBLUR but I don't notice is as long as my default phonebook is my personal one.

As for learning how to use android, it won't take long at all. If you at least a little technologically literate (which you are, seeing as you're posting on a forum), learning how to use it will be quite easy.

 

[BoogieNYC]

I think it does integrate social networking into the phonebook, but my concern is that I've got one big phonebook b/c I use my mobile to contact clients and friends equally. I might wind up dividing them up into separate phonebooks, but even then I don't need every Facebook and Twitter friend integrated in my contacts (although doing so will save me some trouble in the long run).

As far as technology, I've been posting on forums for awhile and using Blackberry models for six years, I'm not too-too worried ;-)

My main issue is getting my google-hosted domain integrated with the phone then making sure everything syncs (emails, calendar, tasks, etc.) with Google and Outlook on my home and office PC's. Based on what I've seen/heard/read, it won't be too difficult, but until I actually do it I have more questions than answers.

Until July 15th, that will be the case, I 'spose ;-)