I need a second phone, has to be quad band, and able to do the usual phone calls, texts, but also email and importantly maps. I know the iPhone does mapping very well but I don't want to fork out hundreds of pounds for something that only has to last a few months and then I'll end up getting a contract anyway.

Will a Blackberry suffice do googlemaps well enough?

Can you suggest a phone that will do what I want?

Would this work with googlemaps well, providing I have reception obviously?

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/219239-blackberry-curve-8520-smartphone/

I have no experience of Blackberries, but a friend of mine is selling an HTC Desire which would definitely do Google Maps (as it's Android so would have the full turn-by-turn navigation etc). I'm not sure whether it's quad-band or only tri-band though.

blackberry has blackberry maps which work really well

Google maps is IMHO not the best out there, but at the same time it's not so bad.

Why not just buy the phone you want outright now, then get a sim only deal (30 day or 12 month contract) and save at least £5 a month, if not more over a contract.

Ah I didn't realise they had their own mapping system.

Buying it outright does seem to make sense, it's not for use in the UK and the charges for texts and calls back to the UK on a pay-as-you-go work out expensive, you can get the phone and a good package for not much and calls to the UK are much cheaper and texts are included in the deal, plus the mobile internet is included.

Which Blackberry would you suggest?

I'd really like an iPhone 4S but that new Samsung Galaxy is meant to be very good?

Ah I didn't realise they had their own mapping system.

Buying it outright does seem to make sense, it's not for use in the UK and the charges for texts and calls back to the UK on a pay-as-you-go work out expensive, you can get the phone and a good package for not much and calls to the UK are much cheaper and texts are included in the deal, plus the mobile internet is included.

Which Blackberry would you suggest?

I'd really like an iPhone 4S but that new Samsung Galaxy is meant to be very good?

Look at handtek or expansys for starting prices for fully unlocked handsets.

IMHO you don't want to touch anything without a full querty keyboard, so ignore the pearl type models.

The curve is a good starting point and the bolds are nice (the 9700 was good). A friend has the new one with a smallish touch screen and a real keyboard and that's a very nice phone.

If it's for worldwide use, then an unlocked phone and a PAYG sim all over the world makes sense to me.

The galaxy SII is ok, but it's battery life is useless IMHO.

http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/samsung-galaxy-europa-black-49-99-3-1048714

Galaxy Europa on 3 for £50 PAYG

Nothing fancy but has GPS and Google maps. I got one from Tesco a while back and it's fine.

Which country are you gonna use the maps? If it's over here its fine, if it's abroad it'll cost you.

Nokia do their maps aswell for free

The galaxy SII is ok, but it's battery life is useless IMHO.

I Left home for london at 5am yesterday, did a full day's work with constant emailing etc, got home at 7.30pm and then started work again at 8am and by 3pm today the Samsung Galaxy said it was down to 33% battery life. For a smartphone that's pretty good IMHO. Was also comparing with an Iphone 4 owning colleague and he admitted that the iphone has some seriously annoying features. The best is that when a call comes in and you're in a meeting, you can't just turn it over to silence it, you can't even reject the call. You have to fiddle with the switch to turn off all notifications. He was most envious of apps like HUSH on Android.

So the Galaxy S2 is a very capable phone and the battery life is more than respectable as smart phones go