YAPT - First Verizon smartphone

[IGemini]

So, the contract is up in June and I've decided it's time to advance to the smartphone market. I'm sticking with Verizon since the airtime and data both get a 20% discount, plus the last NE2 shot and loyalty discount take $80 out of the phone price. I haven't been impressed with RIM Blackberry so far and, to be clear, I am NOT getting an iPhone. I'll be going with either Android or WP7 and plan to buy it this weekend.

I'm looking for a good mix of interface speed, web capability, video processing & capture, and app expansion. 4G LTE and/or video chat ability are nice but not necessary. I'm keeping the price around 100ish so the Thunderbolt and Charge are outside my scope.

So far I've narrowed down to:

Droid X2 - Tegra core and good feature set. My current top choice. Only thing really missing is the front-facing cam.
Droid Incredible 2 - X2 with a front cam and a Snapdragon core.
HTC Trophy - Verizon's first WP7 phone. Seems to have decent features, smaller and cheaper than the other choices. A plus is I already use Zune for syncing.
Sony Ericcson Xperia Play - I wasn't initially considering this phone, but the ability to play Minecraft on it made it worthy enough of consideration. Has some access to the Sony PSP catalog I believe (not sure how much). Camera is a little anemic.
Samsung Continuum - My budget Android choice.

Comments or suggestions? I'm probably least familiar with the WP7 capabilities even though AT's review gave some insight a while ago. Features and apps on similar phones would be good to know.

 

[sciwizam]

"Droid Incredible 2 - X2 with a front cam and a Snapdragon core."

Droid Incredible 2 is single core, DX2 is dual core. Also, less RAM.

 

[IGemini]

"Droid Incredible 2 - X2 with a front cam and a Snapdragon core."

Droid Incredible 2 is single core, DX2 is dual core. Also, less RAM.

Yes, I've been aware the Snapdragon is a single core, otherwise it wouldn't have been mentioned.

 

[Spoooon]

Any way you could scrounge up the dollars for the Charge or LG Revolution (once reviews are in)?

Seems like you may as well try and get 4G unlimited while you can.

 

[IGemini]

I've been considering the Revolution on seeing it released today, but yeah, knowing more would be nice. It's pushing the price range but not too unreasonable. The Charge just doesn't seem to have a lot of value for its price tag.

 

[sciwizam]

Amazon's having a 4G phone sale this Memorial Weekend, check if anything interests you.

 

[Spoooon]

I've been considering the Revolution on seeing it released today, but yeah, knowing more would be nice. It's pushing the price range but not too unreasonable. The Charge just doesn't seem to have a lot of value for its price tag.

FWIW, we're planning my wife's next phone (currently using Palm Pixi Plus). If the reviews are good, LG Revolution is probably going to be the one.

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

FWIW, we're planning my wife's next phone (currently using Palm Pixi Plus). If the reviews are good, LG Revolution is probably going to be the one.

Eh, I have played with the Revolution yet, but it seems meh at best. The Charge/TB seem like better phones.

EDIT: My issue with the Revolution is that it's Binged up instead of using Google.

 

[s44]

Continuum is a terrible choice: almost no dev support, and isn't it still on Eclair? Fascinate is the budget choice of choice.

Charge is $200 on a Verizon upgrade at Amazon...

 

[smartpatrol]

The HTC Trophy is a good choice if you're already used to the Zune software. It's compatible with Zune Pass as well. I also just got a free app called Radio Hub that lets you listen to practically any streaming radio station worldwide. . . German metal FTW.

I would say that gaming is one of WP7's strong points. It connects with Xbox Live, so you can earn achievement points and use it for matchmaking (turn-based multiplayer games only, for now at least). The Live-enabled games tend to be more full-featured than a typical smartphone game. One thing we will probably see a lot more of is WP7 games that interact with Xbox 360 games. There are already a few (Crackdown, Full House Poker, Fable Coin Golf).

As far as apps go, WP7 has all the basics covered: Netflix, RunKeeper, Board Express, YouTube (make sure to use HTC's YouTube app), Shazam, Weather, various stock tracking apps, unit converters, etc. The app store is growing very quickly, and it reached 10,000 apps faster than iOS or Android did. The Trophy supports 720p video capture, although I haven't played around with any video processing software beyond just capturing some short video clips (which look very nice btw, I'm using an HD7).

Hopefully Verizon has a display unit that you can play around with. I think the best thing about WP7 it's minimalist & very speedy UI. Some love it, some hate it.

 

[UNCjigga]

As the resident VZW expert (I get pre-release devices and have used all of them) here's my take on the phones you listed:

Droid X2 - Tegra core and good feature set. My current top choice. Only thing really missing is the front-facing cam. I'm testing the official Gingerbread on this now...very nice! Whatever misgivings I had about Moto Blur are now gone. Great speed, great image quality from the camera, great form factor. Only things missing are 4G and front camera. Locked bootloader too if that concerns you. The front camera missing really bugs me...even though I know I'll never use it on a 3G device!

Droid Incredible 2 - X2 with a front cam and a Snapdragon core. Not the same as the X2. Some would get this for Sense alone--still the best OEM skin for Android. Screen has superb color balance (looks like a professionally calibrated monitor!) but lower resolution than X2. CPU is fast but not the fastest by a long-shot. Locked bootloader. Waiting to see how Gingerbread fares on this one...

HTC Trophy - Verizon's first WP7 phone. Seems to have decent features, smaller and cheaper than the other choices. A plus is I already use Zune for syncing. Great camera and music apps. Can't really say much else--app selection is still lagging way behind Android

Sony Ericcson Xperia Play - I wasn't initially considering this phone, but the ability to play Minecraft on it made it worthy enough of consideration. Has some access to the Sony PSP catalog I believe (not sure how much). Camera is a little anemic. If you're a hardcore gamer, get a 3DS or wait for PSP Next. If you're not a hardcore gamer...why are you looking at this phone? There are better phones out there. CPU is a bit older like the Inc2...and I'm sure Minecraft will make its way to other Droids.

Samsung Continuum - My budget Android choice. AVOID AT ALL COSTS!

You should also consider the iPhone 4 and for budget Androids I would only recommend the Fascinate or Droid X if there's a special going on. The whole "budget" phone concept is a myth. You're still paying the same amount for service and data in the long run, and if you're locking in for 2 years it would be best to get the absolute best phone available on the date of purchase.

 

[IGemini]

Xperia seemed like a fun choice for minecraft, but it's pretty lackluster overall having seen the specs in detail. Might've been worth it if the capabilities were more on par with other phones.

I have a virulent dislike of Apple products. The Droid X has been the top of my choice list for a while before Verizon starting using new product. I was really interested in the Bionic but I'm not willing to wait that long, they've really procrastinated on that release. If I'm willing to go the extra mile for LTE, it'll probably be the T-Bolt or Revolution, hoping I can look at a display model. The Charge I can get for $220 through Verizon directly but it's still too much.

Thanks for the advice all, it helps a lot.