YARMAPT: Recommend me a phone...

[SunnyD]

Here's what I'm looking for in particular:

1. Must be Android 2.3 or better (Gingerbread+) NATIVELY (not CM7/other)
2. Have decent battery life in general, particularly on wifi
3. Fairly large, preferably 4"+
4. Needs to be fairly snappy, decent CPU and ram, but doesn't necessarily need dual core
5. Internal/external storage (aside from RAM) pretty much doesn't matter at all
6. Would prefer to have FFC capability, but this is a want, not a need
7. Would love if it had some sort of desktop charging dock accessory
8. Don't care about carrier, but actually sort of prefer it to NOT be GSM*

I point out that CDMA phones or even Verizon LTE/CDMA phones are preferred because I honestly don't care if it's a blacklisted phone. In fact, I sort of prefer it, given that drops the price of the device a good bit, and this phone won't be used on any cell carrier ever. But honestly, I'm looking for cheap, so probably a generation or two old would probably be what I'm looking for here.

Long and the short of it, it's going to run VOIP full time over wifi. Therefore it needs a snappy CPU and a decent amount of RAM. I'd like a "bigger" phone because it will essentially replace a house phone so it needs to be easy for the kids to handle. Looking for something that qualifies that runs native gingerbread for the built-in SIP stack to see how well that works, as every SIP app that I've used to date seems to have some sort of issue that I haven't liked.

Now if only there were some way to turn the cell radio off without turning off wifi in the process...

 

[bearxor]

iPod Touch? Galaxy Player?

 

[Phokus]

razr maxx?

 

[NutBucket]

Enable airplane mode, then turn on wifi. Cell radio off, wifi on.

Works on our old GalaxyS and I can't see why it wouldn't work the same on most an other Android phone.

EDIT: Blacklisted typically means stolen or reported stolen. Not sure about your ethics.....Just an observation, not judgement.

 

[Deeko]

How about the Droid 3? They can be found pretty cheap because it was almost immediately replaced by the Droid 4 - it has Gingerbread, decently powerful, 4" screen...

 

[SunnyD]

iPod Touch? Galaxy Player?

Neither are phones. Why would you recommend them when I'm specifically looking for a "phone"?

Enable airplane mode, then turn on wifi. Cell radio off, wifi on.

Works on our old GalaxyS and I can't see why it wouldn't work the same on most an other Android phone.

EDIT: Blacklisted typically means stolen or reported stolen. Not sure about your ethics.....Just an observation, not judgement.

Hmm, I thought airplane mode shut off both radios completely. Didn't think you could turn either on without disabling airplane mode first.

And a bad ESN doesn't necessarily mean stolen - most common reason for a bad ESN is an unpaid bill with Verizon or Sprint. I suppose in a way that's theft, if you want to get really technical.

 

[Mopetar]

Neither are phones. Why would you recommend them when I'm specifically looking for a "phone"?

Probably because you said you don't need the cellular radio. Also, these devices probably would be a lot cheaper.

Is there any reason you need a phone and couldn't use a PMP?

 

[SunnyD]

Probably because you said you don't need the cellular radio. Also, these devices probably would be a lot cheaper.

Is there any reason you need a phone and couldn't use a PMP?

Because they would be a lot more expensive in general than a generation or two old phone, plus they also aren't usually designed with holding it to your head and using it as a telephony handset in mind. The integration of a dialpad and not having to rely on a third party application SIP are something that I'm looking for as well.

That said, there are really only two options in terms of PMPs (which were mentioned), and neither are suitable for my needs.

 

[Chocu1a]

Look for a used droid Charge on Craigslist. 4.3" screen, gingerbread, very snappy processor.
There is a desktop dock available for it too.

 

[Plugers]

HTC EVO 4Gs go for cheap and I know there was a dock for them.

 

[Topweasel]

Yeah I would second an Evo, its probably has some of the highest developer support. The SC CPU is still pretty quick, and there are so many of them out there, for nearly a year it was the only decent smartphone on Sprint.

 

[AstroManLuca]

I'd go for a Samsung Epic over an Evo myself. My wife had an Evo and I had the Epic, and the Epic was noticeably faster. The Evo's advantages were a slightly larger and clearer screen (non-pentile LCD, although the colors were less vivid than the Epic's SAMOLED) and a little better reception. But the Epic had a much improved processor and GPU.

Also, the Epic has a keyboard if you care about that. I actually didn't use it much but some people really want a keyboard. The Evo doesn't have a keyboard but it was big and chunky anyway, almost as thick as the Epic.

 

[murphy55d]

No offense to Chocu1a but do not get the Droid Charge. My wife is on her 3rd one. It is not snappy, nor is it nice. I'm using an HTC Rezound right now and I really like it but price-wise its not cheap to just up and buy one. Browse around on swappa.com and see whats in your budget.

 

[pm]

One amusing thing to mention. If you google "YARMAPT" to try to figure out what the acryonym means, the first hit in Google is this thread.

The second Google link has the answer:
YARMAPT=Yet Another Recommend Me A Phone Thread

What is "FFC"? A google search said it's a type of cable... but I'm going with that not being correct.

 

[NutBucket]

FFC = front facing camera.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

One amusing thing to mention. If you google "YARMAPT" to try to figure out what the acryonym means, the first hit in Google is this thread.

The second Google link has the answer:
YARMAPT=Yet Another Recommend Me A Phone Thread

What is "FFC"? A google search said it's a type of cable... but I'm going with that not being correct.

FFC= front facing camera.

 

[SunnyD]

One amusing thing to mention. If you google "YARMAPT" to try to figure out what the acryonym means, the first hit in Google is this thread.

The second Google link has the answer:
YARMAPT=Yet Another Recommend Me A Phone Thread

What is "FFC"? A google search said it's a type of cable... but I'm going with that not being correct.

Bringing AnandTech to global domination, one search result at a time.™

FFC = front facing camera.

What NutBucket said.

Pretty sure that none of the VOIP stuff I plan on doing officially supports video telephony, but I wouldn't mind having the option should it be available.

 

[bonkers325]

i have an htc thunderbolt that you can buy cheap. has extended battery, silicon case/kickstand, and screen protector. can restore to stock gingerbread too if you want.

 

[SunnyD]

i have an htc thunderbolt that you can buy cheap. has extended battery, silicon case/kickstand, and screen protector. can restore to stock gingerbread too if you want.

Appreciated, but please keep "offers" out of the thread. This isn't FS/FT and it's a good way to get discussion threads locked. If I were soliciting, I'd have subtly asked for PM's.