Related
edit: for the most up-to-date indecisive rambling, just jump to the most recent post, though feel free to peruse the whole thread.
I understand this is a very difficult question to answer, especially given that no two people's needs are ever quite the same but I'm just looking for some ideas/a sounding board.
I currently have a Touch HD which I have been quite happy with, I really quite like TouchFlo, but it's starting to show it's age and I'm due an upgrade in about a fortnight anyway.
At the moment, given what's available on the market, Android is the only choice IMO.
Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against WinMo/WinPho but I'm not buying a phone that won't be properly upgradeable and therefore, arguably, rendered obsolete in a couple of months and I'm definitely not waiting two months plus for a new phone on the off-chance I like what I see.
As for the rest, Symbian's a joke; Blackberrys aren't my thing; Palm is not an option; and the iPhone, well unless they announce something pretty damned special on Monday, my dislike of iTunes alone is enough to put me off - before we even get onto the flaws with the handset(s)...
In terms of what I want, that's where it all gets a bit difficult.
I can't work out if I want to go for an all-out powerful handset à la the Desire or the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S or if I want something a bit less fancy, the Sony Ericsson X10 Mini being a prime example - trading off absolute power for benefits in terms of size and cost.
My worry about a high-end handset is that I get one, then a month or two, or even a week or two, later, something else comes along that makes me regret my decision - not least the impending WinPho 7 release and all the potentially 'awesome' new handsets that will accompany that.
With the X10 Mini, I'm not too worried about something better arriving in the near-future, I think it's too niche a device to end up with much competition but, having read the review of it on GSMArena, it seems that my biggest concern is the handset's Achilles Heel - the low screen res. If it was even HVGA, I would probably just go for it but QVGA is pushing usability.
Anyway, yeah, I'm just looking to bounce ideas/suggestions around, so if anyone wants to chip in, please feel free.
Nexus one is my phone of choice at the moment. I've just made the jump to Android and this device is nothing short of awesome! The 2.2 upgrade will be rolled out soon which brings several improvements too. (It is available already but this early release isn't very polished yet. I'm waiting for the OTA release).
Unusually for me i'm keeping this device stock, so no custom ROM flashing etc. It's just such an improvement over the WM phones that i'm used to that i don't feel the need to change anything. I could harp on for hours about all the features that makes this such a good device but you should have a look around instead and make your own informed decision. There are lots of good forums devoted to this device but i'd start with the dedicated xda, nexus one section.
Thanks.
If I were going for a high-end Android device, then it would be the Desire and not the Nexus One - partly because I like the Sense UI and partly because I wouldn't entertain the idea of switching to Vodafone, their tariffs aren't competitive and their coverage is poor where I stay.
I have played extensively with the Desire and it is a lovely phone but, as I said previously, I'm concerned that if I upgraded to it, I'd only want to change again when say the Galaxy S comes out or in a couple of months when WinPho 7 arrives.
Obviously, there's a chance that would be the same if I went for the X10 Mini but I would be able to get it on such a cheap deal instead, that the idea of then choosing to shell out for a new device a few months down the line isn't so bad.
I'm also starting to question whether I need all the features that the Desire/Nexus One offers as opposed to merely wanting them.
I bought myself a laptop back in January and, since then, I'm using the web a lot less on my phone, so do I really need something with a huge, high-res screen?
Thanks for the input, it's greatly appreciated (as is anyone else's opinions/ideas), I fear I've a bit of thinking ahead of me yet though...
At the moment, there are a few phones that I'm considering and I'm trying to weigh them all up, so I'd appreciate any input, suggestions or ideas anyone can offer up.
First up, the HTC Desire
Pros:
HTC Sense
Decent CPU and RAM
AMOLED screen
HTC handset - excellent build quality and 2 year warranty
Cons:
No HD video
Screen is only AMOLED, not sAMOLED
It's already sold a lot and, as sad as it is, I don't really like the idea of having the same phone as everyone else
Samsung Galaxy S
Pros:
superAMOLED screen
HD video
CPU that's potentially even more powerful than the Snapdragon in the Desire
Samsung handset - 2 year warranty
Cons:
No HTC Sense
Even worse, it uses Samsung's childish UI
No camera flash - seriously, wtf?
