Idiot's guide to smartphones?

[LadyGlencoraPalliser]

DH and I currently have contract mobile phones and are thinking of upgrading to Android smartphones as contract is up and we want to change.
We don't actually use anything near our call/text allowances, and we would be likely to use the smartphones much more as email/internet devices. Just wondering what other people have and how they rate them/how expensive are they to run compared with other phones?
Ta muchly.

I've got a HTC Desire and I love it. Its on Orange and costs 30£ a month. 1gb of internet and far more texts/mins than I'd use. Phone was free from Phones4u, I got £40 cashback (immediate) from phones4u, went through Quidco and got another £50 or £60 through them.

Be careful of how much internet you get, it may say unlimited but check the small print for their fair usage policy. IIRC o2 is 500mb a month and Vodaphone is 750mb. Saying that I don't think I've ever used 500mb and I use the internet a lot. As I mainly use it at home in bed its all via the wifi and doesn't use the mb/gb allowance up.

HTC Desire
I use calls very little
I DO text quite a lot more on this because it is as easy to do as sending an email becasue of the touchscreen typewriter
Emil also easy, can stay up to date with it as I have a gmail a/c
I have many useful little downloads, and I think this is where you will get the value - eg google maps, sat nav off the back of it etc
My contract is £15/month and I do not hit my upper (1 gig ) limit because the phone seamelssly switches gto wifi whn it can

I just got a Samsung Galaxy Europa last month - free with £12 a month contract from carphone warehouse, 200 minutes, 200 texts, 500mb. I didn't use anywhere near that much credit on my old PAYG phone, but wanted something with internet capability and apps.

So far it's been really good - it's a more basic android phone than HTC Desire (wasn't worth my while paying that amount of money per month), but does everything I would want - I've used it for email (hotmail/gmail), facebook, google searches and maps while out and about. Also downloaded various apps including Kindle, which lets you download books, and I was delighted to find you can get loads of classics (Austen, Dickens etc) for free - so I've been reading Pride and Prejudice when I'm left hanging around waiting for DCs after school/activities.

I can't see myself hitting the 500mb monthly limit, particularly as it also has wifi capability so if I use the internet functions at home or in cafes etc I can usually do it through wifi rather than using the data allowance.

Only downside so far is short battery life - I have to charge it every night or it is flat by the morning if I leave it on. But I've heard there are app-killing/battery usage maximising tricks which help with that - I just haven't investigated them yet.

Oh brilliant, thanks very much for all that info. I was also wondering, as DH's mp3 player has died and he needs a new one, do any of the phones work well as music players too?
Me, I want it to mn on do important internet research.

Hey catinthehat

where did you get the HTC Desire on a £15/month contract?

I'm looking for an iPhone or HTC Desire but all the contracts I can find seem to be £25+ per month, I don't really need that as barely use my phone but would like internet capability and apps.

thanks!

I have an HTC Hero on O2 and I love it. I pay £15 a month for a stack of minutes (can't remember how many) unlimited texts and unlimited data (I signed up before O2 put the limit on data). O2 have brilliant customer service but their 3G network isn't as good as others. I would avoid T-Mobile as their customer service is beyond crap.

You have to treat a smartphone as a small computer rather than a phone. It will use loads more battery than a normal phone and takes ages to boot up, so I never turn mine off. But it will do loads more than a phone. Games, net access, e-mail, useful apps (I tracked my DW's ovulation using an app ), music players etc.

I don't but DH does on his.
You can't go wrong with a Desire, seems to satisfy both nerds and civilians

Most phones come with a music player but if you don't like it you just download a different one. I tried 3 or 4 before I found one that I liked. One that I tried downloaded information about the track you were listening to so you could read all about the band.

You can do the same with other stuff like text messages or calendars. I don't use the default messaging app on my phone as I found a better one.

ooh, im glad HTC is being praised, dh has a fancy, big memory iphone but i dont adore using it in the way he does

I was offered a old stly iphone at £30/month or the HTC desire at £20/month as an upgrade and spent all evening beind indecesive

mini - from BuyMObilephones.net - I've pciked a deal page for you. I had to wait a long while for delivery, but hung on becasue of the deal, which I haven't seen repeated since.

If you download a usage monitor AND you are quite often in a wifi area, I would risk a 500mb deal. I certainly haven't got to 500mb yet.

exexpat - turn off wifi, gps, news updates - anything that's hunting all the time and using up elecricity. Try turning these things on manually, they will load quick enough.

The galaxy has got an excellent screen, DH was wavering when he got his Desire

Thanks for the tip, cat - will try that.

You can get little apps that sit on the main screen for turning things like wifi and gps on and off. Generally gps will only come on when it's needed but turning off wifi will save some battery power.

What does anyone think about the Wildfire? Is the Desire better? Wildfire deals seem to be cheaper - there are some good ones on this site anyone used them?

comparison here with some good wildfire deals.

If you can stretch to the desire I would, partic if your eyesight is not perfect - bigger is better.

But don't forget that the Desire is phone of the year and the Iphone 4 is only runner up. There is good reason for this if you are a regular user of the DEsire - I think most would have to have it prised from their cold dead hands.

thanks cat sounds like you know what you are talking about - I will check out that link.

Erm , no, I think I'm being a bit boring and I need to shut up now!