It’s a profoundly bad idea to buy a new Android phone on a whim. There’s always something new coming just around the corner, so you should choose your time carefully to maximize your happiness. Just a few years ago LG could barely compete in most markets, and Motorola only released compelling devices on Verizon. Now there’s a hot new phone coming out every time you turn around. The last thing you want to do is buy too soon and miss out on the perfect phone for you.
We’re barreling on toward the fall phone release cycle when some of the most important devices in the Android ecosystem will hit the street. There’s also the impending release of Android L to consider. So what’s a phone lover to do?
Samsung Galaxy Note 4
Samsung makes a big deal of the Galaxy S refresh every year, but the annual Note update is arguably a bigger event for Samsung. While it has intense competition in the flagship smartphone race, the phablet category is something Samsung pioneered and still almost completely dominates. Samsung will probably introduce a few design tweaks, though hopefully more thoughtful that the faux-leather patterning on the back of the Note 3.
A Galaxy Note is essentially a larger version of the Galaxy S of its generation with a few software tweaks to accommodate the S Pen stylus. It offers handwriting input, better control of floating apps, searching by image, and more. The S Pen itself is an indicative stylus that makes use of technology from Wacom. All those cheap capacitive styluses can’t come close to matching the quality of the S Pen. The only OEM that comes close is Nvidia with its DirectStylus tech, but it’s only working on tablets.
The Galaxy Note 4 will probably come with a Super AMOLED screen in the 6-inch range, but the resolution might finally get bumped up past 1080p to 1440p, as it has done with several Korea-only devices recently. That didn’t happen with the Galaxy S5 as rumored, but the larger Note would be a good time to make the jump outside of its home market. You can also count on industry-leading specs as far as the processor and RAM go. Samsung is rumored to be concerned about LG’s increasing market share, so it’s pulling out all the stops with the Note 4.
We’re probably two or three months away from the announcement of this phone — it’s usually a mid-autumn release. After the success of the Note 3, you can bet Samsung is going to have the Note 4 ready to go in 2014.
Sony Xperia Z3
Sony’s smartphones are sometimes a little hard to tell apart — they’re all slim black slabs with metal accents and sharp corners. The Xperia Z3 is rumored to be another distinctly Sony device, but some of the hard edges are being smoothed out. The leaked images so far (likely legit) show rounded sides and an even thinner frame. The device is reportedly only 7mm thick, which is a marked improvement over the Z2′s 8.2mm frame.
Internally, the Z3 is going to be similar to its predecessor. There will be a Snapdragon 801 processor, a 20.7MP camera, 3GB of RAM, and 16GB of storage with an SD card slot. It is also expected to be IP67 rated for water and dust resistance, just like the Z2. The 5.1-inch LCD will still be 1080p, making it almost the same panel as we saw on the 5-inch Z2.
On the software side, the leaked images show the phone running KitKat, but the release is currently rumored for September or October. That’s awfully close to the expected release of Android L. Buyers will probably be left hoping for a quick update.
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