Not yet released
Motorola XT720
Pros:
8MP, HD video, Xenon flash - the best camera on an Android handset just now
480x854 screen resolution - more pixels are never a bad thing
[edit] HDMI out - a real boon for an HD-recording handset [/edit]
Cons:
LCD screen - not even AMOLED, let alone sAMOLED
480x854 screen resolution - non-standard resolution may cause some app compatibility issues
No LED flash for video use - a minor point but the ideal camera phone would have LED and Xenon
Question marks over CPU compared to the Desire or Galaxy S (720MHz OMAP A8 Cortex as opposed to 1GHz Snapdragon/Hummingbird on other handsets)
No HTC Sense
Motorola handset - 1 year warranty, not sure of build quality
Not available until the start of next month
Sony Ericsson X10 Mini
Pros:
Tiny size
Well thought-out UI
Cheap
Sony Ericsson handset - 2 year warranty
TINY!
Cons:
Small screen size and resolution - will have a negative effect on web browsing experience and app compatibility
Only running 1.6 'Donut' with very vague upgrade roadmap
Sony Ericsson handset - questionable build quality, possible (probable?) software issues
LCD screen - not AMOLED or sAMOLED
No HD video
I know it may not seem like it, given the large number of points in the 'Cons' category for it but I'm actually drawn the most to the Motorola handset.
The problem is, having only just been released there's a number of questions I have which I can't as of yet get answers for - for example, the build quality may not be an issue but I won't know that until I can have a play with one, the CPU may not be a downside, etc etc.
Anyway, yeah, any/all input is always welcome.
ideas
i guess your best choice can be galaxy s
but if you give up on browsing(use your laptop instead) then x10mini will be the best...feature wise and price
wish you luck
I do currently use my laptop a lot for web browsing but I'm not prepared to carry it around with me every day on the off-chance I want to go online.
If the X10 Mini had even an HVGA screen instead of QVGA, then it would probably be high enough to just to alleviate my concerns - at least in terms of app compatibility, though obviously for the likes of web browsing it would never match a WVGA (or higher) handset like the others I'm considering.
As for the Galaxy S, the power, screen and HD video do appeal but leaving out a camera flash just seems so unnecessary, almost like they're doing it deliberately.
But, between that and the Samsung UI, it's just enough to sour my feelings towards it.
As I say, against my better judgement, I can't help but like the Motorola handset.
At least, unlike the Desire, by sticking with an LCD screen it should mean it's ok to use in sunlight - obviously AMOLED has it's advantages but unless you make the jump all the way up to sAMOLED then there's still a cloud attached to that silver lining.
And regarding the CPU, while there are question marks over it, I've also heard it suggested that the TI OMAP 3430 CPUs are actually more powerful than the faster-clocked Snapdragon CPUs like the Desire uses, so it could actually be a better handset than the Desire in that respect.
Also, I should probably point out that my plan when I upgrade is to negotiate as low a tariff as I can out of T-Mobile, then if I see a phone I really like partway through the contract term, I'll just buy it.
So, the shorter warranty on the Motorola may not be an issue.
Thanks for your input, even if it doesn't seem like it, it's definitely appreciated.
Ok, so here we are a full 5 months since the last post and I'm still stuck in the same situation - want, almost need, a new phone but don't know what to go for.
Since last time, obviously things have come on a long way.
Symbian has reached the next level, meaning it's only a bit behind everyone else as opposed to significantly behind; Apple announced the iPhone4 which is a nice piece of hardware but the OS and price are too big of a stmubling block; Blackberry have moved on to OS6 but really there's nothing new about it; WinPho7 was released and looks OK but the hardware is just slightly underwhelming.
As for Maemo/Meego, Bada and WebOS, they're not even worth considering IMO.
So that leaves us with the only thing I am sure about, that my next phone will be an Android handset but beyond that I've still not been able to reach a decision.
Looking back at what I was considering before, none of them are still in the running - the Motorola XT720 turned out to be a dud, the X10 Mini was plagued with problems and the Galaxy S and Desire have both been out-done by the Desire HD.
Obviously the daddy just now is the Desire HD.
The best hardware around, the best UI around, there should be no reason to even consider anything else. And yet, I'm just not taken with it, I know I should love it, I know there should be no competition but it's not exciting me.
On the other hand, against all the odds and especially since the XT720 was so poor, I find myself quite taken with the Motorola Defy.
