So im looking at a new smartphone, within the Quad core range i have a few choices atm
Nexus 4 - Very good price/performance ratio, lightning fast OS (Android 4.2 as standard) 2GB RAM true IPS screen, 1.5Ghz Qualcomm APQ8064 Snapdragon £270 ish
Samsung Galaxy Note 2 - I love massive screen phones, Anything above 4" makes me take intrest. another quad core phone, 1.6Ghz Cortex A9 CPU, 5.5" display, 2GB RAM, 4G LTE, £509
HTC One X, Galaxy S3, Maybe Xperia Z or HTC Droid DNA.
Personally i like the Galaxy Note 2, has a 3k+ mAh battery and a pen!!! but no i love the screen although the HTC Droid and Xperia Z are supposed to have 1080p displays.
So whats your opinion guys? the phone wil be used for notes, gaming, internet browsing and music, so good battery life and fast all around
I would say Galaxy Nexus, Nexus 4 or SG3 depending on carrier and price ranger (The Nexus line always gets the updates first and is also easiest to customize without fear of bricking the device). Personally I prefer the Galaxy Nexus to the other two.
Im currently running it with a custom ROM, CyanogenMod 10.1 and this stuff is amazing. I would greatly suggest putting CyanogenMod on whatever Android device you get. It runs faster than stock, has no bloatware or 'skins' and you get the latest months ahead of when the carriers push the updates. Been running CyanogenMod for over 3 years.
If you ask me the main thing about choosing a Android phone is the ability to update your device. I highly recommend any type of Nexus device as they're the ones getting the updates. Samsung and other OEMs are not updating their versions often unless it's a completely new device. In two years after buying the device on launch day it might not be supported anymore and you'll need to flash new unoffical roms on them to keep up. This is the biggest problem with Android today in my opinion.
If you know how to flash a new firmware (which is easy on some device and hard on others): Choose one with many developers like the Samsung devices, or go Nexus which has one of the biggest developer communities.
If you don't know how to flash a new firmware: Go Nexus. Otherwise you'll need to learn how to flash your device likely within two years if the device is completely new on the market.
Flashing custom ROMs is pretty straight forward, but can be advanced as well, it all depends on your device. It'll improve battery life, the overall speed and experience most of the time so it is worth learning.
As an owner of an i9300, I'd say Xperia Z. Sony has really outdone themselves. And I've been happy with my Xperia Active for quite a while, dragontrail screen is trully badass, but it scratched easily (though seriously shatter-proof, unless you hit it with a thick, sharpened knife for a few times in a row with quite a lot of force - yeah I've tested it, but the crack was really small o.O). Hopefully Dragontrail 2 on the Xperia Z won't be as scratchable.
The Nexus 4 probably holds that title right now, but for me microsd slot and removable battery are requirements. If you don't care about those things and you want a phone right now then by all means go for it.
The Xperia Z looks interesting, but development may be touchy for it seeing as how it is a Sony phone. It may be slow to recieve updates and/or difficult to root.
The Note 2 is great if you are looking for a phablet, but it is quite pricey and may seem a little silly in a few months when all the new 5inch 1080p smart phones come out.
If I were you I would just wait a few months. By March the Xxperia Z and the Galaxy S4 will be out. There will be tons of reviews comparing both. If you buy something like a note 2 or s3 right now you risk regretting how outdated it is in only a few months. I bought an S3 at release and couldn't be happier with it.
I have no problems with my Galaxey S3 it is running 4.12, samsung have been good with there updates on this phone.
That's because it is their flagship phone right now so they forced to update that device. Once the Galaxy S4 comes out or whatever their new flagship will be called, you'll be seeing a maximum of one updates afterwards as they want you to buy their new device (obviously).
Just as a quick example: Take a look at the Galaxy S1. It got Android 2.2 five months after the release of the phone, and it got 2.3 five months after that again in April. There were no more official updates from Samsung after that point, because the Galaxy SII was released in May the same year.
Galaxy Note 2. This phone is a beast. I love my so much. Multitasking is amazing (watch a youtube video while messageing people) the game performance is nice. But in all honesty if your considering the Galazy S3 than WAIT. the S4 is comming out in a couple months and its gonna have a quad core 2.0Ghz cpu 2gb ram and the newer gpu than the note 2 and i think a 4.9" screen. That phone will be top dog for the year well until october+ but a long while in phone time. but if you want a phone now id say note 2. The pen is so handy i use it everyday for just random things. playing games with it is handy, writeing notes, take pictures of people and write "I'm a douche" in a speech bubble for them. No other phone can do that. battery last me all day sometimes 2 but takes like 3-4 hours to charge.
Value for money, the Nexus 4 wins hands down, the rest are down to personal choice, I found the Note a bit too big to use as a phone, the S3 is gorgeous, bar Samsung's TouchWiz, but rooting and installing a custom ROM gets rid of that.
I've got a Nexus 4, I thought the lack of expandable memory would restrict me, but tbh, I've never really had an issue - I don't need to be carrying the whole of my music collection with me all the time (which is what takes up most of the space) and it's back in stock!