[clug] Slightly OT: Smartphone Suggestions

[Paul Rands]

Hi Guys, 

I am due for a new phone in the next month or two. And
looking for some direction from other users as to what to go and look
at. 

The current contracted phone is a Sony Xperia Go. Except this
thing has proven to be a piece of crap. Annoying slow, crap battery life
(at best 2/3 of the day with useable charge), crap camera and clunky
button and socket locations. Also PC manager only supports Windows and
OSX. It now is stuck in a constant rebooting loop that I can't seem to
bypass. I was initially keen on the phone because it was the only
smartphone on offer at the time that was dustproof and water resistant,
it also weighs half that of the iPhone I was replacing. I was interested
in the Sony because of the past performance of my Sony Ericsson /
Ericsson phones from the past. 

The current phone is the old iPhone 4 I
replaced with the Sony. It works fine using the current iOS and I get
1.5 days of battery from full charge. It's a little sluggish, but not
unbearably. That said it's heavy, the camera isn't that great and the
home button has clagged out and it's becoming end of life for iOS
updates as well. I reverted back to this when I left IT and had to hand
back my company issued iPhone 4S. The biggest thing I miss from the 4S
is how well Siri worked for sending voice generated SMS and email and
accurate voice dialling from the home screen. 

So far I have been
looking at the Nexus 5 and the Samsung Galaxy 4 Mini or the 5. But I
both have a lot of pros and cons which is making it hard to make a
decision. 

What I am looking for: 

 	* Screen no bigger than around 5
inches
 	* Voice dialling, voice SMS and voice email from the locked
home screen
 	* Camera that doesn't get super fuzzy or grainy using zoom
or in low light
 	* At least 1 day usage from full charge, my call usage
is around 2 to 4 calls a day, lasting 5 to 20 minutes each. And sending
10 to 20 SMS per day. I also play a few games, such as Word With
Friends, Bejeweled Blitz, and use it for social media and web browsing.
Watching video and playing games seem to cause the most performance
issues I've experienced on the Sony and iPhone.
 	* Easy accessibility
to accessories such as screen protectors, cases, etc.
 	* PC management
software that I can run under Linux, or the very least Wine or easily
accessible using tools that I can install via repositories or without
much fiddling. I found I couldn't access the inbuilt memory of the Sony
reliably using Ubuntu.
 	* Would prefer expandable SD storage
 	* Would
prefer charging and headphone connection on the vertical ends of the
phone.
 	* Also need a clear loud earpiece on the handset itself. The
iPhone is good in shopping centres, and I don't have to strain to
listen, but the Sony it's hard to hear even at full volume. I suffer
from tinnitus and have both whistling and ringing in my ears, and also
suffer from years of using headphones after working in radio. 
 	* 4G
preferred
 	* Running latest version of the OS, not lagging behind a
couple of versions
 	* Minimally customised OS by the telco or
manufacturer
 	* Would also be keen to find a matching 10 inch tablet as
well

I've been waiting in anticipation for Ubuntu phones to be
released, but I think I might waiting for quite a while yet. Very much
looking at Android this time around. 

Thanks in advance, as usual. 

--

--
Paul Rands
lists at paulrands.com