Motorola Droid X or HTC Droid Incredible or Samsung Fascinate or Wait?

[Ahmer50]

Hey Guys,

Im currently an At&t customer and I absolutely hate my service. I went with it for the At&t Unity Family Plans and Rollover, but have since found it sucks. I currently use a Blackjack II. Anyways, my contract just ended and Im looking at buying a new phone soon. I am only considering Verizon due to the reputed network reliability.

At this point I have several options in front of me, and I want you guys opinions on what you think is a good phone for me? I generally consume a few GB of data per month, send 2500 texts or so, and talk a little as well. My primary uses are gaming, multimedia, texting, and web browsing. Size isn't an issue, however I do a LOT of multitasking.

Please tell me which of the following is the best phone for me in your opinion?

Motorola Droid X

HTC Droid Incredible

Samsung Fascinate

In addition, after doing so, do you think its worth it to buy now? Or should I wait a few more months and get the rumoured LTE phones or iPhone thats coming to Verizon in late 2010/early 2011.

[AZSALUKI]

http://community.vzw.com/t5/Android-Devices/Droid-X-or-Samsung-Fascinate/td-p/214426

check this thread. it also has a link to a nice article on the samsung. i honestly don't know much about phones, but what i like on some of the newer ones are the front facing cams. don't know if that matters to you, but i use my pc to video call family. i love my incredible (LOVE IT!) but do have a bit of "front facing cam" envy. the samsung looks very cool to me. imo, i wouldn't wait on the iphone, as it appears to me that the new one really just caught up with some of the droids that are already realesed? like i said, i don't know that much about them, but i haven't seen what makes the iphone 4 any better than the high end droids that are out, or will be coming out over the next couple of months. and if you're like me, then it's tough to wait 7 or 8 months for a phone when you could get a comparable one today....or in a month or so for the new ones. i think it's great that vzn will be getting the iphone, but i think that ship has sailed. those of us that wanted one just waited around and ended up tih androids....which i believe are superior...so why bother with an iphone now? of course, i ALWAYS underestimate the loyalty of apple users (1.7 million units sold in days!!!!!)...i also thought the ipad would be a bust....and was wrong again.

[Ahmer50]

Thanks, any other ideas.

[AZSALUKI]

the thing is....there is obviously a cell phone war going on this summer. whatever you get now...there will be something just a bit nicer in a matter of months. i waited and waited to get any kind of smart phone, partially because i'd read about something just around the corner, and then realized that with today's technology and competition, it doesn't matter what you get or when you get it....it is just about outdated the day you activate it, compared to the next phone. i was positive my phone would be INCREDIBLE (and it is, truly)....but now, a month later, the samsung truly FASCINATES me!!!!! still not a big fan of motorola though.

[Ahmer50]

Anyone else?

[MBD]

One thing to consider is 4G/LTE which is just around the corner. It should be out six months from now, although I would expect it will be at least a year from then to get close to fully deployed. Does anyone know which if any of these phones will be upgradeable or will be able to take advantage of LTE?

As I have said on my other post regarding Hotspot Plans, the Sprint EVO is looking compartively more attractive when plan comparisons are taken into consideration. It is also 4G ready, although Sprints 4G coverage is highly unlikely to come close to matching Verizon's deployment of LTE when it finaly comes out.

[dirkbonn]

I'd get the Droid X.  If only because it's just cooler.... haha.  It has b 4.3in screen and a big screen makes it easier for me to text on.     Seriously, you have to make the decision based on what a given phone has that's important to you. 

Regarding the question about waiting?  If you wait, because there's something coming out in 3-6 weeks that you think you'll like better, well, you'll never get anything.  There will almost always be something quicker, faster, smoother, bigger, etc. being released in 3-6 weeks.

To the best of my knowledge none of these phones is upgradable to LTE.  It takes a different radio to send and receive LTE or WiMax 4G signals.  The Sprint EVO has both 3G and 4G radios in it, and switches between the two automatically depending on which type of signal it detects.  The EVO uses WiMax, but maybe LTE is different.  Maybe someone with more technical knowledge could let me/us know for sure.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

I'm just patiently/Impatiently waiting for the release of the Droid X!

[WickedOne]

My recommendation is the Droid X, Im switching my pre order on the Incredible to one. Just my personal experience though. Im a HUGE texter and I got a version of swype on my phone now and I LOVEEEE it!.Swype alone has convinced me, and the hd is pretty awesome too.

