thinking about IPhone for next cell phone - would have to last me several years though - how durable are they?

[krmathis]

I would look no further than the iPhone 4.

 

[ozz]

I am enjoying the iPhone 4 way more than the 3g and for those trying to decide on size I got the 32 because I knew with the better camera and the ability to shoot
HD video I would eat up space quickly.

 

[uofmtiger]

 
Quote:

 The only thing is I'm kind of worried about how durable the iphone will be over a number of years (like 3 or more), because if I do get it I won't be upgrading for a long long time.

This is hard to really know since the iPhone 4 has only been out a month or so and it has a different design than older iPhones.  I have the 3GS and it has worked fine for 9 months, but who knows how great it will be running in 2 more years.   I would still be getting one if I was in the market now and if I was in your situation. You can easily transport your Touch apps to the iPhone and you will immediately get more use out of them thanks to 3G access.  I am sure there are other great phones out there, but if I was in your situation I would get the 4 and a good case.  A screen protector will help keep scratches off the screen, too.
 
Of course, you could drop it and break it on the second day you own it.  So, there is really no guarantee that it will last. However, I have dropped my 3GS on concrete a few times, with the case on, and have not had any problems. 

 

[rhythmdevils]

don't get an iphone if you sometimes mistake your phone for a basketball

 

[Somnambulist]

As someone said on the first page, it's really a case of how you look after it. It's a big touch screen phone, they're all pretty easy to crack if you're trying to do it, or you somehow mange to drop a bare one 6ft onto concrete, It won't fall apart from day to day use.
 
I have a few different cases for different occasions. If I'm going to be out in an urban environment where there's a lot of pavement then I usually put it in a leather slip-pouch with that d3o shock/impact absorbing material. If I'm just out at the weekend in the general elements I'll use something like a SwitchEasy Colors just to keep the dock and inputs covered. Around the house it's nude, apart from the BodyGuardz skin I have on it, but we have carpet so it's not a problem worrying about dropping it.

 

[hahahigh]

Apple products have always served me very faithfully. My old iPods and now the iPhone have been carelessly thrown into backpacks, onto beds, dropped numerous times from varying heights, been stepped on, and generally ferried and tossed around like a bundle of keys. The treatment is not quite to the point of being neglectful or abusive, but it's certainly rough-and-tumble, and the iPhone has adapted to this on-the-go lifestyle with ease. Absolutely no problems here. Looking forward to the iPhone 4 in a few weeks, when I'll be upgrade eligible.

 

[Uncle Erik]

As an update, I've had the iPhone 4 since the release date and it's doing great.  No problems and the new front and back material seems very difficult to scratch.  I've put light scratches on the stainless rim, but nothing I couldn't work out with some 0000 steel wool.
 
My old 3G is still going and used by my father now.  The original iPhone I had is still around and working, too.

 

[mrarroyo]

My wife's iPhone 3G-16GB and my 3G-8GB are two years old and working great. Both have been in a case plus had an screen protector since new. I have had no desire to upgrade to the 3GS but the 4 is sure tempting, maybe in 6 months or so I will get the newer version.

 

[350Rocket]

A late follow up to the 3 page thread that I started here, 2 months ago I ended up getting the LG Shine Plus which has Android 2.1 and a really nice full Qwerty keyboard. It's not a very popular device with all the high end users on the Androidforums, Howardforums, etc. and here, but the people who do have it seem very happy including me.
 
The main reason I got it, was that  I just went back to school and wanted to switch to one of the Telus student plans cause they're a lot better deal than what I had, but you can only get them on a 3 yr contract with a subsidised phone. And since I wasn't quite at 2 years I could only get $100 off a smartphone or $200 off Iphone. The LG Shine plus was $299 so I paid $199. I really wanted the HTC Desire but it would have been $349 with the $100 discount. The Iphones would have been even more.
 
My 2yr old LG Shine flip phone was still working perfect and got switched to pay as you go and ported a friends number to it, since her BB died and she couldn't afford a new phone at all. So far shes been really happy with my old phone. The CDMA network however had no service in my appt. Now with the HSPA network I have no issues with signal here, and a few other places in the country around here that I frequent.
 
I know LG isn't known as the best cell phone maker, but my old one really held up, as has my sister's and ex gf's and a few others. This one feels really well built too. I'll see after a couple years how it's held up. My plan is to keep it 3 years and then get something really nice that I'll keep more than 3 years.
 
As far as sound quality goes it's not near as good as my Ipod Touch 2g, but with my Cmoy amp and my PortaPro's it's not unbearable and the music player doesn't seem to drain the battery like using wifi and mobile internet does.
 

