Wife wants Android phone: CHALLENGE - OP is a n00b!

[Schadenfreude]

Alright, the wife wants a new phone - more specifically, a new Android smartphone. Simple enough, right? Well, we're 1/2 way into a T-mobile basic family plan w/o a data plan: if we get such a phone, do we have to sign up for 3G/4G/LTE/whatever data service, or can we just use the (free) wifi without having to worry about paying for a service we won't need?

She also detests corporations that you pay extra just for a brand (Apple, Sony, etc.) so no iOS devices, thank you.

And what's the cheapest phone that runs Android? Being a bit of a gadget geek herself, she'll want something with a little bit of oomph - I was thinking something along the lines of a Tegra2 (or equivalent) phone would be nice.

We're currently in the states, but we're heading over to Korea for a week for a wedding and my brother's flying in from China as well; which means we could possibly coordinate something there too.

Any ideas?

tl;dr
- Wife wants an android phone
- Looking for Tegra2 phone
- Can obtain from US/Korea/China
- No iOS phones, the wife detests paying the brand tax (no Sony Ericsson for the same reason)
- What's the cheapest one available?
- Are there companies which allow smartphones on a non-data plan?

 

[zerocool84]

If you get it subsidized from them you'll have to get the data plan. If you buy a phone outright you won't need the data plan from them.

 

[alent1234]

For t-mo get the mytouch 4g free on contract. Tegra2 you are going to pay $200 or so as an existing customer. Same price as the upcoming dual core iPhone. Your wife doesn't know what she's talking about apple being expensive

 

[Pliablemoose]

Get a GX2, pay full price

Add data plan to tmobile line.

While you're at it, look at the retail prices of various phones, realize there is no Apple tax except on their PCs and laptops...

But what the heck, Apple sucks, right?

 

[Schadenfreude]

For t-mo get the mytouch 4g free on contract. Tegra2 you are going to pay $200 or so as an existing customer. Same price as the upcoming dual core iPhone. Your wife doesn't know what she's talking about apple being expensive

Get a GX2, pay full price

Add data plan to tmobile line.

While you're at it, look at the retail prices of various phones, realize there is no Apple tax except on their PCs and laptops...

But what the heck, Apple sucks, right?

She doesn't like Apple products by principle; I have an iPod Touch myself and we both agree that it's nice, but she'd prefer the (more) openness of Android as a whole.

 

[Pliablemoose]

So just to clarify, you're not eligible for an upgrade, but want a cheap, state of the art Tegra 2phone on tmobiles frequencies?

 

[QueBert]

does your wife like to tinker? I've never been happy with a stock Android device I've owned. I understand her stance on Apple, but Android's imho only really good for total n00bs who don't know enough to care. Or geeks who want to invest the time to get the phone functioning to it's full potential.

 

[Pliablemoose]

does your wife like to tinker? I've never been happy with a stock Android device I've owned. I understand her stance on Apple, but Android's imho only really good for total n00bs who don't know enough to care. Or geeks who want to invest the time to get the phone functioning to it's full potential.

Just because I downloaded and installed a new rom on my phone while driving to work does not make me a geek!!!!!!!!!

I gotta tell you, the text for restoring apps on Ti backup is a pita to read while driving...

 

[QueBert]

Just because I downloaded and installed a new rom on my phone while driving to work does not make me a geek!!!!!!!!!

I gotta tell you, the text for restoring apps on Ti backup is a pita to read while driving...

Ti's a pita period imho, I bought it and it's just not that easy to use.

 

[sciwizam]

While it might not be cheap, see if you can get a Samsung Galaxy S2 at a good price, while in Korea. It's the beastly phone of 2011 among all the phones announced till now.

 

[ultimatebob]

Get a GX2, pay full price

Add data plan to tmobile line.

While you're at it, look at the retail prices of various phones, realize there is no Apple tax except on their PCs and laptops...

But what the heck, Apple sucks, right?

You're kidding, right? An 16 GB iPhone 4 is still $200 at AT&T, but you can get an Motorola Atrix 4G with the same amount of storage, a bigger screen, faster hardware, and 4G networking for half that price.

 

[Pliablemoose]

You're kidding, right? An 16 GB iPhone 4 is still $200 at AT&T, but you can get an Motorola Atrix 4G with the same amount of storage, a bigger screen, faster hardware, and 4G networking for half that price.

Obviously, the Atrix is the best possible phone ever made...

