Subjective impressions of today's smart phones

Just a quick post about the outing I took to the local mall today, I toured all the major phone resellers including Best Buy, Best Buy Mobile, Radio Shack and the carrier stores: Sprint, Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile.

Ok, and here were my thoughts:

• First thought: There were no less than seven places to buy T-Mobile phones... in one mall!
• The Verizon HTC Incredible didn't feel as cheap as I remember it feeling the first time I picked one up.
• The Sprint HTC EVO 4G was no where near as heavy as I remember the first time I held one. This may have been due to the "anti-theft-strap" you see on most smart phone displays.
• The EVO isn't too big.
• The AT&T HTC Aria was entirely too small to be used as anything but a phone. Web browsing, email, or anything requiring screen space would be too tiny for normal man hands.
• If you are somewhat iPhone 4 agnostic, don't pick one up. That screen will sell you instantly. Holding my iPhone 3G next to it made me feel like mine was something out of the Stone Age.
• The Best Buy phone representative had no desire to really be at work.
• The Sprint representatives came across as annoying, know-it-all college fraternity guys sticking up for their team during bowl season. I actually left the store since intelligent conversation was not on the horizon.
• Android is really compelling. It is just missing two features or I would be sold entirely: 


• Better media control - and yes, I am well aware of the capabilities of doubleTwist. iTunes sets the bar here (and to a lesser extent, iPhoto). If you were annoyed with iTunes on Windows, be aware it is significantly better on a Mac. 
• True outgoing Google Voice calls. Initiating a call and having Google Voice call me back seems like a hokey work around. Make this part of the native app and I'm completely sold. As it stands, for outgoing calls it isn't much different from the webapp version on an iPhone, at least from what I can tell without actually owning an android device.
• I really wish I could have used a Verizon Motorola Droid X.
• I really wish I could have used a Samsung Galaxy S, any of the various flavors that are on the way. I think 4 inches could be the smart phone sweet-spot. 4.3"+ screens border on too large for me, I can't imagine what people with smaller hands (and pockets) would do.
• I'd give anything to play with a Nexus One first hand.
• I am still begging for carriers and manufacturers to just give me stock Android UI. I know the Nexus One comes with stock but there are a lot of other very compelling phones out there as well, even more compelling if they weren't heavily dressed up in too much makeup.
• Too many sellers have phones on display without batteries. What's the point? You can see the size and shape but not the weight or use any of the software. I can't imagine buying a computer from Best Buy if I couldn't see it powered on.
• Carriers should offer some sort of sign-out demo phone/signal tester. I'd more readily switch carriers if I could verify whether the service would actually work for me in the areas I frequent. I'd even be willing to pay a security fee up front for the privilege.

Final thought: I still don't know what I want for my next smart phone.