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| writer22816 China. August 05 2012 10:32. Posts 4772 | Profile Blog # |
Hi, I apologize for what may seem like yet another phone thread, but I didn't want to hijack the previous "iphone 4s vs iphone 5" thread so here we go.
I'm going to college in America in a few weeks and I need a phone (I currently don't even use one lol). Important qualities:
1. Price, since I don't even use a phone right now I'm obviously not a phone enthusiast, just want something that can get the job done 
2. Plays MP3s. I'm not an audiophile but I would prefer for it to have a nice sound card.
**One small thing, the phone has to have a way to view long song names in its entirety. This may sound like a really small deal but I listen to classical music (really long track names) and the current MP3 player I'm using (my dad's iPhone 3G without a sim card that he's not using anymore ) truncates the track names at a ridiculous point that I cannot tell what piece I'm listening to, annoying as hell. If there's no way to tell then I guess you can ignore me since I'm being paranoid
3. 16 GB of storage, since my current MP3 player is 8 GB and I'm managing it quite well, I don't think I'll need more than 16 GB.
4. All other features like calling, texting and a camera, although I don't particularly care about the definition of the camera
5. Regarding iPhone vs Android, I'm okay with either. If there's an Apple phone that does all of the above better than any Android phone and is cheaper then I'll go for it, even if it means I have to install this piece of shit called iTunes
Thanks in advance! |
| | 8/4/12 never forget, never forgive. |
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| ancientemblem Canada. August 06 2012 08:27. Posts 34 | Profile # |
| Samsung Galaxy S2 is pretty much free now and it does all of the above. Pretty much any phone you can get for free with a decent plan and has a good storage and battery life is fine. |
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| writer22816 China. August 06 2012 19:32. Posts 4772 | Profile Blog # | |
| | 8/4/12 never forget, never forgive. |
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| aegisabcde United States. August 06 2012 20:50. Posts 122 | Profile # |
| If your primary function is music, Apple phones have the flattest frequency response and least distortion for their audio output. |
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| kevint Denmark. August 06 2012 23:04. Posts 42 | Profile # |
| i dont know if you really need a smartphone, Sony Ericsson used to have a mobile walkman series i think it was called w and then a 3 digit number i dont know if they still make those anymore though its a long time since i last looked for a phone. |
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| Firebolt145 United Kingdom. August 06 2012 23:07. Posts 12501 | Profile # |
Based on your criteria, you're going to be spoilt for choice.
1) Price: so you don't want the absolute best of the best. Fine. If you're on a plan that still leaves 90% of phones pretty much free so this doesn't restrict you much.
2) MP3's: pretty much any smartphone does this. I'm not an audiophile so I can't comment on this but most do it well if you have a good pair of headphones. I don't know about the iPhone but Android has many different music apps that offer you complete control over things like the equaliser. I also haven't noticed whether my Android truncates my music titles, it simply scrolls through it as far as I remember.
3) 16GB is easily achieved. I believe the smallest iPhone at this point is still 16GB and any Android that has less than 16GB of inbuilt space will have a microSD care slot anyway.
4) Well, yeah...they all can call/text/etc.
Basically almost any iPhone or Android can do all of this. The only real restriction you've set yourself is price, and in that case there are lots of Androids that are far cheaper than iPhones. Go to any store and ask them for any cheap Android with 16GB of space or an SD card slot, I don't think you can go wrong at all.
The guy above recommended a Galaxy S2, which is the phone I use too. This phone is now decently cheap (since the S3 came out) and is actually still one of the top 5 phones out there. |
| | @Firebolt145 | Dota 2 stream yayayay www.twitch.tv/firebolt145 | |
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| IntoTheheart Canada. August 07 2012 10:27. Posts 2728 | Profile Blog # |
I recommend looking for a decent phone (Samsung Gal S2 or Gal Ace (Ace if you're looking for something a little lower-end, doesn't have memory on its own but it has an expandable memory storage with a mini-SD card).
