Considering switching to Android but completely lost and in need of help...

[iLive an iLife]

Hello everyone!

I am a current BB user (my Storm 2 just kicked the bucket and I'm stuck with a friend's old Tour until April).

I've been researching a lot about Android 2.1 vs 2.2 vs the new 2.3, the different manufacturers, features, etc and I am still at a TOTAL loss.

I originally thought that I wanted either the Thunderbolt or the Merge, but now I'm not so sure.

One of the things I liked about BlackBerry was the fact that I could easily make it through the day with heavy use. None of the Android phone I've looked at seem to fair well with battery life (I know that Android devices do A LOT more than my plain old BlackBerry). I need some help. Will the TBolt last me the majority of the day or will I need to carry a wall/car charger with me everywhere I go? Which phone would you recommend that I look into (I was leaning towards HTC because of the Sense UI). I just feel so lost and overwhelmed, I don't even know where to begin!

Side note: I'm still trying to navigate the forms. If this isn't the proper place to post this, please feel free to move it!

Thanks!!

PS - I was planning on holding off until the LTE phone were released, but recently I've been contemplating adding a line to my family plan. The DroidX and Droid Incredible seem like solid devices. My last annual upgrade is in April and my NE2 is in December. Thoughts?

 

[Bushido Brown]

Stay away from the Incredible if battery life is a concern. I'm sure someone will chime in, and say how they tweaked this, and that, and get "great" battery life with the DINC, but the fact of the matter, is that "great" and battery life don't belong in the same sentence when talking about the Incredible. As a paper weight, maybe, but if you actually plan on using it? fugget-about-it

The Droid X has great battery life. Not necessarily "BB" great, but probably as good as it gets for the Android platform. Its still a very solid device, but I couldn't in good conscience recommend you blow your upgrade on last Summer's hardware. If you feel you "must" go with the DX, I suggest buying one used, and hold on to your upgrade till the Droid Bionic is released.

The Thunderbolt is a bit of a mystery to me. It features a new version of Sense UI that was built entirely from Froyo, rather than the currently bolted on Sense UI/Froyo mashup that the INC and EVO have. It uses the 45nm chip architecture which theoretically leads to improved battery life - however, the phone that its the most similar to-the Desire HD (supposedly) has bad battery life. Its worth noting that the Desire HD only has a 1200mah battery under the hood. I don't know what HTC was thinking about when they did that.

The TB on the other hand is sporting a 1400mah battery. and another phone with similar specifications, but different software, the mytouch 4G reportedly gets pretty good battery life. Assuming the TB is closer to performing like the aforementioned device, then you definitely have a winner.

 

[iLive an iLife]

Stay away from the Incredible if battery life is a concern. I'm sure someone will chime in, and say how they tweaked this, and that, and get "great" battery life with the DINC, but the fact of the matter, is that "great" and battery life don't belong in the same sentence when talking about the Incredible. As a paper weight, maybe, but if you actually plan on using it? fugget-about-it

The Droid X has great battery life. Not necessarily "BB" great, but probably as good as it gets for the Android platform. Its still a very solid device, but I couldn't in good conscience recommend you blow your upgrade on last Summer's hardware. If you feel you "must" go with the DX, I suggest buying one used, and hold on to your upgrade till the Droid Bionic is released.

The Thunderbolt is a bit of a mystery to me. It features a new version of Sense UI that was built entirely from Froyo, rather than the currently bolted on Sense UI/Froyo mashup that the INC and EVO have. It uses the 45nm chip architecture which theoretically leads to improved battery life - however, the phone that its the most similar to-the Desire HD (supposedly) has bad battery life. Its worth noting that the Desire HD only has a 1200mah battery under the hood. I don't know what HTC was thinking about when they did that.

The TB on the other hand is sporting a 1400mah battery. and another phone with similar specifications, but different software, the mytouch 4G reportedly gets pretty good battery life. Assuming the TB is closer to performing like the aforementioned device, then you definitely have a winner.

Thanks for the response man! I really like the Sense UI. It adds an extra layer of polish that I (originally) thought Android was missing. Maybe I'll just try and hold out of the TB then. I am itching to get rid of this Tour, but a few more months won't hurt me (I guess haha).

 

[menschmaschine5]

The tbolt will have a more efficient processor, so that should help a bit with battery life. It does have a smaller battery than the EVO, which I hear has pretty poor battery life, but the EVO also uses the older snapdragon. The new snapdragon is supposed to drain the battery much less.

However, if you're in an area with LTE (4G) service, be sparing in your use of this. It will probably really munch battery. Also, if you're near a wifi hotspot, use it. That alone will save tons of battery.

People complain about the Incredible's battery life all the time, but I must say I rarely have trouble getting through the day on one charge with the stock battery, with moderate use (a fair amount of texting, a little time spent talking, a little bit of facebook checking and web surfing, checking an e-mail whenever it came in). This was true even before I rooted the phone (I don't use an underclocked kernel anyway). Of course, with heavy use, that is, lots of gaming, and tons of web surfing, you can find the battery disappear really quickly.

 

[Cyber Warrior]

On a DroidX.... straight out of the box with regular use I was easily getting 12+ hours compared to my BB Storms 8 hours. If you eventually get into rooting and custom roms its even better. For emample today with regular use... my phone has been running for 11 hours now and I still have 40% battery left. My phone is overclocked running even harder then it should be and with heavy, heavy, heavy usage I get 8 hours..... compared to my Storms 8 hours of regular usage. Whatever the situation may be..... I get things done a lot faster now and get a good extra 4-5 hours out of my Droid then I did my Berry.... both on stock. With everything customized on my Droid... there's no comparison, I could easily go 24 hours without a charge.

 

[abocornwall]

The nexus s runs gingerbread and it has nine hours stand by 6 1/2 talk and that 6 is with everything turned on bluetooth gps backlight yeah. Those might not be the exact numbers because I haven't looked at the nexus page since the s was announced but I'm pretty sure

 

[abocornwall]

Oh I guess you were talking about verizon

 

[Bushido Brown]

Thanks for the response man! I really like the Sense UI. It adds an extra layer of polish that I (originally) thought Android was missing. Maybe I'll just try and hold out of the TB then. I am itching to get rid of this Tour, but a few more months won't hurt me (I guess haha).

I have nothing official to report-no one does at this point, its all just speculation. To make an educated stab at a release date, I would say mid-late February for a Thunderbolt release. So you shouldn't be waiting too long.

I'm holding out to see what kind of pricing the Xoom will have. I plan on getting either that, or the TB.