MOBILE

Smart Phones: Bigger, Faster, And Better Than Ever

5/7/2013 6:41:11 PM

A new smart phone might not be the best festive offering, unless you also plan to cover some or all of the gadget’s hefty monthly bills. Yet phone sales are sure to surge this holiday season, thanks in part to people treating themselves to the new iPhone 5 or another of the recommended phones in the Ratings bellows

Look for these trends

Here’s what’s new in phone shape, size, connectivity, and more

Screens are bigger and less square.

The iPhone 5 finally brought Apple into the fold of 5-inch and larger screens. Most top-rated smart phones now have screens measuring upward of 4.3 inches diagonally, providing extra real estate for viewing Web pages, maps, and more.

 
The iPhone 5 performed superbly in our tests. It’s Apple’s best phone yet.

The iPhone 5 performed superbly in our tests. It’s Apple’s best phone yet.

Further, more of those screens than ever have high-definition 720p resolution for easier viewing and reading of Web pages and e-mail. And some models, including the iPhone 5, have a screen with a rectangular, 16:9 aspect ratio that’s well-suited for viewing video in landscape mode.

Designers haven’t forgotten about usability, though. Many models are less than a half-inch thick and ultra-light- 5 ounces or less- so they’re comfortable to hold and slide easily in and out of most pockets.

But a few phones with 5-inch-plus screens, including the Samsung Note, may be too big for many hands and pockets. They do, though, offer a middle ground between phones and tablets, and offer extras such as a stylus to handwrite notes, draw pictures, or play games.

Look beyond Apple and Samsung.

However justified the buzz around Apple and Samsung phones, don’t overlook the best models from other makers. In addition to fine performance, as detailed in the Ratings, they offer innovations. Verizon’s Motorola Razr phones, for example, have some nifty apps that will automatically change their settings according to the time of day, your activity, or your location. And HTC’s One Series phones have superbly intuitive interfaces that allow you to access core features quickly.

4G is now the norm.

With the exception of Apple’s iPhone 4S on Verizon and Sprint, every recommended phone connects to a high-speed fourth-generation data network. Phones can use more juice when running on 4G, so manufacturers have compensated with higher-capacity batteries and more sophisticated power management. Some 4G phones let you switch to a slower-speed network to conserve power.

 
Some 4G phones let you switch to a slower-speed network to conserve power.

Some 4G phones let you switch to a slower-speed network to conserve power.

One caution: A faster 4G connection may encourage you to consume more data, which might drive up your monthly bills.

Ratings Smart Phones: Recommended models only from 59 tested. In performance order, by carrier.

Overview

While our Ratings group phones by carrier, we’ve highlighted the recommended phones below by other considerations. For phones that come in 15GB and 32GB capacities, the price is for the storage size we tested. Prices are for a two-year contract, including rebates. (Carriers are listed in order of user satisfaction.)

Big-Screen, big performance

A2: Samsung Galaxy SIII (Verizon, 32GB) $250

B1: Samsung Galaxy S III (Sprint, 16GB) $200

B3: HTC Evo 4G LTE (Sprint) $200

D1: Samsung Galaxy S III (AT&T, 16GB) $200

 
A. Verizon: This carrier was among the more satisfying in almost all cities in our survey.

A. Verizon: This carrier was among the more satisfying in almost all cities in our survey.

 
A1. Motorola Droid Razr Maxx

A1. Motorola Droid Razr Maxx

These phones deftly combine a superb screen that’s big (4.7 inches of B3, 4.8 inches for the rest) but not enormous, with to-notch performance and some of the most innovative technologies on the Android platform. All allow you to launch the camera or messaging from a locked screen, which is handy. They also have cameras with advanced features. Including the ability to snap a still while continuing to shoot a video, and take very good photos (except for B3, whose photos are only fair). The Samsungs (A2, B1, D1) have front-facing cameras that monitor your eyes while you’re feeding a Web page or other document to prevent the screen form timing out; let you minimize a video playing on the phone’s large screen so that you can perform other tasks, such as browse the Web or reply to e-mail; and offer myriad options for wirelessly sharing their content with other devices.

