Seven snazzy smartphones for seven sorts of shoppers

Re: One-handed operation is key to Many buyers' needs

One handed operation ... Heh.

Re: One-handed operation?

You must have very petite hands.

I have an SGS4 - not a small device, and yet I have no difficulty using it one-handed.

--

Paris, who also has petite hands.

Re: One-handed operation is key to Many buyers' needs

> The iPhone 5 is at the limit of that, really.

Show me proof. Other than the brainwashing Apple commercial (the one with the thumb).

You could argue (but would lose), that my galaxy note 2 is too big for one handed operation. It's not, I do it all the time, and I'm a normal size person.

I also want to say it on record, that your statement is only true until Apple introduces a larger iPhone. At that time, the larger iPhone will embody the perfection of one handed operation.

Re: Yes, but how good are they as phones?

As a phone:

As far as clarity of voice both ways goes, it's a toss-up between HTC One and the Nokia 920. HTC is slightly better incoming, due to the front facing speakers that don't distort sound.

As far as ringing loudness goes, it's a toss-up between the Nokia and the Samsung Note 2. Ringtones they are loud. They do get distorted at the high end, but they do get heard. HTC One is a bit behind, though the sound doesn't get distorted funnily enough. The Nexus 4 is quite bad when laid flat on its back. You will miss some calls.

Dialer-wise, they are similar. If you get used to it the HTC Sense phone is very very good, though may be a bit confusing for the first day.

Durability/punishment taking? The Sony is waterproof. Nuff said. You can dunk it. Don't drop it, like the Nexus 4 (and the old iPhone 4/4S) it is glass on both sides. Dropwise your best bet among these are the Samsung S4 for the plastics, HTC One and the iPhone 5 for the rigid metal chassis. Metal does get dinged upon impact, but doesn't flex so protects the screen. The S4 may wear its dings better, but is prone to shattering more (the screen is big and inflexible, but the chassis is).

Battery? Depends on what you do, how you use them. I'd say without any personal experience, the Blackberry. Not enough games and apps on it, you see. Actually all of them are crap by dumbphone standards. Two days tops, if you use them to say hello. 5 hours if you use the GPS and play games. Usually they all last the day though.

These are not phones, and we are not in Kansas anymore.

Re: staff unfailingly polite, helpful and eager

'Genius Bar' really is the twattiest name they could have ever thought up for what is essentially technical support.

Marketing wanker #1 - 'Hey guys, let's call these monkeys we pay chicken feed 'Geniuses' so they feel like their job is actually somewhat important'.

Marketing wanker #2 - 'Yeah, and like let's say they like work at like a 'bar' because it's all like cool and laid back'

Marketing wanker #3 - 'Right, pub...sorry, bar everyone?'

Wankers

Re: staff unfailingly polite, helpful and eager

Ah, now the warranty Apple provides is a totally separate promise over and above some very powerful statutory rights which you possess.

Now the 2yr minimum is indeed in effect only a guideline, you're right - but falls below the protections typically obtaining within English law, which tell you that you may expect goods to work properly for up to six years, depending on how much you paid. The EU measure is that the goods must 'conform to contract' for two years, i.e. be reasonably durable etc. The measurement of reasonable lifespan applicable in English law (and likely applicable in EU law), is really how long it's reasonable to expect something to last given all relevant considerations including the price.

What isn't applicable in measuring the reasonable lifespan is the consumer's mistaken beliefs as to how little they're owed by the retailer!

However as a failsafe, it's always important to pay on a UK credit card when buying goods over £100 - as the credit card provider is jointly liable for the goods fulfilling all the above criteria: so when a £400 iPad goes kaput after a year and Apple don't want to know, then, if you don't fancy taking them to small claims court, you can just ring up your credit card provider, and they'll ordinarily pay out a refund then and there with a pro-rata deduction for usage against the expected lifespan. So your £400 iPad will probably have an expected life of three or four years, against which they'll deduct one year. So £266 or £300 as a refund.

Who said it was a value phone? From TFA:

I should make it clear: this round-up only concerns itself with top-end devices

No 4G

Value or not, the biggest problem with the Nexus 4 is the lack of 4G. Even if I do hack the system to turn on the hidden chip, it still won't work on the frequency used in my country (Australia).

Come on Google, get your act together and give us a 4G phone already!