Are you just now getting into the smartphone game? Welcome aboard! You’re joining the 60% and rapidly growing number of Australians who have opted for a shiny black rectangle, making Australia one of the most eager smartphone markets in the world. This is mostly due to overlap- in most countries, the big phones are exclusive to particular providers, whereas in Oz, most of the big, popular handsets are available across Telstra, Optus and Vodafone.
Image Credit: Flickr user Danny PiG
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And what do we mean by ‘big phones’? Parallels could be drawn to the car market, with its economical hatchbacks, luxury saloons and mid-range, affordable sedans. But with the car market, the title of ‘flagship’ goes to the biggest and best model, the one that showcases the latest and greatest innovations.
Not quite so with phones. The flagship model for each manufacturer is the one that manages to hit the sweet spot between price, features and overall appeal. Maybe it’s like the big cat market – the Leopard is neither the fastest cat (Cheetah), the strongest (Lion) or the best swimmer (Tiger), but it does all of those things well. The only problem is that there is no “Big Cat Market”, this is just something I wish existed.
So if you don’t want to spend a whole bunch of time and just want a smartphone that will do everything well without specializing in any one thing, what’s the go? Let’s break it down by manufacturer:
Apple
iPhone 4s
Ok, this is a bit of a cheat. Apple only puts out one phone, and releases a slightly upgraded model each year, with major revisions roughly every two years (so far). The iPhone 4 and 4S are more or less indistinguishable to your average user, but since a major update is due this year, best to go with the 4S. Apple has a passive aggressive way of phasing out old models, by introducing features that attract app developers into building apps that won’t work on old models. Apple’s basically a bad mother.
Good - ease of use, big selection of quality apps, large selection of 3rd party cases and other peripherals
Not so good – s’expensive.
Best Plan - Vodafone $49 Plan. Handset payments are $8 a month for the 16GB option on a 24 month contract.
Samsung
Samsung Galaxy S2
The new king of the mobile world has managed to juuuust avoid becoming HTC, which has the habit of releasing a new handset every week. But it had to kick out a lot of dross before it finally found a phone that ticked all the boxes. The Galaxy S2 is powerful enough, big enough, slim enough and fun enough to have become a bonafide hit, and it now attracts a budget price.
Good - value for money, big bright screen, lots of apps
Not so good - not much, now that it’s cheap. Of course, it runs Android, which can be a bit unfriendly to some eyes.
Best Plan – Vodafone $29 Cap Plan. Phone is $0/month on a 24 month contract,
Nokia
Lumia 800
Nokia has made a slow transition to the smartphone world, and has teamed up with Microsoft, who were also caught unawares. It is the manufacturer of choice for Windows Phone, which is taking its time to get out there in a big way, but is a better overall operating system than Android. The Lumia is a genuine departure from other smartphones, with integrated GPS (that doesn’t require a data connection) and a bucket of solid features. It’s also affordable.
Good for - Android haters, country drivers
Not so good – Still a tad pricey. Quality apps, but developers aren’t convinced yet on Windows Phone- some big apps are not available. Hard to find good quality, cheap peripherals.
Best Plan – Virgin $39 Fair Go Plan. $0 handset payments on a 24 month contract. Call Virgin on 1300 768 103.
HTC
One X
HTC was once where Samsung is, and would like very much to get back there. HTC was getting pretty ridiculous for a while, releasing oodles of handsets with names like Dream, Rhyme, Incredible, Desire, Ace, Primo…trust me, this list goes ON. None of these handsets were able to distinguish themselves as proper hits, and soon tired consumers responded with an annoyed “Feh” and headed towards Samsung.
HTC has made an about face following their first quarterly loss in 20 years, and want to focus on their One…series. Yeah, some folks just keep touching the electric fence after they’ve been shocked. There’s a One X, One S and One V, which begs the question – why not call it the Three? But the One X is pretty shmick, with a much bolder and sleeker design than we’re used to seeing, great audio, and some high powered internals.
Good for – X-Men fans, music lovers
Not so good for – fans of money. HTC have slapped a premium price to the one phone people should be able to pick out of an HTC lineup. Shame.
Best Plan – Optus $59 Cap Plan. $0 month payments on a 24 month contract.
Call Optus on 1300 768 194
Sony/Sony Ericsson
Xperia S
Sony’s kinda just trying to find itself right now. It hasn’t made a profit – the whole company, that is- since 2008. It’s about to fire 10,000 employees. It broke up with Ericsson last year. It’s hanging out in its room all the time, listening to old 90 minute tapes on a waterproof, bright yellow Walkman the size of a housebrick. I think it thinks that’s the last time it was cool, y’know?