One technique I found was to look for the best phone you could get for 0$ up front with a plan (since you'll need a plan anyway).
Although I don't know if the 0$ up front is only available in Canada or if it's a more universal thing. |
| | When a ghost kill someone with their gauss rifle, are they performing gaussian elimination then? - Arnstein |
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| Bippzy United States. August 07 2012 11:20. Posts 1335 | Profile Blog # |
| You will never get the problem you had with your dads iphone fixed if you keep using iphones. I figure the galaxy S2 has a pretty big screen and therefore you should be able to see your songs. Plus, you won;t ever be limited in how you want to use your phone on an android. |
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 alffla Hong Kong. August 07 2012 15:20. Posts 20260 | Profile Blog # |
as much as i love my Galaxy S2, (i have the international version I9100, but i'm assuming the US carrier based versions have the same hardware) , DO NOT get the s2 if you want great music listening time, because Samsung for whatever reason decided to use a Yamaha DAC (which sounds like crap) instead of the Wolfson DAC which they used on the S1.
The Galaxy Nexus uses some form of Texas Instruments chip which I haven't tried personally, so I can't advise on that.
In the Galaxy S3, however, Samsung decided to use the Wolfson chip again so it should be all good. oh apparently only the international S3 has the wolfson chip, the US SGS3 uses a qualcomm DAC..which seems decent from what i've briefly read over.
oh i just found an interesting and pretty informative article on phone chips and sound quality:
http://www.androidpolice.com/2012/06/26/beats-me-why-htcs-amazing-sound-on-the-international-one-x-isnt-amazing-at-all-even-by-the-numbers/
good luck with choosing a phone!Last edit: 2012-08-07 15:39:25 |
| | savior[gm] : What is a “yawn” rape ;; Masumune - It was the year of the pig for those fucking defilers. Chill - A clinic you say? okum: SC without Korean yelling is like porn without sex. konamix: HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMY! |
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| Firebolt145 United Kingdom. August 07 2012 15:28. Posts 12501 | Profile # |
| From reading around months ago I got the impression that the difference between the Yamaha DAC and Wolfson DAC is only obvious to an audiophile. I myself can't tell the difference at all from when I owned a SGS to a SGS2. Last edit: 2012-08-07 15:28:50 |
| | @Firebolt145 | Dota 2 stream yayayay www.twitch.tv/firebolt145 | |
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| alffla Hong Kong. August 07 2012 15:35. Posts 20260 | Profile Blog # |
On August 07 2012 15:28 Firebolt145 wrote:
From reading around months ago I got the impression that the difference between the Yamaha DAC and Wolfson DAC is only obvious to an audiophile. I myself can't tell the difference at all from when I owned a SGS to a SGS2.
haha i guess i'm sort of an audiophile...
i don't spend huge amounts of money on audio equipment but i do really enjoy my music, and have decent midrange earphones.
i traded in my old 1st gen ipod nano for a 6th gen nano recently, so when i started using the nano for music i was surprised to hear the huge difference between my SGS2 and the nano -_- (the 6th gen nano uses a Cirrus Logic audio chip)
don't know why samsung decided to use a shitty chip on their flagship phone lolLast edit: 2012-08-07 15:37:26 |
| | savior[gm] : What is a “yawn” rape ;; Masumune - It was the year of the pig for those fucking defilers. Chill - A clinic you say? okum: SC without Korean yelling is like porn without sex. konamix: HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMY! |
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 Womwomwom August 07 2012 15:46. Posts 5520 | Profile Blog # |
Wolfson isn't a silver bullet for good sound, don't put too much emphasis on the DAC. Some of the old iPods are noisy as sin (like old school amplifier hiss) because of the extremely cramped interiors, possibly bad design, and probably technology limitations at the time. Those were packing Wolfson chips.
The original Galaxy S wasn't ever good until people hacked the crap out of it and that was also packing a Wolfson chip.
Edit:
The whole Wolfson DAC hoopla screams of one of those pseudoscience things Head-Fi loves to believe in. Correlation does not imply causation and in this case, the correlation isn't even there. Fortunately for Head-Fi, the GS3 does seem to have good software and hardware implementation.
