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My contract is very nearly up and I'm looking at new phones. I've decided to go with Orange as their coverage is better than O2 here - I currently have to go outside to use my phone at work whereas colleagues on Orange have full 3G in the office.

I'm torn between the HTC 7 Mozart and the iPhone 4. I'm currently using an iPhone 3G which has definitely seen better days. I am inclined to head towards the Windows 7 phone for integration purposes; I use 7 at home and work whereas I currently sync my iPhone with my MacBook which I use infrequently.

Has anyone used either phone? What do you like and dislike? Obviously for practical reasons, replacing the iPhone 3G with an iPhone 4 would mean that I keep all my data, settings and apps. What are the Windows 7 apps like?

I'm looking at £35 per month tariff, the HTC handset is free and the iPhone 4 will be £69.99.

Cheers!

Personally, I wouldn't want to go for the 'Walled garden' option. I like my HTC. Why not have a look at the Desire, or oif Orange do it the Desire HD? Android rather than Win 7

I hadn't considered the Android phones.

The insular nature of iOS hasn't bothered me in the 2 years I've used my iPhone so I doubt it'll bother me with the iPhone 4.

Sorry, missed the iPhone 3g bit

I'd go down the Android route. There are some really good phones that have just come out or are due to come out in the next few weeks. Samsung Galaxy S2 and HTC Sensation are both dual core processor phones on Android and look very good indeed.

That said if you're already on an iPhone it makes sense to stay on iOS unless you're really growing to hate it. iphone 5 is out later this year but it will of course depend how soon you want to upgrade.

Heard some good things about Windows Phone 7 but never used one myself so not a clue how the operate or how good and varied the app market is.

Just out of curiosity I wonder how many people use more than five or six of the apps they have installed on their phones on a regular basis. I know I don't, think it's time for a major clear out

16, at a quick count.

Bloke next to me at work got a Windows mobile not long ago. We take the piss out of him all the time. He's given up trying to defend it now. Wishes he'd bought at iPhone.

People complain about the walled garden approach of Apple, but I've seen more tech commentators saying that Android should take the same approach recently due to security issues with all the different app stores.

Get the new white iPhone so you can look as cool as I do.

Would draw the line at a Win 7 phone, the same as I would with a white iPhone  :D

Apple seem to be losing ground in the smartphone market though. Their actual phones in terms of specs compared to some of the latest Android phones are pretty poor. The apps aren't all free like they are on Android either. People are starting to slowly realise that you don't have to pay £100 plus on top of a contract just to get a decent phone and OS. A lot of the iPhone's success has been down to many Apple fanboys. Without them their market share would be a lot lower than it currently is.

Apps aren't all free on Android. Mind you the only one I've found the need to pay for is Swiftkey

Android will be excellent if you're a geek, good if you just want to setup and go. Never failed to find a way for the OS to do what I want either.

No idea about win7 but the iPhone is a nice bit of kit. Consider if it is worth the extra money, can it do much more than other phones?

iPhone. Simple as that.

(in my opinion of course)

jonny - why does he wish he bought an iPhone instead? What issues does he have with the Windows 7 phone?

I'm leaning towards the iPhone, I must admit. I've never found that iOS has any limitations that bother me aside from the lack of flash.

I got iPhone 3gs and contract ran out was nice phone did everything it said but was stuck to how apple wanted the phone to operate. once i jail broke it i had the phone the way i wanted and had extra apps that i benefited from. I now have a Sony x10 mini pro not the best android phone on the market but it does me as i can change everything to how i want it. If you want to be a cunt and look like every other cunt get a iPhone if you want to be different as there is a huge amount of different phones get android.

I have a Samsung android and it is the mutts nuts

Which one? I've heard some really good things about the new Galaxy S2. Fastest phone out there by a street apparently.

Might sound a bit daft, but what do you use these fancy phones for (apart from talking and texting people)?

Facebook and Twitter and TEF.

Pretty much anything. It's like having a mini computer.

There's the obvious email, internet and social networking. You can use it for maps and navigation. Music, video and taking the odd photo. There are also loads of apps for various things, I have a habit of losing my guitar tuner so I often use an app I have on my phone. Or if I'm watching F1 I can have the live timings app open if I want to see what's happening further down the field at any given time. There are apps for things like paypal and live football scores - they just make accessing particular information quicker than on the internet.

I was a complete skeptic until I got one. It hasn't changed my life but it is really useful.

It's amazing what apps you can get now. For example, [gay] I use the baby centre app..[/gay]

I have a Samsung Europa, which is a bit smaller than the Galaxy and the processor is only half the speed. It is noticeably slower for general internet use (this forum for example) but is still quick if you are accessing info through apps (sports news, facebook, twitter etc).