 

[disastermouse]

Quote:

My wife's iPhone 3G-16GB and my 3G-8GB are two years old and working great. Both have been in a case plus had an screen protector since new. I have had no desire to upgrade to the 3GS but the 4 is sure tempting, maybe in 6 months or so I will get the newer version.

Once you use the 'retina display' (Gawd, that's so 'marketing-speak'), it'll be hard to go back to something with lower resolution, IMHO.

 

[Bemopti123]

My 1 year old took an accidental plunge in a Motel6 toilet, after I had left it on top of the water tank cover, which was curved...I plucked it out after the submersion.  I shook it violently up and down to make sure to flush as much of the water as possible.  It was acting up nuts, showing me power down sliders etc...  continuously....fortunately, there was an Apple Store at Caesar's Forum, where I went and they simply said, "water damage=$199 replacement, come tomorrow at 10:30 AM" I was willing to pluck down that amount, as I was relying on the Iphone for a cross country navigation....  FF, I woke up and I turn the Iphone 4 on and lo and behold, where it did not make any sounds, it made, and it worked flawlessly ever since.  That was back in the 3rd week of July, and I am back home.  The Iphone has no functional issues to speak off and this evidence simply tell you that it is more durable and rugged than most.  Perhaps some people might label it "Fanboism" but I am sold.  I am planning of keeping it until it no longer works, perhaps by then Iphone XI will have come out.  How many throw away phones would a regular person have gone through in that time?  

 

[DougofTheAbaci]

My iPhone 4 is my first smartphone and I doubt I'll ever venture into the realm of Android. RIM isn't even worth considering in my opinion and WP7 is still a little young.
 
The one thing I would say is this: The iPhone 5 WILL be coming out this fall. It's been confirmed by everyone but Apple. All signs point to yes. It's the kind of rumor where someone says, "Bet money they sun is coming up tomorrow."
 
Will it be worth the upgrade as opposed to the iPhone 4? Probably not. I doubt we'll see a 4G iPhone just yet but there are a few things that we are likely to see in this one:
 

1. Increased RAM
2. A5 processor
3. Increased capacity (possibly)
4. Revamped design (maybe not ground-breaking but some tweaks for sure)
5. Improved Bluetooth

 
However, there are some other features that have been talked about that might be in the iPhone 5:
 

1. Near-Field Communication (think of it as your phone being your wallet)
2. Unified chipset (one phone that works on AT&T as well as Verizon)

 
The last two are the only things I'd say are truly worth waiting for. NFC is going to start becoming available much more readily around the world (it's already common in Asia and Europe) and is finally making a push here in the US. The unified chipset, however, is the nice thing. It means that you're just a sim card away from activating the phone on any network you want. So if you go Verizon and one day get tired of them, you can switch it to Sprint instead.

 

[Byakushiki]

I'd really suggest an android; if you're unsatisfied, you can always return/exchange it. Do be wary android has its bugs. If you're coming from an iPhone though, it may be easier to start with something like a Samsung Galaxy S or Galaxy S2; the touchwiz interface is quite nice and familiar. The Galaxy S series has CyanogenMod support, so you can probably flash it (once it becomes stable) for some nice DSP (read: equalizer, dynamic range compression, bass boost) options. I'm presuming you'll probably be using gsm; if available, you should try a Moto Atrix or HTC Sensation. The Sensation isn't called a Sensation for nothing!

 

[DougofTheAbaci]

HTC does have some nice hardware and aside from my preferences for aesthetics I think HTC makes a better phone than Apple. I really do. Not screens, I still think the iPhone has the best screen but at the level we're talking about it's splitting hairs.
 
It's just Android I don't like.
 
You know what the best advice is? Go into a the store of whatever network you have or plan on having and look at the phones. Touch them. Play with them. Think about all the things you will and might use them for (a list helps, no I'm not joking) and see how easy each is to do. Get your impression of the device, how it feels, how smooth the UI is, how easy it is for you to figure out. It's all well and good if we say Android sucks/rocks and iOS rocks/sucks. You're the one who has to live with it.
 
The second part of that advice is if anyone comes and asks you if you need help say no. There are two reasons for this. First, they're going to try to sell you one or the other. Their personal bias will filter in, any model they've been told to push, they work on commission... They are not an unbiased resource. The second reason is because if you get stuck they'll tell you how to do what you want. That's all well and good but they're not going to be there all the time, now are they? If you find something core to what you want to do that you have a hard time figuring out... Well screw it.
 
The only other thing is if you do have a Mac do not get an Android phone. Regardless of what you think of the two platforms, Android support on the Mac platform is pathetic. When I was researching tablets I was all gun-hoe about going Galaxy Tab but then I started looking at the details and Samsung, who has the best support for Macs, has one of the worst syncing apps I've ever seen and this was their "new and updated" version. There are third-party apps that will do it but I don't like using polyfills with my tech.