My employer mandates that that anyone in a leadership roll carry a cell phone with email capability. I have over the past few years refused to carry two phones, so I've just carried the phone they give me, which is a Blackberry. As it is tied into the company's network, all the "smart" features are under lock down. Our IT department is quite restrictive. Heck, we still run IE 5 and Windows XP. Fighting this is pointless.

Well after a recent business trip with some other employees who are not at my level in the organization who have personal smart phones, I want one..... I was constantly asking someone else to use their phones to get us "un lost" or search for a restaurant or a golf course, and other things. All of these things I could not do with my "dumb" phone. It was quite irritating to say the least.

I was told by some of the others (who thought my predicament was quite comical) that I can get an App that would work with an IPhone that would access the company email system, and I could just have my company provided cell phone number forwarded to the I phone. - I refuse to carry two phones.

I figured I'd just get one of the IPhones, but the service provider I'd rather go with (better coverage) does not sell IPhones. All they have is a Samsung Galaxy Sii. The local competitor has the new IPhone 5, but like I mention, their coverage is not as good. (I need nation wide coverage).

Another option I suppose is to just buy a phone out right and get a plan, but damn these phones are expensive...

Reviews on the net are all over the place. Seams like there is bias in the reviews, just like speakers. I'd appreciate some unbiased thoughts / opinions on phones. Figured you guys and gals would be a great place to start. I really do not know much about these phones. Battery life is pretty important though, as I have to charge my BB every night.

We're still using XP, and if we don't have a cell phone, we have to carry a beeper.

I was expecting you to say your company is so cheap they're still on Windows 98.

IMO, unless you need the cool factor, I would go with a phone one generation back. There is no need to get locked into an expensive contract just to have the latest. There are Android mail apps out there for integrating with various corporate email solutions.

Mike, you crack me up.

You have stumbled onto an increasingly relevant conundrum - BYOD - Bring Your Own Device.

I think you have to know "more" about how your organization deals with email on the server side. I'm not the uber geek around here, but it sounds like your employer's reticence to evolve might mean that you're just screwed. Do they allow other devices on their network? i.e. are they issuing ANYTHING except Blackberries to anyone?

The Samsung devices seem to be well received. I have a Motorola Droid Razr. It is VERY capable. It rarely pisses me off. You'd probably hate it.

Seriously, I'm surprised that you're still on Blackberry. I think they are dead within the year.

I really do wish I could help. Really. I know how frustrating this stuff is.

Good luck. Going to my room, now.

Michael,

This is a pretty good question. I would say that the Iphone is definitely one of the better built phones from a materials point of view. However, there are some good android phones as well.

This is a recent video comparing the Iphone 5 and the Galaxy Siii...
(real world drop test)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6M5q5TRuAsY

One other benefit to the Iphone, is the closed echo system.. So, you are MUCH MUCH less likely to download a malicious application.

However, ios 6's map application is freaking horrible!! horrible, terrible.... The GPS works ok, if you have the address, but finding a location of interest... POINTLESS.... ok, so you know how i feel on that one... I downloaded the mapquest app and try not to use the apple map application.. Hopefully they will fix it pretty damn quick.


The Galaxy Siii is probably one of the best android phones. However, as you will see in the video, the build quality is not as good as the Iphone 5... I do not know if you care about build quality or not, but from reading your posts through out the years, i would suspect that this would be a semi important variable to you.


I would also like say, i have been following the Iphone since before it was released, back when it was just a rumor... Samsung isn't playing around though, their phones have as good of, as well as more options than the iphone.


You may want to wait until the next Nokia comes out, it will be a windows backed phone.. Nokia have "been around forever", and i think they are due for a winning product, my pervious phone prior to owning an iphone was a Nokia..

Mike, your timing is good. About three weeks back the Mrs. and I finally broke down and got smart phones with data plans for the first time. Loving them. The convenience is fantastic.

We got last generation Samsungs very inexpensively. She got the Note. It's big, but she wanted it, mostly for her not so great vision. It's a fantastic phone.

I got the Galaxy S2 HD. Again, larger than most phones, but it's got a great screen. Both run Android Ice Cream Sandwich. Got to love those OS names.

Heck, even having those hi-res camera components is going to be very convenient in the same package. A quick aside: I couldn't believe how easy it was to take great panorama style pics with these things. Gorgeous and practical.

Battery life has been OK, but we've been using WiFi at home on them and that eats power pretty good. YMMV. Nightly charging is probably just a good habit in this day and age for such things anyway.

I've been using iOS apps on my iPod for a long time and considered going iPhone instead, but it sounds like you're already fairly familiar with the Samsung comments. They're great products. Highly recommended, based on our admittedly short run so far.

I even just today added a 32GB micro SD card to hers for all of $30. Try doing that with an iPhone.

BTW, we have LTE cell service and it really is amazingly fast. This was my first exposure to it and I was shocked.

Best of luck with your decision.

I'll throw some of my thoughts into the mix for you. I'm a recent convert to smart phones, and like you I resisted the force until about a year ago. I was more than happy with my work-issue Motorola flip phone. It made phone calls and was indestructible.