On August 07 2012 15:28 Firebolt145 wrote:
From reading around months ago I got the impression that the difference between the Yamaha DAC and Wolfson DAC is only obvious to an audiophile. I myself can't tell the difference at all from when I owned a SGS to a SGS2.
Presumably because the Galaxy S wasn't as good as history remembers it being. Last edit: 2012-08-07 16:08:35 |
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| Zax19 Czech Republic. August 07 2012 22:03. Posts 658 | Profile # | |
| | Really Blizz, really? - Darnell | |
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| [-Bluewolf-] United States. August 07 2012 22:19. Posts 519 | Profile Blog # |
If you don't mind spending more up-front to save money in the long run, I would recommend getting a Google Galaxy Nexus (http://goo.gl/amtHo) for $350. Then use a T-mobile pre-paid plan that is ~$20/month or more cheaper than an equivalent contract plan (http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/monthly-4g-plans). Note: In order to activate a T-mobile pre-paid plan, you need a $0.99 T-mobile SIM card (link).
I currently am using this setup myself. A device directly from Google has the latest phone OS updates that make it better than even the newest Galaxy S3 (in my opinion) despite its specs being surpased. It is also a better phone overall spec-wise than an iPhone 4S.
For the T-mobile plan, I'm using the $30/month unlimited 4G (up to 5GB then throttled afterwards), unlimited text, and 100 voice minutes plan. I figure even if I need another two hours of talk time, that just means I pay $42 a month. Or one can use a 3rd party app to do VOIP calls. Of course, you could also do one of the other plans that include unlimited minutes if you actually speak on the phone often enough. Regardless, all of the options are cheaper than what you can get on a contract (in my case, $30 vs the $99 I was paying with Verizon). Last edit: 2012-08-07 22:32:32 |
| | The melody of logic always plays the notes of truth. |
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| Firebolt145 United Kingdom. August 07 2012 22:33. Posts 12501 | Profile # |
I would never recommend the Google Nexus to anyone unless they were obsessed with stock Google. The Galaxy S2 for example is cheaper and also miles better in terms of hardware. The latest phone OS updates will come to the rest of the phones anyway over time, faster if you've got some geek skills.
And even more when you consider what the OP wants: he wants a music phone. One weakness of the Galaxy Nexus is that it has a fixed amount of space with no external SD card slot. Sure, the OP says he thinks he can make do with 16GB, but it's better to have some flexibility rather than being forced to follow this limitation. Meanwhile the only benefit of having a Nexus (faster software updates) will do nothing for sound quality or its actual ability to play music. Also I have heard that the Nexus has a decent DAP chip but you can find this in other phones.Last edit: 2012-08-07 22:33:47 |
| | @Firebolt145 | Dota 2 stream yayayay www.twitch.tv/firebolt145 | |
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| beesinyoface August 07 2012 22:35. Posts 230 | Profile # |
There are some great suggestions ITT and you should spend some time with them.
From my perspective, I just got the HTC One XL and the phone is simply amazing. Great battery life, beautiful interface, good quality of camera, Beats Audio when it plays through headphones (if you can find a better explanation online, i would suggest doing so.) Overall, it's a great phone to add to your list of phones to consider.
edit: the phone doesn't come with a microsd card. however, the phone has different levels of storage depending on where you buy it. I bought mine in Asia and it came with 10GB so it might differ if you buy it in the US.
I've never really had a problem with the storage because I'll put roughly 6 of my 90GB music library on my phone for when I'm at work or something and keep the rest on my ipod. At least, that's what I do, so you might not be too keen on that idea.Last edit: 2012-08-07 22:42:42 |
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| [-Bluewolf-] United States. August 07 2012 22:56. Posts 519 | Profile Blog # |
On August 07 2012 22:33 Firebolt145 wrote:
I would never recommend the Google Nexus to anyone unless they were obsessed with stock Google. The Galaxy S2 for example is cheaper and also miles better in terms of hardware. The latest phone OS updates will come to the rest of the phones anyway over time, faster if you've got some geek skills.
