Phones Best built non-Apple handset you've ever used?

[ChazUK]

What are your thoughts on the best non-Apple made phone with regards to looks, feel and build materials?

Mine is the Samsung Omnia 7 Windows Phone:

The first Windows phone I'd owned and I bought it online without even holding one. To my surprise it was weighty, felt premium in the hand with its metal chassis. Coupled up with one of Samsung's SAMOLED displays and (to me at least) it was a fantastic phone to use.

Easily one of the best phone I've ever had the pleasure to use.

Yours?

 

[polotska]

I have no experience with that Samsung, but I quite liked the Nokia Lumia 900 that I played with.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

If we're posting images...

but this is a close 2nd: 3 day battery life under heavy use, 1 week (I think) standby time.

 

[cyks]

Best build quality I've ever seen in a phone was an old, Motorola Nextel, yellow construction cell phone. Predating smartphones (and even flip phones), it's features were minimal, but damn if that thing didn't take a beating.

At an old job where they were the company phones, I saw them dropped off of 50' buildings, ran over by trucks, dropped in water, and countless other major mishaps that would destroy a lesser phone... but they never stopped working and rarely even showed a mark for the worse.

 

[igiboi]

If we're posting images...

Image

but this is a close 2nd: 3 day battery life under heavy use, 1 week (I think) standby time.

Image

Oh man, i Used to love those SE fones, back when Nokia was the bomb , i used to rock walkman SE fones with the in-ear earphones. I really like the UI and never froze on me. Camera's were great on SE phones especially the K-series

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Best build quality I've ever seen in a phone was an old, Motorola Nextel, yellow construction cell phone. Predating smartphones (and even flip phones), it's features were minimal, but damn if that thing didn't take a beating.

At an old job where they were the company phones, I saw them dropped off of 50' buildings, ran over by trucks, dropped in water, and countless other major mishaps that would destroy a lesser phone... but they never stopped working and rarely even showed a mark for the worse.

Have you tried the Nokia 5110. lol best rugged fone evarrr

 

[LizKat]

LG CU515, hands down. Perfect call quality, batt lasts forever, charge lasts forever, keys you can press without making fatfinger mistakes, nice finish on it. Cool equalizer on the MP3 player. And mine is a great dark plum color. Love that phone!

 

[Mac.World]

The Motorola Razr V3 was my favorite dumb phone of all time and was probably the best selling phone almost 10 years ago. I really liked this phone. Build quality was awesome and was very Star Trekish.

 

[matttye]

Galaxy S3.

 

[pdauser92]

Samsung Omnia 7. Great build quality and lovely screen

 

[fireshot91]

Galaxy S3.

What are you talking about - that phone feels so plastic-y. (Not saying it's a bad phone, I wish I had the $$ to buy one)


As a heavy Android user, and owner of Galaxy S, Galaxy S2, and now the Galaxy Nexus, I'd say Samsung phones (At least their new Android ones) are made of crap plastic.


HTC phones, especially WP7 ones, are made from heavy, quality, material.

I'd have to go with the Titan 2 (Or the Titan, I guess, but I've never held it).

 

[cwwilson]

My Lumia 900 was really solid, up to par with the iPhone 4. I do have to say I'm rather impressed with the SGS3 as well. Plastic or not it feels well built.

 

[matttye]

What are you talking about - that phone feels so plastic-y. (Not saying it's a bad phone, I wish I had the $$ to buy one)


As a heavy Android user, and owner of Galaxy S, Galaxy S2, and now the Galaxy Nexus, I'd say Samsung phones (At least their new Android ones) are made of crap plastic.


HTC phones, especially WP7 ones, are made from heavy, quality, material.

I'd have to go with the Titan 2 (Or the Titan, I guess, but I've never held it).

I don't mind the plastic. It's solidly built, very light weighr and very easy to wipe clean.

 

[Macman45]

I'd have to say the Motorola Razr...The first generation one...Well built and ahead of it's time....The only non-Apple phone that ever actually appealed to me...Kept it too.

 

[CPD_1]

I'd have to say the Lumia 900. It's the phone I would buy if the iPhone didn't exist.

Before everyone and their brother had a smartphone, it would have probably been the first generation RAZR for me as well.

 

[batting1000]

I've never actually used it, but the One X looks pretty nice build quality wise. Lumia 900 looks good as well.

 

[Jb07]

The Motorola RAZR; the flip phone, not the new one. That phone could really take a beating.

 

[cynics]

Best build quality I've ever seen in a phone was an old, Motorola Nextel, yellow construction cell phone. Predating smartphones (and even flip phones), it's features were minimal, but damn if that thing didn't take a beating.

At an old job where they were the company phones, I saw them dropped off of 50' buildings, ran over by trucks, dropped in water, and countless other major mishaps that would destroy a lesser phone... but they never stopped working and rarely even showed a mark for the worse.

Lol I forgot all about those. I just dug mine out. Lol

Still works!

 

[kdarling]

Re: Samsung phones.

I too used to diss their plastic shells, and prefer other, heavier phones.

Now I'm not only used to the Galaxy's light weight, but I prefer it along with their thinness and slight curvature, so that they fit nicely in any pocket.

 

[blackhand1001]

Motorola and Samsung phones. While the Samsung phones are usually plastic they are also well put together and everything fits tightly. Mg Verizon galaxy nexus has no creaks and it feels solid. My days rezound is nice but a ton of dust has gotten into the front camera. My incredible was well built as well but the back cover creaked a tiny tiny bit if you didn't have a case. I always had a case on it though. It was really minor though.

 

[xArtx]

Nokia 5110

Awesome at the time.
Don't remember ever having to do a system restore
Had a third party hack to let the user draw a custom graphic to the LCD display.
Could buy antennas with flashing LEDs in them!

 

[Hastings101]

Samsung Focus. Very tough phone (survived some scary drops) that looked and felt great despite it being all plastic. Love the way the back cover looked, the camera placement, the speaker, and where Samsung stuck the volume and power buttons.

 

[anthonytkim]

Has to be my Sanyo Katana. if my enV 2 didn't break every other month, it would have claimed the title.

 

[rkdiddy]

Unlocked Orange SPV c500. I still look at the picture and think its a great looking phone. IMHO it was the first consumer smartphone that showed you didn't need a PDA looking phone to have the functionality of a smartphone. For me, it was the gateway smartphone that started my obsession.

 

[Wrathwitch]

I haven't Used the Lumia 900 but I really admire the build and feel of it.

I also really like my S3 as well though, but it is much lighter.

I thought the iP4 model was attractive, but it always felt too "delicate and small" in my hand, I was afraid to place it face down without a case or on it's back because I didn't want to damage or scratch the screen/camera lens. I fixed that by throwing a Mophie battery Air case on it but of course then you lose the aesthetic form factor

 

[sentinelsx]

HTC phones, especially WP7 ones, are made from heavy, quality, material.

Mostly a personal opinion ofcourse, but heavy phones suck. The hand gets tired after a while especially if it is one of those monster phones. Even the HTC One X is actually plastic, they just refined it.