Which smartphone is best (for me)?

[ninjaaron]

I kinda want to get a smartphone within the next year. What should I look at? I'm interested in your thoughts on budget options and top of the line.

I don't have any computers running a non-linux OS, so no iPhone for me (though it looks amazing). I'm sure ya'll can recommend Ubuntu friendly devices.

I want to use it as a phone (obviously), internet thingy, PMP, and eReader in a pinch.

Things that matter to me:

*Screen quality; good resolution, brightness, colors (and blacks) and viewing angels.
*SD card slot.
*Good sound quality (and preferably a standard headphone output).

Things that don't matter to me:

Camera
Games
Interface gimmicks that don't add functionality.
Thousands of apps

Also, I like thin form factor, and I like hack-ability. GPS is nice too. Not crucial, but I like these things. At the end of the day, I want a phone that does what I want extremely well, and I don't care if it can do anything else.


GO!!

[MrNatewood]

Nokia N9. No SD slot but you could get the 64GB version and not ever need it. Note that most of the time you will get a device with 8GB built-in and an option for an SD of up to 32GB, so that's 40GB total and as I said you can get an N9 with 64GB.

It's the only true top of the line GNU/Linux phone out there so that should fit you perfectly.

So far the "first look"s of it are very positive. Both Hardware and software. In particular the screen quality is raved about. Only real issue mentioned is low prospect of having a a lot of apps made for it(mostly relevant for games I think).

If SD is a must or you don't like the N9 for another reason check this:
http://unrevoked.com/rootwiki/doku.php/public/root_friendly
On the very top you will see a list of Android devices with official support for rooting. It doesn't get more hack-friendly than that. Out of those I would recommend the SE Xperia Neo more than the rest.

Practically all devices nowadays come with standard audio jack.

[Antarctica32]

Ok well I'm not a phone expert but....
The droid charge sounds pretty good for those needs. It has the 4gLTE so its internet is fast.
The droid X2 sounds pretty good for that too. The X2 is pretty fast in general cuz it has the duel core processor.
Personally, I would wait. Smartphones tend to come out in waves. The last one of these was about april-may, and another is due in early December. The Samsung Galaxy S2 is coming out and that beets hands down all the other phones. Also, when the new wave of phones come out the price of the last waves phones (X2, charge) will dramatically drop.

[NadirPoint]

Why do so many people seem to be under the misconception that the iPhone and Linux are mutually exclusive?

[Antarctica32]

Well I think he was referring to the lack of iTunes support for linux (although, yes it is true you can run it rather poorly in wine). Besides, iPhone is all appley and android is all linuxy.

[NadirPoint]

I believe the Windows in my vbox runs better than native.

[ninjaaron]

The N9 does seem very attractive for what I want, and you're right that 64GB makes SD irrelevant. My one worry is that Nokia is clearly not interested in Meego as a platform, and I'm worried that support for the OS will be poor on this phone. They seem only to be releasing it to fulfil contractual obligations. On the other hand, It's real linux, so I guess I can get a lot of stuff in through the back door (come to think of it, that means I can probably also get any kind of media codecs I want).

I might opt for something with Android just because I know it will be supported, but the N9 does sound a lot like what I'm looking for.

I really hope some mobile manufacturer uses Meego in the future. I've been watching it for a while.

[ninjaaron]

Why do so many people seem to be under the misconception that the iPhone and Linux are mutually exclusive?

I was under the impression that the G4 iPhone wouldn't talk to any programs but iTunes. I've always had trouble trying to get non-native programs running in Linux, and I would prefer to avoid the ordeal.

[CraigPaleo]

*Screen quality; good resolution, brightness, colors (and blacks) and viewing angels.

I would add screen size to that. My 3.5" iPhone 3G with a resolution of 320 × 480 was much easier to read than my Samsung Galaxy Prevail with a 3.2" screen at the same resolution.

I didn't think that a .3" difference in screen size would have made that big a difference but when something is that small, the difference is huge. I often have to zoom in more in order to read something than I did with the iPhone.

If not for financial constraints and lack of options with my carrier, I would have bought a phone with a larger screen. Other than that, I am quite happy with my phone and carrier considering the prices of each.

I'm not suggesting either the iPhone or Samsung - just that you might want to take screen size into consideration as well. :)

[AllRadioisDead]

If screen quality is important, get a Samsung device with a Super Amoled display. They're the only devices I can actually use outside in direct sunlight. They're great, and the Galaxy S 2 should be hitting Canada in the next few weeks so you can probably order one unlocked. If not, get the GT-i9000 (International) or one of the US Variants.

