Cellphone Filter: Hunt for a superphone.

June 25, 2006 10:40 AM

Cellphone Filter: Help, getting a new phone this week! Looking for an awesome superphone.

I have currently got a Xda IIi (2i) which is an awesome phone, used it alot for business for when im on the road. Used it for email, wi-fi, skype and documents on the move.

Now I work from home and dont really need a brick on a phone as I have a PC in front of me all the time.

Im looking for a superphone that can take awesome pictures, video, have alot of supported software, wi-fi, and ability to use skype on it. I wouldnt mind support for quite alot of space so that I can watch videos or listen to mp3s on the move. 3G would be nice. Dont want a brick for a phone.

Skype is important aswell as Wi-fi.

Im on o2 in England, you can see the phones at www.o2.co.uk that are for offer. My contract ends of Thurday and wouldnt mind getting the phone now. But I will wait if a great phone is on the horizon.

Been looking at Nokia N91 as it has a 4gb hdd in it and has a decent camera (2mp) and apps to download. Thats my favourite so far. The N93 should be out in a month which is supposed to alot better.

Is there any of phones that you can recommend?

posted by spinko to technology (13 comments total)

Just seen the specs on the N80, looks better. Anyone got a N80?
posted by spinko at 10:56 AM on June 25, 2006

HowardForums. A lot of people own that phone on that forum and have logged hundreds, if not thousands, of comments regarding that phone.
posted by SeizeTheDay at 11:06 AM on June 25, 2006

I'm in quite the same bind as you mate, but I'm from the States.

I want a super phone but my most coveted attribute has been the camera. For this reason, I've been looking into the Sony Erricson k790s and k800s as well as the Nokia n80.

They all have the same MP camera (although stated 3.2 and 3.0, it is indeed the same). The Sony's have xenon flash and AUTOFOCUS (which is huge).

The Nokia has a great Symbian OS as well as easily upgraded memory cards (The Sony's require you to buy their memorysticks...)

Nevertheless, I've been disapointed by sample pictures that have been leeked on the internet. The quality simply isn't up to par with a camera with optical zoom (e.g. N93 which is just too heavy for me). I hear there will be 5MP cameras by Q4...I might just wait.

Esato
GSM Arena 3MP camera phone shootout


I might just wait it out...
posted by stratastar at 11:25 AM on June 25, 2006

Here's a Cell Phone Radiation Chart to help you weed out those high radiation models.
posted by FakeOutdoorsman at 11:38 AM on June 25, 2006

The best site for picking phones (that I've seen) is PhoneScoop.com. Lets you sort by features, rate the priority, and see the phone/features/pictures/user comments.
posted by hincandenza at 1:51 PM on June 25, 2006

What about an N93? If you want all the bells and whistles?
posted by delmoi at 2:00 PM on June 25, 2006

N93 is tri-band, 900/1800/1900, which means that in some areas you will go with limited/no service.
posted by SeizeTheDay at 2:07 PM on June 25, 2006

Oops, forgot you were in England. Sorry.
posted by SeizeTheDay at 2:08 PM on June 25, 2006

Skype will only work on Pocket PC, which rules out the entire Nokia and Sony range.
posted by blag at 2:33 PM on June 25, 2006

I agree that your specifications of Skype and WiFi rule out a lot of "normal" phones and put you firmly in the "smartphone" area.

Now, this is more me pushing my obsessions on you, but can you get a hold of the o2 xda atom (or something similar, since I've noticed the website says it isn't available in the UK)? I've been drooling over it for ages. It's a lot like your existing phone, but about the same size as a regular mobile.

Just a thought....
posted by ranglin at 4:33 PM on June 25, 2006

Skype are making software for Nokia Smartphones, its still early but here is the official link.

http://share.skype.com/directory/useful_skype_ptt_for_nokia_smartphone/view/
posted by spinko at 5:27 PM on June 25, 2006

I have an N80! It's quite awesome, I really love it. It's a bit thick and heavy, but the footprint is really small. The wifi is easy to use, and the built-in browser, based on safari, is (almost) the best browser I've ever used on a phone. It's great at rendering and browsing large, complex pages, but flash ads sometimes crash it. The 3.0 megapixel camera, while still a phone camera, is quite good. FM radio, good battery life (but not great), solid and responsive, just a great phone. When the skype client comes out you'll be all set.
posted by ulotrichous at 10:03 PM on June 25, 2006

spinko writes 'Skype are making software for Nokia Smartphones, its still early but here is the official link.

Bear in mind that this isn't "proper" Skype; all it does is make a Bluetooth connection to your desktop PC and uses that to make the Skype call. So you'll need to be within a few feet of your desktop PC to use it, which kind of defeats the object...
posted by blag at 2:48 AM on June 26, 2006