Hard Light Productions Forums
Off-Topic Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: Dragon on June 23, 2012, 04:18:58 am
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The current phone I'm using is quite old, so I've been thinking of getting a modern smartphone. So, I'd like to ask you for recommendations:
It should be (in priority order):
1). Equipped with a long living battery, at least 24 hours on idle. The battery should not wear out quickly. It'd also be nice if it was possible to power it from an external, portable source.
2). Sold in Europe. Importing things from US is slow and expensive.
3). Equipped with an internet browser.
4). Equipped with a camera capable of recognizing codes.
5). Running on Android or iOS4, and capable of running this: http://www.arma2.com/fr/
6). Small enough to comfortably fit into slit pockets of standard US DCU field trousers.
7). Not too expensive (keep in mind that 1$~3PLN, but when it comes to comparing prices of basic goods and income, 1$=1PLN around here).
8). Equipped with a real QWERTY keyboard.
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1). Equipped with a long living battery, at least 24 hours on idle. The battery should not wear out quickly. It'd also be nice if it was possible to power it from an external, portable source.
All the phones worth looking at should be able to be powered through microUSB, at least in Europe. If you see a proprietary connector that isn't Apples', run away (since iDevices are popular enough that there's a large market for peripherals like chargers etc)
3). Equipped with an internet browser.
4). Equipped with a camera capable of recognizing codes.
All smartphones have this.
8). Equipped with a real QWERTY keyboard.
Do you mean a full normal button-based keyboard? If so, your options are severely limited. If not, I would recommend a Sony Xperia; the standard Xperia Arc and Arc S models should be available for cheap, and are both Android 4 compatible.
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You have a quite a list of requirements there.
QWERTY keyboard is relatively difficult to find nowadays (***k Nokia for not releasing N950 for general public) from smart phones. By that alone you might be ending up with Nokia Symbian smart phones, but that is an operating system you didn't want. RIM Blackberry is another option, but it's coming from US. I'm not too familiar with Asian smart phones and which of them have keyboards. I've been using Nokia N9 for a month, it turned out to be pretty darn good, too bad it was killed before the release - and was not even released in Central Europe for some block headed reason.
Have you tried looking for used smart phones? That's a way to get them way down cheaper, a model that's two years old should not yet be needing a service for at least two years. I'd look mainly for Sony and Samsung models if I were you. Sony Xperia comes to mind, I can't say much about Samsung except that they have a wide range of offerings. iPhone is a contender if you get it second hand, but the environmental resistance is not too good with that one from what I have heard.
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As I said, the list is ordered. So, I can do without an external QWERTY keyboard, but it'd be nice. The price is also way down on the list and as a matter of fact, I'm going to take the recommendations and search for used/otherwise discounted phones. I don't really need top of the line stuff.
In fact, the most important thing I'm after is long battery life, even without an external battery pack (hence why it's point 1).). Oh, and good to know about 3). and 4). being standard.
To sum it up in one sentence: I want a phone that has a large capacity battery, runs either Android or iOS4 and doesn't have to be shipped from US.
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I think the xperia arc I am using has a battery life of about 36 to 48 hours on idle; however, I have no hard data on this, given that I use my phone rather often. If you need more than that, I would suggest looking for an external battery pack that can deliver a charge through USB.
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Agreed that the idle time is not well standardized. I get about 10 days of idle time for my N9, a much better number than I ever expected, it surpassed the older feature phones. Though, I tend to shut down pretty much everything that I don't need like 3G/3.5G if I'm at the office. Travelling with it, last week in Germany I got about 3 to 4 days of useful operation time, temperature being around 20 degrees Celsius. Were it colder, the battery capacity could decrease by something like 30 to 50 %, regardless of the phone, but could be heavily influenced by where the phone is carried. If you keep it under the jacket close to the body, battery doesn't decrease that much in cold weather. I was more worried about the costs of using the 3G connection in Germany - but already the 3G connectivity turned out to be problem. For me this seems to be lacking in Germany, but in this case the reason could have been the operator to operator deal also.