I know that the specs aren't so great but the idea of a ruggedised handset is pretty neat and the size is just a bit more pocketable than the Desire HD's, though that's not my biggest concern.
Going in the other direction, I'm also quite taken by the Samsung Galaxy Tab.
Given how I use my phone making/receiving very few calls, mostly texting and using the internet) a larger device like the Tab is in many ways better-suited to my needs. However, it's biggest advantage is also it's biggest downfall - the larger screen makes the Tab a far less practical device than the likes of the Desire HD or the Defy (I know I said with regards to the Defy that the size difference wasn't my biggest concern but the Tab is a whole order of magnitude larger), to the point that if I decided to use the Tab as a phone, I'd need to get myself a second handset to use on occasions when the Tab's size made it impossible to take with me.
Once again, any/all help will be greatly appreciated.
Not sure if this is the right section for this, please feel free to move it wherever if it isn't, but...I need a new phone, something with Android. I was an early g1 adapter and while I love the phone it's starting to show its age and frustrate me. I haven't really been keeping up with the cellphone world so I'm turning to you guys (this is for t-mobile on the east coast, states, btw).
So what I basically need: Android, unlockable, flashable rom, (wifi, bluetooth, etc etc, but that all comes standard pretty much these days).
What would be nice to have: Physical keyboard, nice and sleek design.
It would be nice to go without a contract of course, but I'm checking some of these newer phones out, dual cores, gigahertz clock rates, they're just making me salivate. I'd do a contract I suppose if the deal is good enough too, but I just want something that will work at a click of an icon. I just want something responsive, while the g1 is a great phone, it's holylord**** slow. I look at the iphone and higher end Android models and it just makes me want to weep at how slow the responsiveness of the g1 is.
But yeah, responsiveness is my main concern i guess, so if anyone has any suggestions, don't hold back.
Alright, I'm a bit curious as to why some tablets are bang and some tablets are bust in the XDA community.
I've heard the nook color had a lot of popularity in the dev world, and there already seems to be a stir on the Kindle Fire.
The only real thing that makes the the kindle fire a deal breaker for me as a possible mod friendly tablet is the lack of an SD card option.
I don't "like" the lack of features, but besides the sd card nothing is a deal breaker, it still seems to be getting a good bit of attention and will probably be a really popular tablet with people who like modding.
I understand the sale on the touchpad was a big plus.. but, I'd be worried about the discontinuing of the line meaning a very limited support life, so even if hp does make a few more.. I would hesitate to buy.
Just seems like a lot of options get looked over here in the mod world. Maybe I'm jumping the gun, But I'm worried the A1 for lenovo won't get much support, the Elocity tab for 250$ (with a tegra 2) doesn't seem to have any support..
It just seems like it is really "hit or miss" and I can't help but wonder why?
What makes tablets really appealing around here, and then other tablets spec'd close or higher, don't seem to get a second glance at the same price?
Those are great questions, probably all comes down to user preference though???
smccue said:
Those are great questions, probably all comes down to user preference though???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought about that.. But, I'm not entirely sure it holds up...
I will admit, before I seriously consider a phone or tab, I check dev support to make sure in 2 months if the OEM decides "we don't want to upgrade, so our newer model sells better." I can get the latest updates from devs at least.
Just seems like there would be a rhyme or reason to the tabs that get dev support here.
user preference also Goal, like which market they are aiming for
the smartphone is easy, because the Goal is to "be a phone", everything else is just fancy extra
but as a Tablet, the focus is no longer the same, and unless they know who they are trying to sell to, they will be just shooting in the dark, with random spec, random audience, random targets, random everything.
so if ANY manufacturer or some one who has control in any of the big companies making android tablet and reading this...
it'll be in your best interest to only develop to 2 audiences only:
- Gamers
- Webers (netbook replacement, your regular consumer that don't really know what they want)
now there's a potential for a 3rd audience (not a good time yet, too ripe)
- Work... but as we all well know, currently there are not enough productive Apps that is worth swaying people over, specially in the market mainly dominated by MAC or PC applications such as Photoshop, AutoCad, etc, etc
If a tablet can wow a Gamer, it will easily gain fly time in the web blogs and news, easily subject to reviews and benchmarks
which all translates into ease sales, with enough hypes.
obviously to get such hypes you must really have good tech packaged into the tablet
currently the only tablets worth buying are the ones made by Samsung, everything else are just meh... not quite there yet, or missing this or missing that
Hm.