[CraigPaleo]

Hopefully, they're available in Israel.

[Spr0k3t]

For hackability wise, if you go the Android route you should look at anything HTC. They seem to be dev happy and will release code quickly to help the hacking community. Android requirements dictate some form of user removable media, at this time MicroSD is the weapon of choice for most manufacturers.

Whatever phone you go with, just make sure you can easily root and hack before you buy.

[3rdalbum]

Why do so many people seem to be under the misconception that the iPhone and Linux are mutually exclusive?

Because the next iTunes or iOS update could prevent you from using your phone in conjunction with your computer?

[MrNatewood]

The N9 does seem very attractive for what I want, and you're right that 64GB makes SD irrelevant. My one worry is that Nokia is clearly not interested in Meego as a platform, and I'm worried that support for the OS will be poor on this phone. They seem only to be releasing it to fulfil contractual obligations. On the other hand, It's real linux, so I guess I can get a lot of stuff in through the back door (come to think of it, that means I can probably also get any kind of media codecs I want).

I might opt for something with Android just because I know it will be supported, but the N9 does sound a lot like what I'm looking for.

I really hope some mobile manufacturer uses Meego in the future. I've been watching it for a while.

Do remember that Maemo on the N900 was released as a dead platform, but it still gets new applications and even community OS updates 2 years after it's release. A good example of that is Firefox Mobile that was released only for two platforms, Android and Maemo. (there is even a version of Kubuntu (http://apachelog.wordpress.com/2011/05/20/kubuntu-11-10-mobile-devices-sneak-peak/) in the works for it)

Just the fact that it is GNU/Linux makes it very easy to get apps on it. On top of that you can run android apps out-of-the-box on the N9 with Alien Dalvik.

I really don't see it being Nokia's only MeeGo phone affecting the end-user that much.

Also, Intel has announced it is working with manufactures to release more MeeGo phones next year, though they did not specify(LG has made such voices in the past).

[ninjaaron]

Also, Intel has announced it is working with manufactures to release more MeeGo phones next year, though they did not specify(LG has made such voices in the past).

Woo!

[ninjaaron]

Hopefully, they're available in Israel.

I'm going home in a few months (to the US), and I'm definitely not buying a smartphone before that time. Prices on gadgets and computers are insane in Israel. It's worse that Europe.

[NadirPoint]

Because the next iTunes or iOS update could prevent you from using your phone in conjunction with your computer?
Oddly, some recent Ubuntu update has prevented the phone from mounting natively on linux for simple file access (I've seen a number of related complaints pop up here just recently), yet iTunes continues to recognize and sync perfectly with it via Virtualbox.

Whodathunkit? :p

[ssam]

Do remember that Maemo on the N900 was released as a dead platform, but it still gets new applications and even community OS updates 2 years after it's release. A good example of that is Firefox Mobile that was released only for two platforms, Android and Maemo. (there is even a version of Kubuntu (http://apachelog.wordpress.com/2011/05/20/kubuntu-11-10-mobile-devices-sneak-peak/) in the works for it)

Just the fact that it is GNU/Linux makes it very easy to get apps on it. On top of that you can run android apps out-of-the-box on the N9 with Alien Dalvik.

I really don't see it being Nokia's only MeeGo phone affecting the end-user that much.

Also, Intel has announced it is working with manufactures to release more MeeGo phones next year, though they did not specify(LG has made such voices in the past).

If you have a look in the maemo forum there are still people hacking up custom kernels for the N800 (pre-pre-predecessor to the N9). I am still using my N800 occasionally. If something is open enough it does not matter if the original manufacturer still supports it.

also meego is pretty close to a normal debian system, so porting linux apps to it is very simple.

[Grenage]

iphones are great; expensive, but great bits of kit. Considering your needs, I wouldn't bother with one. I certainly wouldn't bother unless I had a windows machine to use it on.

[Linye]

Oddly, some recent Ubuntu update has prevented the phone from mounting natively on linux for simple file access (I've seen a number of related complaints pop up here just recently), yet iTunes continues to recognize and sync perfectly with it via Virtualbox.
a
Whodathunkit? :p

What if you don't have any access to windows or mac?

"Whodathunkit? :p"

[NadirPoint]

What if you don't have any access to windows or mac?
Sounds like a personal problem. It's rather disingenuous to claim nonexistent system incompatibility roadblocks under the veil of personal, non-technical issues.

If you don't like Microsoft, Apple, their products or whatever personal issues of that nature, fine. I just get tired of the old what-if rants about "it's hard, may vagina hurts, I'm afraid some unknown problem may crop up and can't deal with it."

Lame.