New Android Phone?

[TiPi]

Hello friends,

I got a new job, so it's time for a new phone!
I think android is a very interesting platform, not only to play with, but also to develop on.
So my question is, what's the best price-quality android phone at the market? The phone will have to last for a couple of years, so updated software and hardware is necessary.
My "budget" is 300-400 bucks. I think that's enough for a smart phone.

Also, any things I need to look at before buying an android phone? I've never worked with android before so I'd like to get some advice from current android users.

Thanks in advance!

TiPi

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[wololo]

I have an HTC Desire HD and I'm extremely happy with it. However it's already "old" since I bought it almost a year ago, I expect you can get something better for the price now (although it was 800$ back then, and I'm progressively paying for it in my subscription...).
Some of the things that can influence your choice:
- how often does the manufacturer release updates for the OS? (Here in Japan, carriers push "against" updates so that people get stuck on a old OS and prefer to change their phone every 2 year or so...)
- What's the policy of the carrier/manufacturer about "rooting" the device
- policy of the carrier about using Skype, tethering etc...

Overall, I'd say everything by HTC or Samsung is a "safe" choice. The Galaxy s2 is probably great but a bit more than 400$ depending on where you buy it I think, so the galaxy S or the nexus S might be the good choice here. If you're super rich and ready to wait, the galaxy nexus is awesome (I tried it) but will be expensive (around 850$).

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[ilijamt]

Japan is a little weird, they didn't want to issue me a SIM card (Softbank), so I had to buy a phone with SIM card.
And usually the phones there are more expensive than buying them elsewhere.

I would also recommend:
Samsung Galaxy S2 (bought it one month ago).
Google Nexus One
Galaxy S

I've tried all of them, and I like them,
I'm also waiting for the new one, but atm is a little expensive maybe next year, or for my birthday

[TiPi]

Thank you guys! Money isn't too much of a problem, I just don't want to have really expensive stuff in my pockets.
How about this one?
Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro
http://www.gsmarena.com/sony_ericsson_x ... o-3779.php

[wololo]

If you go with Sony Ericsson, things you might want to take into account:
- quality of the screen/framerate (the first experia has the worst screen I've ever seen on an Android phone, and I don't know if/when they fixed it)
- how well integrated is the physical keyboard with the OS? I've seen various glitches on an Android tablet with a physical keyboard
- Will it be one of the "playstation suite compatible" devices?
- policy about new firmwares and rooting (it's android...but it's Sony...) - apparently it will get 4.0 so that's good
- Customer support on the phone now that Ericsson is out of the picture