Interesting points.
As someone who is a bit of a hardware junkie.. I am only just very recently beginning to feel like the tablets are being placed properly in the market.
I hope that the trend continues, just hoping that we see more support by devs. I mean as a gadget enthusiast.. I do admit even now the tabs leave a lot to be desired.. but, the lenovo A1 has my attention.. Especially if it gets a healthy dose of rooted ICS.
When it comes to android, you know that you have an outstanding range of hardware. From the low-end Optimus T/S to the titans of the OS such as the Galaxy S2, and everything imaginable in between. These days, you can even find generic china phones running an, often dated, android. Every carrier has it, they come in all price ranges, and they're available on demand. The question I pose to you, "Is android's key selling point the hardware?"
I understand that numerous XDA members and even some outsiders enjoy the limitless customization options made readily available in android and that's awesome. However, the general consumer is happy to end customization at setting their own ringtone. It's not a breaking factor for the majority that you can swap out kernels. Overall, android is a decent enough platform, but for the masses, I see little that it offers, hardware aside, that it's competitors don't.
Here recently, a thread was posted regarding the ASUS Transformer 2, a pentacore processor in a tablet. Now, most people have yet to exhaust the resources on their dual core phones. A penta-core device seems to be pushing the limits. Considering that it is running a mobile OS, by the time those cores could be utilized, wouldn't the tablet be long outdated? However, I know it will sell well because the word "Penta-core" sounds too awesome for the masses to pass up.
Another occurrence I've seen, having worked in retail shops for some time. A lot of customers, when asked about what OS their phone is running, will reply, "HTC" or, "Samsung." A lot of them have no idea what our little green friend is. Another point towards my personal opinion that the hardware is a huge selling factor.
Overall, android is a very complete platform. It is not my daily driver, but I do enjoy it whenever I have time to tinker. I am inquiring about this matter to get your opinions, what sells? Hardware or software?
I think for me its a little bit of both. I like the fact that the hardware is there in my 3d when I need to push the system really hard. Its not often I do, but its good that when I do, it executes the tasks with ease.
On the same hand there are huge software benefits for me. I love the UI and that I can set swype gestures to open particular apps or settings. It makes multi tasking tthat much easier and fluid for me.
Also, at least from what I have seen with iOS5 (my girl has the 4s) is that android seems to be ahead in certain areas of functionality. For example it is not an innovative thing (to me anyways, being an android user) to be able to back up your device without the use of a computer... I have been doing wireless backups and internal backups since I bought my first android phone.
I think one thing you mentioned before... I think it was you, anyways... was pretty much right on when you said that android is capable of meeting so many different needs in the sense that you have a wide range in variety of devices to choose from and at different costs. There are high end phones available such that perform to today's standards in the mobile world, and there are lower end ones available that are more cost effective.
I feel if you yourself are innovative and creative, you are way more capable of taking an android phone and building the UI to what you want/need. I don't sacrifice functionality for speed, ever. In the end it is still just a phone, but I prefer this platform because it caters to that need I have to customize my phone the way I want it to be, not what somebody else feels it should be.
---------- Post added at 02:19 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:13 AM ----------
And to address your comment about the bajjillion core tab....
Seems the hardware is way ahead of the software in this case... therefore, I am not impressed by it.
I have a Motorola xoom and it has plenty of power to do what I need it to do. I will not be taking it back to simply have two more cores under the hood. And somebody else mentioned the new kal el device only has 1gb of ram? In my opinion that is really disappointing for a device with that kind of processing power.
i buy phones based on hardware specs
the OS is optional
I prefer to load my OS of choice
just like my PCs / Laptops
z33dev33l said:
When it comes to android, you know that you have an outstanding range of hardware. From the low-end Optimus T/S to the titans of the OS such as the Galaxy S2, and everything imaginable in between. These days, you can even find generic china phones running an, often dated, android. Every carrier has it, they come in all price ranges, and they're available on demand. The question I pose to you, "Is android's key selling point the hardware?"
I understand that numerous XDA members and even some outsiders enjoy the limitless customization options made readily available in android and that's awesome. However, the general consumer is happy to end customization at setting their own ringtone. It's not a breaking factor for the majority that you can swap out kernels. Overall, android is a decent enough platform, but for the masses, I see little that it offers, hardware aside, that it's competitors don't.
