Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with smartphone

Samsung galaxy 4 and data use - way too much

sandra194 — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 07:04:56 -0800

My daughter just got the Samsung galaxy 4 last month. It is using up data like a bat outta hell. I mean really fast. I told her to switch to wifi (like I do with my S3) whenever possible. I'm sure she has a lot of apps and of course she texts as much as any other twenty something year old. Thing is, she says that she can't send/receive texts and phone calls when she is in wifi only mode. We are with Verizon. Is this normal? What can we do?

But it just looks so shiny

cucumber patch — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 04:19:42 -0800

I need a new phone. I also want to start getting into filmmaking. I happened to stumble across the Nokia 808 Pureview, which looks like it covers both criteria, and is pretty awesome to boot! But my more tech-savvy friend said that the phone itself wasn't great, and I might as well get a separate phone and camera. You may assume (quite rightly) that I have next to no knowledge of technology. Please advise this total noob on what to get :) I'd pretty much be using the phone for SMS, calls, Facebooking, and that really addictive Candy Crush game. My friend said that once I get a smartphone I'll definitely end up getting into more of its capabilities, so I'll want something top-end like the Galaxy S4. Is this true?

As for filming, I know the best thing for me to start is to mess around with a cheap camera (even the one on a smartphone), but the perfectionist in me wants to invest in a really good camera, so I only have to buy something once. If I end up making short films I want them to have a cinematic feel and be of the highest quality possible. But unfortunately, my limited student budget won't be able to afford much. I don't know, am I just jumping the gun here?

TL;DR I felt like the Nokia 808 combination of great camera + workable smartphone was perfect for me (and it's pretty cheap too). But if it's advisable to get separate gadgets, what what would you recommend I buy? (For cameras my budget would be <$500).

I'm in Australia, if that changes anything.

What phone should I buy?

Snarl Furillo — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 13:54:15 -0800

Is a several-years old (2009-2010 era) smartphone worth $30 on eBay? My trusty Verizon dumbphone has given up the ghost after several years of honorable service. I'm thinking about making the smartphone jump and figured I would buy a cheap used dumbphone on eBay to last a few months until the new iPhone comes out in the fall, and then I could make a more permanent decision about a phone.

But then I saw that you can get older smartphones on eBay for about what I was going to spend, and thought maybe it would be nice. But also maybe it would be terrible since they are old and slow and their firmware isn't supported anymore...?

I basically want to make calls, text, and maybe take pictures and text them to my mom. It would be nice to play games, I guess?

Okay, tell me if one of these old guys would make me happy or if I should just get a clamshell. I will do what you tell me.

Having a tedious time with the current generation of mobile devices.

Nomyte — Sat, 18 May 2013 16:19:21 -0800

I've been a late adopter of mobile computing stuff, but since February I've been giving a tablet (Nexus 10, Android 4.2.2) and a smartphone (a Nexus 4) a chance. I can't stand them. Why isn't the experience "clicking" for me? Here's a litany of complaints. They are merely representative, and I don't expect every one to be addressed individually.

The tablet (and, to a smaller extent, smartphone) touchscreen experience is clumsy and unresponsive, especially compared to my older slate laptop. It really feels like using a computer while extremely drunk.
Mobile sites are clumsy and unresponsive: radio buttons highlight, but don't get activated when pressed with vigor, other actions and presses get detected only intermittently, etc.
The stylus is fat and clumsy. My fingers are fat and clumsy. The fine-tip stylus (a Jot Pro) offers little improvement.
The onscreen keyboard pops up and down unpredictably. Clicking on a text field sometimes fails to summon it and there is no obvious way to summon it otherwise.
It takes an extra button press to access the number keys.
Automatic spelling correction is intrusive even on the least aggressive setting.
Accurate text selection is difficult. Accurate cursor positioning is difficult. The cursor suffers from weird latency issues.
Text is only rendered in high quality where the application thinks you're looking.
Scrolling quickly on long web pages (e.g., Metafilter) is difficult and the scrollbar is not pressable and also hard to see.
Inability to access the file system makes me feel literally disabled. Installing an app to access the file system reveals a complex directory tree with obscure folder names.
The proliferation of single-function apps represents unnecessary mental overhead.
Apps have jawdropping functionality gaps. The Gmail app won't let you empty your trash. A note-taking app I downloaded offers no way of deleting files.
Reliance on private, "cloud-based" storage services for personal files feels downright stupid. There's storage right on the device, why can't I use it.

