I want to buy a few CHEAP Android phones preferably with stock 2.2+ roms, for the purpose of testing some multiplayer apps across lower-end devices. As long as they are unlocked and can access the Market, they'll work. Rooted is not necessary, and physical condition can be anywhere from mint to poor, it doesn't matter since I'll only be using them for testing.
I didn't post this in the Buy/Sell forum because I was wondering if anyone could just suggest some phones that are cheap that I could probably pick up on eBay or online somewhere ... although if you do have a phone you want to sell for cheap then let me know. Thanks!
Huwai Comet and Samsung Dart are $100 brand new, no contract from T-Mobile. I saw a few Comets sold <$50 on eBay, used.
Probably the only way to get an Android phone cheaper than that is to buy used. They are very low-end QVGA devices. You could get a used MyTouch 3G or G1 for well under $100. Even cheaper than that would be an old WinMo phone that can run Android via Haret.
If you have any interest in a slightly beat up looking MyTouch 3G 1.2 that only works on AT&T, send me a PM.
The HTC Incredible is great, a classic and is cheap. I would check that out.
GnatGoSplat said:
Huwai Comet and Samsung Dart are $100 brand new, no contract from T-Mobile. I saw a few Comets sold <$50 on eBay, used.
Probably the only way to get an Android phone cheaper than that is to buy used. They are very low-end QVGA devices. You could get a used MyTouch 3G or G1 for well under $100. Even cheaper than that would be an old WinMo phone that can run Android via Haret.
If you have any interest in a slightly beat up looking MyTouch 3G 1.2 that only works on AT&T, send me a PM.
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I'm looking up the Comets now but they're all locked to T-Mobile, which means I'd have to spend more money getting them unlocked. It also looks like the G1's are all on outdated versions of Android, and since I do the majority of my apps for 2.1+ they won't work on it.
nick2585 said:
The HTC Incredible is great, a classic and is cheap. I would check that out.
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While the Incredible has come down in price, I would not consider it a low end device.
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The cricket Zio M6000
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Any other recommendations?
I've seen used LG Optimus One variants go for $60-80 on Craigslist. The Optimus One runs 2.2 stock, and you can get whichever one is right for your carrier (there's one for each, even the MVNOs).
Low end you say? I consider the myTouch 3G or slide. If you want something with Froyo these days you might need to step out of your comfort zone. Again, the Vibrant is mid-range so get that. It has Gingerbread coming soon I think.
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I have a mytouch 3g laying around. Would have to get the unlock code for it though
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA App
Motorola defy? Im sure you could find one cheap enough.
ADR6300
Galaxy 3 is quite cheap.
In my experience, it's best not to take the cheap road when it comes to Android phones. My girlfriend had the Samsung Intercept from Sprint (low/mid-range phone) and it was awful. Everything on it lagged, and simple games were unplayable. If you want to test on some higher-end devices, check ebay for locked phones. They won't be able to be used as phones, but you can connect them with WiFi and use everything else like normal. Another option is running the Android sdk on your computer and testing things that way. I've only played around with it a little bit, but it should be able to do what you need. Just Google "Android SDK" and click the first link.
Verizon locks the phone until you activate for some STUPID reason.
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jered6323 said:
In my experience, it's best not to take the cheap road when it comes to Android phones. My girlfriend had the Samsung Intercept from Sprint (low/mid-range phone) and it was awful. Everything on it lagged, and simple games were unplayable. If you want to test on some higher-end devices, check ebay for locked phones. They won't be able to be used as phones, but you can connect them with WiFi and use everything else like normal. Another option is running the Android sdk on your computer and testing things that way. I've only played around with it a little bit, but it should be able to do what you need. Just Google "Android SDK" and click the first link.
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I have the Transforn which is the follow up. It cost 150 and it is crap. I am doe with Samsung.
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a ZTE Blade is also a good cheap phone, if bought as an orange san francisco and then unlock it.
GnatGoSplat said:
Huwai Comet and Samsung Dart are $100 brand new, no contract from T-Mobile.
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You can root/simunlock(100%free)/cyanogenmod the Dart, have a look here for the links:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=21435357&postcount=114
Related
well ive owned the g1 ever since it first came out. but im tired of roms slowing down on me after a few days. At the moment i dont have too much money to play with though. whats a good phone you guys would recommend that i can buy cheap like off craigslist or ebay etc. that would give me good performance in terms of speed and is being worked on?
like i hear the roms for N1 that the speed is never a problem only stability. and that is freakin sweet, but i dont have the money for that yet.
what's your range for cheap android phones? Samsung Galaxy Spica sounds quite good after rooted.
gilangb89 said:
what's your range for cheap android phones? Samsung Galaxy Spica sounds quite good after rooted.
