Forums » Android

What phone for VO?

Mar 01, 2013 Dr. Lecter link
I'm due to upgrade, and am thinking of moving to android and away from iphone/blackberry. Which phone would be best in terms of hardware for running VO?
Mar 01, 2013 KatoZee link
I use a HTC one x, the international version with quad coffee processor.

Not found any device specific issues yet, just the common android bugs plaguing multiple devices.
Mar 04, 2013 abortretryfail link
Go for a higher-end phone and it's pretty much guaranteed to come with a good GPU anymore. My Motorola Photon Q gets a fairly good framerate, but I'd recommend a device with a higher resolution screen if you plan to play a lot.

Who's your carrier and what region? That'll affect what devices are available near you more than anything else.
Mar 05, 2013 Kierky link
HTC one x is definitely the most powerful phone I've ever used, being Tegra 3 and Quad-Core.
Mar 07, 2013 incarnate link
The Tegra phones are a good bet for performance, but your options for future OS versions should also figure into it. Take a long look at the Nexus 4 (or the main site here), which is Google's own phone. It's also a quad-core (Qualcomm 8064) with a very fast GPU, and should run the game very well (it runs great on our 8064 devkit).

A Nexus 4 is guaranteed to get the latest new OS versions and improvements that come out for Android (much like an iPhone). Where the OEM phones from major manufacturers are updated based on the whims of the respective OEM/carrier, who is often more motivated to get you to upgrade to a new phone than to make your existing phone better (thus, my Atrix 4G with dual-core Tegra2, 1GB of ram and 32GB of flash is stuck on.. Gingerbread, forever).

Whether a Nexus 4 will work with your carrier is dependent on carrier technology. Should be no problem with AT&T or T-Mobile. I don't think there is a Verizon or Sprint compatible version. On the upside, it does come unlocked.

There are also rumors (of course) of some sort of uberphone in development from Motorola, since they were purchased by Google, as the next "super" Android phone. I have no idea when something like that will be released, might not be until fall.
Mar 09, 2013 KatoZee link
Your on commission aren't you (^^,)
Mar 12, 2013 abortretryfail link
Your on commission aren't you (^^,)

No he's not. That's solid advice about Android devices right there. Device OEMs and carriers (mostly the carriers...) go out of their way to screw up phones (locked bootloaders, buggy "customized" OS, late or never updated, etc.) and the Nexus line is pretty much the only ones that the carriers don't have their greasy mitts buried in.
Mar 20, 2013 Alexandria link
I strongly second the Nexus 4. I've owned many phones, but have not loved any as much as I love the N4. It is the cleanest/smoothest version of Android, and knowing I get all updates immediately is incredibly satisfying. Since I bought the phone outright, I can also use one of T-Mobile's value plans -- $30/month for 100 minutes, unlimited texting, and 5GB of data (unlimited 2G data after that). It works very well for me. Moved from Sprint (who I still love, despite problems/cost), where I was paying $120/month and only getting 200-300kbit speed, to $30/month T-Mobile and getting 20-40mbit HSPA+.

If you can't use the N4 for whatever reason (no T-Mo/AT&T coverage in your area, etc) then I'm happy to suggest other phones... but seriously, I only want to mention the N4 to make it stick as to how great of a phone it is.

(and no -- I'm not paid by Google/LG to post this. look at the price of the phone, there's absolutely no room in their budget for marketing since the phone is practically sold at cost)