 

[badb0y]

You're kidding, right? An 16 GB iPhone 4 is still $200 at AT&T, but you can get an Motorola Atrix 4G with the same amount of storage, a bigger screen, faster hardware, and 4G networking for half that price.

I went from an iPhone 4 to Motorola Atrix and I regret every second of it. I am not a Apple fanboy, I actually like Android(My friends Galaxy S is awesome) but if I was given a choice between the Atrix and the iPhone 4, I would always pick the iPhone 4. I didn't realize that essentially what Motorola does is force customers to use their shitty skin on Android and to make matters worse they lock their bootloader so no custom roms can be used.

 

[sciwizam]

I went from an iPhone 4 to Motorola Atrix and I regret every second of it. I am not a Apple fanboy, I actually like Android(My friends Galaxy S is awesome) but if I was given a choice between the Atrix and the iPhone 4, I would always pick the iPhone 4. I didn't realize that essentially what Motorola does is force customers to use their shitty skin on Android and to make matters worse they lock their bootloader so no custom roms can be used.

This might be getting resolved. Looks like Moto is unlocking the bootloader with the Gingerbread update slated for the 1st week of July.

 

[Demo24]

While it might not be cheap, see if you can get a Samsung Galaxy S2 at a good price, while in Korea. It's the beastly phone of 2011 among all the phones announced till now.

I was going to suggest this but I don't think it would work on 3g with T-mobile here in the states

 

[badb0y]

This might be getting resolved. Looks like Moto is unlocking the bootloader with the Gingerbread update slated for the 1st week of July.

YES I saw that thread and creamed myself. CM7 HERE I COME!

 

[vshah]

g2x or sensation. pay full price if you don't want a data plan, simple as that.

 

[boomhower]

You're kidding, right? An 16 GB iPhone 4 is still $200 at AT&T, but you can get an Motorola Atrix 4G with the same amount of storage, a bigger screen, faster hardware, and 4G networking for half that price.

No a fair comparison. What could have been a awesome phone was turned into a turd by Moto.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Ti's a pita period imho, I bought it and it's just not that easy to use.

Uh. Batch. Backup all apps. Done. Restore all apps + system data. Done.

 

[Schadenfreude]

So just to clarify, you're not eligible for an upgrade, but want a cheap, state of the art Tegra 2phone on tmobiles frequencies?

Right - well, what can I expect to pay (ballpark-figure wise) if we decide to go for a un-subsidized phone, and what's one of the more inexpensive phones?

does your wife like to tinker? I've never been happy with a stock Android device I've owned. I understand her stance on Apple, but Android's imho only really good for total n00bs who don't know enough to care. Or geeks who want to invest the time to get the phone functioning to it's full potential.

She's not much of a tinkerer, but I can mess around with it (with you guys' help undoubtedly) to optimize it a bit.

 

[Pliablemoose]

$400-$420 or so, grab a gx2 on craigslist...

 

[vshah]

yeah, i'd go used g2x, the sensations are very expensive right now ($549 direct from tmobile, + tax)

sensation has vs g2x:
qHd screen (960x540 vs. 800x480)
786mb ram vs 512mb ram
4.3" screen vs 4" screen
potentially longer battery life from what i can glean from various reviews
potentially slightly worse gpu performance vs. the tegra 2 in g2x, from what I can tell
HTC sense vs. stock android
locked bootloader vs. unlocked on the g2x.

g2x has cyanogenmod support, which is a big plus IMHO. although there are rumors that the sensation will be unlocked by HTC sometime soon, but there is no solid date yet.

 

[QueBert]

Uh. Batch. Backup all apps. Done. Restore all apps + system data. Done.

it doesn't back up app data, my angry birds progression was all gone, none of my texts were restored and numerous other things. And restoring all system data when you flash to a new rom is a big problem just waiting to happen.

 

[zerocool84]

it doesn't back up app data, my angry birds progression was all gone, none of my texts were restored and numerous other things. And restoring all system data when you flash to a new rom is a big problem just waiting to happen.

It's always backed up my app data for the two Android phones I've owned. Might be the ROM you're using.

 

[Schadenfreude]

So I was thinking about asking my brother to pick up this little guy from China for ~$390:

Meizu M9

It looks like it's a fairly well-put together phone. Is it a good deal? And how does using apps for it work since there's so many different Android phones using different processors on different displays? Is it as simple as using a PC program, or do I have to make sure it's compatible?