From what I've read about LTE(On Verizon's site), it wont be everywhere until 2013. The article also stated that everything coming out in the in-between period is completely compatible with 3g and LTE so there aren't any inconveniences.

On a Personal note, I don't like Sprint because they charge too much for upgrades on phones. A guy I work with would have to pay more than $300(Thought he said $500 but not sure) for the EVO after his $75 yearly upgrade.. THAT'S INSANE! No two year pricing?

[elmariachi]

The Droid X has gotten good reviews so far, but it hasnt been released yet. Some people think that Motorola has begun to reverse its trend of crappy phones with the success of the Motorola Droid. Time will tell though.

HTC Incredible looks like a good phone too. I wouldn't order one though only because they're all on a month delay of shipping.

I haven't read up on the fascinate. But lately Samsung has had some horrible releases.

[MBD]

I want to point out it is not my intention to ruffle any feathers. I used to considered myself a loyal Verizon customer, but maybe after nine years with any carrier you have seen too much of the true nature of the way they conduct business. In Verizon's case it is my opinion in the last three years particularly they have gone over the line in terms of unfair restrictions and misleading terms and pricing. This has been born out in succesful lawsuits ( http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/10/ny_verizon.html ) 

( http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=10975100 ) there are more, but you get the idea.

Wicked One regarding Sprint and Verizon Upgrades, I am not sure about that but here is what I understand:

First Off ETF for Sprint is $200 for Verizon it's $350

"Verizon Wireless came under FCC scrutiny in early December after it doubled its ETF for netbooks, smartphones and some feature phones. No official action has been taken on the matter."

http://www.infoworld.com/d/the-industry-standard/verizons-big-rip-shows-its-bad-att-300

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Government-IT/Following-ATandT-Verizon-ETF-Hikes-Sen-Klobuchar-Pushes-FCC-7...

RE: Phone Upgrades

As far as I know Verizon does not offer anything at one year, whereas Sprint does. The catch is what the new phone you are buying will cost you at one year into your two year contract. With Verizon my understanding is at 1 year into your 2 year contract, you pay a $20 upgrade fee and then you can get the new phone you want at a 1 year contract price. So if you were upgrading to a Droid Incredible today under these circumstances you would pay $20 + $269 ($369 - $100 rebate) or $280. With Sprint in the case of the EVO or any other plan where you pay more than $65 month you get the two year price after one year so you would be paying $200.

I wish I could say Verizon is the best, but I have found them to be more focused on pinching money out of our pockets, via weazle marketing gimicks, like "Unlimited" plans that are NOT unlimited, or convincing you that you get more when you actually get less or get a paragraph of restrictions in the small print. Verizon has the best coverage, but that does not balance out any more with me. Most of the time, except when I am traveling in rural areas, I think the other cariers will offer similiar service. I am very close to conducting a personal 30 day test.

[Ahmer50]

Thanks so far guys,

I think I've decided against the Fascinate because I don't like the looks of the Touchwiz UI over Android. So now its between the Incredible and X and I'll just go play with both in store (when the X is released) and decide 

[AZSALUKI]

and fyi.....while swype is cool, i beleve there are apps that you can get that feature it (or a version of it) which can be downloaded on any android. not sure, but i thought any of these phones could get swype....not just the x.

[PJNC284]

Swype had an open beta a while back where anyone could download it on various android devices.  I'm currently using it on the Droid and love it.  The Droid X will be the first Android phone to ship with it stock and the Fascinate will also include swype.   There are other apps on the market that imitate swype though. 

[Napoleon9558]

I'd go with the Fascinate. Go to T-Mobile or AT&T and try a Vibrant or Captivate. I also would prefer vanilla android to a hardware company's UI, but Touchwiz is actually kind of nice. I find the Galaxy to be faster then Droid X because its superior GPU loads games, pictures, and videos better. The super AMOLED screen is even more beautiful than the gorgeous Droid Incredible Screen and a billion times brighter, sharper, and more colorful than the X's screen. Additionally, I've had bad experience's with Motorola phones. I find that they break alot. The X and Incredible are great phones, but I wouldn't rule at the Fascinate yet.

http://www.samsung.com/us/news/newsRead.do?news_seq=19679&gltype=localnews

[TheGreatOne]

---

Napoleon9558 wrote:

