Why Do I Want It / What Will I Use It For?
-- Text messaging
-- Skype
-- Music
-- Jotting / voice recording story ideas
-- Basic e-mail and web surfing
-- Taking pictures / video
-- Gaming
-- Social Media (facebook / twitter / goodreads)
-- Phone Calls
-- Basic blog updates
-- Keeping track of lists and appointments
Basically I'm looking for the electronics version of a Swiss army knife. I spend most of my time at my main desktop computer, which is a decently powerful gaming / photo editing machine. I'm a writer and book blogger. And from using my parents' phones, I know I love text messaging.
I know that I would prefer a phone with a bigger screen but I need to make sure that it will fit properly in my hand. I know font sizes can be upped to make up for vision issues--but a bigger screen means bigger keys for typing and with the way I hold my phone when I do that, that's a good thing. (I like typing on my parents Samsung Galaxy S2 LTEs.)
I'm cool with paying some money for my phone if the features are worth it and you can explain to me why doing so is in my best interests. I'm *guessing* that picking my phone should be treated similarly to designing my next PC--I'm gonna have it for a while, the difference is I'm not paying for it "up front". (Not in full, anyway. I'm getting it with a contract.)
I'm going on my dad's plan (I think?) and I know he and mom are with Rogers. If memory serves me my top choice, the Samsung Galaxy Note II, is not available here even though I've seen it on the Rogers website. *sigh* (Yes, I'm disappointed. No, it's not your fault.) The features the Note has because of the S Pen aren't things that can be replaced, so I'm kinda lost about what to get instead.
I own and love my iPod touch, but I'm pretty sure I don't want to go with an iPhone because (a) I'd want a 32gb iPhone 5 and $300 (rounding up here) is a bit more then I'm willing to spend, and (b) I think the screen might, even at 4", be a bit smaller then I'd like for what I'm getting this for.
My parents got Samsung Galaxy S2 LTEs and I've been using my mom's for the last two months here and there. I like this phone and might be interested in it or a newer version. (Advice?)
I'm a first time smartphone buyer and my experience with this will determine, for me, whether a smartphone is something I want or need in my life. I'm really trying to give it every opportunity to prove itself valuable.
I need some feedback from an unbiased source about what kind of plan I actually want for my phone. (Not sure if I'm asking the right thing here?) My mom and dad both have different ones--his has data and hers doesn't. I think there's more to it then that, but that's the main thing. How does choosing that work? As a first time owner what would you recommend? I spend a lot of my time at home where there is wi-fi, but a lot of the value in having a phone seems like it would come in having the internet when I want to post to facebook or twitter, need to look up the name of a book at chapters, etc.
Is it basically iPhone or Android, or does Windows fit into the picture? I'm pretty sure from my research that Blackberry is not for me, so at least that's out.
Phones that look promising:
Samsung Galaxy Note II
Samsung Galaxy S3 / S4 (Advice here? What makes the new one worth it *practically*?)
HTC One (The reviews for this look good.)
iPhone 5 (Probably not but I'll list it since I love my iPod)
Nokia Lumia 920. (The phone that has me questioning Windows at all.)
Nexus 4 (Yet again, reviews look pretty solid)
