My Smartphone Experience

[stuboyle]

Up to this point, we have only had regular flip phones with voice only and no texting. I'm kind of techie and have been interested in getting a smartphone someday but the cost was just more than I was willing to spend. So I've kept my eye on the prices.

Finally, I took the plunge a couple weeks ago when I was enticed by the great deals T-mobile was offering for their data plans. We went the "full meal deal" with 2 HTC Sensation, top-of-the-line Android smart phone.

Well, the verdict is . . . . I am less then impressed.

People we were talking to consistently told us that we were breaking-up or they couldn't understand what we are saying. On our end, the people's voices sounded muffled. While the other features smartphone features were cool, if the voice quality wasn't good, then it was a deal breaker for me. Most of the Android apps were a marginal quality in my book. Access the internet was just so-so because of the small screen. Generally, if I'm not a home, I'm at work, where I have access to the Internet at both location. I don't travel very much and when I do, it frequently visiting family and they have internet connections. So packed everything up last night and returned it. Now we are back to using our old flip-phone again.

What other experiences do you have with smartphones?

[JaneV2.0]

That was pretty much my experience. I had a Samsung briefly, thinking with a decent monthly rate I could ditch my long distance carrier and telescope camera and cell into one unit plus Web and GPS, but after playing with it for a couple of weeks I sent it back. I kept getting nuisance calls dunning my assigned number's previous owner, the GPS was hit or miss, voice quality was lackluster, and I really couldn't justify having a meant-for-mobility device when I spend most of my time at home. I may change my mind if whiz-bang apps and cheaper monthly rates wear me down. But then again, maybe not.

[redfox]

I have an iPhone. I love it, because I realized as I was researching them that these so-called smart phones are more smart than phone. They are hand-held computers with phone capacity, which varies in quality because of all kinds of variables. I bought it expecting it to perform for certain functions, and it does that beautifully. The phone quality is decent, reception is good for data, and both vary depending upon the service in a given geographic area. If one uses a phone primarily for talking, I'd stay with simpler cells or landlines.

[madgeylou]

love my iphone! love it even more now that i'm starting to use google voice for texting and voice calls. bypassing the idiocy that is AT&T brings me great joy.

i've found that i get much better sound quality (on both ends) using earbuds rather than holding the phone up to my head.

[Stella]

Another iPhone lover here.

[mara61]

I have an Droid and really like it. I had a Palm a long time ago and really like the blend of planner and phone with the Droid. I've tried using paper planners and they just don't work for me. My husband can't receive calls at work so we do text. I don't have any games on my phone, I really just use it for a phone/planner. Voice quality on mine is great.

[redfox]

Ditto the earbuds.
(posting from my iPhone. In a shuttle to the Denver airport!)

[Tradd]

Had an iPhone 3G, but ditched it because horrid AT&T call quality and data network issues. Have a Droid X with Verizon now (big screen) and I love it. I do everything on it. Not sure what you mean by the poor quality of Android apps because mine work fine, just like their iPhone counterparts. I have an iPod Touch and the iPhone/iTouch apps perform the same as on my Droid.

[iris lily]

I've decided not to give up my AT & T landline because the quality is always there and I have hearing problems.

But I wouldn't rule out a smartphone for the fun factor, just not for me for the reliability factor.

[rose]

I have a smartphone. Samsung with Android. I don't use the features a lot. I need to spend more time learning. But I've had some instances where I was glad to have it. Small things...but handy nonetheless.
1) My son found gps on it when we were lost in Seattle, he took it and put the thing in is phone holder on the dash and it not only showed a map, a woman's voice talked us right to the location.
2)One day I was trying to find fast food fish and chips for my mom. Ever try to find a phone book now? I pulled over and googled it and found the answer in a minute.
3) I have the Kindle App downloaded and some free books. It is very small but I look forward to reading when I'm stranded somewhere without a book.
4) I have a running shopping list on the phone.
5) I haven't really been where I needed to read my email on it but I like that I can look at my email if I wanted.

I like having a little computer in my pocket even though I don't make the best use of it. I've got service through Virgin at $25 per month for unlimited web, data and messaging. I think I have 250 voice minutes. This plan, which I still have at $25 per month, is now $35 per month. Well worth that to me. I had to buy the phone. If I was paying $100 per month, probably not.