Here recently, a thread was posted regarding the ASUS Transformer 2, a pentacore processor in a tablet. Now, most people have yet to exhaust the resources on their dual core phones. A penta-core device seems to be pushing the limits. Considering that it is running a mobile OS, by the time those cores could be utilized, wouldn't the tablet be long outdated? However, I know it will sell well because the word "Penta-core" sounds too awesome for the masses to pass up.
Another occurrence I've seen, having worked in retail shops for some time. A lot of customers, when asked about what OS their phone is running, will reply, "HTC" or, "Samsung." A lot of them have no idea what our little green friend is. Another point towards my personal opinion that the hardware is a huge selling factor.
Overall, android is a very complete platform. It is not my daily driver, but I do enjoy it whenever I have time to tinker. I am inquiring about this matter to get your opinions, what sells? Hardware or software?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First time I have to agree with you pal.BUT:
i)Those guys/gals whose customisation needs end with setting the ringtone are the ones who won't care or even won't realize if the OS is different between an iPhone and an Android device.
ii)Android offers most(if not all) of the things other OSes offer,plus the infinite customisation capabilities no other OS has.Now this is what matters for those of us who can do more than changing the ringtone.
Other than these two things,I generally agree.In the end,though,it's user preference that matters.And people's idiocy in fact.Hell,many people buy their phones depending on how many megapixels their camera can do!
AllGamer said:
I prefer to load my OS of choice
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd prefer that too, but mobile hardware is pretty much completely closed, so this is not really possible in practice, except maybe on very very few models.
To answer the title question: I don't know about others, but for me it's definitely the OS. Android is the closest to Linux as I'll probably get on a phone, people are free to cook up their own ROMs (not completely free in many cases, there's closed components in every ROM, but oh well), vast customization capabilities, for getting software you're not limited to one store with draconian rules and sometimes arbitrary decisions.
Certainly a combination of software + hardware with a little bit of company preference.
But considering the range of manufacturers for android based phones, I find it hard to lag behind hardware wise.
1) I look for a device that I think will last me the three years of my contract or at least the majority of it
2) I look here on XDA and see what the dev community is like
3) I buy the phone
I would guess that for 80%+ of phone buyers the main factor is price. Sure they know about the iPhone and the Samsung Galaxy devices, but for most those phohnes are out of their price bracket. So they find the device which has the same sort of idea but in a cheap package, which has helped Android no end since there are low end Android devices, and Apple have little interest in that.
For myself as a more techie person, I use Android becuase of the freedom to do what i want with my hardware. At least that's why i got into Android. Now I will continue to buy Android devices, but the major reason is I've invested in the app market, I have tens of pounds worth of apps for Android. To jump to anotehr platform now would mean having to start over with that. That's the power of these stores and markets, once you are invested changing platform is a lot more of a jump that just deciding which you like the most at the time.
countstex said:
I would guess that for 80%+ of phone buyers the main factor is price. Sure they know about the iPhone and the Samsung Galaxy devices, but for most those phohnes are out of their price bracket. So they find the device which has the same sort of idea but in a cheap package, which has helped Android no end since there are low end Android devices, and Apple have little interest in that.
For myself as a more techie person, I use Android becuase of the freedom to do what i want with my hardware. At least that's why i got into Android. Now I will continue to buy Android devices, but the major reason is I've invested in the app market, I have tens of pounds worth of apps for Android. To jump to anotehr platform now would mean having to start over with that. That's the power of these stores and markets, once you are invested changing platform is a lot more of a jump that just deciding which you like the most at the time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've seen the price comment being made multiple times but aren't these devices pretty close to each other in terms of price after a 2 yr contract? In fact if you shop around, you can find some of these highend units for nearly nothing from online stores such as amazon
As for me, overall package is what sold me to galaxy s2. Form factor, hardware specs, overall implementation of the OS (gpu acceleration various places), etc. Version number really doesn't really bother me (2.3.3 vs 2.3.4/5/6/7) as long as there aren't any key features missing in the current revision that exists in the newer revisions.
Gusar321 said:
I'd prefer that too, but mobile hardware is pretty much completely closed, so this is not really possible in practice, except maybe on very very few models.