It really feels like these devices are trying to channel my usage into specific and (for me) unnatural and limited patterns. I have little interest in mobile music, games, or TV content, so perhaps I'm not a very typical user. Hope me, Metafilter, I am almost at the point of giving these things away.

Jumping ship to Android (Google's S4) and need a Mailbox equivalent

0bvious — Sat, 18 May 2013 09:25:26 -0800

I think the time has come for me to jump the iPhone ship. The announcement of the Google version of the Galaxy S4 at I/O was the clincher. But I am not 100% sold on the idea, mainly because the S4 is an ugly brute, but also because I fear for the apps and innovation I will miss. Help me out, specifically in finding a worthy replacement for my beloved Mailbox app. I waited. I pondered. I looked longingly at the horizon. Now it's time to go.

I am a concerned jumper for a few reasons:

1. I use an ipad extensively, and don't see this changing anytime soon. Iphone/Ipad integration is pretty solid.
2. My girlfriend and close friends will be sticking with Apple and iMessage will be missed
3. I recently started using Mailbox app and it has revolutionised the way I use email. I don't think I can go back to the old cluttered inbox, BUT, Mailbox's plans to make an app for Android look vague at best.
4. Related to this, it seems that the Apple app store is still the top of the list for developers, even though there are now more Android devices out there than Apple. I like innovation. Will I have to wait around a lot?

I am jumping because I am sick of having to jailbreak my phone to have it do what I want. I am a heavy HEAVY mobile internet user, I use a lot of apps for a variety of things. I reckon most can be replaced, and fed into Dropbox or something to take the place of iCloud, BUT, I'm not sure, and I am worried that once I jump I'll be stranded.

I really wanted Google to announce a new Nexus at I/O this week, but they failed. The current Nexus 4 looks lovely, but the lack of 4G put me off. The HTC One also is a sweet looking device, but with only 4MP of camera to play with it would've felt like a downgrade. Google announced a new partnership with the S4 at I/O, so I am hoping to get one now, and root it when the Google rich version gets released in June.

My contract has been up for renewal since February, so I have already lingered long enough. The battery in my trusty iPhone 4 is pretty crap these days. Time to move on. Please help me out here.

random weird smartphone texting conundrum of random weirdness

thereemix — Fri, 17 May 2013 08:40:57 -0800

My friend keeps getting a text from my number, but I actually haven't sent said text. What is going on? My friend just let me know that he keeps getting a text from my number telling him "not to bring [his] gun today." He says that it only pops up as an alert - as in he sees his phone vibrate and in the alert/preview bar at the top of his screen it says "text from thereemix: don't bring your gun today" - but then when he opens the text messaging app on his phone and looks at the texts from me, it doesn't actually show there. (I hope that makes sense.) He says it's happened about 4 times over the past few days.

He figured at first that it was an old text that just got caught in space (or however it works, I'm woefully ignorant about phone/texting functionality), but then realized that even this is odd, because I have never sent him such a text. Ever. In fact, I don't think I've ever texted anyone about guns. Ever. Guns just aren't something I text or even talk about, really.

(I mean, certainly, I don't think it's a good idea to bring a gun to the office, but I don't generally remind people of such things via text that seem so patently obvious. Also, he doesn't even own a gun.)

So this is just all kinds of weird. I figure I should contact Verizon since I don't want him or any of my other phone contacts to be getting alarming texts that I don't send... but why is this happening?

If it matters, his phone is an HTC something or other (not sure exactly which model but it's about three years old) and mine is a brand new Samsung Galaxy Nexus. We both use Verizon as our carrier.

What's the deal? Anyone have any ideas?

International Smart Phone?

bodgy — Sun, 12 May 2013 09:13:18 -0800

I am an AT&T Customer with an iPhone 5. I am traveling to London, Paris, and Dusseldorf this summer and don't want to get killed with international data and cell charges. Plus I want good apps for translation, maps, etc. What's the best way to do this, and would I be better or worse off with an Android phone (Galaxy S4 or HTC One)? Any first-hand experience would be awesome. In a few years I have come to rely heavily on my iPhone for travel. Texting friends we're meeting, using the maps, taking photos and video on trips, plus just keeping up on eMails etc. while gone is vital to me personally and professionally.