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looks quite good in specs too. but i hear it's not great with 3g for tmobile in the US? havent check with root yet though. but cheapest i can find is $250 and i dont think id hop on that boat yet.
for verizon, there is the lg ally. $50 with a contract and its about the same hardware as the motorola droid.
for t mobile there's not too much that I could find
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Htc wildfire ?? It looks good in white and has the same specs as hero but with a camera flash i suppose tht not too bad
jason6g said:
for verizon, there is the lg ally. $50 with a contract and its about the same hardware as the motorola droid.
for t mobile there's not too much that I could find
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Saw the Ally at best buy for 29.99
spica is a bit sluggish even on 2.1. dont let the 800mhz chip fool you into thinking that its fast. moved to a nexus one after a few weeks with the spica.
havnt tried the lower end HTC ones but id go for those. the legend looks like the best if you could get that.
damn well after some searching around it seems like i might aswell try and get a nexus one, it's not too big of a difference. Im tired of waiting around for a good phone to come to tmobile.
I've been watching all the latest phones recently and see with great disappointment that every good new phone that comes on the market is available only at the US.I live in Greece and the only high-end device we got since the Desire is the Galaxy S(priced at about 650 euros).All those years good devices came out mostly here and now this!What is happening?When will we get anything like DroidX or Evo 4G?Right now I feel very disappointed...
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Seriously? The HD2 was in Europe first, the Dell Streak is not avail here...you guys get all the stuff first.
Evo is 4g and CDMA...no one else in world has 4g or CDMA I am pretty sure.
Yep, usually the States are last on the release list. But recently there's been a flurry of new device activity
I don't want good devices to come here without coming there,I just think that it'd be better that good phones came to both continents instead of only to one.And I know that the Evo is 4G and CDMA,but there could be a non-4G GSM version for Europe.And what about DroidX?Will we have to stay with the Milestone,the Desire and the HD2?They are really good phones but why not have better when we can?
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I am in the UK and we do got a lot of stuff before the USA but i would say there seems to be a difference in prices sometimes, especially Microsoft they seem to hike up the price in the UK Windows vista and windows 7 for example
Wrong
galaxys said:
Yep, usually the States are last on the release list. But recently there's been a flurry of new device activity
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Lol!
Usually México is the last buddy...
I wish we receive the releases like in the US
I don't know what you are talking about beacuse the desire looks really good...
I beleive Asia gets them a full year before we do. Then what ever doesn't sell in Japan gets sent to the US and Euro. Then they slap an ATT or Tmo sticker on it and call it the latest and greatest! BTW did you konw your phone was RnD'd for a 13 year old japaneese girl. Turns out they are the most influential users for cell phones. By the numbers japaneese school girls use more cell phones then wall street businessman. Thats why cell mnf.'s test their phones with little girls and not grown adults.
Well,as for Desire being a very good phone I don't say otherwise,I might as well buy one.It's just that there aren't many options available for high-end end devices which is a little bit discouraging.Why don't we get devices like the Evo or the DroidX even now?I don't complain because we didn't get the best devices first,but because we didn't get them at all and I haven't heard any clues or rumors that they will come here.
UK Phones are always better than our US phones lol
tolis626 said:
I've been watching all the latest phones recently and see with great disappointment that every good new phone that comes on the market is available only at the US.I live in Greece and the only high-end device we got since the Desire is the Galaxy S(priced at about 650 euros).All those years good devices came out mostly here and now this!What is happening?When will we get anything like DroidX or Evo 4G?Right now I feel very disappointed...
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I have a bunch of friends living in Greece...and the have the same problem you have... There like "gamiseta"..lol they are just waiting now to see if and when any new phones come out
Bigworm37 said:
I have a bunch of friends living in Greece...and the have the same problem you have... There like "gamiseta"..lol they are just waiting now to see if and when any new phones come out
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By the way "gamise ta"(not gamiseta,it's two words) means "**** it" or something like that!Sorry about the vocabulary,but as we cannot get good phones I thought about giving some language lessons!
Anyway,about the whole situation now...Things have been messed up.I wanted to buy a Desire but had no spare money,so I postponed it.Now that I have the money I see all the newer phones and think that,hell,will I get the Desire?I do like it,it's way cooler and better than my Hero,but new phones have 4.3" screens,8 MPx cameras,HD videos etc...Especially when talking about such non-HTC phones,Samsung's Hummingbird and Texas Instruments' OMAP processors are better than Qualcomm's Snapdragon,and mostly in the GPU part(I do love Sense however and don't know if I can have anything else for everyday use...).So what do I do?Buy the Desire and live on wanting something better or wait with the hope that something better will be available in Europe shortly?I am really confused...
