Sprint Smartphones....

[Sthack]

It's time for me to upgrade my phone and would like to know any suggestions/recommendations for SPRINT smartphones. I'll be using it basically for calls, texts and checking 3 email accounts.

I've already tried Verizon phones in the past, but I'm going to stay with Sprint because they have the best plan for my family (4 phones).

Thanks in advance!

 

[timeos2]

Palm Pre, hands down. Excellent phone, great features, good price.

 

[tlobo]

Best Sprint Smartphone

While the Pre is OK, if you can wait I would wait for the Sprint Evo that is coming out in Summer. This is an Google Android phone and well worth the wait.

Be aware that Sprint requires you to upgrade your account to the Everything plans or the Simply Everything plans for most of the newer smart phones like the Pre or the Evo. If you do not have these accounts and some of the older (cheaper plans, you will end up paying more unless you get an older smart phone. In that case I would go with a smart phone like the HTC Touch Pro.

Feel free to ask any additional q's..

 

[timeos2]

While the Pre is OK, if you can wait I would wait for the Sprint Evo that is coming out in Summer. This is an Google Android phone and well worth the wait.

Be aware that Sprint requires you to upgrade your account to the Everything plans or the Simply Everything plans for most of the newer smart phones like the Pre or the Evo. If you do not have these accounts and some of the older (cheaper plans, you will end up paying more unless you get an older smart phone. In that case I would go with a smart phone like the HTC Touch Pro.

Feel free to ask any additional q's..

The HTC is already out for Verizon & doesn't compare to the Pre. There is no reason to wait - the Pre offers the unique combination of touch screen & physical keyboard. The ONLY one, other than other Palm models, that does. Add the best features & wonderful user interface - not to mention a really top notch phone, an area where many others fall WAY short- and the question becomes what would you be waiting for?

Every type of connectivity known - WiFi, 3G/4G, Bluetooth, nice selection of apps, fully web compliant (you don't need specific apps if your browser acts like a real one on the web), good battery life (and a replaceable, not fixed, battery) and much more. Everyone I know that has used it loves it. And with the deeply discounted prices it is a real deal.

 

[tlobo]

I am sorry but HTC Evo is not yet out on any network. It will be out only is Summer and at least initially only on the Sprint network. You are probably referring to some other HTC phone.

Also I am just typing on my Sprint HTC Touch Pro which is a phone that is over a year old and it has both a touch screen and a keyboard - so it is not a Palm or a Pre exclusive feature.

The Pre has some god features like multi-tasking (you can work with multiple apps at the same time) but that causes the battery to run out very fast.

I wanted Palm to succeed and I did consider the Pre when Sprint introduced it but found it way overrated and for me not worth the upgrade that Sprint required. It was yet another of the Sprint flop smart-phones (after the Samsung Instinct).

The failure of the Pre can be judged in the price that Verizon is asking for it.
It is $49 and thats not all - you can buy one for $49 and get a second one free. I will let it rest at that !

 

[timeos2]

Whoops - didn't realize that Sprint had an exclusive on the HTC Touch Pro - it does have a keyboard (I'm Verizon & the HTC phones there do not). It looks awfully big & clunky to me but maybe thats just the picture.

The Pre Plus (I assume Sprint now offers that now - I sure hope so!) is a big step up over the original Pre. They are now doing great with Verizon (yes, based on price but who cares? It's a GREAT deal!). Everyone that gets one (and I know personally of at least 2 dozen - a record for me) loves it. The battery life is very good - not great - but just a minimal amount of care to maximize battery life or a car charger/usb cable is all that is required to ensure a full day or more.

I also like HTC but have found the Palm stuff over the years to be unbeatable. I just retired my Treo 755p after almost 5 years. It still was better than the much more well known iPhone in quality, features & especially service (not tied to AT&T!). I hope Palm survives but even if they didn't the phone will be good for another 3-5 years and if they go on I'll be ready for the next great Palm product then. AT&T gets the Pre next so even that poor group of users will have a really quality phone soon, even if it is on a poor network. And rumor is that the iPhone next generation is coming to Verizon. Thats the way it should be - all carriers, all phones and let the user make the choice. The exclusive deals are bad all around IMO.

The OP should be happy with either choice from Sprint.

 

[tlobo]

I hope Palm survives too but really doubt they will - not as a standalone company at least. I had a Treo as well and liked it - was a bit clunky but in
the pre-IPhone era all smartphones were clunky. Also the Treo worked real well.
BTW, as of two minutes ago, Palm released yet some more bad news - they lost the
person that headed their new operating system - WebOS which was their crown jewel.

I would have got the Pre but the requirement from Sprint to upgrade my plan turned me off. The family Everything plans were at least $35 more than my current plans and I do not need the "everything". I have the Data Plan on my Touch Pro and its been great so far.

I am waiting from a new phone - an Android one. I am an app developer and am hooked on to Android. I already have them but they are work phones and my personal one is a Touch Pro.

