VirusZero said:
I've been looking at a few different phones recently... (Even though my contract isn't up until December so at earliest I could upgrade is maybe October.)
And I've been looking at the Samsung Galaxy S4 and Sony Xperia ZL.
I like the fact the S4 has a removable backplate so I can swap batteries quickly. (Something a lot of other phones are getting rid of in favour of internal and inaccessible batteries.) Plus the ZL only allows for up to 32GB of extra expansion where the S4 allows up to 64GB.
But on the upside, the ZL is over a hundred dollars cheaper. (And since I'm buying the phone unlocked without a contract this time to negate any 2 or 3 year deals of being locked in... 100$ difference in cost matters.)
Though I'm leaning towards the S4 for now. (Possibly looking at importing an international S4 to get the octa-core model. But I'm not 100% on that yet, I might just go with the quad core version instead.)
I still haven't yet decided and there may be something amazing coming out. Or I might wait to just pick up the Galaxy S5.
If what you say is true about development being important, then I'd say that you were leaning in the right direction. If I recall correctly, Sony has always locked down their phones like HTC has. My mom's MyTouch 4G (HTC Glacier) could not be rooted, and it had a locked bootloader as well, so that meant that there were no roms either.
So when official support stopped, she was stuck using Froyo until she got an S3 because she didn't like any of the phones available when her contract expired. She just kept getting replacement batteries from T-mobile until they told her that they were out of stock and offered her a free upgrade to the Lumia. By then, she saw that the S3 was available and they gave her a free upgrade since she has been a long term customer.
This is important because if price is an issue then you'll want your device to get updates for as long as the hardware can support it, which is usually the case after the 2 upgrade cycle that OEM's are fond of. This is why I decided against any OEM that locks their devices down in this fashion. I am not sure if either of these companies still do this, but you can always check XDA and compare the activity in their respective developer areas and see what people have to say about mods and other customizations for it.
I struck gold when I got the S2 and Note 2 and it is why I am very happy with my choices since I know that they will at least get some support and updates via XDA devs, even if the official support for these devices have been 86'd. My S2 can recieve Jellybean 4.2.2 and later, even though Samsung pulled the plug at 4.1.2 for it and the original Note.
I just wish that I thought to do so with my Galaxy Tab 7+.. I got the 4G version because my husband and I travel outside of NYC a lot and tethering sucks because it just drains both batteries faster.. and apart from Cyanogenmod and Paranoid Android ports, there havent been much development for it compared to the international and Wi-Fi only models.
Anyway, I am thinking of going with an international version of the Note 2 as my next phone because 10gb usable out of 16gb is pathetic and I'd like to get the 32gb model since Note apps are huge and there is no App2SD support after Honeycomb.. and I am not will to go any larger than a 5.5" screen. So no Note 3 or Galaxy Mega or whatever it is called. I do not need a 6" screen on my phone. The only way I'll change my mind on this, is if Samsung comes out with a Galaxy Note 3 Mini, that has the same 5.5" screen the Note 2 has and the same hardware specs as the actual Note 3 itself, which has been said that it will have the Exynos 5 Octa processor. No other changes would be necessary.
As far as a tablet is concerned, I am getting a Galaxy Note 8 from my husband as a birthday gift.. and I have already checked, the development scene for it is very active. I want to get the international version of this tablet, so that I can get the 32gb model. I am willing to wait until it comes out though.
