My phone died, I need a new one. Advice?

[Stormness_1]

I had a Samsung Galaxy Ace, and I had nothing but drama with it from the moment I got it. Wireless, memory, apps not being compatible, you name it. At any rate, it died (not by my hand, okay!), so I need a new phone. Now when I bought the Ace, I read dozens of reviews, but none of those mentioned the problems I had. It wasn't until I actually searched the problems, that I found they were very common in those phones, and boy I got everything possible!

So I'm looking for a new phone, and I'd rather hear from real people who've had their phones for a bit, and actually used them, not turned them on, had a look around and written a review. What phone do you have? and what do you like/dislike about it? I'm big on having a camera (for pony brags, of course), good internet capabilities (so I can post those pics here with ease!) and lots of memory - cos I'm a 'just in case' kinda girl. Oh, and cos I have lots of crap.

I should also mention that I'm also hesitant to buy an iphone, my husband has one and it's just too restrictive for me. While I'm pretty tech savvy and I can get around most of apple restrictions, personalised ringtones, etc, it's annoying to have to convert file types to other file types to get stuff to someone else... and I have both PC's so it's not all that compatible to begin with.

So that's my problem. No phone, and therefore, because I have to save for a new one - no ponies. Not to mention no idea on what to buy myself when I'm done saving. Help!

[ashes]

Yeah, I've got an iPhone and I love it.  Haven't had any issues with it.  But then again I've been an Apple person from the time I was a kid and our home computer was an Apple IIGS.  And truth be told within the past 5 years or so I haven't had any issue with sending people files and them not being able to read them.  And while I have an iMac and my husband has a PC he built himself, we switch around files with ease.  And he uses an iPhone as well.

And truth be told the vast majority of my friends have iPhones, so I'm not sure which other models are ones that people like.  Motorola phones seem to be reliable - at least that's what I had before I made the jump to a smartphone.

[himmie]

I am personally a Droid fan. I currently have had a Droid RAZR for more than a year. I have not had any majors issues with it nor do I have any real complaints. The primary concern I had when purchasing it was that the battery cannot be removed. However, I have only had to force a shut down once and it is simple to do.

The camera is great. Especially in good light, like many phones. The blinding flash works well for indoor and low light shots, while still producing good photos... All of the photos I have posted on the Arena were taken with my phone. Avatar and SIG, etc.

Expandable memory is a must for me because of photos. It seems far too many phones do not offer that these days. Which is why I went with this one.

I drop this phone a few times a day, it has not broken yet!

Not sure what else to add but as I am typing this, the phone works well for the Arena too!

[stopxmotion]

I've been an iPhone user for almost 5 years and absolutely love it. I use my phone for internet stuff more than my computer. I don't have experience with other types of phones so I guess I'm not much help either..

[kezrob23]

I've been team Nokia for the last 15 years. I currently have the Lumia 920. It has it's fair share of issues, but they are getting fixed on each release and each new update. I am anti i anything!! The Lumia is way bigger than i phone, net is great (but still can't link pics to here). Camera is really good, but not on zoom, and you can't view photo details on the phone (took me 3 months to notice that!!) but the phone itself is pretty good for personalizing, but like most phones, if it's not apple, there's not much in the way of apps. No expandable memory, but it has plenty of it's own. And not very friendly with transferring data from old phone to new... But that prolly more a windows platform issue. I hated this phone for the first couple of weeks, but now me loves. I'm using it to write this

[Stormness_1]

Thanks ladies!

Previous to smartphones, I was a nokia and motorolla fan too... I'll have a look at the RAZR, I've been meaning to, but I always forget, I loved the old pre-smartphone edition! My hubby likes the lumia, but after getting his iphone repaired, he can't afford to upgrade (what was supposed to be a cheap fix turned out not so cheap) which is disappointing, but I'll take a look at it anyway!

Keep the reviews coming!

[rayechu]

Hate to say it but when my droid died I was very happy to switch to iphone 5. It is much better to be able to actually use my spacephone. The one thing I dislike about the iPhone though is I got used to holding down a letter button to get to the corresponding number/symbol and they are on separate tabs on the iphone, but it isn't that big of a deal. It doesn't sound like you re really interested in the iPhone, but I don't have any other smartphone experience.

[Icecrystalline]

RAZR all the way! My mum got a Motorola upgrade three days ago, and gave me the new one as she already loved the older one. I have the Motorola RAZR i (RRP £349?) We got it free on contract, and I had a Blackberry Curve 9370 that I LOVED, but I swear down, this beats it solidly. Best phone I've ever had, so many apps, so much fun, 8MGP camera, it's just amazing! I definitely reccommend!

[Stormness_1]

I've been looking at the Samsung galaxy III, but it's hard to justify that kind of money, but that RAZR is so cheap! All the specs seem okay, as long as I have a solid update, the one mentioned on the site has been having compatibility issues I hear, and most of my old apps from the old samsung are newer than the original OS. Some great suggestions here though!

[Eviecorn]

I love my iPhone, but I've been looking more at Nexus as well.  But for all the uses you mention, iPhone is going to be awesome for you.

[kaoskat]

Best of luck choosing a new phone!

[Sky_Rocket_Sammie]

Currently have an AT&T phone, looking to switch to Motorola. Nothing to do with the service (granted I have a pay as you go plan), rather it's call quality. Half the time I can't hear, even with the volume turned up.

Pick what works for you, am a non smart phone guy. But that's just my personal preference, no slight against the various phones.

[Stormness_1]

Yeah i was very anti-smart phone with the early ones - various screen dramas put me off heaps, but now the technology seems to have improved somewhat and I liked using the Ace I had. I also find I get much better service with the smart phones, which is important to me being in a low service area, and being a horse rider, you prefer to have something a little more reliable in that department! iPhone does have pretty good service, but the newer samsungs are on par, without the plan restrictions. I'm on prepaid and I love it, no-one else I know makes a month of free calls for $30 every 2 months! I also prefer to own my phone outright in case I damage it, one friend of mine is paying off two iphone 5's - she dropped hers in the toilet! Not cool. I'm still torn between two. looks like I'll save up for the most pricey and give myself more time to decide!

[kezrob23]

If you want to buy outright, check out mobileciti online. I was always outright (till this phone!) and their's are unlocked too I got my last phone from them, and they were pretty good on prices and service

[Stormness_1]

Thanks! I used to go through (let me find that phone dock with their name on it!) Mobileselect down in Sydney, they were amazing, really great service and great prices, but they closed down a few years ago, and I bought my latest phone locked to a network from a physical retailer. I hated all the network software, it slowed it down, wasn't removable, and half of it I couldn't use because it wasn't even compatible with the firmware on the phone. I actually had 4 different maps apps on my ace... wth??! I didn't use any of them! So outright and unlocked is definitely what I'm wanting this time, hence it being such a big decision, that drives the price up a bit! I'm also a traveller from time to time, so unlocked is great, although I do have a dual-sim, unlocked old nokia I use if I need to when I head overseas.