N9 actually runs Android if you are willing to jump a couple of hoops, but I suppose this doesn't count? It voids the warranty, that's for sure! Seriously though, for me it sounds something like you wish could be discovered from Samsung and Sony departments.
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I should point out that pretty much every Blackberry has a removable battery so as long as you keep a spare charged one in your pocket, battery life is pretty long. And spare batteries are usually much more portable than most external chargers.
That said, with Blackberry 10 on the horizon (RIM is really going to make or break it with this release), it's hard to recommend Blackberry now.
The best advice I was ever given about smartphones was to try them out and see what works for you. Ignore anyone who tells you a certain brand is better. I tried a couple of android devices out first but as soon as I tried my first Blackberry out I knew I couldn't use anything else. Your milage will almost certainly differ.
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If I were buying right now I'd be getting the HTC One S... I've also recommended the low spec HTC One V to my parents. They haven't got one yet but both are reviewing quite well and I know someone who would love it.
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I think the xperia arc I am using has a battery life of about 36 to 48 hours on idle; however, I have no hard data on this, given that I use my phone rather often. If you need more than that, I would suggest looking for an external battery pack that can deliver a charge through USB.
Xperia arc looked very good, until I looked at the price (it's about 330$ at the current rate, or 1000PLN, which is way outside my price range). Also, I've found no used phones on Allegro (Polish version of EBay), so it seems that it's rather new. I'm looking for something older and cheaper, but with that kind of battery.
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Wait a bit for the Galaxy S II to drop a bit in price? That's about the only thing I can think of. HTC locks bootloaders, or I would suggest them. It's not on your list, but it's something you may care about after owning your phone for a while.
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1). Equipped with a long living battery, at least 24 hours on idle. The battery should not wear out quickly. It'd also be nice if it was possible to power it from an external, portable source.
Anything fits this. Probably all devices should get through the day with reasonable usage, not to mention just idling.
2). Sold in Europe. Importing things from US is slow and expensive.
Not commenting much on this. I guess anything that is being produced is more or less available in Europe
3). Equipped with an internet browser.
If it's a smartphone, it's basically a pocket computer. Companies would be shooting themselves in the foot if they released a smartphone without a browser. Edit: not to mention you can get other browsers from the OS-specific app shop.
4). Equipped with a camera capable of recognizing codes.
I think all phones have cameras today. QR code recognition is just software for the camera. Winphones can do that out of the box, I think. Android phones can do that at least with Google Goggles.
5). Running on Android or iOS4, and capable of running this: http://www.arma2.com/fr/
Can't find requirements for that other than "Android 2.2+", so I guess any current Android phone fulfills this criteria. And Iphones too, I guess. Not many models there.
6). Small enough to comfortably fit into slit pockets of standard US DCU field trousers.
Dunno about those pants. My Nexus S fits in the pockets of all my jeans.
7). Not too expensive (keep in mind that 1$~3PLN, but when it comes to comparing prices of basic goods and income, 1$=1PLN around here).
What is too expensive? $300? The more you pay, the more you get, obviously. Around here, Samsung's Galaxy Y's and Galaxy Gios seem to be priced roughly at $100, Galaxy Aces at $200. New. Used ones are undoubtedly cheaper. The good ones are above $300. Iphones? Geez, new ones are over $600 around here.
8). Equipped with a real QWERTY keyboard.
This would really limit the options. Iphones? Oh no no no. Androids? Uh, the HTC Desire Z had a physical keyboard, so if you can find that, good for you.
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1). Equipped with a long living battery, at least 24 hours on idle. The battery should not wear out quickly. It'd also be nice if it was possible to power it from an external, portable source.
Anything fits this. Probably all devices should get through the day with reasonable usage, not to mention just idling.
The question is, how long it'll stay like that? Batteries tend to lose their lifetime after some time. I need this thing to sit in my pocket for the whole day, able to make a call at any time. I will most likely be connecting to internet from time to time, but for 10 minutes at most.
7). Not too expensive (keep in mind that 1$~3PLN, but when it comes to comparing prices of basic goods and income, 1$=1PLN around here).
