Idiot Proof Mobile Phone Recommendations

[Greetings]

Ok, this might sound strange but the last phone I chose was a Siemens S35 and that was like 8 years ago. Ever since I've been using "some phone", might have had 4 or 5 in my lifetime. My last mobile was a Nokia E52 which drove me up the wall. As a result, that phone is no more. Basically it was my first phone with more advanced features and made me aware of the emotional risks associated with owning such a device. I'd revert to a Nokia 3210 if it weren't bloody useful to have GPS, email and web access.

I have absolutely no idea about mobile phones, I can't even begin to choose one. Read a lot of reviews but I don't understand anything. Android for instance, no idea what that's all about except that it's some kind of alternative to Symbian with some people saying it's shit.

Basically I'm looking for a phone which WORKS, doesn't crash, hang up or lose signal for no apparent reason. It should take one button to answer a call, one button to access the phonebook and dial a number. Needs a fairly big touchscreen and preferably a normal keyboard too, a good camera would also be nice. It also needs GPS, a proper working email and web browser. Don't need Facetube or other useless stuff like being able to plug it into a TV. Also no more Nokias and definitely don't want an iPhone.

Any ideas? I'm worried something like this might not exist

[isitafox]

You probably want a HTC then running an android OS. You may struggle to find one with a keyboard though but you get all the other stuff required on the list!

[RobinJI]

You probably want a HTC then running an android OS. You may struggle to find one with a keyboard though but you get all the other stuff required on the list!

I'd agree with this, android's very strait-forward and intuitive to use, and syncs with facebook/google accounts very easily and seamlessly. Syncing with google means that all your contacts and stuff can be stored on your google account, so if you break/loose/upgrade your phone, you won't actually loose anything, you just log into your google account on a new phone and it all loads up as it was, works with your calender too.

The android web browser's easy to use too, you can have several windows open at once with it, and flash player works, plus you can tell it to trick websites into not realising it's a phone, so you get the proper site, not a crappy mobile version. (or it will display the mobile version if you want.)

GPS is good on them, takes into account traffic (well in the UK anyway, no idea about Europe), and can show google maps imaging which is quite useful, you can also save the map to the phone, so it doesn't need web access to use the sat-nav (so even with no reception you can still use it, like a proper sat-nav).

They do work off an I-phone like 'apps' system, but I've never paid for an app on android, and never found something I can't get a free one to do.

The HTC desire Z sounds pretty ideal, fold out key-board (it's about I-phone sized, just a touch thicker because of the keyboard):

Edited November 5, 2011 by RobinJI

[Greetings]

Cheers for the input. So frankly speaking Android is the way to go? However, if I'm not mistaken not only HTC phones run Android, is it just that those phones are considered to be the best now? What about Sony and Samsung?

I've found browsing HTC phones very off-putting, they all look identical but have different price tags. Couldn't really figure out what the difference between them was so I gave them a miss in my short search.

[RobinJI]

HTC phones were the first to use Android, and have been developed around the system. They have various features that other android phones don't have. For instance mine has a HTC specific thing on the main screen, which looks like a clock, with a little weather indicator below it, but if you click on it, it shortcuts you to the alarm settings/times, a stopwatch and a countdown timer, as well as clocks for other time zones, which is really useful, and I use all the time. There's other things like that, but that's the best example I can think of. I've also found them to be very tough. I've dropped mine down a 2 story flight of steel stairs and it bounced right down, very hard, without damaging it at all, also slammed it in my boot shut repeatedly before working out why my boot wasn't shutting, again, no damage. The screens can crack like any other smart-phone, but they still work fine cracked, and it's an issue with any and all large screened phones.

With regard to which to go for, the HTC desire Z is the only one that I'm aware of with a keyboard and a decent sized screen. Most of the differences are in how powerful they are, or how good the screen is,. To be honest the power makes cock all difference unless you're wanting to play games or something, mines a basic 'HTC desire' (as in no letters after desire), which is basically the desire Z without a keyboard, because the desire Z came out a week after I got mine, so I'm stuck with no buttons . But power wise, it's kept up with everything I've told it to do fine, and I use my phone in a similar way to you by the sound of it. Basically just making phone calls, sending texts, googling random things, reading/sorting/sending e-mails, and as a sat-nav, as a calculator, as an alarm clock ect.. just general convenience stuff, rather than as a toy.

[Greetings]

Sounds like that's the way to go then. Will look around for a Desire when I have some spare time, ideally need to play around with one to see if a smartphone is really something I can live with. Thanks for your time