But I rarely travel internationally. This summer, though, I'm going to England, France, and Germany. I've been trying to research pre-paid international SIM cards and such to keep costs down on the trip.

But then I read recently that Android, specifically on the Galaxy S4, has great translation apps where if I'm in Paris I can hold it up and it will tell me in text what someone is saying, and I can speak English into it and it will then say it in French, etc. That would be awesome in a pinch (though annoying for regular use).

I also really love the S4 having interchangeable batteries (I'm a battery hog when traveling and the iPhone 5 juice packs are not as inexpensive as they were for previous generations of iPhone)

Given that I'm under contract to AT&T that is my current limitation, but what phone would be the most helpful as a personal travel companion?

Getting multiple Outlook task and contacts folders on Blackberry

Mechitar — Thu, 09 May 2013 11:02:25 -0800

I use Outlook pretty heavily at home - not for email, but for everything else (calendar, tasks, contacts lists). This includes keeping various tasks folders (e.g. To Do This Week, To Do Soon, Errands, Music to Download) and a few contacts folders (e.g. Personal, Business, Online Accounts (where I keep my login info and other details for my many online accounts)). I decided to go with a Blackberry for my first smart phone because it sounded like it would be the one that would most smoothly mesh with the Outlook info on my PC so that I could have my calendar/task/contact info in both places at all times. I was prepared to do daily (or more) syncs between my PC and phone to make this happen. Per the question title, I got a Blackberry Curve. Alas, it turns out that I was sorely mistaken. The Curve (and who knows how many other versions of BB before and since) allows only one folder each for tasks and for contacts on the device. I'm an individual user (not a corporate user) and don't use (or want to use) Exchange Server - although I don't think that would help this particular problem anyway. So is there anything I can do to get my Curve to handle anything more than one folder for tasks and contacts? I have put this question up on the Crackberry forum, but no one could help (the answers came down to: 1. I'm S.O.L., and 2. I might be able to get some of this kind of function using Evernote (my preliminary research on Evernote suggests otherwise, but I admit that I didn't dig any deeper than that).

Samsung Transfrom Ultra Battery Problems

Snyder — Wed, 01 May 2013 21:38:59 -0800

Transform Ultra with an overheating, fast-discharging, spontaneously-turning-off battery. I bought a Samsung Transform Ultra phone from Boost Mobile a little over a year ago. Phone worked great, no battery problems at all until about January this year. First noticed when I either turned the phone off or on while charging the percentage charged would jump up, sometimes 40% or more. When using the internet the battery would drain noticeably. Talking or texting wasn't as bad, but still a quick drain. It got worse and worse. By the end it killed the cells in my battery, and could not hold a charge for more than several hours of non-use, or a minute or two of use.

I bought a new battery, same model, at a Boost distributor. When I went to charge the phone while off, it displayed a nearly full charge indicator, but I let it finish charging, and it seemed all right for a day or so, but then it was back to draining really fast, as well as the aforementioned problems. I can fully charge it, and after using the internet will cause it to drain in about an hour and a half. The battery will get really hot, almost uncomfortable to touch through the case and cover. I believe it might be effecting the cells already. As mentioned, it will also sometimes turn off when still holding a moderate, say 40%, charge. When I turn it back on, it will be at about 1% and power off on it's own. (This time with the "Powering off" screen.

Android version is 2.3.6, Kernal 2.6.35.7 Build # Gingerbread.FF27, Hardware version M930.02

I have Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS, background data and sync off nearly all the time. My battery use breakdown is currently:

Android System: 80%, Voice calls: 10%, Cell Standby 5%, Display 4%, Phone Idle 3%

What can I do?

What are today's good phones? When will they be obsolete?

0x006DB0 — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 15:47:04 -0800

Need a new phone for myself and my wife, usually there's a "hot" phone (iPhone, HTC Evo 4G, Samsung Galaxy S3, etc) - whatever the top phone is. That seems to change every 6 months, and I just can't keep up. Also, I don't keep up with the release cycle - if I buy the hot phone today, is it essentially going to be obsolete in 3 months? I'm primarily looking at T-Mobile, but that might change, depending on how bad the signal is at my work. Not looking for an iPhone (plus, I know that's always an option). I don't know if Windows 8 is worth getting yet, I've always been an Android guy. Galaxy S3 is a possibility for me, but my wife's hands are too small to comfortably use it. Right now we're looking at HTC One. I'd strongly prefer something where there's an accessible battery, so I can swap it out without a problem.