To answer the title question: I don't know about others, but for me it's definitely the OS. Android is the closest to Linux as I'll probably get on a phone, people are free to cook up their own ROMs (not completely free in many cases, there's closed components in every ROM, but oh well), vast customization capabilities, for getting software you're not limited to one store with draconian rules and sometimes arbitrary decisions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HD2 was a great example
then there are many other HTC devices that did the same
and a few Samsung devices as well
and there's the HP Touchpad
and...
For most people it's both.
They're attracted for the first time by the look and find the OS easy to use.
Despite people stating that the iphone is for people who just want to use a smartphone for the first time etc and Android is for techies and geeks to customise, if that were actually true then that would mean that there are a hell of a lot of geeks out there, which obviously isn't the case.
I would guess the majority of Android users' extent of customisation is changing the picture of their wallpaper, and that's the thing, with Android you can do that, it's easy to use, with the extra buttons it can seem more logical to new users compared with the single button on the iphone for instance.
It has the "apps and the wifis" that average users want, it looks good and you can make it look pretty much how you like.
Being able to just plug it into another computer and transfer files is a huge boon too, something a colleague was very disappointed with the iphone4 because of it's lack of ability.
There is 500+ android devices on the market globally, its the brand name and hardware specs that sell. Not the os.
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
I'd rather say that that none of those sell the other: it's actually the price selling both, plus the "status symbol" factor thatbhas to do with Apple things. Androids are generally cheaper then both the iPhone and WP7 phones. This, plus the fact that most people don't seem to like WP7 tiled ui, basically because it doesn't "look like an iPhone" enough. That might sound harsh, like saying that most people are dumb, but it's not (only) that actually: people got used to icons since the day they got their first pc, no wonder they go for something that looks more familiar to them when they wanna buy a smartphone. Maybe Win8 will totally change the name of the game, but that's it for the moment (sadly enough I dare say).
I think we have to remember that 'most' people don't include the tiny fraction of the consumer market that are active on XDA. We make choices on a range of factors as we are better informed about both hardware and software. When we walk into a phone shop we want to assess the phone on build quality, size, Android version, display type, etc.
When the average punter walks into the same shop their buying choice usually boils down to no more than, 'Oh look, a shiny thing. I want that one'.
.
Thread moved to Android. Would advise you to read forum rules and post in correct section.
Failure to comply with forum rules will result in an infraction and/or ban depending on severity of rule break.
Do you review the content of my threads before moving them or do you see my name and play pin the tail on the donkey with the final location of the thread?
Hey XDA,
My beloved Omnia 7 has sailed off into my sister's hands, and I was left stranded on an island of sadness, phoneless.
But no matter, as the power of the intertubes brought me here, and much other places.
I am looking for a savior budget phone.
And I found one.
No, folks, it's not a WP7 device as you may have anticipated, ala the shining turd that is the Nokia Lumia 610 (or some other
generic, faecal device). I have ventured to the lands of china and have explored options I would have not dared to before due to fear
of SARS, rape, and being casually ripped off by scamers.
And guess what, brotha? It appears like the Hero 9300+ is my guy.
Yeah, yeah, I know. A clone, not to mention a modified one. But if this is a turd, it's a sparkling one, worth a whole $200 dollars.
Some specs (the most important + drawbacks):
-CPU: MTK6577, two cores running at a generic 1GHz. Seems like a piece of ****, but one that flies pretty fast. Antutu scores look rather promising.
-GPU: SGX-531. The old cousin of our modern SGX-540's and 544's. Not bad, not great. It does the job for me given I can play
generic time wasters like Dead Trigger at a solid 30fps with next to no lag.
--OS: Android 4.0.4 (marketed off as 4.1 JellyBean; the developers thought they could fool us English folks by editing the SDK during ROM creation, har har har. ******s.)
-RAM: 512MB. This may be a problem given ICS takes up what, 300MB? Plus I want to run a launcher (Why? Because **** you, that's why) which will take up additional memory space.
-Camera a world class piece of ****. 5MP marketed as 8MP, records video at who knows what resolution. (I will be installing another ROM for this bad boy which will enable 1080p recording unless you guys have better suggestions how to pimp this thing up).
BEST PART: Gorgeous 5.3 inch display.
Anyways, that's that for specs.