Although you could probably get a better deal now, it is costing me £20 per month and came with a PS3. It was the PS3 which swung it for me, I was going to get a Galaxy but my boys' old PS2 had finally given up the ghost.

Thanks all. I'll have a look at some android phones as well.

im an iphone convert, I have bad mouthed them for years and almost 2 years ago i went for a HTC HD2 (win mob) but since my missus got me an ipod touch for my birthday i've been converted and will more than likley get an iphone in november.

If your used and happy with the iPhone 3 or 3gs i would stick with the iPhone 4 ( or iPhone 5 due later in year). I changed to HTC Desire which was ok but took it back within 2 weeks and got iPhone 4 as i just couldnt get on with it at easily/happily as I did with the iPhone 3gs. Plus i'm a big user of iTunes with the mp3 player on the HTC not half as good as iPod etc.

- Partly due to our piss taking as he's the only one with a Windows phone.
- Partly due to it being a bit picky when it comes to connecting via Active Sync to MS Exchange.
- Partly due to the lack of apps.

To be fair there is some good stuff on it like the Office support but all round it's a poor choice at the moment.

The spec comparison comes down to Apple's product cycles more than anything. They only update their iOS products once a year and when they do they're generally ahead of the competition. Others release as new tech becomes available so they jump ahead. But it's not that clear cut, Apple have the resources in house to design custom chips solely for their OS which gives them an edge and then there is the volumes they sell and their cash which aids in purchasing.

Don't get the fanboy angle - they only account for a small percentage of their iOS sales. It's also misleading to do a straight sales comparison between iOS and Android as everyone is making Android devices rather than the one company making iOS devices. Apple must be doing something right as they take something like 50% of the profit made by the mobile phone industry as a whole.

Not sure what the problem is with app pricing either. Find it hard to believe that apps you have to pay for on iOS are free on Android - doesn't make sense. Or do companies like EA give away all their games on Android?

have you tried turning off the 3g to see if signal improves? i had to do that with my vodafone contract here untill i swapped to O2 and now get 3g everywhere i go.

Cheers.

The lack of apps is one of my concerns.

I ditched my iPhone 3G for a Desire and absolutely love it. I thought I'd struggle without iTunes, but honestly I'm much better off without it.

You say the music player on the Desire is not as good as the iPhone, but I actually find it much better.

Do Androids phones have some sort of iTunes equivalent for syncing? How do you stick music on it?

The iPhone's 16GB built-in memory is far better than most Android phones as well, although is there a limit on how much you can upgrade it to?

You can manage music pretty much however you want. You can drag and drop or you can use something like Media Monkey.

I believe Android can currently handle up to a 32GB SD card.

I have a blackberry Bold 9700

Which is perfect for what I need, Facebook, Twitter and pictures.

Although app wise it's lacking, I have an iPod touch which I use for music and general app stuff as it has a much larger memory than the iPhone (64gb)

I had an iPhone up until last year and changed to a Desire. When the contract is up I will go back to an iPhone.

Winner. Hands down for me.

My desire has declined even further... yesterday it went through a self rebooting cycle 22 times in half an hour. Needless to say, I still can't recommend it. Still regretting not buying an iPhone 4.

I can see your point Samdy, not saying its a bad phone, in fact when i first saw it I was very impressed as it seemed much more modern and stylish than my existing 3gs. I loved it at first but very quickly i began to miss the iPhone, mainly for me was that i was struggling with the mp3 player although i accept that could just be me! A lot of smartphones out there now which i'm sure are all good, but for me iPhone ticks all the right boxes for me.

This is the one thing that really puts me off HTC. I know a lot of people who have Desires of Desire HDs and they all seem to send them back to HTC for repair at some point. Even if the service from HTC is good why should I have to send it to them in the first place? It is off putting and it's a bit annoying because the Sense UI is apparently a lot better than what the other Android manufacturers can muster.

For me the iPhone really comes in to its own when you buy in to the whole Apple eco-system. I've got a complete set; iPhone 4, iPad, MacBook Pro, Apple TV and the way they all work so seamlessly together makes them well worth the extra cost.

All my contacts, calendar and email is synced flawlessly across them all with just a couple of clicks. Syncing and playing any of my media is just a click or two away. Couple of clicks to set up tethering on my iPhone for the iPad and MacBook. Switching to the iPhone 4 was a case of syncing my iPhone 3, then syncing the iPhone 4 and a couple of clicks. And the list goes on.

I work in IT and the last thing I want is to have to fuck about at home to get my shit together. No one comes close to Apple in ease of use and integration between different devices.

Send it off to HTC!