Finally i agree the OP would be happy with either phone. All the Best to both of you !

 

[davidvel]

If you are on Sprint you should check out the various sprint user forums (like TUG for sprint.)

I wanted a new phone (HTC Touch pro2) and was told the same thing about upgrading to everything plan. I told them I'm leaving to get an iphone if I have to do that.

They then gave me the 900 minute everything plan with unlimited to ANY mobile and unlimited text and data for under $60. Ask and you shall receive.

I am now waiting for the EVO.

 

[tlwmkw]

I miss my treo so much- it died and now my company has given me a blackberry which I hate- not user friendly at all- I can't understand how this phone has done so well. The most annoying thing is that it has a button on the side that was programmed for voice dialling- until I turned it off it would periodically start asking me to state a number and often at very inconvenient moments. The iphone is cute but I find it's more of a toy- not good if you need to use it for work because the lack of a key board is very awkward- I have one for personal use and find the key board very temperamental and the actual phone is almost non-functional. I like the design of the iphone but the technology doesn't seem to be that much better than anything else. It is also annoying at times that there isn't a good oldfashioned manual to look up things- but that's just the Apple way. I haven't tried the other new Palm products but it looks like Palm is going the way of the dodo which is really too bad because I loved the Treo and their earlier products.

tlwmkw

 

[Janis]

I love my Pre - except for the battery life. Although with the last OS update, it seems to be lasting a bit longer.

Love the multi-tasking, too.

I looked at getting an iPhone when I was considering the Pre. But the exact same plan on AT&T would have cost me $600 more per year - so I went with the Pre.


I watch movies on it, listen to music, surf the web, make calls, check email and text..It's nice not to have to worry about excess charges - everything included for $99...

 

[hvacrsteve]

So how long do the batteries actually last?

I think several of them are cool, but I need one that will last 10-12 hours with 3-5 hours of actual talk time!

Can any of them do that?

 

[Glynda]

Pre

I have had the Palm Pre Plus on Verizon for about a month now. I moved to it from the Treo 755p. I have mixed feelings about the Pre and am still getting used to it. I find that I push a lot of things I don't intend to and it's very hard for me to use with one hand and to get the swipe thing just right.

It's cool for sure and maybe I don't know what I'm doing, but I find that when I bring up an app, and want to do anythng to it using the top drop down menu then I can't go back to where I was and have to toss it off the screen and start over to use the app! Only the main menu, calendar and the web moves back and forth for me. Everything else I have to toss and pull up again as I work along. What's with that?

The battery life is bad, I find myself charging it off and on all day when at home. The battery life is really bad when using it as a mobile hotspot!

Truthfully, I kind of miss my 755p!

 

[timeos2]

A little care & battery life is good

So how long do the batteries actually last?

I think several of them are cool, but I need one that will last 10-12 hours with 3-5 hours of actual talk time!

Can any of them do that?

Mine is now 3 weeks old & I'm way past the initial learning curve.

After a few tricks to increase battery life that included:

• Upgrade to 1.4 OS
• Turn ON WiFi (seems to be reverse of logic)
• obtain car / usb cable as spare to use as back up

Doing that and using my traditional pattern of taking it off the charge cable at about 8AM daily, using it all day (and I mean playing music, web surfing, calls, email, messaging - everything it can do in heavy use) I find that around 8 PM it gets to the yellow (20%) and red (10%) in another 30-50 minutes.

IF I plug it into my car charger and/or any USB during the day for 20-60 minutes (when its still usable even with charge connected) then it easily goes to midnight or beyond. I haven't even sprung for the second battery yet as that is a completely acceptable use pattern for me.

I also recommend a good case (I did the really protective Body Glove version) as I've already managed to drop it 3 times (after priding myself on less than 3 drops in over a year with my old 755p!) - trying to be too careful I'm sure.

Before the 1.4 OS upgrade battery life was much worse from what I've read (I only used mine w/o 1.4 for less than a day).

I am getting at least 4 hours talk time without any boost during the day.

 

[Fisch]

It's time for me to upgrade my phone and would like to know any suggestions/recommendations for SPRINT smartphones. I'll be using it basically for calls, texts and checking 3 email accounts.

I've already tried Verizon phones in the past, but I'm going to stay with Sprint because they have the best plan for my family (4 phones).

Thanks in advance!

Check out the Sprint HTC Hero. It is a google phone the runs the andriod system. Tons of apps. I was torn between the Pre and the Hero. The Hero won out in doing side to side comparisions at the Sprint Store.

 

[Sthack]

Check out the Sprint HTC Hero. It is a google phone the runs the andriod system. Tons of apps. I was torn between the Pre and the Hero. The Hero won out in doing side to side comparisions at the Sprint Store.

YES! I was checking out the HTC Hero and the HTC Snap online. I'm not due for my upgrade until May 1st, so maybe I'll go inside the store to see them.

It sounds like there's a lot of mixed reviews on the Palm phones. Maybe they are fading out like the Blackberrys....???