Price is $210, with Fedex delivery, from Pandawill (Safe? Not safe? Hm, got PayPal covering my ass anyway).
THE ULTIMATE QUESTION:
Is there anything around this price that beats the **** out of this but has a display which is not too small?
Am I making the right decision here?
Thanks matey for giving this your two cents. It's all appreciated.
LINK:
http://www.pandawill.com/i9300-smar...oid-40-mtk6577-1g-ram-3g-gps-wifi-p66034.html
I highly doubt you would find another phone that isn't from china that has those specifications and price tag, however, I still wouldn't buy the phone because...well it's from china and not of a legitimate/recognised phones manufacturer. I would instead pass this phone and maybe save up another 100 dollars and get a phone of similar specs (maybe not the same screen size) from htc, sony, samsung etc. just for the security, support, safety and the mods
jman2131 said:
I highly doubt you would find another phone that isn't from china that has those specifications and price tag, however, I still wouldn't buy the phone because...well it's from china and not of a legitimate/recognised phones manufacturer. I would instead pass this phone and maybe save up another 100 dollars and get a phone of similar specs (maybe not the same screen size) from htc, sony, samsung etc. just for the security, support, safety and the mods
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey matey, thanks for the reply.
I don't think I can agree with you more. This is a huge risk and I know it, although review have been rather positive (which, I must say, is encouraging).
Given the price point and the fact that I need a phone ASAP, I am not so sure I can bang out another $100 bucks for an imaginary phone with similar specs; I mean, this thing performs closely to the galaxy nexus- a ~$500 device. I also found out that Chinese phones are going to be blessed with new quad and oct core processors in Q4 2012 and Q2 2013, respectively. Going to be an insane jump, but I bet they will be price accordingly.
Thanks for your response nonetheless, I'll definitely go ahead and snoop around for brand devices right now.
Israeleet said:
Hey matey, thanks for the reply.
I don't think I can agree with you more. This is a huge risk and I know it, although review have been rather positive (which, I must say, is encouraging).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad to see you coming around in your mindset... imho, buying some Chinese knockoff is only asking for trouble. If it were my decision to make, I'd find a friend with an old Android you can use and buy a real phone with a warranty, a little support, and some quality behind it. The specs may be one thing, but if I know Chinese knockoffs, everything about the case/finish/etc will be absolute junk.
I'd rather use a non-Android for a while, personally...
SparkyXI said:
Glad to see you coming around in your mindset... imho, buying some Chinese knockoff is only asking for trouble. If it were my decision to make, I'd find a friend with an old Android you can use and buy a real phone with a warranty, a little support, and some quality behind it. The specs may be one thing, but if I know Chinese knockoffs, everything about the case/finish/etc will be absolute junk.
I'd rather use a non-Android for a while, personally...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was actually looking into WP7 devices earlier because my previous device was one. I am sad to note that nothing compares other than an old Samsung Focus (much like my Omnia) from the US for $170. I mean, it's not too bad, but I feel it's time for an upgrade. I snooped around other shops, nothing comes close to the Hero, but your suggestions have shaken me up a bit. I'll be wary as this online buying thing is no game of tag- they can disappear on you.
What did you eventually purchase?
I have X710D and did have a bad experience with the seller, but eventually found another seller who I have now purchased many phones from with great success.
In relation to Chinese phones, I have to say walk with care as many fiddle the OS version number and it always pays to ask as many questions as possible prior to purchase. If there are features that you want then ask for confirmation, if they don't know then treat this as a warning about the seller.
Quality: I have no problem with the quality of build of Chinese phones. I do however have an issue with some stupid design decisions - like the 3.5mm headphone jack on the X710D - can't take standard headphones.
Just found out that the X710D has stopped manufacture, so hope that a better design is coming.
9300+ looks promising.
Hi all.
I too was in the market for a new phone and purchased a 9300+ from a site called Android for cheap and I can tell you it's a great phone. It's zippy and handles anything you can throw at it. I'm running wp8 custom on mine and it looks beautiful on the big screen. I'd recommend this phone to others as have I already. Gaming on it has no lag and due to the multi touch screen its really responsive.
I've had mine for 3 months and I think when I eventually purchase a new phone it will probably be a newer model of the same phone..... If they are still in existence then lol.
All in all its an awesome phone. I don't think you will be disappointed
Sent from my 9300+ using xda premium