 
A3. HTC Evo 4G LTE

B3. HTC Evo 4G LTE

Compact high performers

A3: Apple iPhone 5 (Verizon, 16GB) $200

B2: Apple iPhone 5 (Sprint, 16GB) $200

D2: Apple iPhone 5 (AT&T, 16GB) $200

A4: Motorola Droid Razr M (Verizon, $100)

C2: HTC One S (T-Mobile, $0)

 
B. Sprint: this carrier was among the more satisfying in almost all cities in which it was rated in our survey

B. Sprint: this carrier was among the more satisfying in almost all cities in which it was rated in our survey

 
B4. Motorola Photo Q 4G LTE

B4. Motorola Photo Q 4G LTE

These are ideal choices if you want top performance in a smaller package. A4 and C2 have high-resolution, 4.3-inch screens; the iPhone 5 (A3, B2, D2) has a 4-inch display. The free new Apple Maps app for iPhone 5 and other iPhones using iOS6, gives clear guidance in a streamlined interface but offers fewer details and options than the free Google navigation on Android phones. Other than the lower price, there’s little reason to consider the iPhone 4S (A13, B6, D9). Apple’s newest phone has the first smart-phone camera we’ve tested that yields excellent still photos and very good video, and its superb Siri voice assistant now works with apps, too. But unlike other 4G Verizon and Sprint smart phones, A3 and B2 can’t simultaneously support a phone call and an Internet-based connection over the cellular network. That makes D2 arguably the best iPhone 5 for multitasks, despite the track record of AT&T service in our surveys. A4 may not be as thin as its sibling A5 or have A1’s marathon battery life, but it managed to squeeze the same large, 4.3-inch display into a much more palm-friendly case and delivers the same high level of performance and convenient features. The thin, lightweight C2 has an especially intuitive interface. On all of these phones, the camera lets you snap a still while shooting a video.

 
C. T-Mobile: this carrier was among the more satisfying in almost all cities in which it was rated in our survey

C. T-Mobile: this carrier was among the more satisfying in almost all cities in which it was rated in our survey

 
C4. Samsung Galaxy S blaze 4G

C4. Samsung Galaxy S blaze 4G

Best for long battery life

A1: Motorola Droid Razr Maxx (Verizon) $200

This is a marathon performer, thanks to one of the largest-capacity batteries ever squeezed into a smart phone. It delivered 13.25 hours of talk time on a single charge in our tests. In other respects, this phone is nearly identical to A5, though the beefier battery makes it slightly thicker and heavier. (A new version, the Droid Razr HD Maxx, is expected by year’s end)

For a tablet alternative

D5: Samsung Galaxy Note (AT&T) $200

 
D. AT&T: This carrier scored the lowest in satisfaction in almost all cities in our survey

D. AT&T: This carrier scored the lowest in satisfaction in almost all cities in our survey

With its 5.3-inch screen, this Samsung will strain some pockets, and even those with large hands will struggle with one-handed operation. But the phone’s large display, offering top-notch performance even in bright light, makes it a compelling choice for e-book fans and heavy Web users who don’t also tote a tablet around. The included S Pen stylus allows you to jot down notes or sketches on the memo app and crop photos by simply tracing over them. (The even bigger Samsung Note II, with a 5.5-inch screen, was expected to go on the market in late October).

D5: Samsung Galaxy Note (AT&T)

D5: Samsung Galaxy Note (AT&T)

Best choices with a keyboard

A7: Motorola Droid 4 (Verizon) $100

A9: Samsung Stratosphere (Verizon) $50

B4: Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE (Sprint) $200

These are fine choices for serious typists frustrated by virtual touch-screen keyboards. The slide-out keyboards of these phones are among the best we’ve seen. They’re clearly labeled and logically laid out and have five rows, with dedicated buttons for numbers across the top row. Their keyboards have directional buttons for more-precise Web scrolling and cursor placement. A9 also has a button for inserting emoticons into text and instant messages.

A9: Samsung Stratosphere (Verizon) $50

A9: Samsung Stratosphere (Verizon) $50

New Windows Phone 8 operating system packs new features

It’s new to tablets and computers, but the tiled interface of Microsoft’s just-launched Windows 8 operating system will be familiar to owners of Windows Phone 7 smart phones.

Windows Phone 8, however, gives the tiles some new tricks. You can vary their size and shape, or program them to allow one-tap access to a friend’s latest e-mails, texts, and social-media posts. The new operating system also gives Windows phones a free built-in navigation app with spoken, turn-by-turn directions.

The New Windows phones, in turn, promise to bring to Microsoft’s platform the top-notch performance and features previously found only on phones that run on the Android or Apple iOS operating systems. Here are two of the first, and highly anticipated, models, expected before the end of this year.

Nokia Lumia 920

Nokia Lumia 920

This phone has a 4.5-inch high-definition display and an advanced 8.7-megapixel camera that allows you to add animation to still images and to edit out people-remove the tourists, say, from a shot of the Eiffel Tower. Also, the screen responds to even a gloved finger and the battery can be charged wirelessly, using induction.

HTC Windows Phone 8X

HTC Windows Phone 8X

Equipped with a 4.3-inch, high-definition display, this models also has an advanced ultra-wide-angle front camera, which HTC says can capture three times the area of most other front cameras. Other innovations: a built-in audio amplifier designed to improve sound quality for listening to music.

 

 

 

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