Phone: HTC Desire S (no branding)
Screen size: 3.7"
In 2009 I was living in China and looking for a good dictionary. After I had tried some electronic dictionaries (Besta etc.) a friend convinced me to get Pleco, so I bought the Windows Mobile 6.5 Samsung i900 Omnia (3.2" screen). This was my first smartphone and especially Pleco was a great experience with the stylus pen. Like many others I was eagerly waiting for the first Beta on Android and once it got released I bought my first Android phone - the aforementioned Desire S.
Why I chose this phone: Like I mentioned in another thread, I don't like phone screens getting bigger and bigger. That's why I was looking for something in the range of the iPhone, which I think is just about right. The resolution and specs shouldn't be too shabby, either, since I wanted the phone to operate fluidly and without glitches (plus: micro SD slot, Wifi Hotspot, DLNA). At the time I bought the phone it cost me about 340€ (right now it's around 240€-260€, I think).
Reasons to use it for Pleco: Pleco, like most other Apps, runs pretty smoothly on this phone. I use it at home as well as on the road, daily.
Cons: HTC somewhat fooled their customers. They released a roadmap for Ice Cream Sandwich updates including the Desire S as well as the Desire HD. After the Desire HD ICS update was cancelled, they now apparently also cancelled the update for the Desire S. I was really looking forward to Android 4.0.4. Although, after I heard that many people had some problems with their updated devices (HTC Rezound for example) I also really am happy with my Gingerbread (2.3.5).
For the use at home I was also looking for a small tablet, which is more convenient when you're sitting on the sofa in front of the TV. I did not want to buy a really expensive tab, that's why I was looking forward to the Nexus 7, but no micro SD-slot is a deal-breaker for me. So I bought the
Odys Next but sent it back due to poor battery performance (only 2 1/2 hours when used constantly). Other than that it was great for that price (110€). I will be going to China in a week and there I want to take a look at the
Ainol Novo Flame. It really looks like a legitimate threat to the Nexus 7. It features a more powerful battery (5000mAh), it has a great resolution at 1280*800, micro SD-slot, HDMI. And it's supposed to feature a nice metal unibody. According to chinese retailers it will cost around 120€ in China, around 170€ elsewhere.
I hope I could help.