For me it's somewhat critical - my phone has stopped making sound in the past few months, and the Sprint service is horrible. I can probably hold out another 3 months, but it won't be comfortable. Are we on the cusp of the next release cycle, or am I safe buying a phone now?

I'm sure that this question has been asked a million times, but I haven't seen it in about 3 months, and like I said, the answers change all the time, so it's a bit ephemeral.

I've been given an old iPhone. Now what?

suburbanbeatnik — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 20:47:33 -0800

A friend gave me her old iPhone 3 after she upgraded to 4. Her old SIM card is still in it. I'm wondering what to do next. I've been a Sprint customer since 2000, and I currently have a Kyocera Brio (which is basically a Blackberry knockoff). I have a pretty cheap unlimited texts-and-minutes plan which I like, and I want to keep my costs low in this regard. I found some sites which suggested "jailbreaking" the phone and using it as an iPod Touch, which sounds appealing, but these sites are all from several years ago and I don't know how realistic an option this is now.

Anyway, help! I'm a Mac person but pretty iPhone dumb. Any suggestions or helpful tips, guys?

Traveling to Canada with a smartphone

pdb — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 11:02:24 -0800

I'm heading to Vancouver BC next month, and I have a smartphone. How can I use it without it costing eleventy bazillion dollars? International traveling was so much easier without a smartphone, when my rule was "buy a cheap burner when you get to town and donate it somewhere before you leave", but now here I am in the modern world. I have a Verizon Galaxy Nexus that is rooted and unlocked, which strikes me as being a good thing for international use. I am traveling with a couple different groups of people and we're all staying in different places, so we'll need to coordinate meetups and whatnot, probably via text message, and it would be nice to have at least some access to things like Yelp and maps, just in case.

Here are the questions I have:

1. With an unlocked and rooted phone, I think I could just swap out the SIM card, but I'm only going for a long weekend, so I'm assuming buying a new SIM card would be cost-prohibitive?
2. If I can't just swap out SIM cards, would connecting to the internet via WiFi avoid international data charges?
3. Is there a free/lower-cost-than-Verizon replacement for text messaging? I'm pretty sure everyone traveling has a smartphone, so if something like Skype or Gchat or whatever (I'm not on Facebook and have zero desire to be) or some other app, would work for texting back and forth as we try to coordinate being in the same place at the same time, that would be good, but I am ignorant of these things.

I appreciate the help.

Choose my phone!

elizamina — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 20:40:52 -0800

I'm tired of my cheap, app-less phone. It's time to upgrade to something nice. I'm looking at either an iPhone or a Samsung. Which should it be? And why? Sell me on the best phone!

GPS: Common knowledge?

Vampire Cat — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 08:23:53 -0800

Are there any published studies / figures about what percentage of smartphone users know what GPS is (i.e., do smartphone users know GPS determines your precise location)? Bonus question: do they know it's a battery drainer? I'm looking specifically for actual data, not anecdata. I need to back up my position to skeptical coworkers. I work at a small software shop making a GPS-using app, and we're having some debate about what people know.

Need an iPhone game that's like Civilization, SimCity, or Age of Empires

Afroblanco — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 13:39:45 -0800

Need some iPhone games that are as engrossing as Civilization, SimCity, and Age of Empires. (Yes, I already have Civilization Revolution and SimCity DLX.) For the most part, I am not much of a gamer. The only games I've ever gotten into were Civilization (original, Civ 5, and Civ Rev), SimCity (every version), Command and Conquer, and Age of Empires. However, I've found that if I play Civ Rev while working out on the elliptical, the time just flies by. Sadly, I've now beaten Civ Rev on the hardest level, fulfilling every possible victory condition, and haven't found a game to replace it. Do you have any suggestions? I'm not into action games or puzzle games, and am not looking for a game like Go or Chess. The closer a game is to Civ, SimCity, or Age of Empires, the more likely I am to get addicted to it.

The game has to work on the iPhone; I don't have an iPad, and I work out at a gym, so I can't use a proper computer. Also, I would prefer a game I could purchase for an up-front fee, not a game that's always trying to weasel money out of me in the form of in-game purchases.

