Which smartphone?

[JimmiG]

So I've been using a cheap Samsung dumb phone for the last four years but was thinking about getting something better.

I want an Android phone, primarily so I can run Spotify (no Windows Mobile client as of yet) and because it's so tweak-able. I've been looking at a few options but I'm still undecided. Here are the ones I've been considering, any other suggestions?

HTC Wildfire:
+Affordable, good software, looks good
-Outdated hardware, QVGA display

HTC Legend:
+Looks very nice, same great software, higher res display
-Quite expensive, not the best hardware (but better than the Wildfire)

HTC Desire:
+This one looks awesome in pretty much every way
-Priced out of my range

Acer Liquid
+Same price as the Wildfire but a much, much better display, faster CPU
-Poor support (Still no Android 2.1 update), worse build quality (slippery plastic), poor battery life, some bugs and crashes, 256MB RAM

Acer Liquid E:
+Rumored to come with 512MB RAM instead of 256MB, about the same price as the previous Liquid, many improvements and fixes in the software
-It's not available yet here though some are trickling into the market, same questionable track record regarding support and updates

Any other suggestions, or opinions on the above phones?

 

[Deeko]

The Desire is the most powerful of those phones. The Legend is a great phone for the price. Supposed to have awesome build quality, and run very smooth despite a slower processor.

 

[you2]

Well four phones I'm considering (not on your list):
Galaxy S
Driod X
Evo 4G
iphone 4 (not an andriod phone).
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I think you should consider if you want a 3.6inch display or a 4.3 display. The other major considerations are (imho) processing power, physical keyboard and battery life. The reason I put such an emphasis on processing power is that if the unit does not have a physical keyboard (which I hate) then I want it to be responsive when I press the virtual keys.

Both the Galaxy S and Driod X appear to have better battery life than the EVO. Both should be available in July (Driod X on Verizon; Galaxy S still a bit of an unknown).
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If this is not a contract or contract upgrade then I suspect they will all be out of your price range (given that the Desire is out of your price range).

 

[Deeko]

It seems he's in Sweden. Remove the Droid X and Evo from consideration.

I phone doesn't need processing power to have a responsive virtual keyboard. The original iPhone is still one of the best virtual keyboards, and it was considerably slower than today's snapdragon-powered beasts.

 

[JimmiG]

The Desire is the most powerful of those phones. The Legend is a great phone for the price. Supposed to have awesome build quality, and run very smooth despite a slower processor.

The thing about the Legend is that it's almost as expensive as the Desire, at least here. So for just a little bit more, I can get a higher res display, more RAM, a 400 MHz faster CPU etc. Of course the Legend is smaller so it might be easier to fit in a pocket, and it does look very stylish.

The iPhone is in a different price range. The Desire is also a little expensive but I can stretch the budget if it's really worth it. I would prefer something in the €300 - 350 range. The Galaxy S is also about €100 more than the Desire.

The Acer Liquid has the same CPU as the Desire, but underclocked to 768 MHz. It's a shame support seems to be so poor - users are still waiting for an Android 2.1 upgrade that was promised months ago.

 

[Deeko]

If that's the case, I'd go with the Desire then, unless you're REALLY taken with the form factor/build of the Legend.

 

[JimmiG]

If that's the case, I'd go with the Desire then, unless you're REALLY taken with the form factor/build of the Legend.

Nope, don't really care for the aluminum unibody. It looks great, but not so great that I would want to pay extra for it or sacrifice some other feature just to have it.

I guess not many people have tried the Acer Liquid devices, they seem relatively unknown.