And even more when you consider what the OP wants: he wants a music phone. One weakness of the Galaxy Nexus is that it has a fixed amount of space with no external SD card slot. Sure, the OP says he thinks he can make do with 16GB, but it's better to have some flexibility rather than being forced to follow this limitation. Meanwhile the only benefit of having a Nexus (faster software updates) will do nothing for sound quality or its actual ability to play music. Also I have heard that the Nexus has a decent DAP chip but you can find this in other phones.
A search on ebay shows the Galaxy S2 as costing more new and about the same used as a Galaxy Nexus. How is that cheaper exactly? 0.o Unless you mean on-contract, in which case over a year the Galaxy Nexus is far cheaper on a prepaid plan.
I went by what the OP said. The lack of expandable storage was not an issue for him.
In terms of CPU benchmarks and camera quality, the Galaxy S2 has an edge (although "miles" is an exageration). However, the Galaxy Nexus has a larger batter and a sharper screen resolution. Additionally, the Android OS 4.1 had the main focus of improving the speed of its operation. As such, the Galaxy Nexus is far smoother and quicker in its operation than the Galaxy S2 (and even the Galaxy S3 isn't quite as fast with its OS operations on the older system despite the beefier hardware). Think Windows Vista vs Windows XP or 7. Finally, the Galaxy Nexus will likely see at least one more major OS upgrade while the Galaxy S2 has likely seen its last update and will miss out on any additional further improvements made to the OS.Last edit: 2012-08-07 23:05:41 |
| | The melody of logic always plays the notes of truth. |
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| Firebolt145 United Kingdom. August 07 2012 23:04. Posts 12501 | Profile # |
Woah, times have changed a little. Back when I last checked the Nexus was more expensive than the S2. It's now the other way round, though by a very small margin.
Miles was an exaggeration, yes. I've not heard about better battery life from the Nexus but that could be true, and it has a sharper but slightly smaller screen. Samsung has already announced that Android 4.1 is also coming to the S2 (though I've already got it anyway, thanks to XDA). Next one, who knows.
Anyway this thread isn't about Nexus against S2. I guess my final argument against the Nexus would be that for the criteria he has set, the Galaxy Nexus is a relatively expensive option compared to all the phones that meet his criteria. Certainly still a good option though. |
| | @Firebolt145 | Dota 2 stream yayayay www.twitch.tv/firebolt145 | |
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 fatfail United States. August 08 2012 01:42. Posts 386 | Profile Blog # |
| Iphone 3g is so slow it brings me to tears. An iphone 4 would be good, if you can get it free with contract. If they want you to pay for an iphone I'd go with an android. |
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| SRBNikola Serbia. August 08 2012 01:51. Posts 182 | Profile Blog # |
On August 07 2012 15:20 alffla wrote:as much as i love my Galaxy S2, (i have the international version I9100, but i'm assuming the US carrier based versions have the same hardware) , DO NOT get the s2 if you want great music listening time, because Samsung for whatever reason decided to use a Yamaha DAC (which sounds like crap) instead of the Wolfson DAC which they used on the S1. The Galaxy Nexus uses some form of Texas Instruments chip which I haven't tried personally, so I can't advise on that. In the Galaxy S3, however, Samsung decided to use the Wolfson chip again so it should be all good. oh apparently only the international S3 has the wolfson chip, the US SGS3 uses a qualcomm DAC..which seems decent from what i've briefly read over. oh i just found an interesting and pretty informative article on phone chips and sound quality: http://www.androidpolice.com/2012/06/26/beats-me-why-htcs-amazing-sound-on-the-international-one-x-isnt-amazing-at-all-even-by-the-numbers/good luck with choosing a phone!
Actually i am not sure about sound chips, but i find my sgs2 to have high sound quality when on earphones, it doesnt kill iPod and other apple products, but its really good in my experiance. |
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