And by the way,don't you think that 640 euros for the Galaxy S is a little bit too much?
Really it just depends on your carrier and thier contracts with HTC, samsung, etc... If they are willing to pay for an exclusive deal then they can have their own phone for a set time limit. If not then they are sold to all the carriers with different brands. Tmo went for the HD2 as their flagship phone, ATT went iphoney, Sprint went Evo4, Verizon is going Droid X, METROPCS went RAZR. lol, funny thing is aside from the iphone they are all the same phone with minor modifications.
maxpower097 said:
Really it just depends on your carrier and thier contracts with HTC, samsung, etc... If they are willing to pay for an exclusive deal then they can have their own phone for a set time limit. If not then they are sold to all the carriers with different brands. Tmo went for the HD2 as their flagship phone, ATT went iphoney, Sprint went Evo4, Verizon is going Droid X, METROPCS went RAZR. lol, funny thing is aside from the iphone they are all the same phone with minor modifications.
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They are in no way the same phone except for the Evo and the HD2.The Droid X uses Texas Instruments' OMAP processor which is better than the Snapdragon.Anyway,I am starting to think about buying the Galaxy S.It's probably the best one around here.I will miss Sense,but I give far too much emphasis on my hardware and Samsung's Hummingbird is just AWESOME!I love Sense however...Don't ask why,I just love it!Do you think there will be a port available for the Galaxy S?
All the good phones are CDMA recently. What's up with that?
i would love to have the desire or galaxy s right now!
Well,right now I am between the Galaxy S and the Desire.Would buy a GSM variant of the Droid X if it came out but I don't think anything like this will happen anytime soon...I just hate it how phone companies don't give us any of the new phones!
By the way,for the Droid X...Wouldn't it be much better with some custom interface like Sense?In a phone this powerful the UI cannot reduce performane enough for us to notice.And I just HATE vanilla...!
Amazon Germany is selling the Galaxy S for 455€, incl. VAT. Even with s&h, it should not cost more than 470€ anywhere in the Euro-Area.
kkrammer said:
Amazon Germany is selling the Galaxy S for 455€, incl. VAT. Even with s&h, it should not cost more than 470€ anywhere in the Euro-Area.
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Well this is upseting...The lowest price I found was somewhere a little below 600€ and it was from a store I had never heard of,which therefore I don't know whether I can trust or not.Except for the case that it is not yet officially released in Greece and what I found was just some pieces brought from other countries.And now that I think of it it's not that insane as no major store has it yet.Maybe the price will drop with the official release!
I agree! I'm dying to get something like Evo or Droid X but GSM compatible! There's nothing even near them! 4.3 Inch display, 8 MPixel video & HDMI out!!! What do we have? Desire? It even can't handle a simple D1 video recording! Can't run Asphalt smoothly!!! The best we can get is Galaxy S which is so iPhony! No LED flash? Just to release it with flash for Sprint!!! I'm sick of it!!!
There's nothing on upcoming list of GSM phones, just check GSMArena! It's way too obsolete these days...
So I'm a wimo guy through and through. I don't even plan on upgrading to WP7. I do want to play around with android a bit though. Carrier is not an issue as long as its GSM. I'd like to get froyo eventrually but its not a deal breaker. At least I would like 2.1. Looking for something highly customizable so something that has been hacked to death so I can do some real tinkering with android. I'm leaning towards the hero since everyone seemed to love them in their day and you can pick one up for around $125. Any suggestions? Or thoughts of things I should think about before I take the plunge? This will not be my primary phone but just a play phone.
My touch 3g, i think for tmo
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No, absolutely not a myCrap3g (excuse me). Get either a Xperia X10, HTC Desire, or Samsung Galaxy S 9something.
Edit: if you want a cheap yet good phone, then the HTC legend is the way to go. Or x10 since those are going cheap on eBay, but that's donuts. So, legend is your only choice. Don't waste your time on the Hero, or any of the maxtouch phones.
Hello, I would like some help from you, I saw a cheap tablet,(HKC) Q79, that looks a lot like mini iPad, the internal configuration is also good, I want to know this tablet is worth or not?. Thank you!!