What is too expensive? $300? The more you pay, the more you get, obviously. Around here, Samsung's Galaxy Y's and Galaxy Gios seem to be priced roughly at $100, Galaxy Aces at $200. New. Used ones are undoubtedly cheaper. The good ones are above $300. Iphones? Geez, new ones are over $600 around here.
100$ is fine. I've found a used Galaxy Y for 269PLN, which is good. It seems that those things are cheaper in US.
Anyway, it seems that Galaxy Y (or Galaxy Gio, which is priced similar and has similar features) might be good for me, does anybody know how good is the battery on it?
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Use the google.
http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_y_s5360-4117.php
http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_gio_s5660-3741.php
Not sure if either of those can run ArmA.
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Since ArmA:FR only lists "Android 2.2+" as system requirements, then they should. Anyway, if it'll turn out I'm getting one of these, I'll ask on the forums.
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That's just the operating system. Games such as that also depend on the GPU built into the phone; while those should all work to the same standards (OpenGL ES2), there are performance issues.
Oh, and let us not forget the CPU and RAM side of things.
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Since the requirements for those aren't listed, and on the official forum there are no posts with people talking about requirements, I would assume it should run on most phones equipped with Android 2.2 . Anyway, once I find a couple of good candidates, I'll ask about that on BI forums.
I'm still open for suggestions for an inexpensive Android 2.2 smartphone with a good battery.
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I would suggest to you what I suggest to anyone asking for an inexpensive smart phone. Unless it is critical that you have one now, save up and get a nice one. Shooting for low range/last gen Androids is usually a bad idea. Support will be nonexistent, and the modding scenes for Android phones die quickly unless they have a huge base.
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The problem is, I don't live in US nor Euro zone and I'm in a high school, so 1000 zloty is pretty much all the money I have. And my parents aren't going to give me such amount. I'm asking for a comparatively cheap phone, because that's all I'll be able to afford for a few years (unless I'll be very lucky and get a very well paying job in college, but that's unlikely). Yes, Poland is a crappy place to live if you like using actual technology.
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I'm rather happy with my Samsung Galaxy Ace (GT-S3850). (Granted the battery life isn't great because it gets heavy use, but as it has a MicroUSB charging point and I'm pretty much always around a PC with a free USB port, I can charge it any time). The other downside is the lack of Adobe Flashplayer, so no BBC iPlayer on the go :(
But otherwise for a mid to low range smartphone, it's pretty neat! :yes:
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Well, I'm not always around a PC with a USB port (if I were, I'd use it instead of a smartphone). Long battery life is a necessity for me, as through the day, I won't have too many opportunities to charge the phone.
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Well, I'm not always around a PC with a USB port (if I were, I'd use it instead of a smartphone). Long battery life is a necessity for me, as through the day, I won't have too many opportunities to charge the phone.
Like I said, the battery life isn't great DUE TO HEAVY UASGE on my part! :D
Note the Battery Stats in this specs review here (http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_ace_s5830-3724.php) 640 hours stand by time on 2G, 420 hours on 3G (11 hours on talktime for 2G and 6 1/2 hours talk time on 3G)
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I'd avoid some HTC phones if plan to be outside a lot... specifically the HTC Inspire 4G. o_o
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Like I said, the battery life isn't great DUE TO HEAVY UASGE on my part! :D
Did you mean that because of heavy usage, battery drains quickly, or that because of heavy usage, the battery "wears out" (i.e. permanently lowers it's max charge) quickly? I first thought about the latter.
Also, search for the number you gave actually returns Samsung Corby II smartphone. It doesn't seem to have Android.
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The main killer for actual battery life (ability to charge to full designed capacity) is heat. (Well, using it 24/7 doesn't help either because a) you're wearing it out and b) that generates heat.)
Cardinal rule: NEVER EVER EVER EVER charge your battery whilst under a pillow, or on the dash in the sun, etc. Heat = bad.
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I have a Sony Xperia S now. It's nigh on perfect. Recommend you try one :)
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Also, search for the number you gave actually returns Samsung Corby II smartphone. It doesn't seem to have Android.
