Smart phone recommendations

[Dragon Lady]

You know my vote.

[Portia]

Most those look to have significantly less functionality than an iPhone, just from a simple Google search. I'd go with the iPhone. <gasp>

[Giovanni Schwartz]

The only one I've heard of is the iPhone 4s.

CNet's reviews for each of them are:

LG Mach -- 3.5/5 -> Good: 4G, Decent camera. Bad: heavy, bad speaker/call quality
LG Viper 4G LTE -- 3.5/5 -> Good: Nice video camera, NFC. Bad: 3G only, poor audio quality
Kyocera Hydro Edge -- 3/5 -> Good: Waterproof, can handle 32 GB SD card. Bad: low data speeds, no front camera for video calling.
Kyocera Kona -- 3/5 -> Good: Nice interface. Bad: Not a smartphone, it seems.
Samsung array -- 3/5 -> Good: nice keyboard, awesome call quality. Bad: Not a smartphone.
LG Rumor Reflex S -- 3/5 -> Good: Slide out keyboard, good call quality. Bad: Not a smartphone.

Now, I get that you may not even want a smartphone. These are just my opinions, via CNet. I've linked the full reviews for each of them if you want more info.

[Marduk]

My main compunction against the iphone right now (I'm leaning LG Mach) are the lack of a slider keyboard, and the fact that it is 3G, whereas the Mach is 4G. Are either of these factors going to be significant?

[Dragon Lady]

I've never had a slider keyboard, but I've never wished I had one, either. 4G is definitely faster than 3G. I assume you have 4G in your area. (My parents don't yet, despite having a tower in their backyard that has the capability to upgrade to 4G.) But I wouldn't say 3G is ridiculously slow either. Besides, most of my internet usage is over Wi-Fi. How often will you be needing super fast internet when you don't have Wi-Fi? I share a data plan with Yellow and F-Stop and the three of us combined use less than 1 GB of data/month.

[Portia]

4G is verrrry significant. I would dislike a slider keyboard, but if it's a plus for you, go for the one with 4G.

[Giovanni Schwartz]

I agree with that choice. Approved.

[Yellow]

Also, the new 5S has a fingerprint reader to use for your password! Some Androids have that, true, but so far as I know (and what Yellow told me recently), iPhone is the only one that is completely secure. I'm actually super excited for February when I'm available for an upgrade, specifically for that feature. I'm even more excited for my parents to upgrade to that feature. Their memory for passwords is *horrible*. But they won't forget their fingerprint!

Just wanted to clarify: I wouldn't say that it's "completely secure". Nothing is. People have found ways to trick it if they have your fingerprint and some fancy equipment. But app developers can't get access to your fingerprint data; that part is quite secure. It's also really fast and accurate, which means people will actually use it. Most mobile fingerprint scanners these days look like a cool feature, but are really bad at actually reading it without having to try 4-5 times, so people just give up on using it.

Anyway, it's not necessarily more secure than a passcode. But for most people, it's no less secure, and it's far more convenient.

[Giovanni Schwartz]

More convenient, unless you ask your little sister to text for you in the car like I do.

[Katya]

Well, if you don't want an iPhone (and I don't blame you), then I would say:

1) HTC One--Recently voted by BGN.com as the best Android phone. HTC is also struggling, despite churning out some GREAT devices, so I nominate that you support them.
2) Samsung Galaxy S4--the second place in that same contest. Samsung is the top Android manufacturer on the planet, and with good reason. They have some great devices with great (albeit occasionally gimmicky) features.
3) Samsung Galaxy Note 3--If you want a GIANT screen, you can't go wrong with this phone. It just recently came out, and by all accounts is a good phone. Just kidding. It comes out tomorrow, so you'll be on the cutting edge.
4) Nexus 4--This phone is a great piece of equipment. If you get it, I recommend you buy it through Google's website (play.google.com) instead of T-Mobile. It will probably be cheaper, and you'll have better support, as well as the option to change carriers while keeping the phone later, because it's sold unlocked.

Unfortunately, T-Mobile doesn't have any Windows Phones right now, otherwise I'd still be pimping them out. Another option for even cheaper would be the Samsung Galaxy S3 or Galaxy Note 2. They're both a little older, so support wouldn't be quite as good, but they're both solid options. However, I would recommend Nexus 4 as a cheap option before either of them.

How hard would it be to find a good case for any of these phones? I don't want to break them or scratch them.

[Giovanni Schwartz]

Probably really easy to find a case for any of them. In order of easiness/variety of choices, I'd say 2314.

[Dragon Lady]

More convenient, unless you ask your little sister to text for you in the car like I do.

You also have a passcode for situations like that.

[Giovanni Schwartz]

Oh, fingerscan isn't either or? Shows how much I actually keep up with the iPhoneses.

[Dragon Lady]

Nope. Just another option. In fact, I *think* you have to have a passcode/pin. But I'm not confident on that. At all.

You can also have multiple fingerprints registered under one account. So Yellow and I can both turn on my phone, for example. (Someday. when I get a 5s) So if your sister often texts for you, and you trust her, you could just put her fingerprint in your account.

[Marduk]

Dragon Lady, you'll be happy to know I went with the iphone.

[Dragon Lady]

YAY!!!

I mean, errr… good choice. Well done.

[Violet]

Reviving this thread because I think I'm going to pull the trigger on a Nexus 5. CNet says good things. I was leaning toward a Nexus 4 before, but I didn't really have the expendable funds when I was looking during the summer (yay unpaid internships?). I'm currently using an iPhone that still has beveled edges, so I'm looking forward to something new I can use for a while.

I also looked at Windows phones, but I like apps. I only use a few, but not having Hootsuite and other social media things on my phone on purpose seems counterproductive to my smartphone upgrading.

Basically, I'm just looking for validation that I'm not making a stupid choice. I don't love the size, but I've come to accept phones just aren't going to fit in my pockets.

[Giovanni Schwartz]

Reviving this thread because I think I'm going to pull the trigger on a Nexus 5. CNet says good things. I was leaning toward a Nexus 4 before, but I didn't really have the expendable funds when I was looking during the summer (yay unpaid internships?). I'm currently using an iPhone that still has beveled edges, so I'm looking forward to something new I can use for a while.

I also looked at Windows phones, but I like apps. I only use a few, but not having Hootsuite and other social media things on my phone on purpose seems counterproductive to my smartphone upgrading.

Basically, I'm just looking for validation that I'm not making a stupid choice. I don't love the size, but I've come to accept phones just aren't going to fit in my pockets.

Well, the thing about Windows Phone is that there are clients for EVERYTHING. If you want, you can also integrate Facebook/Twitter into the native "People" app, which is pretty cool, although I don't use it. I prefer the Twitter app (which is pretty good) and the Facebook app (which is AWESOME for a Facebook app). Other than that, I find that there's a third party app for just about everything that you need, and Instagram/Vine/I think Snapchat? are all coming soon.

On the other hand, if you want an Android phone, and are on a carrier that supports it, then the Nexus 5 is 100% the way to go, judging by all the reviews. Although it apparently doesn't have the best call quality or the best camera, so beware if those two things are uber important to you.

[as a side note, the word "Uber" was a solution in a crossword puzzle I was doing the other day.]