I finally succumbed and got the first gen Samsung Galaxy and was immediately smitten! The biggest factor vs. an iPhone was the freedom from the will of Apple. My wife had an iPhone and it was a constant battle with iTunes keeping the phone synced, downloading apps and music and updating. I'm a bit of a computer geek, and iTunes just absolutely drove me insane.

Granted, Android-based phones require a bit more hands on tech savvy than Apple phones. If you want something simple, elegant and intuitive, iPhones have that market cornered. If you want to be in control of your phone, Android is the way to go. We recently upgraded my wife's iPhone to the Samsung Galaxy S2. It took her a couple of weeks to adapt, but she'd never go back now. The S2 is a great phone. With the S3 out now, we got the S2 from AT&T for $30.

Compared to my old Motorola tank (and your Blackberry), these phones feel a little "dainty". While they can tolerate some abuse, I'd strongly recommend a hard shell case. Otter Box is top of the line and well worth the money, but there are other brands that do the job also.

Ditch the BB and come into the light!

Good post, Joe. I just wanted to underscore those two items. I have an iPad (which is GREAT) and an Android phone (also GREAT). I'm not really sure I would want an iPhone.

And, yeah, Otter Box, ftw.

As expected, excellent input! Well, all but Thomas anyway....:)

So in a nutshell, you basically have two systems these phones run on, Apple and Android, right?? Kinda like the Mac or PC conundrum I suppose.

I HATE ITunes. Absolutely hate it. If it were not for my IPod that resides in my truck at all times, I would not have ITunes. Genius my ass... It should be named imbecile.

Yes Dak, build quality is important to me. I do not buy junk. I'd rather spend extra for quality ONCE, verse junk several times. It pays in the end I've found.

And no, to whoever asked, my employer will not, under any circumstances, allow any device to access its network that has not been issued by the IT department. They like to make us feel like felons.

I'll second the Otter Box recommendation. Well worth it.

Yup, one more for the Otter cases. We got those too. Very hard shells, seem very durable.

And some extra info too for you too. I've just installed the Samsung Kies Windows software to connect and manage the phone content via USB. Essentially to add music to the Mrs' phone's new external memory. The compatible format types are quite impressive, including FLAC!

After an initial problem running the setup - DO NOT connect the phone before completely installing anything - it's good, fairly easy to use software.

I rather assumed that connecting via USB the first time would properly install the right drivers and such. It didn't. In fact, it was a bit of frustrating disaster. Leave the USB cable alone and install the Kies package. Then all will be well in the end.

I work for a Telco. so I won't get into brands or preferred carriers because someone may think I'm biased. The only advice I will give you is to not sacrifice coverage just to get a specific model. Missing out on a feature on the hottest new phone is one thing but being totally disconnected from all the features because you are in a poorly service area is another. Nothing is more frustrating.

Also, I'm like you. I want my own personal smartphone but I already carry around a corporate issued Blackberry. One would think that would be great, free phone. However, nothing is free in the corperate level. We are not locked down but without getting too wordy, our data plans are part of departmental our budgets so there is still a perceived cost and our data usage is monitored.

If your IT dept. has things locked down, it is unlikely that they will allow a non authorized app to have direct access to the mail server. The best you could do is turn on an auto-forwarding rule on your laptop and leave it on all the time or set up an auto forwarding rule on your Blackberry, assuming they haven't locked out that option.

There is a reason why RIM has survived, to date, their lack of recent innovation. They were the first to build a large scale, secure tool for email to personal devices and they are well embedded in many corporations for this reason. Will this save them? Who knows? I don't think I would be amiss in saying that they have a lot of work to do.

If you worked for MTS (Manitoba Telecom) we would be having words.
Our MTS based iPhone barely had good coverage in downtown Mississauga which is outright sad.
Telus (not based out of Manitoba) has better coverage for cells in northern Manitoba than MTS!!
I know because our old work cell (MTS) was junk in the field while a colleague had his Telus cell phone receiving signals constantly in most locations.

Telus is pretty good with cell coverage out in the uninhabited areas. They had a good headstart in Alberta with the oil business.

I ran around and fondled some phones yesterday.. The Samsung S3 is freekin HUGE. No way would I ever carry a phone that big. It must be for women with purses. The S2 was still a bit bigger than I'd like, but doable. The IPhone 5 seamed to fit my hands the best of any of them. Motorola had a phone that looks indestructible. I really did not / do not want to like the IPhone, dammit. I might just cave and buy one outright, then get the service plan from the provider I want. IPone 5 or Samsung S2, choices, choices...

Or you could wait for the Samsung S3 Mini. Nope, not joking.
A more 'phone like' 4" screen but lighter on specs.

Well I caved and went for the Samsung S2. Friggin thing is huge. It is a cool phone though. I'm still trying to figure it out, which I suspect might take me a while.

I feel like I'd be better off with a dumb phone.

You think the Galaxy S II is huge, have you seen the S III? I have a Galaxy Nexus (love it!) and it's only a hair smaller than the S III. I'm already used to the size after 2 weeks, and now my previous phone (Motorola Atrix 4G) looks tiny.