Sony will probably stay in the mobile game for a while, but it has definitely lost some of its mojo. Certainly, no-one is pairing its brand with coolness anymore, which is a shame. Xperia phones are dead fantastic. Incorporating a 12MP Cyber-Shot camera, Bravia display technology, NFC (near field communication, which is due to be the next big thing, or NBT in mobile phones, or MPs) and the usual bag of goodies. They’re damn good phones. Now that no-one cares, they’re cheap.
Good – high specs on the cheap, people sick of Samsung
Not so good – They’re a little bloated in terms of features, making them unfriendly to the non-tech type. But if you learn how to just use what you need, you got a good phone right here.
Best Plan – Optus $49 Cap Plan. $0/month, 24 month contract.
Call Optus on 1300 768 194
Motorola
Droid RAZR
It’s a big Android phone with great specifications. But otherwise…should I care? Yep, you should.
It’s a bit waterproof, it’s strong (Kevlar backing!) and very thin- making it a proper durable phone without the usual associated bulkiness. Great phone. Like with the Sony, this is a super handset with no big drawbacks, but because it isn’t cool, you can pick it up for a song.
Good for – gym junkies, mountain climbers, people who sweat
Not so good – still an Android phone.
Best Plan - Optus $49 Cap Plan. $0 handset repayments.
Call Optus on 1300 768 194
LG
Optimus 3D
Yeah, I dunno. LG’s Optimus line is ok, offering nothing marvelous. The 3D (without glasses) technology is a cute gimmick, but you may end up turning it off when you realize there’s no apps taking advantage of it in any big way. While this phone is affordable, it needs to be far cheaper to be worth the hassle.
Good for – fans of eye strain
Not so good for – it’s just not so good for.
Best Plan - Virgin Fair Go $39 Plan. $0/month. Call Virgin on 1300 768 103
RIM (BlackBerry)
BlackBerry Bold 9900
RIM is quickly becoming a symbol of everything wrong with the mobile phone industry – bad management, constant foot-in-mouth disease, slow release of handsets that aren’t worth the wait, and ever shrinking revenues. BlackBerry maintains a dubious stranglehold on the business market, thanks to its secure servers that are not that secure. The Bold 9900 is 2006’s best phone ever. With a QWERTY keyboard elbowing up against a touch screen and a small selection of boring, expensive apps, the only thing going for this phone is its cheap price.
What’s that? It’s more expensive than all the others? Never mind then.
Good for – firewood
Not so good for – people who need a phone
Best Plan – $5/month on the Vodafone $59 Plan. (not buying it might be considered a good plan too)
Casualties after the first round – BlackBerry and LG, natch. HTC too- the One X is a great phone, but not different enough from what’s out there to justify the higher price. Sony…I’m sorry, but inscrutability and over engineering seems baked in to everything you do now. If I just need a phone that works, I’d skip right over you.
That leaves the iPhone, Galaxy S2, Lumia 800 and the RAZR.
iPhone vs Lumia 800 – Both run better operating systems than Android. Both sport great design. It’s tight. SO VERY, VERY TIGHT.
It goes to the iPhone, but only very slightly. GPS that works wherever will seem like a necessity eventually. But Tom Tom and Garmin apps are easily available in the massive Apple App Store – and apps put the ‘smart’ in smartphones.
Droid vs Galaxy S2 – Jeez, another tough one. What separates these two? Same size, same excellent screen technology. Same operating system. The S2 is cheaper, but the RAZR doesn’t break the bank either. And it’s more durable.
The RAZR takes it in an upset. The S2 is the only phone out there that has the cache of an iPhone, but that doesn't mean it's better. Motorola have really put out an amazing phone, and even tried giving it the name of their last big hit (the mid 2000’s cutting edge RAZR flip phone), but have gone down the wrong street when it comes to the marketing. Otherwise, it’s hard to explain why the RAZR hasn’t trounced all over the S2.
It might have to do with how much the S2 looks like an iPhone – it crosses just slightly over that threshold where a sane person might stop saying “C’mon…what’s it supposed to look like?” and start saying “Yeah…it looks a lot like an iPhone”. The RAZR, probably in an effort to sidestep Apple’s lawyers, have added a few extra angles in an effort to look different, but might have overstepped. Many people looking at the RAZR might say “I dunno. Looks fancy. Too much for me”. Don’t be one of those people.
Finals – iPhone vs RAZR
Meh. Only an iPhone is an iPhone. There’s no competition, in that no other phone uses the iOS operating system, which is safe, polished and a joy to use, and comes with access to the biggest and best app ecosystem. The only competition are older model iPhones.
If you don’t like the iPhone, go with the RAZR. You shant be disappointed.
So no need for a final battle. The iPhone is the best iPhone, and the RAZR is the best Android. If you like Windows Phone (and really, Windows Phone is pretty great), go with the Lumia 800. And have fun!