He probably got the numbers mixed. Galaxy Ace is GT-S5830.
And reality is that batteries just aren't very super. Smartphones have badass processors, GPUs, high-res screens and all sorts of other gizmos (2G/3G radios, GPS receivers, Wifi adapters...) that need power. As well as a bunch of software using the hardware at every given opportunity. The more you push it, the more it needs. These aren't like the really dumb phones back in the day that you could use to call people and send SMS's. Those had considerably less power-hungry hardware and you could easily get a week or more of usage from a full charge.
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Apparently new dumb phones are all but extinct now, which makes me very sad. :(
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I have a Sony Xperia S now. It's nigh on perfect. Recommend you try one :)
Unfortunately, this one is also outside my price range. I need something that sells for about 100$ or less (if that's even possible).
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To be honest, I have yet to see a smartphone that will not drain your battery in a single day if you use it a lot. It's just the nature of the beast - the very purpose of the smartphone is to do more than just use phone functions; you'll use your internet browser a lot, which uses either WiFi or 3G/4G/whatever your operator hooks you on the internet through, you'll use your email client which does the same, you'll run apps, games, all of which drain your battery, some more than others (games employing an actual 3d engine being the worst of the bunch), you'll use maps for navigation, GPS if equipped, etc. In addition to the internet / phone / CPU runtime draining your battery for all that stuff, the screen will be on more often (on average) and that is quite a big battery drain in itself.
Of course, once you get bored of your new toy you'll stop using it quite as much and get to that 2-3 day battery life, but over that with a smartphone? Hardly. I've seen and used quite a few over the years, had a few android based "work" phones provided by employers, and all are the same story when it comes to battery life; if you don't use it much you'll get close to what the specs and advertisements want you to believe. But if you use it as an actual smartphone the thing will be hooked up in the wall socket quite often.
ATM I own an iphone 3GS as a personal phone. It will last about 2-3 days of normal usage, but I'll charge it once a day if I've found some cool new game or app on appstore and use it a lot. Traveling and using maps tends to be murder on the battery too. But there's one thing to be said for this one (at least, my unit); coming up on 3 years of owning it and the battery isn't showing signs of decreased capacity (knock on wood). Normally I'm not an apple fan - and you won't see a Mac on my work desk, ever - but with smartphones I think the apple's principle of simple usability hits the sweet spot. Except, of course, they're (too) expensive.
tldr; any smartphone will go through it's battery in a day if used a lot as an actual smartphone, so don't get too obsessed with the specs.
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Very true, good personal drills are to turn off data roaming, GPS and dim the screen. My phone can idle for 340 hours if I turn it into a brick. Proven! :D
But even as a media/music playee I still get 9.5 -10 hours on a full charge at low volume.
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For navigation purposes, it'd most likely be plugged into a car lighter socket. I prefer using an actual computer when I can, so I'll only be using the smartphone when I'm out of my house. Usually, one day of running would be enough, then I'd plug it in to charge through the night. Though I'd also like to be able to play music for a couple of hours, since this might come in handy on long voyages. Though I can use a battery pack in such cases.
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I meant the Battery drains quickly! Seeing as I use it a lot as a portable Wifi hotspot too, no wonder!
And yes, I got the numbers mixed up, it's a GT-S5830, running Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread.
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Unfortunately, this one also is on the expensive side around here (420PLN, used). I think I'll get either Galaxy Gio or Galaxy Y. So far, they were the only phones suggested that are sold for an acceptable price in Poland.
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I'm not sure on the exchange rate, but I picked up my used, (but in mint condition) Galaxy Ace for £115 GBP (plus £10 to unlock it to any network).
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Well, 1 GBP is about 4PLN. As I mentioned before, Polish Zlotys are practically worthless. I'm looking for something in 50-60 GBP range.
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Xperia mini or maybe a Samsung toco?
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Could be. Also, it just turned out that my sister has a 500PLN (about 160$) phone, so it seems my budget just expanded to that (since my parents bought her that one, I might get a similarly priced one if I call them out on that :)). In that case, Xperia might be a good idea.
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Juice Defender.