Chinese smartphone as good as a Galaxy S2?

mirileh — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 10:00:54 -0800

Please help me choose a Chinese smartphone! I'd love a Samsung Galaxy S2, but can't afford one. So I'm looking at buying the closest Chinese smartphone I can afford from this site. Problem is I'm far from fluent in spec reading, and I don't see a reliable review site covering these phones.

Spec-fluent mefites, I'd love it if you could try and spot a nice match to the Galaxy S2! (close in phone quality, android capabilities, camara, video and radio. don't care about the looks)

It would also be great to be pointed to a site with reliable reviews (in English) covering these models!

Thanks!!!

Phone upgrade from Droid Razr?

DeltaForce — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 05:41:29 -0800

Phone upgrade from Droid Razr? I have a Droid Razr that is about a year old. I have just about had it with this phone, as very few things work on it as it should. It seems like it got good reviews, so I am wondering if maybe it's just my phone.

When texting, the keyboard will randomly freeze up and force me to replace the last word I typed in order to continue. Videos take forever to load, even with 4g, when others next to me have no problem. The browser is glitchy. I don't know if it's the website's fault, but Facebook, Youtube, and Yahoo are impossible to navigate. The battery life is laughable.

So is it time for a new phone? Is the iPhone 5 really an upgrade? Have phones improved in any noticeable way just in the past year?

Can I downgrade Android 4.1.1 to 4.1 on a Motorola Razr M w/o Rooting?

NYC-BB — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 20:48:01 -0800

So Verizon finally updated my Razr M to 4.1.1 and, for some reason, the battery life has become absolutely horrid and wifi tethering has basically stopped working. Is there a way to "downgrade" from the latest version of Android to an older one - without rooting the phone?

If not, does anyone have experience rooting a Razr M? What are the pros/cons?

Looking for a smart phone or laptop app to control my Vizio "smart" TV

filthy light thief — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 09:35:29 -0800

What options do I have for an alternative remote for a Vizio smart TV (streaming Hulu/ Netflix/ Facebook access, model SV472XVT)? Is there a Droid app, or a way to use Bluetooth to access the TV? My old remote died, and the side access buttons are cumbersome to say the least. Thanks!

What are the best inexpensive, unlocked Android options?

jsturgill — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 08:38:19 -0800

A friend would like to switch to a cheap, unlocked Android phone and a prepaid plan within the next month. Is this the best option in the $100-ish price point?

Is there something in that price point that can be set to stock Android and run the most recent ICS release, or failing that, is well supported with cyanogenmod?

If going for a used phone, how should that be approached, what is available for about $100, etc.

Hoping to get some wisdom dropped on me and specific product recommendations.

Need help restoring bricked Verizon Galaxy Nexus

mattholomew — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 06:14:00 -0800

My rooted verizon galaxy nexus won't boot and I need help recovering it (more inside) I have a Verizon Samsung Galaxy Nexus that is rooted and was running Cyanogenmod 10. I was trying to wipe data to prepare for selling it and I messed something up. Details:

It goes to the Google screen with the unlock logo but won't go past that, even after letting it sit for an hour.

Tried booting in to recovery, wiping cache and wiping dalvik cache to no avail.

Pulled battery and tried to boot to no avail

I do not have a backup to restore to

Tried installing Wugsfresh toolkit on my PC but the phone won't connect as a USB device

I need more juice, maybe?

pdb — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 10:08:15 -0800

I'm looking into getting an extended battery for my smartphone. The only OEM extended battery for my phone isn't dramatically larger than the stock battery. Are non-OEM batteries safe/reliable? I have spent a few months with my Verizon Galaxy Nexus, and I really like it. I am still trying to get more battery life out of it though - I used Juice Defender for a while, but I wasn't thrilled with it, so now I've just gone without and deal with things like wifi and 3g/4g switching (and keeping my brightness level really low) manually. At the end of a typical day, I'm down to about 30% battery life left, which isn't by any means terrible, but I started wondering if I would benefit even more from getting an extended battery. A quick Googling found only one OEM extended battery - a 2100 mAh battery to replace the 1600 in my phone currently - but several much larger, third-party built batteries.

