I need help picking out a smartphone

[The_Dude]

My carrier is Sprint. I normally just get a cheap (free) phone when i renew my contract. But now the wife & i decided to enter into the 21st century & get smartphones. I have only really used the cell phone for texting, (crappy) picture mail, & ironically enough the occasional phone call.

Obviously i know nothing about the capabilities of smartphones & i think that it is safe to assume that many of you do.

Here is what i think that i want to choose from:

iphone 4S 16GB
HTC Evo 4G LTE
Sasung Galaxy S III 16 GB

I guess that i plan on using this mostly just for the standard phone use, web browsing for fanatsy football (& NFLDC, of course!), gps, games, & as a mp3/ipod (i already have a bunch of songs in itunes). I am sure that i will eventually discover apps which will open up other uses.

So, which model do you suggest i get? Am i missing something important to consider?

All input is appreciated.

Thanks

[Matthew Jones]

I am not well-versed in smartphones, but some prototype photos of the iPhone 5 have leaked, so if you end up going with an iPhone I'd wait a couple of months since the new one should be released pretty soon.

[Rob S]

For texting/web browsing/games all of the phones you listed are fine. They are pretty basic functions and are dialed in on most good smartphones. I'd go to the store and play with all of the models and see what feels best.

If I had to make a recommendation, iPhone would probably be the best phone for you. It's the simplest to use and everything is pretty intuitive.....probably the easiest phone to make the transition with.

[vidae]

My mom actually works for Sprint, so if you'd like I could give her a call and ask her what she thinks of those. Off the top of my head I think she's a fan of the Galaxy S3, and I think she hates the iphone, but I'd be more than happy to ask her.

[brat316]

Depends on your taste and what you want functionality wise. From what you are saying and planning on doing, iphone probably seems the best bet. If you were a more advance user or using it to its max, probably the galaxy.

Andriod is great, you have really no restrictions with the phone. Only bad part is, every 'android phone' has a different version/format OS, and then the carrier decided what features it wants, the phone maker decided what it wants, the phone decided what it wants and then google caters to it and puts its own standard stuff in it.

That's where with the iphone, from phone to phone to ipod, ipad everything is similar as for OS.

[brat316]

most important test, put it in your pocket and grab for it really quick, see whats feels comfortable using it and not awkward, and something you won't drop, cracks suck.

[Babylon]

I've got stock in Apple and Facebook so go get an I-phone and spend all your time on Facebook.

[nepg]

The Galaxy is probably the best thing going right now, but the LTE is really sweet. The screen is huge.

[Nalej]

Yea, I'm not a big iPhone fan so I'd probably go with the S3 or the LTEVO.
That and they're both new than the 4S (The 5 is coming out soon, as stated already)
I have an EVO 3D right now and I love the phone.
The LTE network is really limited on Sprint so that shouldn't really input into your decision... unless you're in one of the limited markets.

I'm bias towards HTC, I guess so I'd probably go with the EVO.
Can't go wrong with any of them really though

[Razor]

As a owner of an iPhone: Get the Samsung Galaxy S III. I'm buying one later this year. It's just so much better in every single aspect.

[Hurricanes25]

I don't think you'll go wrong with any of those phones. I personally have an iPhone and love it. It's user friendly and it didn't take me too long to learn how to use it. (I had a flip phone before).

[jayceheathman]

I finally did the same and went from the old Razr flipphone to a iPhone 4S a a few months back and I like it. I don't have any complaints with it at the moment. If he want to save some money then wait until the 5th one comes out and then buy the 4S.

[j05son]

I've worked in the cellular industry for years.

iPhone is the easiest phone to use for someone just starting with a smartphone. It continues to be one of (if not the most) reliable smartphone on the market. It has the largest selection of applications via their app store. Siri continues to be the most accurate and quickest voice "assistant" in North America. It's not as "beefy" as many androids with slower processors and smaller amounts of ram. However, the processor speed will be negligible and Apple does a good job not allowing you to multi-task so you won't really notice the lack of ram. The operating system runs much smoother and rarely freezes and requires 0 battery pulls (something many Androids can't say, also the battery is embedded).

Depending on how much you hate iTunes, you will be forced to use the program (my biggest gripe on the phone). It has an industry standard 8 megapixel camera and has good features outside of siri: mostly facetime (although skype does the same thing), iMessage (there's other free texting applications though), and iCloud (free 5gb cloud storage space). Sprint is also new to the iPhone and posting record losses because they overpaid for the device and their towers seem to be under stress with the phone. I've even heard rumors of Apple dropping Sprint but I doubt they have any legs.

Galaxy sIII would be the choice if you lived in Europe, but you have Sprint, so alas, you do not. Many of the features of the Galaxy SIII like the cover to pause video, movement of the phone from texting position to your face to auto dial, the no dimming of the screen with the retina scan, and screen shot capabilities don't seem to work on the North American version. On top of that, Europe received a quad core while we hear in NA have a dual core. The phone has great multitasking skills (2gb of memory in a phone) and a brilliant screen. It looks amazing. The camera is very impressive and the panoramic photos come out quite well. You can "bump" photos and other content to other sIII users without the use of wifi/data connection. S-voice is utter **** compared to Siri.