I'd go with the Fascinate. Go to T-Mobile or AT&T and try a Vibrant or Captivate. I also would prefer vanilla android to a hardware company's UI, but Touchwiz is actually kind of nice. I find the Galaxy to be faster then Droid X because its superior GPU loads games, pictures, and videos better. The super AMOLED screen is even more beautiful than the gorgeous Droid Incredible Screen and a billion times brighter, sharper, and more colorful than the X's screen. Additionally, I've had bad experience's with Motorola phones. I find that they break alot. The X and Incredible are great phones, but I wouldn't rule at the Fascinate yet.

http://www.samsung.com/us/news/newsRead.do?news_seq=19679&gltype=localnews

---

I think the Galaxy S will be the next big android phone. I don't think T-mobile or AT&T have the phone available yet though.

[Napoleon9558]

---

TheGreatOne wrote:

---

Napoleon9558 wrote:

I'd go with the Fascinate. Go to T-Mobile or AT&T and try a Vibrant or Captivate. I also would prefer vanilla android to a hardware company's UI, but Touchwiz is actually kind of nice. I find the Galaxy to be faster then Droid X because its superior GPU loads games, pictures, and videos better. The super AMOLED screen is even more beautiful than the gorgeous Droid Incredible Screen and a billion times brighter, sharper, and more colorful than the X's screen. Additionally, I've had bad experience's with Motorola phones. I find that they break alot. The X and Incredible are great phones, but I wouldn't rule at the Fascinate yet.

http://www.samsung.com/us/news/newsRead.do?news_seq=19679&gltype=localnews

---

I think the Galaxy S will be the next big android phone. I don't think T-mobile or AT&T have the phone available yet though.

---

They are available, I went to the T-Mobile store to play with one yesterday. It was absolutely amazing.

[numb683]

I probably way behind here and you may have bought a phone by now bu I'd say go with the Incredible, I have it and its a great phone and it has most if not all features of a Droid X minus the screen size and HDMI out port.

[AudioDude]

The Super AMOLED screen is not brighter, objectively the Droid X display is brighter, however it is likely that the greater contrast to the black levels make the whites appear brighter, the same concept involved in using high contrast projection screens.  But in terms of the display being washed out by ambient light, it is the actual brightness, the peak white level, that matters and apparently the Droid X beats the Galaxy S phones in that regards.

Many people seem to really like the Super AMOLED displays and they are very attention grabbing.  However, objective measurements and comparisons of pictures, etc. viewed on the Galaxy S screens versus on other displays indicates that the Galaxy S's Super AMOLED display does not provide accurate color rendition with some colors being significantly oversaturated.  In general this might make the Super AMOLED display well suited for videos, especially cartoons, and games but perhaps not as desirable for photos, reviewing graphics for publishing or presentation, etc.  In the end it is a personal choice.

[fezzik]

Ok so the Samsung phone is a little bit of a disappointment.  It has the best Processor of the options you listed.  All of them use the same core being a Cortex A8 ARM 11 processing Core but the Hummingbird uses a technology Apple bought a few years back to give added capabilities to the processing core.  It isn't just sick fast like the other 1ghz mobile processors it is sickly capable as well.  Don't get me wrong more advanced processors are coming soon, real soon by most reports, but hummingbird is a snapdragon on steroids.  The camera is weak a 5mp camera with poor JPG processing.  Surprising considering Samsung and Pentax have come a long way in their digital cameras with very good processing now.  Seems Samsung could have put a little of their point and shoot expertiese into this puppy.  I guess they didn't.  The UI doesn't sound impressive in fact it sounds like it is a poor attempt at trying to compete with the much detested Motorola Blur UI.  They would have been better served going Vanilla and building some features in like Motorola did with the Droid X.  Super Amoled seems like it could be promising but we shall see.  This is a late comer to the 1Ghz top end phone market and without a front facing camera it is a little surprising the offering they come with.  In my experience the Samsung phone will be an excellent phone but I would wait.  This one seems to be lacking in a lot of ways despite looking great on paper.  Also it makes Bing the standard Search feature.  Talk about lame duck. 

Droid X would probably be my favorite of the bunch right now.  It has a larger screen lots of features it uses the standard Android User Interface while incorporating the few and far between loved features of Blur without all the much hated Blur features.  The original Motorola Droid was a fun phone when I had it and still quite capable this takes that to the next level providing a much improved user experience.  I never used the slide out keyboard so you shouldn't miss it.  If you think you will the Droid 2 is coming soon enough which is said to include it.  Droid X is supposed to be a beast.  I haven't seen a lot of hands on reviews obviously but its specs are definitely there.  HDMI output, HD recording, mechanical shutter, image stabilization, 8MP camera, Standard Android res screen for now, 4.3" Good battery life, now it basically uses Standard Android but adds in a few extras.

