Holiday Smartphone Buyer's Guide
by Vivek Gowri on December 4, 2010 5:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Guides
- Holiday 2010
- Mobile
Unlocked/International
We realize that a significant portion of AnandTech readers aren’t located in the USA, and to that extent want to also cover some of the international and unlocked phones that are potentially on smartphone shopping lists this holiday season. It’d be completely disingenuous if we had a myopic, USA-centric world view, and we’re actively working on getting a more international spread of devices whenever possible that’s of interest to everyone.
With companies like HTC, most of that is pretty easy. The Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer generally spins a particular piece of hardware in multiple varieties for specific markets, keeping the general reference design unchanged. For example, we have the HTC Desire, which is almost the same as the Nexus One, and the HTC Desire HD, which is a mildly updated version of the HD2/HD7/EVO 4G.
The most prominent international smartphone carrier of course is Nokia. Our top picks there are the N900 which can be had unlocked for around $330 unlocked, which runs Maemo 5 and MeeGo. We reviewed the N900 and loved the freedom of having real Linux running on a smartphone. The other awesome choice from the Finnish smartphone powerhouse is the Nokia N8, which we’re currently in possession of and in the process of reviewing. Although we’re not finished, the hardware itself is awesome - anodized aluminum all over, 12 megapixel camera with real Carl Zeiss glass optics, and a pentaband UMTS baseband. Though Symbian is showing its age, the N8 is an otherwise awesome device, and can be had for $530 unlocked. We’ve also looked at the Nokia E5 previously, but it looks like a sidestep from its excellent predecessor, the E72. You can find the E72 for less than the E5, so if you're looking for a Symbian-based BlackBerry alternative, the E72 is probably the way to go.
If you’re on a budget and want an Android 2.2 phone, the other option which has seen a lot of success recently is the LG Optimus One, which we also have and are in the process of reviewing. The Optimus One is a solid little device, packing a 3 megapixel camera sans flash, Android 2.2, HVGA capacitive display, and one of Qualcomm’s newer SoCs with an Adreno 205. Though it isn’t the speediest hardware on the block or the most flashy, the Optimus One is an admirable mass market device with a lot of potential, and we can certainly understand why they sold more than a million in the first 40 days.
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ThomasA - Sunday, December 5, 2010 - link
Check that US Cellular (limited regions) is a selling a CDMA version of the HTC Desire. Too bad they won't sell it outside their small coverage areas.synaesthetic - Sunday, December 5, 2010 - link
My girlfriend bought a Charm. We ended up returning it within three days. The screen is absolutely atrocious for a smartphone, even a budget model. I've seen cheap Virgin Mobile featurephones with prettier screens. We ended up buying her a myTouch Slide instead, which could also make use of the wonderful Cyanogenmod 6.I was especially appalled using the Charm because I am a Vibrant owner, so it was like a trip back to the smartphone dark ages!
sykorius - Sunday, December 5, 2010 - link
This article needs some editing - even though the phones were broken down in the carrier segments and unlocked/international portions, the phones were not themselves formatted in easily recognizable outline/title context. An editor would have pointed this out and emphasized the name of the phones in a bold/increase sized font title format alongside the pictures. Also, the site has been established for several years now, but the amateurish journalism still persists. The authors wrote "RIM brought BlackBerry 6 to market with AT&T in the form of the BlackBerry Torch 9800, a device that I honestly found very usable." The authors are suppose to be credible and suppose to be an authority on the technology subject matter, readers do not want your honesty - it's already expected and you are just being redundant with the sentence. More importantly, readers want to make their own judgment of the devices by the facts you state when using the phones, ie, responsiveness of the touch screen, call quality, phone camera & video recording, and other phone feature pros and cons. A better choice of words would be "to be candid" or "to be frank". Get a real editor to look over your articles before the final version is up on the site.fausto412 - Sunday, December 5, 2010 - link
where is my beloved anandtech.com?silverblue - Monday, December 6, 2010 - link
...but the Galaxy S should have Froyo, at least we do throughout Europe.strikeback03 - Monday, December 6, 2010 - link
Blame the carriers, most likely. Whatever the reason, official updates have not yet been pushed out.jah1subs - Monday, December 6, 2010 - link
Everyone of your phone choices is what I would call a chocolate bar because it is thinner than the old style "candybar" form factor. Personally, I prefer to use a clamshell phone and, even in elementary school, my parents received messages home from the teacher that I needed to develop motor skills. The situation is worse now since my fingers are bigger, so I prefer a real keyboard which means that I am most interested in the new Blackberry Style.Since Sprint has an antenna within sight of my home office window, I prefer Sprint service.
I like the ease of use of the menu system on Blackberry BB OS 4.5 once I click on an icon. I want the improved browser and other features in BB OS 6 and hope that the menu system has been kept in OS 6.
The only advance that I have seen for the user interface in the last 5 years is the less busy home screen on Windows 7. I want a phone that I do NOT have to keep looking at.
jah1subs - Monday, December 6, 2010 - link
develop FINE motor skills.GotThumbs - Monday, December 6, 2010 - link
I was really disappointed about the very brief mention of the Notion Ink - Adam. Their tablet is poised to be the IPAD killer. Competitive pricing and way more features than the IPAD. No need to purchase accessory cables for SD cards, USB, etc.I fit in the category of APPLE haters. not just the IPAD but the company as a whole. Their true colors showed when Jobs blamed a customer 'your holding it wrong'. So egotistic, that He is right and everyone else is wrong. I think APPLE is even worse than MICROSOFT was in the 80's and 90's. The ADAM even has an energy saving feature with the Pixel QI display, but no mention about it. I will agree that APPLE is creative and thier computers look pretty. But why would you pay 1,000 or more for a laptop with a two year old processor. SSD is not unique to APPLE and may PC'rs have already updated their laptops and pc's with SSD drives. Apple really only wows the uneducated public. Guess thats why they have to teach them how to hold a cell phone. Anyway. I'm keeping a close eye out for the ADAM. Just Google Notion Ink Adam to really get excited about the tablet market.
GotThumbs - Monday, December 6, 2010 - link
Forgot to mention HDMI connection built in....no accessory cable purchase needed.