What do you look for now in a smartphone? Have your views changed?

kookk

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I've noticed that my needs in a smartphone have drastically changed over the years. I used to be all about rooting and romming. I wanted to customize everything and maximize everything. Then when I got over the hyper customization phase, I only rooted and rommed to get things like better battery life, stock android, a smoother experience, ditch bloatware, battery % and notification widgets, etc. It started to feel more like a chore.


I've got an upgrade next october and I'm already planning what I want in a phone. I got my galaxy nexus last february and while I thought it was great initially, I wish I had waited. Great for romming and rooting and all that jazz, but I bought it at a time when I was moving away from that and now I don't hate my phone, but I don't enjoy using it either. It's just there. I feel like updating my rom all the time is a chore, the battery life is very mediocre, below average signal, dated screen, and worst of all, that plastic build.


Now my needs have moved very far away from r&r. Now most important to me are build quality (including screen), good camera, battery life, and smoothness. Android has greatly advanced in those categories and I used to have to root to get the latter two, now I don't feel like I need to. Rooting is the last thing I want to do. The most important of those is build quality. I love android, but when I hold my dads iphone 5, I wish I could put 4.2 in that chassis.

So come october, the way thing's look I will probably be going with HTC. I know there's a lot of time until then but HTC seems to be producing the best software to build quality ratio what with the One X and DNA and their next rumored phone (M7 or something?)
 

LoudRam

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I use my phone for much more than what I did when I first got it but this phone is so good that it's been able to grow with my needs. I loved my Rezound from the start but I never thought that it would do this well. For me to say that there is nothing out there that interests me more than my Rezound is a big deal. While I loved my previous smart phones I always found limitations with them. It was either with storage or processor speed or apps they couldn't handle. With this phone I haven't found one yet. Its handled everything I've thrown at it and asked for more.

Sent from my HTC Rezound using Droid Forums
 

dezymond

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Just recently flashed a new ROM onto my Nexus and I still enjoy it as much as I did on day 1. For the past 3 years of Android ownership my view is still the same; an open sourced OS that can be customized to MY liking, right down to the very color of the clock.

I did have the dinc for a year and I wasn't too big on ROMing that phone, but with my Nexus I had renewed my love for ROMing that I had on the D1.
 

Xander Crews

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I use my phone for much more than what I did when I first got it but this phone is so good that it's been able to grow with my needs. I loved my Rezound from the start but I never thought that it would do this well. For me to say that there is nothing out there that interests me more than my Rezound is a big deal. While I loved my previous smart phones I always found limitations with them. It was either with storage or processor speed or apps they couldn't handle. With this phone I haven't found one yet. Its handled everything I've thrown at it and asked for more.

Sent from my HTC Rezound using Droid Forums

Same here. The Rezound is an amazing phone. It might be the best phone nobody has ever heard of...hell, it's better than a lot of the phones folks have heard of.

When the day comes to upgrade, it looks like I'll be moving away from Verizon. I'm not going to their tiered plans and losing my unlimited data.
I'll go to Sprint or T-Mobile before I go to Verizon's rip-off, overpriced tiered plans...even though I love the Verizon network.

My "must have's" in a smart phone:
  • Enough battery to easily get me through a full day on normal use...and preferably a removable battery that can be replaced with an extended one if I desire.
  • Excellent camera (as far as smart phones go anyway).
  • No physical buttons (like the DroidX). I like my buttons under the glass (like my old Droid 2 and my current Rezound). I enjoy the nice smooth surface, nothing for lint/dirt to gather around, etc.
  • Android OS, obviously. If it's got iOS, it's not even considered. Period. iOS sucks that bad compared to Android.
  • And when the day comes, I think my next phone will be a Google Nexus device. I'd like to be in the world of Android that Google intended. Not that it's a huge deal now...I love my Rezound running Nova Launcher, but I'd like to give Vanilla Android a shot again. I had it on my old G1 back in the day. If, when the time comes, the Google Nexus meets the above requirements, then that is the route I'd like to go...but I have about a year and a half to go yet, so...we'll see what's available at that time.
  • Massive screen size doesn't really do it for me. I mean, I could probably go a little bigger than my Rezound's screen...but I'm not sure if I'd like to go as big as the Note2. I think the size of the GSIII might be as big as I want to go.
  • I'd prefer my phone have a little bit of weight to it. I don't like the phones that are too light (iPhone5). They feel cheap, and I feel like I could drop it for some reason. A little bit of weight at least gives the impression of higher quality.
 

Droidram56

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I am surprised that the Rezound does not get more praise on these boards and elsewhere. I have been very pleased with it.
 

LoudRam

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I am surprised that the Rezound does not get more praise on these boards and elsewhere. I have been very pleased with it.

The members on this board and similar boards realize how underrated the Rezound is. Its the general public that lost out on a great phone because of poor advertising. I couldn't be happier with mine.

Sent from my HTC Rezound using Droid Forums
 

Droidram56

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With the Rezound, the One series phones, and now the DROID DNA all being solid phones, hopefully things will look up for HTC.
 
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