(Archived) Help from the forum please.. best mobile choice?

[gazumped 11,664]

While the rest of the world moved to smart phones some time ago, I've been happy with a phone that made phone calls. No apps, no games (none worth playing, anyway), no pics (got a stand-alone camera for that), no nothing.

But now I'm sufficiently impressed by our hosts here, and by my continuing efforts to put my life online, to consider actually buying something that will allow me to see and play with my data store whilst away from my PC.

Plus I can take pics and upload data from remote sites that I currently have to bring home to upload.

Given the confusing choice between iPhone / Android / Nokia etc and their respective phones and apps, I'm wondering if you, dear readers, can tell me what would be your ideal mobile solution? It may not be what you're actually using now, but if you have actually used any mobile access you're several steps ahead of me and I'd value your input.

Any constructive suggestions or feedback gratefully welcomed... thanks in advance!

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

This is like politics & religion. I would suggest you browse the board for the various devices & see what others have posted. Another good source for smart phone info is the discussion board at Brighthand.com. Also, FYI, when I switched from a feature phone to an iPhone (3G) in June 2009, there was a 30 day period where I could change phones if I didn't like it. And since I had to switch providers (move to AT&T to get the iPhone), within that 30 day period, if I didn't like the iPhone, I could move to say, Verizon, if they had a phone I wanted to try. IOW, if I moved to AT&T to get an iPhone & decided I didn't like the iPhone 20 days later, I wasn't obligated to stay with AT&T. I don't know if this is available in your area but it's worth investigating. IMO, these days, phones are very personalized items & any reputable company should offer a similar option.

Having said all that, IME, iPhones are beloved by tech savvy people as well as those not so tech savvy. Android seems to be beloved by tech savvy people & not so much by those who are tech impaired.

[JMichaelTest 19]

. . . I'm wondering if you, dear readers, can tell me what would be your ideal mobile solution? It may not be what you're actually using now, but if you have actually used any mobile access you're several steps ahead of me and I'd value your input.

Are you asking which mobile phone is best in general, or which mobile phone has the best Evernote app?

[gazumped 11,664]

Are you asking which mobile phone is best in general, or which mobile phone has the best Evernote app?

Hmmn - good question: the "best phone" might be top of the list for lots of things besides the app; the "best app" might only be best until one of the other phones gets an upgrade - but I really want to know which phone/ app combination currently gets the best value out of Evernote. So I guess it's a combination of the two - a 2nd-level phone plus a top flight app might be best combination; or a top phone with a so-so app. Any constructive suggestions welcomed...

I'll be doing the rounds of my local providers for 'phone deals, but I don't think that I have the option for any cooling-off periods as suggested by BNF (thanks for the comments). AFAIK in the UK you get locked in to a 12-18 months deal on a specific phone with a given provider and it gets expensive to change.

[Metrodon 2,184]

In the UK you can normally give a phone back in 7 days if you don't want it. You will still be tied to your contract though.

The 'best' phone is very much a personal choice. The best phone I have is a Blackberry Bold - it's a brilliant phone i.e. call quality is excellent, it's a brilliant email device - but, the web experience is awful and Evernote is well, erm, not great. I also have an iPhone, call quality ain't great, calls do drop, web is brilliant, app store is safe (as opposed to the Android stores) and Evernote is pretty good.

I'd suggest listing out the most important things that you want to do with the phone and then take a look at some of the review sites.

[jbenson2 2,147]

If you enjoy carrying a magnifying glass around with you, then the Blackberry is a good choice.

Personally, I think the best choice is the iPhone. The Evernote staff have had more experience with the Apple operating system.

[gazumped 11,664]

Thanks all. I successfully avoided the i-monster up to now, though there are a couple of apps that could be useful to me including, of course, Evernote. I'll continue gathering as much information as I can, although I think it is a foregone conclusion. I'm techie enough to handle it and my i-credibility could do with a boost.

If anyone does have a sudden urge to recommend another 'phone or 'phone OS please feel free to add to this thread - the forum is all about the best ways to use and abuse EN, and while the initial focus may have been on users who already had a fairly wide tech footprint, it looks like more and more users are coming on board because this is such a head-smackingly good piece of software into which they then want to feed the maximum amount of good data and maintain access to it through as many outlets as possible. People like me with a desktop machine where previously I hadn't felt a need to connect while away from base, but now I see the good sense in uploading stuff directly - and the convenience of being able to access it remotely. I reserve the right to come back here and gush (again) if the new mobile experience turns out well...

[TheGurkha 1]

I'd go for anything reasonably powerful that runs Android.

But that's just my opinion. But then, you were asking for opinions.

[Phil Dean 150]

I will start off by saying this is my personal opinion and not Evernote's. I have an iPhone and an Android Droid X. If I had to choose one then I would most certainly go with my droid x. The reason being is call quality is great, I love the UI on the Android more so than the iPhone, I get one free app a day from Amazon, and I feel the general function in navigating is easier on the Droid. Plus the screen is larger which makes using the touchscreen keyboard so much easier to use without fat fingering words that I get using the iPhone touch screen keyboard. Again just my personal opinion on this. Regarding the plan I have the unlimited data plan via Verizon on the droid which allows me to tether my ipad when I am out of wifi range.

[gazumped 11,664]

In case the world is still breathlessly waiting for a resolution to this thread, I can now confirm that I went with a Samsung Galaxy S II running Andriod 3.3.3 for the largely tech-free reason that it was the best deal on monthly costs that I could get from a UK network.

I went for a dual-processor phone in case I needed it, and got a contract that's light on phone calls and texts (I have few friends..) but heavy on network use so I can use my Evernote whenever I need to. On brief acquaintance we're getting along famously, and like my sudden revelation when I got a document-fed ScanSnap that anything can go into Evernote, the phone now makes getting snaps of things into a note ridiculously easy.

My biggest use so far though has been as a reader - lots of user guides, including the phone's 164 page PDF manual, have made it into my notes. Now I can look them up on the 'phone whenever necessary. Useful over the weekend when I was servicing an old sewing machine and wanted some idea of which bits to take off first...

The Evernote for Android app rocks (IMHO) - all I have to do now is work out which other apps are worth adding to the several screens' worth of content I already got with the phone. (And why wasn't one of those preinstalls Evernote guys, Eh?)

Thanks to everyone who responded to the original query!