The sIII comes with a smaller app market than the iPhone but gives you tenfold the customizable options. You can get a free 50gb storage cloud (although it's mostly text documents only) and is running Ice Cream Sandwich out of the box (the newest released OS for Android) and will have capabilities to run Jellybean (a newer, soon to be released OS for Android).

Evo 4g LTE has some great features like Beats audio and a fantastic camera. The new evo is capable of taking 99 photos in a minute, taking photos while in live video mode, and able to take photos in a playback video mode (although at a slightly less megapixel rate). The camera is still a standard 8mp. The phone has a very nice and vibrate screen. The previous Evo had a lot of issues with the battery life and sub-par charging ports that always seemed to become loose. HTC is also known to use the most data per task than any other company but since your on Sprint with unlimited data, this shouldn't effect your decision any. The app market and reliance on google services is the same on the new Evo as it is with the galaxy s III.

The Evo 4g LTE is running Ice Cream Sandwich and HTC has announced that the one series will be getting Jellybean updates it's pretty safe to assume that the Evo will get it as well (based of the similarities of the phones).

Your monthly plan will be the same regardless of the phone. Insurance will be the only difference with Asurion (cellular insurance company that Sprint, AT&T, and Verizon use) insuring the android phones. I'm not 100% on the deductible, but it's going to be between $125-$199 and $8 on the monthly bill. The insurance will cover everything from expired manufacturers, accidental and lost & stolen (typically a police report will be needed). I know Best Buy has their own insurance through Geek Squad that is $10 monthly with no deductible and unlimited claims. Covers all the same stuff except the lost and stolen aspect.

The iPhone can't be insured through Sprint. It can be through Apple and Best Buy though. Apple is $100 for the 2 year contract up front, and $50 claims. They repair in store at Apple locations only and rarely the genius bar will replace for unfix-able issues caused by something outside of their control. Best Buy I know is the same as the coverage for android but they charge more at $15 monthly. I'm unsure if Sams Club, Radio Shack or others have their own form of insurance (although I'd bet they only sell the carrier insurance).

I use an iPhone for personal use and a Galaxy S III for work. The fact that you have a 1 year old phone still competing against some of the newest phones on the market just goes to show how good of a phone the 4s really is. While I have nothing against my Samsung and I'm far from an Apple fan boy, I will admit I prefer my iPhone. I would say wait for the 5 (I hear it's going to be called "the new iPhone") and it's being speculated that it's release will be October 5th (anniversary of Jobs' death). There are a few postings on the new iPhone's casing and new patents added that you can find on some popular tech websites.

If you have any specific questions for me, free free to post them and I'll answer them to the best of my ability.

[dolphinfan2k5]

Originally Posted by Babylon

I've got stock in Facebook

Sucks to be you.

[asdf1223]

If you are on Sprint, hold of getting an Iphone till 5 launches. You don't want to be stuck for 2 years with a phone that only does 3G especially Sprint's slow as hell version. They don't have their LTE network everywhere but they should have it in most of the cities by the year.

The Evo and Galaxy 3 both have 4G LTE so atleast you are reasonably future proof.

[Babylon]

Originally Posted by dolphinfan2k5

Sucks to be you.

My wife says they should pay me just to not buy the stock.

[brat316]

who has the best 4g network?

I always thought it was Sprint. I know Verizon has the largest area covered but not always greatest reception.

[vidae]

I've heard from a few people that Verizon 4g is beyond awful but I've never been on their network so I don't know.

[Babylon]

Originally Posted by bhaarat316

who has the best 4g network?

I always thought it was Sprint. I know Verizon has the largest area covered but not always greatest reception.

We vacation in a couple of secluded places here in the Northwest and my wife who has T-mobile never gets reception. Those with Verizon always seem to.

[j05son]

I've always found nationwide coverage to go:

1 Verizon
2 AT&T
3 Sprint
4 T Mobile

As far as Verizon's 4g LTE network, it's faster than my comcast high speed internet through Speed Test. I believe AT&T is faster (I know for sure their 3g was/is faster) but just not as widespread. Also no way will Sprint have 4G LTE in the majority of major cities by years end. They were ungodly slow at rolling out 4G and now their trying to save money with combining wimax and all their other **** components in LTE. Plus they're at like a 1.4 BILLION dollar loss since they brought out the iPhone including a 629 million loss in just this quarter.

Sprint's only called the now network because they're going to be bankrupt in a few more years...

[Brent]

I have the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, as does njx. We both love it.

[vikes_28]

i also enjoy my galaxy nexus. I'd go with the s III

[vidae]

Originally Posted by j05son

Sprint's only called the now network because they're going to be bankrupt in a few more years...

lolwut? usrsbrah?

[descendency]

Originally Posted by Brent

I have the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, as does njx. We both love it.

I'm also in that boat.

[Caddy]

All I can say is I really love my Iphone. But my opinion is biased on the plans/caps we are offered in Australia.