Need advice: Which phone next?
 

Hey guys,

I've had my Nokia N900 since sometime in 2010. I use T-Mobile to stay away from contracts (USA).

Anyways, I'm thinking of getting a new phone. I'm definitely not going with Apple or Microsoft. I've been wanting an N9 for a while but with the drop in support by Nokia, I don't think that's a good option for a phone I plan on keeping around for a while.

I tried out one of the latest Nexus for a day (from Verizon) and while it was an amazing phone, I'm not so sure I want to go Android. Mainly, I don't like the idea of being married to Google's services and otherwise the phone would loose most of its value to me.

The main thing I love about Maemo and the N900 is its open-source-ness (is that a word? haha). I know Android is an open source operating system and I'm sure there's a ton of ways to break away from Google on it but I feel like using it without Google would be an uphill battle only resolved by a large-collection of loosely-coupled applications. It sort of defeats the whole beauty that Android offers and the price-tag ($400 for the Nexus) wouldn't be worth it.

Most of the common tasks I use my phone for are Calling, Texting (SMS and MMS), the excellent camera it has, web browsing, email, and occasionally the command-line when I need to do something away from the computer. If at all possible, I want to find something very responsive and clean.

Aside from Android being married to Google, Android phones would seem like the next logical step for me. But -- I really want to see what other alternatives are out there first.

Do you guys have any suggestions on other phones I should check into? What are you going to use after Nokia drops support for their non-Microsoft devices?

Re: Need advice: Which phone next?
 

Thousands thread like this overhere, cant you choose phone by yourself? At least you gonna use it by yourself, just ask yourself, meeeh

Re: Need advice: Which phone next?
 

First of all. N9 is a great device for the price even if it's not close to the awesomeness of the n900. I think you shall take a look at Samsung galaxy note. I think that is the way the N9 and possibly a future N10 should have moved towards. Another phone you should look at is the new 808 Pureview. If you can live with Symbian and with the last of its kind(possibly) you get an excellent device. if you don't need a new phone now, you could wait for the first Tizen device. But there is alot of uncertainty about that atm. You have to do a trade off since all phones have good or bad. Add points to your list in of what you prioritize most and it's easier to help you.

My chose for you is the galaxy note if you want the overall super device. But since you are here and lived with the n900 a while a cheap n9 could be the way to go until tizen or some other cool device appears.

Re: Need advice: Which phone next?
 

Create a list of 10 thing which are important to you in a device and then pick the one phone that meets those needs best.

Or flash the n900 and give it a face lift with a new theme and some tweaks (see maemeamo), there has been a flurry of new apps recently that are ripe to try too.

It would be like having a whole new phone with all of the features you still love.

Re: Need advice: Which phone next?
 

If you can wait long enough, http://www.tizenphones.com/.

Re: Need advice: Which phone next?
 

It's unfortunate that a good OS will show up on such shoddy hardware provided by Samsung, the king of cheap plastics. To the OP, I tested out ICS, it is pretty nice, but I stay away from Android due to its laggyness and lack of good integration of services even at this stage of the game.

If I were to get a phone right now, it would still be an N9 due to price lowering...but if that is not an option, then you basically have 3 OS's to choose from. IOS is IOS, it can be nice at times. My mom can use it, b/c it is simple. Last is Windows phone. Test it out, see if you like. It's too bad there are not many viable OS's out right now. Would love to see a WebOS or new Maemo phone. Next phone I get will be a Blackberry 10 OS phone, the closest thing to MeeGo and WebOS. Tested out a playbook, loved the UI, but dev was minimal on it, hopefully it will take off; although Blackberry is MUCH worse shape then Nokia, which says a lot..

.Hardwarewise, if you can wait a little longer, Pureview tech is coming to Nokia windows phones, and Windows 8 is pretty killer for non-linux heads...but you will have to wait a little, b/c Lumias are non-upgradable to Windows 8...sucks for Lumia owners, but I could care less, since there is a certain Lumia troll on this forum who deserves this. So again, if you are not into tweaking or MeeGo as much, wait for Windows 8 or Blackberry 10. Both will be nice, and Nokia hardware is still tops in looks and quality compared to Samsung/Sony/Motorola crap. And Apple products are great to look at, but don't drop it, or it will shatter into millions of tiny glass pieces. Fun.

Re: Need advice: Which phone next?
 

Thousands? Oh man, I must have overlooked a whole category or something. I saw one that was somewhat related but the user didn't mind switching to an Android device. Not exactly the same as looking for something that is following in N900's footsteps.

Since I must have missed out quite a bit, I'll take a deeper look into the more recent forum posts since the industry has had a rapid change in the past few months. Feel free to share any good threads that don't assume Nokia is continuing support over their non-MS devices and offer something other than Android.

Re: Need advice: Which phone next?
 

This is definitely along the lines of something I'm looking for. Thanks for sharing the great link!

Re: Need advice: Which phone next?
 

I definitely agree that Nokia hardware far exceed anything I've used from its competitors. It was almost enough to bring me to the Windows phones -- but I'm a Linux user on my desktop so that was pulling me away :)

I did have the opportunity to own one of the HP Touchpads for a bit (which ran WebOS). I have to admit that I really did enjoy WebOS -- the only reason I returned it was its poor hardware quality. If I could find a WebOS phone, that would be awesome!

I've never used Blackberry at all -- mainly because I've always heard you're pretty much married to Blackberry (the company). Maybe that's changed? Also, most of the Blackberry phones I've seen are littered with so many buttons it kind of loses that artistic design appeal that's blown up in the past several years.

Thanks for the good information! I'm definitely going to check out some of those ideas and you gave me some great things to ponder.

Re: Need advice: Which phone next?
 

My advice is to test out a playbook. Amazing hardware and OS. Barely any dev support though. This should change, but not soon. I am hunkered down with an N9 for at least another year due to the community support, that should be enough time to see what Nokia does, and what Blackberry does. Blackberry's new OS is unix based, and it is utterly different from the crap they have right now. With Dingleberry support (rooting tech), you can do some cool stuff with the playbook, although I wouldn't trade one for my touchpad right now. I had some hardware issues with my TP as well, HP sent me a new one in trade with my old one. OC'd and homebrewed, makes me very happy with it. WebOS will hopefully be adopted by another OEM, but who knows.

Again, check out a Playbook, you will be pleasantly surprised. Don't buy one though! Not yet. Not until there is good dev support/homebrew community behind it.