Droid Incredible will require an extended battery.  The standard battery will get you through the day if you don't use it much.  Not a huge deal the Extended batteries should get you through whatever you need.  Smaller than the other two but plenty large enough.  FM radio which is nice to have as an added bonus.  There is an update coming out any day that is bringing some improvements as well but also WifiHotspot capabilities and HiDef recording are among the coming features.  The camera is quite capable I have taking some outstanding pictures with mine.  I enjoy Sense UI but can definitely live without it.  Most of the widgets that are so exciting on Sense phones I deactivated to save battery opting for the stock widgets instead.  I do enjoy having a button on the bottom of the screen for phone and a few other minor features it has.  TV out is through RCA connects so no HD output and the cords are difficult to find.  The standard is probably going to be HDMI soon so I would more than likely opt for a phone that makes use of that so you can use the cord on other phones when you upgrade later.  So far I am well pleased with my Incredible but all things being equal if I were looking right now I would be Droid X all the way. 

If the iPhone keeps up their manufacturing snaffus I believe I would avoid it even on Verizon.  AT&T has been proven by many 3rd party companies to be a capable network with great speeds even top of the line speeds in 3G areas the iPHone has struggled to make use of their network because of lingering design issues.  Verizon is supposed to be getting the iPhone next year at least that is what I hear from AT&T employees.  My advice will remain the same.  iPhone has too many issues and Android is gaining fast.  The last iPhone was nothing more than an attempt at Apple to catch up with Android and by the time the next iPhone is being released the Android market will have as many or more developers including many of the iApp developers and as many or more apps.  The Android market is currently unofficially growing by 15,000 apps a month.  Froyo and its added capabilities and new programming options, not to mention app to SD additions should increase it even further not to mention by the end of the year the phone technology will be insane capable of running almost anything conceivable. 

LTE is right around the corner that is true.  By the end of this year major major markets will be covered doubling by early next year.  The first devices will be modems.  Smartphones will be the second devices seen but time frames for device rollout is still unknown.  By 2013 Verizon will have the entire current 3G footprint covered in LTE with the capability of blanketing the US with opportunities never before available to them.  I am not sure I would recommend waiting for the LTE phones since the first phones may not be rolling out until late next year or possibly even 2012 (though I would be surprised if we didn't see LTE smartphones before Christmas 2011).  Worst case I would get a 1 year contract on a Droid X if you are really wanting to be an early adopter in LTE and you live in a Major to major medium market.  I don't want to commit myself but I think I would wait until 2013 with 2012 being the earliest to get an LTE phone.  Now I say that and given the opportunity I know I would jump on it in 2011 given the option but I wouldn't be expecting to see an LTE phone before 2012 at least not one that is viable as an LTE option.  The end of this year is going to hold insane enough phones especially if Motorola comes through on their reported time frame we will see 2Ghz phones with the plausibility of multicore processing by the end of the year.    I don't think they mentioned the multicore thing but there are cores capable of it now and chips already tested that high it's just a matter of perfecting and making them power viable.   It may be enough to make you question the current line up.  But the current line up will be more than perfectly capable for a good year or more.  We are just seeing things move that quickly these days. 

[AZSALUKI]

fezzik....i gotta say that fm radio is a big selling point for me (years ago it was a main reason that i waited for the microsoft zune instead of getting an ipod....that and the screen size) and i was VERY disappointed to realize that headphones or speakers have to be plugged in to run the fm radio. i guess it is still a feature that other phones don't have....but in all the reviews i read before buying it, nobody mentioned that you couldn't just listen to the radio through the phone's speaker.  

[fezzik]

Yeah.  The main issue I have with that is that headphones are shielded so that you don't get interferance on them while listening to music or talking on them in the case of phone headsets.  It is just that shielding that makes them terrible antennaes.  But the problem is antennaes are required to pick up radio stations and they had to have someway of doing it.  Either cram more stuff in the phone and make it bulkier (which in my opinion if they gave us a real battery there might be room for an fm antennae) or make it so headphones are the antennae.  It is a terrible solution I admit but it is there and very few phones have it.