Atrix v. Aria v. Inspire v. iPhone

[ZYouL8R]

I'm an ATT customer ready to break into the 21st century with my first smart phone. I've always been a minimalist that thought phones only needed to make calls, but I realize some of the other features are nice to have. I'm halfway tech retarded, so I won't be rooting these phones or jailbreaking anything.

With that in mind, it seems the Atrix, Aria, Inspire, and iPhone are the best smart phones in ATT's lineup today. I would really like to stay away from the iPhone, but I just threw it in for comparison sake. The things I care about are: no dropped calls, easy to use keyboard, battery life, durability, and availability of apps. Being able to connect to wireless and tethering would be nice too, but tethering isn't a deal breaker.

Reading through this site and random Google searches, it looks like the Aria is the predecessor to the Inspire? How did they improve the Inspire over the Aria? How does the Atrix stack up to both of them? What does the iPhone do that the Droid phones can't? How do HTC and Motorola compare?

Also, are there any new phones coming out in the next few months that would make it worth it to me to wait? I would really love to have a flip out keyboard because I can't type worth a shit on my wife's iPhone, but the only ATT phones that have the keyboard are either the Blackberry, Palm, or LG Quantum. Any Droid's have a actual keyboard?

EdIT: I guess I should throw in the Captivate also.

Thanks!

[Tx Redneck]

I had the aria prior to the inspire ans it's far and above, a whole different phone. Spec wise, it's like an updated evo but without HDMI. I would not hesitate to get the inspire over any of the other offerings. The build quality is awesome... my only complaint is battery life but it's to be expected with the 4.3 inch screen.

[ZYouL8R]

Thanks. I was hoping you'd chime in. On paper the Inspire looks awesome, but of all my choices, it's the biggest and heaviest. Coming from a Nokia flip phone, I hope the size isn't a drastic difference to me. I have to keep this thing in the front pocket of my flight suit and wear a parachute harness over it.

[Tx Redneck]

It's very thin and the weight makes it feel more robust. The body is aluminum and feels great in the hand.

[ZYouL8R]

Would you recommend the Inspire over the Atrix? Any big differences between the two?

Also, are there any phones coming out in the next few months that are worth waiting for? You seem to know everything there is to know about technology.

[71chevellejohn]

I love my Atrix, but have no experience with the others(other than a iphone 3g) to offer a comparison. The Android OS phones make you think just a little bit more than the iphones do, but their potential is much greater than the iphone. It was a short learning curve going from apple to Android.

If you have anything Atrix specific, feel free to ask.

[Tx Redneck]

I don't see anything worth waiting for on the near horizon for att. I haven't had/used an atrix but know of many who've returned them for the inspire. The inspire is basically an updated evo and is nearly identical to the thunderbolt with the difference being the lack of a front facing camera.

My opinion lies with the Inspire.

If you wanna check mine out before buying, lemme know.

[ZYouL8R]

Went to the ATT store and played with them all and ended up with the inspire. I love this phone so far! I've dl several apps and I'm still feeling it out.

[71chevellejohn]

If you haven't already, go check out XDA Forums http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1015

There you can find out anything and everything you can think of about your new phone. From accessories to apps to hacks.

[jdgregory84]

Samsung Galaxy S II

[jlyon]

i have a Captivate and love it. i don't have any rooting done or any of that. hell, i don't even know what rooting is and what it's for

[Tx Redneck]

If you haven't already, go check out XDA Forums http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1015

There you can find out anything and everything you can think of about your new phone. From accessories to apps to hacks.

This! I'm pretty active over there and my sn is the same. Hope to see ya on XDA.

i have a Captivate and love it. i don't have any rooting done or any of that. hell, i don't even know what rooting is and what it's for

If you ever tried the Inspire, you'd ditch your Craptivate like a bad habit.

Samsung Galaxy S II

Sammy's are cheap feeling in comparison to HTC's and their UI is atrocious.

[ZYouL8R]

I really love this phone so far but the only thing that bothers me is that the apps stay open after you go back to the menu. I have WatchDog and Advanced Task Killer. but it's still annoying to have to literally choose and kill every app. A lot of the apps on the WatchDog list I don't even know what they are. What is ok to kill and what should I leave running?

[Tx Redneck]

Don't use task killers, they do nothing but hose the battery since the apps restart themselves automatically. Android does a great job of managing the memory usage and watchdog will help you keep a handle on rogue process eating apps.

I hate that all the att bloat runs all the time, but the only way to stop that is to root and flash a different rom.

[71chevellejohn]

He could root and load Titanium backup or Bloatfreeze. Then freeze the bloatware.