Are these third-party batteries safe and/or reliable? I don't really care about the lack of NFC, since I never use it and always have it turned off, and I'm not that concerned about the bulge in the phone from an extended battery - I'm more worried that putting an off-brand battery in my phone will somehow mess up the phone. Am I being paranoid? Are there non-OEM brands that are reliable?

Which is the best website to purchase a new phone battery from?

Solomon — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 14:29:41 -0800

I have a Orange San Francisco smartphone. It's also sold as the ZTE Blade. I'd like a new, more powerful battery for it. Where is the best place to purchase one from? I can find lots of sites selling them, but I'm having difficulty picking out the non-sketchy one(s) from the sketchy ones.

Help me sort out my messy digital media/device issues

wannabecounselor — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 18:53:16 -0800

Should I get a new iTouch? Or ditch iTunes and start fresh with something else? Get an Android tablet? New phone? Plus a new OS for my laptop? Feeling overwhelmed! My digital media life is falling apart, and I have a unique opportunity to clean it up all at once - but how?

ITunes just "lost" my entire library and playlists (all files are still present and backed up). I tried to follow online instructions to import an old library backup, it didn't seem to work, and frankly I'm fed up with iTunes anyway, mainly because of lack of accessibility across devices and the fact that it seemed to keep "losing" my music.

Not to mention my iPod Touch 2nd gen just completely died on me - won't start up, restore, charge, or be recognized by iTunes or the computer.

Plus my Dell Inspiron m101z laptop (just over 2 years old) has appeared to kick the bucket, though I think I just need the OS restored/redone. I'm not a big tech person so I'm going to check with my tech savvy neighbor or just bring it to a local repair shop to see if that's the case. (Could this be what caused the iTunes crap-out?)

Finally, I have a Nokia "Nuron" phone on Tmobile - a "barely-smart" phone that lets me very roughly browse the internet (mainly metafilter thanks to the simple design!) check email, facebook, and use a built-in GPS that's decent and a crappy 2MP camera. I'm torn as to whether to upgrade or not. The music player is frustrating to work with, which is of high importance to me, and now that I don't have my iTouch I'm feeling kind of panicky about surviving my commute.

I'm a really budget (and consumerism)-conscious person so I want to keep things affordable and avoid the "latest techno-gadget" black hole. I usually prefer to let things die before I replace them, but I like to buy quality in the hopes that it actually will last.

I'm leaning toward replacing the iTouch or getting an equivalent Android tablet thingy, and leaving the phone and laptop as is for now (aside from fixing the laptop). But.... I was researching TMo's smart phone selection and thinking about the ">HTC S One (my husband has the Samsung Galaxy SIII which is too big for my liking). When he bought his new phone we switched to a "value plan" so we would have to pay for the phones ourselves as opposed to "free upgrades" (when we did the math it was worth it). If I went with a new phone I definitely would not get a new iDevice. I'm also interested in having a good camera in whatever new device I get.

As for the music, I'd love to start a fresh library. I've heard good things about Media Monkey and I used to use Winamp), or do you think I should give iTunes another try? I almost never buy from them, usually just from Amazon or eMusic.

For the record I've started a habit of backing up all my important files (music, pictures, documents, and downloads) on a physical hard drive so nothing was "lost" on my laptop. But I'm trying to decide if digital backup makes more sense....

I know this is kind of all over the place, so I expect the answers to be the same. Any input is appreciated.

International travel is a great excuse for an upgrade!

Tehhund — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 04:14:30 -0800

What fast Android phone can I use in the US and Costa Rica? My Droid Bionic is good enough, but it occasionally suffers from slowdowns. I'm an Android addict and am considering getting something faster. (Faster meaning more responsive; the data speeds are fine. Also, I don't want iOS, no iOS derails please)

Also, I'm travelling to Costa Rica for a week and a half in June. While I would be okay renting a feature phone while I'm there to keep for emergencies, it might be nice to bring a smartphone and just buy a (prepaid?) SIM with a data plan for my vacation. So it would be nice to kill 2 birds with one stone: buy a faster phone, and use it in Costa Rica with a SIM I buy there (or that I buy before I arrive). I would probably buy the phone outright and use it as a Wi-Fi device or with US prepaid SIMs, though I'm open to other options.

So I really have 2 questions. 1) What phone should I buy that is probably more responsive than a Bionic and works in Costa Rica? 2) How do I get a Costa Rican SIM with a data plan for it?