Check out Chinese phones . theres this quad phone for 150$
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My favorite late model would be nexus one
What smart phone would you guys recomend to use with straight talks new byod program using one of their att sims? I'm leaning towards the HTC aria but i'm open to suggestions as I have a budget of around 150. I would prefer an android based device, but am open in that area also.
Thanks in advance!
Gamma
I'd get something with a bigger screen, I used the inspire for a while on straight talk before I upgraded to the vivid.
I've had an HTC Incredible before with a 3.7 inch screen and that was about perfect for me i do have rather large hands but i dont know if there are very many within my price range that big. I have found a huawei Impulse 4G for 130 with a 3.8" screen but there are practically no updates for it and well i would like to install a custom rom maybe CN7.
what about iPhone 4s
ahmedmila17 said:
what about iPhone 4s
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not with a budget of $150
gahhhhh apple it burns nooooooo lol
Android will always eat apples
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yup haha i settled this and ordered a huawei impulse 4g on ebay brand new for $130 i think i got a decent deal
Sounds like a good deal to me! Congrats
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well thankie will let ya'll know how it works out for me
Ha, I was going to post a topic asking about the exact same question as OP. I'm looking for a phone under about $150 (although I'd prefer a bit lower, like $120-130) to use with the StraightTalk BYOD thing. I almost bought an Impulse 4G, but they don't have a keyboard, and that's a deal breaker for me. Does anyone have any suggestions? I don't mind eBaying for it.
Also, as a sidenote, I need to use this phone with ATT towers, not T-Mobile towers. I think that's just something you select when you buy the SIM card for BYOD, but I'm not sure if the phone I pick would have any effect on that.
EDIT: Think I may get an XPeria Play on eBay. They looked awesome when they dropped last year. It doesn't have a keyboard, but... Well, I might be willing to trade a keyboard for a gamepad.
I could not be more fed up with the T-Mo G2x. I just listed it on Craigslist. I have had more problems with this phone that any other Android phone I've owned. I can not find a ROM that makes this phone run smoothly. I do not blame the devs in any way. They are just working with the crap that LG provided them. Anywho...to my question. I was wondering from those of you on T-Mobile what you thought the best replacement would be. I'm not eligible for an upgrade for another year so that is out of the question. I need a contract free phone and it needs to run on T-Mo's 3G or HSPA+ network. Thanks for your advice guys. I appreciate it. BTW...my budget is $350. My initial thoughts were either going back to a Nexus S, or going with an HTC Sensation.
soo..
chris.wueste said:
I could not be more fed up with the T-Mo G2x. I just listed it on Craigslist. I have had more problems with this phone that any other Android phone I've owned. I can not find a ROM that makes this phone run smoothly. I do not blame the devs in any way. They are just working with the crap that LG provided them. Anywho...to my question. I was wondering from those of you on T-Mobile what you thought the best replacement would be. I'm not eligible for an upgrade for another year so that is out of the question. I need a contract free phone and it needs to run on T-Mo's 3G or HSPA+ network. Thanks for your advice guys. I appreciate it. BTW...my budget is $350. My initial thoughts were either going back to a Nexus S, or going with an HTC Sensation.
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Well.. If you have the option you should think about switching carriers. I have been on multiple carriers before, and so far I actually really like verizon. AT&T is a close second. If you don't want to switch/can't then I would recommend a HTC device. They are hard to root, but nice phones!
well, I run a Sony Xperia Mini on T-Mobile and I'm very happy with it.
It's a very compact phone though (which is exactly what I was looking for - the first Android phone I saw that is actually smaller than my trusty old Motorola Razr v3).
I would recommend you install the Swype keyboard in case you find the on-screen keyboard a bit too small.
I would say sell it again on craigslist or even on ebay...
at the time you could get a second hand samsung GSII
many great reviews on it
Get a skyrocket. Its just as good as a t989 and you get the bonus of an lte phone if you decide to go to at$t.
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IMHO you can never go wrong with Motorola or HTC products. Avoid Samsung like the plague myself.
I had my HTC Hero for almost three years. I never had a problem with it, it is by far, the best device personally I've ever used. I got my ns purely for the Google branding.
Go for the sensation if that's the one you like. HTC for me was the best however, its only my opinion. My next phone will be HTC again that's for sure.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA
The sensation is right in your price range, i see them all the time on CL for around there usually a bit lower.
Sent from my SGH-T989
Used Skyrocket is the best idea, coming from TMO SGSII owner.
Fantastic device. Even the stock rom is great. Or, go Nexus or HTC if ICS matters more to you than better hardware. Skyrocket/T989 will get ICS, but God knows when.